Author Archive

Mark A. Kellner

Digital Government

Users make the call

It's something of a paradox: From time to time, industry pundits will suggest that all-in-one phones have a limited appeal and a small audience. And then, just to confound things, buyers go out and snap them up.

Digital Government

Flash!

A downward movement of sophisticated features from more expensive digital cameras to lower-priced models continues apace, industry experts agree, and that means buyers are getting more, well, flash for their cash.

Digital Government

Get the picture?

In the not-too-distant future, you might have an easier time finding buggy whips'supposedly made obsolete by the arrival of the horseless carriage'than obtaining a large-screen CRT monitor.

Digital Government

Eye to eye on IP

To believe a certain series of television commercials designed to promote a 'videoconference phone,' setting up a full-blown videoconference is about as easy as planning a trip to Neptune.

Digital Government

In a flash

More than 50 years ago, in a day when computers were quite literally the size of the rooms that housed them, the idea of having the world on a string was pure poetry.

Digital Government

Functional equivalents

Walk around most midsize to large enterprises and you'll likely see what I see: networked copiers and printers hooked up to scanners and faxes, mixed with all-in-one devices that make the same functions accessible from a desktop PC in a single package.

Digital Government

Room for One?

Like a casting call, the realm of all-in-one personal computers used to be a crowded field. IBM Corp., NEC Technologies Inc., Hitachi Data Systems Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. (before its merger with Hewlett-Packard Co.) were among the companies with at least one such model.

Digital Government

Featherweight contenders

Just about anyone who travels with a computer should welcome an ultralight notebook PC, generally defined as weighing less than 4 pounds.

Digital Government

Like a glove

Handheld computing is in a state of flux, as the makers of some personal digital assistants add features while others branch into combos that include phones, cameras and other goodies.

Digital Government

Flat panels on the rise

If the computer-and-CRT-on-a-desk typified the government office of the 1980s and 1990s, will the flat-panel LCD screen be the emblem of the new millennium? And since a preference for LCDs seems to be the way the market is going, will prices make IT managers weak at the knees?

Digital Government

Into the light

Projectors are going small in a big way. In the next five years, 'projector shipments are supposed to triple from 1.7 million units shipped worldwide to 5.2 million,' said Jennifer Gallo, an analyst who covers the projector and flat-panel display markets for International Data Corp. of Framingham, Mass.

Digital Government

Handhelds target the next level

In an eerie continuation of a Dickens parody, last year was another 'best of times, worst of times' for handheld computing. Better times may or may not be in store this year, but better products almost certainly are.

Digital Government

Is this the year for wireless gear?

In a world filled with uncertainty, one thing seems a sure bet: 2003 will be a breakthrough year for wireless networking in offices and campuses around the country.

Cybersecurity

The virus vigil

You can run, it seems, but you can't hide from computer virus attacks, particularly in an enterprise.

Digital Government

Digital security

Tightened security after Sept. 11 has accelerated agencies' exploration of biometrics, but a trend toward greater use of the devices had begun long before the terrorist attacks.

Digital Government

Bluetooth arrives

If the goal of computing is to liberate users, Bluetooth devices could have a lot to contribute, by freeing them from the shackles of cables cluttering their offices.

Digital Government

3G is still on hold

Imagine a videophone that fits in your shirt pocket or your purse, one with a mobile data pipe big enough to let you download a movie trailer and order tickets while offering directions to the nearest theatre as well.

Digital Government

You rang?

If you spend your entire workday at your desk, stop reading this now. You probably don't need a handheld device, let alone one in the multifunction category.

Digital Government

Wireless choices grow

It's a paradox: Just as wireless networking based on one of the IEEE 802.11 standards should be hitting its stride in government agencies, a number of challenges are nipping at its heels.

Digital Government

Handheld computers chat at DEMOmobile

On the heels of the 2-GHz Pentium 4 microprocessor, Intel Corp. is readying a mobile version for notebook PCs in the first half of next year.