Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus Speakers/Review

Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus Speakers

Available at Hammacher Schlemmer for $60,000.

The Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus Speakers is a triumph of engineering and design – the result of five years extensive reseach and development tasked with designing the perfect loudspeaker.

Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus Speakers are the four-way speakers that provide the clearest three-dimensional soundstage performance available.
Precise to the finest level, and great in external aesthetics, there are 1-inch and 2-inch tweeters along with 4-inch mid-range driver that play a crucial role in giving out a rather crisp, clear, and more vibrant sound output. On further probing, it is said the vibration patterns are monitored to the level of 1/3000th of a millimeter by using Laser-Doppler velocimetry. The result of that is of course the precision and crispness of the sound. For the times when bass plays an important role, there are 12-inch bass drivers which are housed in a curved spiral tube, thus enabling waves to travel without reflection.

Also, B&W Nautilus speakers use an active crossover design that allows each driver to operate on its own frequency unlike the more-than-common passive crossover designs. This lends a crisper and clearer final tone output, and this means that you will need four separate amplifiers for each speaker to power them.
The speakers’ bodies are handcrafted from fiberglass-reinforced ABS and are finished with paints and lacquer systems used for luxury cars.

Drive Units (High Frequency): 2 domed units of anodised aluminium of similar construction, 50mm and 25mm in diameter, handle the 880Hz – 3.5kHz and 3.5kHz – 25kHz ranges respectively. All drive units are completely mounted on silicone rubber O-rings to decouple from the cabinet

Drive Units (Mid-Range/High Frequency): From 220Hz – 800Hz, a 100mm flat-fronted unit is employed to prevent the gentle cavity resonance found in conventional cone units at around 2kHz interfering with the output from the upper/midrange unit. A rare earth magnet assembly with hollow pole is used to minimise the obstruction to the rear radiation from the diaphragm

Drive Units (Bass): A 9.5kg (21 lbs) magnet with a 100mm (4”) voice coil acts as the massive motor of the 300mm (12”) bass unit (10Hz – 220Hz). This, when used in the exponential line enclosure, results in a high-pass behaviour so over-damped that the traditional second-order characteristic is replaced by two distinct first-order slopes and no stored energy. A 250 micron one-piece aluminium cone ensures coherent motion to beyond 1.5kHz

    Frequency Response: 25Hz – 20kHz ± 0.5dB on reference axis
    Frequency Range: -6dB at 10Hz and 25kHz
    Power Handling: 100W – 500W into 8 ohms, one amplifier is required for each drive unit
    Electronic crossover supplied with speaker
    Dimensions (H x W x D): 1210mm x 430mm x 1105mm
    Net Weight: 110kg (Loudspeaker – 60kg, Base – 50kg)
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Plantronics Voyager Pro UC Headset/Review

Plantronics Voyager Pro UC Headset

A decade after its first Bluetooth headset in 2001, Plantronics still stands out as one of the leaders in an increasingly crowded field. The Voyager line of headsets is especially popular with consumers who prize audio quality and comfort above all else. We were glad to see Plantronics update its lineup with the Voyager Pro Plus last year, which added A2DP streaming, voice alerts, and even better noise reduction.

But the innovation didn't stop there. Plantronics has introduced yet another improvement on its Voyager Pro line with the Plantronics Voyager Pro UC. Undeniably the company's most advanced headset yet, the Voyager Pro UC uses new sensor technology that can detect whether it is on or off the ear. This increases the headset's functionality tenfold--the ability to answer a call just by putting on the headset, for example, is fantastic. The Voyager Pro UC also works with a variety of softphone and VoIP PC applications without ever losing mobile connectivity. Even though the design of the headset is the same and the audio quality is unchanged, this new technology is highly impressive.

Design
looks identical to both the Voyager Pro Plus and the Voyager Pro. It has that retro telemarketer look, with a large behind-the-ear battery pack and a long swiveling boom microphone. We're admittedly a little tired of the design by now, but we can't blame the company for sticking to a design that many people have come to love. Despite its looks, the Voyager Pro UC is definitely comfortable and easy to wear. For more details on button placement and overall look and feel, we'll direct you to our review of the Plantronics Voyager Pro.

Unlike the Jawbone Era, which has a built-in accelerometer to help answer and end calls, the Plantronics Voyager Pro UC uses very sensitive capacitive touch technology instead. According to Plantronics, this works by "sensing capacitance changes due to conductors brought close to one or more sensor electrodes." This Smart Sensor technology enables the headset to differentiate one action from another.

The benefits of the sensor are quite impressive. For example, if a call comes in and you're not wearing your headset, the call automatically routes to the phone. You can then answer the call as you would normally or you can slip on your headset and the call will be answered automatically. If you put on your headset in the middle of the call, the call will be transferred to the headset automatically as well. This prevents you from having to fumble around for the headset whenever you get an incoming call.

This works great for listening to music as well. Taking the headset off automatically pauses the song, and when you put the headset back on, the song resumes where it left off. You also no longer have to worry about accidentally placing a call while the headset is bouncing around in your pocket; the Voyager Pro UC has Auto Call Button Lock, which locks the button when the headset is not worn.

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The good: The Plantronics Voyager Pro UC has Smart Sensor technology that lets you route calls automatically to the headset or phone, play or pause music automatically, and more. It also features A2DP streaming, multipoint connectivity, and great audio quality to boot.
The bad: The Plantronics Voyager Pro UC is not that much different from its predecessors, and it is currently not compatible with Plantronics' own Vocalyst automated phone service. We also think it's too expensive.
The bottom line: The Plantronics Voyager Pro UC combines a perennial favorite design with cutting-edge technology that results in a modern yet reliable headset.

