With a growing list of chic, high-performance tech gadgets to choose from, isn’t it time for you to upgrade? We’ve hand-picked seven of the coolest devices that should be at the top of your wish list. Pamper yourself or a loved one with these stylish new products that put the “fun” in functional.
LG CHOCOLATE
Sweet Treat
Multitask in style with LG’s Chocolate, a stylish phone with a slider design, a 1.3 megapixel camera/camcorder, V CAST video features, Bluetooth technology, and an MP3 player for downloading songs. Users will be lured in by the Chocolate’s glowing red, touch-sensitive keypad. ($399.99, http://us.lge.com)
CANON POWERSHOT SD700 IS DIGITAL CAMERA
Picture Perfect
The Canon PowerShot SD700 IS is a digital powerhouse. It offers 6.0 megapixels, 4x optical zoom viewfinder, and more than 20 shooting modes. View photos on the 2.5″ LCD display and print photos up to 14″ by 19″ on a PictBridge compatible photo printer. ($499.99, www.usa.canon.com)
MACBOOK
Double Dose
Available in three models, Apple’s MacBook features an Intel Core Duo processor, allowing users to run programs with Windows XP or Macintosh operating systems. Now that Mac’s popular multimedia platform has a more mainstream appeal, Windows users are being enticed to consider switching. (Starting at $1,099, www.apple.com)
RIM BLACKBERRY 8700C
Twice as Nice
Blackberry is back with the 8700c, a 4.7-ounce personal organizer with a large, color LCD screen. This device features a full QWERTY keyboard as well as 64 MB of flash memory for storing Word, Excel, and PDF files and more. ($349.99, www.cingular.com)
SAMSUNG HELIX XM2GO AND NEXUS 25 and 50
Silver Bells
Dance to your favorite tunes with Samsung’s line of portable audio devices that play both XM Satellite Radio and MP3s. Designed for extreme versatility, the sleek units offer the full range of XM Satellite Radio’s 160 channels of commercial-free music, news, sports, and talk radio. You can also record and store up to 50 hours of XM content and bookmark songs for purchase from the XM + Napster online service. ($269.99—$399.99, www.samsung.com)
CANON HV10 HIGH-DEFINITION CAMCORDER
Hi-Definitely Clear
Canon aims to bring you into the world of high-definition video with what it calls the world’s smallest and least expensive high-definition tape camcorder. Weighing less than a pound, the HV10 records in true 1080 HD video. Its advanced features include a CMOS sensor for capturing high-resolution video, an optical stabilizer to reduce shakiness, and an autofocus system that is critical when shooting in high definition. ($1,299, www.usa.canon.com)
PRESTO PHOTO DIGITAL PRINTER
Photo Fun
The Presto Photo Digital Printer lets you e-mail digital photos without using a computer. Developed in partnership with HP, the printing mailbox and digital delivery service connects to the Internet via a telephone line and automatically downloads e-mails and pictures. The service charges a monthly fee of $10. ($150, www.presto.com)