Personal Technology <br><p>Mobile <p><i><font size="2">The little BlackBerry plugs users into e-mail without a phone jack; PopChart displays data on demand.</font></i>

"The BlackBerry is a hand-held device as well as software that runs on servers behind an organization's firewall," says Mark Guibert, RIM's director of marketing. "BlackBerry gives people the ability to have a remote window into their e-mail for the first time."

Remote may be an understatement. Executives have been able to access their e-mail remotely for years. But they required a phone jack, a laptop and good luck in connecting to their e-mail via limited dial-up resources. With the wireless BlackBerry, executives have access to their e-mail all the time no matter where they may be. BlackBerrys also are small-one version is the size of a pager, the other a tad smaller than a Palm Pilot-allowing e-mail access without the heft of a laptop.

BlackBerry uses two nationwide packet data networks instead of pricey cellular nets. Pagers have operated on such networks for years, thus they are more reliable and ubiquitous than still-developing cellular networks. "What we saw as one of the hindrances to enabling wireless e-mail was the absence of a keyboard on many devices," Guibert says. As a result, the BlackBerry includes a keyboard designed for thumb typing. "After a couple days of usage most people type away at 20 words per minute. It's a very practical means of entering e-mail while on the go."

RIM is marketing the package to businesses as a remote e-mail management tool. And because the BlackBerry solution includes software that integrates with e-mail and security systems, interested executives who don't think their agencies will spring for a large scale rollout of the product can check with their Internet service providers to see whether they offer special BlackBerry connectivity.

"[RIM] seems to have figured out how to do one thing well," says Bob O'Donnell, research director for device technology at International Data Corp., a market research firm in Framingham, Mass. "E-mail seems to be the real killer application on the thing. And people seem to be happy with it. The BlackBerry provides a workable wireless e-mail solution."

"It's amazing what you can accomplish during sporadic moments of unutilized time," Guibert says. "We're giving people back some time in their day to help them stay on top of their growing in-box."

Charting New Graphics

When Dan Grauman, a computer specialist with the National Cancer Institute, found out about PopChart, he decided his Web site could benefit from the software. Grauman's project, the Web site for the Atlas of Cancer Mortality in the United States, 1950-1994, www.nci.nih.gov/atlas, depends on charts and graphs to display mortality rates.

"The Web site is a major project that involves taking statistics and putting them into graphical format," Grauman says.

Corda Technologies Inc., a Web software development outfit based in Orem, Utah, developed PopChart. It is a dynamic graphing and charting tool. The graphics are interactive and are developed from data stored in spreadsheets or databases. Pop- Chart reads statistical data and presents it graphically only when prompted by the click of a mouse on a hyperlink or on existing chart elements for further information.

"The PopCharts use Flash technology that allows you to run your mouse over a bar in a graph to produce a box where you can see number and rate behind the bar," Grauman says. "Any government report you look at has charts. You can even use the software in budgeting. The charts are the pictorial equivalent of a spreadsheet."

"The technology [provides] a data funnel where we send electronic data and the graphs automatically change based on the data fed to them. "It's all done dynamically," says Ron Saffell, Corda's government account manager. "The graphs and charts could be used on Web sites, intranets and even documents to include [in] presentations."

New Deskpros for the Desktop

Compaq Computer Corp. has a long history of building solid PCs in the Deskpro line that are free of stray wires and feature sturdy, modular construction. But as the years passed, a plethora of Deskpros appeared, blurring the distinctions between products and confusing information technology managers, who want strong distinctions between cutting-edge computers and lower-end PCs slated for deployment across their enterprises.

Now, Compaq is offering a single corporate box, the Deskpro EN, and another snazzier unit with all the latest bells and whistles, the Deskpro EX.

This means technicians concerned with stability of PC components over the long haul will gravitate to the EN. Power users who relish the biggest hard drives and fastest processors will find the EX best suited for their needs.