by Brad Gibson, bgibson@maccentral.com
and
Dennis Sellers, dsellers@maccentral.com
July 24, 2000, 7:00 am ET
Spend some time in the nooks and crannies of Macworld Expo and you'll
find several diamonds in the rough, intriguing products from companies,
often small ones, that don't have the time or resources for major
promotional campaigns. MacCentral has spent time looking for such
products. Here's what we've found:
Contour Design
has a new neoteric UniRack that's designed to complement Apple's G4
mini-tower design and is targeted to G4 owners who want a flat, stable
and safe surface for keeping small peripheral devices and other necessary
work-related items. Fitting atop the G4 (and Blue G3) system, the
US $19.95 UniRack sports dual purpose snap-on device management system
or CD rack and the capacity to hold up to 16 CDs.
Pacific Image Electronics has a neat USB film scanner that's small,
ice-blue translucent and offers one-touch scanning. The PrimeFilm
1800i scanner captures at 1800 dpi so users can enlarge images
to approximately 7.8 inches by 5.1 inches and still maintain the 1-to-1
300 dpi resolution sufficient for color separation and offset printing.
It comes with Presto! Page Manager and Mr. Photo software.
Comta Workstation
was showing off its line of iCom desks. These colorful work areas
sport CD holders, pen/stationary holders, and wire management. Plus,
they come in sapphire, amber, emerald, and ruby.
If you like the Comta line, you may also want to check out the Tolomeo
Micro from Artemide.
These laps -- which come in fruit flavors -- have a table standing
luminaire for orientable direct, task, incandescent lighting, as well
as fully adjustable, articulated arms.
MacCentral has mentioned e-Picture
Pro before on it's original announcement, but we just had to mention
it again because it really is powerful, flexible, fast and easy just
like its maker, Beatware, says. With e-Picture Pro, you can animate
Web graphics and video. You can even import 3D models and create 3D
text to add perspective and dimension to your media.
MacMate
was showcasing its iCradle, a wrist rest that sits beneath your keyboard.
And guess what? They're available in different colors.
Totally Hip has released LiveSlideShow
to take graphics and photos and turn them into self-contained slide
shows, complete with narration. You can create a slideshow from a
series of images. Simply supply your images; put in some cool-looking
buttons; and then save it. Your movie will now be in one single file
that can be read by anyone with the QuickTime Player. Funny thing
... its onscreen interface looks a lot like the one on iMovie. It
costs $30 for a limited time if purchased online.
Hoodman Corp.
was selling its line of PowerBook "hoods." They're nylon
reinforced plastic devices you can install on your portable's screen
to make it easier to use outdoors.
SmithMicro
Software showed off a one-to-one online video conferencing product
that will be available in September for only $69. Called VideoLink
Pro, it works with any G3 or G4 Macintosh to offer video conferencing
over the Internet or across a LAN. Based on the H.323 V3 video standard,
you can choose from three different video image sizes. VideoLink Pro
uses e-mail or IP addresses or your telephone number to connect with
others. From what we could see, it works pretty well and has little
video and audio delay (your results could differ based on a number
of different variables, including connection speed.)
The Accordance Bible Atlas and Accordance Bible Software from OakTree
Software were promoted as ways to "Mac-simize" your Bible
study.
For road warriors packing PowerBooks or iBooks, digital cameras, pens,
pads, etc., the Office on Wheels from Tutto
certainly looked savory. You can cram all the office essentials into
this rolling carrying case. And it has a telescoping puller bar so
you can "walk" it behind you like a dog.
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