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Sasnett, a product development consultant, looks over the 3Com "Audrey" Internet appliance during the Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas. The Web surfing device is unique as it can synchronise information with hand-held devices that run on the Palm operating system. The appliance also offers three ways to send e-mail — typically typed e-mail, as a hand-written message or as a voice message. The product started shipping in November and runs $ 499 for "linen" colour, $ 50 more for coloured units.
JEFF
MURDOCK of Denso inserts a flash memory card into an in-dash Windows CE Navigation system. The product, which should be on the market next year, will enable mobile Web-browsing, e-mail, GPS navigation, and play DVD movies and MP3 music files among other functions. The device uses Microsoft Car.Net infrastructure and uses a special automotive Windows CE operating system. By 2005, 50 per cent of all new cars and 90 per cent of luxury vehicles will have some sort of in-car computing device, Jeff Brown, a Microsoft marketing manager, said.
A 20-gigabyte removable hard drive, contained in the in-dash car jukebox, is on display. The drive can hold 600 CDs of music in the MP3 format and the jukebox also has a CD player for regular or MP3 CDs. "SSI, a Taiwan-based company, plans to have the car stereo available in February with prices ranging from about $ 500 to $ 600, depending upon the size of the hard drive," Jimmy Buchheim, president of the New Jersey office of SSI America, said.
THE retro-styled Kerbango radio by 3Com is one of several stand-alone Internet radios on display at the show. The radios allow for listening to thousands of radio stations around the world without the use of a computer. The Kerbango, which needs a DSL line or a cable modem, is available from Amazon.com for $ 299. "A model, with a built-in 56K modem that can be used with regular phone lines, will be available soon," said a 3Com representative.
THE Microsoft Xbox was unveiled at the show. The Xbox gaming console is due out in the fall. The Xbox features four ports for game controllers, a DVD tray, and an Ethernet port for Internet access, allowing users to download new versions of software or games. It also has a built-in "rumble" feature that makes the game controller vibrate in a player's hands to simulate the action in a game.
JEFF
MURDOCK of Denso inserts a flash memory card into an in-dash Windows CE Navigation system. The product, which should be on the market next year, will enable mobile Web-browsing, e-mail, GPS navigation, and play DVD movies and MP3 music files among other functions. The device uses Microsoft Car.Net infrastructure and uses a special automotive Windows CE operating system. By 2005, 50 per cent of all new cars and 90 per cent of luxury vehicles will have some sort of in-car computing device, Jeff Brown, a Microsoft marketing manager, said.
A 20-gigabyte removable hard drive, contained in the in-dash car jukebox, is on display. The drive can hold 600 CDs of music in the MP3 format and the jukebox also has a CD player for regular or MP3 CDs. "SSI, a Taiwan-based company, plans to have the car stereo available in February with prices ranging from about $ 500 to $ 600, depending upon the size of the hard drive," Jimmy Buchheim, president of the New Jersey office of SSI America, said. 
THE retro-styled Kerbango radio by 3Com is one of several stand-alone Internet radios on display at the show. The radios allow for listening to thousands of radio stations around the world without the use of a computer. The Kerbango, which needs a DSL line or a cable modem, is available from Amazon.com for $ 299. "A model, with a built-in 56K modem that can be used with regular phone lines, will be available soon," said a 3Com representative.
THE Microsoft Xbox was unveiled at the show. The Xbox gaming console is due out in the fall. The Xbox features four ports for game controllers, a DVD tray, and an Ethernet port for Internet access, allowing users to download new versions of software or games. It also has a built-in "rumble" feature that makes the game controller vibrate in a player's hands to simulate the action in a game. 