Mobile Products to Watch in 2008, Part 2

The New Year is just a few days old, and already I've forgotten my resolutions. Something about losing money and accumulating weight. Or was it the other way around?

Anyhow, you know how difficult it is to concentrate this time of year. So let's just forget about our tedious resolutions and focus instead on two upcoming mobile products. Each was announced in 2007 and is due early this year. And each offers something new--something I think could be worth your attention.

Last week, I took a look at two other 2007 product introductions, Apple's iPhone and Amazon.com's Kindle, which could be even better this year in possible second-generation versions.

Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child initiative, in which ultra-affordable laptops were designed for children in developing countries, is likely the inspiration for Asus's Eee PC. Introduced in October 2007, the Eee PC brought something to mobile computing that hadn't been seen before: a combination of light weight (2 pounds) and low cost ($400). Ultraportable laptops from Sony and others typically cost $1500 or more, while $400 to $600 laptops usually weigh more than 5 pounds.

The first Asus Eee PCs run the Linux operating system. The Taiwanese company announced in late 2007 that it would soon ship Eee PCs with a streamlined version of Windows XP preinstalled. As of this writing, no Windows XP Eee PCs were available for purchase online, though I suspect we'll start to see them in January-February.

Asus's competitors couldn't help but notice the Eee's runaway success, and similar laptops--combining low costs and ultra portability--are expected in 2008. Intel and Microsoft are working to develop processors and software for this emerging laptop category. IDC Research Manager for Personal Computing Richard Shim told Reuters he has seen new low-cost laptops that haven't been announced yet and said "all the major guys" are looking into such devices.

Granted, a low-end laptop like the Asus Eee PC should only be considered your second computer. It simply doesn't have the power to run demanding applications. But for a small, lightweight, second laptop for travelers needing e-mail, Web, and basic office apps, a Windows XP-based Eee PC could get your new year off to a good start.

• "Eee PC's Sales Success Prompts Competition"
• "Cheap Linux PCs May Rival One Laptop Per Child"
• "Review: Miniature Laptop That Makes Sense"
• Use PC World Shopping to see the latest prices.

The Dash Express, expected to begin shipping this month, is said to be the first GPS device with a two-way Internet connection. What's the big deal about that? Several scenarios illustrate the possibilities:

• You're in the market for a new home. You can connect to Zillow.com to have the market values of properties on your driving route displayed directly on the GPS unit's screen.
• You can enter search requests for nearby restaurants and many other local businesses. The Dash Express will connect to Yahoo Local Search and display the search results on a map.
• Current traffic conditions, average travel times, and other data can be automatically sent from your Dash Express to the Dash Driver Network and then beamed to other drivers' units. Using this data, the Dash can warn you of upcoming bottlenecks and provide up to three different rerouting options. While other GPS devices offer traffic alerts and rerouting, the Dash Express will reportedly be the only one that provides this information based on information gathered from other drivers, traveling the same roads you're using

The Dash Express costs $600 and the Dash service is $10 to $13 per month. That's a bit steep, but if the GPS device and service live up to the hype, it could well be worth it.

• "Real-Time Traffic Info Gets You Past Jams"
• "Dash Express Two-Way GPS Now Available for Pre-Order"
• "GPS Weds Local Search"

No Cell Phoning While You Drive in Britain: If you talk on or text with your cell phone while driving in Britain, you could face up to a two-year stay in the slammer, the BBC reports. Use of a cell phone while driving was banned in Britain in 2003.

Safeguarding the Data on Your Portable Drive: New hardware and software products promise to make it fast and easy to encrypt the data on portable drives. Cryptainer PE ($30 and up), Migo Portable Vault ($15), and TrueCrypt (free) software add strong password protection and encryption to your drive. Because they're software, though, these products can be breached by an infected PC that captures the password. For stronger and faster protection, consider a drive with built-in hardware encryption, such as the Apricorn Aegis Vault (80GB to 250GB, $139 to $269). Read "Lock Down the Data on Your Portable Drives" for details.

Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007: What made our list of the most disappointing technologies last year? WiMAX was number 14, Microsoft's Zune was number 11, and number 5 was...Apple's iPhone? Find out why.

Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it. However, I regret that I'm unable to respond to tech-support questions, due to the volume of e-mail I receive.