Wires are for yesterday’s technologies. Ditch the cables and upgrade with this wireless gear.
By Jonathan Ages
Jawbone PRIME
Aliph – $130
The Bluetooth headset made users look stupid a decade ago and, um, it still makes users look like dorks. But it’s a damn useful device—especially in the car. Aliph’s Jawbone PRIME may be the ultimate Bluetooth headset, and it makes huge strides toward looking like a fashion accessory. The device’s big hook, though, is NoiseAssassin, the noise-suppression system, which isolates the sound of your voice much better than just about any other Bluetooth headset on the market. Now you can jack up the music in the car and chat on the phone at the same time—not that you should multitask at 55 miles per hour.
Comfort Lapdesk
Logitech – $40
There are two kinds of fire crotch: the Lindsay Lohan overexposure and the really bad notebook-induced overheated lap. Pick up the Logitech Comfort Lapdesk and your computer will never again render your nether regions sweat-laden. It’s lightweight, ergonomic, and padded, and looks surprisingly cool. It even
helps you work longer and more comfortably by tilting your computer to prevent neck strain and providing a firm surface so your notebook fan can work efficiently. Unfortunately, the Lapdesk doesn’t have room for a portable mouse, but it can accommodate computers of up to 17 inches.
Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer
Epson – $300
All-in-one systems tend to skimp on speed or quality. The Artisan 800 breaks the mold, churning out 38 pages per minute and quality photos in up to ten seconds. It can print, copy, scan, fax, and produce “Ultra HD” photos that last longer than photo lab prints. The 7.8-inch touch panel with its 3.5-inch LCD is great when printing photos directly from the card. Finally, there’s an all-in-one that actually does it all.
Time Capsule
Apple – $300, 500 GB; $500, 1 TB
Everyone has a horror story: the blue screen of death, the spilled coffee, the laptop left at airport security. All of your digital records—your life—are suddenly gone. Apple has a solution: the Time Capsule. It automatically, continuously, and wirelessly backs up all the Macs and PCs in your house. It’s also a personal file server, since MobileMe users with Mac OS X Leopard on their home computers can remotely access the files on the Time Capsule. It’s fast, too, syncing with computers, iPhones, printers, whatever, at 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands as well as the new 802.11n wireless technology. Plus, there’s plenty of space for all those porn downloads.
Share Video Memory Card
Eye-Fi – $100
Uploading snapshots to a photo-sharing site can feel like a chore. Eye-Fi’s photo-share and video-share cards automatically upload your pictures and video to your PC or Mac and photo-sharing websites, including Flickr, Picasa, and Facebook. The Wi-Fi-enabled cards work just like existing SDHC memory cards and are compatible with hundreds of cameras. Just make sure to set the privacy settings on your site, ’cause there are some things your mom should not see.
BD-P4600 Blu-ray Disc Player
Samsung – $500
This wall-mountable Blu-ray disc player looks like a piece of art. It also easily downloads large files through Wi-Fi, streams Netflix movies, and plays music from Pandora. You won’t have to replace your standarddefinition DVD collection, since they’ll be upconverted and look crisp on a high-def screen. The plug-in space for cables may be a squeeze and, sure, you could pick up a PS3 and a game or two for this sticker price, but the BD-P4600’s onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio means it’s primed for the ultimate home-theater system.
