Gimme that bleeeeping gadget

By Christina Okoli

HERE�are the gadgets you won't be seen without in a short time from now:

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1. One of these days you'll be paying your bus fare with your mobile phone. Nokia, the mobile phone manufacturer, is testing a new SmartCover for its upcoming phones. The cover is being installed with a magnetic strip that will make it work like a credit card. By holding your phone up to a credit card scanner you'll be able to purchase goods in a flash. The scanner will work by contacting a wireless network and payment will be deducted from your bank account.

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2. Forget having to remember things; a new piece of technology will ensure that you never forget a face ever again. The VisionPad looks like an ordinary pair of glasses, but�it is, in fact, a head-mounted computer and monitor that displays text and also acts as a video camera. This utterly useless, but smart-ass little device, connects to a face-recognition system that will be able to identify the person you are talking to, and remind you of their name, their characteristics, where you last met them and when. Spooky, huh

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3. We've all heard of laptop computers, hand helds, palm pilots, personal digital assistants. Well, all these technologies will soon be made redundant in one fell swoop as the IT industry prepares for the eminent launch of the world's first wearable computer. The wearable computer comprises a small body-worn computer that is always on, ready-to-wear and always accessible. The device is lightweight and inconspicuous, and is designed to be taken anywhere the user goes.

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4. Never again will you have to shout, 'I'm on the bus' when someone rings your mobile phone, because with this new gizmo your caller will be able to see where you are. The newly launched Vodafone Message-Cam is the first ever hand-held visual communicator. In short, it is a videophone that you can carry around. With a full-colour, touch sensitive screen, an SMS editor, a voice recorder, as well as Internet access, this little gem is sure to take the techno-world by storm.

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5. The website www.Cycosmos.com is offering surfers the chance to create a virtual replica of themselves. The site allows you to piece together a two-dimensional you, that exists on-line in the same way the real you exists off-line. For example, you can control what the virtual you looks like, programme what type of music it enjoys, decide on your virtual diet and control which cyber-spots it hangs-out at. And, when you're happy with your online clone, the system allows you to walk the streets of cyberspace, meeting and interacting with other virtual 'cytizens'.

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6. Very soon even fish will be able to get online, with the newly developed underwater computer. The so-called WetPC will enable people to use computers in the non-traditional work areas, such as under water, in bad weather and in harsh environments. The idea for the device was conceived by the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. It comprises of a miniature personal computer with a water-proof mask-mounted virtual display and a graphical user interface.
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7. A virtual Walkman! It's so obvious, you'll wonder why someone didn't think of it sooner. The Mobileplayer from Audible doesn't boast any technology we haven't already seen, but it brings together old gadgets to allow people to download audio files from the web and listen to them immediately, without the aide of a computer. It allows the user to carry up to two hours of audio content from the web, then dump and replace the files at the click of a button.

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8. No longer do you have to choose between being online or being accessible by phone. The U.S Robotics' 56K Internet Call Modem offers its users web access facilities as well as a call waiting and caller ID service. It will post a notice on your computer screen to alert you of any incoming calls, and allows you to answer voice calls without killing your Internet connection.

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