Fetish
__Scenic Drive __
Sony's Digital Mavica MVC-CD1000 ends the megapixel-era frustration of expensive flash memory and inadequate storage. The 10X optical/ 20X digital zoom, 2.1-megapixel still camera burns its own 3.5-inch CDs, each of which holds 156 Mbytes - orders of magnitude more than the competition, and enough for about 150 JPEG or TIFF snaps. Pop a $4, write-once disc in the back, and you're good to go anywhere - they're readable in any CD drive.
__Digital Mavica MVC-CD1000: $1,299. Sony: (800) 222 7669, www.sel.sony.com. __
__House Music __
All MP3'd up with nowhere to play? The Rio Digital Audio Receiver pumps a PC-ful of sound files to stereo speakers anywhere in the house - using your existing phone wiring as the network. Install the included networking card and plug the phone line into your computer; plug the Rio into a phone jack in any room of your choice, then connect the receiver/amplifier/player directly to your speakers; and you've got a local-area music server that pulls tunes from the PC at 10 Mbps and won't interfere with your calls.
__Rio Digital Audio Receiver: $299.95. S3: (800) 468 5846, www.s3.com. __
__Magic Carpet Ride __
The Hovery glides on a fan-blown cushion of air over water, swamp, sand, and snow - and it fits in your trunk. Eight-plus feet across, the one-person hovercraft weighs 95 pounds but, thanks to a breakthrough design, its body collapses like an umbrella for easy portability. The 15-horsepower, two-stroke engine powers a carbon-fiber propeller that moves the plastic-skirted flying carpet at up to 30 mph. Resist the urge to play bumper cars.
__Hovery: $3,150. Aero DC: +54 (3752) 155 014 20, www.hovery.com. __
__Off-Court Antics __
Got game, or just talk it? AND 1's Tochillin Mid injects on-court attitude into courtside casual. The leather-upper slip-on features an EVA midsole that's soft in front and firm in back, along with a polyurethane sweet spot in the heel - perfect for slamming beers.
__Tochillin Mid: $65. AND 1: +1 (610) 249 2255, www.and1.com. __
__Lite Brite __
Tipping the scales at 40 percent less than "ultraportable" projectors, the 2.9-pound PLUS U3-1080 projector lightens the burden of on-the-road presentations. Better yet, the miniscreener uses digital light processing to pack 800 ANSI lumens of brightness into a 7- by 9-inch box that projects just as big as its heftier cousins. DLP enables sharp freeze-frames and 10X zooms, as well as converting up and down to the projector's native XGA resolution from a range of inputs.
__U3-1080: $6,995. PLUS Corporation of America: +1 (201) 818 2700, www.plus-america.com. __
__Flipping the Script __
The cell phone-PDA combo turns a corner with Ericsson's R380. When you flip the keypad open to switch from speech to stylus, the display's orientation shifts 90 degrees. Suddenly, making notes is like writing on a page, not a tiny Post-it, and a familiar horizontal icon bar can stretch across the top of the screen. The flexibility of the 5.6-ounce tri-band GSM phone is almost laughable: You can dial by voice, the touchscreen reads your handwriting, and the alarm clock tells you to stop dreaming.
__R380: $1,000. Ericsson: (800) 374 2776, +1 (919) 472 7908, www.ericsson.com. __
__Popularity Plus __
Cuter, simpler, and cheaper than the Palm V, the m100 still has built-in apps for scheduling and planning, and loads of great software for work and play. Plus, an ever-present hot button opens a "digital ink" notepad for scribbling, diagrams, and doodles, and there's an expanded tutorial. The handy helpmate also dresses up with removable faceplates, takes regular AAA batteries, and tells the time - even when it's idle.
__m100: $149. Palm: +1 (408) 326 9500, www.palm.com. __
__Overhead Transparency __
Designer Antonio Citterio's Lastra 8 Elliptical lamp doesn't just look like a printed circuit board - it works like one too. Tracks of conductive paint on the 55- by 28-inch oval glass motherboard carry current from the central power supply through eight 35-watt bulbs, which are topped by frosted-glass diffusers. But unlike enclosed cards, the Lastra 8 floats in open space: Suspended by four steel cables, the chandelier shows you exactly where all its electricity is flowing - and looks great all the while.
__Lastra 8 Elliptical: $4,200. Flos: +1 (631) 549 2745, www.flos.net. __
__Talking Heads __
Jerky, postage-stamp-sized desktop telemeetings can't convey the nonverbal cues that make face time worthwhile, but fancy videoconferencing systems cost thousands. Polycom's ViaVideo provides a middle ground that doesn't require a compromise, turning broadband-connected PCs into teleconferencing stations worth using. Park the cam on a monitor, plug it into a USB port, and it'll create a 352 x 288 pixel video window - with sound - at a full-motion 30 frames per second. Integrated Microsoft NetMeeting software adds app-sharing and a virtual whiteboard.
__ViaVideo: $599. Polycom: (800) 765 9266, +1 (408) 526 9000, www.polycom.com. __
