|
PRODUCTS TO WATCH
(FORTUNE Magazine) – TINIEST TV The world's smallest color television fits in the palm of your hand, making it perfect for footloose (or surreptitious) viewing. Casio's CV-1, slated for a spot in the next Guinness Book of Records, measures about 2.5 inches wide by one inch deep by 2.5 inches high; it weighs all of 3.2 ounces (not including five AAA batteries). That makes it about 50% smaller and lighter than its predecessor. The CV-1 gets standard VHF and UHF channels, using scan buttons to switch stations. The earphone wire doubles as an antenna. Reception is best outdoors or near a window, and you will have to fiddle with the wire to get the best signal. But patience pays off: The tiny 1.4-inch diagonal screen can deliver a sharp picture and decent color. It is available through the Sharper Image for $400. PRINT TO GO If you're a notebook user who needs to print documents on the run, Canon Computer Systems can free you from lugging around a portable printer or borrowing somebody's desktop version. The new NoteJet has a built-in printer right under the hood. Just flip up the keyboard, feed in any standard letter or legal-size paper, and print. The miniature ink-jet cartridge and print head, located between the keyboard and the screen, produce letter-quality text and graphics; the replaceable cartridge is good for as many as 70 pages. The machine churns out graphics two to three times faster than a comparable portable printer, where the connecting cable creates an electronic bottleneck. The NoteJet's computer uses a 486 chip and comes with four megabytes of random-access memory and an 85-MB hard drive for $2,499. You can get 135 MB * for $2,799 or 180 MB for $2,999. The NoteJet weighs a mere 7.7 pounds, about half a pound to two pounds more than other 486-chip notebooks. It also serves as a portable fax receiver when you add a $399 modem. GO FISH Here's an aquarium for your computer that will never leak, filled with finny friends who will live forever. El-Fish, created by a Russian software company called AnimaTek and marketed by Maxis of Orinda, California, lets you breed animated fish and place them in a tank of your own design. You start with specimens caught in El-Fish's ocean, lakes, and streams, and then watch them evolve or breed them yourself. The program generates infinite variations on the originals using genetic algorithms -- models based loosely on real genetic principles. After you've chosen your favorites, El-Fish brings them to life with elaborate 3-D animation. Next, create an aquarium complete with rocks, plants, and shells for your pets to live in. The final step is to set them into a watery dance, choosing among a variety of electronic musical accompaniments. Largely because of the animation, El-Fish requires an ocean of memory: four megabytes of random-access memory and ten MB of free hard-disk space in an IBM-compatible PC with color monitor. A math co-processor (for less than $100) speeds the animation along. Price: $60. |
|