RELEASE: SEPTEMBER
Counter Intelligence
At first glance, Ergo Audrey might seem merely part of the current wave of plug-and-play Web/email appliances. But the countertop computer isn't just another browser life-support system. It's a crafty combination of PDA, Web TV, and all those soccer schedules stuck to your fridge.
3Com's new new thing is a kind of PalmPilot for the whole family: It gives household members instant-on access to their password-protected email, schedules, and address books. It keeps shared lists and calendars that you can check before you go shopping or during an after-school snack. It syncs with individual Palm organizers through a cradle, like a regular computer, and lets you view the shared family calendar remotely via the Web. The device dials up your ISP several times a day for updates. Or, if you have a broadband connection, a $69 Ethernet dongle will network it through one of the two USB ports. Audrey runs a proprietary operating system that blends PalmOS and QNX, a portable-device variant of Linux.
A clear plastic "antenna" - inspired by Jetsons robot-maid Rosie - lights up when there's new email (and considering how much mail a typical family gets, it will probably always be lit). Pop the light stick off the top, and you can use it as a stylus on the touchscreen. You can compose text with the detachable infrared keyboard. Or record and send messages as voice attachments.
Audrey's 8-inch color screen also offers channels for news, weather, sports, entertainment, finance, and traffic - all from name-brand partners like ABC, CBS MarketWatch, and ESPN. Weather and traffic are presented with at-a-glance clarity as you grab a cup of coffee; other news stories include full-frame video and animations. These aren't standard Web pages; they're screens created specifically for Audrey. You can add six more channels to the six presets: shopping portals from industry leaders in drugs, bill paying, dry cleaning, food, et al. To change channels, simply turn the big knob - it's a vintage television interface even Dad can understand. And yes, you can also use the $499 Audrey to surf the Web proper, using Netscape's lightweight Gecko browser.
3Com Ergo Audrey: (877) 949 3266, www.3comergo.com.
RELEASE: OCTOBER
Don't Log On Without It
Like the sound of racking up credit card debt with your laptop - without waving your card number or password in the face of identity thieves? So does ComSense, which promises to make ecommerce impulse buying as easy as point and squeeze. The key is a swipe-free smartcard with a tiny circuit like the ones inside musical greeting cards. Pressing the ComSense dot sends an ultrasonic signal to your PC microphone, triggering an app that routes an encrypted one-time-use passcode to an online retailer's server, where it's decrypted and compared with a credit card database. Ka-ching!
ComSense Technologies: +1 (212) 687 9863, www.com-sense.com.
RELEASE: SEPTEMBER
Aggro Kitty
This place stinks; I'd rather be somewhere else," says Katbot, a jaded space alien and the latest brainchild of illustrator/Web designer Angela Martini. Katbot's nine lives unfold online through animated adventures, diary entries, email, and a 24/7 webcam. Disguised as an exchange student, the neon-green feline slacker spies on earthlings in Hicksville, Long Island, where she sleeps through classes, sneaks out to clubs, and files updates to her home planet, Katatonia. Alienated suburban teens have an apt mascot.
Katbot: www.katbot.com.
RELEASE: FALL
G2C Rollup
Dot-consolidation isn't just for dotcoms. FirstGov.gov, run by the General Services Administration and powered by next-gen search tech courtesy Inktomi's Eric Brewer, offers one-stop searching of US government archives, which are now spread across more than 20,000 federal agency Web sites. So you can get loan info from the Small Business Administration, then download those chicken-farming instructions you've always longed for. And it's hip to branding, too. Private and nongovernment affiliates can wear the FirstGov trademark, as long as they meet criteria like free access and no user-tracking, ads, or porn.
FirstGov: www.firstgov.gov.
RELEASE: OCTOBER
Saying Yes to Drugs
With PocketScript's Speech-Driven Interface, physicians can call up patient records and drug information instantly by speaking into a portable tablet - a familiar process, since dictating prescriptions is an old routine. If the speaker-independent software can't completely decipher a doctor's speech, it makes guesses that can be confirmed with a tap on the screen. The WinCE-based PocketScript SDI ties in to e-prescribing systems that look up patients' prescription records. The order is then sent automatically to the pharmacy - and it's always legible.
PocketScript: +1 (513) 398 7900, www.pocketscript.com.
STREET CRED
Kvetch of the Day
Babes in Toyland
Jog-O-Rama
The Nuonvision Revolution
Memory Gardens
Alpha and Omega
The Zero Effect
ReadMe
Music
Surroundabout
Fear of a Freak Planet
Hasta la Vista, Baby
Just Outta Beta
Master of Vine Arts
Hooked on Symphonics
Contributors