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(CNET)

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Awind McTiVia/ Review

 Awind McTiVia frontal view

Price: $200
This tiny Wi-Fi-enabled device promises to shuffle both the audio and video on your Mac (or PC) straight to your HDTV, with zero limitations on content or services. Take that, Apple TV!

The actual mirroring device, which supports 802.11b/g/n and resembles a miniaturized cable box, can be set up in various configurations. As Awind points out, the best way to proceed is to use Ethernet to connect the McTiVia box to your computer. This will produce the zippiest data speeds and throughput. Of course you can also connect your McTiVia to an Ethernet router and then access it wirelessly from your computer. And if you abhor wires, each device can simply use Wi-Fi to speak to each other.

While streaming boxes like the Apple TV and Roku 2 at least have some level of straightforwardness to them, the McTiVia required over an hour of tinkering on my part to get it to work properly. After hooking up the box directly to the TV with an HDMI cable, I had to install what turned out to be some very buggy software. Then it was off to download a patch as well as a new version of said software from Awind’s site.The MirrorOp software you install has an annoying habit of reformatting your computer screen’s resolution each time you connect to your TV. If you don’t like that default resolution (I didn’t) you’ll have to change it on both your TV and computer.

 Awind McTiVia

Once things were up and running, there was little pay off for all that effort. While the McTiVia supports 720p video (same as the Apple TV) and 44.1kHz audio, everything I played, from Netflix streams to native movies, looked like DVD-quality at best. Add to that the fact that many of my iTunes-purchased movies and TV shows wouldn’t display, and I was pretty much ready to throw in the towel after 90 minutes.Almost every aspect of the McTiVia feels rushed and/or unrefined. Whether it’s the somewhat comical grammatical errors on the FAQ page and quick installation guide or the temperamental software setup, the McTiVia just isn’t as polished as other streaming options. This left me wondering not only how it managed to win the Best in Show award at Macworld 2011, but also why the device exists in the first place.

A wireless keyboard and mouse can be used to control things, but the UI experience on a PC doesn’t really translate to bigger screens. And while it’s certainly nice to occasionally beam your desktop to a bigger screen, building an entire product around this one feature and then charging twice as much for it as other streaming boxes is perhaps not the way to go.
Not to mention the fact that for far less money, you can simply buy an adaptor (Mini DisplayPort to HDMI) for your MacBook or Mac Mini and just physically hook them up to your TV. Voila! You can still control everything wirelessly and you’ll get infinitely better video and audio results since you’re not dealing with any latency.

The Good : A decent option for heavy online video watchers or those who want to play PC games on a bigger screen. Comes with a USB port for hooking up a mouse or keyboard. Doubles as a wireless access point for your home network.

The Bad: Grossly overpriced for what it does. HDMI cable not included. Complicated set-up (basically trial and error) and lackluster results. No extended display options. Audio limited to two channels. Wouldn’t stream iTunes-purchased movies or TV shows after OS X Lion update.

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Samsung Stratosphere/Review

Samsung Stratosphere

Product highlights
*  $149.99
*  Verizon's ultrafast 4G LTE speeds
*  QWERTY keyboard
*  Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, and VPN support.
*  5-megapixel camera that takes good photos

A glossy, all-touch black face with rounded shoulders that still looks elegant in its minimalism. Here the soft-touch finish gets a pleasant, slightly nubbly texture that's reminiscent of suede. The Samsung Stratosphere is Verizon's first LTE phone to also have a keyboard.
Fits right into the middle of the pack in this age of "jumbo phones," and is neither too large nor too small. It's still a bit on the heftier side at 5.8 ounces, but the weight adds a sense of durability that's to be expected in larger phones with greater mass.

The 4-inch WVGA (800x480 pixels) Super AMOLED screen is still impressive, with bright, saturated color that leaps off the display.

The Stratosphere runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread using Samsung's TouchWiz interface.With the drastically revamped Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right around the corner, and the strong graphics and smart contributions from HTC's Sense interface, Samsung needs to offer something more beautiful or dynamic to make the interface truly compelling.

Customizable home screens right out of the box, your choice of some nice backgrounds, the "leap" screen for viewing all your home screens in one view, and a horizontal-swiping treatment to the app tray.
Swype is a virtual keyboard option on the Stratosphere, but you have to choose it if you want it, since Samsung's keyboard is the one that comes preloaded by default.
Above the screen is a front-facing VGA camera for self-portraits and video chats. Below the screen are four touch-sensitive buttons for the Menu, Home, Back, and Search. The power button lives on the right spine, and on the left is the volume rocker. Up top you have the 3.5mm headset jack, and on the bottom is the Micro-USB charging port. The back has the 5-megapixel camera lens, and beneath the back cover is the microSD card slot. The Stratosphere generously comes with 4GB of external memory preinstalled.
The keys are backlit, fully separated, and rubbery; angled in slightly that snaps back when touched. Samsung has also added a handful of convenience keys, like ones dedicated to Search, Back, Menu, and Home, plus keys to pull up a blank text message, the browser, and four directional navigation arrows.
E-mail, texting, multimedia messaging, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth support (3.0), and GPS. There's also contact-importing and access to a range of Google services, from Gmail, maps with turn-by-turn-navigation, to Google Places, Talk, Search, and YouTube. Essentials include a calendar, a calculator, a clock (plus alarm clock, stopwatch, and timer), an HTML WebKit browser, and a memo pad. Android's basic music player is also onboard, along with a handful of other Google services.

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PowerLite Home Cinema/Review

PowerLite Home Cinema

 Price: $1,999-$2,999/Official Site: Epson.com
 Specs: 1080p; 16:9; 75,000:1; 16.5 lbs; 2 HDMI ports
 Company: Epson America Inc.

