Demo 2004: Wish list keeps expanding

Welcome to the "Things I Want from Demo 2004" edition of Cool Tools. In addition tothe products highlighted last week, here are some exciting products launched at the show that I'll need to begin saving my pennies for:

Vulcan showed its FlipStart PC, a cross between a laptop and a PDA that fits in the palm of your hand, weighs about 1 pound and runs on Windows XP. Yes, that's right, Windows XP.

The FlipStart is a clamshell-type device that includes a thumb-style keypad (and nub-style pointer device) for text input and mouse control. It includes integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN connectivity for Internet connections and e-mail. The specifications are impressive - the FlipStart has a 1-GHz processor, 256M bytes of RAM, a 30G-byte hard drive, a 5.6-inch HDTV-style display (1,024-by-600-pixel resolution), 3-D graphics card with 8M bytes of video RAM, an embedded 1.3-megapixel digital camera and a USB 2.0 port.

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Welcome to the "Things I Want from Demo 2004" edition of Cool Tools. In addition tothe products highlighted last week, here are some exciting products launched at the show that I'll need to begin saving my pennies for:

Vulcan showed its FlipStart PC, a cross between a laptop and a PDA that fits in the palm of your hand, weighs about 1 pound and runs on Windows XP. Yes, that's right, Windows XP.

The FlipStart is a clamshell-type device that includes a thumb-style keypad (and nub-style pointer device) for text input and mouse control. It includes integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN connectivity for Internet connections and e-mail. The specifications are impressive - the FlipStart has a 1-GHz processor, 256M bytes of RAM, a 30G-byte hard drive, a 5.6-inch HDTV-style display (1,024-by-600-pixel resolution), 3-D graphics card with 8M bytes of video RAM, an embedded 1.3-megapixel digital camera and a USB 2.0 port.

Pricing and availability wasn't announced, but officials said it would cost about the same as a midrange notebook. Go to www.flipstartpc.com for more details.

Valence showed the next generation of its mobile power system (N-Charge), which offers up to 10 hours of battery life for laptops, portable DVD players, MP3 players, cell phones and PDAs. The system, which uses its Saphion lithium-ion phosphate technology, has a modular design (two units offer the 10 hours), weighs about 3 pounds and comes with universal connections through a partnership with Mobility Electronics. The battery can recharge multiple devices simultaneously. When the Valence battery system is connected to a notebook and the user is running the computer in a location where it can't be plugged into a power supply, the Valence battery is drained first, then the computer's onboard battery kicks in. Conversely, when batteries need recharging, the notebook's battery takes the first charge, then the N-Charge battery recharges.

The system will cost about $200, and availability was not yet announced. Go to www.valence.com for more details.

Stata Labs launched Version 2.0 of its Bloomba e-mail client, which aims to take on Microsoft Outlook as an alternative e-mail application.

The system integrates an awesome search engine component that searches old e-mails (and attachments!) in seconds. The company has added calendaring functionality, improved contacts and the ability to download to a Palm-based PDA.

The searching capability and integration with a SpamAssassin anti-spam application alone should compel users to check it out - the addition of the calendar, PDA synchronization and improved contacts features are icing on the cake.

The software will cost about $90 and is scheduled to ship in the second quarter, the company says. Go to www.statalabs.com for more details.

Read more about wireless & mobile in Network World's Wireless & Mobile section.