The fact that Quicksync is compatible with any PC operating system that can run Outlook makes it a highly versatile device and lends a greater appeal to the prospective users. KERBANGO INTERNET RADIO Guess this: What is common between an alien beer in the novel “Battlefield Earth” and a radio…? Tough one isn’t it? Anyway, the common link between the beer and the radio is “Kerbango”. What is a Kerbango, you may ask. Well for all those who get the news late, Kerbango is the world’s first standalone Internet radio. And what is the beer connection? That is what the alien beer is known as in the novel “Battlefield Earth”. The reason why this unique radio gets a mention over here is because, like the Indrema game console and IBM’s prototype watch, even Kerbango runs on a Linux (sounds far-fetched… but its true). This radio, which works quite like the conventional radio, presently needs a broadband connection in order to get connected to thousands of online music stations. You have to simply select a music category of your choice and a list of stations streaming your kind of music is displayed. You can tune in to any of it and listen to music in the usual way. The Internet tuning is provided by the Kerbango Tuning Service (KTS), which is a sophisticated database of information about the music stations found on the Internet. KTS works in sync with special automated programs called StreamBots, which ensures the quality and reliability of the transmission. Talking of the technical specifics, the internal embedded computer is based on Motorola’s DigitalDNA technology with PowerPC system-on-chip 32-bit processor running at 81 MHz. It has 16 MB of SDRAM; 8 MB of flash memory and 4 MB ROM. Hard Hat Linux distributed by Montavista forms the embedded Linux operating system while Real Player distributed by the Real Networks takes care of the streaming part and supports any of the RealAudio codecs including G2 and MP3. It has got a high contrast, backlit LCD display with a display size of VGA (320x240 pixels) and 4-bit grayscale. The radio has full-range stereo speakers with an output of 2 watts per channel. It can connect to the Internet via a phone line, Ethernet or a USB-connected networking interface. And in addition to this it also contains a conventional FM radio receiver, a built-in AM/FM antenna and the standard clock function. Measuring 8”x10.5”x7.5”, this Internet radio weighs 3.75 lbs and is priced at $299. But that is not all to this radio.