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Fetish
Schizophonia
By running new Java apps and swapping faceplates, Nextel's i50sx cell phone quick-changes its persona, inside and out. Its Java 2 Micro Edition interpreter and eight-line screen allow you to operate all sorts of programs, ranging from address-book autodialers to custom-built professional tools - which Nextel promises will come from a Palm-like community of developers. You can download new software from the Web through a cable connection to your desktop. Manufactured by Motorola, the i50sx uses the iDEN network and offers WAP-enabled wireless connectivity at speeds of up to 20 Kbps.
i50sx: $149. Nextel: (800) 639 6111, www.nextel.com.
Sharp Shooter
It may look like a vacation cam for Darth Vader, but the Foveon II is really a high-end digital model for studio photographers:It dumps 17.3-Mbytefiles directly onto a tethered Windows PC. Inside the camera, a prism divides incoming images into red, green, and blue components, and three 4-megapixel CMOS sensors record each color separately, avoiding the digital artifacts that can plague single-sensor cameras - no more stair-step patterns in your cover girl's hair. Attach any Canon L-Series lens, and practice saying, "Work with me, baby!"
Foveon II: $23,900. Foveon: (877) 436 8366, www.foveon.net.
Quadruple Play
Ubiquitous in Japan, MiniDisc systems have a cultlike following in the States. Sharp's new MiniDisc Long Play (MDLP) portable could propel the handy, skip-resistant format into the arms of the mainstream. Using MDLP compression, this 5-ounce, battery-powered player/recorder writes up to 296 minutes of audio on a single disc - a substantial increase over the previous standard of 74 minutes. With all that extra space, you can finally record a full bootleg of David Hasselhoff's Jekyll and Hyde.
MD-MT877: $499.95. Sharp: (800) 237 4277, www.sharp-usa.com.
Glossy Impression
Epson's new Stylus Photo 785EPX printer ensures that every photograph you put to paper reflects the beauty you captured on memory card. The inkjet reads the gamma level, contrast, and color-balance settings coded into each picture file by compatible cameras from Sony, Epson, Olympus, and others. Because the printer recognizes these values, it can re-create the original at resolutions of up to 2,880 x 720 dpi (on glossy photo stock). A detachable preview monitor (not shown) lets you ink digipics without a computer - just slip your Smart Media, CompactFlash, or Memory Stick card into the printer and make your choices onscreen.
Stylus Photo 785EPX: $249; Monitor:$99. Epson: (800) 922 8911, www.epson.com.
Clean Heat
Don't let fuel or dirt buildup pre-empt that backwoods Spam slam. Brunton's Optimus NOVA camp stove eliminates fire-extinguishing clogs quickly, without requiring disassembly. Inside the stove, where fuel jet meets vaporization chamber, a steel needle keeps the propane path clear. Wave the magnetized multitool (shown at right)under the base, and the needle kicks out grime like a pipe cleaner. For serious scrubbing, the wand doubles as a wrench set. With three collapsible, turbine-shaped legs, the easy-packing burner folds up smaller than a Yoplait container.
Optimus NOVA: $139. Brunton: (800) 443 4871, www.brunton.com.
Culture Cache
Great made-for-Internet flicks like Quantum Project v4.0 lose pizazz when viewed on a 15-inch monitor, but with the help of Harman Kardon's DMC 100, you can watch them on a Net-based home theater system. Using ZapMedia's technology and browser, the VCR-size storage unit connects to your TV and stereo to serve music and movies that you've downloaded through a dialup or broadband connection. You can also play your favorite CDs and DVDs. The 30-gig hard drive stores 10,000 MP3 songs or 30 hours of digital video - including films in MPEG-2 format, the standard for DVD. Meanwhile, Web and email interfaces and a wireless keyboard let you check out the latest reviews on mrcranky.com and get music recommendations from friends.
DMC 100: $899. Harman Kardon: (800) 422 8027, www.harmankardon.com.
For Your Eye Only
Business travelers can now carry on sensitive work in progress without worrying about rubberneckers in the next row. Through the magnifying eyepiece of Inviso's eCase, charts, documents, and photos will look as if they're appearing on a full-size monitor - instead of through a half-inch LCD screen with 800 x 600-pixel resolution. Based on the Windows CE operating system, Inviso's handheld PC downloads from and syncs with your desktop via a USB or serial docking cradle. Plug eCase into a cell phone or modem, and you can surf the Web and check email in full-screen glory anywhere, without having to lug a laptop around.
eCase: $599. Inviso: +1 (408) 734 9200, www.inviso.com.
Adult Entertainment
Too mature for the all-about-Pokémon Game Boy Color? The Game Boy Advance offers more grown-up diversions, like Tekken Advanced and Silent Hill - and still plays your old Game Boy favorites. Armed with a faster processor and more colors than its predecessor (512 shades, up from 52), the Game Boy Advance adds some action to the daily commute. The paperback-sized time bandit has a 240 x 160-pixel display and plugs into the upcoming Nintendo GameCube to double as a controller. If you're traveling with other gamers, bring along the multilink cable to turn the back-of-the-bus knitting circle into a multiplayer Mario Kart battleground.
Game Boy Advance: under $100. Nintendo: (800) 255 3700, www.nintendo.com.
Hard and Fast
Your Web server may be quick, but it can't keep up with BlueArc's Si7500 SiliconServer. A new architecture lets the supercharged appliance blow past other network filers in storage capacity, number of users, and performance. Like, its throughput rate is 1,900 Mbps. Reprogrammable gate arrays (RGAs) run common protocols like TCP/IP and NFS in hardware rather than software, for orders-of-magnitude-faster response times, and upgrade easily when standards change. Instead of relying on centralized buses to upload and download data, SiliconServer divides and conquers the task with a grid of one-way pipelines.
Si7500 Storage System (two SiliconServers with 2 terabytes): $600,000. BlueArc: +1 (650) 864 1000, www.bluearc.com.
