New Comdex gadgets emphasize security

May Wong

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 10:01 a.m.

At this year's Comdex show, some offerings from tech manufacturers stretched the limits of the human ability to multitask. The quest to cram functions into a single device is reaching the breaking point.

Samsung, for one, announced a TV Phone with a 1.8-inch screen that lets users watch television, manage their contacts, to-do lists and calendar data, or chat on the built-in cell phone. The device so far is only available in South Korea.

And true to the wherever-you-are-you-can-Web-surf motto of today's techno-hip, all sorts of devices were jam-packed with Web-browsing, e-mail and messaging features.

Handspring showed off a new appliance that has already elicited a buzz -- a combined personal digital assistant-cum-cell phone and two-way pager call the Treo that is due out in early 2002.

It may be no news that cell phones are no longer just phones. But digital video cameras?

Several models equipped with wireless Internet capability were novelties at this year at the largest U.S. technology show.

Ricoh's new iMove digital camera uses the Wi-Fi wireless networking standard to transfer images while Sony Corp.'s Network Handycam uses the Bluetooth standard and also features Web-browsing and e-mail capabilities.

No longer will vacationers need to wait until they get home to send short video clips to friends over the Internet.

A new crop of Web tablets -- portable because they are wireless-enabled and feature keyboards on touchscreens -- was another big draw at Comdex 2001.

Innolabs showcased a sleek-looking tablet with a built-in digital camera for videoconferencing and a smart-card reader for e-commerce transactions.

The big pitch for these computing devices is that you can move from room to room at home or work and remain connected to a network and the Internet.

National Semiconductor introduced a prototype of its new, feature-packed Geode Origami Mobile Communicator.

The multifunction device integrates a wireless videophone, digital camera, video camcorder, MP3 player, PDA, Internet access, e-mail and Microsoft Windows Embedded XP OS -- all in a compact package about the size of a paperback book.

The device will be available sometime before the 2002 holiday season, the company said.

Companies including Samsung and Kyocera have already built personal digital assistant functions into cell phones. Now they're popping up in other electronics -- such as a new watch-PDA from the fashion-accessory maker Fossil.

With the Sept. 11 attacks, security-related products were especially big draws. Besides the latest in antivirus, firewall and encryption software to protect personal or corporate data, there were plenty of products incorporating biometrics.

The technology -- used to identify individual physical characteristics, such as a face, fingerprint or iris - had plenty of booth-stopping appeal.

A few hot biometrics-driven products were a computer mouse from Siemens with an embedded fingerprint scanner and Panasonic's Authenticam, a security camera that can sit on a desk or computer and uses iris recognition technologies to lock out unauthorized users.

Other attention-grabbers were "virtual keyboards" from Senseboard Technologies and Samsung, both of which allow users to strap sensors onto their hands or fingers and control their computers or type by hand motion.

While the prototypes on display were tethered to computers, the actual products next year will incorporate wireless technologies, the companies said.

Some of these cutting-edge technologies, however, may not endure the marketplace.

Ken Dulaney, a Gartner Group analyst, predicted that nearly three-quarters of the technology introduced at Comdex 2001 will not be around in three years.

"We have had this giant meal of new technology over the last few years and we can't digest it," he said.

But many agree the path toward a more wireless world is unstoppable.

"I fully expect to go into a shopping mall in 12 months and fully have (wireless) connections so I could go to mySimon.com and check to see if I'm getting the best bargain," said Tim Bajarin, analyst with Creative Strategies.