SC Bar

If you are tired of carrying both a cell phone and a personal computer or Blackberry�, the Treo smartphone products combine the technology of both. Bargain shoppers can get the Treo 600 (still being sold) at greatly reduced prices. The new Treo features a brighter screen, a removable battery, a MP3 player, a digital camera that captures video and a backlit keyboard. Information is available online at http://web.palmone.com/products/communicators/index.jhtml?/&cid=treo. Wish you knew more about PDAs (personal digital assistants)? Go to www.scbar.org/pmap/hardware.asp and click on Portable Handheld Computers.

 

Wi-Fi (short for "wireless fidelity") is the popular term for a high-frequency wireless local area network (WLAN). At this year's SC Bar Convention, Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal columnist, discussed how Wi-Fi is revolutionizing communication technology.

 

The big buzz among attendees was about Friday's wireless technology sessions, where expert legal technologists warned that wireless technology is not ready for most law offices. One speaker, who administers technology nationally to a division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, compared having a wireless access point on a law firm's system to "putting a wall around the White House, but then leaving open the backdoor of the place, guarded only by a rent-a-cop." He added that wireless is convenient, "But it is not secure; hence, in my judgment, it cannot be appropriately justified on any computer or network on which confidential and/or privileged materials are stored or communicated." Even systems he cited as being more secure, such as Cisco's Aironet series, had drawbacks. He advises waiting, perhaps for the emerging 802.11i standard.