Treo 755p is full of features

Smart Phones
I travel light. On interviews and at photo shoots, you'll find me with my 12-inch iBook G4 tucked under my arm, along with a reporter's notebook. I'll probably ask you to borrow a pen.

I also rarely carry a mobile phone, reckoning there will be a WiFi signal somewhere if I need to make a call. (I use Skype.)

So I certainly don't need a smart phone, especially if it's going to weigh me down with feature fatigue, as most do. You can't just pluck one of these devices out of the box and start working productively.

The process is more like setting up a PC for the first time: creating new accounts, synching address books, setting preferences, signing up for services, and trying to stop your service provider from sticking you with stuff you don't need.

The new Palm Treo 755p (about $280 from Sprint, with a two-year service contract included) will overwhelm you with options.

It is gorgeous and thinner, though, and its backlit QWERTY keyboard is easy enough to get around. Well-placed function keys instantly launch you into e-mail, your datebook, or phone mode. A switch on the top lets you instantly snap the telephone into vibrate mode.

The Treo 755p, available in blue or Burgundy, is a tad lighter than the Treo 700p, and ever-so-slightly more compact (we're talking fractions of an inch here). The newer 755p also has its antenna built in, so it doesn't stick out as it does on the 700p.

The 755p also supports Google Maps and instant messaging -- two of the more useful improvements, at least in my book.

RFID

Umbrella tracks shoppers

Umbrellas in the city can be like cops: It seems you can never find them when you need them.

Now Philadelphians trying to stay dry can scoop up free umbrellas from bins outside local shops.

It's called the Dutch Umbrella: As in Holland, where some urbanites share bikes through community programs, folks in one Philadelphia district can pick up umbrellas from the special buckets around town, and return them to the nearest ones when they are done.

But here's the catch: Dutch Umbrella employees with RFID readers periodically record the umbrellas in the bins, called RainDrops, set out by participating vendors. The vendors then receive reports of the foot traffic of the umbrella users from Dutch Umbrella.

Motorola is providing the RFID readers and tags for the project, currently limited to Philly's Fairmount neighborhood. Concept2 Solution is providing the software.

Local businesses will sponsor the system with their names and logos on the umbrellas, and be able to access the RFID-based usage data.

There have been many days I could have used a loaner umbrella while walking along the Fenway.

But the Dutch Umbrella organizers say Boston is only third in line. Other Philly neighborhoods and New York are next.

Robotics

Device strengthens grip and records progress

Last week I told you about Northeastern's robotic rehabilitation device, the AKROD, which uses a computer-controlled damper to give the muscles around the knee a workout.

The university is working on a similar machine, a "hand exercise and rehabilitation device," which can measure and strengthen a grip weakened by stroke and other diseases.

Physical therapists often prescribe grip balls of varying stiffness to help their patients strengthen their grips, said Azadeh Khanicheh, a research assistant in Northeastern's Robotics and Mechatronics Laboratory (www.robots.neu.edu).

"But those don't tell you how much force you are applying. Who knows if you are doing well?" Khanicheh said.

Connected to a PC, the hand exerciser records your progress, and increases the resistance in its linear damper mechanism. Like the AKROD, the hand exerciser's damper contains a fluid that thickens when an electrical field is introduced to it.

The hand rehab prototype weighs about 4 pounds. Its plastic frame gives it the look of a "wrist rocket" hunting slingshot. You squeeze a trigger at one end of the device to exercise your hand.

Northeastern is refining the hand exerciser, which contains some metal parts, so it can be used inside an MRI machine to aid brain research.

Innovative last week

A big, red stress-relieving alarm button

My sister-in-law, Sarah, relieves her road rage by flipping a switch labeled "flame thrower," near her gearshift.

Now mad-as-hell computer users can throw the switch on the whole show, with the Doomsday Device from ThinkGeek ( thinkgeek.com). The $50 desktop toy looks as if it was ripped out of a console at NORAD.

Google Desktop crashed again? Boss hassling you about overtime? Turn the device's key, flip the plastic cover, press the red button. You'll here a satisfying "boom," according to ThinkGeek.

The Doomsday Device is also a four-port USB hub, a feature that may bring some additional stress relief.

MARK BAARD