Watch out for...

An American electronics fair has selected some of the most innovative gadgets for 2009. Inam Abidi Amrohvi highlights a few of them.

The Consumer Electronics Show 2009 concluded in Las Vegas, US, this month. As always the show selected some of the most innovative products in the electronics domain for this year. These are just a few among them that may appeal to you.

Audio cassette to MP3

If you, like me, own audio cassettes from a bygone era then the Audio Recorder from Honest technology is a must-have for you. With a few mouse clicks you can convert your music from cassettes, LPs and eight-track tapes into MP3s, WAV files, audio CDs and MP3 CDs. You can then play them on your portable music player.

The recorder includes a USB audio conversion device which connects at one end to your analogue music player and a computer at the other. Associated software helps complete the process. You can buy the recorder online at sites like amazon.com or from the company's website directly (http://www.honestech.com/main/audio_recorder_20_deluxe.asp?path=Music). It is selling at $80 (Dh293.6).

Wireless hub for games

For all those gamers out there, expand the reach of your gaming skills with this wireless gaming hub. The G-Fi VS from PosiMotion helps you connect between multiple Wi-Fi enabled devices (mobile phones, PCs, etc) for multi-player games over a range of 100 feet. It connects to more than 200 devices and has a run time of some six hours. You can get it for $179 (Dh657) at http://www.g-fi.com/vs/index.php.

Excellent connection

In this age of multimedia a wireless USB connection to a projector or TV would come in handy in schools or even at home. This new kit from Cables To Go provides exactly the same. It helps you wirelessly display video content from your computer (using the USB port) to a remote monitor, projector, or TV. The connection is secure and ideal for classroom or conference room presentations or to display content from your laptop on your home entertainment system. The kit allows connectivity of up to 30 feet between the computer and the display unit. The kit can be purchased from the manufacturer's website (http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=1501&sku=29572&st=29572 ) for $240 (Dh880).

Global radio
This new piece of hardware from Tivoli Audio may well define the future of radio. The Tivoli Audio Networks radio takes advantage of broadcasting over the internet to bring you reception from any radio station. And now the best part; you don't need a computer for all this. Using a wireless or ethernet connection, you can access music stored on your PC from any place in the house. You can purchase it from the manufacturer's website (http://www.tivoliaudio.com/home.php?cat=271). Prices start from $600 (Dh2,202).

A mouse for all surfaces
Having established itself in the software domain, Microsoft is now focusing on computer hardware. The Microsoft Explorer Mini Mouse, the company claims, can work on virtually any surface. Using the proprietary BlueTrack Technology the mouse can even work on granite countertops, living room or airport carpets, wood tables or a rough, unfinished park bench. The wireless mouse has a range of 30 feet and its ergonomic design prevents discomfort during prolonged hours of use. At $60 (Dh220) it's a bit expensive though. (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=002).

Beat the boot-up blues
I'm sure for most people the most irritating part of working on computers is the boot up time. I saw a friend's HP Pavilion Laptop with Windows Vista taking five to seven minutes to load up completely, and there were not many applications during the start up.

A new solution seems to answer this age-old problem. Splashtop from DeviceVM is a new technology that will help you connect to the internet a few seconds after the computer is turned on. Splashtop includes a web browser, music player, photo manager, Skype, and a chat messenger. So you can surf, chat and listen to your favourite music even before your traditional operating system has started up. Splashtop is preinstalled on the PC as system software. Currently it is available on some desktops and laptops from ASUS, VoodooPC and Lenovo. You can check the list at http://www.splashtop.com/get_splashtop.php.

- Disclaimer: The opinions and ideas expressed here are purely those of the author and in no way reflect the views of Notes on any technology.