Free office software on demand, sports scores in your hand in Net Notes

A free online software suite that handles office tasks and a collection of hands-off devices that deliver sports scores, weather or stock information highlight today's version of Net Notes.

•Zoho

(www.zoho.com)

This Web-based software suite can handle virtually anything that comes your way.

Text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, planners and several other programs that you would have to pay hundreds of dollars for if buying Microsoft's Office suite, are all available for free for your use.

Imagine having to finish a Word document from home, but knowing your desktop in the den doesn't have Word. Simply create an account on Zoho, save the document to your account, and then open and work on the file from any Internet-connected computer. There's nothing to install and the interface looks and handles very much like what you use in Word.

The document is saved to the Zoho server, then downloaded back to your office computer when you return to your work place. You can invite other Zoho users to collaborate on a document live online, and communicate via the Zoho Chat window.

The Zoho product suite includes (Zoho)Writer, Sheet, Show, Wiki, Notebook, Mail, Business, Projects, CRM, Meeting, Creator, DB & Reports, Planner and Chat. Businesses are charged a fee for using the CRM (customer relations management) and the Projects software.

The first three CRM users are free, with a charge of $12 per month per additional user.

Zoho Business is an option for businesses to use the Zoho suite of products, including e-mail, under their own logo. Pricing depends on the size of the business and customers must contact Zoho for pricing details.

I recommend you open a free Zoho account and try out the tools for yourself first.

•Ambient Devices

(www.ambientdevices.com)

These are the ultimate plug-and-play gizmos, dubbed the "anti-convergence device" by a company representative showing a sampling during a press event at the International Consumer Electronics Show.

For a one-time, flat-fee of $99, baseball fans get live updates of all Major League Baseball games all season long.

The same price holds for the National Football League device.

A stock market device sells for slightly more.

Weather followers can get the current seven-day forecast displayed on their weather watcher for $199; a five-day version sells for $149.

The data is sent to these displays via a series of more than 6,000 proprietary terrestrial network towers, covering more than 90 percent of the United States.

The company has other devices in development, including live scoring and results for the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, the National Basketball Association, college sports, fantasy sports and lottery numbers.

Share your Internet story with me at agibes@reviewjournal.com.