Satellite messaging devices hits the Spot

If a cell network goes down in an emergency, satellites could be used to send a distress call. Spot Inc.’s Spot messaging device uses satellites to send rescue alerts to emergency responders or to family members via SMS (Short Message Service) or e-mail.

A more earthly gadget is Iogear’s Digital Scribe, a digital pen and receiver package that records, recognizes and digitizes handwritten notes immediately from a normal pad. Staying on earth, Logitech’s Pure-Fi Dream speaker system plays songs from both iPods and iPhones.

Satellite IM

With the press of a button, Spot Inc.’s Spot satellite messaging device sends rescue alerts to emergency responders or to family and friends via SMS or e-mail nearly anywhere in the world. With Spot’s GPS tracking, emergency authorities will be able to pinpoint where a message originated.

The gadget is helpful for outdoor enthusiasts, who risk getting hurt where help is not easily available, said Mark Brinkerhoff, a Spot spokesman. It can also be used to simply alert friends and family that you have reached a location, Brinkerhoff said.

If a user presses the 911 button, Spot contacts local emergency responders or search-and-rescue teams. The company has contracted with global security company Geos Alliance for the service.

The device also has a ‘Help’ button, which sends predetermined rescue instructions or notes as e-mail to five addresses and as text messages to five mobile phones. The messages, phone numbers and e-mail addresses can be set up ahead of time on Spot’s Web site.

The handheld gadget weighs 7 ounces (198 grams) and uses two AA batteries, with a standby life of one year, according to the company. It works in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius) to 185 degrees Fahrenheit (85 degrees Celsius). Spot claims its satellite network is 99.94 percent reliable.

The device costs $149, with additional fees tacked on for services. The yearly service costs $99, and the optional Geos Alliance private rescue service costs $8 per year. Spot also offers a service called Spotcasting, which tracks the progress of a user’s journey on Google Maps every 10 minutes, for $49 per year.

Spot works anywhere in the world, excluding a few locations such as Sub-Saharan Africa and the north and south poles, according to John Dark, Spot’s senior marketing manager.

Spot’s ability to send but not receive alerts makes it a one-dimensional gadget, but its wide reach makes it a good safety net for people who want the closest rescuers they can get.

Iogear’s digital pen

Digitizing handwritten notes gets easier with Iogear’s Digital Scribe, which tracks a note as it is written on an ordinary pad and immediately transcribes it as digital text on a computer.

The package includes a pen and a receiver that clips on top of a pad and connects to a PC through a USB port. The receiver, with an infrared sensor, tracks notes written on a normal pad by the digital pen, which has a transmitter. Via the USB connection, it copies the notes to a PC. Included software for the PC recognizes the handwriting and converts the notes to text.

It cuts out the work required to type and digitize notes and memos and is useful for frequent note takers such as doctors, lawyers and students, an Iogear spokeswoman said.

The pen uses ordinary ink. The receiver can connect to a PC only via wired USB, which could limit the kit’s mobility. Iogear plans to offer a cordless version of Digital Scribe in the future, the spokeswoman said. The product supports 10 languages — English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, and Russian — and the software trains itself to recognize a user’s handwriting. The $99.95 Digital Scribe is available online and through retail stores in the U.S.

Logitech’s iPod delight

Logitech recently launched an iPod music system, the Pure-Fi Dream, that also plays music from Apple’s popular multimedia handset, the iPhone.

The $249 Pure-Fi Dream, meant for bedrooms, comes with two side speakers, an FM radio and an alarm clock. The slightly slanted surround-sound speakers have tweeters and 3-inch woofers. Other cool features make the music system unique, such as motion-activated controls, where waving a hand can operate controls and set the alarm clock to snooze mode. It will ship in November.

As with other iPod music systems, the iPod goes into a dock located between the speakers. The iPhone has a similar dock connector as the iPod, allowing it to play music when connected to the dock, but the phone features may need to be disabled as cellular signals may cause audio interference, according to Logitech.