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Technology

Great gadgets at CeBIT 122

Posted by timothy from the bank-accounts-prepare-to-die dept.
janeko writes: "CeBIT is propably the largest techno/gadget exhibition in Europe. Every year there is great news of new gadgets and this year is no different. A company from Israel called VKB has created a vitual keyboard that can be displayed, using a laser, on almost any surface. Connect it to your PDA and use your kitchen table as a keyboard. Talking of surfaces, Olympia has created sound device called Soundbug that uses any hard surface as a speaker. Again, attach this to your PDA and kitchen table and enjoy your mp3's. News.com has more." Soundbug was also mentioned in this earlier story; what other gadgets from CeBIT are worth talking about this year?
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Great gadgets at CeBIT More

Great gadgets at CeBIT

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  • Looks like this guys really has something againt his kitchen table... luckily there were no chainsaws on show!

  • VKB.. (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Fixer ( 35500 )
    Nice looking tech and potentially very useful, if you need a keyboard only occaisonally.
    Remember the keyboard on the Atari 400? Ugh..
    • Yeah, but that was only because it would hardly register your fingers unless you pressed hard. I think it could work if it accepted light touches..
    • We used to lovingly call it the "hammerboard" because it would take a hammer on the buttons to register keystrokes. :)
      • > We used to lovingly call it the "hammerboard" because it would take a hammer on the buttons to register keystrokes. :)

        We used to refer to it lovingly as "case decoration" since that seemed to be its only use.

        Virg

  • Ergonomics? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mr Windows ( 91218 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:13AM (#3180673)
    It's hard enough to find a decent keyboard with physical keys. I imagine that typing on your kitchen table (or wherever) is going to get painful pretty quickly. Perhaps the flexibility of the keyboard and the ability to get rid of physical effort might have a positive effect, but I'd be reluctant to use a "virtual keyboard" for a lengthy period without having the ergonomics properly checked out
    • Typing on a flat surface is indeed really tough, just try it ... write some letters on a sheet of paper and try to type sth. on that! Perhaps you can't call it typing anymore, it's just touching!?
    • Of course it can't be a substitute for a real keyboard. But I imaginge it would be much better than the handwriting recognition, onscreen keyboards or super-tiny keyboards you find on PDAs, or the horrid 9-key text input system that cell phones use. Those are both unergonomic and slow.

    • Re:Ergonomics? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by ricardo2c ( 561838 )
      Actually, you may end up with a much better keyboard! If you use a cushioned surface, I don't think you'd get painful fingers. Just don't punch the table! _touch_ it... Besides, with a laser printed keyboard, I could change the key designs the way I want. "Hey, I'm in the mood for a ergo-keyboard now! Separate and twist'em keys!" Or even an expanded keyboard, with as many extra keys as you wish. Sliders. BIG buttons. Piano-keys. Whatever!
      • RSI and carpal tunnel syndrome aren't only caused by the physical hitting of the fingers on a hard key; the real problem is the multitude of repeated small movements that are made when typing. I don't think that cushioning the keyboard makes this better, and (IME) "spongy" keyboards are nasty to type on.

        OTOH, it would be nice to be able to modify your keyboard at will.

      • I'll project it over an original IBM PC keyboard missing it's cord so I can get a nice 'Clakity-Clack" feel for my Palm 105

  • Tiny Linux PDA with Thumb input (Score:5, Informative)

    by Cy Guy ( 56083 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:15AM (#3180683) Homepage Journal
    Yhaoo is running a story on the Filewalker PDA [yahoo.com] from Invair [invair.de].

    It sounds like neat gadget, using IR to connect with your mobile phone for email/msg access, but the price makes no sense unless it actually comes with the phone itself.

    Here are the specs [invair.de] from the Invair website:

