Fun and Funky Gadgets From CeBIT's U.S. Debut
CeBIT America, an outgrowth of the huge German trade show, started Wednesday at the Javits Center in New York. The show is aimed at technology managers and executives -- not consumers -- so there aren't as many gadgets being shown off. Still, a handful of items got our attention. Some gizmos seemed fun, others looked useful, and others were just plain odd.
Wear a Camera, Turn Back Time
Camcorder aficionados may no longer need to curse their luck when they fail to capture special moments on video: a new wearable digital camera claims to turn back time.
The Deja View Camwear, which clips onto the side of eyeglasses or on shirt collars, records at all times while it is on, and automatically saves the last 30 seconds of video and audio. So if, for instance, you suddenly realize that blonde you walked by on the street is Britney Spears, you can hit the record button on the hip pack, which contains the camera and memory card, and save for posterity your celebrity sighting that already happened.
"I always find myself saying, 'I wish I had my camera,' " says Bruce Fortier, senior vice president of Deja View Inc. (
www.mydejaview.com), the closely held maker of Camwear based in Brick, N.J. Mr. Fortier says he uses the device to record his children's achievements, and his wife does the same, so that they can share video from events that occur on the same night. At a media and analyst event held during CeBIT, Mr. Fortier showed video he took of his son hitting a triple in a recent Little League game in Toms River, N.J.; the clip began with Kyle standing at the plate waiting for the pitch, even though Mr. Fortier says he hit record as his son slid into third base.
The device, expected to hit stores before September and sell for $349, can record up to 48 clips of 30 seconds each, and its rechargeable battery will run for eight hours, according to Mr. Fortier. It stores the video on a removable 64-megabyte Flash memory card, which can be upgraded to larger-capacity chips. The camera part weighs less than two ounces and is less than an inch on each side; the hip pack measures about four inches by five inches and weighs less than a pound.
Watching Your Files
If you'd rather not lug your laptop to keep important files on hand, there's an alternative to burning CDs or DVDs, or carrying memory cards: A watch with a built-in hard drive
The functions of timekeeping and data storage may seem like unlikely partners, but to Hong Kong watchmaker Xonix Watch Co., they're a natural fit. "You don't need to carry a briefcase to and from work," says Bill Akata, vice president of marketing for Xonix Watch, a unit of closely held Xonix Holdings Ltd. "You can go home and keep working, using your records on your watch."
The watch hits a crowded market for portable storage, competing with cheap recordable CDs and DVDs, and stand-alone flash memory cards, which are tiny chips that can hold data. World-wide sales of memory cards hit $1.8 billion last year, up nearly 40% from 2001. But the appeal of the Mega Memory USB Drive Watch, according to Mr. Akata, is that it attaches the storage drive to a device most people already carry around.
The Xonix watch has a short USB cable built in, so it can attach to most computers bought in recent years. When attached, a window will pop up allowing files to be copied to and from the watch drive. The watch drive can be attached to the computer while still on the wrist, using an included three-foot extension cable. The shorter, built-in cable snaps into place along the watch band when not in use.
The watch has been sold in Europe and Asia since March, when it was introduced at the CeBIT show in Germany. It's hitting U.S. stores this month, ranging in price from about $50 for 32 megabytes of capacity to about $1000 for 256 megabytes. A watch with one gigabyte, or 1,024 megabytes, will hit stores by the end of the year, according to Jerry Wu, sales manager for Xonix Holdings.
Type in Comfort
It looks like a prototype for a space-age command center, but according to the inventor, it's the future seat of office computer workers.
The PCE Environment, from closely held Personal Computing Environments (
www.mypce.com), based in Los Angeles, is a comprehensive workstation, with seat, monitor, keyboard and mouse all built in. The aim: Relieve the strain on office workers who must spend hours in front of their desktop. The company also thinks heavy videogame users will want to recline in its chair as they shoot virtual enemies or baskets.
"Everybody was focused on mobile computer users," says founder and chief technology officer Benjamin Moglin. "No one focused on the static user." He says the company is "100% sure we're ergonomic -- we talked to all the experts."
The chairs created considerable buzz at the Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas, where they were introduced in November. Mr. Moglin says that was by design -- the company's plan is to get executives to sit in their chair at trade shows and get feedback on the design and comfort level. The company has sold 60 chairs so far, according to David Thompson, vice president for media relations and marketing communications.
Mr. Moglin says thousands of people have sat in the chair exhibited at CeBIT. Many attendees at the show seemed intrigued, but at least one was put off by the price -- starting at $1,750, with various optional upgrades. One man passing by the PCE chair was overheard saying to a colleague, "I'll buy you one when you get your first million in sales."
