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PRODUCT SHOWCASE MemoDisk USB Flash Drive Remember the days, not so long ago, when your only means of transferring data from one machine to another was the floppy disk? Nowadays there is a plethora of storage devices, many of them highly mobile. But this MemoDisk from Oatley Electronics must be right up there with the best of them. It’s shown same size at right. With up to 1GB capacity, it simply plugs in to your PC's USB port and behaves like another hard disk (the pocket clip cap comes off revealing a USB plug). Anything you can store on a hard disk can be stored on the MemoDisk. When you leave, you can unplug it (even when the machine is still on) and take your data with you. It works with Win98SE, Win2000, WinME, WinXP, WinCE, Linux 2.4 or higher and Mac 9.0 or higher. For those with Win98 (which does not support USB Mass Storage Driver) a software driver is included. WinNT is not supported. There is a write-protect switch to prevent accidental erasure and data can be password protected. For security, for transferring data, for ease of use it's a real winner. Prices start at $24 for a 16MB up to $165 for a 256MB. The 128MB model shown sells for $82. It comes complete with a USB to USB cable for those who have geographically challenged USB ports, a lanyard (for wearing the Memo-Disk “Jasper” precision circle-cutting jigs for speakers Cutting holes in speaker boxes has always been a time consuming job, often with less than perfect results wrong size, uneven edges, much sanding required etc. Now the Soundlabs Group stocks JasperAudio precision circle jigs – they make light work of cutting holes. You can even make a rebate to mount the driver level with the wood panel! JasperAudio manufactures precision router jigs for cutting circles, www.siliconchip.com.au Contact: Oatley Electronics PO Box 89, Oatley NSW 2223 Ph: (02) 9584 3563 Fax: (02) 9584 3562 Website: oatleyelectronics.com one pass circle jig that requires no trial cuts. No sanding will be required to get a precision circle cut-out every time. 3 models are available and they will work with most common routers. Much more information is on the Soundlabs Group website. Contact: mortises and arcs with a plunge router. The jigs are manufactured in the USA to high quality standards and accuracy. JasperAudio have the first Small safety relays from Pilz Two new compact Category 4 safety relays from Pilz offer three safe outputs and an auxiliary, making more of small spaces and simplifying the wiring of safety systems. With housings measuring just 22.5mm, both new Pilz relays maximise the limited space in control cabinets and are easy to install. The flexible Pilz PNOZ X2.7P and the PNOZ X2.8P safety relays are suitable for safety gates, emergency stops, start switches and light curtains. Four operating modes are available, including single channel mode; dual channel modes without shorts detections across contacts; dual channel around your neck), instruction manual and mini CD with drivers and utilities. mode with shorts across contacts detection; and monitored manual start. The PNOZ X2.8P also features an automatic reset function. Soundlabs Group PO Box 307, Surry Hills, NSW 2010 Ph: (02) 9660 1228 Fax: 02 9660 1778 Website: soundlabsgroup.com.au STEPDOWN TRANSFORMERS 60VA to 3KVA encased toroids Contact: Pilz Australia Industrial Automation 9/475 Blackburn Rd, Mt Waverley Vic 3149 Ph: (03) 9544 6300 Website: pilz.com.au Harbuch Electronics Pty Ltd 9/40 Leighton Pl. HORNSBY 2077 Ph (02) 9476-5854 Fx (02) 9476-3231 June 2003  53 Observations on CeBIT Australia 2003 There are only five CeBIT shows in the world – Hannover, Istanbul, Shanghai, New York and, just as the June issue went to press (early May), in Sydney. The three-day show, held thoughout three halls of Sydney’s Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre, was on target to attract more than 20,000 visitors compared to just over 13,000 the year before. CeBIT Australia was 50% bigger in 2003 with more than 400 companies exhibiting. While international exhibitors were down nearly 50%, with 134 international exhibitors in 2002 to 78 in 2003, 140 international delegations attended compared to 102 last year. Organisers claimed both the Iraq war and SARS scares contributed significantly to the downturn. To counter this, there appeared to be a very much higher local representation of international companies. CeBIT is not your typical “computer show”: it is intended as a business-to-business show (with a $25 casual entrance fee to dissuade tyre-kickers). But there was more than enough “gee whiz” gadgetry to gladden the heart of any techno-junkie. Wireless was everywhere – in fact, the show was heavily promoted as a wireless event – with plenty of opportunity to touch, feel and play with wireless product. Australian wireless provider, Simply Wireless, designed, deployed and managed Australia’s largest “Wireless Experience” for CeBIT 2003. 