Hello, Dick Tracy
Stop reaching into your pocket to see who’s calling. This stainless steel Sony Ericsson timepiece talks to your phone via Bluetooth to display caller ID info on its monochrome OLED screen. It also can alert you to text messages, mute or reject incoming calls, and shuffle the songs on any of the new Walkman phones. If the next version has a keypad, I’m going to ditch my handset altogether.
MBW-100: $399, www.sonyericsson.com
Incredible Lights & Magic
When you’re blasting bad guys in Battlefield 2142, there’s only so much immersion you can get from a widescreen monitor. Philips’ amBX surround setup bathes the room in LED light that matches the in-game action: the fierce glow of a lava cave, say, or the calm blue of the sea. When a rocket explodes “too close,” fans and rumble pads simulate the blast radius. Rounding out the package are rockin’ stereo speakers and a subwoofer – mere background noise considering how this system assaults your senses.
amBX Premium Kit: $399, www.ambx.com
Net Navigator
So, your GPS can find gas stations. Big deal. The Dash Express finds them, then uses built-in Wi-Fi and cellular data links to check pump prices. The wireless capabilities also let it update maps, perform Yahoo searches, and upload mile-by-mile, minute-to-minute traffic data to a shared server, so other Dash GPS users can avoid jams. It’s smart enough to make your standard navigator seem as primitive as that poorly folded mess in the glove box.
Express: $TBD, www.dash.net
No, It Doesn't Use Film
The latest installment in the Digilux line is the first to retain the uncomplicated controls, razor-sharp lenses, and suave design of Leica’s classics. But it’s been updated with auto-focus, image stabilization, a 7.5-megapixel sensor, and interchangeable glass. Shots can be composed through the eye-level viewfinder or on the 2.5-inch LCD. It’s a perfect mix of Cartier-Bresson-style romance and uncompromising digital performance.
Digilux 3: $2,500 with zoom lens, www.leica.com
Desktop Comes Alive!
People constantly complain about the quality of MP3s, but even CDs are only 16-bit. Upsample your digital music to 24-bit fidelity with this tune smoother, which goes between your PC or Mac and your headphones. It also performs voodoo, like identifying a cymbal crash or a bass drum kick and applying targeted restorations to rebuild sound lost during compression. If only it could restore the hearing I’ve lost. What?
Xmod: $80, www.creative.com
Heirloom PC
You can finally afford quality furniture, so how about a PC you can bequeath to the kids, too? Suissa’s computers sport custom-built hardwood cases that are liquid cooled and meant to be passed down from generation to generation. In the meantime, you, the proud geek, can swap old components for new ones as much as you want. Each series is built in a limited run of 100. It could be a better investment than that Eames sofa your wife is obsessed with.
Yasuko: $6,156, www.suissacomputers.com
- Brian Lam
credit David Clugston
MBW-100
amBX Premium Kit
Express
Digilux
Xmod
Yasuko
PLAY
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Fetish