Make Your Mobile Phone Immobile
For people who use a wireless service as their primary phone line, but would rather not talk on a handset, the "Dock-n-Talk" lets you access your cellphone service from any telephone in the house.
Users place their cellphone in the Dock-n-Talk cradle, which plugs into the home phone jack, and can then make and accept cellphone calls from all the telephones in their home.
Before you scratch your head and ask why anyone would want to trade the mobility of a cellphone for a regular old phone connected to a wall, the company that makes the device, PhoneLabs Inc., suggests it might come in handy if the cellphone reception is better in certain areas of your house.
People can set the cradle near a window where they get good reception, "but then have the flexibility to answer the phone elsewhere," says PhoneLabs President Carl Lopp.
Customers can also use the Dock-N-Talk to access both a wire line and cell service, and then choose which service is most economical for any given call, the company says. They can take advantage of unlimited evenings and weekends on their cellphone plan, but switch over to their regular service when it suits them.
Mr. Lopp says the device could also be popular with people who fear cellphone radiation may be harmful, although there's a lack of hard evidence proving any adverse health effects from handsets.
Closely held PhoneLabs, Bridgeport, Conn., says Dock-n-Talk supports over 100 different phone models, including makes from Nokia Corp., Sony Ericsson, Motorola Inc. and Samsung Corp. Priced at $139.99, the device hits stores next month.
CeBIT博览会上的新奇玩意
德国大型贸易博览会CeBIT（CeBIT即信息技术及通信展览会的简称）在美国举办的专场展览于6月18日在纽约的贾维茨中心(Javits Center)开幕。此次展览会面向的是技术经理和业内管理人士，并非针对普通消费者，因此展出的产品并不是很多。然而，有些产品仍然引起我们的注意。有些展品看上去很有趣，有些看上去很实用，还有一些展品则有点古里古怪。
能随身穿戴的摄像机，可让时光倒流
那些没能用镜头抓拍到特殊时刻的摄像爱好者们可能再也不用抱怨运气不佳了：一种可随身穿戴的新型数码摄像机将让时光倒流。
这种名为Deja View Camwear的数码摄像机可以戴在眼镜腿上或者衬衫领子上。当机器打开后，它随时都在进行拍摄，并自动存储前30秒钟的视频和音频信号。打个比方说，如果你突然意识到在大街上偶然擦肩而过的金发美女是小甜甜布莱妮(Britney Spears)，你就可以按下挂在腰间的盒子上的拍摄键（盒子里有摄像机身和存储卡），从而为后代留下虽已擦肩而过但你仍拍摄到的名人倩影。
总部位于新泽西州布里克的私人控股公司Deja View Inc.（网址
www.mydejaview.com）是该产品的制造商。公司的高级副总裁布鲁斯-福蒂耶(Bruce Fortier)表示，他经常会有"要是我带了摄像机就好了"之类的慨叹。他说，他用这种产品拍摄下了他孩子取得成就的一瞬，他的妻子也这样做了，因此他们能够共同分享发生在同一个夜晚的事件留下的影像。在CeBIT期间召开的媒体和分析师见面会上，福蒂耶展示了当他的儿子在参加于新泽西州汤姆斯河举行的Little League棒球联赛时打出一个本垒打的录像；福蒂耶表示，尽管他是在他的儿子基利滑进第三垒的时候才按下拍摄键的，但这个片断却是从基利站著等待投球开始的。
