THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 18, 1995 TAG: 9512150171
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Tech Track: gadgets and gizmos for the next century
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Technophiles, now you can turn your fingers and wrists into computing devices with a couple of gadgets that Flash Gordon would be proud to have dreamed up: the Timex Data Link watch and the Jostens digital Decoder Ring.
The Data Link first. At $130 each, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates could buy about 80 million copies. But Gates reportedly owns just one.
The Data Link's act starts when it's held up to the screen of an IBM-compatible desktop PC. (It won't work with Apple Macintoshes or computers, such as laptops, with LCD screens.) Within seconds the watch downloads the screen's data, from appointments to anniversary reminders: up to 70 entries' worth. They're then handily displayed on the watch's tiny but easy-to-read monitor.
The Data Link, which is water-resistant to 100 meters, comes with a night-light function and lots of calendar and alarm functions. If you're a synchronization fanatic, you can even download the time from your PC. Call 800-367-8463 for your nearest retailer.
Decoder rings are brought to us by Jostens Inc., the class ring people. Jostens teamed with Dallas Semiconductor Corp. to transport rings into the digital age.
Their ring, in sterling silver or stainless steel, looks like a souped-up version of my Class of '73 band. Decorative arrows dance up the sides toward the ring's top, which is crowned by a 64-kilobit microchip and a touch memory button.
Data like phone numbers and schedules can be transferred from your IBM-compatible PC to the ring by simply touching it to a special reader attached to the computer. But its main market is as a security device. You can rig your PC so that only by plugging the ring into the reader - and typing in a password - you gain access to your PC.
If your employer wants to splurge for a whole new security system, the ring can also become part of that. Its microchip memory lets the ring easily store your name, title, company, address, phone number, e-mail and Internet addresses, plus a digitized black-and-white photo. Press the ring into a reader at your building entrance - and you're electronically shaken down before being admitted.
Price: $99 for a stainless-steel ring and Dallas Semiconductor's Priva-C software, which you'll also need. Call 214-778-6003 to order. MEMO: ``Tech Track'' will appear every Monday in the Daily Break. Readers
with ideas for future columns are invited to contact staff science and
technology writer James Schultz at (804) 446-2599, or via e-mail at
schultz infi.net ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Timex
Timex data link watch
Color photo by Jostens
Jostens decoder ring
by CNB