fter making one of the biggest media splashdowns in recent memory, the Segway Human Transporter (known only by the code names “Ginger” and “IT” before its unveiling in December) is taking letter carriers for a spin in a test run with the Postal Service. The brainchild of physicist Dean Kamen, the Segway HT, as it’s now officially known, is a self-balancing, two-wheeled scooter that uses motors and computer processors to mimic human equilibrium. Riders can turn the scooter by grasping the handlebars and gently leaning one way or the other, and stop it by standing straight.
The Segway HT, designed and manufactured by Segway LLC of Manchester, N.H., can travel up to 17 miles at a top speed of 12.5 miles an hour with a single charge of its batteries. The industrial scooters the Postal Service is using in its pilot test sell for $8,000 apiece. The company also offers a personal version for $3,000.
Letter carriers in Tampa, Fla., tested the Segway in January on five residential mail routes; the Postal Service will compare delivery times by scooter versus walking. The Postal Service plans to test the scooter in other cities, too.
State agencies are getting in on the Segway buzz as well. The Boston Police Department evaluated the scooter in December and used test models to patrol some streets on New Year’s Eve. The Atlanta Police Department also is testing the Segway. State legislatures are paving the road, so to speak, for the Segway by passing laws designating the scooter as a vehicle suitable for use on some public streets.
—Shane Harris
The iMac Meets Star Wars
n January, Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs debuted a drastically redesigned iMac, the popular desktop computer that brought the company back from the brink of extinction in 1998. The new iMac looks like a computer crossed with a droid from the Star Wars movies, with a moveable arm that connects a 15-inch flat panel monitor to a dome-shaped central processing unit. Inside the new iMac, a PowerPC G4 processor hums along at either 700 or 800 MHz. The unit features 128 megabytes of memory that can be upgraded to a gigabyte.
Like the original iMac, the newest version does not feature a 3.5-inch floppy drive. Rather, the iMac is loaded with a CD-rewritable drive at the low end and a SuperDrive—a DVD recorder and CD-rewritable drive combined—at the high end. The little unit comes packed with either a 40-gigabyte or 60-gigabyte hard drive.
The most basic design of the epically reworked computer sells for $1,299. An iMac with all the perks is out the door for $1,799. And, Apple doesn’t want buyers to forget about the previous generation of iMacs. The already inexpensive machines now retail for $799 and up.
—Joshua Dean
A Marriage Made in California
andspring Inc., a Mountain View, Calif., handheld computer manufacturer, has married a cell phone and a personal digital assistant, and the newlyweds appear happy. The Treo comes in two flavors: the Treo 180, which features a monochrome screen, and the Treo 270, which lights up in color. Both models are about the size of a pack of playing cards. Treo 180 users can choose between a graffiti screen that recognizes scribbled handwriting or a miniature keyboard similar to that on the Blackberry series of mobile e-mail devices. The units can handle wireless e-mail and Web browsing.
As a cell phone, the organizer includes a phone book feature. And because the ring of a cell phone isn’t always welcome, users can use a vibrating feature instead. The Treo 180 and 270 are slated to debut in the first half of this year. The Treo 180 will sell for $399 while the Treo 270 will cost $599. But beware, as with all cell phones, monthly phone service will cost extra.
—Joshua Dean
