Just ANNOUNCED - Product Announcement

Home Office Computing, Feb, 2001 by Marshall F. Lager, Marilyn Zelinsky Syarto

THE LATEST IN OFFICE FURNITURE, HARDWARE, AND SOFTWARE

... For Your Office

* The classic rolltop desks of yesteryear are too small for today's home offices, but Hooker Furniture solves that problem with its new Chalet Computer Cabinet The cabinet's drop lid opens up with a light to illuminate the work surface and storage area. The open lid--with a black laminate covering--becomes a work surface measuring 21.75 inches by 55.75 inches. Cabinets have a surge protector built-in with a $10,000 connected equipment warranty. $2,100; 540-632-2133 for dealer, www.hookerfurniture.com

* Elegant cherry seems to be the hot new finish for home office furniture. For example, take Bush Furniture's affordable Carson Collection in cherry finish. The collection offers a desk ($199) with ball-bearing file-drawer slides; a credenza/hutch ($249); a lateral file ($149); and a return ($100). 800-727-2874, www.bushfurniture.com

... For Your Communications

* Once you've generated a document, you may need to send it somewhere. SendSpot is a new portal that simplifies the search for the best and most useful personal and business correspondence resources on the Web. Users can print stamps; get faxes; ship holiday gifts; track packages; change addresses; eliminate junk mail; pay bills online; and manage direct mail, freight, and logistics. Free; 847-866-1830, www.sendspot.com

* Printing from the road usually requires borrowing a printer or going to a document center. But Canon's BJC-85 portable printer gives you worthy print quality in a mobile device. New units have Bluetooth wireless communication modules to allow you to benefit from this new technology. $299; 800-OK-CANON, www.ccsi.canon.com

... For Your Browsing

* When you need information from the Internet, the convenience of a search engine is negated by the need to browse through the results. Mamma.com, a metasearch engine, finds what you need by including SpotOn Inc's Web Tour technology. Pages are presented in a user-controlled slide show. Heavy research has never been this easy. Free; www.mamma.com

* E-commerce isn't ignoring the visually impaired: IBM has introduced Home Page Reader 3.0, an upgrade to its Low-cost talking Web browser. The package includes Javascript support for speaking aloud (in seven languages) all the information in a catalog or shopping-cart page, including visual descriptions and input fields. $149; 888-SHOP-IBM, www.ibm.com

... For Your Data Security

* It had to happen--somebody finally wrote a virus that targets the Palm operating system for PDAs. McAfee has responded with the McAfee Anti-Virus Resident Scanner (MARS). This 17K program, part of the company's Wireless Security Center, should be used whenever data is downloaded to your handheld device. Free to subscribers; 408-992-8100, www.mcafee.com

* For those critical business documents where no amount of privacy is too much, WinVista Corp. has created e-OPI, the Electronic Office Document Protection Interface. This application embeds itself into Microsoft Office and offers numerous security safeguards all the way through the document creation and delivery chain. $69; 561-362-6030, www.e-opi.com