Hot Stuff - 23 Oct 2002

HARDWARE

Expand Your Workspace
http://www.samsungusa.com,
800-726-7864

Samsung Electronics released the SyncMaster 151v and SyncMaster 171v, flat-panel displays that take up less space on your desk. The SyncMaster 151v is a 15" display that weighs 8 pounds and features a 330:1 contrast ratio, a 140/120 viewing angle, and a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768. The SyncMaster 171v is a 17" display that features a 350:1 contrast ratio, a 150/125 viewing angle, and a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024. The displays include Natural Color software, which ensures that the colors you see on your monitor are consistent with the original images. Pricing is $399 for the SyncMaster 151v display and $699 for the SyncMaster 171v display.

Illuminate Your PDA Screen
http://www.belkin.com,
800-223-5546, [email protected]

Belkin released the PenLight Stylus for PDAs, a device that lights your screen so that you don't overdraw from your battery to use the backlight setting. The device also helps you avoid eyestrain. The stylus features a twist-on power switch and works with any PDA including Handspring, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Palm, Sony, and Toshiba devices. Pricing is $9.99.

WIRELESS

Bridge Wired Networks and Wireless Workstations
http://www.orinocowireless.com,
610-712-8081, 866-674-6626

Proxim released the ORiNOCO AP-200, a dual 10/100 Ethernet wireless Access Point (AP) for small-office environments. The AP features microwave-oven interference-resistance technology. You can configure the AP as a base station for a standalone wireless network or as a bridge between your wired network and wireless network. The AP-200's network-management features include Web browser management, SNMP management, Trivial FTP (TFTP) kernel upload, extended MIBs, and embedded Telnet. The ORiNOCO AP-200 provides 128-bit encryption and ORiNOCO's WEPplus encryption scheme, which helps prevent message interception by intruders. Pricing is $199.

AUDIO/VIDEO

Catalog Your Music Collection
http://www.base40.com,
[email protected]

Sane Soft released CD Trustee 2.0, software that lets you catalog your music collection by simply inserting CDs into your computer. The program then accesses the CD Database (CDDB) Internet database to gather song titles, artist name, and album title. You can manually add other data, such as the CD's location if you've loaned it to a friend or your overall rating of the CD. You can also use the software to catalog MP3 files. Pricing is $39.95.

WIRELESS APPLICATION

Use a Dictionary with Your PDA
http://www.roadlingua.com,
[email protected]

TB Labs released RoadLingua, a dictionary database that lets you use dictionary functionality within any text application. You can select a word in any text editor or viewer to read its definition. The software resides in your PDA's expansion memory, so you don't use up valuable device memory. You can choose from more than 250 dictionaries, including English-to-German, English-to-French, English-to-Spanish, and English-to-Japanese. Pricing is $14.95. RoadLingua runs on Pocket PC, Palm, and Handspring's Visor OSs.

WIRELESS TECHNICAL RESOURCE

Understand 802.11 Technology
http://www.oreilly.com,
707-827-7000,
800-998-9938, [email protected]

O'Reilly released 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide by Matthew S. Gast. The book guides you through all aspects of planning, deploying, and maintaining a wireless network. The book also covers security concerns unique to wireless networks. You'll learn how the 802.11 protocols work and which options are available when problems arise. You'll also learn about two new 54Mbps standards: 802.11z and 802.11g. The book outlines Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) problems and discusses the 802.1x security standard. The 443-page book costs $44.95.