Prepare your wish list
The latest cameras and phones fit easily into a stocking by Alan Zisman (c) 2002 First published in Business in Vancouver , Issue #682 November 19-25, 2002 GearGuide column The push is on to get tech hardware onto store shelves in time for the expected end of the year buying frenzy. That must mean it's time for the Gear Guide gift guide. Point, click, and type Microsoft's new Multimedia Keyboards (PC-only) sport buttons for easy access to commands such as play, pause, or volume, along with hot keys for e-mail, Web browsing and more. They come in two styles: a standard flat $50 model and an ergonomically curved $85 Natural Keyboard. Two wireless packages bundle a mouse and keyboard; the $140 Wireless Optical Desktop and the $170 Wireless Optical Desktop Pro, featuring an ergonomic keyboard. Stocking stuffers Sure, any hand-held PDA will fit nicely in a holiday stocking, but the new low price ($169) , makes Palm's new Zire (as in de-zire, get it?) easier to give as a gift. The 2 MB of memory makes it only minimally expandable, but it's a capable little performer with all the Palm basics: phone book, to-do lists, calendar, short memos, and the like. You'll want to print out some of your digital snapshots. HP offers the compact $299 Photosmart 130 photo printer. Though too large to fit in a stocking, it will quickly turn those digital images into attractive 4 X 6 glossy prints, and it includes a variety of slots for digital camera memory cards. No, it's not a new iMac It's the new radio Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is, as the name suggests, a new digital broadcasting standard offering CD-quality music along with added text features such as displaying a song's title and performer while it's being played. Currently, over 55 DAB stations are broadcasting in Canada, potentially broadcasting to 10 million Canadians. (More at www.digitalradio.ca). RadioShack Canada offers a variety of DAB receivers, including a $219 computer add-in card, shirt-pocket sized portable models combining DAB with standard FM and 64 MB of storage for MP3 music ($399; $299 without MP3 capability) and a tabletop clock DAB radio. z DAB is an international standard. Like the metric system, however, the U.S. has chosen to merrily go its own way. Your new portable DAB radio will pick up signals when you're travelling in Cologne or Copenhagen, but not Chicago.
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