    * Metal Housing
    * Tiny credit card form factor
    * CPU: 133MHz Intel StrongARM system-on-chip processor
    * Memory: 32MB SDRAM; 16MB Flash ROM
    * LCD display: 160 x 240 pixel resolution, 16 grayscale, EL backlight
    * Dimensions: 1.6 x 2.5 in. (42 x 63 mm)
    * I/O expansion: IrDA, USB
    * Card slot for MMC and SD Card
    * Dimensions: 3.4 x 2.2 x .74 in. (85.9 x 54.4 x 18.8); Weight: 3.2 oz (92 gm)
    * Batteries: 2 AAA or 2 AAA Accu
    * Multilingual Embedded Linux operating system (German, English, French, Italian, Spain)
    * Multilingual Application Software:
    Email, Notes, Contacts, Todo, Calendar, Clock, Alarm, Games, Linux-console
    * PC-synchronization with MS Outlook, plus backup/restore
    * Email Support: SMTP und POP3
    * Fileviewer: TXT, HTML, PDF, JPEG, GIF
    * It will be sale for the price of 649 Euros with a 32 Mb MM-Card included in April 2002
    * FILEWALKER was developed and is manufactured in Germany
    * The desired language is chosen during initial configuration and can be changed anytime with a hard system reset.
  • This laser keyboard thing is interesting, but take a look at virtual keyboard [techextreme.com]. Seems to me this one is a little more useful.

  • earlier on Slash? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Alien54 ( 180860 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:21AM (#3180700) Journal
    we did have rthese stories:


    Virtual Keyboard [slashdot.org] by CmdrTaco with 248 comments on 05:27 PM -- Wednesday November 14 2001
    Using Tables as Speakers [slashdot.org] by Hemos with 312 comments on 10:41 AM -- Thursday March 14 2002

    at least products are making it to the trade shows.

  • Wraparound fabric keyboard for PDAs (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dipfan ( 192591 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:23AM (#3180705) Homepage
    The laser keyboard mentioned may be vaporware, but in the meantime Logitech had on show at CeBit a very cool little wraparound fabric keyboard that doubles (when not in use) as a case for a Palm PDA. It's water-resistant, has hot keys, and folds out to be about the size of a notebook QWERTY keyboard. I think it's retailing in the UK at about £100 ($140), which seems steep, but I'll find it very useful for use in libraries as it's totally quiet. On sale in the UK next month.

    The company's press release is here (has pix):
    http://www.logitech.com/cf/newsarticle.cfm/ 4406

    • i agree with the vaporware assessment...has anyone checked out the VKB Web Site [vkb.co.il]??? it seems a little lite on information or any actual content...in fact, the only thing there seems to be of any detail is bios of the management and the board of directors...i almost expected it to be one of those fake SEC investment sites [slashdot.org]...
    • 1. It's not a vaporware - it's very real

      2. You cannot buy it (at least not now) - it's for selling to OEM's.

      3. You can also connect it to your cellular phone (depends if your OEM supports it)
      • As far as I am concerned, if you can't buy it, it's vapor. Once you can buy it, or an OEM starts bundling it with something, then it is no longer vapor. It may exist somewhere, but if end users can't get it, it is still vapor. Makes me think of that saying "If a tree falls in the forest..."
    • When I followed the Logitech link:

      "Cookies Required

      "As part of offering and providing personalized information, Logitech uses cookies to store your Country and Language preferences. A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. This allows us to provide you with Logitech product and company information relevant to your preferences. In order to use the features of the Logitech site, you must configure your browser to accept cookies and have javascript enabled."

      Right, Logitech is willing to bet that I read English - witness the message - but won't say more to me in English unless I let them use my machine to help track me. Too bad. Next time I need a mouse I'll have to find a new brand.
      ___

  • Nokia 7650 Phone (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nookieman ( 548184 ) <kiel AT nookie DOT dk> on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:25AM (#3180712)
    If you are a real mobile phone freak like me, you ought to be interested in the new Nokia 7650 [nokia.com] mobile phone. It has a color display, digital camera (640x480), bluetooth, does MMS, has MIDP JAVA support and uses the Symbian OS.

    Look at the live CeBIT web-thing demonstration the MMS feature here [nokia.de] (it has girlie pictures :-)).
  • Ok , besides the fact that it is the biggest IT fair in the world, not Europe as stated, Cebit this year was pretty boring.

    I don't think we need gadgets now, but software and applications for this gadgets. From this point of view it was really dissapointing.

    And I am sorry to say but what really impressed me was Visual Studio .NET and their Web Services on .NET framework. I am really no Microsoft fan, but others still have a long way to develop such tehnologies.

  • 2000 (Score:2, Funny)

    by KDENCE ( 558103 )
    See this is what I am talking about! I had way too many expectations for the year 2k and for the first time it seems that we are getting some of that Jetsons stuff that I thought we would have by now. This keyboard seems to be a glimpse of the future that I thought was fast acoming in the 80's. I am very impressed with this and just can't wait until the flying car comes into my local car dealer, plus the robot maid that does all my work around the house for me.

