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CNN Live Today

Gadgets Gaining More Popularity Among Hikers

Aired June 25, 2002 - 11:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: If you are heading off into the woods, you might want to take this little gadget with you, a combination two- way radio and global positioning system. Gadgets are gaining more popularity among more advanced and sophisticated hikers. Those devices and plenty of others are on display at the Tech X New York Expo.

Joining us from New York to talk about these device is CNN technology director Mary Kathleen Flynn.

Hey, MK, how are you?

MARY KATHLEEN FLYNN, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon.

Well, I'm sure you've seen, and maybe you've even used on some hikes or some other kinds of family trips, these walkie-talkies, or their also called two-way radios. And families have been using them to go hiking and talk to each other while they're on camping trips, and some people even take them to the mall. Teenagers like to take them to the mall for little shopping trips to keep in touch with each other there.

And then there are these global position satellite receivers that serious outdoor adventurists use to find their location. So now, there are a couple of companies that have taken both these devices and put them into one, the one little gadget that is both a two-way radio and a GPS receiver. And they're from -- the companies are Audiovox and Garmen.

Now, Leon, the benefits of having these two in one device are there are basically three benefits. They show you where you are, using those GPS satellites that help you locate where you are. They also show you where other people in your group are and they let you talk to each other. So those are the three basic benefits.

And if you are thinking that, you know, maybe this sounds a little bit geeky, you might want to keep in mind that the National Park Service say there are more than 3,000 people who go missing each year in the national parks, and they spend 1/10 of their budget on search-and-rescue missions.

So these are cool and they're fun, but they also could be very practical; they could even save lives. HARRIS: OK, but the big question is for me, and maybe a bunch of other people listening this morning, is how much? What's it going to cost me?

FLYNN: They're a little pricey. They start at $170, and they go up to $250, and that depends on the mapping features that you have, and you got to remember that that's per unit. So if you've got to get a pair of these, that's going to cost you possibly as much as $500.

Now, you mentioned PC Expo or the Tech X New York show this week, and that's in New York all this week, about 45,000 people coming here, and they are showing all kinds of gadgets, including, I've got right here, a new photo printer from Hewlett-Packard, and this is the Photo Smart 100 photo printer, and it delivers beautiful photographs like this, $179. You use it with your digital camera, but you don't have to have your digital camera with you. You can just plug it in and take it to a party, and you can just bring along the card that would store the photographs on it with you, instead of having to bring the whole camera there. So that's very popular. That's from HP, sort of an accessory to your digital camera.

HARRIS: Let me ask you real quick, do you know how much the paper costs for that, because when you get these digital cameras and these printers, that's the big cost catch usually.

FLYNN: That's a very good point. HP, Hewlett-Packard, tells me it's about 45 cents per copy, and you do have to buy a special cartridge that runs out after about 120 prints, and you also have to buy, or you should buy, if you want the nice quality, special paper. So it ends up being about 45 cents per copy.

HARRIS: It would be a waste to spend all that money on the camera and go through all that trouble and have little crappy looking pictures.

M.K. Flynn, thanks much. Appreciate it.

FLYNN: Thanks, Leon.

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