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Corrective Lens
Sony's new 5-megapixel digicam is packed with features to keep you from hitting the Delete button. Most cameras have trouble auto-focusing on surfaces that lack contrast or contour, but the DSC-F707 projects a laser pattern onto your subjects that determines distance and configures focal range for even the most featureless planes. In low light, your shots appear on the LCD display illuminated with infrared - and you can snap the picture that way, for that night-vision look, or stick with full color. When taking flash pictures, the camera prevents over- and underexposures by firing twice: The first burst tests how much light bounces back and the second adjusts for a perfect exposure.
DSC-F707: $999. Sony: (800) 222 7669, www.sony.com.
Easy Listening
If you've spent a lifetime around jackhammers or at raucous rock concerts, chances are your eardrums have taken a beating. Phonak's tiny Claro 11 uses a digital microphone and noise reduction to amplify sounds you might not have noticed in years - with crystal clarity. The aid is chip-based, so it doesn't hog battery power, and it nestles discreetly in your ear - no telltale plug pokes out of your auditory canal. To make sure the device is comfortable, Phonak custom-fits the earpiece using 3-D imaging and printing.
Claro 11: $2,600. Phonak: (888) 566 6473, www.phonak-us.com.
Thinly Sliced
Audiophiles often pooh-pooh the quality of all-in-one stereos. But because Sharp's latest CD/minidisc combo uses the same technology as its wave-making SM-SX100 component amplifier, it gets purer results than your average minisystem does. A proprietary circuit in the 1-bit amp converts each sound sample into a value relative to the previous one, rather than an absolute number. This digitization scheme eliminates the distortion associated with analog amplifiers, and minimizes manufacturing costs and power consumption. Thanks to its 6.3- by 8.3- by 5.4-inch frame, the SD-NX10 fits snugly in tight spots, yet the diminutive 50-watt speakers pump out beats as well as the big guys do.
SD-NX10: $1,499.95. Sharp: (877) 388 7427, www.sharp-usa.com.
Pressure Hooks
Keep your newly purchased Prada togs from hitting the not-so-newly mopped floor with Oxo's Good Grips. The plastic hanger, with a super-sucking rubber cup molded directly into its gently curving body, installs instantly on glass, tile, and most nonporous surfaces. A clever cantilever design transfers pressure to the wall instead of putting stress on the sucker - which means the 3.5-inch claw is capable of carrying the weight of an extra-large leather jacket or an overstuffed computer tote.
Good Grips Large Suction Cup Hook: $3.99. Oxo: (800) 545 4411, www.oxo.com.
Massively Multiplayer
You like your DVD camcorder, but it records onto DVD-RAM, which you now know is incompatible with regular DVD. Panasonic's new 2.2-pound portable DVD-LA95 reads both formats, along with MP3-encoded CD-Rs and DVD-Audio, so you can play everything you've got, anywhere you go. Check out home movies and Hollywood blockbusters on its 9-inch screen or, if you're an audiophile, play surround sound off DVD-Audio discs (speakers sold separately).
DVD-LA95: $1,299.95. Panasonic: (800) 211 7262, www.panasonic.com.
Fashions Coordinates
When your weekends are filled with deep-sea diving and black-diamond boarding, Timex's multifunction WRKS is a must. The digital timepiece contains a continuously updating compass and is waterproof to a depth of 150 feet. An integrated altimeter provides average ascent and descent rates - as well as altitude changes - every 15 seconds, while thermometer and barometer readings update every minute. No matter where you are, you'll know how deep you're in it.
WRKS: $139. Timex: (800) 367 8463, www.timex.com.
Circulation Manager
Your less-than-thrilling cubicle existence might not be the only reason you're feeling lethargic - it could be bad air. The Telaire 7001vr is a handheld CO2 monitor that calculates and displays air quality. Use the PDA-sized portable to gauge carbon dioxide concentrations both inside and outside your office building. It calculates the difference between the two and estimates the rate of atmospheric change. Anything under 15 cubic feet per minute per person means it's time to open a window.
7001vr: $445.50. Telaire: (800) 472 6075, www.telaire.com.
Idea Factory
Dazzle your colleagues at the next staff meeting by filling the room with ideas, not hardware. 3M's Wall Display works as a standard dry-erase board, and its pop-out mini-projector turns its surface into a screen, pulling info from your DVI-D or VGA-connected computer for all to see. A proprietary chip processes each 1,024 x 768-pixel image so it appears square and uniformly bright, despite the extreme angle of projection. Put standard markers inside the bundled holders to record notes as you write on the 60-inch Ideaboard. Infrared and ultrasonic sensors on the display track the pens' movements and send image files to a Mac or PC.
Wall Display (with Ideaboard): $13,000. 3M: (800) 328 1371, www.3m.com.
Think Deco
Hate how your particleboard home-office furniture clashes with the pop-modernist decor in the rest of your pad? Designer Yilmaz Zenger's take on the computer workstation recalls Robin Day's 1963 sunny Polyprop armchair. The Fiberglas pod is designed for iMacs, but it also accommodates many all-in-one PCs. With bold ergonomic incorrectness, the mouse sits on a pad near the armrest, and the keyboard holder swivels your QWERTY out of the way when you don't need it. Available for both lefties and righties, the z-computer chair comes in bright, Warholesque shades, including orange, indigo, and graphite.
z-computer chair: $980. Terminal-NYC: +1 (212) 219 3411, www.terminal-nyc.com.