One of the best ways to get an ultra high-definition experience on a large screen is with top-end projectors. If you follow this , then it's no secret that Epson is one of the leading companies producing premium projectors, and its new PowerLite duo offers units that cover the genre’s entire spectrum. Whether you’re looking for the absolute best home-theater experience in the 6500 UB, or want a great balance of price and quality with the 6100, the PowerLite series is a fantastic option that can easily go toe-to-toe with any of the market competition.

PowerLite Home Cinema-2

While the technology behind the PowerLite Home Cinema series may seem complex, the actual setup and use of the projector could not be any more simple and easy. Right out of the box, the PowerLite is ready to produce sparkling images, but for those tech heads who want to really get in and tweak the picture, it is possible to ramp up the performance to something that approaches visual nirvana. Both items run over a 3 LCD system that outputs images at a full HD resolution of 1080p, and unlike display screens such as a plasma-based TV, these projectors hold up surprisingly well in strongly lit rooms. One of the additional benefits of this style of TV is the black levels, and as you upgrade from the 6100 to the 6500 UB model, you can take advantage of some of the most absolute darks found on any home theater available. For a movie buff that wants to bring the true film experience home, the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema is a great solution.

There is a lot of good to say about the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema series, but if there were one knock, it would go to the 6500 UB, which by all accounts is a tremendous gadget, besides the ill-fated 120Hz mode. This frame rate feature is all the rage right now, so it is understandable that Epson felt the need to include it on at least its top model, but in reality the FineFrame capability is a mess here. Thankfully, you can turn it off without taking away anything from the otherwise class-A home-theater experience. The setup is easy, the colors are vibrant and clear, and if you step up to the 6500 UB, you will project a picture that will absolutely blow your mind. The stunning contrast ratio and visual clarity are on a whole other level, and it really is a wonder after using these PowerLite products that home projectors do not have more of a foothold in the LCD/plasma-controlled flat-panel market.

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Nokia N9/ Review

Nokia N9

Price: $650+ (no contract)

Love at first sight -- this is possibly the most beautiful phone ever made.  N9 is in a class of its own in terms of design. It manages to be elegant by virtue of its minimalism yet remains unmistakably Nokia. The impeccable proportions belie the handset's 12.1mm (0.48-inch) thickness thanks to tapered ends reminiscent of its more ornate predecessor, the N8.
It all starts with a colored-through polycarbonate monolith, which is machined (not cast) to form the N9's unibody. The finish looks matte and feels similar to anodized aluminum, but is significantly more durable. Our review unit came in black but cyan and magenta versions are also available. The back is slightly convex and features an oval chrome-finished (and scratch-prone) pod that's flush with the body and houses the slightly recessed eight megapixel autofocus camera. A dual-LED flash is offset to the left of the lens. The front is almost all screen with no buttons, and just a tiny slit for the earpiece on top. Curved Gorilla glass flows into the bezel like liquid spilling onto a flat surface. The 3.9-inch FWVGA (854x480) ClearBlack AMOLED display is phenomenal, rivaling Samsung's Super AMOLED -- text and graphics just appear to float on the panel, further refining the experience.

You'll find a silver Nokia logo along with proximity and ambient light sensors at the top edge of the screen, and a charge indicator LED and front-facing camera at opposite ends of the bottom portion of the glass. The sides of the handset are rounded, and the right edge incorporates both a chrome volume rocker and a power / lock key. A speaker and microphone are located along the bottom, and the top side hosts a silver-rimmed 3.5mm headphone jack plus a precisely machined door protecting the micro-USB connector and flanked by the micro SIM tray. The battery is sealed and there is no microSD card slot, but the N9 comes with either 16GB or 64GB of built-in flash storage. Fit and finish are top-notch, and the 135g (4.76oz) device feels solid and comfortable in hand, with almost the exact same footprint as the familiar iPhone 4.

Peek inside, and you'll be catapulted a year back to the glory days of TI's OMAP 3630 SoC (popularized by Motorola's once mighty Droid X), which combines a single-core 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU with a PowerVR SGX530 GPU. In the N9, this chipset is paired with 1GB of RAM, making it Nokia's highest specced phone to date, and promising to offer plenty of muscle without obliterating battery life, at least on paper (more on this later). Digging further, you'll find Nokia's signature pentaband UMTS / HSPA (14.4Mbps) 3G radio, a quadband GSM / EDGE 2G radio for legacy networks, NFC and the usual suspects -- WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, GPS / AGPS. Strangely, there's no FM receiver or transmitter on the menu, unlike many of Espoo's past offerings. The N9 also features a full array of sensors, including ambient light, proximity, orientation (accelerometer) and compass (magnetometer).
The N9 takes wonderful pictures. Color balance and exposure are spot-on, and shots always contain a huge amount of detail, thanks in great part to the superior . Its powered by Eight megapixel sensor, Carl Zeiss F2.2 wide-angle autofocus lens, dual-LED flash and 720p HD video recording .
Wrap-up
The N9 delivers a double punch with gorgeous hardware and brilliant software. It's arguably the first competitive flagship phone to come out of Espoo since the launch of the original iPhone. This is the handset that puts any lingering doubts about Nokia's engineering chops to rest.  It's difficult to recommend a platform with no future, but the N9 is everything Nokia's long time fans have been waiting for, and you could have it today.

