Sound Advice

As the director of marketing for Friendster, the social-networking Web site, Jeff Roberto travels up to 16 weeks per year, attending conferences, handling PR and making presentations to partners, analysts and other groups. Along the way, he’s learned how theright technology can make life easier and better.

Take, for example, the presentations he had to make in Singapore a few months ago—roundtable sessions with groups of six to eight people. Knowing that the speakers on his laptop wouldn’t do the trick, he plugged an Orbit MP3 portable speaker from Altec Lansing (www.alteclansing.com) into the headphone jack of his notebook. The unit, about the size of a can of tuna, worked like a charm. “The volume was better, the sound quality was great, and best of all, I didn’t have to lug around larger PC speakers,” says Roberto. “It’s now a permanent fixture in my laptop bag.”

Trek-free Tech

Now imagine that you’re at the airport, picking up your rental car. You could, of course, reserve a car with a navigation system and spend a few moments typing in the address. But if you had a GPS unit that responded to voice commands, you could specify your destination by simply speaking its address and be on your way in a fraction of the time.

The 7200T from Navigon Inc. (www.navigonusa.com) is designed to do just that: process your spoken commands (city, street name and street number) into a route complete with detailed lane guidance and real-time traffi c updates. The updates, which are available in 95 markets in the U.S. and Canada, are free for the life of the unit.

But hands-free operation is more than just a convenience. These days, it’s becoming a necessity—especially as more states pass laws prohibiting the use of handheld cell phones. Bluetooth-enabled phones are a great improvement, but let’s face it: not everybody wants to walk around looking like an extra from “Star Trek.” And most headsets still require you to glance over to see who’s calling, or tap a button when you want to connect.

“That’s enough time to create a dangerous situation,” says Michael Pratt, vice president of sales for BlueAnt Wireless Ltd. (www.blueantwireless.com), makers of the Supertooth 3 portable speakerphone. Once you pair the unit with your phone, it will announce who’s calling—giving you the option of taking the call or not, simply by saying “OK” or “Ignore.” “If you’re a salesman,” says Pratt, “you can know in advance who’s calling and whether or not you need to take that particular call.” And, because the unit is portable, you can continue any calls you take wherever you go.

Shrink-to-fit Tools

Improved mobility is also the driving force in the other big trend in business travel: miniaturization. Every year, it seems, manufacturers manage to shrink another tool in the business travel arsenal in an effort to save space and lighten our loads. Among the latest: mini-projectors that pack roadworthy performance into increasingly small packages.

Remember that five-pound digital projector you used to carry for presentations? Happily, now you can leave it at the office. Introduced last fall, the palm-sized Dell M109S (www.dell.com) weighs just 13 ounces and will project an image of up to 60 inches (measured on the diagonal). Its 50 lumens of brightness are more than adequate for use in small-group meetings in darkened venues, and it has a VGA connector for use with a laptop. If you need sound, you’ll need to carry portable speakers—but as we covered earlier, the newest models don’t take up much space.

Speaking of laptops, they’re also shrinking before our eyes—for the simple reason that most of us don’t really need a full-featured computer when we travel. After all, if all you do is manage e-mail, access the Internet and work on a few documents, you don’t really need that DVD drive, 15-inch screen or the extra pounds. All you really need is a “netbook,” or ultra-portable PC, weighing in at around three pounds.

Take the Mini 2140 from HP (www.hp.com), which was introduced in January and weighs in at a wee 2.6 pounds. Despite its diminutive size, it features a 92-percentsized QWERTY keyboard and a 10.1-inch screen, along with a webcam, integrated Wi-Fi and ExpressCard/54 slot for easy expansion. The nearfull-sized keyboard makes it easy on the fi ngers, while the price—a model with a 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM and Windows XP, retails for around $500—is easy on the wallet, too.

Several other computer manufacturers (e.g., Asus, Dell) are now offering netbooks with integrated wireless broadband Internet access. The good news: you can get online wherever you can get a mobile broadband signal. The bad? You typically have to commit to a two-year contract with the computer-maker’s chosen wireless partner. If you’re already paying for a data plan for your phone, that extra $60 per month can be a big drag on your bottom line.

Instead, consider carrying a portable wireless router, like the CradlePoint PHS300 Personal WiFi Hotspot (www.cradlepoint. com), which essentially uses your provider’s cellular network to create a secure hotspot anywhere you have coverage. Weighing just four ounces, the unit plugs directly into your 3G handset or cellular modem and will provide up to three hours of access. Best of all: as administrator of your own mini-network, you can share that access with colleagues, clients and coworkers whenever you want.

For dedicated road warriors, staying connected is the key to efficiency on the road. “People are spending more time away from the office, yet they still need to be connected,” says Carol Hess-Nickels, HP’s director of marketing for business notebooks. “Gone are the days when you’d say, I’m off on a business trip and I won’t be available.” Fortunately, business travel technology is constantly working to close this gap—and to reduce the pile of work waiting for us when we return.