Casio employee Mai Kimura displays the company's new stylish digital cameras, the Exilim Hi-Zoom EX-V7 on February 21 in Tokyo, Japan. Pic: AFP, Yoshikazu Tsuno.

SMALLER, faster and more capable – that is the trend of today’s electronic gadgets. Why buy just a mobile phone, when there are phones available which combine the abilities of a camera, walkman, alarm clock and even a small computer as well?

Apple’s recently released iPhone is a sign of the times; it combines all of the above with a user-friendly touch screen operating menu. And all in a device the size of a large cigarette pack.

For a product to be successful in an increasingly competitive marketplace it must be versatile because it must compete against similar products which incorporate a number of features.

Even devices with limited cross-media applications – like most digital cameras – can take video footage. And some mobile telephones have already had this ability built into them.

The digital camera market is a battleground which is pitting traditional camera companies like Canon and Nikon against electronics giants like SONY.

One of the latest products in the digital camera market – the Casio EX-V7 – will battle for market share in an already crowded sector. It combines most of the features of a digital SLR camera in a tiny body.

A total of seven effective megapixels (equivalent to the last generation of non-professional digital SLRs), a zoom range long enough to capture action across a soccer field or short enough to closely film an ant and a host of automatic features to improve photo quality.

And all of that for US$399. The only thing it lacks is interchangeable lenses.
But there is already strong competition on the market, with Nikon releasing the latest in its Coolpix lineup, the P5000.

Forget ‘only’ seven megapixels, Nikon's P5000 is loaded with a 10 megapixel sensor and a bundle of automated functions which rival Casio’s best efforts.
For those who cannot go without their laptop computer no matter where they are or what they are doing, US company Dell has released its ATG (All-Terrain Grade apparently) D620, which it said has been developed to military specifications. All the components have been strengthened and improved with harsh conditions in mind. It weighs 2.7 kilograms (6 pounds) and is about 5 centimetres (2 inches) thick.

The tough exterior protects an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (with a maximum running speed 2 gigahertz) and 4 gigabytes of memory space. It also includes a fingerprint scanner for security; surely even James Bond would be impressed.

Whether Mr Bond would be as impressed by the latest offering in home security is another matter.

Any house can be a target for thieves who are unlikely to care who lives in the house. But what renter would be willing to pay the money to install a security system in a house which does not belong to them?

The solution: the $200 LaserShield system. Fully transportable, the kit includes a master alarm unit, a wireless detection unit and two keychain remotes. The detection unit is capable of monitoring rooms as large as 112 square metres in size and additional units can be bought for $60 each.

The system works by sending out an infrared beam. If the beam is broken, a 105 decibel siren is triggered.

The designers were smart enough to include backup batteries for both the master unit and detector too.

And for the ultimate in shrinking technology, US company Intel has just finished development on a tiny new microprocessor which it said could bring “supercomputer like” abilities to home computers and handheld gadgets.

Marginally larger than a fingernail, the chip uses less power than a toaster and can perform more than one trillion calculations per second – a “teraflop”.

The first computer to run at a teraflop speed was an Intel-built machine at Sandia National Laboratories in 1996. That ASCI Red Supercomputer took up more than 185 square metres (2000 square feet) and used 500 kilowatts of electricity. In comparison, the Intel unit uses 62 watts.

Intel said it had no plans to market the new chip but would use it to develop compatible software and computer connections capable of handling fast-moving avalanches of data. – Agencies