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ViewSonic PJD6531w 3-D Short-Throw Projector

Price: $700 (approx.)
Official Site: ViewSonic.com
Specs: 27"-300" screen; WXGA 1280x800 resolution; Throw distance of 3.9'-32.8'; Analog RGB, digital, composite, S-Video, component video; 3.5mm audio jack; supports NTSC and PAL up to 1080p

The ViewSonic PJD6531w 3-D-ready DLP projector might be the ticket with its short-throw lens and compatible ViewSonic PGD-150 active shutter 3-D glasses (sold separately). Why stare at a screen with dorky glasses on while you can stare at a wall?
With WXGA resolution at a native 1280 x 800, image quality is crisp and defined. With a throw distance of 3.9 feet to 32.8 feet, the ViewSonic can be configured for a multitude of applications. It has a basic circular menu interface located on top and an adjustable kickstand for height variability. But most importantly, this bad boy is 3-D-ready.
After spending some time immersed in active matrix shutter speed technology, we can tell you that modern 3-D methods look pretty darn good. The downside is, yes, you have to wear the glasses in order for the 3-D to come to life. Also, you’ll have to buy into the emerging 3-D lifestyle, starting with the ViewSonic glasses and moving on to 3-D-compatible DVDs and video games. But could you imagine MotoGP on a 300-inch screen in 3-D? In the future, yes, but if you want to be one of the first “early adopters,” the ViewSonic PJD6531w is definitely worth a shot.
Besides, the DLP machine will play nicely with a variety of your existing entertainment cabinet. It has analog RGB, digital, composite, S-Video, component video, 3.5-millimeter audio jack, and supports NTSC and PAL up to 1080p.
What really stole the show was the projector’s 3,200 lumen projection and bright color. Keep in mind that this is not a highly portable solution, for the ViewSonic PJD6531w measures 11 inches in width and tips the scale at just under 6 pounds.
ViewSonic seems reasonably confident with its new 3-D warrior, offering a 3-year limited parts and labor warranty and a claim that the lamps are good for between 4,000 and 6,000 hours of usage.
For those who want to give it a go, the ViewSonic PJD6531w can be found online for around $700. That’s not much to have a financial litter of kittens over, and it’s a cheap way to give the neighborhood a decent viewing of Rocky IV on the side of the local church -- when Rocky IV comes out in 3-D, of course.

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Cintiq 21UX/Review

Price: $1,999, Official Site: www.Wacom.com Company: Wacom

Specs: 21.3” TFT LCD; Active area 17” x 12.75"/Native resolution UXGA (1600x1200)/1,920,000 pixels/22.4 lbs; 2-yr warranty
The Cintiq 21UX is the latest in a line of computer hardware created to integrate the tactile and analog of art-of-hand sketching with the convenience and flexibility of modern design software. Great for guys with a talent for drawing, this touch-sensitive, large-format LCD Cintiq 21UX is an ideal solution for capitalizing on the power of software such as Adobe’s Creative Suite while still working in the timeless tradition of famous artists like M.C. Escher or Pablo Picasso.
Classified as an interactive pen display, this 21.3” TFT diagonal LCD combines previous features found on other Wacom products lines, such as the Bamboo and Inutous pen tablets, with several new advances that make the Cintiq 21UX the flagship of the company’s product line. Nearly double the screen size of its little brother, the Cintiq 12WX, both displays are built with precision in mind.
First and foremost, pen-tracking accuracy at the per-pixel level provides incredible control to artists, making even the finest drawing details come to life on screen. There are 1,024 distinct levels of pressure detection that further allow any manner of drawing subtleties for shading, editing and effect or filter applications, to cleanly translate across the “pad” to programs. Finally the Wacom Cintiq 21UX’s flat, bezel-less design also maximizes the drawing surface area available for smooth gliding pen strokes, even when broad sweeping motions are required.
Combined, these key features mimic the feel of more traditional drawing surfaces like paper to seasoned sketch artists and dampen the learning curve required for drawing on a digital surface.
However, despite the focus on pen-dictated input, the Cintiq 21UX also recognizes that navigation through program sub menus and functions can be cumbersome when armed only with a writing utensil. Thus, strategically placed ExpressKeys and Touch Strips are integrated along the device’s border, that can be programmed for quick access to favorite keyboard short cuts, functions and file menus. This limits the need for switching back and forth between a keyboard and the pen, minimizing interruptions. Finally, thanks to its dynamically adjustable stand, users can position the display to fit nearly any perspective, from 180 degrees side to side or 10 to 65 degrees of incline.

Built specifically for the design world, few other devices offer the flexibility and performance of the Cintiq 21UX. Optimized to work with the classic Cintiq Grip Pen, and catered to those who demand the best in-hand tuned control over their projects, at $1,999 this expensive technology is clearly meant for serious professionals.
Since most of its compatibility is dependent on software, the chances of the Cintiq 21UX becoming obsolete are slim. We’d strongly advise assessing whether all of the bells and whistles equipped on this device are necessary for any designer’s particular needs before purchasing it over some of Wacom’s more affordable yet still excellent product line.

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Alex eReader/Review

Price: $349
Official Site: SpringDesign.com
Specs: Main screen: 6”; Color touchscreen: 3.5”; Android 1.6 OS; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g; 256MB DRAM
Company: Spring Design, Inc.

It is hard to throw a rock these days in the tech world without hitting a new eBook reader. In the wake of CES 2010, digital eReaders are being announced at a furious pace. As is the case when most trending gadgets start to flood the marketplace, you will get your fair share of healthy competition and a dose of rush-job garbage.

From everything we have seen thus far out of the innovative Alex eReader from Spring Design, this particular entry seems to have some legs. While the early life of the Alex eReader has been filled with behind-the-scenes controversy, the $349 eBook reader has found a retail partner in Borders, and has the tech potential and support to be worth your attention.

If the Alex eReader looks a little familiar to you, that is because, according to Spring Design, Barnes & Noble ripped off the design concept and used it for its own eBook reader, the nook. Legal allegations aside, the Alex has found a home with Borders, which has pledged to dedicate store space and heavy support to the dual-screen format gadget.

The upper third of the device fits right in line with products like the Amazon Kindle, using a 6-inch electronic ink display screen. It is the bottom part of the Alex where things start to get very interesting thanks to a 3.5-inch color touchscreen that runs Google’s Android 1.6 operating system. The two screens work in perfect harmony with each other, as you can surf the web on the bottom touchscreen, and then shoot an article or blog you are reading up to the large display for reading that is easy on the eyes.

