Product Watch

Now you can capture high-resolution still images and low-resolution QuickTime movies with the same camera. The C-2020 Zoom, from Olympus America (516/844-5000, https://www.olympus.com ), features a new QuickTime-movie shooting mode that lets you capture 15 frames per second (fps) at 320 by 240 pixels, or 60 fps at 160 by 120 pixels. The $899 point-and-shoot camera, with a 2.11-megapixel CCD, 3 x optical zoom, and infrared remote, also features new shooting modes for black-and-white and sepia-tone images.

Having trouble getting your digital camera shots into your Mac? PhotoChute 3 from Antec (888/542-6832, https://www.antec-inc.com is a $139 external USB card reader that supports the highspeed transfer of images stored on SmartMedia, Type I and Type II ATA Flash and Compact Flash cards.

Flat-panel monitors may be getting all the attention these days, but inexpensive CRTs still reign on most desktops. The new AccuSync line of monitors, from NEC Technologies (800/632-4636, https://www.nectech.com ), includes six models ranging from 15 to 19 inches, with prices beginning at $159. The monitors are scheduled to ship by the time you read this.

NEC has also released what it says is the smallest and lightest USB scanner in the industry. The PetiScan is a portable 30-bit color scanner that offers 300-by-600-dpi optical resolution. Its maximum scanning area is 5.8 by 3.9 inches. Larger items can be scanned in parts and stitched together using software included with the package. The $179 scanner weighs 1.3 pounds and will be available by the time you read this.

FWB Software (415/345-4300, https://www.fwb.com ) has announced CD-ROM ToolKit 4.0, a new version of its $79.95 CD-ROM drive utility that brings the software up-to-date with Mac OS 9 and other recent Apple products. The software is designed to boost CD-ROM performance by using the computer’s idle RAM. Along with the drive utility, the package includes Panic’s Audion player for MP3 playback and 500MB of MP3 music titles from Trax In Space.

Fantom Drives (310/474-1685, https://www.fantomdrives.com ) has unveiled FireStorm, a new line of FireWire storage devices. FireStorm hard drives, available in 15GB, 25GB, and 34GB capacities, are bundled with CharisMac Engineering’s Anubis Formatting Utility. The product line also includes a $449 4 x 4 x 20 CD-RW drive bundled with CharisMac’s Discribe mastering software. Pricing for the hard drives has not been set.

February 2000 page: 25