(FORTUNE Magazine) – SECURE CORDLESS PHONE The threat of eavesdropping worries many telecommunications users, from CEOs to Princess Di. Now you can keep conversations secure in your own backyard with the Escort 9000 from the Escort division of Cincinnati Microwave. This digital cordless telephone uses spread-spectrum technology -- a jam-resistant radio transmission technique developed during World War II. First the voice is converted into a digital signal, and unlike other cordless phone transmissions, the signal is duplicated and sent many times in a random pattern. Since it is spread over a wide bandwidth instead of traveling on a single frequency, the signal takes on characteristics of radio ''noise'' and is difficult to intercept. Result? Your conversations are harder to pick up and less susceptible to static. Because the Escort 9000 broadcasts at frequencies of around 900 megahertz, it has a range of four to five times that of older 46- to 49-megahertz analog models. Price: $399.

DESKTOP COLOR PRINTER Those everyday office documents, like letters and spreadsheets, command more attention in color, but the cost and time of full-color printing have been impractical. Until now. The ColorScript Laser 1000, by QMS of Mobile, Alabama, the industry's first desktop color laser printer, makes full-color documents easier and more affordable. Previously, firms wanting to produce color materials in-house chose from two options: inexpensive but slow-moving inkjet and thermal printers for small volumes (about $2,000 to $8,000); or, for big jobs, a stand-alone color laser printer (around $40,000) or copiers modified to work as printers ($25,000 and up). By contrast, the Laser 1000 costs $12,499 and prints full-color documents at two pages per minute, plain text at eight pages per minute (the same as many monochrome desktop printers). A typical page combining text and color costs between 8 cents and 40 cents to print, depending on how much color is used. A total color page, including tinted background, runs about $1. Straight text costs around 4 cents a page. The company cut costs by reducing moving parts. In larger machines, for example, the paper moves through the printing sequence four times, taking on each color separately. The Laser 1000 gets high-quality results with a belt that picks up the four colors of toner, transfers the complete image to a drum, and then prints it on paper in a single pass.

THE LATEST MODEL CARS Gentlemen, start your engines -- and your PCs. Revell-Monogram of Morton Grove, Illinois, has an irresistible combination: Model kits with computerized videogames. The first of Revell-Monogram's new Power Modeler line is European Racers, a ready-to-assemble Porsche 911 kit plus a CD-ROM. The disk has step- by-step, 3-D instructions for building the Porsche as well as three other model cars -- a Lamborghini, an Italdesign Nazca, and a Bugatti, each sold separately. The disk also offers tips on finishing and painting, historical details for each car, and a high-stakes driving game. To play, get ''behind'' the wheel of the car of your choice and head for the racetrack. As with the Porsche shown, the game features true-to-life dashboards and handling. Characters such as a gas station attendant, a mechanic, and a police officer appear in motion video to help or hinder you. The first Power Modeler kit requires a CD-ROM drive, an IBM-compatible PC, and a Sound Blaster audio card and sells for $70. Separate car kits run about $11 each. More Power Modeler kits are planned, including airplanes, back-road cars, and -- what else? -- dinosaurs.