20 Cisco 1200 access points, with the ability to handle several thousand concurrent users, provided network coverage across the halls. Three standards were used – Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11a and 802.11b. Privately, show organisers expressed some disappointment that the system was never truly tested. While the many wireless products exhibitors put the wireless networks through their paces, it was hoped that many visitors would bring their wireless equipped PDAs, notebooks etc, with them. Such proved not to be the case, www.siliconchip.com.au 54  Silicon Chip perhaps demonstrating that wireless still is an emerging technology. One of the most striking features of the show was the number of LCD (and Plasma) screens. There must have been thousands of them, in all shapes and sizes. If anyone had something to demonstrate, it was there on a flat display. Samsung even had a coffee table made out of one! (Now there’s a thought . . .) In the whole show I noticed only three CRT displays – and two of these were “built-ins” on existing equipment. In his “Publisher’s Letter” back in December 2002, Leo Simpson argued that the days of CRT video monitors were over (and he recalls, copped a bit of flack for such an outrageous statement!). Here it is, just five months later – and any of those detractors who visited CeBIT would now have that strange taste of words in their mouths. While many displays were of the “garden variety” (17-inch or so) size, there were some particularly impressive large-screen displays on show. Notebooks were everywhere. If not being demonstrated for sale, they were being used to demonstrate applications and hardware for sale. I must confess to being taken aback by one major international exhibitor demonstrating their new offerings with, wait for it, Pentium III processors up to 1GHz. (Pentium IV models at 3GHz are now becoming commonplace and were on display on other stands). If that was the “big end” of the show, the opposite must be said of the mobile phones being displayed by several ma- jor manufacturers. The new models, many the latest whiz-bang video models, are positively tiny. I don’t know about you, but my fat little European-heritage fingers were no match for the miniscule keys on these things. Looking at these new models, one couldn’t help wondering if miniaturisation hasn’t gone just a tad too far . . . OK, so that was the gadgetry (I lie – it was about 1% of the gadgetry). But what else did CeBIT have to offer? One innovation was “future parc”, showcasing the research behind the technology of tomorrow. It featured universities, centres of excellence, research centres, business parks and other innovation “greenhouses”, showcasing the behind-the-scenes work which will provide the next generation of technology. Then there were applications – just about every possible application you have ever thought of and perhaps many you hadn’t. I believe that if you wanted to do something in IT, there was an exhibitor at CeBIT that would be able to do it for you. There were also many hardware applications, some not even on the market yet. We hope to have a look at some of these in some detail in future months. For example? A sub-$600 on-board vehicle interactive satellite navigation system. There were the usual “hole in the wall” retailers (and wholesalers) selling everything from systems to motherboards to disk drives to cases to, well, what do you want today? One thing I like about shows (and CeBIT was no exception), is finding out about many of the suppliers that other resellers use. There are often real savings to be made. I also like the concept of future parc – you don’t normally get to see what is happening behind the scenes. I spent an afternoon at CeBIT. I saw every stand – but I reckon I could have spent a full day there to really see everything in detail. Hell, I didn’t even have time to go for a ride on the rocket (no, I’m not kidding!). Oh well, there’s always next year... www.siliconchip.com.au June 2003  54 Intel’s new speedhog Pentium Intel’s new Intel 875P chipset, formerly codenamed Canterwood, supports dual-channel DDR400 MHz system memory, providing exceptional performance across a full range of multimedia and 3-D intensive applications. Pentium 4 processors with Hyper-Threading Technology operating at 3GHz can now have an 800MHz system bus instead of 533MHz, the previous highest speed bus. The new 800MHz bus can transmit information within the PC up to 50% faster than the previous version, allowing users to perform multiple complex tasks with greater responsiveness from their PCs, espe- Contact: cially in high end Intel Australia Pty Ltd and CPU-intensive Level 17, 111 Pacific Hwy, applications such North Sydney NSW 2060. as graphics, music Tel: (02) 9937-5800 Fax: (02) 9937-5899 Website: intel.com.au and video. Affordable DAQ from Fluke The new Wavetek Meterman 38XR and the 38SW data acquisition packages comprises a 10,000-count, full-function digital multimeter (38XR) with companion Microsoft Windows-based data logging software and PC interface cabling(38SW). The 38-SW software is simple to use and logs, displays, and stores data from all 38XR measurement functions for later retrieval or further analysis. Contact: It can also export Fluke Australia Pty Ltd data for advanced Locked Bag 5004, Baulkham Hills 2153 analysis, charting Tel: (02) 8850 3333 Fax: (02) 8850 3300 and reporting in Website: metermantesttools.com Microsoft Excel. Stainless Steel Panel-mount LCDs Intelligent Systems Australia has available the Aydin Displays (USA) Vector NEMA 4X Stainless Steel Panel-mount Industrial LCD monitors, specifically designed for industrial use where corrosive or health issues require the use of stainless steel. They provide Industrial Strength with cost effectiveness and the NEMA4 Rating (IP65) means the monitor is sealed against dirt/dust and liquids under pressure. The monitors, available in 15" and 18" models, with or without touchscreens, are built to withstand shock, vibration and temperature extremes that would cause unreliable operation in an office-grade product. They are. Enclosure style is Panel-mount. Touchscreen op- Contact: tions include Capac- Intelligent Systems Australia itive and Resistive PO Box 635, Cockatoo Vic 3781 in both RS-232 and Ph: (03) 5968 0117 Fax: (03) 5868 0119 Website: intelligentsystems.com.au USB interfaces. www.siliconchip.com.au June 2003  55