  • CeBit is the largest trade show WORLDWIDE (Score:5, Informative)

    by Moritz Moeller - Her ( 3704 ) <{ten.xmg} {ta} {hmm}> on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:28AM (#3180726)
    Yes. It is not only the biggest in Europe, but the biggest in the world, even including the North American Continent.

    Some facts:
    2.041.550 m show area
    ~ 8.100 exhibitors (3.000 intternational ones)
    800.000 visitors
    • True. I'll be there tomorrow. I hope it's not as full as last year...

      Additional it may be interesting to the American readers, that there will be a "CeBIT america" next year in New York, which will be positioned against Comdex. (Heise reports here [heise.de]. In German, couldn't find the English announcement... I'm sure it's somewhere on www.cebit.de [cebit.de]...).

      Ambitious undertaking, will be interesting to see how they'll do. On the other hand there are already several CeBITs worldwide [worldwidecebitevents.com] which AFAIK are doing quite well...

      • Re:CeBit is the largest trade show WORLDWIDE (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Heise translates stories for their english newsticker page, if the content is of an international nature. The English report is here [heise.de].
      • This means unfortunately that the European CeBit will be even smaller next year, as much of the companies will prefer to focus on one of them. And guess whose homes are most wired in the world, and is more likely to be a market target?

        But on the other hand to US-only companies were this year in Cebit acocunting for around 2% of the space and this in a so called American stand, so they could be interested ....
  • What I want to know is when will the Zaurus be shipping? I know you can pre order it on Amazon but I haven't seen anything about an official release date.

  • Wireless Monitors (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bakajin ( 323365 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:43AM (#3180783) Homepage Journal
    The VKB looked very cool. Too bad the website was next to useless.


    I am excited about the new wireless monitors. I was seriously concidering the PaceBlade [paceblade.com], a laptop with a wireless monitor! But felt it almost what I wanted, just not quite. For instance, no mention of whether or not I can use the monitor with a standard computer or if it takes analog signals for watching TV. I'll wait for that perfect combination.... hopefully not too long! I'm salivating.

    • The PaceBook's monitor isn't a monitor - it's the standard computer. Instead of the cpu being under the keyboard, the hardware is in the monitor/tablet part.... so you can use any usb keyboard -- the keyboard that comes with it is infrared.

      I don't think it takes analog signals from TV, but hey, tv is so last century.

  • Did you see... (Score:2, Redundant)

    by SkyLeach ( 188871 )
    The picture of the guy typing while driving?

    Virtual or not that scares the crap outa me.
    • Yeah, this is just the kind of technology we need ;)

      Bad enough to have people yapping on cell phones while driving, but to have someone typing on their dashboard while driving? The pic on that slideshow has the driver straddling a double yellow line on a two-lane road while trying to input data on his PDA... NOT a very good marketing image, IMHO.

  • how does it work? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by gargle ( 97883 )
    ok, so how does this virtual keyboard work? How does it know what keys you're pressing?
    • I think it detects that the contour of your finger doesn't move any more when it hits the surface.
      • for detecting the contour, shouldn't something be reflected back to the device... that is either the device should assume reflective surface or reflective hands... only thing reflective on my hands are the nails... even if nails are used then while typing they can reflect the light in any direction.. any comments??

        • When your finger interrupts the beam, there will be a reflection from your finger. It is not that it will go in a particular direction, but it will go in every direction, including back to the sensor. The frequency of the light used is very well known, so there is little chance of interference from daylight etc. It knows which key you hit because it knows what it was painting when it detected the reflection. There will be some kind of complex processing for it to figure out what the baseline should be for the position of the typing surface, but all that can be dealt with using modern tech.

          It's really just a glorified light gun or light pen.

          The lack of tactile feedback would suck for touch-typists.

          • I can't say I agree that all touch typists would miss the tactile feedback. That said, I personally would miss it, but I thought of a very good use. When possible, I could project the virtual keyboard on a real keyboard. The value is that I wouldn't need to connect the real keyboard so I can park it anywhere on the desk (without worrying about wireless keyboard communication, which causes audible interference in my sound recording gear or requires a line-of-sight to the sensor for IR), and I could use the projector without it when I'm away from the desk.

