Great
presents
for everyone
'Tis
the
season for high-tech gift giving
by Alan Zisman (c)
2001
First published in Business in
Vancouver,
CurrentZ section. Issue #630 Nivember 20-26, 2001, GearGuide column
This
year, as
in the past, there's lots to choose from if you're shopping for tech
toys
as holiday presents for your loved ones -- or even for yourself.
Throw away
your keyboard...
...and
get yourself
a new and improved model. Microsoft's new Office Keyboard
abandons
the space-age ergonomic curves of some of the company's previous
models,
but like its other recent models it includes bunches of new keys and
buttons.
Previous
models
sported buttons that may have looked good on paper, but were rarely
used.
(Did anyone really need an Internet Shopping button on a keyboard?)
This
time around, the new features tie closely into the widely used
Microsoft
Office suite: they can start up the spell checker, save or print a
document,
undo and redo an edit, open multiple programs, switch between open
applications,
and more. Each button is customizable and can even be set to point to
non-Microsoft
applications.
About
$100.
Throw away
your monitor...
...and
start
staring at a space-saving and easy on the eyes LCD (aka flat
panel)
display. Like a notebook display on steroids, these lack the flicker
that's
built-into traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors. Various
manufacturers
have some displays with prices now starting just south of $500, though
the models you really want will be far north of there -- such as Apple's
22" Cinema Display (about $3900) or Viewsonic's 50" plasma
VPW500
display for, oh, $8,100 or so.
Throw away
your notebook...
...and
travel
lighter with a pocket-sized computer featuring the new Pocket PC 2002.
Once marketed as "PC Companions," these little gadgets have evolved to
the point that they are nearly notebook replacements.
Both
HP's
32-Mb Jornada 565 ($895) and 64-Mb Jornada 568 ($999) have very
viewable
65,000-colour TFT screens. Their built-in mikes let you record brief
messages
or notes. With pocket-sized versions of Word and Excel, you can go
beyond
basic calendar and contact lists. Add on a compact flash memory card
and
they can double as MP3 music players.
A
monochrome Palm
or Handspring Visor will do the basics for less, but this month
we're looking at the toys you really want!
Throw away
your pet!
Forget
about
a "PC Companion." Sony's Aibo promises to be an actual
companion.
In other words, a robot pet. This 1.5-kilogram, second-generation
product
is the size of a cat, but seems more dog-like. Its software allows it
to
mature and learn or, if you prefer, you can make it instantly
full-grown.
Eighteen
motors
let it walk, sit, sleep and even wag its tail. It indicates emotions my
moving its ears and tail and flashing lights in its eyes. Touch sensors
let it know when you are patting it on the head or scratching its
chin.
Aibo
learns
to respond to a name that its owner gives it, can recognize up to 50
words
and can take photos through its eyes, transmitting them wirelessly to a
PC.
Aibo
comes in
your choice of metallic shades of silver, gold or black. It's
surprisingly
cute and cuddly.
If
you find
its $2,300 price a bit much, you can move down the robot pet
evolutionary
ladder. Hasbro's B.I.O. Mechanical Bug retails for around $60.
Just
as real bugs are not as smart as real dogs, Hasbro's robot is nowhere
as
clever as Sony's. However, the designer, Mark Tilden, has
pointed
out that "Ninety-nine percent of creatures on this planet do very well
without a brain at all." There are four different "species" of robot
bugs,
each with different characteristics.
This
holiday
season, you just might want to collect them all!
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