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Electronics manufacturers re-discover the telephone
January 17, 1997
Web posted at: 11:15 p.m. ESTIn this story:
From Correspondent Brian Nelson
LAS VEGAS (CNN) -- The popularity of the Internet has driven electronic manufacturers this year to graft Web browsing onto many of their appliances.
And one of the hottest shown at last week's Consumer Electronics Show was the telephone.
From a Silicon Valley startup called Navitel, for example, comes one of a new breed of computing hybrids. It's called the TouchPhone.
It combines computing and advanced telephone features with Internet access, e-mail and Web browsing.
"There have been attempts in the past to add the telephone to the computer," says Robert Simon of Navitel. "This is more the reverse. We're adding computing capability to the telephone."
If 1996 was declared the year of the Internet, then maybe 1997 will be the year there is no escaping from the Internet. It will be everywhere.
Nokia soups up the cellular phone
For those needing a portable office, Nokia has the 9000 Communicator, a souped-up cellular phone that opens up into...just about everything.
Says Kevin Lloyd of Nokia Wireless, "It's your telephone, your fax, send and receive fax, two-way paging, Internet access, e-mail access, contact management software...."
For people who like their communicators a little smaller, Motorola offers a two-way Internet pager. It's somewhat bulkier than the standard pager, but it lets you type in a complete message, send to another pager or to an e-mail address, or to a fax machine.
"It's quite the mobile business person's dream tool," says Allison Kirstein of Motorola.
Sharp offers telephone-computer-camera hybrid
Finally, Sharp Electronics isn't satisfied with just a telephone and Web browser. It's added a camera. The Zaurus, as this telephone-computer-camera hybrid is called, took a digital picture, and sent it out as an e-mail message on the Internet.
"It's really the convergence of digital imaging and Internet capability in a small hand-held device," says Sharp's John Hannan.
If there's a little voice telling you technology is moving too quickly, here is a comforting thought: The e-mailed photo never reached its destination.
Related stories:
- New technology merges fax, e-mail and telephone - June 21, 1996
- Internet phone makes global chatting cheaper - October 10, 1995
Related sites:
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- Internet Telephony
- The Virtual Voice - The Internet Telephony Companion
- Nokia 9000 Communicator
- Sharp Electronics
- Motorola Messaging Systems Products Group
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