Small Wonders
Size matters. Pavan Shamdasani checks out the best teeny weeny gadgets
Phone
Xun Chi 138
Overpopulation, one-child policy, cramped living quarters – the last thing China needs is fat cell phones. Enter the 55-gram recipe for taxi-loss disaster, the Xun Chi 138. Measuring less than three inches, the female-friendly phone (only in pink for now) has no keypad to speak of, but packs handwriting recognition with a stylus pen located conveniently on the back. All this, plus they’ve somehow crammed in a 1.3 megapixel camera, USB, WAP, GPRS and an MP3 player with 138mb onboard memory.
Size: Between an AA battery and a disposable lighter.
Weight: A stack of eight $1 coins.
Recommended price: $1,100.
Laptop
Asus Eee PC
Asus’ manhood-mocking mini-marvel could be the first step toward a world where bite-sized laptops are as ubiquitous as LCD-screen wallpaper or flying cars. At just two pounds, the Eee doesn’t support Windows, lacks a DVD drive, has a 7” screen and only packs 4GB – but honestly, are all those bad things? With easy Internet connectivity, all the apps you’d get on a regular system (word processing, media player, messaging) and a webcam for those lonely nights, this should be your weekend weapon of choice.
Size and weight: A copy of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
Recommended price: $3,000.