GPS Nav Kit with Bluetooth
Windows Pocket PC and CD
$439
By Socket Communications
www.socketcom.com
Few things make us feel that technology is magical these days. But it does seem special to have your personal digital assistant map your exact location on the planet and then display–or even speak–directions to get from where you are to where you want to be.
It is still magical after a week reviewing this gadget.
Socket Communications did a fine job producing a system that marries a global positioning system device the size of a double pack of chewing gum to a PDA that runs some flavor of Windows software.
Here comes part of the miracle:
It uses Bluetooth wireless radio technology to link the receiver to the PDA, so that you never think about the tiny radio you’re carrying. Included software comes with detailed street and highway maps of all 50 states and Canada.
The test extended from the reviewer’s home and workplace, about seven miles through Chicago’s maze of streets and alleys. As I walked, the PDA’s tiny speaker rang out with a tinny voice telling me which way to turn, and then telling me if I made a wrong turn.
The test used a Hewlett-Packard iPaq 4155 Pocket PC with Bluetooth capacity, along with an expansion memory slot. The map for Illinois consumes 59 megabytes, far more than a PDA’s available onboard memory.
A taxi test–to see how the thing worked inside an automobile–went great when not surrounded by tall buildings.
PESTPATROL INC.
Killer software debugs your PC
PestPatrol Inc. has beefed up its acclaimed bug-swatter (a.k.a. spyware remover, keylogger blocker, cookie killer and ad finder) software in a bid for sales to recipients of holiday gift PCs and laptops. It costs $39.95 at www.pestpatrol.com and most definitely handles much, if not all, of the nasty stuff that arrives in ever-greater numbers.
This reviewer, a rather promiscuous Web surfer, found a whopping 1,500 bits of trouble on one machine.
To scan yours, hop over to www.pestscan.com.
New aid to find all the answers
It can seem like one needs a PhD in Googling to fully plumb the announced and hidden tricks in the world’s busiest Web search engine.
“How to Do Everything with Google” by Fritz Schneider, Nancy Blachman and Eric Fredricksen, a superb and superserious book from McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media, offers amazing information about the plumbing behind the product. For a taste, follow the book’s tip about Google Labs (http://labs.google.com) for a look at tools like Google Viewer, which makes a slide show out of selected sites.
361 pages, $24.99, at www .osborne.com.
