Talk, instant message, and take pictures with one device.
Posted 06.04.2002 at 5:14 pm
Who hasn't pondered: If only I could talk, instant message, and take pictures with one device? Well, if you have, now you can. Sony Ericsson's P800 PDA-cellphone combo has a built-in digital camera. RIM is getting into the combo act with the BlackBerry 5810. It looks like a regular BlackBerry but it's also a cellphone. Meanwhile, Audiovox's Thera adds fully functional PocketPC software to cellphone capabilities.
1. Sony
Ericsson P800
(center)
Key feature: Digital cam can snap, then e-mail, photos
Price: Depends
on service provider
Devices compatible with quarter-size discs that store 500 megabytes will hit the market this summer.
Posted 06.04.2002 at 12:48 pm
DataPlay made a splash two years ago when it unveiled quarter-size discs that store 500 megabytes. Now, the first compatible devices will hit the market this summer. iRiver's iDP-100 ($369, shown) will be the first digital audio player, while Kinpo Electronics has shown a 3.1-megapixel digital camera. Discs cost $11 each.
A stuffed bear that talks to your kids in your voice.
Posted 06.03.2002 at 7:37 pm
No Crank Calls Please The PopSci staff was split on the merits of Wabi Buddy, a 15-inch stuffed bear that talks to your kids in your voice. Just call a PIN-protected phone number and leave a message for your little one. The bear giggles and its bracelet lights—your kid squeezes the bear's belly and hears your message. Wabi Buddy stores 5 minutes of messages and works 500 feet from its 900MHz base station. A cellular version will be available next year. Price: $49 to $59 for the bear, $0.10 per minute for calls.
Is this where the PDA is heading?
By Suzanne Kantra Kirschner
Posted 06.03.2002 at 7:30 pm
A few months ago, we showed you the multifunctional Origami Communicator and wondered: Is this where the PDA is heading?
Three new Windows devices, on sale this fall, look and act like computers but do so much more. From anywhere.
Posted 06.03.2002 at 7:24 pm
1. Platform:Freestyle
Shown: Samsung prototype, $1,600 and up
What It Is: A desktop PC transformed into a media center for playing music and DVDs—and a hard disk for recording TV.
2. Platform: Mira
Shown: Viewsonic Airpanel, $600 and up
What It Is: A wireless display that lets you surf the Web and access your desktop from anywhere.
3.
Night vision ... and sound.
Posted 05.31.2002 at 5:56 pm
How to improve on infrared night vision technology? Add a soundtrack. Bushnell's 17-ounce Night Vision Monocular with Audio lets you listen in on conversations as far as 270 feet away. The snouted microphone picks up sounds directly in front but ignores noise behind and around you.
Price: $434.
Forget what you know about photo technology: 2002 changes everything. The first 6-megapixel consumer digitals are here, as is the first Foveon-sensor camera. New printers offer double the resolution. Here's the skinny on the new photography gear.
By Suzanne Kantra Kirschner
Posted 05.30.2002 at 4:39 pm
1. Autofocus on PeopleInexperienced photographers need smart camerasparticularly when shooting groups of objects. The autofocus in Minolta's 3.7X zoom Freedom Zoom 140 ($179, shown) and 4.3X zoom Freedom Zoom 160 ($199) 35mm cameras is as intelligent as they get, singling out human forms and making them the focal pointeven if they move. www.minolta.com
The Goal: Computers millions of times faster. The research into single-molecule transistors, DNA strands, and quantum effects provides tantalizing clues.
By Daniel Tynan
Posted 05.22.2002 at 6:56 pm
Ike Chuang holds a pencil-thin test tube containing a bright orange solution of a billion billion molecules, the core of each one a combination of five fluorine and two carbon atoms. He slides the test tube into the chamber of a modified nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machine that looks like an enormous pressure cooker. Inside the machine, the sample is surrounded by radio frequency coils attached to amplifiers and signal generators "like those inside a cellphone, only much larger," Chuang says.
Hidden gems you're not supposed to see
Posted 05.20.2002 at 2:36 pm
There's more to DVD movies these days than just the film and cast bios. Moviemakers are increasingly including Easter eggs-hidden bits of amusing or wacky material that you can find only by snooping around. They're activated with a few clicks of the remote control. We asked Mr. DVD, Netflix.com's James Rocchi, for his list of the five coolest.
Star Wars: Episode One
What You'll See: A hilarious series of flubs from the movie's making.
Senior Editor Bob Sillery takes a closer look at the world's first all-electronic computer.
By Bob Sillery
Posted 05.10.2002 at 2:02 pm
You walk through a chamber and find you're suddenly hemmed in by trays, dials, and cables. Along the walls are arrays of panels and switchboards with arcane buttons, lights, and sockets. Wires are everywhere.
You've entered the computer room. Not the room where they keep the computers, but the room that virtually is the computer. You're thumbing through the pages of Popular Science in the 1940s, where we lead you step by step through the innards of gigantic devices that, we solemnly intone, will change the world.
Lint is composed of tiny bits of fabric fibers that are shed from the edges of our garments.
Posted 05.07.2002 at 6:32 pm
How does a dryer extract lint
from your clothes?
Jose R. Polonia
Lynn, Mass.
Lint is composed of tiny bits of fabric fibers that are shed from the edges of our garments. Fabrics made of natural fibers like cotton and wool generate more lint than fabrics made of rayon or other synthetic materials. Bits of fiber break off from our clothing from the friction of wear.
Do you want a PDA that acts
like a cellphone, a cellphone that keeps you organized, or something in between? How to decide.
By Suzanne Kantra Kirschner
Posted 05.07.2002 at 12:56 pm
A PDA WITH A PHONE BUILT IN
Great For: Anyone who travels
frequently on business. Having inte-
grated high-speed communica-
tions leaves your PDA's expansion
slots open for other devices
Think Twice If: You're constantly looking for a new cellphone service provider
What to buy: Handspring Treo ($399)
A PHONE ACCESSORY FOR YOUR PDA
Great For: The occasional traveler
who wants to use his PDA as a laptop
substitute for e-mail and Web browsing
Yes, HDTV is still coming, and it'll likely make your TV obsolete by 2006. If you're in the market for a new set now,
here are your choices.
By Suzanne Kantra Kirschner
Posted 05.07.2002 at 11:50 am
ANALOG TV
Resolution: 480 interlaced lines, meaning half the screen is refreshed at a time
Pros: Can't beat the price. In the future, you'll get analog versions of HDTV with a decoder
Cons: As soon as one of your friends goes digital, you'll notice how lame your picture is
You'll pay around: $1,200 for a 32-inch monitor
DIGITAL TV
Resolution: 480 progressive-scan lines, which allows the entire screen to be refreshed at once
Convert Your AAs to Cs or Ds
Posted 05.03.2002 at 5:12 pm
This month's "Why didn't I think of that" award goes to Panasonic's nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) battery set, which converts AAs to C or D batteries. It comes with rechargeables, but alkalines work as well. Just pop on the appropriate jacket and you're ready. Of course, you get the battery life of a AA, not that of longer-lasting Cs and Ds.
Price: $30; includes six AAs, two AAAs, four adapters, and a charger.
With these new high-tech tools, your yardwork will not only be easier, it may actually be fun.
By Phil McCafferty
Posted 05.03.2002 at 3:59 pm
Spring is just around the corner, and so are all the lawn and garden chores it brings. But with these new high-tech tools, your yardwork will not only be easier, it may actually be-dare we say it?-fun.
It's a Lawnmower, It's a Portable Generator
