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Gear
Postcards from the edge of convergence-product evolution
By Staff -- EDN, 6/26/2003
| Screening zoom | |
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| Forget about being tethered to a TV while enjoying video entertainment. The Video AV340 carries up to 80 hours of MPEG-4 video on its 40-Gbyte hard disk and offers playback via its own 3.8-inch color screen or a TV set. The $630 unit also functions as an MP3 player, serves as a photo-storage and -viewing device, and can record analog video—from sources like TVs, VCRs, and DVD players—without the aid of a PC (although it has a USB 2.0 port as well). And if all that's not enough, optional add-on modules include a 3.3-megapixel camera, memory-card readers, and an FM tuner that will allow direct recording of broadcasts. Archos, www.archos.com |
| Fills up fast | |
| The HD-PVR330, which combines HDTV reception with PVR (personal video recorder) functions, provides a stark illustration of the storage demands imposed by HDTV. The unit features an 80-Gbyte hard-disk drive, yet records only eight hours of high-definition TV. Even so, the machine may prove popular simply because so few devices exist for recording HDTV shows in their full splendor. Slated for fall at an as-yet-unspecified price, the device can absorb both over-the-air signals and QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation)-based signals from cable systems. Another model, the HDR230, takes in only over-the-air broadcasts and is available now for around $1000. Zenith, www.zenith.com |
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| Faster finding | |
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| The Navman GPS 3450, which turns an iPAQ Pocket PC into a GPS navigation system, includes both hardware and software improvements designed to get you where you're going faster. On the hardware side, the device features a GPS chipset that fixes on satellites more quickly than the chipset in the vendor's previous model. On the software side, the device offers faster algorithms for routing and rerouting, as well as more capacity for users to save favorite and recent destinations. The $300 device issues audible directions in English, Spanish, and French. Navman USA, www.navmanusa.com |
| Colorful friend | |
| The T-Mobile Sidekick, the multifunction wireless device based on Danger's hiptop design, now comes with a color screen. The $300 unit handles Web browsing, instant messaging, email, snapshot sharing, games, and—oh yeah—voice calls. Users who sign up for a full voice plan can add data services for $20 a month; a stand-alone data plan costs $29.99 a month but charges 20 cents per minute for any phone calls. T-Mobile, www.t-mobile.com Danger, www.danger.com |
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| Ear bug | |
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| Billed as the world's smallest hands-free headset (45 by 25 by 25 millimeters and 9.85 grams), the BlueSpoon Digital connects to the user's mobile phone via Bluetooth and offers voice-activated dialing and answering. Instead of wrapping around the ear as many current headsets do, the $350 device actually gets inserted into the ear like a hearing aid. Note the spring-like appendage on the left side of the device, which holds the unit in place once it's inserted. The vendor claims the rechargeable battery offers up to six hours of talk time and 200 hours of standby time. |
