Coming... soon.. to a store near you"

Vaporware has always been well known in the software industry, but
there are a significant number of hardware gadgets that either never
appear, or eventually appear months or years after first announced. A
few gadgets that I have been waiting for that are taking their time to
appear include:

• The Nokia 9290 Communicator. The 9210 model handheld has been
  available in Europe for quite some time, and in fact accounted for approximately 10% of European handheld units sold in 2001. However, a separate US model is necessary due to the different frequency used for GSM in the United States (1900 MHz) than in Europe and the rest of the world (900 & 1800 MHz). The 9290 was announced in July of 2001, but has still not appeared. The Nokia web site says availability will be "in the first half of 2002". Having seen and handled a 9210 in Geneva, Switzerland in August of last year waiting is not easy. This is especially so since my cell phone died this january, leaving me with a SIM chip lonely for a home! Paying for cellular service when you don't have a phone is annoying, but it seems to be impossible to find out when the 9290 will appear.
• The Danger Hiptop: This device is also GSM and was announced in the first half of 2001. Given its low price point ($200) I was going to buy this to hold me until the Nokia 9290 was released, but despite reading numerous articles and reviews of this product in various magazines, there is no availability information on the Danger web site.
• However, both these devices will come out this year. This is in marked contrast to the vaporware from Charmed Technology . Charmed has exhibited at numerous fashion and Internet shows since 1999, and has generated a massive amount of press virtually indistinguishable from p.r. pieces. Examples include, ".... Charmed is poised to be the world leader in affordable, wearable, internet products.." and ".... Charmed ... will allow individuals to connect to the Internet via their eyeglasses, necklaces, or lapel pin....", etc. However, a quick review of their web site shows that the only product for sale is the 'CharmIT Development Kit', a clunky wearable partially put together from other vendors' products (Jumptec's board, b/w Kopin M1 display, color MicroOptical display...), oh, and a book by their CEO ("..the CEO of one of today's hottest wireless businesses...") Alex Lightman - "Brave New Unwired World: The Digital Big Bang and the Infinite Internet"