portability

At CES, Memorex announced the 12GB version of its Mega TravelDrive, which has a 1-inch hard disk drive. The tiny drive (about the size of a box of TicTacs) is encased in a sleek, gun-metal finish, and looks not unlike a large Zippo lighter. The USB connector pivots through a 90-degree range, allowing you to squeeze it into tight spaces. The TravelDrive joins the 6GB and 8GB versions and is available now for about $150.

At CES yesterday, Memorex announced the Ultra Travel Drive, a 2.5-inch portable hard drive with interchangeable color faceplates (it ships in a metallic-charcoal faceplate). It comes in three capacities--80GB, 120GB, and 160GB--and each drive ships with two extra faceplates that you can swap out. The 80GB drive comes with Sagebrush Green and Desert Orange, the 120GB comes with Ocean Blue and Fire Red, and the 160GB comes with steel-metallic and Arctic White glossy faceplates.

The curved drive fits comfortably in your hand, and the rubberized sides let you get a safe grip on it. A tiny LED on the … Read more

iPods are nice, but if you can afford your own tux and you travel in your own chauffeur-driven Bentley, then you need an MP3 player as sleek-looking as this one, showing at CES 2007.

The three models in the Philips GoGear series are thin, but otherwise standard-featured Flash players. Dressed up in high-gloss black polycarbonate with silver, cigarette case-like contours, they could make Britney Spears look like royalty. Almost.

Each PlaysForSure-compatible GoGear model--the 1GB SA5115 ($99.99), the 2GB SA5125 ($109.99), and the 4GB SA5145 ($139.99)--has a 1.8-inch color LCD screen; red-backlit, touch-sensitive controls; Philips' SuperScroll … Read more

RCA has become the first company to offer an MP3 player that includes wireless listening with its Jet Stream MP3 player ($149)--except the wireless technology isn't Bluetooth. RCA uses a new wireless technology called Kleer designed to transmit high fidelty audio in the 2.4 GHz frequency that consumes less power than Bluetooth by "sipping" power from the batteries in the matching wireless stereo earbuds, ensuring about 12 hours of playback.

We didn't get a chance to play with the Jet Stream to test its fidelity or connection consistency, but we'll let you know … Read more

In 2006, we saw a few portable DVD players that integrated an iPod dock so you could playback your iPod videos on the DVD player's larger screen. But Philips has taken iPod integration to a slicker level with two upcoming portable DVD players, the DCP750 and DCP850. Both are wide-screen models that feature 7- and 8.5-inch swiveling screens, respectively. Philips says they'll also have a built-in SD and MMC card reader, and both players will debut in the "first quarter" of 2007 with suggested retail price tags of $149 and $199.

They won't offer … Read more

Until recently, Toshiba has been content to remain somewhat behind the scenes, populating millions upon millions of consumer electronics devices with its tiny hard drives. But it seems the company wants a piece of the branded market: Toshiba announced today its first line of personal storage products, the blandly named Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive.

Each unit houses a 5,400rpm, 2.5-inch Toshiba hard drive, wrapped in a shock-mount system--a great feature for portable drives. The design looks fairly sleek, with a black aluminum casing and a glowy blue light that indicates power. It's USB … Read more

The nano-ization of gadgetry has often left printers behind--a frustration for those of us who can't seem to shake the pulp fix no matter how hard we try. Brother Japan tries to address that addiction with a super-thin "MPrint" MW-260, a hanheld printer that's less than three-quarters of an inch thick and weighs about 1.2 pounds.

Aside from its size, the printer is even more portable because it can work wirelessly via Bluetooth more than 30 feet away from laptops, smart phones, PDAs and other devices, according to Fareastgizmos. And you won't need to … Read more

It's rare that we see a device that performs well and actually makes a good fashion statement. The Aliph Jawbone is apparently one of those exceptions.

Gizmodo says the unique over-the-ear Bluetooth headset "uses military noise-canceling tech that can drown out the violent screams of traffic, lawnmowers, and anything else NOT your voice by using an array of microphones." But what really makes this product stand out is its aesthetic qualities--not an easy accomplishment given the limitations of size and the infinite competition of its market.

The Jawbone's stunning appearance is no accident: It was created … Read more

Until the world switches entirely to video downloads, it looks as if portable DVD players will be around for awhile. But most of them are still fairly bulky animals with outdated designs.

Hammacher Schlemmer, however, claims to have "the most portable handheld DVD player," with 4.5-inch screen that pretty much takes up most of the surface area on one side. It still manages to cram in an MP3 player and a 2.5-hour battery, as well as some external kid-proof features (as if such a thing exists).

The diameter of the $130 1.25-pound player, which is … Read more