The new version contains everything needed for boardroom presentations
HARRY WALLOP
Sun
Thin is in — Makers of flat-panel telvisions have slimmed down. Manufacturers are showing models an inch thick or less that hang on the wall like a picture.
Internet radio on the road — Created by Blaupunkt and miRoamer, the world’s first internet radio for the car also features a standard AM/FM radio and CD player with a large touch screen for easy use while driving.
3-D Webcam — Featuring two cameras spaced the same distance apart as human eyes, the webcam from Minoru creates three-dimensional video. It’s sold with five pairs of special glasses needed to view the 3-D effect.
All-in-one — Victorinox has unveiled a new model of the legendary Swiss Army Knife for 2009 that includes obligatory blade and scissors along with modern essentials — a USB drive (with figerprint-sensing protection), laser pointer and Bluetooth connectivity.
Hydropower — Just add water to this fuel cell and generate enough energy to operate a notebook computer, according to the makers of the HydroPak, Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies.
Green Batteries — Fuji has created a battery that contains no harmful chemicals and is safe to throw in the garbage. Fuji EnviroMax is made with 100-per-cent recyclable materials and will go on sale this Spring.
LAS VEGAS — The ultimate Swiss army knife for the modern man — with fingerprint recognition, Bluetooth and a laser pointer — has been produced by Victorinox.
The company — which has made pocket knives for more than a century and still supplies the Swiss army — has also come up with a version of the latest model that dispenses with the knife altogether to address the problems faced by travelling businessmen at airport security.
The PresentationPro is designed for use in the office, containing all the tools necessary to deliver boardroom presentations. Its 32-gigabyte memory stick can contain hundreds of thousands of documents, the laser can be used to point at projected images and the Bluetooth technology means that, with a press of a button, the tool can double as a computer mouse.
The most sophisticated part of the tool is that the memory stick is security protected by the owner’s fingerprint.
Martin Kuster, the designer, said: “ It doesn’t matter if you lose it, no one can hack into the information.”
The technology also allows you to put all your passwords for Internet banking and shopping websites on to the penknife. Not only will the information be completely secure, but if the stick is plugged into your laptop, you will not need to remember the passwords — it will automatically remember them for you.
Tom Dunmore, the editor-inchief of the gadget website Stuff, said: “ Victorinox have done some amazing things to the Swiss Army Knife in recent years. But this latest version is the ultimate 21st-century tool for businessmen. It is very clever indeed.”
Charles Elsener, the chief executive of the company and greatgrandson of its founder, said: “ My great-grandfather would be very surprised by how far we have come. But his vision was to invent a tool for life. And this is exactly that. Just a modern version.”
The gadget, which is likely to cost £ 250 ($ 450 Cdn) when it goes on sale this year, was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Victorinox, which makes 13 million tools every year, was founded by Karl Elsener in 1884 after he was dismayed that the Swiss army was using German knives.
The company f irst started adding technology to its knives six years ago, with recent models containing a digital watch or 8GB memory stick.