GADGETS:
Gear up, get out

Technophiles no longer restricted to dark rooms!

by MICHAEL CITROME

It’s the summer, and you know what that means. Long nights, drinking on the terrasse, long days, drinking on the terrasse. But what fun is being outdoors without Internet access? Why should you sacrifice valuable eBaying time to hang out with your friends? With this summer’s hot gadgets, you can geek out on the go.

Voyeur vision

Sony Clié PEG-NX70V: If Anthony Michael Hall had had one of these suckers in Sixteen Candles, he wouldn’t even care about getting Molly Ringwald’s panties. He’d just be all like, “Oops, I just dropped my pocket computer on the floor,” and snap some upskirt photos of her unmentionables with the built-in digital camera. The PEG-NX70V is a high-end model in Sony’s Clié line of personal organizers based on the Palm architecture. It has 16mb of RAM, a color LCD screen, a built-in keyboard and a few interesting extras. Besides the 320x200 resolution digital camera, it also plays MP3s, with unlimited storage expandability using Memory Sticks. You can even use it as a remote control, for good or evil purposes—perfect for the troublemaking teenage geek inside you.

Sony Clié PEG-NX70V: $799.99, Memory Sticks are about $100 for 128mb, available at Sony stores, Batteries Plus and Future Shop (www.futureshop.ca)

Pocket play

Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP: Tiny, with a folding clamshell design that recalls the Game’n’

Watch handhelds of the early ’80s, the GBA SP is Nintendo’s latest portable gaming system. Physically, it’s a sexy redesign of the existing Gameboy Advance system, but with two bonuses. First, there’s a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides 10 hours of game play on a three-hour charge. But even better, this is the first Nintendo handheld equipped with a backlit screen to be available in North America. This playing-in-the-dark capability makes a GBA SP the perfect thing to bust out during the rave-and-sex scene in Matrix Reloaded.

Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP: $148, available at Future Shop and Wal-Mart

Big talker

Palm Tungsten W: It may just be the ultimate status cell phone, whether you’re a baller, shot caller, or chief engineer of the USS Enterprise. This combination pocket computer, mobile phone, two-way pager packs big-boy functions into a tiny package that runs all PalmOS applications, games included. You can use the built-in keyboard to send and receive e-mail, browse the Web, and hit your girl up on the two-way, all while simultaneously conducting your phone business. Plus a hands-free function keeps the nasty face grease off of the full-colour screen. You get 10 hours of use on a charge and it even vibrates.

Palm Tungsten W: $599.99–$824.99, depending on your contract, available from Rogers AT&T (www.rogers.ca) and various retail locations

Tiny tunes

Apple iPod: Apple redesigned the phenomenal iPod MP3 player to be lighter and sleeker than the original. Weighing in at less than 160 grams—15 per cent less than two CDs—the new iPod is smaller than a pack of playing cards. The iPod comes in three flavours with the capacity for about 2,500, 3,700 and 7,500 songs each. That’s enough to store all of Tone Loc’s hits 3,750 times.

The two more advanced models include a dock to connect to a home stereo, sync up to your computer and recharge the internal battery, plus a belt-clip case and a wired remote control. You can even play video games on the backlit LCD screen. But here’s the best part: the new iPod includes software to use it with any Windows PC equipped with a Firewire or USB 2.0 port.

Apple iPod: $459–$749, available at www.apple.ca and B.Mac (various locations)

Say cheese

Canon Elura 50 MiniDV Camcorder: Barely larger than a copy of the Les Miserables soundtrack, this tiny camcorder from Canon could probably be used for a self-administered colonoscopy if you greased it up enough. Despite its picayune dimensions, the Elura 50 is a full-featured MiniDV camcorder equipped with top-notch Canon optics including a 10X optical/400X digital zoom, exceptional colour correction and auto-focus. It also works as a digital still camera, and if you connect it to your computer, it’s a Webcam.

Canon Elura 50 MiniDV Camcorder: $1,199.99, available at Future Shop