Wii Fit
Weight loss has never been easier. Nintendo's Wii Fit, which is more a fitness tool than a video game, is an interactive training program that guides you through strength-building, yoga, aerobics and balance exercises. Many of the workouts are cleverly disguised as fun activities, like virtual skiing and ski-jumping, step dancing, even heading a virtual soccer ball, enticing the most stubborn slackers to get off the couch. Players simulate the game's pursuits by using wireless Wii controllers and a digital balance board (which doubles as a scale) that tracks movements and distribution of weight. To evaluate your progress, the Wii Fit measures your weight, body mass index and sense of balance at regular intervals, and charts your results.
Peek
If the BlackBerry is too techie or pricey for you, check out the Peek. It does one thing and one thing only: e-mail. This slender little device gives you BlackBerry-like portable access to e-mail (it's not a phone, organizer or anything else), but without the hefty fees; monthly service costs about $20 for unlimited access to your messages. The Peek doesn't work with corporate e-mail yet, so for now, it's primarily for Web-based mail. Still, for anyone who wants to keep in touch when they're away from a computer, it's a smart, handy tool.
Dash Express
Unlike other dashboard GPS devices, Dash gathers real-time information from the Internet and assesses local traffic information using a network of drivers. So, instead of the static information typically stored on navigation gadgets, Dash's data is continually updated online, which means that if you're looking for a good restaurant on your way home, you won't end up at one that's gone out of business. Dash can also search for nearby movie theaters, show you reviews, then take you to the flick you want to see. Another handy Dash feature lets you compare prices at nearby gas stations and find the cheapest spot. Other cool add-ons allows users to customize: One tool guides you to area homes for sale; another keeps an eye out for local speed traps to help you avoid getting a ticket.
Canon PowerShot A590IS
This 8-megapixel camera has 19 shooting modes and dozens of advanced features, but the best thing about it is how easy it is to use. Put the camera in its fully automatic mode and it fixes blurring caused by shaky hands, eliminates red-eye and even compensates for poor lighting. Don't worry about adjusting lenses or shifting modes; just decide whether you want the flash on or off, and snap away. This Canon makes sure all you have to do is point and press a button. The A590 is light, comfortable to hold and consistently earns praise from online reviewers and professional camera critics. If you're stuck choosing between dozens of cheap models, this Canon is a stellar high-quality, low-cost option.
iPod Touch
It was overshadowed by iPhone mania, but Apple's iPod Touch is practically as cool as its cousin. It's a fantastic MP3 player that not only plays music and games, but also stores contacts and calendar info. In fact, the Touch does most of the same stuff as the iPhone, minus the calling (and the monthly service and data fees). That makes it a great choice for Blackberry-addicts or anyone else who's happy with their current cell phone, but still wants the iPhone's perks. The iPod Touch has Wi-Fi connectivity and can run hundreds of apps and games from Apple's app store. It even has a feature the iPhone lacks: a Nike program that tracks how far you've jogged. Unlike other portable music players with clunky menus, the Touch also makes it easy to sort, find and play your choice of thousands of songs within seconds.
MacBook
The new MacBook is the most powerful, user-friendly and portable computer in its price range hands-down. It's faster than previous MacBooks, has sharper graphics, rarely crashes and has a sturdier aluminum shell. Apple has also made this improved laptop environmentally friendlier than any previous Mac offering by eliminating toxins from its construction materials. Best of all, the new MacBook is simple to figure out, right out of the box, and it's easier to connect to an external monitor. But if you still can't do without your PC-based programs, you can always run Mac's Boot Camp program, which allows you to toggle into Windows mode.
Eye Fi SD Card
This 2 GB wireless SD card uploads photos automatically from your camera to whatever online photo service you like, whether that's
Snapfish,
Picasa,
Flickr or anything else. The card can also beam pictures to your home computer's hard drive, which means you won't have to connect your camera physically to a computer to transfer images. Eye-Fi can even upload your images from hotspots while you're traveling, so you don't have to wait to get back home to save and back-up your pictures. The photos you upload can also be geotagged — automatically marked with longitude and latitude data — so, later on, you can retrace your snap-happy steps, if you forgot to input location info in your digital files. On some photo services, you'll be able to see your photos on a map according to their geotags. Millions of digital pictures are taken every day and 80% are never shared, but with Eye-Fi, you'll have no excuse not to send photos home to Mom.
Flip Mino
Like the iPod and the BlackBerry before it, the Flip Mino exploded into the mainstream, quickly becoming the most popular video camera in the country in its first year. It stores up to an hour of video clips on its internal drive, meaning you don't have to buy videotapes or memory cards, or even batteries (you charge it through your PC). The Flip is super simple to use: Press the big red button to start and stop recording. Then pop out the camera's USB connector, plug it directly into your computer and e-mail your videos or upload them to YouTube. You can personalize the Flip's external design for no extra charge. The company is upgrading its editing software and in mid-November, Flip will add an HD model to its lineup.
T-Mobile G1
It's not as pretty as the iPhone, but the T-Mobile G1, the first smartphone to run Google's sleek new Android operating system, has a slick slide-out keyboard, a big bright screen and a lot of power. The "Google Phone" supports loads of applications downloaded from the online Android marketplace — games and programs, like encyclopedias, guitar-teaching tools and time-wasters like Pac-Man — and easily handles graphics-heavy applications such as Google Maps, Web browsing and video. The Android marketplace isn't as robust as the iPhone app store yet, but someday it will be, as more Android phones hit the market and developers start churning out apps.
Sanyo Xacti HD 1010
Sanyo's sleek-as-a-pistol Xacti is a digital camera and video camera in one. Rather than carrying around separate, boxy gizmos, you can take 4-megapixel stills and 1080i or 1080p high-definition video with the pocket-sized Xacti. Its slim design allows you to hold the camera comfortably in one hand; the buttons are streamlined and simple to operate for switching quickly between still picture and video. The Xacti's stand-by mode makes it easy to start filming in an instant. The camera uses cheap, small SD cards, so you don't have to lug around a stack of tapes or worry that you'll run out of internal memory.
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