The key with any of these numerous eBook readers is the content library and supporting partners. In that regard, the Alex has joined up with a couple of heavyweights, as it uses Google Books and Borders for its exclusive material. The Alex is Wi-Fi enabled, and with the color touchscreen, is one of the savvier internet browsing eBook’s found anywhere.

The internal memory on the Alex eReader is 256MB, but that can be expanded through the use of microSD cards to 2GB. The one main feature missing from this first-generation Alex eReader is 3G support, which devices like the Kindle use through their Whispernet to allow you to download content from nearly anywhere in the world. While a 3G capable version of the Alex is already planned for future release, the current $349 price tag may feel a little steep for an eBook reader that doesn’t offer the absolute best.

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Space Bar/Review

    Price: $42, Official Site: Quirky.com
    Specs: Aluminum; 6 USB ports; Storage height: 1.5”; Keyboard storage length: 18”
    Company: Quirky Incorporated

Brought to you by the creative community at Quirky, the Space Bar is basically an aluminum platform outfitted with six USB ports, a space to stow your keyboard and an elevated spot for your monitor. As the necessary preorders start to fill up on Quirky, the price of the Space Bar may fluctuate off of its $42 mark that is set right now. Considering the amount of workplace slobs out there, this item has the potential to sell out extremely fast.
Good looks and office space functionality are two terms that rarely ever go together, but the Space Bar does a surprisingly great job of linking them in a match made in business heaven.
The aluminum styled 1.5-inch high low-level shelf helps to create a division between your most important desk items and annoying clutter. The upper portion of the shelf lifts your monitor above the rubble of work crap, while also giving you a dedicated space to place things like your keys, cell phone or, even better, USB-enabled devices.

The Space Bar has six forward-facing USB ports for you to easily connect things like your iPhone, MP3 player, memory stick, or even a digital picture frame. As an added bonus, if you are an Apple computer owner who won’t settle for just any accessory, the Space Bar matches up exceedingly well with Mac aesthetics.
While the Space Bar won’t actually clean up any of the preexisting mess already on your desk, it will give you at least one well-organized surface -- until you cover it with Post-it notes and paper clips.

Like many great products, the Space Bar perilously straddles the line between simple brilliance and simply stupid. Even right up till the moment you set up the Space Bar on your work desk, doubts will be creeping in about just what the heck this thing will even accomplish, but once in use the results become apparent. Having a space to store your keyboard, monitor and valuable items adds not only improved efficiency, but also a nice touch of personal style to your desk. If this newfound pride in your office space motivates you to clean up the rest of the years-old mess that is strewn all over your desk, all the better.
There are some limitations to be aware of with the Space Bar, such as the fact that your keyboard can’t be larger than 18-inches long or 1.5-inches high to fit beneath the platform, and you may want to have an outlet handy for the Space Bar’s A/C adapter.

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Nokia N900/Review

Price: $649 (preorder)
Official Site: Maemo.Nokia.com
Specs: 6.34 oz; 2.35” x 4.37” x 0.71”; Wi-Fi, HSPA; 800x480; 600MHz processor; 1GB RAM; 32GB-48GB internal memory
Company: Nokia

What do you get when you combine two of the hottest electronic trends like mini netbooks and touchscreen smartphones? The answer would be Nokia’s new N900 phone and its custom-made operating system, Maemo. Designed as a loose follow-up to Nokia’s N97, the Nokia N900 has a bit of an identity crisis between a smartphone with a desktop OS, or a portable computer with telephone capabilities. Either way, this search for identity has created an excellent entry in what could easily be a new cell phone subgenre. Although the price is still shrouded in mystery, this drool-worthy gadget will start to roll out on North American shelves for T-Mobile beginning this fall.
With its 3.5-inch touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the Nokia N900 appears to have a lot in common with several other of the latest smartphones to be released. However, as you start to unravel the bulk of the details and specifications for this gadget, more and more unique features move to the forefront.

As opposed to a typical 360 x 640 resolution cell phone screen, the Nokia N900 rocks a significantly higher 800 x 480, giving you a picture more akin to your laptop rather than your phone. In order to effectively run this advanced mobile device, Nokia has had to do away with the standard Navi-Key format, and replaced it with a new robust operating system called Maemo 5.
Features such as a live dashboard that allows open tasks and messages to be viewed simultaneously really give the Nokia N900 a huge leg up in functionality over other smartphones. The Maemo 5 system also supports the Firefox 3 web browser and instant-on software updates for your N900.

While the Nokia N900 undoubtedly has a weight problem for a smartphone, the added heft is a necessary evil in order to handle the impressive feature list. In addition to the WVGA touch-resistive screen and full QWERTY keyboard, there is also a built-in stand that can flip down from the back of the phone and is perfect for when you want to watch a video clip or movie in high resolution from your desk.
The digital camera on the Nokia N900 is also anything but an add-on, thanks to its highly technical Carl Zeiss optics, 5 megapixels and dual LED flash. It was also a great move on Nokia’s part to put a slide-out lens cover over such a rich camera, so the usual pants pocket dust, lint and fingerprints are not a worry on the Nokia N900.
One of the areas that Nokia is going to really have to work on is with downloadable applications. Thanks to the iPhone, app support is a huge key to phone success now, and the N900 does not ignore this. There will be at least a dozen applications ready at launch for the N900, ranging from games to Twitter programs, and the hope is that this software library will continue to grow exponentially in the near future.