            Virg

  • kinda phunny.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18, 2002 @10:52AM (#3180820)
    Look at the laser-keyboard website...

    the main graphic eventually flashes to a dude trying to type on his dashboard...

    while he's driving right down the CENTER double yellow lines.

    Who are the ad wizards who came up with that marketing idea, and how long do we have to wait to get rear ended by some dude using his dash as a keyboard???
  • If you press a 'button' that's in the shadow of one of the other fingers, the keystroke would not be seen.
  • http://itavisen.no/video/vkb%20video.wmv


    It's Micros~1 format Windows media but it works okay.


    Enjoy!

  • I found this [www.vg.no] story in a norwegian newspaper this morning. I've not seen it mentioned on any english pages yet though. The Company webpages [printdreams.se] are still rather non-functional, but I guess some info should appear there soon. :)

  • All the laser displays Iv'e seen.. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by RandomInAction ( 566930 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @11:08AM (#3180866)
    ..flicker at a frequency seemingly tuned to create horrible headaches. If this thing is real you couldn't use it for more than a few minutes, before having an epileptic fit. Increasing the refresh is not a simple thing, needing more than one laser/mirror combo. It's the mirror that draws the image, the laser remains still in most designs. Unless MEMS tech has vastly improved since last night, this seems to be an investor black hole.
    • Hmm are you sure that it is a laser projection? The image is static, laser projection is useful for changing images only. It seems to me that it simply projects a mask. Unless it is possible to have multiple keyboard layouts of course.
      • Quite true, it could be using a very bright LED, and a mask that would be cheaper, initially I thought that a laser would solve any focus/perspective issues, but looking at this video [itavisen.no] Iv'e changed my mind. Putting the unit on flat surface cures that. Yep I think it may well be a mask, much simpler and cheaper. Add a couple of detectors and away you go.

  • Is it just me or is the guy using the keyboard on the car dashboard driving in the middle of the road, right over double yellow lines?

    The message there is pretty clear... :-)

  • keyboard on any surface? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by White Shadow ( 178120 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @11:43AM (#3180996) Homepage
    I have a hard enough time finding keyboards that I like and trying to type on a table top sounds like a bad idea. I'm pretty picky about key travel (the distance that a key moves when pressed). I really like the small key travel of laptops and I searched around for weeks before finding a desktop keyboard that had an acceptable key travel [solidyear.com]. Even if you're not anal about key travel like I am, it's nice to have some sense that your keys are in the right place by having something move. I imagine it would be pretty easy to get lost trying to type on a table with no feedback from the table.
    • You're trying to compare this idea to the keyboard you would use on a laptop or desktop computer. I think that's not really a great comparison.

      Instead, try comparing the idea of typing a quick 2 paragraph email with a "virtual keyboard" to the idea of laboriously pecking out a one sentence email on the numeric keypad on your cell phone.

      Now is it a little more desirable? I thought so.
  • Sharp's Linux PDA 'Zaurus' looked really nice.

    Fujitsu-Siemens showed a 400 MHz PDA (PocketLoox) based on Intels X-scale, sucessor to the StrongARM.

    Lots of PDA:s everywhere. I think the telephone - PDA combination will be popular, every PDA seems to have a phone-addon.
    • Yes, Sharp's Zaurus with its hidden keyboard and resonable screen size is a good PDA. Clearly the best offer if you want to go the Linux way.

      At Cebit Sony also displayed its PDAs. Not just the 760 model that recently went on sale but also the comming model NR70 with the ultra-hi-res display 320*480 pixels, keyboard and a with/without build-in camera.

      I do not care much about the camera thing, but having a hi-res display gives more posibilities to PDAs. I want a PDA to also be used as an e-book, a street map and a way to look up reference info - hi-res displays helps that.

      For things like this Pale pilots 160*160 display is just too little.

      You can see the NR70 at one domes at Sonys Cebit stand or look here e.g.:

  • BFS (Bruised Finger Syndrome) has virtually replaced Carpal Tunnel Syndrome as millions of brain-dead gadget freaks pound on thier new virtual keyboards.

    -BBB
  • see the Story [heise.de] at Heise.de.

    The guys from www.yopi.at [www.yopi.at] claim, that they already ship this neat little thing since February.

    Bye egghat.
  • I wonder if you can shine it onto the floor and jump from key to key so you can get some exercize while emailing?

    Bob.

