ROAM AROUND THE ROOM
One of the coolest, most pioneering, and under-appreciated products from Apple in recent years 
has been the Airport Express, introduced with relatively little fanfare a little 
over a year ago.
The picture on the far left shows the product, with the one on its right, showing it plugged in ready to go to work.
What does it do exactly? Well, as Macworld described it eloquently upon its introduction last year,
"Today Apple announced AirPort Express, a product that manages in true Apple fashion to be about a half-dozen ideas rolled together into one small white plastic box.
Looking weirdly like an Apple power brick (it measures less than 4-by-3-by 1 inches, and weighs less than 7 ounces) , the $129 AirPort Express is an AirPort Base Station, a wireless relay, a wireless bridge, a music streamer for stereos and powered speakers, a wireless print server, and an answer to the prayers of PowerBook-toting business travelers."
And oh, they don't mention that it also works just fine with Windows PCs and laptops.
This gizmo has been a standard part of my Gadget travel kit ever since it was available last year, and I don't think I've used it for music streaming yet, although I could. In fact, I'm using it right now as I write this post.
Apple's marketing, being obviously iPod and iTunes focused in recent times, truly under-sells the revolutionary aspect of this product: that it's a full-fledged Wi-fi transmitter that you use in a plug and play fashion anywhere you need an instant wi-fi network...like say, in your hotel room.
Typically, hotel rooms have broadband, Ethernet connections tethered to a short wire and electrical plug on a smallish business desk. If you want to work on the broadband internet, you are tied to that desk and its more often than not uncomfortable chair.
Well, the Airport Express frees you from that restriction. Plug it in to the power jack, plug the Ethernet wire in, and wait for the single light on it to turn green...when it turns from orange to green, you've got yourself a Wi-fi network that rivals anything at the local Starbucks.
Fire up your laptop on the couch, the comfy chair, or the bed, and you're ready to go. Why, the commercial simply writes itself.
But no, Apple had to market it as a "music streamer"!
Well, now you know.
The funny thing is, like the seventeen inch screen, 7 pound, 1 inch thick, lightweight wonder Powerbook, which Apple introduced in 2003, the Airport Express has also not seen any real competition from other vendors for the longest time.
As an aside, that the 17" laptop has no competitor in that weight and thickness class for almost two years in the Windows world is the possible subject for ANOTHER ranting post...most of the windows competitors start at 9 pounds and are much thicker and bulkier...still, TWO years after Apple came out with their first version.
But we are seeing an interesting twist on the Airport Express idea.
As Gizmodo, Engadget, 
and other source reported recently, a company called ZyXel announced a USB powered Wi-Fi Access Point, that apparently has a built-in Wi-fi signal finder, something that could be useful in both form and function.
To quote from the press release,
"The AG-225H is the only Wi-Fi finder available today that locates all the 802.11a and 802.11b/g access points in range and provides detailed information like SSID, security, and signal strength. In a sleek device the size of a stick of gum, the AG-225H is the first to have a hotspot finder, client adapter and soft access point all in one, making it a perfect on-the-go gadget."
The product is scheduled to be released later this month, and I've not found any reviews of it to date, hands-on or otherwise.
It doesn't seem to be as useful as the Airport Express though, which as described above is designed for a single user to be liberated from a wired Ethernet connection.
This device is more handy for multiple users to share a wired connection, with the first user's laptop being connected to the wired Ethernet connection, and then serving as a wireless access point using the ZyXel device for other users. Convenient, but not quite the functionality of the Airport Express.
But regular readers know how much I like USB-powered gizmos (also, see here) and how much of a gadget geek I am. So, I'll likely have to order one when it is available, even though it nowhere as cool looking and as useful as my Apple Airport Express.
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