IP telephony equipment vendor Zultys has debuted a wireless conference phone that brings together SIP handsets and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. Being wireless, the Bluetooth Conference Phone (BTC) was also designed to remove clutter from the conference room table. The phone is paired with any Bluetooth and calls can be originated either on handset or the BTC phone using voice activated dialling, and calls can be answered on either phone. Conference calls with multiple parties can be made using any Bluetooth phone, including cell phones. Being battery powered also removes the need for a power cable. Does this thing remind you of another type of conference phone from another vendor?
Vendor: Zultys
Price: A$950 (US$725) ex GST
Availability: June
www.zultys.com (http://www.zultys.com)
Web-based content management system
Australian Technology Park startup Netseek has launched its Web-based content management system NextEdit for the business market. The software is browser-based and integrates with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox and will work with any type of static Web site as long as you have FTP access to the server. Its makers claim it is ideal for businesses with time-critical announcements, like company announcements, employment opportunities, and special offers, because the software can be used to update a Web site in real-time by anyone from anywhere. NextEdit places an "edit" button on the browser so a surfer can make changes to the site with what looks like a JavaScript HTML editor.
Vendor: NextEdit
Price: A$220 per year
Availability: Now
www.nextedit.com.au (http://www.nextedit.com.au)
Tape autoloader
Storage vendor Exabyte has release what it claims to be a world-first in capacity on demand tape drives with the VXA-172 series Packet Drive and Packetloader products. The VXA-172 PacketLoader 1x10 is 1U, rack-mounted, automatic tape loader that supports upgradeable tape drives and multiple tape capacities. With one drive and 10 tape cartridge slots, the PacketLoader 1x10 has 1.7TB of capacity and 86GB per hour of throughput, and can be upgraded to 3.2TB of capacity. Unattended backups are possible with tape automation. According to Exabyte its VXA-172 products are more scalable and DAT or DLT tape drives as the drive is field-upgradeable. An Ultra2Wide SCSI interface is available now with SATA and FireWire support coming later this year.
Vendor: Exabyte
Price: A$2499 (add $550 for capacity on demand)
Availability: Now
www.exabyte.com (http://www.exabyte.com)
USB security key
T3 Australia has launched a USB security key for notebooks which locks the laptop, provides encryption for data protection, and monitors and tracks usage with an audit trail. According to the company, the T3 key renders a notebook useless to a thief because the sensitive information will be encrypted on a hard disk partition. The T3 enables two-factor authentication, 128-bit encryption, and private computer sharing. Also available is insurance from T3 Insurance which will provide US$1500 worldwide cover, underwritten by Aviva, in the event of notebook theft.
Vendor: T3 Australia
Price: A$99
Availability: Now
www.t3australia.com (http://www.t3australia.com)
Tablet PC
HP has released a new tablet PC, the HP Compaq tc4200, aimed at garnering more of the traditional notebook market. With a 1.73GHz Pentium M processor, 512MB of DDR2 memory (expandable to 2GB), a 60GB disk, and a 12.1in screen, the tc4200 has all the specs of a modern notebook and numerous connectivity options including a 56K modem, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g wireless, and Bluetooth. The display is supported by 128MB of shared graphics memory. If you're into wireless broadband, you'll need to use the integrated PCMCIA slot. A battery life of 5.5 hours is standard and the unit weighs in at about 2Kg. Sure it's great to see new tablet PCs enter the market, but is anyone actually using them?
Vendor: HP
Price: A$3595
Availability: Now
www.hp.com (http://www.hp.com)