Apple’s eight-hour laptop battery
Available in the 17-inch MacBook Pro, $2,799; apple.com
The big reveal at this year’s Macworld Conference and Expo wasn’t the cool new updates to iLife, iWork or even that they’ve made the world’s thinnest and lightest 17-inch laptop – less than 1 inch thick! 6.6 pounds only! No, it was the announcement that Apple’s concocted a battery that lasts up to eight hours on a single charge.
They’ve accomplished this remarkable feat by making the battery 40 percent bigger than usual. Bad news: They had to build the battery into the chassis, which means it’ll cost you $179 to get it replaced. The good news: You won’t have to do it for up to five years, since it’ll run 1,000 charges before going kaput.
Skybar Wine System
$999.99; skybarhome.com
Why decide between red or white wine when you can have both? This modern contraption – the first home product that chills, pours and preserves wine – takes the decision out of your hands by letting you open three bottles at once, keeping each individual bottle at its ideal serving temperature. The skybar also vacuum seals the bottles to maintain taste and aroma for up to 10 days. At a cool grand, it’s pricey, but oenophiles have sophisticated tastes.
Fuji Instax 200
$69.99; fujifilmusa.com
Much like Polaroid’s sadly defunct instant cameras of yore, this tiny, lightweight camera – previously available only in Asia and Europe – also produces prints while you wait. The Instax 200 has an LCD control panel, high-resolution lens, big viewfinder and an auto flash so that you can take photos in all kinds of light. (Just like the cops, who use them for evidence shots). Once you’ve snapped your photo, it speedily produces crisp, credit card-size prints using Fujifilm’s Instax Instant Color Film.
Voltaic Generator
$499; voltaicsystems.com
Since your gadgets aren’t the greenest things on Earth, the least you could do is power them up in an environmentally conscious way. This water-resistant solar bag, made from recycled soda bottles, is the first that’s powerful enough to charge a laptop – which comes in handy, considering it’s a laptop bag. (It also has adapter plugs for cellphones, iPods and digital cameras.) The solar panels generate up to 15 watts, meaning the included battery fully charges itself in five hours. Check the Web site for a list of compatible laptops; it doesn’t support all makes and models.