Posted on: Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Tech Toys
New products to delight the techie
Compiled by Gannett News Service
Robotic DJ dances, plays music
Every party needs someone — or something — like DJ Johnny Bot. This ultra-cool silver and green music machine rolls and spins around on four wheels while playing music through its cassette deck and FM radio. You can control its actions and sound effects with a remote control, or sing along using its karaoke mikes. To help keep the beat, equalizer lights flash as the music plays. The $69.99 device from Trendmasters also comes with a detachable tray that can hold a CD player, a pop-off antenna and a karaoke tape. Be prepared to stock up on batteries: The remote control requires four AAA batteries; the motion play feature needs six AA batteries; and the robot itself takes four C batteries. An optional DC adapter also can power the bot.
Information: www.trendmasters.com
Digital PC camera can do video, too
The Intel Pocket Digital PC Camera is a good deal for folks who want to buy a decent digital camera for less than $200. This particular model costs about $150 and can take pictures with a respectable resolution of 1280 by 960 pixels. It comes with 16 megabytes of built-in memory, a SmartMedia memory card slot and a flash. The camera, which has a built-in microphone, also can record one minute of video with sound and a resolution of 352 by 288 pixels. When hooked up to the computer, it also functions as a Web conferencing camera that can handle video phone calls and live Internet Webcasts.
The Windows-based camera ships with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable, Intel Create & Share software, a tilt-swivel camera base, a carrying case, a wrist strap and batteries.
Information: intel.com/pccamera
Get more power for Game Boy Advance
Nothing is more disappointing — at least to hard-core gamers — than having the batteries give out just as you near the end of a particularly tough level on a Game Boy Advance title. With the Desktop Charger System from Digital Spark/Saitek, you can avoid this problem. The $19.95 system comes with a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery pack, which replaces the cover and the two batteries in the GBA, an A/C adapter and four battery face plates.
To give your GBA a full recharge, all you have to do is place it in the system's cradle. You can even charge the batteries while you play by plugging in the GBA. The company also sells the Firefly Ultrabright Light System, a $9.95 device that can help you focus in on the action.
Information: saitek.com
Weather warnings
The weather radio — that relatively inexpensive gadget that lets you know when a storm is approaching — has been updated to also issue national alerts, civil emergency messages and news bulletins. The Weather Alert 2000 (yes, it's name is a bit outdated) measures about 4 inches high by 3› inches wide by 1› inches deep, making it small enough to set on a desk or take on a camping trip. The device can be programmed to track up to16 U.S. counties. Page Update, the national wireless data service that launched the system, transmits the information through a 900-megahertz pager signal. The service also issues news bulletins. When a warning does come through, an 85-decibel alert (ouch!) sounds for about 30 seconds while a bright red light flashes. The unit costs cost $129.95 and the monitoring service is $9.95 a month.
Information: pageupdate.com
ReplayTV lets you send shows over Web
Just in time for Christmas comes ReplayTV 4000 from SONICBlue, a box that records hours of television and, for the first time, lets users transmit their favorite shows over the Internet to family and friends that also own a ReplayTV box. And, the new model even skips over commercials while recording shows.
A basic model, which includes a 40-gigabyte hard drive (enough to record up to 40 hours of programming), sells for $699 while a 320-gigabyte model with 320 hours of recording time costs $1,999.
Information: www.sonicblue.com
