The Siemens PenPhone does just that. It’s a GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 phone (whatever that means), shaped like a fat pen. The surface that you write on doesn’t matter; the PenPhone interprets the movements of the hand and changes them into phone numbers or messages. To find out if the PenPhone actually dials the numbers or sends the messages go to Siemens web site at www.siemens.com.

Get this! The FishingCAM is a camera (waterproof of course) that attaches to your fishing line sinker and lets you see what’s under the water. A monitor mounts on the fishing rod but you can use a PDA, a laptop or a video recorder to see what’s going on. Now if nobody believes your fish story you can show them the video. What’s next? To learn more about the FishingCAM go to their web site at www.fishingcam.co.kr.

Just how mobile can we get? That’s a question I ask myself every day. Just when you think we’ve reached the limit something new comes along. Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has developed an artificial intelligence that they say will make production of low-cost intelligent small helicopters possible. Their Mantis is a small helicopter that can “be told where to go and what to do, and the helicopter will fly off, do the job and find its way home, unassisted.” Sounds like something the military could use in Iraq and Afghanistan (if they don’t already have it there).

The June 2004 issue of Computer Shopper magazine has the Editors’ Top 25 picks. That’s five desktops, five notebooks, five digital audio receivers, five budget handhelds, and five DVD and CD burning software programs. The notebooks are desktop replacement notebooks (my favorite kind) and the editors have reviewed: the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion ZD 7000 ( www.hp.com) with a 3.2 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 512MB of DDR RAM, a 60 Gigabyte hard drive, a DVD+RW and a 15.4 inch TFT screen. The ZD 7000 weighs 9.2 pounds and is priced at $2,124; the ABS Mayhem G1 ( www.abspc.com) has a 3 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 1 Gigabyte of DDR RAM, an 80 Gigabyte hard drive, a DVD+RW and a 15.4 inch TFT screen. The Mayhem weighs 7.8 pounds and is priced a t $1,999; the Sager NA 4280 ( www.sagernotebook.com) has a 3.2 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 1 Gigabyte of DDR RAM, a 60 Gigabyte hard drive, a DVD±RW and a 17 inch TFT screen. The NA 4280 weighs 9.4 pounds and sells for $2,685; the Eurocom D470V ( www.eurocom.com) comes with a 3.2 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 1 Gigabyte of DDR RAM, a 60 Gigabyte hard drive, a DVD+RW and a 17-inch TFT screen. The D470V weighs 9.4 pounds and will cost you $3,412; and lastly the Toshiba Satellite M30 ( www.toshiba.com) with a 1.4 Gigahertz Intel Pentium M processor, 512MB of DDR RAM, a 60 Gigabyte hard drive, a DVD/CD-RW combo and a 15.4-inch TFT screen. The M30 weighs in at 7 pounds and cost $1,649. Needless to say, the editors rate the first three about the same. Personally, I like some of the features of each and none of the choices by themselves.

Iomega has released the REV drive. A new portable USB 2.0 external storage device that looks like their Zip drive. It uses a cartridge about the size of the Zip disk that stores about 90 Gigabytes using native compression. The disks are 35 Gigabytes each and cost $60 each, or $200 for a four pack. The REV drive is priced at $400. For more information Iomega can be contacted at www.iomega.com.

For all you Road Warriors who need the power on the road (literally) Acme Portable Machines has the GMII-102. This portable server has a 2.0 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor, and 80 Gigabyte hard drive (that’s the minimum size), a 14.1 inch XGA TFT flat panel screen with 32MB or 64MB of video RAM, integrated multimedia speakers and sound kit, eight expansion slots and two additional bays which can be used for a CD-ROM and a DVD. The style and the shape of the machine remind me of the first portable machines of the mid1980s. For more information Acme can be reached at www.portablesys.com. Notice that I did not make any jokes about Acme Portable Machines and Wiley Coyote.

Chuck Horowitz, a HAL-PC member, can be reached atchuckh@hal-pc.orgfor questions or comments.