Hot Wheels
CAR
Gearheads start your engines. Ford is pumping up its GT40 muscle car, the one famous for record-breaking speeds in the 1960s at Le Mans. The updated hot rod burns even more rubber, with an ultralight aluminum - not steel - frame, engine, and shell. Also new: fiber-optic headlamps. The classic low profile and mid-mounted V-8 within give the limited-edition ride just enough retro to out-style the competition.
GT: under $150,000, www.ford.com
Unplug and Play
KEY DRIVE
Pull a standard USB key drive from its port and it's just mini storage. Disconnect Philips' 128-Mbyte device and it's a mini MP3 player. Pop in your earbuds and hang the Ring around your neck with the attached lanyard; the fabric is wired with touch-sensitive fibers that remotely execute commands like Track Previous (top) and Volume Down (bottom).
Audio Key Ring: $159, www.philipsusa.com
Palm in a Half Shell
SMART PHONE
From the outside, Samsung's SPH-i500 looks like your standard teeny-weeny flip phone. Open it up, though, and you'll be pleasantly surprised to find a cell in one half and a fully functional PDA in the other. Equipped with a USB port and 16 megs of memory, the Palm OS 4.1-driven hybrid runs scads of apps and transfers files to and from your PC. Do it all via the finger-friendly color screen or the integrated Graffiti pad.
SPH-i500: price TBD, www.samsung.com
Gimme Shelter
WATCH
Sure, loose nukes are scary, but what about the radiation from metal detectors? The Vigilant Watch houses a Geiger counter to measure the intensity of harmful gamma and X rays, and a dosimeter so you can see how much you're absorbing. Though it's marketed to at-risk types, like nuclear-power plant workers, anyone can admire its sleek design and Swiss craftsmanship (complete with hands that glow in the dark so you don't have to).
Vigilant Watch: $1,100, www.vigiwatch.com
Wall Buster
PORTABLE STEREO
TerraPlayer's networked boombox keeps your conga line moving from room to room to room. The TR-100 wirelessly accesses your PC's horde of booty-thumpin' MP3s via the included USB hub attached to your computer. Tracks are transferred up to 500 feet away over a 900-MHz digital signal, and the system's 75-watt speakers take it from there. The touch-sensitive color LCD lets you select albums by cover art so you can still pick the hits after knocking back a few.
TR-100: $895, www.terraplayer.com
PLAY
Exploring *Myst'*s Brave New World
Tru 2 Da Game
Better Than MP3
What's On Your iPod?
It's Not Easy Being Green
Thrash Photography
Honey, Where Are the Keys to the Hovercraft?
Read Me: Regulating Railroad Innovation
Merry Institute of Tricksters
Top 10 MIT Hacks
Wet & Wild
Top of the Pop Shop
reviews
Fetish
Music to Your Ears
GMRS Talks the Talk
Total Remote Control
Shopping Cart
