Sun
HP Mini 110, 3.5G embedded netbook, HP with Rogers network
Motorola Clutch i465
EasyPen i405 and MousePen i608
1. HP Mini 110, 3.5G embedded netbook, HP with Rogers network, $300 with two-year wireless data plan
What a difference a year makes. It was only last spring that I was writing about a little HTC Shift mini-computer that connected through the Rogers network — but at a whopping cost of $1,700 with a three-year contract. Now Rogers is offering the HP Mini 110 — a netbook computer that offers way more at a fraction of the price. The difference? The explosion of low-cost netbooks. Rogers‘ recent announcement of the HP Mini 110 netbook already embedded with the technology to connect to Rogers‘ 3.5G wireless network is likely only the start of a trend that could see us all carrying around mini-computers. At $300 with a two-year wireless data plan, it’s a price point that’s starting to put mobile computing close to the range of a higher-end cellphone. Like other netbooks, the HP Mini 110 has WiFi. It has a 10.1-inch screen and a keyboard that is 92 per cent of standard notebook PCs. The drawback? Wireless data rates that start at $25, plus system access and other fees for 500 megabytes of data. Available only at Future Shop and Best Buy stores.
2. Motorola Clutch i465, through Telus, $99 with three-year contract
A new communications gadget for Telus’s Mike push-to-talk network, the Clutch i465 delivers the power of two-way radio along with e-mail. It has a full QWERTY keyboard and lets users connect with other members of their team using direct connect, either in one-to-one or one-to-many calls on the Telus Mike network. A workhorse, the i465 is up to military specifications for shock, vibration, dust and other rugged conditions. www.telusmobility.com and www.motorola.com
3. EasyPen i405 and MousePen i608, Genius, $80 and $100
Two new graphics tablets from the folks at Genius let you give free rein to your creative side at home or on the go. The EasyPen i405 has a smaller 4-inch-by-5.5-inch working area making it easier for road warriors to carry around while the MousePen i608 has a larger 8-by-6-inch work area and a cordless mouse with integrated scroll wheel. Bloggers, business types, graphic designers and artists can use the tablets to write, draw, sketch and sign documents. www.geniusnetusa.com
4. Zino portable headphone, Ultrasone, $130 US
Headphones and hearing loss can be a sad combination so Ultrasone has come up with what it is billing as the safest and best-sounding headphones. They put the company’s safe listening technologies in a mobile package — a design that lets you fold them for storage and carry them in their own hard carrying case. The difference from conventional headphones, according to Ultrasone, is that rather than directing sound to the listener’s ear canal, the technology directs it to the listener’s outer ear, delivering surround-sound experience and reducing pressure on the eardrums by 40 per cent. www.ultrasone.com
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