They're sleek. They're funky. They look like a horde of invading space creatures. But these colorful, organic forms from Danish company Scandyna are actually high-end speakers.

Scandyna has been making speakers for over 40 years, and they specialize in creating products loaded with technical innovations aimed at reproducing superb sound quality, while also enhancing visual pleasure with their designs.

These aren't cheap, novelty speakers, made to look unusual for the sake of marketing. (Actually, they start at around $200, and can cost upwards of $800 a pair.) They're designed specifically to create precise acoustical justification. The three connected spheres of Minipod (the white speaker in the middle of the picture), may make it look like the offspring of the Michelin Man, but the design allows them to form ...More

It was bound to happen. You couldn't have an iconic TV commercial for an iconic product without some enterprising business guy jumping all over it.

I give you the InterOffice Mac Envelope Sleeve, the functional version of the interoffice envelope used to unveil the MacBook Air in their ad that seems to have been constitutionally decreed to run every 7 minutes. (And don't get me started on the song. The first note plays and my spine locks up.)

The InterOffice sleeve isn't a marketing gimmick. It's a serious laptop sleeve made from waterproof vinyl loaded with a 1/2 inch of padding to keep that $3k, wafer-thin investment safe from coffee spills and desk drops. And that piece of red string is for decoration only. A zipper securely seals your laptop inside. Just do me one favor: please resist the urge to hum that song as you slide your Air out.

$29.95
www.interofficemac.com

Think of it as a party in your pocket. And everyone's invited.

The Pacemaker is a pocket-sized, 7-ounce DJ system from Tonium that lets you walk into any party with your entire music collection on its huge 120GB drive, plug into the nearest sound system, and rock out. Or throw on a pair of headphones, and create unique personal mixes on the fly.

Functioning just like a pro DJ setup, the Pacemaker lets you play and mix two tracks simultaneously while the professional audio manipulation features (bend, DJ pause, crossfade, filter, etc.) allow you to add a ton of creativity to your mix. Intelligent software automatically works out the BPMs (beats per minute) on each of your tracks, so even if you're green as Gumby behind the wheels, you can quickly pick up how to match the beats between the two tracks. And the 5 hour battery life (18 hours of playback), will keep the ladies bumping all night long.

Works with both PC and MAC and supports all the major audio formats including MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG and FLAC files.

$700
www.pacemaker.net

While flash drives get more compact and increase their ability to hold more and more data, one pocket-sized data transfer device gives you the flexibility to handle up to 16GB, and store multiple packages of data, in a keychain-sized body.

The 5-n-1 Pocket Drive Reader/Writer from Iogear, looks like your typical USB 2.0 flash drive, until you flip up the back flap and expose the hidden port. This is where you slide your Secure Digital (SD) or Multimedia Card (MMC) from your camera, PDA or MP3 player, or any other compatible electronic device.

Once the card is in the port you can transfer data or images to and from the card and your computer at speeds up to 480 mbs. There's no driver necessary, and it works with both PC and Mac platforms. And swapping out cards eliminates the need for multiple flash drives. Great for inexpensive (and temporary) back up, or for taking large files along on business trips.

Online from $12-$15
www.iogear.com

I know how it is. You don't have time for a "real" girlfriend. Way too busy to spend all that time actually going to dinners and taking her shopping.

So you troll the 'net, having cyber flings with dozens of (purported) women who are satisfied with just a little late night chat.

When you're ready to see what HornyVixen694U actually looks like - and have a real conversation that doesn't involve shorthand and emoticons - hook up an Alibi to your system.

Boynq's answer to the typical boring webcam, the Alibi is a sleek, modern cam/speaker/microphone combo that's ideal for VoIP calling, comes in four designer colors, and sits comfortably on your desktop.

The two minute installation is completely plug-and-play. Once hooked up, press the top and a tilting and rotating camera pops out of its base, turning the cam on and making it look like something out of an H.G. Wells novel.

Running completely off USB power (one less power cord in the growing tangle under your desk), the Alibi shoots a 1/3 megapixel image at a respectable 640x480, and is designed with Echo Cancellation Technology to make those free video calls echo-free. And the small, bottom-mounted 5 watt speaker let's you hear her clearly enough to tell if that's really a female vixen you've got on the line.

