SurroundBar from Polk Audio is a cleverly designed speaker system that employs SDA surround (Stereo Dimensional Array) technology to create the illusion of rear channel speakers without any actual rear speakers. A seperate power Sub-Woofer is still essential.

SurroundBar is not to be considered better than a real 5.1 theatre system but it offers satisfactory performance without having to mount rear speakers or run wires when they can’t be hidden. SurroundBar is for those who don’t have perfectly symmetrical rooms with no obstacles around for a nice 5.1 setup or those who don’t want to share their rooms with many loudspeakers. Suitable for small rooms and apartment suits.

How can a single front located speaker produce surround sound?
The technology used in the SurroundBar® for producing surround sound is called “SDA Surround”. Based on a fundamental understanding of how our ears perceive and process sound, SDA Surround uses a combination of signal processing and acoustic wave front reconstruction (AWFR) to create a soundfield comparable to having dozens of speakers located around the room. The SurroundBar® actually contains 7 active drive units, 3 tweeters and inputs for all 5 channels including surround channels. Multiple drive units positioned the same distance apart as your ears allow the SurroundBar® to eliminate the sound information that tells your ears where the speakers are located and replace it with the correct surround sound information from the original recording. As a result you no longer “hear” the location of the speakers in front of you. Instead, the sounds you hear are essentially the same as if there actually were sounds coming from all around and behind you.

Samsung’s Syncmaster 225BW wide screen monitor is the big brother of 20″ 205BW. Nice in size, good bright colors and response.

• Viewable area: 22” wide
• Brightness: 280 cd/m2
• Response Time: 5ms
• Viewing Angle: 160°/160°
• Native Resolution: 1680 x 1050
• Interface: Analog/Digital
• Special Features: MagicTune™ with asset management, MagicColor™, MagicBright2™

Bigger sized monitors will continue to be more affordable, but today, that’s possibly the best choice if you are going for maximum screen size, picture quality and style for the money. Remember that due to the nature of LCD screens, you will need a good video card to catch up with the high native resolution of this monitor, especially while gaming.

ViewSonic VG2230wm is the closest competitor of Samsung 225BW with a slightly lower price.

A cool gadget from CoolIT Systems.

• The coldplate chills your beverage to 45˚F (about 7.5 ˚C)
• 1.2 Amps/5.75 Watts to operate
• USB 1.1 and 2.0 Compatible
• Works on Computers, XBOX and Playstation

The only drawback is that power consumption isn’t so low and it might not be ideal for use with low-grade laptop computers. After about half an hour, you can get an alert that USB ports are drawing too much power. On the other hand, half an hour is enough time to keep your favorite beverage cold.

CASIO’s first Wrist Camera model, which went on sale in the year 2000, was the world’s first wristwatch type digital camera and was equipped with a monochrome CMOS imaging sensor. The year 2001 saw the introduction of new models that records images in 16.77 million colors, which can be transferred to and viewed on a computer. Images on the Wrist Camera LCD appear is monochrome, however.

Now the WQV-10 and WQV-10D take the Wrist Camera to the next logical step with a reflective-type color STN LCD monitor screen that lets you view images on the spot in 4,096 colors. A CASIO original power saving design makes it possible to extend the amount of operation provided between battery changes. The timekeeping and calendar screens of the WQV-10 and WQV-10D are also colorful, which means you can select from among six different color patterns. You can also use different colors to specific dates, which helps to remember anniversaries, birthdays and other special occasions.

The WQV-10 and WQV-10D also come with 2X digital zoom, which lets you enlarge images on the monitor screen. 1MB memory capacity is provided to store up to 100 images, and an IR data communication system makes it possible to exchange images with a computer or another Wrist Camera.. All of these features and functions come packed in streamline metal case that creates a high-tech design.

Metal band (WQV-10D) or resin band (WQV-10)

Three recording modes (OUTDOOR, INDOOR, DUSK)

With the picture resolution of 176 X 144 pixels, don’t expect anything but being able to take shots without being caught. That’s a spy gadget which still in its early stages and literally needs to be enhanced but quite cool to own for sure.

SanDisk SSD delivers two million hours Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF). Now, that’s a long life span! With no moving parts, it’s 100 times faster than traditional HardDisk drives.

Another advantage of SanDisk SSD UATA 5000 is its extremely low power consumption rate compared to the hard disk drive: 0.4W during active operation versus 1.0W. This is particularly important to extend the battery life for the benefit of road warriors.

SanDisk SSD UATA 5000 1.8”, with 32GB flash memory, is targeted at enterprise users as the first step in mass consumer adoption of the solid state drive in the mobile PC market. In the near future, we’ll be using SSD drives in our mini PCs everywhere.