TMCnet News
Spending it - High flyers.(Reinsurance Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) For frequent travellers who demand the utmost in comfort, ease, security, pleasure and speedy access to clients, here are a few of the latest (and future) travel accessories and technology you will want to have to help make your journeys more efficient and enjoyable. CARD SCANNER The fastest business scanner on the market, the CardScan Executive can scan 20 cards a minute in colour, 40 in black and white. Compatible with leading systems (Outlook, Notes, etc), it synchronises contact info to electronic devices such as Palm handhelds, pocket PCs and smartphones, and can be used by multiple users so ideal for team use. It also allows users to save information to a remote CardScan site and retrieve these via the web. Comes with free subscription to CardScan.net. Costs around $350 and is available from www.cardscan.com. FLASH MEMORY The titanium Cruzer Profile by SanDisk - the world's leading manfacturer of flash memory - is a secure USB flash storage drive that conveniently stores up to 1GB of memory and is virtually indestructible. It is secured by a biometric sensor that reads the fingerprint, allowing access only to approved users. The product costs around $75 and is available at www.sandisk.com. POCKET IMAGER The Samsung Pocket Imager is a pocket projector that enables you to give presentations as you travel. It plugs into your mobile, laptop or games console to project your movie, mobile pictures or videos onto the equivalent of a 64" screen. The technology ensures a truly cinematic feel and excellent picture quality. It costs around $986 and is available at www.samsung.com. FIZZ TRAVELLER The Fizz Traveller provides time and weather information for more than 58,000 cities worldwide. It also offers multiple conversion capabilities, including currency, weight, length, area and speed - even clothes and shoe sizes - which can be localised in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Romanian. Capable of operating across multiple time zones, Fizz Traveller also allows users to create to-do lists, mark items as completed, add notes and filter items. The Fizz Traveller software recently won two Best Software Awards from Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine and is available at www.fizzsoftware.com from around $20. MINI LAPTOP The smartest, sexiest laptop on the market, the Flybook weighs just 1.2kg and will fit easily into a briefcase or handbag. It features inbuilt, wireless Bluetooth ad GRPS to enable you to keep connected wherever you are. It has a rotating screen and comes in its own Milan-designed red-leather bag, and is available in six different colours. It costs $2500 and is available from www.flybook.com. DIGIMEMO This handy little device (connected via a standard USB port) digitally captures and stores everything you write or draw on paper, which you can then view, edit and organise in Windows. Great for home and travel, the Digimemo turns your handwritten notes and diagrams into a digital format for downloading and emailing. Up to 66 pages (standard A5 size) can be stored at a time. It also has an optional handwriting- recognition feature so you can convert your handwriting to text automatically as you open Word. Costs around $140 plus $745 for the handwriting-recognition software. Available at www.selwyn.co.uk. SLEEP EASY Tired of uncomfortable, sleepless flights? Rest your weary head on one of the softest, most comfortable pillows around, the Cushtie flight pillow. It costs approximately $18 and is available from www.firebox.com. CHARGE! Kensington have a new range of ultra-slim and lightweight universal power adapters that are up to 70% smaller than other adapters. All products allow users to power their laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, iPods and digital cameras with a single adapter by changing the tip. The DC adapters can power and charge notebook computers from car cigarette-lighter sockets or from Empower points on many trains and aircraft. It costs from around $60 and is available from www.stuff-uk.net. FUTURE SHOCK! Previously the realm of science fiction, biometrics is becoming an integral facet of modern security systems deployed at airports. The new xVista - the UK's first portable iris scanner - will soon be released across all commercial markets, offering potential security to protect against identity theft and terrorism. More reliable than a signature or photograph, the xVista maps the iris accurately and securely for individual characteristics, then registers the template on a central database to verify the user's identity. The templates can then be stored within compact low-power computing systems such as a mobile camera phone, with each memory card being able to store up to 250,000 iris templates. For more information on release date and price, visit www.xvista.co.uk. ATTENTION LONDON MARKET! Vonage has launched its UK version of the WiFi phone, which enables broadband telephone calls over home and office wireless internet networks, and features a 200-entry phonebook and speed dial codes. It is not intended to replace the mobile; rather, it is a portable office phone that can be used on open wireless networks. Secured home and office networks can be set up to recognise whenever the device is in range. The WiFi UTStar.com phone costs GBP89.99 (after rebate) from www.vonage.com. SHOW AND TELL Below Impatica ShowMate is a tiny, lightweight accessory that allows you to project PowerPoint presentations (via Bluetooth) directly from your BlackBerry handheld. The boxed CD, including the ShowMate, Impatica for PowerPoint BlackBerry Edition software, a Bluetooth USB adapter, a 10-foot USB cable and supporting documentation is around $200 - a small price to pay to travel laptop-free! To order, visit www.impatica.com. TIME TRAVELLING With a choice of 150 countries or cities simply by touching the activated tactile crystal, Tissot's latest technology is applied to this elegant Swiss watch with large Arabic numerals to enable you to know the exact time regardless of season around the world. Perfect for long-distance travel, the T-Navigator watch range comes in a variety of styles and costs. Prices start at around $350. Available from +44 2380 646825 or at www.switzerlandclock.com. MINI-ME MEMORY Memorex have two useful memory-saving devices: the mini U3 smart-drive travel drive (top) from 256mb-2GB, which allows you to plug into any Windows XP or 2000 PC, store all your personal preferences and applications, and work or play wherever you are from under $30; and the Memorex 8GB travel drive (bottom right), with 4GB-8GB memory, which allows users to take a massive amount of data with them in just a two-inch square package, from $130. Available at www.it247.com or www.memorex.com. FIND IT! The Loc8tor Plus is a smart, handheld device that enables you to locate missing items or not lose them in the first place. Featuring two different modes - alert and panic - it works by attaching stamp-sized tags to anything you may lose (even an elderly relative or child, who can simply push a button to alert you if lost) and will pinpoint where it is up to one inch away. It has a range of 60ft but you can also set a perimeter for the tags. Great for keeping track of things at home or while you travel, it costs approximately $160 and is available from www.loc8tor.com. Just make sure you don't lose it! FUN AND FUNCTIONAL Another innovation in the lost-property department is the tech air laptop bag range available in standard black (as shown) or more colourful designs. Each bag is made with shock-resistant layers to protect your laptop and comes with i-TRAK technology that codes your laptop to help you track and identify it if lost, also a 'Skinn' pull-out organiser to help manage all the items that normally get lost in a bag. The bags cost between $70-$110 and are available from www.techair.co.uk. |