ALTERNATIVE INPUT FOR YOUR PALM
| Despite major competition and their recent
financial troubles, the Palm personal digital assistant (PDA)
continues to be one of the most popular handheld computing devices
on the market. Palm's two new models and their newly released Palm
4.0 operating system should contribute to its popularity. As with
anything popular, many third party products have been made for the
Palm and Seiko Instruments has just released an interesting new
input device for those of us who seek an alternative to the stylus
or keyboard. The SmartPad2 lets users of virtually all brands of PDA's
running the Palm Operating System to instantly transfer handwritten
notes and drawings from paper to the PDA via the infrared port. No
physical connection from the SmartPad2 to the PDA is necessary.
Unzipping the portfolio-styled case, the SmartPad2 opens like a book
to reveal the PDA which is held in place on the left side and an
ordinary paper pad on the right. There's even room for extra pens
and other accouterments. As you write on the paper pad you instantly
see your images duplicated on the face of the PDA. The included
interface software lets you perform additional tasks such as zooming
in and out for more detail. All notes, drawings and images are saves
as graphic files. |
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Powered by two AAA batteries, the unit is packaged
with the SmartPad2 Pen, which is a dual-sided ink and stylus pen and is
supplied with two ink cartridge refills. You must use this special stylus
and cannot use an ordinary pen. The SmartPad2 is compatible with Palm III
series or later model Palm organizers, as well as Handspring, Sony Clio,
TGR Pro and IBM Workpad C3 handheld organizers. $199.
www.seikosmart.com
Portable CD player plays MP3
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Ok, so you're into Napster and downloading MP3
music to your computer. You've even created your own music
collections and burning your own CDs. A single audio CDs can only
hold around 12 or 13 tracks whereas your MP3 CDs can hold up to 170
of your favorite hits. Just one of these MP3 CDs can play up to 10
hours of music! The problem is that you can only play these MP3 CDs
on your computer's CD drive. You were out of luck if you wanted to
take the tunes with you because your potable CD player can't play
the MP3 disks. But fear not. The solution is now to be found in the
new Evergreen Portable MP3-CD Player that can play both audio and
MP3 CDs. The player's LCD shows track number, track minutes elapsed,
play mode and battery level. Play modes include All, Intro (first 10
seconds of each song), Random, and a Directory mode that lets you
play songs from a selected directory only. You can also choose from
five preset equalizer levels, Normal through Super Base. Voice
memos, up to 500 seconds long, can be recorded by switching the unit
from Player to Recorder and plugging in an external microphone.
Jacks for headphones and a line out, as well as an AC
adapter/battery recharger, NiCad batteries and a users manual are
all included. Weighing in at 1.25 pounds, this is one of the first
portable units to offer these kind of features and flexibility.
$169.95. And optional car adapter kit consists of a set of
headphones, a CD carrying case, a cassette adapter, a lighter power
adapter, and an MP3 User Guide. |
www.evergreennow.com |