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Google Nexus One/Review

Price: $529 unlocked; $179 with contract
Official Site: Google.com/phone
Specs: Depth: 0.45”; 4.58 oz; Processor: Qualcomm QSD 8250 1GHz; Capacity: Up to 32GB 
Company: Google & HTC

The Nexus One (built in partnership with HTC) sells for $529 unlocked or $179 with a two-year service plan.
With no physical keyboard, and a spacious 3.7-inch OLED touch-sensitive screen, the Nexus One draws almost immediate comparisons to the Apple iPhone. However, unlike the current king of smartphones, the Nexus One is slightly thinner, lighter and comes with a removable battery, 4GB microSD storage card (expandable to 32GB), USB charger and microphone headset. It can be said without any reservation that this is the finest smartphone display screen ever released. The 800 x 480 resolution blows away anything else available today, showing off visuals that are bright, bold and just a pleasure to look at.
Unlike an Android phone such as the DROID, the Nexus One has four functional touch buttons and a trackball below the screen for more efficient control. One of the big improvements on the Nexus One phone over the competition is with the camera, which has a streamlined and faster application and five megapixels with a very sharp flash.

The big highlight of the overly impressive Nexus One package has to be the unveiling of the Snapdragon 1GHz core processor. With enough power to run your old laptop, the Snapdragon is more than capable of handling multiple applications, 3-D graphics and heavy browser use all at the same time. Unlike previous Android phones, or really anything else on the retail shelves today, the Nexus One shows no slowdown or stutter when you push the device to its limit.
Of course, all of this mind-blowing power and tech bling comes at a price, and that shortcoming is the battery life. With an on time that feels brief even by iPhone standards, it is easily possible to kill an entire charge in way under the advertised seven hours. Google does take some internal measures to try to extend the battery life, like auto adjusting brightness and turning down the processor when it is not in heavy use, but you should still be prepared to have a charger at arms length whenever possible.
The Nexus One is a superior effort among both Android phones and smartphones alike, and with the backing and application support of Google, the first great phone of 2010 is here.

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Motorola DEVOUR/Review

Motorola DEVOUR

Price: $100 with contract
Official Site: Motorola.co
Specs: 3MP camera; 389 mins of talk time; Android 1.6; 3.1" HVGA; 5.89 oz; 8GB microSD
Company: Motorola

 The Motorola DEVOUR joins the DROID and the Eris as the third Google Android-powered phone for the Verizon network. Positioned as a midrange smartphone, the DEVOUR has a few new features and some scaled specifications that Motorola has targeted for an audience interested in a “younger brother” DROID device. The key bullet point for the DEVOUR is MOTOBLUR, which keeps you constantly connected to all of your social media networks. The Motorola DEVOUR is available for $99.99 with a new two-year contract, but it is possible to locate an even better price on the smartphone through some bargain hunting on sites like wirefly.com.

Taking an aesthetic cue from the current generation MacBook Pros, the Motorola DEVOUR goes for the single-body aluminum-and-black-casing look. The style of the DEVOUR is without question one of its strongest aspects, and the phone looks fantastic both turned on and off. The slide-out QWERTY is a step up from the one used on the DROID. The buttons are hard, slightly domed, spaced out nicely, and are overall much more ergonomically comfortable. While the build quality is certainly in line with high-end Verizon phones and the DROID, the hardware on the DEVOUR is clearly more budget-minded.

The screen on the DEVOUR retains the capacitive touch technology of the DROID, but the lower resolution is hard to ignore. The inclusion of MOTOBLUR is a cool feature for Twitter and text message fanatics who crave instant updates, but it has yet to be reworked for Android 2.1, so the DEVOUR is locked into an older build. While an updated version is surely in the works, there is no current timetable for a release, and these types of updates tend to run way off schedule.
The camera on the Motorola DEVOUR is not one of the better offerings we have seen on either Android-powered phones and smartphones in general. At 3 megapixels and with no auto-focus, this is major step down from what is included on the DROID. The media experience remains pretty much unchanged from other Android products. There is the V CAST app with Rhapsody and DLNA support, but no killer feature to be found.

This would have been the perfect area for the DEVOUR to differentiate itself. The battery life on the DEVOUR is rated at almost 400 minutes of talk time, but like with any high-powered smartphone, you are going to want to charge it on a nightly basis. The DEVOUR seems best approached as a messaging phone, but the current price point is just too close to the DROID to really make it stand out in any way from the glut of smartphone offerings.

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Fuji FinePix REAL 3D W1/Review

Price: $600 (est.)

Official Site: FujiFilmUSA.com

Specs: 10MP; Fujinon 3x optical zoom w/ dual lenses; 2.8” LCD Parallax Barrier monitor; 48MB internal memory; ISO (100-1,600); 9.2 oz

Company: Fujifilm Holdings Comapny

With the FinePix REAL 3D W1, Fuji created a portable camera capable of taking 3-D images. In addition to capturing 3-D images, the unit’s 3-D LCD monitor allows shooters to view pictures that “jump out of the screen” without the help of glasses or special eyewear. The implications of it are stunning and will reshape the face of image-based media forever.
The FinePix REAL 3D W1 is a portable camera that takes 3-D images in the same way you now point and shoot in 2-D. Though the technical aspects of how this works are relatively complex, in layman’s terms our ability to perceive depth comes from viewing an object along two lines of site. This phenomenon is known as parallax. Despite sounding like an over-the-counter fiber supplement, the FinePix REAL 3D mimics parallax by capturing image data from twin lenses positioned on its face. A so-called RP (Real Photo) Processor then evaluates photographic factors such as focus, brightness and color tonality to merge the left and right images into a single 3-D image.
Three-dimensional videos are shot and created in a similar manner by layering dual AVI video files together. In a nifty repurposing of hardware, 2-D dual-capture shooting mode also allows users to taking two shots simultaneously with different settings. Producing 3-D imagery is really only half the battle, and it means nothing without a hassle-free method to display them with their fantastic depth intact. Luckily Fuji understood this and developed a companion feature to achieve it. Thanks to the camera screen’s “Light Direction Control System,” the 3-D viewer adopts a “Parallax Barrier System” to precisely direct light to the right and left eyes, which simulates the visual effect of seeing an object from two distinct angles. Aside from the camera’s built-in viewer, 3-D prints are also made possible through the use of lenticular sheets and advanced print encoding. However, for now you’ll have to deal with mail orders from Fuji to have prints of your own. The extra dimensional aspect is also not viewable across standard computer monitors or television, making sharing at this point a non-option to those without the device. Luckily bundled software can convert 3-D images to standard 2-D formats should owners desire to pass along basic copies of their work.

