Digital Gear: Gadgets Keep Getting Smarter

It seems like just yesterday that Bill Gates talked about "smart displays," wireless monitors that would free computer users from their desks. Extending Microsoft's vision, Avocent has introduced and now enhanced its own smart display system. And as displays get smarter, so do TVs and DVD players. Models with intelligent set-top boxes and automatic DVD censoring programs are also making their debut.

Wireless Monitor Extender

Limited mobility around the house can be attained using Avocent's LongView Wireless KVM Extender, which frees the user from the tangle of wires for keyboards, mice, and monitors.

The $995 unit comes with a wireless transmitter that attaches to a PC and smaller receivers that attach to a keyboard, monitor, and mouse. Using IEEE 802.11a wireless networking, the transmitter sends wireless signals that can be received by the keyboard, monitor, and mouse up to 100 feet away from the PC.

The LongView Wireless KVM Extender compresses video and can transmit 24-bit color at up to 30 frames per second, even through walls, the company claims. The wireless data transfer is secured using Advanced Encryption Standard technology.

ClearPlay Censored DVD Player

Want to edit out "Vain References to Deity" or "Explicit Drug Use" from movies? ClearPlay's $70 DVD player claims to do the job, eliminating content deemed inappropriate for children.

Filters created by ClearPlay professionals censor graphic violence, sexual content, and language so a film meets the standard for a PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) rating under the Motion Picture Code. The DVD player can accommodate filtering data for as many as 300 movies at a time.

It costs $5 monthly for access to filters for recent movies, and a $40 one-time charge gets you access to filters older than 90 days. That includes free updates for three years. The updates can be applied to the DVD player via a CD mailed by ClearPlay or by downloaded files burned to a CD. A setting "uncensors" movies for a normal cinematic experience. ClearPlay has been around a few years; this product expands on an earlier program that was limited to DVDs played on a PC.

Set-Top Box Plus Phone

Cocom has big plans for that set-top box sitting on your TV right now: to make it a hub for digital entertainment and computing.

The company's DMC 200 set-top box is a PC, home audio player, media storage device, residential Internet gateway, and telephone, all in one unit. Its basic function is as a cable box, but it merges cable TV, Internet access, and gaming in such a way that its mix-and-match capabilities make it a versatile addition to the home. The same Cocom remote that you use to surf channels can be used to surf the Internet. Attaching a telephone wire can connect the box to the Internet via DSL, and a headset gives it Voice over IP capability. Furthermore, attaching an optional camera converts it into a videoconferencing box.

With a broadband connection, it can receive TV programs off the Internet or any IP-based network, says Dwayne Sapp, Cocom sales and integration manager. "Cable companies are offering IP-based phone service. Phone companies are offering video-based entertainment service, with MPEG-4 coming in. We [support] both," he says.

The box runs Windows CE .Net Embedded and Windows XP Embedded with basic browsing (Internet Explorer 6.0), e-mail (Embedded Outlook Express), messaging (MSN Messenger) and multimedia (Windows Media Player) capabilities. It has a built-in Insignia Jeode Java Virtual Machine and Macromedia Flash player. Running on an Advanced Micro Devices Geode SC1200 266-MHz processor with 32MB of RAM expandable to 512MB, the DMC 200 has three USB ports and optional 802.11g wireless and Bluetooth capabilities.

The DMC 200 isn't being sold directly to consumers yet: Cable providers need to offer the box.

The DMC 300, Cocom's next model, will have an integrated hard drive and a personal video recorder, a feature already seen on many set-top boxes, including models from DG2L Technologies and Scientific Atlanta.

Two Monitors in One

Envision two 15-inch LCD monitors side by side and merged onto one stand, and you've got the DS-1500 from DoubleSight Displays.

A two-in-one motherboard at the back of the monitor doubles the screen space by replicating signals to the dual displays, allowing a user to stretch the viewing area. The monitor, which is divided by a vertical band, is cheaper than buying two separate displays, according to DoubleSight. Its price: $799.

The resulting display has a viewing area of 24 inches horizontally by 9 inches vertically and a contrast ratio of 400:1. It has a resolution of 2048 by 768 pixels and a response time of 25 milliseconds.

The monitor has an analog input but lacks a DVI, according to the product specifications. One hassle could be trying to fit it on a desk: Users will need to make sure they have enough horizontal space.

Bluetoothing Problems?

A product may claim to be wireless, but still need wires. While setting up Logitech's DiNovo Media Desktop, a Bluetooth wireless mouse and keyboard package, you use wires to connect DiNovo's Bluetooth hub (which also serves as the mouse charger) to your computer's USB port and PS/2 port and a power outlet. The product may operate wirelessly, but getting started involves a jumble of wires.

Once it's installed, the DiNovo hub supports the mouse, keyboard, and other Bluetooth devices wirelessly, and the system works smoothly. The thin and sleek keyboard uses four AA batteries and can communicate with the hub even through walls. The MX900 optical mouse takes some getting used to, but it works well. The hub recognized a Bluetooth headset and a Sony Ericsson T610 phone without hassle.

A bundled keyboard accessory, the MediaPad, functions passably as a numeric keyboard and multimedia remote control. But be prepared: Accompanying software includes BackWeb, which the Spybot Search & Destroy scanning program initially identified as spyware.

It takes some effort to get acquainted, but the DiNovo Media Desktop has the style and functionality to be a useful, albeit expensive buy ($249).

Weather and Emergency Alerts

Emergency advisories from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration about tornadoes, thunderstorms, floods, evacuations, and civil danger warnings can be hard to receive when on the road--but that's when you need them.

A $60 portable radio from Oregon Scientific solves that problem by receiving alerts from the National Weather Service anywhere in the United States. The WR103 Weather & Emergency Alert Monitor also provides hazard information related to emergencies and terrorist attacks, and Amber Alerts about abducted children.

The clock and calendar on this system are provided in English, French, and Spanish.

Agam Shah is an editor with the IDG News Service based in San Francisco.