It Might Only Beep, but Its Features Have a Lot of Bang

Shades of Dick Tracy: Motorola is introducing a two-way pager with a full keyboard, display screen and the ability to access the Internet. And it’s no bigger than a deck of cards.

The PageWriter 250 is the smallest pager on the market with a full keyboard, according to Motorola. It has a 46-key QWERTY keyboard and a four-line, 80-character display with scrolling capability. It runs on one AA battery. Users can receive messages, respond to messages or initiate them directly from the pager.

PageWriter 250 is also able to communicate with fax machines and wirelessly send messages to Internet e-mail sites. It will be activated through subscribing to SkyTel paging service.

PageWriter 250 ($299) will be available in early summer. Call Motorola at (800) 548-9954 for more information.

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Sun Block: Stay in bed a little longer: Just out are some high-tech cordless window shades that operate with a remote control.

Hunter Douglas, the window fashion manufacturer, is offering Duette Power Rise, a honeycomb design shade that is raised or lowered by simply pointing the remote control toward the infrared eye on the head rail of the blind. No cords or special wiring required. The unit operates on standard alkaline batteries.

The custom Power Rise shades, which come in many fabrics and colors, also have a safety stop and a memory stop that allows users to preset the shade to stop in the same place. A 4-foot-by-5-foot Duette Power Rise shade costs about $650. For information, (800) 327-8953.

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Pot Luck: Thermo-Lite planters look like clay pottery, but they’re much lighter and cost less.

These new pots, from American Pottery, are made of “architectural polyurethane foam,” so they are 90% lighter than the real clay ones. They resist cracking or chipping, and because they are watertight, they can be used indoors as well as outside. Each pot is hand-finished; they come in terra cotta or whitewashed sandstone colors with grape leaf designs.

Thermo-Lite pots are available in several sizes. Prices range from $30 to $70. For more information, call (888) 388-0319.