The PalmPilot is still the most popular PDA by far, but Windows CE device manufacturers are trying to close the price/performance gap. Philips unveiled the Nino 200, which is slimmer, cheaper and easier to use than the current model, while NEC (www.nec.com) debuted the MobilePro 770 Handheld PC, a midsize CE device with a screen about half the size of a typical notebook display. But at $799, PDAs like this one are unlikely to win many converts in an era of rapidly plunging laptop prices.
The other Big Idea was home convergence, with Sony, Microsoft, Cisco and several other companies pushing products that connect computers, audio/video systems and home appliances to a single home network. Of course, no CES would be complete without cool gadgets, and this show had more than its share. Panasonic showed off an early version of a DVD camcorder, while Sony introduced its Digital8 line of camcorders, they are capable of recording digitally on regular 8mm and Hi8 tapes, which are cheaper than traditional digital videotapes. ReplayTV (www.replaytv.com), a VCR-size box that can digitally record television programs to its built-in memory, was announced last year, but when it hits stores this spring the price will be $300 cheaper ($699).
Wristwatches are getting more wired. Timex and Motorola’s new Beepwear Pro pager/ watch (www.beepwear.com) is the first to accept text messages in addition to numeric ones. It can even automatically adjust to the time zone you’re in. If you’re the outdoors type, here’s something that can help you avoid getting lost in the woods: Casio’s (www.casio.com) GPSwatch, which oddly resembles those handheld phasers on ““Star Trek.’’ And for those with a little premillennium tension, the Info-Mate World-Band Radio (www.sunmate.com), which runs on solar power, a hand-crank generator, car cigarette lighter or AC adapter, and the Pollumetre (www.pollucom.com), a handheld air-pollution detector, are just what the survivalist ordered.
