MICROSOFT'S CLEARTYPE - Cleartype offers to improve the experience of reading on a screen. ClearType's main target is the e-book market. E-books also try to replicate the experience of reading an actual book, and can store thousands of pages that are downloaded over a modem. Meanwhile, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center has developed electronic paper that looks and feels much like a traditional newspaper, but can update information when an electrically charged device is waved over the surface. (Financial Times, 19 Jan 2000)

THAT'S NO REFRIGERATOR, IT'S A COMMAND CENTER - Smart appliance technology is being exhibited at industry shows by a number of companies, including Whirlpool, Sunbeam, and General Electric. These corporations and others are developing systems that allow home appliances to evaluate conditions and communicate with the consumer or other appliances. Companies anticipate, for example, that with this technology refrigerators will be able to keep track of the food they contain and efficiently communicate this information to consumers. The large issue now in question is that of creating a system of communication largely accessible to different brands. Currently, Sunbeam's products are set on a system unconnected to the Internet, while General Electric is working with both Sun Microsystems and the Universal Plug and Play Forum - comprising IBM, Sony, and other companies - via a deal with Microsoft. Another question that manufacturers have, as GE's director of advanced products development laboratories, Jon Katz, explained, is what potential buyers would want these systems to do. (Washington Post, 18 Jan 2000)

AN E-CAR LEARNING EXPERIENCE - Elliott Masie recently purchased a new car from Germany and had an e-learning experience in the drivers seat. There was a function on his GPS navigation system that he did not understand. So, he pressed the INFORMATION button on the car and in less than a minute, a live coach was talking to him. She knew his name, the make of my car and the location of the vehicle. In two minutes, she talked him through how to enter some data into my navigation system and while he had her on the line, got a quick lesson on oil change frequency for his vehicle. It was just in time, live, personalized, mobile and awesome. Watch for this technology to be added to historic information and even coaching for sales staff prior to making a critical presentation. (TechLearn Trends #157 25 Jan 00)