The Five Coolest Advances In Mobile Computing

1. Cellular Broadband: This technology offers ultimate freedom. No more hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots, paying hotels' exorbitant fees or guzzling coffee at Starbucks. Taxis and trains equipped with cellular broadband can become truly productive mobile offices. Today, only Verizon offers 3-G data services in the United States. Its Verizon Wireless Broadband Access service, based on Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) technology, supports download speeds of up to 2 Mbps. You don't need a cellphone, just a $100 AudioVox PC 5220 card that slips into a notebook's PC Card slot. Broadband Access also works with VPNs to provide robust security. Verizon's Broadband Access network already covers a respectable 32 cities and their outlying areas. Other carriers are getting ready, too. Sprint plans to launch its own EV-DO network in the second half of 2005, and then expand to 60 cities by early 2006. Cingular Wireless intends to build on its acquisition of AT&T Wireless' six-city high-speed data packet access (HSDPA) service this year and achieve nationwide coverage by the end of 2006.

2. Wi-Fi Finder: Where, oh, where is the Wi-Fi? Kensington's Wi-Fi Finder Plus knows. You don't even have to boot your notebook. Just press a button on this 3.5-inch-x-1.6-inch detector to identify available 802.11b and b/g networks from as far as 200 feet from access points. The device can also find Bluetooth signals and filter out microwave and other signals.

3. Fingertip Security: To help security-minded road warriors, IBM has integrated a fingerprint scanner in some of its ThinkPad T42s, which is mounted flush in the notebook's palm rest. One swipe of your fingertip can replace passwords for notebook access, VPN authentication, enterprise apps and Web sites. And because the scanner's sensor reads the electrical characteristics of a living finger, it can't be fooled by copied prints or even--gasp--a severed fingertip.

4. On-board QPS: Getting there is half the fun, but with a Navman GPS E Series for Notebooks, the other half can be figuring out where "there" is. This device, slightly larger than a hockey puck, attaches to a windshield with a suction cup, and plugs into a notebook's USB port. It basically converts a mobile PC into an easy-to-use navigation system. The user views street maps, driving directions and landmarks on a relatively large screen.

5. Pocket Storage: Seagate's new 2-inch (diameter) USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive is just the thing for making backups on the road or keeping personal and business files separate. The drive stores an impressive 5 GB of data, spins at 3,600 rpm, and includes both content-management and password-protection software. The drive's USB cord is retractable, and tiny rubber feet help keep the unit stable when on a desktop. Neat.