New and Notable Product Design 25405

Smooth operator

GN Netcom's 1000 Remote Handset Lifter (RHL). Perhaps a mixed blessing, but you won't have to miss calls when you step away from your desk to hit the water cooler. Via 2.4GH_z spread-spectrum transmission, users of cordless headsets can remotely pick up calls as far as 200 ft from their desk. A low torque, smooth, dc-motor driven lead screw assembly (0.012-inch lead thread), manufactured by Kerk Motion Products, converts rotary motion to linear motion, lifting the handset up to 1.5 inches off the hook. Lead Engineer Robert Hawkins of Kerk says, "The GN 1000 RHL offers smooth, quiet, and reliable performance and compatibility with over 90% of current business phones." Lead Engineer:Robert Hawkins (www.gnnetcom.com) Enter 576

I've just seen a face

Vialta Beamer Phone Video Station. You can look in on your family and friends, near or far, every day over the Beamer. According to Lead Engineer Edward Chan, because of its custom single-board integration, the compact Beamer delivers color motion video and audio over any standard analog phone line. Callers can easily switch between three viewing options-the person they are speaking to, themselves, or a picture-in-picture feature allowing the caller and the person on the other end to be viewed simultaneously. Lead Engineer:Edward Chan (www.aboutbeamer.com) Enter 577

Yes we can scan (by hand)

Wizcom QuickLink(R) SuperPen Text Scanner and Translator. Now you needn't be cowed by a menu in French or any document in many foreign languages (Roman alphabet and Hebrew). The SuperPen relies on three integrated technologies to work, according to President Raz Itzhaki. "The patented optical head for image acquisition uses a black-and-white striped roller contacting the page to mechanically scan the LED light source as a user pulls the SuperPen along a line of text. Optical character recognition software-on-a-chip determines the letters, which are then input into linguistic software, for an English definition lookup or translation to or from another language," he notes. An ARM7 processor embedded in an ASIC supplies the computational muscle and the 4 Mbyte flash memory can be upgraded to 6 or 8 Mbytes for greater storage of scanned documents. PresidentRaz Itzhaki (www.wizcomtech.com) Enter 578

Discs go as you like

Infinite Data Storage Ltd. Komodo(TM) CD-RW & DVD-ROM Drive. It may look like a portable CD player, but the Komodo can also store data to CDRs and RWs, and access DVDs. The device, which stores 800 Mbytes of information on CD, uses a high-speed USB 2.0 interface and 24x CD function speeds (8x for DVD reading). CTO Tony Combe notes the effort to minimize Komodo's physical dimensions. "In offering USB power, users will not need to carry a powerbrick, thus limiting the weight they have to deal with," he says. Keys to achieving small size for both "electronics and plastics" were modeling and finite element analysis, coupled with Failure Mode Effect. "The main problem was in the height stack up," says Dave Lockwood, engineering manager. "We had a strict envelop for the pcb-all but three components are less than 2 mm high with most less than 1.2 mm," he adds. CTO:Tony Combe (www.infinitedatastorage.com) Enter 579

Band in a box

Madwave MadPlayer(TM) Music Composer. Anybody can get a handle on being a Handel, thanks to this handheld digital music composer based on an architecture consisting of Atmel's ARM processor plus a Dream DSP for sound synthesis. And it's just been firmware-upgraded to allow users to lay down tracks in real time. CTO Alain Georges says that engineers beat the problem of large file sizes by storing in memory the instructions and parameters for creating a clone of the song being composed. File sizes are only about 5 kbytes, whatever the song duration. Users can make changes in the song structure and have at their disposal a composer, a conductor, and an orchestra for generating the musical waveforms and for mixing with the audio stream. The latter comes from a separate analog audio input, or from audio samples pre-stored on a Smartmedia card or an embedded hard-drive. CTO:Alain Georges[email protected], Bruce Fifield(Design Continuum, Milan, Italy) [email protected] (www.madplayer.com) Enter 580

Get up, stand up

FENA Design Vertran(TM) Wheelchair. Brainchild of company founder Jay Johnson, who was paralyzed in an auto accident, the Vertran (Vertical Transportation) is a standing-capable powered-mobility unit. VP of R&D and Operations Gregg Chiponis says the design hinges on the patented lift mechanism. "As the chair rises, it raises the body to emulate human motion-bending the hips and knees simultaneously to prevent tissue damaging shear in these joints," he notes. A single casting from Smith Foundry forms a key support column attaching the knee brace to the wheels and seat. Originally a ten-piece welded unit subject to fatigue failure, the lighter, more easily shaped cast replacement is made with a proprietary alloy from Smith, heat treated into higher strength austempered ductile iron (ADI). VP:Gregg Chiponis (www.vertran.com) Enter 581