Representing the bleeding-edge of image technology, it’s not a question of if 3-D will permeate the consumer market. Instead, it’s just a matter of how and when. For the FinePix REAL 3D W1, its fate rests squarely on Fuji’s shoulders. They must convince manufacturers to fuse Parallax Barrier Systems into modern displays and have their formatting serve as a standard convention moving forward. If this happens, new gadget trailblazers will once again find themselves leading the charge on the next phase of entertainment, art and documentation. Of course, as with any nascent technology, failure to obtain widespread adoption and scale as a platform could make the FinePix Real 3D W1 a landlocked tech novelty. With this in mind, buyers should tread carefully into this field and accept the device's limited sharing functions should competing technologies win out in the end.

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Sony PSP Go/Review

Price: $249.99
Official Site: US.Playstation.com
Specs: 16GB; Wi-Fi & Bluetooth; Game format: digital download; Colors: piano black & pearl white; M2 memory stick: 2-4GB
Company: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Despite various media outlet leaks over the past few weeks, the next iteration of the Sony PSP, known as the PSP go was officially announced Tuesday during the company’s keynote address at E3. Borrowing much of its figurative blueprint from the uber-succesful iPod touch, the smaller and lighter PSP go ditches the shackles of a UMD disc drive for a totally digital download accessibility. The PSP Go lets you load full games, movies, music, and other pieces of multimedia directly onto the integrated hard drive. The Sony PSP go is slated for an October 1st release, and will retail for a typical high-end Sony-style $249.99.
From a physical standpoint, the Sony PSP go is a slide-style portable console that, when closed, is about the size of your average smartphone. Compared to the PSP-1000, the PSP go is nearly 50% smaller and 40% lighter, but this also means you are faced with a slightly reduced screen size and no dual analog controls. 

The first major bullet-point feature on the PSP go is its forward-thinking digital software format. Giving you true portability, you can now buy and purchase full titles like Gran Turismo PSP (a same-day launch title) on demand without the need for a UMD disc. The subtraction of a spinning disc drive should only help to improve the once-suspect battery life of the Sony console. In order to store an extensive downloaded media library, the go will have a 16GB hard drive, which can be further expanded through an add-on M2 slot.
With the exception of being able to digitally download on-demand retail titles, there are not that many original or revolutionary gaming features on the PSP go. For Sony PlayStation 3 gamers who have become accustomed to fluid- and natural-feeling dual analog stick control, it will be teeth-grinding to go back and play a title like God of War: Chains of Olympus with a traditional D-pad controller. There are enough major titles from top developers already slated for the PSP go to keep interest perked despite the lack of any envelope-pushing game technology. What Sony has brought to the PSP go is a wonderful complement of multimedia features. The portable unit has built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity and a totally revamped music player that can build playlists based on your personal taste and song choice. With the early October launch date fast approaching, details are sure to flood in about this enticing new portable console, and after a bit of a false start, the PSP go is heading in the right direction.

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Palm Pre

    Official Site: www.Palm.com
    Company: Palm, Inc.

Specs: 802.11b/g; GPS; 320x480; HVGA; QWERTY; IM, SMS, and MMS; 4.76 oz; Accelerom
Palm has possibly saved the company by introducing its best phone ever to the crowds at CES 2009. The Palm Pre is a slider that has a 3.1-inch LCD touchscreen, a brand-spanking-new operating system (OS) and a curvaceous body you won't be able to keep your hands off of.
The Palm Pre hits shelves this Saturday and while it fails in many aspects compared to the iPhone (the App Catalog is incomplete, auto correct is anorexic, battery life is lackluster, and it's full of bugs), it gives Apple something to think about with its Push Gmail technology. This means that e-mail goes directly to your phone as opposed to you having to tell your Pre to fetch it.

For a company that was so hot during the Palmtop craze, Palm stumbled its way into the smartphone market, to be sure. However, the company is making up for lost time with a device and an OS that are both beautiful and perfectly matched. On the physical side, there's a 3.1-inch multitouch touchscreen with a gestures area that lets you interact with content with the flick of a finger, à la iPhone. The slide-out keypad offers able thumbers a good, tactile alternative to onscreen typing. The features list includes all the usual suspects, like Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G networking, as well as a 3.5-mm headphone jack and stereo Bluetooth, a 3MP camera and 8GB of storage space, as well as a USB port.
But really, the hottest part of the new phone is the OS. Putting a legacy OS into such a pretty case would be like bolting a Yugo engine into an Audi. With WebOS, Palm is slipping into something a little more comfortable. Gestures lets you easily flip your way through contacts and open apps (as well as shuffling through them like a deck of cards). Also, Palm Pre’s WebOS seamlessly merges IM and texting into one window, which is a nice touch in today's chat-heavy world. At the bottom of the screen there’s a dynamic notification dashboard that brings up alerts and new IMs as they arrive; it also lists missed calls and running media. Essentially, WebOS on Palm Pre is a robust and very polished OS.

The Palm Pre is definitely cool. It's the right mix of features and eye candy to give the iPhone and Android guys a run for their money. The USB port opens up storage options for those who find the onboard 8GB a little anemic, and the stereo Bluetooth eliminates the need for headphone wires. Oh, and the integrated keypad is a real boon for anyone who hates typing on a screen. For a handset that has as yet to be priced and will be available exclusively from Sprint, it's not clear if this will be an iPhone killer or not. Likely, it won't be, but it might just carve out a sizable niche for Palm -- and save the company to boot.

