Awesome Tech

Both Gateway and Dell are dropping Core i7s into their desktops, and at relatively low price points: Dell’s Studio XPS starts at $999, while Gateway’s FX 6800-01e starts at $1,249.

The iPhone’s back is plenty glossy, but More’s Noel Covers kick it up a notch with one of four metallic finishes; they protect your phone while still allowing access to all controls and ports.

It was only a matter of time before Minority Report’s gesture tech became a reality; made in part by a science advisor for the movie, Oblong’s g-Speak is a “spatial operating environment.”

Made for WoW’s Wrath of the Lich King expansion, this limited edition SteelSeries Zboard allows up to 7 simultaneous keystrokes (“anti-ghosting”) and macro customization.

New to Teac’s Esoteric line are the AG-H600 digital amp and PD-H600, both of which sport aluminum chassis and large toroid power transformers; an iPod dock will also play videos.

HP’s dv3510nr is the result of Best Buy’s Blue Label program, which asks customers’ most-wanted features. CNET loves it, praising it as a worthy alternative to Apple’s MacBook.

With a Celeron CPU, 120GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM, Dell’s Vostro 860 is by no means loaded; however, at $379 for a 15.6″ 16:9 screen, it’s a pretty tough deal to pass up.

Short of becoming a Jedi, this voice-activated R2D2 does it all; it’ll respond to simple commands, act as a room sentry and even play tag using an infrared sensor to detect motion.

Hercules’ XPS 2.1 50 speakers were actually designed via a poll; in addition, we like the little touches such as line-in on the right satellite and wall-mountability.

AT&T/Samsung’s Eternity is the latest iPhone competitor and nearly matches it toe for toe, with a 3.2″ touchscreen, GPS and 3G data; however, it is a full $50 cheaper with a contract.

Recommended by DJ Spencer Thomas, JLab’s JBuds J2 Earbuds are the successor to their wildly popular JBuds; they use Japanese cobalt drivers and feature a 24k gold-plated jack.

Although rather cheap at just over $1K, Alienware’s Area-51 750i gaming desktop is a good value: you’ll get a 3GHz Core 2 Duo, 512MB 9800GT, 2GB of RAM and a beefy 750W PSU.

AT&T/Nokia’s 6650 is good value for the money, especially for Symbian fans; running on S60, it features an brushed metal case, integrated GPS and stereo Bluetooth for only $70.

The glowing red LED screams Cylon, but this Tony Stewart NASCAR Helmet has peaceful intentions; it’s actually a radio with a CD tray in place of the mouth and a flip-up visor.

Simultaneously cruel but a bit funny, this lopsided battle pits ALCNON, a 1.3 meter, 16 kg robot against a much smaller opponent; it’s like David vs. Goliath, minus the slingshot.

RED’s Scarlet/Epic is a modular, build-it-yourself camera system which allows you to shoot video from 3K @ 120FPS to 28K @ 30FPS and stills from 4.9 MP to a whopping 261 MP.

While MSI’s GX630 specs (AMD dual-core CPU, 4GB RAM, 512MB GeForce 9600M GT, HDMI out) are pretty impressive, this gaming laptop’s true forte is its price: it’ll cost you only $800.

Bang & Olufsen’s BeoSound 5 is two-piece remote and music server for the well-heeled, with a 10.4″ LCD and a 500GB hard drive running an Apple Genius-like MOTS algorithm.

The E71’s little bro, Nokia’s E63 ditches aluminum for a reception-friendly plastic case; it’ll have quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS, but no HSDPA limits its appeal to the US market.

It may look like a mini-Lite Brite, but Meggy Jr RGB is so much more: this Arduino-powered kit is essentially a hackable, open-source gaming platform with an 8×8 RGB LED display.

With a blingtastic design and price to match; V-MODA’s Vibe II Earbuds are made from stainless steel; they also feature fabric cables, gold-plated plugs, built-in mic and noise isolation.

Prancing pony owners will need Vertu’s Ascent Ti Ferrari cellphone: made from titanium and the same leather used in Ferrari interiors, it even has F430 and 612 Scaglietti ringtones.

Gamers are raving over these Tritton AX Pro Headphones, which sport eight (!) front, rear and subwoofer speakers, direct optical in and a USB connection for voice chat.

No, these actors haven’t gone mad: the desk lamp above is AUR, an MIT robot that uses a hybrid control system that lets it react to and interact with on-stage performers.

Art is in the eye of the beholder with these Dell Art House (Studio 15″/17″) laptops, but $20 goes to (PRODUCT) RED efforts; it features work from artists including Brooklyn’s Mike Ming.

Recently awarded PopSci’s “Best Of What’s New ’08”, the Tonium Pacemaker lets DJs mix two songs on the go; it packs a 120GB hard drive and a touchpad for speed and pitch control.