Tips For Travelers - 2004-11-08
Translator Gets Vocabulary Boost
The newly upgraded Lingo Talking Translator speaks and translates more than twice as many words as the previous model. It now translates more than 200,000 words and 23,000 phrases—20,000 words and 2,300 phrases per language—both orally and in writing in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. The $199 product includes a currency and metric converter, calculator, databank and gives the time in 200 cities. Earphones, carrying pouch and two AAA batteries also are included. For more information, contact Santa Barbara-based Magellan's by calling (800) 962-4943 or logging on to www.magellans.com.
Upgraded Headphones Foil Clamor
Quiet Comfort noise reduction headphones use tiny microphones in each earcup to detect differences between the sounds or music a traveler wants to hear and undesirable external noise, then creates a correction signal that, combined with passive attenuation, dramatically reduces unwanted sounds.
The headphones, manufactured by Bose Corp., now hold all controls in one earcup and feature a single audio cable that connects, with adapters, to a variety of airline and home audio sources by converting a single headphone plug to dual jacks. For more information, contact Brookstone Co. Inc. by logging on to www.brookstone.com.
Nailing Flyaway Clippings
The Turbo-Clipper cleans and traps travelers' fingernail clippings into a built-in compartment in its handle, eliminating all flyaway clippings. The nail-care tool sports chrome-plated, hardened steel clippers and a powered filing wheel at one end for smoothing out rough edges.
The $49.95 tool, created by Sharper Image Design, weighs only five ounces and runs on one CR123A lithium battery, which is included, and comes with a one-year warranty. For more information, log on to www.sharperimage.com.
Thwarting Dental Agony On The Run
Travelers can take along the Dental Emergency Kit for relief until professional help can be obtained. The kit treats toothaches, broken crowns and dentures, lost fillings and more. It includes rinse cups, temporary cement, tamping tool, tweezers, anesthetic gel, mouth mirror, sterile gauze pads, cotton pellets and balls, dental wax, floss, Ibuprofen, anti-microbial wipes, oil of cloves, temporary filling material and instructions. The $29.85 kit can be purchased from Santa Barbara-based Magellan's by calling (800) 962-4943 or logging on to www.magellans.com.
Obstructing Laptop File Theft
Griffin Technologies' SecuriKey is a small token that, when inserted into a computer's universal serial bus port, allows access to a computer. Should someone steal the computer, no access to files could be gained without the SecuriKey token. The SecuriKey Professional edition, designed for the individual traveler, retails for about $129.00 and includes two SecuriKey tokens. Additional tokens for multiple users are $49.95 each. Contact Griffin Technologies at 1-800-986-6578 or through www.securikey.com.