Wake up and smell the phone ... it's gadget time

By PETER GRIFFIN

The mood was subdued at the CeBIT tech show this year as the threat of Sars and the after-effects of war in the Middle East deterred international companies from making the trip to Sydney.

Still, the show had gadgets aplenty ...

Smell-phones

Importer Robert Punch had to remove his marijuana-scented mobile phone covers from his display at CeBIT after New South Wales Premier Bob Carr expressed his displeasure.

The covers, designed for Nokia mobile phones and made in China, carry the image of a marijuana leaf and give off the odour of the green weed.

Punch quickly switched to pushing the more politically correct chocolate and strawberry scented phone covers, but said the marijuana cover was "a stayer".

He also said he had brought his phone covers through customs without attracting any interest from the drug-sniffing dogs on patrol.

The covers were selling for A$29 ($32.50) and Punch said two dozen scents would be available by the end of the year.

The scent stays strong for at least six months.

Punch is also planning a service to imprint customised logos and pictures on non-removable phone facias.

Web-streaming video cameras

Melbourne company Momentum Technologies unveiled Squizbiz, a device that clips onto any Sony handycam and transmits images to a PC within a range of around 100m.

Instead of Bluetooth or "Wi-Fi" 802.11, as might be expected, Squizbiz uses 2.4GHz analog radio - better, it seems, for producing the smooth continuous feed needed for web-streaming.

The SquizBiz set-up, including the hot shoe for the camera, the radio receiver that plugs into the computer and the software interface were being sold as a package for around A$1800 ($2015).

The target market is small businesses which want to spruce up their websites by displaying live video. Momentumgroup.

The Manta Ray

Xbox and PlayStation gamers are the target of Adelaide company Manta Ray, which has brought out a low-end projector stylishly shaped like a ... well, a manta ray.

At about A$2000 ($2240), the Manta Ray is much cheaper than projectors from the likes of Sony, Epsom and Panasonic.

The trade-off is in screen resolution.

The optimum screen size for the Manta Ray is 1.5m across - fine for gaming, a DVD movie or for viewing images from a video camera.

Korea's latest

Korean electronics manufacturers LG and Samsung put on splashy shows at CeBIT, and their screen technology and mobile phones drew the crowds.

Samsung was pushing its coffee table TV displays, 100cm LCD screens mounted horizontally beneath a glass surface.

But the A$13,000 ($14,560) price tag will keep them out of most living rooms.

Samsung was also showing its DigitALL Flaunt range - phones aimed at women.

The beetle-like T500 (A$1000) is studded with imitation diamonds and looks more like a jewellery box than a mobile phone.

USB gadgets

New to the market are a range of USB-based accessories that can be plugged in through the USB port and powered from a computer's power supply. Popular sellers at CeBIT included fans and halogen lights.

Portable hard drives based on the faster USB 2.0 standard are popular as portable storage devices.

* Peter Griffin attended CeBIT as a guest of Hannover Fairs Australia.