  • Here's a potential trojan attack... (Score:4, Funny)

    by C A S S I E L ( 16009 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @12:28PM (#3181197) Homepage
    Couldn't someone record an MP3 which, when played back on your kitchen table acting as loudspeaker, has the effect of typing on the laser keyboard projected on the table, hacking into your system?

    Developers really do need to consider the security implications of their products, especially when making our kitchen furniture smart.

  • The issue I see with this is that in order to detect what key you're on, it has to use a sort of laser-interrupt detection mechanism, and as such, most likely can't detect pressure. As you can see in the video, this means you're required to type in a hunt-and-peck style, since you can't rest your hands on any part of the keyboard. I'd think this would also resutl in lots of fatigure, not being able to let your hands fall down.

    might be nice for a palm or cellphone, but we need something more like a paperthin speak and spell keyboard...

  • I have a keyboard for my Palm Vx and I am very happy with it. One drawback: you can't use it with a modem since the both require the same slot. I'm wondering if the VKB would be possible to use with a modem so we can chat live instead of use grafitti. It doesn't look like it would be comfortable, but it'd be an alternative.
  • Hercules was showing a new monitor: the 920, looks like the 720, but 17". They said it would retain for about 1000 Euro.

    They're really nicely designed these monitors with a blue metallic metal frame, thin, and with a nice metal foot.
    • The best monitor I saw at Cebit was the IBM hi-res LCD display MD22292A1 with 3840*2400 pixel. With just 22" (56cm) diagonal it has 200dpi. Despite the miniature pixel size even text in small font was very clear.

      Great to see that someone finally cares about quality (small pixel size) rather than quantity (big and bulky screen).

      Shame about the price, they ask about 12000 EUR.

      See e.g.: http://www-6.ibm.com/jp/oemj/lcd/md2229.html

  • Sony PlayStation 2 Linux Banned from CeBIT (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Blackwulf ( 34848 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @12:58PM (#3181377) Homepage
    I just read a post here [playstation2-linux.com] written by someone at SCEA confirming that CeBIT required all PlayStations to be removed from the show floor - even though they were not showing any games. (You can't play games at CeBIT, which I understand and agree with - but the Linux kit isn't a video game.) She even mentions that the signs with the apology could not mention the name PlayStation - they had to refer to it as "our computer system".

    This was a gadget I was wanting to hear about from CeBIT, too bad I won't be able to.
    • Yeah, yet another thing to thank Bill for
    • From what I read, Microsoft complained to the event organizer that Sony was letting people try out the Playstation2 when such behaviour was not allowed. Imagine, a company actually letting their potential customers try out a new device at a tradeshow? How dare they!

      Sounds like M$ was being catty, the organizers wouldnt have bothered if M$ hadnt complained.

    • Yeah, Yahoo is running the story here [yahoo.com].

      I don't understand why MS thinks this will win them any fans. The story includes a MS denial that they were the ones that ratted on Sony, but the show organizers have confirmed it was them.

      MS had people playing the XBox [amazon.com] at the show, but they were paid MS employees. Sony should have just paid 1 euro to everyone that wanted to play on the PS2 [amazon.com], then claimed they were doing the same thing as MS.

  • CeBIT sucked bigtime..; I can't believe I wasted my time there... Why did it suck? cos it was waaaaay too bussiness and completely non-tech.
    And you know what really topped it off for me? Me and my friends couldn find a place to rest. First we squatted down at some German Bank or something, and the guy chased us away 'dis is keine shitzplatse' or something, and then when we found some empty seats some lady came up and said "this is an area that is preserved for bussinesmen". I mean c'mon... wtf do bussiness ppl care about all those nifty gadgets eh? well zark cebit, and zark bussinesppl
  • Microsoft = Party Poopers

    http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-861947.html
  • Talking about laser keyboard, here's a keyboard called KeyCase [eleksen.com] from Eleksen [eleksen.com].
    It's a roll-up keyboard based on ElekTex, an "intelligent fabric" developed by the same company. At lease you can use it to roll up your PDA in. :)
  • This seemed interesting to me:

    The Casio Exilim EX-S1 [casio.com]

    It won't fit into my wallet yet because it's 11.3mm thick, but the small size is intriguing to me. This is a gadget which I would carry around in my daypack regularly, something I don't do with my SLR or my digicam because they're too bulky and heavy.