该产品预计在9月份之前面市，售价为349美元。福蒂耶称，该产品最多可以拍摄48个30秒钟长度的片断，使用充电电池，可持续8小时。这种摄像机把影像存储在一个可以摘下来的64M闪存卡上，闪存卡可以升级成容量更大的产品。镜头部份重量不足2盎司，在眼镜腿的每一边大小都不到1英寸。机身部份的尺寸大约为4英寸乘5英寸，重量不足1磅。
能存储文件的手表
如果你不愿意携带手提电脑而又想让重要的文件在手边上，那么除了烧录CD或DVD、携带存储卡以外，你还有另外一个选择：带上一块有内置硬盘的手表。
查看时间和存储数据的功能看上去也许不太可能兼容，但对于香港的钟表制造商Xonix Watch Co.来说，他们是天生的一对。Xonix Watch是私人控股公司Xonix Holdings Ltd.的子公司。Xonix Watch负责营销的副总裁比尔-阿卡塔(Bill Akata)表示，人们不需要拎著手提箱上下班，他们回到家后也还可以继续工作，那就是使用手表内存储的文件。
该产品的上市将面临著来自众多可移动存储器、廉价的可烧录CD和DVD、以及独立闪存卡（能存储数据的一种微型晶片）的竞争。去年，全球存储卡的销售额达到18亿美元，较2001年增长将近40%。但阿卡塔表示，这种名为Mega Memory USB Drive Watch的手表吸引力在于它把存储驱动器内置到了多数人每天都带著的手表上面。
这种Xonix手表内置了一条很短的USB线，因此可以与最近几年出售的大多数电脑连接。当连接完成后，会弹出一个窗口，允许把文件复制到手表内的硬盘上或者从上面复制下来。手表带在手腕上的时候，可以使用一条随产品出售的3英尺长的扩展线，把表内硬盘连接到电脑上。当不使用这一功能时，较短的那条内置USB线就缠绕在表带周围。
自3月份以来，这种手表已经开始在欧洲和亚洲销售。在德国举行的CeBIT展览会上首次展出了该产品。本月该产品在美国面市，价格为：32M硬盘的手表约50美元，256M硬盘的约1000美元。据Xonix Holdings的销售经理Jerry Wu称，1G硬盘的手表将在今年年底之前面市。
舒适的座椅
该产品看上去像太空时代控制中心里的一个典型物件，但据发明者称，这是办公室电脑工作人员未来用的座椅。
由位于洛杉矶的私人控股公司Personal Computing Environments（网址
www.mypce.com）生产的PCE Environment是一个综合的工作站，包括内置的座椅、显示器、键盘和鼠标。该产品旨在减轻那些不得不在电脑前端坐好几个小时的办公室工作人员的压力。公司还认为，沉迷于游戏的玩家也会愿意在射击虚拟敌人和投篮的时候斜躺在椅子上。公司创始人和首席技术长本杰明-莫格林(Benjamin Moglin)表示，现在很多公司都关注移动电脑用户，却没有人在意固定电脑的用户。他说，公司有百分之百的把握他们的产品符合人体工效学，因为他们和所有的专家进行过讨论。
这种座椅于去年11月份首次在拉斯维加斯Comdex电脑贸易博览会上推出。当时，它引起了很大的轰动。莫格林表示，这是公司预定的目标，公司计划让管理人员在贸易博览会上试坐他们的椅子，然后就座椅的造型和舒适程度提供反馈。据该公司负责媒体关系和客户沟通的副总裁大卫-汤普逊(David Thompson)称，迄今为止，公司已经销售出60套这种椅子。
莫格林表示，在CeBIT展览会上，成千上万的人试坐了他们的椅子。很多与会者看上去对此很感兴趣，但至少有一个人被椅子的价格吓跑了（椅子有不同可供选择的级别型号，起价1,750美元）。有人听到一个走过PCE座椅的人对他的同事说："如果你的销售额达到100万，我就给你买把这种椅子。"
让移动电话固定下来的Dock-n-Talk
对于那些把无线服务作为主要通话渠道，但又不愿意使用手机的人来说，Dock-n-Talk可以帮助你使用房间内的任何一部电话连接无线服务。
用户只要把手机插到Dock-n-Talk的插座上，把插座连接到座机的接口上，然后就能够用房间内的任何一部电话拨打或者接听无线电话。
可能你会感到困惑，问为什么有人愿意牺牲手机的移动优势，而换用连接到墙上的普通旧电话呢？对此，该产品的制造商PhoneLabs Inc.表示，如果在你家中的某些地方手机接听效果明显有差别的话，那么该产品可能会比较得心应手。
PhoneLabs的总裁卡尔-洛普(Carl Lopp)表示，人们可以把Dock-n-Talk的插座放在窗户附近，获得良好的接听效果，然后就可以灵活地在家中任何地方打电话。
客户既可以用Dock-N-Talk 连接普通电话线，也可以连接无线服务。当用电话时，用户可以选择更为实惠的那种服务方式。制造商表示，用户可以利用手机服务中的夜间和周末无限制通话时间，但在合适的时候也可以转移到普通座机服务。
洛普表示，尽管缺乏有力的证据表明手机会产生不利于健康的影响，但还是有些人担心手机辐射可能有害。他们也许会青睐这种产品。
私人控股公司PhoneLabs位于康涅狄格州布里奇港。公司称，Dock-n-Talk 支持100多种手机型号，包括诺基亚(Nokia Corp.)、索尼爱立信(Sony Ericsson)、摩托罗拉(Motorola Inc.)和三星(Samsung Corp.)等公司的产品。Dock-n-Talk 售价139.99美元，下个月
