keyspan

Keyspan
Presentation Remote – This silvery number consists of a radio frequency
remote and a corresponding receiver that plugs into a spare USB port.
The remote has four buttons, one pad and a switch which allow it to function
as a wireless two button mouse with PowerPoint slide control and a laser
pointer without any software installation.

The documentation (consisting of two 5″ x 6″ pieces of photocopied
paper) says that Macintosh users need not install any additional software
to use the Keyspan Presentation Remote. It also states that the remote’s
media mode, which under Windows allows control of Windows Media Player,
is not supported on the Mac. With very little digging on Keyspan’s
web site, I found a beta
release of the software in development for this remote under Mac OS
X. With this software installed, I was able to switch the remote to media
mode where I could configure the buttons, pad and switch to do my bidding
in the Finder, Keynote, iTunes, PowerPoint, Quicktime Player, or pretty
much anything else.

The software is still in beta and getting the drivers to recognize the
RF receiver without crashing my Mac was a bit of an ordeal, but once I
got it working it was really a lot of fun.

Keyspan
4-Port Mini Hub – USB hubs are just a fact of life if you carry and
use a lot of USB devices. The two USB ports on most portables get filled
way too easily. But, as I mentioned in USB
gadgets for your ‘Book, I have yet to find a hub that I recommend
without hesitation.

That situation has not changed. The Keyspan 4-Port Mini Hub has great
portability and usability, but the case fell apart on its first excursion
in my backpack. The plastic is very light, but somewhat less than durable.
And its “snap together” construction too easily succumbs to
“snap apart” destruction. I would still recommend this hub,
but I would suggest that it be tucked away in a safe and snug pocket to
prevent spontaneous disassembly.

The Keyspan 4-Port Mini Hub comes packaged with an AC adapter that allows
you to attach USB devices that draw more power than the Universal Serial
Bus can efficiently provide on its own. This is a valuable extra in a
portable hub and puts the Keyspan above other portable hubs that lack
this feature. On the downside, the AC adapter requires additional backpack
real estate. But if you need this option, you’ll just have to find the
room.

Keyspan
Zip-Linq Retractable USB Extension Cable – I’ve saved the best for
last. This thing is awesome. “How good could a USB extension cord
be?” Well, it’s ability to extend my USB range isn’t the the part
that’s amazing, it’s the way that it does it. The Keyspan Zip-Linq Retractable
USB Extension Cable is just one of a
slew of retractable extendable portable wonders all based on the same
principle.

The
really great thing about the Zip-Linq’s isn’t so much what they can do
when you extend them, but how little space they require when they are
retracted. A while back, I purchased one
of Macally’s offerings to the retractable cable category. The Macally
offers twice as much cable length as the Keyspan but look at the picture
here–it also takes up more than twice as much room! If you need 5 feet
of USB extension, buy two Keyspan Zip-Linq’s and you’ll have the needed
cable length and more room in you backpack for other stuff.

And the Keyspan Zip-Linq’s are much more durable. In the time it took
me to lose my sales receipt for my Macally Retractable Firewire dealie,
the housing around one of the plug ends split open and I had to reach
for my SwissTool to sweet talk the broken plug out of my iBook’s Firewire
port. The Keyspan Zip-Linq has been much more forgiving of the tortures
I put it through and is just made of tougher stuff in my opinion.