October 2008

First, I’m featuring the ideal gadget for those of us who give presentations to audiences at various locations. It’s a tiny video projector from 3M, the Mpro 110. It only manages 640x480 resolution output but can plug directly into a laptop PC via a VGA port. It’s also possible to project the images from handheld devices such as an iPhone. The quality is limited by today’s standards but for something that is literally pocket-sized, it is very reasonable. It should be offered in the US for around $360 with the UK market to follow.

While on the subject of images, the Sony Cybershot DSC-T77 consumer digital camera, comes in some striking colours, but is innovative and worth a mention because of a couple of new features. The first is aimed at avoiding those pictures where someone blinks at the wrong moment. The camera takes two frames for each photo, then deletes the one where a subject’s eyes are recognised as being closed. The second feature detects smiles on faces and automatically fires the shutter when all the faces it detects in the picture are smiling. Great for kids!

Now another quite different product from the Sony stable, which has already had a great deal of publicity: the eBook Reader. This uses an e-Ink non-lit and flickerless 6” grey display aiming to give the feel of a real book page. It also works very well outside in sunlight. Simply load the Reader up with electronic books via your PC in the way you load an MP3 player with music. The Reader can take up to 160 books at a time without using additional memory sticks, and allows 7000 page turns in between re-charging its battery - enough to read War and Peace five times!

Text can be magnified and bookmarks added, although the Reader automatically remembers each time where you stopped reading. The question is: will people take this type of device out with them when travelling if they are already carrying a music player and phone, as well as get into the habit of buying e-Books?

Finally, Trackstick II is a small weatherproof GPS device which records timestamped location and speed information. The data can later be viewed via Google Earth - ideal for parents who want to know how their teenage son really drives when mum or dad aren’t in the car!

Note: While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, BT accepts no responsibility for any information contained in Jonathan’s article, nor does the company endorse any product or service mentioned.