    The downsides (for me):

    1. The price would have to come down quite a bit (an article [heise.de] in c't magazine mentions a price "under 500 EUR"), but even 400 EUR is a little much for my taste.

    2. SD cards: thanks, but no thanks. Don't know about MMC, is this any good?

  • The laser thingy doesnt really impress me. I want to see something like they had in final fantasy the movie.
    Think about it, wearing a lcd display over one eye, and the real worl info being piped to that display could be augmented by a computer. (see previous article Augmented reality [slashdot.org]).
    Instead of removing adds, why not make it display a virtual keyboard, and have some AI check wether the fingers pressed a virtual key?
    • I have seen an article about this awhile back. Some stanford guy I believe. Had server set up on a roof with wireless connectivity to a headset gadget that parsed reality. One example he used was looking at the cashier in the grocery and having her name emblazoned realtime on her lapel. Also, having his grocery list in his field of vision.
  • Another cool gadget showed at CeBit was Ericsson's new Chatpen which let's you write SMS messenges and e-mails with "normal" pen and paper and then send it with your bluetooth phone. Really cool. Concept is from swedish company Anoto [anoto.com] which has also made a work together with Logitech [logitech.com].

    Really cool stuff!

    Ciryon

  • Gadgets galore... (Score:3, Informative)

    by frozenray ( 308282 ) on Monday March 18, 2002 @02:36PM (#3182006)
    what other gadgets from CeBIT are worth talking about this year?

    Here's a collection of neat CeBIT gadgets from the c't newsticker [heise.de]. All articles are in German, but there are pictures and links to the manufacturer's webpages:
    • The i-Buddie is a joke, primarily considering the target prices. If its main selling point is that it does away with "expensive" batteries by requiring mains power, and uses cheaper desktop components, where exactly is the savings? The mentioned prices are as high as regular notebooks with true portability.
      • The i-Buddie is a joke, primarily considering the target prices.

        I agree, that's why I wrote "lower price (at least in theory)". The idea is interesting, though: rechargeable batteries are bulky, heavy and expensive (ever tried to buy a replacement battery for an old laptop?). Price is only one factor, you can build a lighter system and/or one with and additional spindle.

        • The idea is interesting, though: rechargeable batteries are bulky, heavy and expensive (ever tried to buy a replacement battery for an old laptop?). Price is only one factor, you can build a lighter system and/or one with and additional spindle.

          Apple has already done it...sort of. The old PowerBooks (before the G4 Ti PowerBooks) had two bays, one normally held a drive of some sort (CD, hard drive, DVD), one normally held the battery. Apple shipped a "weight saving device" which was just a hollow plastic rectangle that fit in the slot. Replacing the drive (DVD in my case) saved a little weight, replacing the battery saved a noticeable amount of weight. Still not like half the weight. You could also use two batteries which was one way to survive a long flight.

          Apple's way didn't save any money since the shipped a battery (list price $120, which one a PowerBook priced laptop is a whole lot less money then the drive, or that I spent on RAM...). I'm not sure the price savings is really all valuable. I don't use my laptop unplugged all that much, but I do like being able to move it without shutting down, and with "instant on" when I power it up again....hmmmm...and "not all that much" is about twice a week, so yeah, I would really miss it.

          As for space, the battery in the new PowerBook is pretty small, not large enough to get a CD-ROM, but probably big enough for another laptop drive.

          Now PowerPC CPUs (so far) use a lot less power then modern x86 CPUs, so you might save more weight/money/space on a x86 this way...

  • damn cool; now with high-end x86 processors and better graphics:

    Defietly the one thing I could see wanting; not a G4 cube, but a lot cheaper and more powerful.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/business/02q1/020315 /c ebit-08.html
  • is a gadget that can use any surface to display spam and online porn. For example:

    From: Sasha234x3qu8r@yahoo.com
    To: jb234923j492j34
    Subject: saw your recent posting

    Click Here [slashdot.org] to see Debbie Diamond, live in 3-D, on the kitchen counter next to the dish drainer!
  • would be taking out large plate glass windows. Resonant frequency, anyone?
  • Check out the eightythree - it's in the brochure PDF at http://www.tiqit.com [tiqit.com] .

    It's a handheld-sized full PC; with 640x480 touchscreen, SMS-style keyboard and mini "nipple" mouse. 10 gig hard drive, all the ports you could want, the list goes on and on!

    Damn, I'd love one of these.

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