Gadgets: Tops in Tech Stuff

The world is getting smaller, sleeker and more portable. We carry around way too much clutter. Even my 12" laptop is feeling cumbersome these days. It's got to go. I want something smaller. Besides, it won't record Deadwood and I can't take it jogging. I want a modular life - one small item for each distinct set of tasks. Today, I want the new Archos AV400 pocket video recorder/personal media player. I'm interviewing a young director and I need to watch her movie on the go. I'll record the interview and pick up digital press shots for later download. Then I'll go jogging, and I need some new tunes to listen to while I run.

Informally dubbed the "video iPod," the AV400 is a full-on home entertainment unit that got shrunk in the wash. Measuring 4.9 by 3.1 by 0.8 inches and weighing just under 10 ounces, it's very slightly bigger than Apple's iPod but it does so much more - namely, record directly from a TV, VCR, or cable/satellite receiver for later playback. The screen is small, at only 3.5 inches, but it's crisp and watchable, with 262,000 colors. Fully portable as a stand-alone video player - and audio, photo, and data storage device - the AV400 also comes with a docking cradle for the living room and remote control for easier programming. Hard disk capacity varies with the model, from the 20Gb AV420 ($550) to the 80Gb AV480 ($800), for between 80 and 400 hours of video content; a recording scheduler directly controls the VCR or set-top box tuner and syncs with Yahoo TV Guide from the Internet to schedule and automatically record TV programming up to ten days in advance. It also features external speakers and headphone connections; a mic for voice recording; a built-in compact flash reader for transferring photos directly from a digital camera; USB 2.0 for transferring files for portability on the road; MP3, WMA, and WAV playback and storage for up to 1,500 hours of music; and FM radio playback and record. It's truly a first-of-its-kind type of gadget. With it, today, I did everything I needed to do, and my laptop is jealous.

If you, too, are dreaming of a modular life and haven't yet moved into the world of PDAs, consider this new concept from French company Novinit: the first Tactile Digital Assistant, Fingertip-Touchscreen PDA (phew!), the Jackito. Direct marketed and sold only on the web (www.jackito-pda.com), the Jackito is to the PDA as Game Boy is to the Game Cube: it lets you do everything with your thumbs. Unlike other PDAs which rely on a stylus and a handwriting learning curve, Jackito is both instantaneously intuitive and lets you perform two commands, with both thumbs, at once. With seven processors, it relies on architecture that integrates battery-conserving hardware; high-speed firmware; and multitasking, multi-windowing, realtime, tactile responsive software that includes clock, alarm, organizer, address book, to-do, memo, calculators, international time zones, and a selection of puzzles. Multimedia add-ons include FM radio, MP3 player, internal mic, dictaphone, Bluetooth, and headphones. The selling point is it's 100 percent screen activated; there isn't a single button on its front panel so nothing to get in the way of your brain and your eyes. The Jackito's 60mm by 100mm, 240 by 320 pixel widescreen display is available in either black-and-white or color options. The unit is 5.5 by 3.1 by 0.63 inches, comes with a built-in 0.1 Watt loudspeaker, and totals 5.2 ounces in weight. 2.5 Mb of SRAM and 16Mb of NOR Flash provides ample storage; it runs on a single AA battery (or AC power); and includes four standard connectors, two memory card slots and two internal bus interfaces. It looks cool, too, in transparent crystal or a range of color options. Price ranges from $600 to $730.

But it's not all work and no play. On the subject of things to keep your thumbs occupied, November sees the launch of Nintendo's highly anticipated DS, an innovative dual-screen, hand-held gaming device - the next generation Game Boy Advance, if you will. The silver and black DS has a flip screen and is about the size of a paperback. "Two screens really give you non-stop action. You don't have to pause to change weapons or look for a map; it all happens on the fly," says Nintendo's Beth Llewelyn, of the brand new concept. With next-generation game consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo not due until at least mid 2005, Nintendo, which has sold a massive 20 million Game Boy systems in the U.S. alone, is hoping to capitalize on the Christmas market with its portable, novel, competitively priced DS ($149). As well as having two three-inch color screens, the DS adds wireless capabilities via local area network and Wi-Fi connections, a built-in microphone for voice recognition, and a new PictoChat function that lets players write messages and draw pictures on the touch screen with a stylus to send wirelessly to nearby DS users. On initial launch, the company estimates 10 to 12 games will be available for DS play, including Super Mario 64, Madden NFL 2005, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, and The Urbz: Sims in the City. More than 120 games are currently in development for the unit.