If your  wish list for  digital travel companions includes  music and movie players, an FM Radio, a quick e-book and document viewer and  a  satellite-based   route finder,  you can now have it all on  a single palm sized device that weighs less than 200 grams  and comes with a large 5 inch ( 12.7 cm) touch screen. What’s more you can  latch a  mobile phone the device, wirelessly with Bluetooth  and  if you have a GPRS connection to the Internet, the same device  becomes a quick browsing tool or a hands-free phone.

 

The Magnum  Touch Media Device (TMD) , just launched  all over  India by the  Bangalore-based  Lakshmi Access Communication Systems (www.lacs.co.in) , also throws in a  folder full of games and two GB of storage. If you want to carry your own library of movies  for on-the-go entertainment,  there is a microSD slot to store them on a Flash card of up to 8 GB capacity – and  budding DJs may appreciate the ability to ‘broadcast’ their  selections  in the neighborhood, with the built-in FM transmitter.  

 

All controls are touch-based  and  while not quite the iPad killer that  some sections of the media are calling it, the Magnum TMD is nevertheless a    good combo of digital  tools and players for the asking price of Rs  9999.  The slightly smaller 4.3 inch ( 10.9 cm) version costs Rs 8999.