Gillian Shaw
Sun
Chargepod V2, Callpod
XtreaMP3, FINIS
MHS-CM5 and MHS-PM5 bloggie cameras, Sony
Battalion Touch CZ-10, iBUYPOWER
1. Chargepod V2, Callpod, $200 US
A multi-charger that will charge both mobile devices and your PC or Mac laptop. One side charges your computer, another will charge up to three devices such as cellphones, MP3 players or Bluetooth headsets and the third side has a three-USB 2.0 hub for transferring music, data and other files or for connecting peripherals to your laptop, like a keyboard or mouse. You can customize it to fit your device with adapters. It comes with a carrying case, a PC/Mac data cable and some adapters. You can buy others if your device isn’t among the ones included. Just announced this month. Check the website at www.callpod.comand sign up for updates on availability.
2. XtreaMP3, FINIS, $150 US
Waterproof and sweatproof, the recently announced 1 GB MP3 players from FINIS provides training equipment for the U.S. Olympic swim team is completely submersible. Also shock-resistant and skip-free, it’s made for everything from surfing to snowboarding and comes with waterproof earbuds. It also has a neoprene arm strap so it stays secure. www.finisinc.com.
3. MHS-CM5 and MHS-PM5 bloggie cameras, Sony, $250 and $200
Announced this month and expected on store shelves in March, these ‘bloggie‘ cameras from Sony won’t be out in time for you to capture the Olympic action if you’re lucky enough to be visiting Vancouver in February. However, the cameras, which do high definition 1920 x 1080 MP4 video and five megapixel stills, are coming into a market where there is growing consumer demand for pocket cameras that make it easy to capture and share video and photos on blogs, Flickr, Facebook and the many other social networking sites. The cameras have embedded software and a USB arm for uploading files on your Mac or PC laptop or desktop computer.
The PM5 has a rotating lens that swivels 270 degrees to capture all angles. Sony also has the MHSPM5K bundled kit option that includes a lens for 360-degree videos. www.sonystyle.ca
4. Battalion Touch CZ-10, iBUYPOWER, from $900 US, customizable
With a 15-inch screen, the CZ-10 is billed as the wor ld’s first multitouch gaming notebook and first in a new line of multi-touch gaming notebooks from iBUYPOWER. The line takes advantage of Windows 7 multi-touch features. www.iBUYPOWER.com.
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