We consider the space M of NxN matrices as a reduced quantum plane and
discuss its geometry under the action and coaction of finite dimensional
quantum groups (a quotient of U_q(SL(2)), q being an N-th root of unity, and
its dual). We also introduce a differential calculus for M: a quotient of the
Wess Zumino complex. We shall restrict ourselves to the case N odd and often
choose the particular value N=3. The present paper (to appear in the
proceedings of the conference "Quantum Groups and Fundamental Physical
Applications", Palerme, December 1997) is essentially a short version of
math-ph/9807012.