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More must-have gadgets

Last week I looked at a few "in between" technologies like the Pogoplug, Slingbox and Apple Airport Express Base that you can use to connect all your different technologies.

 

Last week I looked at a few "in between" technologies like the Pogoplug, Slingbox and Apple Airport Express Base that you can use to connect all your different technologies. This week I thought I'd continue to look at gadgets you probably didn't even know that you needed.

Like the Archos 9 PCtablet (www.archos.com). I know, technically this is a thing and not a thing between your other things, but used in combination with your other technologies it can make your life a little more portable.

Basically it's a mini table computer with a touch screen, built-in camera and mic, 60 GB hard drive, etc. The price should be around $500 (it will be out in December) and it includes a version of Windows 7 Lite.

The reason I included this item is because it brings together a lot of different technologies. (Kind of like the Archos TV+, which is also worth a look if you're in the market for a PVR.)

You can use the tablet to watch HD movies, play simple games, listen to music, read books, send e-mails, chat live, surf the web, etc. You can use it to access your music collection through the web using the Opera 10 browser, Rhapsody, MeCanto, accessTunes, pulpTunes, lala.com, or any of the services out there.

Better yet, if you get in the habit of putting your music, videos and photos onto a drive that you connect to the Pogoplug then your Archos 9 becomes your portable jukebox and media centre.

The only drawback is the five-hour battery life. But that said, a lot of smart phones offer less life than that these days.

Which brings me to items like a spare battery pack. If you have a cell phone, tablet and other gadgets on the go it might make sense to invest in an external battery pack when the day comes that you need a little extra juice.

Some packs, like the Bix Power pack (www.bixpower.com) can store about 26.6 watt hours of electricity, about five times the capacity of your cell phone. This is really for small devices, but if you need enough power to keep a laptop going there are options for that as well (for example see www.espow.ca).

Some stores sell solar backpacks and briefcases (e.g. www.voltaicsystems.com) to charge laptops and gadgets, although this can be a slow way to charge your batteries.

There are also a handful of laptops out there that still come with additional slots for batteries (Dell XPS, Latitude X300 and others) or that make it easy to swap out a single battery. If this is important to you then you need to do a little bit of research.

For home, you can always use a few more mini-USB chargers and cell phone/gadget adapters. If money is no object you might want to think about picking up a Powermat (www.powermat.com), which lets you simply place most of your wireless devices on a special mat to charge the batteries with no (!) cables required in many cases. If wires are okay, and they're definitely the cheaper option, then consider picking up a dongle from www.callpod.com that lets you charge everything from your phone to that blue tooth headset you're going to have to purchase if you want to talk and drive in British Columbia after Jan. 1.

Speaking of which, a little Bluetooth can go a long way. I'd hate to lean towards one brand or another but good gadgets to consider include a headset for your phone (available www.futurshop.ca, www.bestbuy.ca, etc.) as well as a wireless, chargeable stereo headset for your personal enjoyment (available at every electronics store, Apple stores, Bose, etc.). You can listen to music from your computer or stereo, or watch the football or a shoot-em-up movie without worrying about waking up baby in the next room over.

Another little device that makes sense for people that use Gmail is a USB Webmail Notifier (www.curiosite.com), a LED box that will inform you by changing colour whenever new mail comes in so you don't need to get up every two minutes to check your inbox.

A lot of geeks are finding joy in the Chumby (www.chumby.com), a miniature web-enabled, touch-screen device that connects to the Internet, runs widgets, and can be used in hundreds of ways. The video on the website will help you make sense of this but picture this scenario:

Your Chumby clock radio alarm goes off, tuned to the Internet radio station or FM radio station of your choice, or the song you chose from your playlist. You click on favourites to get the snow report and weather outside, and then send out brief Tweet or Facebook messages to all your other friends to get their butts in gear.

The Chumbyone has a built in battery so you can carry it down to the kitchen while you make breakfast to listen to music or get a recipe for pancakes, check headlines, sports scores, stock quotes and other morning rituals.

Before you go out the door you can do a quick check of the highway, get a weather forecast for the day.

Chumbies are $100 to $200, depending on the model.