All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
__ Just Outta Beta __
__ Channel Zero __
Satellite service DirecTV plans to broadcast two channels of high-definition television - one will likely have pay-per-view movies and another's focus is still hush-hush. But unless the latter channel turns out to be round-the-clock Mama's Family, picking up high-def programming from DirecTV is probably a better bet than waiting for broadcasts from your local station. But keep in mind that DirecTV's broadcasts require a new decoder and dish.
__ Release: fall. DirecTV: +1 (310) 535 5000. __
__ A Pug's Life __
The sweet science has its noble side (When We Were Kings) as well as its brutish one (ear biting). But nothing has put boxing in such a good light as Knockout Kings for PC and PlayStation. Inhabit the powerful arms of champs such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya or face famous pugilists as an unknown. Electronic Arts outfitted a good many celebrated fighters in motion-capture suits - it's almost like being clobbered by the real thing.
__ Release: fall. Electronic Arts: +1 (650) 571 7171. __
__ The John Doe Cam __
Webcasting live video used to be a daunting task unless you were willing to pay dearly or cobble together some complex tools. Jenni of the famed JenniCam produces her own Web show, but that's because the DIY showgirl is a professional Web slinger by day.
Now, thanks to Zulu Broadcasting, even nontechies can make live Web programming. The Portsmouth, New Hampshire, company's Video Vamoose connects to a camcorder and sends streaming video to the Web. The sub-5-pound box uses Progressive Networks's RealPlayer platform to compress a videostream and send it through the unit's two phone jacks. Customers can rent Video Vamoose for political-campaign coverage, parties, or corporate events. Though the price may seem steep - about US$500 for two hours - the service includes all the hardware and online setup to go live in front of thousands.
With five Web sites ready to show programming, Zulu should fit right in with the Net's yen for voyeurism. Some of the free broadcasts will be open to anyone with a modem; others will not. "Vamoose could clearly be a cost-effective strategy for political candidates or a sort of open-access MTV," says product marketing manager Andrew Lickly. "But I think people will want to password protect their weddings."
__ Release: fall. Zulu Broadcasting: +1 (603) 436 0779, on the Web at www.zulubroadcasting.com/. __
__ Data Sponge __
The HP CapShare 910 Information Appliance is a handheld scanner as easy to use as a kitchen sponge. Just wipe the flat edge a few times across a page and it reconstructs the complete document on a high-resolution, black-and-white LCD. Any piece of paper you can hold in your hand - a client contract, a library book, a top-secret embassy document - can be emailed to a friend in seconds.
Using the paper's texture as a road map, CapShare's optical sensors track its location on the page as it scans. Then, as if putting together a jigsaw puzzle, its microchip brain fits the text and images into a coherent whole. You can send the complete digital pages via an infrared port or a serial cable to a laptop, smart phone, PDA, or printer. Shaped like a half-bagel, the device can hold up to 50 pages of text and images.
More like digital Silly Putty than a full-fledged scanner, CapShare doesn't give you the ability to manipulate data - for most applications, it uses Adobe's Acrobat format. While these files are easily shared by all computers, they arrive locked and don't allow changes.
__ Release: fall. Hewlett-Packard: on the Web at www.hp.com/. __
__ Kill Your PC __
In The Invisible Computer, Donald Norman, former guru of information appliances at HP and cognitive-science prof, spells out the thinking behind a new species of digital tools. (See HP's first entry in "Data Sponge".) Computer users, Norman believes, are fed up with temperamental, complex desktop PCs. The next trend will be easy-to-use digital appliances with one clearly defined purpose.
__ Release: October. The MIT Press: +1 (617) 253 5646. __
__ Chess King __
Not cool enough to make the chess team in high school? Garry Kasparov's Web site puts out a call to anyone who wants to learn about or play the game. Dubbed Club Kasparov, the site boasts live Web matches, chess news, and Q&A sessions with masters. Virtual chess may be a less embarrassing way for beginners to lose. But seasoned players can relax: Kasparov's computerized archrival, Deep Blue, won't be playing online.
__ Release: October. Club Kasparov: on the Web at www.clubkasparov.org/. __
