Double Click
Personal Technologies
The selection of digital devices and productivity tools available to consumers has never been greater. Here's a brief review of some of the hottest items.
FROM: MAR-APR 2005 ISSUE | BY JOHN W.YU
The 2004 holiday season was dubbed the digital season by retailers, and personal technology goods flew off the shelves. The trend is clear: personal technology, which covers a broad range of hardware and software, is in demand.
Major Trends
Personal technology has gone digital. This trend has emerged over the past 10 years, with clear acceleration since the year 2000. In 2004, personal technology also went wireless with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi dominating the product offerings. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology suitable for personal applications, such as wireless headsets for cellular phones. Wi-Fi is typically used to achieve a wireless connection to the Internet. And many personal technology products now include Web browsing capabilities.
Another major trend is the convergence of various technologies, resulting in multifunctional devices. It is increasingly difficult to clearly categorize products as one thing or another. For example, digital phones often work as cameras, and some digital cameras can be used for e-mail. Convergence is particularly obvious with personal digital assistants (PDAs), with many PDAs now incorporating digital photography, phone, and other capabilities.
Computer technology is being used more and more in consumer electronics. For example, TiVo, the pioneer of digital TV recording/playback technology, uses a PC running Linux and a hard drive to record TV programs. There are now a number of products competing with TiVo, from DirecTV, Toshiba, ReplayTV, RCA, and Sony. At the January 2005 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony unveiled a TV recording product, the Sony DHG-HDD500, that has a 500GB hard drive. (A typical desktop PC currently has an 80GB to 100GB hard drive.)
Digital Cameras
Advances in digital photography are largely the result of advances in computing technology, as a digital camera is really a camera with a mini-computer. In 2004, 54 million digital cameras were sold in the United States. And watch for the latest trend, as Internet-enabled digital cameras are coming.
In fact, the Ricoh RDC-i700 digital camera has built-in wireless e-mail, a built-in Web browser for wireless connection to the Internet, and can dial your PC's modem and transmit images wirelessly into your PC. The Kodak EasyShare-One digital camera has similar capabilities.
Digital Phones
Digital phones have also grown in popularity. It is now hard to find a digital phone that is used only for making phone calls. The most popular digital phones are those that can be used to take digital pictures and the resolution of these has improved significantly. Some of the newer digital phones have built-in FM receivers, and some are capable of playing music in MP3 format.
Increasingly, digital phones have colour screens, and the screen sizes are getting bigger, to better display digital pictures. Some of the higher-end digital phones have gone beyond phone and camera capabilities to offer full PDA capabilities as well. While digital phones have traditionally been used for short text messaging, some of the newer models have built-in wireless e-mail and Web browsing capability. The trend is for carriers to offer integrated voice and data services with Web browsing, text messaging, e-mail, picture and video-mail, and even TV feeds.
Let's look at some examples. The Sony Ericsson 710a phone has a built-in digital camera with 1.3 mega pixel capability, which is not bad for a phone. It also has a built-in FM radio, and is capable of taking video clips. The Nokia 6620 is Bluetooth enabled, has a large 2.5 inch colour screen, and can perform video streaming. The Nokia 6620 perhaps best exemplifies the trend in digital phones, providing e-mail service and an Internet connection.
The Hewlett-Packard h6315 Pocket PC Phone Edition is another digital device that is more than just a phone. The operating system it runs on is Windows Mobile 2003, and it features a GPRS digital phone, detachable QWERTY keyboard, full PDA capability, and can be used for e-mail and text messaging. With this type of device, it is hard to tell whether it is a digital phone or a PDA.
PDAs
PDAs have evolved into devices used for almost everything. Many can now be used as a digital phone, MP3 music player, and digital camera. Following the lead of Blackberry, made by Research In Motion, many PDAs offer e-mail, text messaging, and Web browsing capabilities. With PDAs, there are three main technology camps: BlackBerry, Palm OS, and Microsoft Windows Mobile.
The BlackBerry 7100T is an attempt to make the BlackBerry more like a phone. The 7100T has a narrower form factor and handles more like a phone. It features a bright screen, and an innovative keyboard that can take some getting used to.
PalmOne Treo 650 is representative of the advances in Palm PDA technology. It features a large screen, QWERTY keyboard, digital camera, MP3 player, and e-mail and text messaging. It is Bluetooth enabled, and can open and edit Microsoft Word and Excel attachments.
Samsung i700 is representative of the Windows Mobile technology. It features a dual-band digital phone, digital camera, Pocket PC with Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer, and e-mail. It also has built-in PDA functions and works as an MP3 player.
Apple iPod
Perhaps the hottest personal technology product these days is the Apple iPod. Since its successful introduction, Apple has spun several versions of the iPod: the iPod mini, the low cost iPod shuffle, and the iPod photo. The iPod photo is not only capable of playing music, it is also capable of displaying digital photos. A number of products now compete against the iPod, but Apple's domination of this market segment remains unchallenged.
Dick Tracy Watches
No review of personal technology is complete without mentioning the TV-Wristwatch from Dynamism. This is a fairly bulky wristwatch that features a 1.5 inch TFT screen and built-in TV tuner. The Fossil Wrist Net watch is another Internet-connected timepiece worthy of Dick Tracy. Using Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology, the watch is connected to the MSN Direct wireless service and offers text messaging service, online updates to weather, news, sports, and stock quotes.
There is no telling how personal technologies will evolve further, but we can be sure that interesting times are ahead.
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John W. Yu, MSc, CDP, FCGA, has been in the IT industry since 1970 in a broad range of roles in technology and in management. He is vice-president of IT at
CGA-Canada and the co-ordinator of "Double Click."