Subj : Audrey, I'm home
To   : All
From : August Abolins
Date : Thu Oct 19 2000 12:41 pm

Audrey, I'm home     
 
10/17/2000  3Com's inaugural product in its Ergo line is called a "breakthrough 
Internet appliance experience." 

The "lifestyle-centered" connected appliance, named Audrey, combines e-mail 
capability, Internet access, a scheduling center, address book and Palm HotSync 
technology.

The company researched families and how they lived to come up with the product. 
"The Audrey experience allows consumers to spend less time with technology and 
more time doing the things they really want to do," says Don Fotsch, vice 
president and general manager of 3Com's Internet appliance division. "Our focus 
is to remove all the complexity associated with accessing information on the 
Internet."

Indeed, users can scroll thought Internet content with a turn of a channel 
selector knob; write, type, or speak a message, and keep track of family 
functions on the family calendar and synchronize with Palm-compatible handheld 
organizers.

The appliance comes preset with ABCNEWS.com, AccuWeather.com, ESPN.com, 
CBSMarketWatch.com, and Mr. Showbiz. Customers can then alter the channels to 
get local weather information and certain stock quotes. After signing up for a 
specialized content deal with 3Com, users can get such channels as Beauty.com, 
CyberBills.com, drugstore.com, etown.com, Express.com, Food.com, 
GroceryWorks.com, Peapod, PurpleTie.com, Tavolo.com, TVGrid.com, and Wine.com.

As for e-mail, the appliance contains options to speak, type, or scribble a 
message. The stylus flashes green when there is mail to be read. Two individual 
Palm datebooks can synchronize into a single color-coded household calendar.

Audrey also features:

-Two USB ports to connect to a printer
-An AT&T WorldNet Service, the preferred ISP for customers, allows an account 
to be instantly created for users that do not have an ISP
-Stereo speakers allow customers to replay a voice e-mail or to listen to music 
from RealAudio
-A V.90 56K modem can dial into the Internet several times a day to refresh 
Internet content and download new e-mail. 
-An Ethernet adapter allows users to connect to cable or DSLAn infrared 
keyboard is available to type e-mail

The appliance is powered by the QNX operating system integrated with Palm 
HotSync technology using Marimba's Castanet

The appliance is available for $499. It can be purchased online at 
http://www.3Com.com/ergo.

 

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