Innovations
Nokia has unveiled the third incarnation of its Communicator smart phone. The 9210, which will go on sale priced at about R4?000 in Europe, but probably far more here in South Africa, keeps its predecessors’ keyboard, but adds a colour screen, high-speed data access and Symbian’s EPOC32 operating system. The Communicator not only supports GSM networks but is also compatible with the high speed circuit switch data (HSCSD) network, which offers Internet connection speeds of up to 43 kilobytes a second. MTN is supposedly rolling out HSCSD services “soon”. As with previous Communicators, the 9210 offers phone, fax, e-mail, Internet and Wap facilities. It sports personal organiser features including a calendar, voice recorder, contact management system and playback of Wav files and video clips. It can also be used to create Microsoft Word and Excel documents and view PowerPoint slides. The Communicator is the first Nokia product to feature the Epoc operating platform developed by the Symbian group. Also debuting on the 9210 is an innovative data synchronisation facility called Sync ML. This enables the user to import contacts directory and calendar data from other platforms and devices including Palm, Psion and Starfish software. The 9210 comes with a 16-megabyte memory card, has a talk time of up to 10 hours and an operating time of 230 hours. At its mobile Internet press conference in Prague last week, Nokia also stressed its commitment to the general packet radio service (GPRS) system but added that GPRS phones were unlikely to arrive until well into next year. GPRS allows wireless data speeds of up to 130 kilobytes a second as compared to the 56 kilobyte a second maximum allowed for landlines. Nokia also confirmed that a personal organiser/phone device which uses the Palm hand-held PC interface, though not the operating system, will be available in 2001.
A California company has developed a new non-lethal laser weapon technology that it believes will enable the disablement of people at ranges of up to 2km. While no such weapon has yet been built or tested, proof of principle research at the University of California has been sufficiently successful to interest the British Ministry of Defence, always keen to bolster one of Europe’s more totalitarian states. Essentially a highly sophisticated electric shock device, the ingenious weapon uses two laser beams to ionise the air between weapon and target. Ionised air can conduct electricity, which flows through this invisible circuit to the victim at a frequency which tetranises immobilises the musculature. According to the patent application, the frequency could be varied to be lethal either to car electronics or to the human heart. The device demands such cutting-edge technology that it is likely to be a couple of years before a hand-held version can be constructed at the moment it would be more suitcase-sized. www.hsvt.org
In European stores this week is Motorola’s latest take on its Timeport series of mobile phones. The Ti-250 updates the original design by offering a choice of finishes (silver, graphite and marine), a new user interface and an apparently easy-to-use rolling menu switch. Like other phones in the Timeport series, the Ti-250 is a triple band model (GSM 900/1?800/1?900 megahertz) that will work in South Africa, most of Europe and the United States. It also boasts Wap browsing facilities, an integrated modem, ITAP predictive text and games. Standby time is rated at 140 hours, while talk time is about 180 minutes. It is available now for about R1?300 dead cheap in the UK. Priced at around R1 900 is the Motorola V100 Personal Communicator. Targeted at SMS-mad teenagers and 20-somethings, the model is a small clamshell-type dual band phone that sports a miniature keyboard and a large-ish screen. It features a Wap browser, will send e-mails and has voice recognition software and vibra call options. Motorola has also confirmed that its first GPRS phone, the Timeport Ti-260, has been pencilled in for a spring 2001 launch.
JVC has unveiled what it hopes is MiniDisc’s secret weapon in the battle for the personal stereo market. It is introducing MiniDisc Long Play (MDLP), a new technology that enables users to record four times the usual amount on a standard MiniDisc. Due to debut on the XM-R700 personal recorder and MX-S6MDR lifestyle hi-fi system, the MDLP facility uses data compression technology to store up to 320 minutes of music on a standard 80 minute MiniDisc. JVC claims that there is no noticeable reduction in sound reproduction from conventional MiniDisc recording.
You too can have one of the first personal PhonePages, though it won’t be much use until third-generation phone systems arrive. The idea is that when someone calls you, your PhonePage will be sent to their mobile. PhonePages can also be viewed on the web at www.my.no, but you have to know someone’s mobile phone number to look them up. The company’s site is at www.thephonepages.com.
Palm Inc has bought Anyday.com, a favourite web-based personal information manager, and plans to move it to www.palm.net. You don’t need a Palm to use the service: it synchronises with Palm OS systems, Palm Desktop for Windows, Windows CE (but not PocketPC), Outlook 97, 98 and 2000, Lotus Notes, Lotus Organizer and others.
The three tenors (Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti) make their webcast debut on Sunday with a Christmas concert from Vienna (see www.onlineclassics.com). The programme includes White Christmas, Jingle Bells and Amazing Grace. Black music site Darkerthanblue.com will be webcasting film of Craig David’s current tour from December 5. See www2.darkerthanblue.com// promotions/craig_david_home.html.