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Apple Magic Mouse/Review

Price: $69
Official Site: Apple.com
Specs: Bluetooth connectivity; 2 AA batteries; Supports multi-touch interaction
Company: Apple Corporation

Overshadowed somewhat by other product announcements such as the revamped iMac and Mac mini during Apple's most recent press bonanza, the newly released Magic Mouse might remind consumers of the company's handling of the AppleTV.
Despite being ahead of its time in terms of pushing levels of innovation in the world of desktop interaction, significant usability issues and limitations hold the Magic Mouse back from receiving the exuberant praise many assume products by Apple deserve by default.
While its multitouch support does, in some ways, mimic the intuitive convenience of the track pads found in newer unibody Macbooks and Macbook Pros, it is not as clean of a translation as we would have hoped. Thus we strongly encourage potential buyers to spend some time test driving the device at the Apple Store before deciding to ditch their current Mighty Mouse or other device just for the sake of upgrading.
In what has come to be Apple's trademark, the Magic Mouse's minimalist design is quite beautiful from an aesthetics standpoint, especially compared to the black plastic lumps opposite most desktops. Featuring a single, clear white plastic surface sitting on an aluminum chassis, it's obvious that much of Apple's expertise on unibody construction went into making the Magic Mouse the most attractive device of its kind.
However, unlike other products from the company, attractiveness in this instance has come at the cost of ergonomics and ease of use. Barely curved and quite narrow, those used to mice designed to contour naturally and comfortably with the hand will be severely disappointed with how awkward the Magic Mouse can feel, especially after long periods of use.
In terms of multitouch interaction, scrolling is one area where the technology really makes sense. Simple flicks up and down with any number of fingers make quick scans of web sites a snap, while “momentum” settings enable the mouse to scroll faster or slower based on the speed of your flick. A single finger flick to either side can even be used to move left or right across a page as well.

Using two-finger swipes horizontally to navigate back and forth between web pages is a different story entirely. Due to the need to use two fingers, recommended as the middle and index by Apple, browsing back and forth in this manner requires a claw like grip that is utterly impractical for extended use. Combined with the mouse’s narrow size and smooth glossy texture, obtaining a firm grip is also somewhat of a problem, resulting in frequent slips of the hand. Additionally the device does not support the nifty pinch and spread zooming options that made the iPhone’s touchscreen so exciting after its release.
Finally, since the mouse uses standard laser technology for tracking, those hoping to operate the device on shiny surfaces such as glass or highly varnished wood without a mouse pad are out of luck. Though admittedly that’s a small quibble, considering the outstanding tracking advancements made by Microsoft and Logitech, it would have been nice to see Apple embrace something other than the status quo.

As a company continually looking to push the envelope, we applaud Apple’s efforts to integrate its amazing gesture commands into the desktop environment. Unfortunately in this initial go, several serious issues prevent the Magic Mouse from hitting a product home run. Though it integrates easily with compatible iMacs via Bluetooth and to some may at least improve upon its Mighty Mouse predecessor, especially for those who are used to life without buttons, some fundamental design issues keep the device from living up to its magical name -- so much so that we wouldn’t be surprised if an improved version was released within the next couple of years. With that in mind, unless you have to own every new Apple product to hit store shelves, we’d recommend waiting for the second generation before going out of your way to bring multitouch gesture operations to your deskbound Mac.

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AIAIAI Tracks/ Review

    Price: About $75    Official Site: www.AIAIAI.dk
    Specs: 40-mm driver; 23-Ohm impedance; 3.5-mm jack  Company: AIAIAI

Danish design house AIAIAI is a heavily collaboration-oriented idea incubator. The company’s cool, retro-flavored personal electronics accessories showcase the talents at Danish art and design houses like ThankYouForClapping and HuskMitNavn. The company’s Tracks headphones are a cool, hipster-friendly design by Copenhagen’s Kilo Design, which pays homage to the original Walkman headphones. These cans are perfect for the dude who likes neo-‘70s style and oversize glasses or uses the term “ironic” when referring to his T-shirt collection.

No newfangled earbuds here: the Tracks are a clean-line, on-ear design that echoes the headphones that a lot of us grew up with, but instead of cheap foam and a flimsy headband, the AIAIAI Tracks feature a brushed-steel brace and stylish cans that won’t come apart from use. The Tracks’ design features a couple of really nice touches: the brace eschews the usual sliding size adjustment in favor of a simple slot. It’s one less thing to break, makes for a more solid-feeling headband and looks pretty slick. The slots widen near the top so that you can disassemble the rig and carry it in the included carrying bag, and the kit comes with extra sliders so you can personalize the look.

On the technical side, the headphones boast 40-millimeter drivers with a sensitivity of 112 +/-3 dB and a 23-Ohm impedance. Essentially, this means that the speakers sound good, from the lows to the highs. We’re not talking about speakers that go above and beyond, but this is not a case of form over function; you’ll definitely like the sound.

The AIAIAI Tracks emit a certain Euro cool that is undeniable, even if it’s a little too much for those who don’t do all their shopping at, say Urban Outfitters. For the urban scenester, however, these are a very good buy. The disassembly feature is a nice touch, though it begs the question of why you’d want to take your headphones apart and put them in a bag when you should by strutting down the street with them on your head. Solid construction and good sound quality are like the Holy Grail for something that gets tossed around as much as a pair of headphones. On this point alone, the Tracks are a great choice. If your style leans more toward industrial-chic, spend a bit more on the Nixon Nomadic headphones, which up the metal quotient and wrap the cord in a sweet braided fabric sheath.

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