Double Click
Latest and Greatest
Comdex 2002 brought the usual cornucopia of new products and ideas, with a few standouts.
FROM: MAR-APR 2003 ISSUE | BY G. WYNNE POWELL
Every year in early November, thousands of computer devotees descend on Las Vegas, Nevada, for one of the world's largest computer conventions — Comdex. The various manufacturers show off their latest and greatest ideas, products and concepts, hoping to find that special magic that will drive the industry's next success. This year was certainly no different.
The Right Remedy?
One big push was in the area of tablet PCs. Two years ago, Microsoft's Bill Gates unveiled the first tablet prototypes. Today, this product is a reality and ready for both the corporate and personal computing worlds [see "Waiting to Exhale," CGA Magazine, January-February 2002]. Major manufacturers released their new tablet offerings, including the Compaq PC TC1000 (www.hp.ca), ViewSonic V1100 (www.viewsonic.com) and Toshiba Portege 3500 (www.toshiba.ca), which took the top spot in the PC category this year. Other manufacturers, such as Panasonic, announced their intention to manufacture a tablet product down the road. These products are expected to sell for around $3,600.
The tablet PC is designed to increase mobility and productivity. The message stressed at Comdex was that this technology will succeed where previous versions of pen-based computing have failed because it incorporates powerful wireless communications in a product that is comparable in size to a standard sheet of paper and weighs less than most notebooks.
Most of the new tablets come with a docking station and keyboard, as well as a digital pen and a mouse. They feature the new Microsoft Windows XP for Tablet PC operating system, which allows you to take notes and mark up documents easily.
The tablet is intended to become the user's primary computing device, allowing even handwriting to provide input to e-mail and Microsoft's Office Suite. The initial concept was to reduce the weight of your PC so you could carry the tablet with you anywhere. Sadly, most still weigh around three or four pounds. Battery life has improved, but the norm is still only around four hours.
Still, the tablet concept appears ideal for anyone who spends a significant amount of time in meetings or working away from their desks. The tablet is a full-function PC offering bright displays, high performance graphics and a large hard drive. While it has good handwriting recognition, it also offers digital ink, where your writing is stored as an image that you can edit, but it is not converted into basic computer text. This feature is expected to become the preferred handwriting approach in the tablet PC category.
Survival of the Smallest
Confusing the tablet concept that was in full display was the release of the all-new wireless Smart Displays. At first glance, Smart Displays appear very similar to tablet PCs. However, where tablet PCs are full-function PCs, Smart Displays are really touch-screen monitors that communicate wirelessly with a normal PC. This allows users to access their PC stationed in its normal place via wireless connection on the Smart Display. Docking stations and keyboards extend the usability of this new PC-on-the-move concept. Users are limited only by their ability to receive wireless transmission from their PC desktop.
Included in these new products are the ViewSonic airpanel V110 and V150, which won Comdex's top honour in the personal hardware category, other models from Fujitsu Ltd., an NEC Corp. model to be released in Japan and LG Electronics Inc.'s M1500.
Smart Displays feature touch-sensitive screens so you can leave your mouse with your desktop. An on-screen keyboard and a writing pad with handwriting recognition help users to communicate with their PC. A nice touch is the "instant on" approach. If your PC is running, with one touch, you get the information you need virtually instantly on the Smart Display. And Smart Display bests the tablet PC in both life and load: the battery life on these products hovers around five hours, with units typically weighing less than three pounds.
Challenging the Tablet PC and the Smart Display concepts was the release of very light traditional notebooks, such as the 2.6-pound, .6-inch-thin Toshiba Portege 2000. Toshiba boasted that this model is now the world's thinnest notebook. It comes with a 20GB hard drive, wireless Wi-Fi 801.11b technology [see "Cutting the Cord," CGA Magazine, September-October 2002] and Ethernet connection, a large 12.1-inch display and 256Mb of RAM. The battery life on this product is estimated to be two hours.
Software Stuff
Apart from the hardware news, Comdex Fall 2002 also saw some significant software advances. Microsoft confirmed the beta release of its Office 11. This product is expected to ship mid- tolate-2003. The major reason for this Office upgrade is its connectivity ease with industry standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) [see "The X Factor," CGA Magazine, September-October 2001].
For the network-centric among us, Microsoft announced that its Microsoft Windows.NET server 2003 will be available in April [see "Information Integration," CGA Magazine, July-August 2002]. This product integrates XML and Web services and will be available in 32- and64-bit versions with activated support for 64-way large multi-processing systems to allow huge scalability for networking needs. Initial tests indicate a potentially dramatic improvement in speed —two times that of prior products in this category.
Trust Digital (www.trustdigital.com) proudly showed one of the industry's most needed products — the Mobile Discovery Monitor. This device helps network administrators control and monitor personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Palm devices by communicating the status and type of devices plugging into the network [see "Palm Reading," CGA Magazine, July-August 2001]. Employee-owned PDAs or handheld devices often find their way onto the corporate network, opening up potentially significant system security issues. It has been virtually impossible for a network administrator to know if unauthorized devices are connected to the network. And, as small devices are prone to loss or theft, the mobile discovery monitor puts data control back in the hands of the corporate network.
Trust Digital also displayed PDA Secure, a product that forces every handheld device (including smart phones) to have the security policies as set by the network administrator. PDA Secure defines when and how a handheld can access the network, while encryption options prevent unauthorized beaming or use of data. These features can help protect an organization from any legal exposure for inappropriate release of data that falls under the new Canadian privacy law requirements.
On the e-mail front, Creo Inc. (www.creo.com) launched Six Degrees software version 1.5, designed to significantly improve e-mail-driven productivity. It automatically connects and displays related e-mail messages and other files to allow easy project or task management. Users report that the product reduces PC desktop clutter and helps you organize your e-mail files, improving productivity. Sadly, this product currently works only in the individual PC environment. Hopefully Creo will consider developing a network version in the future.
On the Periphery
In addition to all the buzz around hardware and software, Comdex showed some innovative peripherals this year.
The "Z" keyboard from Ideazon Inc. (www.ideazon.com) is an interesting low-cost concept. It features interchangeable keyboard faces that are custom-designed to support a variety of games and applications. This product is a unique concept that might improve productivity and software satisfaction levels.
Fingerprint biometrics identification systems have become mainstream. High-capacity finger swipe sensors allow biometric identification to be incorporated into keyboards, mice and stand-alone units that are attached to the PC via the USB port.
The International Biometric Group Market Report 2003-2007 (www.biometricgroup.com) indicates that the biometrics industry is expected to generate revenues in excess of $6 billion by the year 2007. The concept is to replace costly, inefficient system passwords with identification by fingerprint, iris of the eye or other identifying physical characteristics. The fingerprint technology currently has the largest share of this security market. Costs per PC were driven down to less than $50 at this Comdex, making fingerprint authentication quite affordable for most enterprises.
While there were plenty of promising items and ideas on display, the good news about this Comdex was its proof that inventive, unique computer products are arriving at a blistering pace. The challenge is to find those items that can enhance our digital enjoyment.
[ TOP ]
G. Wynne Powell, FCGA, D.Tech (Hon) is president and COO of London Drugs Limited, a chain of drug stores in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and president of TLD Computers Inc., which specializes in PC networks and custom programming. He chaired the BC Institute of Technology from 1989 to 1995.
"Double Click" is co-ordinated by John W. Yu, M.Sc., CDP, FCGA. Yu has been in the IT industry since 1970 in a broad range of roles in technology and in management. He is vice-president, Information Technology, at CGA-Canada.