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`Want to IM? You Can ZipIt
`
`Sascha Segan - PC Magazine
`Thu Sep 27, 5:00 AM ET
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`IM-obsessed middle and high schoolers have something to save up their part-time job money for. The ZipIt Wireless
`Messenger 2 (Z2) is a combination instant-messaging device and MP3 player that will sell for a mere $149 when it comes out
`next month.
`
`The Z2 isn't a cell phone. It's an inexpensive gadget that replaces an extra family PC in families where one child wants to
`spend five hours a day on AIM, Yahoo! Messenger or Windows Live Messenger. It's easily portable, and can handle multiple
`conversations, so kids can type on their beds. It rejects messages from folks who aren't on the kids' buddy lists, and doesn't let
`kids surf porn (there's no Web browsing), so parents feel safe not looking over their kids' shoulders. It follows up on an earlier
`version of the ZipIt, released in 2004, that had a gummier keyboard and black-and-white screen.
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`The Z2 connects to the Internet using Wi-Fi 802.11b or g, presumably in a home network. (Without a Web browser, it lacks the
`ability to fill out the authentication pages that hotspots typically have.) For now, it has its multiplatform IM program, an MP3-
`playing and Internet radio streaming program that works either with headphones or through built-in speakers, and a photo-
`gallery program. (It takes its music and photo files from a MiniSD card that you load using a card reader on your PC.)
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`But, as it's running embedded Linux on a Marvell processor, it's highly extensible—ZipIt can push out new software to the
`device whenever the company wants to. ZipIt even plans to be friendly to Linux hackers who want to develop new uses for the
`device, execs said. Part of their planned future functionality includes the ability to boot off of a miniSD card. ZipIt might also
`include ways to access messages on sites like MySpace and Facebook or SMS messages in the future, though those features
`are just at the speculative stage, execs said during a product demo.
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`Z2 owners will also get access to a Web portal where they'll be able to download new skins, fonts, backgrounds, and Internet
`radio station links. ZipIt execs say the device will have four to six hours of battery life.
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`We got to handle the Z2 for a little while here at PC Magazine, and we were very impressed. The keyboard has relatively firm,
`clicky keys, with an aggressive backlight, and the color screen is sharp. It connected to WPA and unsecured 802.11g networks
`in our labs, and pulled up a combined AIM and Yahoo! buddy list.
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`The killer feature here, though, is the price. At $149 with no service contract or monthly charges, it's actually affordable for
`many consumers, unlike competitors like the Sony Mylo or higher-end messaging phones. We'll have a review soon.
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`Copyright © 2007 Ziff Davis Inc. All Rights Reserved.
`Content originally published in Ziff Davis Media publications is the copyrighted property of Ziff Davis Media.
`Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
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`http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070927/tc_zd/215967&printer=1;_ylt=Aj17fsSUdEFkXDE...
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`9/27/2007
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`ZIPIT EX. 2062, pg.1
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