BY EVAN KOBLENTZ
Technology Editor, TMC Labs™

Internet Appliances And PDA Gadgets:
Gadgetman's Day Two Report From CES

Two weeks ago, I brought you the highlights of day one of this year's International CES. From the feedback I received, many of you found that column helpful, so it now brings me joy to give you the best of day two.

In the Day One report, we discussed the miscellaneous things first, followed by the presentation of new Internet appliances from CyberFone, Intel, Microsoft, and Netpliance. I vented to anyone who'd listen that most of the current offerings in this class do a poor job of handling Java (and many don't handle it at all). However, I now must make two corrections: First, I'm told that the eventual Microsoft product WILL have Java support; second, the devices I found on Day Two handled Java better than some PC browsers!

The two products that I'm speaking of are the Wireless Web Tablet from Qubit Technologies and the ibrow, from Merinta -- a spin-off of the Boundless Corp. In my opinion, these two products are the twin jewels of the young Internet appliance industry. They are light, full-featured, highly customizable for OEM uses, and affordable. Moreover, they are easy to use. Executives from both vendors gave me live demonstrations, and there is good news: Besides technically-superior products, both companies have solid marketing and distribution plans, and both will be partnering with household brands which, unfortunately, I cannot yet name.

To digress for a moment: In one of the interviews I conducted, we eventually came to the question of how to define an Internet appliance. I see three criteria: the device must be stand-alone (not a set-top box); it must be purpose-built (not a next-gen mobile telephone or a dumbed-down PC); and it must have a Web browser (not an e-mail-only device). This week, I spent several hours conducting further telephone interviews and doing an exhaustive Web search, all in the name of compiling the complete listing of qualifying devices -- view my table (and note that many of the products listed are not yet publicly available).

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming: What else piqued my interest at CES?

One very clever product is the PocketMail BackFlip, from PocketScience. For a reasonable price, PocketScience gives you a special gadget that clips onto the back of a Palm III (or earlier Palm device). The gadget turns the Palm into a wireless e-mail client: Users hold their Palm device up to a telephone receiver; the device dials the toll-free number to the PocketScience server; and the server downloads e-mail to the PocketScience client software on your Palm (the e-mail can come from any three accounts that you pre-select). It's a lot less expensive than buying a Palm VII and it has better e-mail features. Expect a version of this product for the Palm V and CE devices soon.

An equally impressive Palm accessory is the Stowaway folding keyboard, from Think Outside. The Stowaway is a full-size keyboard that actually folds into a Palm-sized shape. I tested this keyboard at the Think Outside booth, and I was very impressed with its sturdiness -- I had expected it to be unstable at its joints. Versions for various PDAs are being developed and I expect the Stowaway keyboard to be an instant success.

Two companies that have existed for more than a year but have yet to make a huge splash are PremiseNET and iReady. Both companies showed off newly improved products at CES. PremiseNET offers the MAXX system, a SOHO PBX product that lets different callers make outside calls and extension-to-extension calls over the same phone lines at the same time. The company is the brainchild of Gordon Matthews, who is largely credited as being the father of voice mail. iReady displayed their Internet Tuner for Fax product, which is technology for enabling IP fax devices and more. Expect a public version in the middle of this year.

The ClassCo company used its booth to display Internet call waiting devices. (Such devices have been featured TMC articles before: specifically, see my article, TMC president Rich Tehrani's column, and TMCnet.com editor Dara Bloom Mirsky's column. Their "CIDney" units range from $25-$100, but what makes them unique are features such as voice-enabled caller announcements and customizable play-to-caller messages.

Perhaps the most creative product I saw at CES is the service offered by ReturnMe.com. For about $15, the company will sell you identification labels with embedded microchips. The chips contain unique codes that are visible to the naked eye. Anyone who finds something that you lose -- for example, a mobile telephone, laptop computer, PDA, keys, etc. -- can identify you as the owner at ReturnMe's Web site. As an incentive to the finder, subscribers are encouraged to offer cash rewards. If the company is successful, it will make us all wish that we had thought of it first.

The final product that caught my eye is the pcPiper, from RFC Distribution. The vendor calls it a "connected cordless phone," but I really don't know if that is a fair classification. Yes, it is a cordless telephone, but it's also an e-mail and news text-to-speech player, a message waiting indicator, a scheduler, a caller ID unit, a digital answering machine, an address book, a voice recorder, and an Internet telephony device. If that list doesn't impress you, consider that it is all controlled with speech recognition! pcPiper also includes a holster and PC-control software. It will be available as an OEM platform, and it is compliant with SAPI, TAPI, MAPI, and WaveAPI. I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud when the press officer demonstrated this gadget: Each time she showed me a feature, I told her how impressed I was because I could not imagine that there was any more...but not only was there more, the features were mind-blowing. There's no way I'm making any predictions about the pcPiper, though, because despite its coolness factor, it needs to retreat, take a deep breath, and find itself.

That, my friends, concludes part two of my 2000 International CES experience. There were non-technical highlights too -- I got to stand just inches from Bill Gates, I met Super Bowl XXIX winning QB Jeff Hostetler (I'm a diehard Giants fan), I won big at the blackjack table, and for once, the airplane pressure didn't make my ears all floopy -- overall, it was a very good trip. Many of the products mentioned here and in my previous column should arrive at TMC Labs in the next few months, the best of which I will feature here in more detail. Viva Las Vegas!

Evan Koblentz welcomes your comments at ekoblentz@tmcnet.com.