$59.99
Available at Target.com
www.boynq.com

Public guitar playing was once the exclusive domain of acoustic guitars. Long-haired tree-huggers playing Kumbaya outside a coffee shop. Some wanna-be Romeo serenading his girl in the park. Now guys who pick an electric axe can rock out outside. Without lugging heavy amps, or needing to plug into a power outlet.

Roland's new micro-CUBE amp has many of the features of their larger Cube amp, squeezed into a compact package weighing less than 8 pounds.

They've included seven amp modes from their Composite Object Sound Modeling (COSM), that give you the some of the same sound models as their full size amps. No need to pack pedals either. There are six DSP effects including tremelo and phaser, with a separate control for reverb and delay. And a built in tuning fork feature lets you make sure you're not off-key.

A carrying strap makes the Micro-CUBE truly portable and six AA batteries will let you jam in the fresh air for about 20 hours. Or until someone calls the cops.

Comes in Black, Red and White
About $125
www.roland.com

When it comes to the sensation of being immersed in the virtual world of a video game, the bigger the screen, the better. If your home screen is lacking in the size department, throw on a pair of Vuzix's new iWear AV920-C virtual video goggles, fresh off the assembly line and ready for action.

Their twin high-resolution 640x480 LCD displays mimic a 62-inch flat screen viewed from nine feet away (about the width of the average living room), and they work with the Xbox360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and other popular gaming consoles.

The AV920-C is also 3D enabled for
...More

It may not land you a supermodel girlfriend, but you've gotta start somewhere.

The Lamborghini VX2 Notebook from Asus uses design cues from the legendary Italian performance car, like the signature yellow on the aluminum-magnesium alloy case with black carbon fiber insert, and leather bound palm-rest area complete with yellow stitching. Even the cooling fan cover is shaped like a Lambo wheel.

Inside they've upped the performance with the latest Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology and NVIDIA GeForce Go7700 card with 512MB video memory graphics power. [Insert "speeding down the Internet Superhighway with your girlfriend, Jpeg, sitting beside you" reference here.]

$2,699
www.asus.com

You've got a lot going on in your entertainment life. There's NFL Sunday Ticket on TV, DVDs coming in from NetFlix, the new mp3s you just downloaded (legally, of course), Tiger Woods golf on the Wii... it's getting harder and harder to keep track of all the remotes. And figure out which three you need, and what buttons to push in which sequence, just to watch a movie.

Regain some control with the Harmony 670 Advanced Universal Remote from Logitech. It can handle up to 15 audio, video, and gaming components, and can even control lights and appliances.

Gone are the days of punching in codes and struggling to get it programmed. Plug the 670 into a USB port and access a database of over 175,000 devices, including your cable or satellite company's DVR. Use the wizard to program in the sequences you typically go through to access your systems and it takes care of the rest. With the One-Touch Control you select the activity you want, like “Watch a DVD”, and it launches whatever individual components are needed.

The buttons are fully customizable, you can put your most frequent activities on a single button. And the backlit display and LCD screen make access easy when the lights are out. Because the only fumbling you should be doing in the dark should be with her, not your remote.

$149.99
www.logitech.com

From the Press Democrat comes an unnerving report that not only will your beloved GPS system guide and assist you while driving, but anything it says can, and will, be used against you in a court of law.

Most people don't realize the devices don't just supply info TO you, they store info ABOUT you as well. According to the article, "Among other things, these devices calculate speed and location, information that could prove critical in determining who is at fault in a car crash."

How do the authorities get this info? Usually by issuing a subpoena to the manufacturer. And there's a good chance they'll comply. (And thankfully little chance your girl will be able to get a subpoena to find out if you really were "playing cards with the guys" till 5am last Saturday night.)

It's not just GPS systems that are ratting you out either. The article goes on to say that "More than half of all new cars sold in the United States are equipped with event data recorders that investigators can use to determine such things as speed, braking and belt use in the seconds before and during crashes, according to the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety."

On the other side, the same technology is being used to help speeders beat tickets. The article notes, "Manufacturers of radar detectors are using GPS to download maps and warn motorists when they approach intersections where red light cameras are installed, as well as school zones or other areas where speed might be restricted or monitored." It's become a high tech game of cat and mouse on the roads.

Read the entire article here.

[VIA Gizmodo ]