Sony HD Radio
$200

Sick of the same-old, same-old chart-based tunes and endless ads you hear on the radio? You're missing the party, or the talk-orgy, that's happening on HD radio, which is the technology that allows more than one programming feed to broadcast on the same FM frequency. Provided you have an HD radio such as this minimalist cherry wood and black mesh speaker tabletop model from Sony, you can essentially quadruple the amount of broadcasts – and the variety of music genres or talk-radio programs – that are normally available to you on a standard FM radio.

From SonyStyle.

Boynq Alibi (Style maven, $100 and under)

Want to get your college-bound, studying-abroad, jet-setting son or daughter to actually video-chat with you? Try getting them a webcam -- particularly one that looks as fresh as Boynq's Alibi. Though its primary function is video, the unit doubles as a speaker as well: While it's only able to crank out five watts, it sounds better than your laptop's internal speakers. The camera is able to angle itself 25 degrees left and right, and and it even rotates 300 degrees, allowing you to record video of most of a room without having to move the body of the webcam itself. Aside from its look, the design is full of nice touches: Rather than a volume knob, the Alibi has a tall ring around its body, which you slide to adjust volume. Oh, and coolest of all? The camera head pops up when in use, and hibernates into its plastic body when idle. Comes in four purdy colors.

Price: $59.99

From Boynq

Finally, an all-in-one Windows PC with some style sense. Check out the video for more on the Gateway One.

Once upon a time, you were a nobody if you didn't have a Palm-powered PDA holstered beneath your power suit. With BlackBerrys and iPhones getting all the glory, can Palm's new Centro compete? Josh Fruhlinger reports.

Check this out: A new prototype dress may one day help dense men or women clue in on their partner's emotional condition. The Daily Mail reports that the Bubelle Dress, designed by scientists at the Dutch electronics company Philips, changes colors depending on the wearer's mood. The dress's development was prompted by a research venture dubbed the SKIN Probe Project, which imagines daily living in the year 2020.

The garment has two connected layers, an inner layer equipped with biometric sensors that pick up physical information correlating to certain emotions, and an outer layer that casts different colors and patterns according to the information gathered. Sweat and temperature levels, the makers say, are key determinants in identifying a person's emotional condition.

The garb is the latest "practical" application in the burgeoning biometric field. While it certainly is the most fashionable development to date, biometrics has been around for a while now, but has traditionally been used on security apparatus like locks and safes. Unfortunately, consumers intrigued by the prospect of such an outfit in their wardrobe will be disappointed to learn that the Bubelle Dress is not currently being produced for the public. On the plus side, this means that Cro Magnon males won't be able to masquerade as Dr. Phil anytime soon.

From The Daily Mail





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HYPE CHECK: BURTON SLEEPER HOODIE
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What it is: Burton's Sleeper Hoodie is designed for the busy air traveler, but should be a big hit with everyone from bands who spend weeks at a time tour buses, to those of us who like to catch a nap on the bus on our way to work. Inside the neck rests an inflatable neck pillow; blow it up, and you've got immediate, built-in head support. (Much better than resting your head on the corner between the seat and the window, much less the person next to you.) It's also got hidden compartments for your MP3 player (lower left), passport (inner left), and even your earplugs (it comes with a pair). It even has thumb holes in the sleeve cuffs for those with cold hands, and zippers under the armpits (with mesh in between) for when you get all hot and bothered (like during the spaghetti scene of 'Lady and the Tramp'). There's more: a light shield pulls down to block out the glare of the sun-like reading lights your neighbor refuses to turn off (if not fully block out those fluorescents lining the cabin wall), and a headphone port for wiring your music inside the shirt. It feels like something to add to your essential travel arsenal -- and since it looks and feels like a regular hoodie when disengaged, you can even where it when you get wherever it is you're going. As long as it's not Tahiti.

Why it's different: Most sweatshirts don't do anything other than zip up. This one does about everything except cook you breakfast.

What it costs: $100

What we like: For those that travel long distances, this thing is a lifesaver. It's incredibly versatile and feature-packed, and this sort of combination of technology and fashion is long overdue. The ability to adjust your temperature actually works in practice -- finally avoid sweaty armpits during boarding, and the thumb holes really do keep your palms warm, no matter how high they decide to crank the AC. The whole thing just feels very well thought-out and designed.


What we don't like: Rather than the wrap-around style neck pillow that they sell in airports, the inflatable pillow in the neck is more of a log-shaped affair. It still works – even without anything to lean against, you can just rest your head on either of your shoulders – but the full wrap-around action would have been even better. Also, while the design is great if you're into big graphics (we love the line-art airplane), it's perhaps not the most subtle thing in the world – this thing might not fly with the over-50 business set (pun intended).

Does it live up to the hype? Yes. We love it. It's an incredibly useful piece of gear for those of us that take long trips (or perhaps lots of short ones, requiring sporadic naps), and feels like it will last many, many hours of airtime. It's a heavy-duty sweatshirt, and for $100, you can't really argue with the comfort and peace of mind it give you – even when sandwiched between two fatsos (loudly eating sandwiches) on your flight from LA to London.





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The folks at I Am 8-Bit (you may remember them from such art shows as this one) and a design company called Couch (great name, eh?) have put their collective pixels together to create some nice Space Invader-inspired guitar straps, particularly for those of you with 'Rock Band' and/or 'Guitar Hero' gee-tars.

The vinyl strap comes in either blue or black, and will set you back $33, or approximately six tickets to see Tesla on its forthcoming reunion tour.

From Couch


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Coming at you in a neon rainbow of bright and shiny colors (plus black, natch), Fujifilm's new seven-megapixel camera sports a 3x optical zoom in its ultra-compact body. It's got face detection technology (and automatic red-eye removal), support for IrSimple InfraRed communication (for wireless image transfer to any IrSimple™ equipped device), and a "Blog It" function that allows you to produce online-ready 640x480 or 320x240 images straight in the camera. It's about as far from "professional" as you can get, but at around $150, it's a good deal for discerning fashionistas.



From Fujifilm

For aesthetes who like their desktops to look as fresh and clean as everything else in their Japanese-influenced, eco-friendly homes, Podera has some relevant USB hotness. Its Luxe Hub and Luxe USB 2.0 Hub and Luxe USB 2.0 card reader, both priced at $16.95, are absolutely gorgeous pieces of design. They perform simple tasks, but with grace: The former splits a single USB port into four, while a large base keeps it standing upright. The latter looks like something out of Tron, and allows for access to Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick HG, MMC, SD, SDHC formats.



From Ryder Products

The Flybook VM ($1,400 and up) started as a concept PC -- after being entered into Intel's laptop design contest, an Italian company (read: Flybook) turned it into a reality (and manufactures it in China, but that's another story). This nifty looking thing's claim-to-fame is its adjustable 12.1-inch widescreen display, which can be pushed and pulled up, down, backwards, and forwards -- much like a desktop computer's flat-panel monitor. This design innovation (for laptops, anyway) comes in handy when, say, trying to work in cramped spaces (like coach class airplane seat). Distinctive looks aside, the VM is also as wireless-friendly as it gets-- HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS, GSM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, which means you can get online pretty much anywhere in the world and blast music to wireless speakers and headsets. Also: fingerprint recognition and a 1.3 megapixel camera (for Skype or other video-messaging). Oh, and you've got your choice of black, silver, red or yellow.


From Flybook