Fetish
Increase Your Bandwidth
Instantly add a second line to your home or office by plugging your Motorola MicroTACH flip phone into the CelDock. Using your home's existing wiring, the CelDock works like a normal land-line phone, except you'll be transmitting your calls through the cellular network. Since CelDock provides dial tone, it can be used for faxes and modems. The CelDock also recharges the phone's battery, so it's always ready to leave with you. CelDock: US$399. Telular Corporation: (800) 636 3625, +1 (708) 465 4500.
Flatlining
Speaker cables are usually one of the least-considered elements of a stereo system, yet they can make or break signal quality. Made of high-purity oxygen-free copper ribbon and shielded in polyester terephtalate, Goertz MI 2 speaker cable is designed to preserve delicate high-frequency audio signals while maintaining proper impedance. The flattened cross-section design makes this cable perfect for any A/V installation because it can hide easily under carpets or wallpaper. Goertz MI 2: US$9.10 per foot, or 25 feet at $7.90 per foot. Alpha-Core Inc.: (800) 836 5920, +1 (203) 335 6805.
Inner Spacecraft
The Deep Flight personal submarine looks like it should be performing stunts in an asteroid belt, but it handles better a half-mile under the ocean's surface. The fiberglass body support is custom-molded for each pilot, to prevent fatigue during missions. The most maneuverable 12-foot-long craft is equipped with an on-board computer, sonar, and wireless underwater communications. It was designed to perform banks and barrel rolls, making it the first hy-drobatic submarine in the world. Deep Flight: Call for pricing. Deep Ocean Engineering: +1 (510) 530 9388.
Brain Game
Remember Simon, that beeping, blinking, battery-sucking memory game of the early '80s? Welcome to the next level. Sega's Pods is a sound- and light-emitting orb using infrared sensors and electronic eyes that respond to the motion of your hands. It's a game you don't have to touch to play. Pods features six contests combining memory exercises and hand-eye coordination that'll work parts of your brain you never knew you had. And you don't have to kill anything to win. Sega Pods: approximately US$50. Sega of America: (800) 872 7342,+1 (415) 508 2800.
Reverse Scanning
Images travel from the real world into the digital realm through scanners. Until now, the least expensive way back out has been the color printer. But now, Polaroid offers a new way to turn your pixels into pictures. The HR 6000 Digital Palette Color Film Recorder creates high-resolution film from digital art on your PC. Using dynamic focus circuitry, the HR 6000 delivers slides, prints, and chromes with 4,000 lines of resolution and 16.7 million colors. HR 6000 Digital Palette Color Film Recorder: US$5,995. Polaroid Corporations Electronic Imaging Group: (800) 816 2611, ext. 729, +1 (617) 386 2000.
Catch Some Air
The Air 50 is the most extensively copied and tested board Burton Snowboards has ever made. Designed for all-purpose freestyle shredding, its one-piece, vertically laminated wood core has a polyethylene base and steel edges, making it perfect for spinning and fakie (backward) riding. The Air 50's rounded nose and minimal swing weight give guys and gals the flexibility and versatility necessary for all-terrain riding. Air 50 Snowboard: US$459.95. Burton Snowboards: (800) 881 3138, +1 (802) 862 4500.
Clear Out the Darkroom
Every day you hear claims of the latest "Hasselblad of digital cameras." But with the PhotoPhase or the PhotoPhase Studio Kit, you can have digital technology with a real stand-under-the-black-cloth camera. A scanning unit fits on the back of many medium format cameras and any 4-by-5-inch camera in place of the film holder. The scanner sends color images to your Macintosh, where you can work on your photographs using the included software. PhotoPhase for the 4-by-5: US$23,470 (maximum file size of 102 Mbytes); Photo-Phase Studio Kit for the 4-by-5: US$12,990 (maximum file size 25 Mbytes). PhotoPhase Inc.: +1 (415) 599 9087.
Stifle the Static
The CFR900 is not your normal cell-phone car antenna. Using a unique polarization technology, this antenna radiates a 360-degree pattern that outperforms by far any stick or coil antenna. The secret behind the CFR900 is the tuned circuit that allows the antenna to cover the entire bandwidth of cellular communication - unlike a stick antenna, which is tuned to a specific frequency. CFR900 Cellular Antenna: US$59.95. Terk Technologies Corporation: (800) 942 8375, +1 (516) 756 6000.
Blow Your Horn
Speakers don't have to be big, ugly boxes to work well. The Emphasis model was designed to reduce the sound distortion and internal reflections inherent to box-enclosure speakers. These jazzy, saxophone-shaped units deliver great low-frequency response while the positioning of the metal dome tweeter provides high-frequency dispersion. Get a friend to help you move them: they weigh 77 pounds each. Emphasis loudspeakers: US$9,000 per pair, made to order. B&W Loudspeakers of America: (800) 370 3740, +1 (508) 664 2870.
Printing by the Pound
Leave it to a watchmaker to design a printer you'll actually want to carry with you while traveling. The PN60, from Citizen, is the smallest and most lightweight printer in the world. At first glance, you'll find it hard to believe this 1-pound device is a laser-quality printer. But the proof is in the thermal-fusion engine, which outputs plain paper, envelopes, labels, and transparencies at two pages per minute. You can even print in color with an optional color cartridge. PN60: US$399. Citizen America Corporation: (800) 477 4683, +1 (310) 453 0614.
Dish Out the Data
The MLink-5000 is the first land-based briefcase terminal to use an international maritime satellite for global communications. The MLink-5000 lets you phone, fax, and transmit or receive data any time, anywhere. Just unfold the flat array antenna, punch in your telephone number, and you're ready to go for up to one hour of transmitting on a single battery. The main drawback is the wimpy 2400-baud fax and data interface. MLink-5000: US$13,000. NEC America Inc.: +1 (703) 834 4150, fax +1 (703) 481 6904.
Face Mail
The Eris is a portable videoconferencing system that runs on your PC or Mac. As easy to use as a telephone, the self-contained unit includes a color camera and a database for storing the names, phone numbers, and photos of people you network with. Just click on the name or picture of the person you want to call. The Eris system connects with other videoconferencing units, works with both digital ISDN and standard phone lines, and comes in either SCSI or PCMCIA configurations. Eris Personal Video Communications System: US$5,000. RSI Systems Inc.: (800) 496 4304, +1 (612) 896 3020.
