The computer with a TV, and a virtual refrigerator door
The notion of a computer at the heart of every home gets a little bump with the multitasking Hewlett-Packard TouchSmart PC, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show last week as part of the introduction of the Windows Vista operating system from Microsoft.
The TouchSmart, which will cost $1,800 when it goes on sale at the end of the month, has a 19-inch touch-sensitive screen intended to serve as a family bulletin board, with virtual sticky notes written with a finger or stylus – or even left by voice, in a recorded memo.
This computer is also a high-definition TV, and it can play FM radio or stored music through screen-side speakers, or external ones for a home-theater effect. Designed as a wire- and clutter-free stand-alone device, it connects to the world via Wi-Fi and further contains its footprint with a wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control.
The TouchSmart’s designers envision a user walking up to it on a kitchen counter, checking e-mail, appointments and weather, leaving family reminders and maybe watching the first 30 seconds of the evening news before dashing out. – Marty Katz, The New York Times
Wonder where you wander? A mobile phone can tell you
Thanks to cellphones, friends and relations can find you anywhere in the world. But can you find yourself? You can if you have the Pharos GPS Phone 600, which has some advanced location-tracking features.
This $700 phone comes with Pharos’ Ostia navigation software, which calculates directions, calls out turns on the road and displays a three-map of your location on the 2.8-inch color touch screen. It also has a 2-megapixel camera and FM radio receiver inside.
The Pharos phone is an unlocked GSM cellphone, which means a SIM card from a wireless carrier must be inserted to make calls.
You can get one by signing up with T-Mobile or Cingular in the United States, but the phone will also work with almost any European or Asian carrier. The phone runs Windows Mobile 5.0 and can handle most Windows Mobile applications, including Media Player 10 Mobile for music and video playback.
The Pharos phone has 128 megabytes of internal storage and a MiniSD card slot for expansion. It will be available online and in retail stores next month, bringing relief to serious travelers and the habitually lost. – John Biggs, The New York Times
