Looking for gifts that come in small packages? Mobile headsets such as Cardo Systems' new Scala 700 could turn up on many wish lists as more and more states require drivers with mobile phones to use hands-free kits when they're behind the wheel. Careful chefs and germ enthusiasts might enjoy Food Quality Sensor International's SensorfreshQ, a gadget that detects bacteria levels in meat and poultry and indicates their safety for consumption. GuardID System's ID Vault addresses identity theft concerns by storing and securely transmitting log-in information from a USB smart card to Web sites. And frequent flyers can juice up with Compact Power Systems' Cellboost iRecharge for Laptops.
Phone Headset for the Road
The Scala 700 from Cardo Systems is a Bluetooth cell-phone headset with a few innovative treats. In addition to the usual run of headset features, such as voice-command and sound-cancellation technology, it provides spiffy phone-swapping and headset-locator capabilities.
The phone-swapping technology--called SWAP--allows you to switch the headset's connection from one mobile phone to another by pressing a wheel button twice. This feature is handy for people who use two mobile products, like a personal cell phone and a BlackBerry for business. Unfortunately, the swap can occur only when both phones are on standby; you can't swap during phone calls.
Another cool feature is the "buzzer locator." When activated, it makes the Scala 700 emit a buzzing noise so you find it if you've misplaced it. To use this feature, you initiate a call on the cell phone that the headset is partnered with, and then you press the volume button up and down to keep the headset buzzing. This method will work if the headset is located somewhere within 30 feet of the phone.
An indicator on the exterior of the well-designed Scala 700 shows remaining battery life. The headset weighs less than 0.5 ounce, fits snugly around the ear, and supports a talk time of 10 hours and a standby time of 40 hours. At $70, it's pricy, but its strong features may justify the cost. The Scala 700 is available worldwide through retail stores and Cardo's Web site.
Take Charge of Your Laptop
Compact Power Systems rose to prominence with its Cellboost instant cell-phone chargers, and now it markets a universal rechargeable laptop battery, too. The lithium-ion Cellboost iRecharge for Notebooks can power a laptop--in much the same way as an AC adapter--and recharge its own internal battery.
At optimum efficiency, the iRecharge can supply a notebook with up to 4 hours of power, the company claims. But if you run the notebook while using the iRecharge to reinvigorate the battery, the booster's efficiency will decline, the company says.
The Cellboost iRecharge for Notebooks weighs less than a pound, making it fairly portable. The $150 charger supports laptops from Dell, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, and Toshiba, among others. You can find a full list of supported laptops on the company's Web site.
Lock Up Your ID
Your identity is a valuable commodity in today's connected world, but a number of hardware and software products help minimize the risk of bad guys' stealing it. GuardID Systems' ID Vault is a secure USB smart card that serves as a repository for sign-in credentials to many major financial and e-mail Web sites, newsgroups, and forums.
The product is easy to use. Insert the odd-shaped smart card into an available USB port, and start to navigate as usual to a supported site using Internet Explorer. When you do so, an ID Vault window pops up, asking for your personal identification number (PIN), which you enter. After verifying the PIN, ID Vault connects to the site and passes your log-in information along to the site's authentication system. You still have to type in the PIN, but that's less time-consuming than finding and manually entering the log-in information.
By default, you have to re-enter the PIN for each supported site you visit. A timer built into the software alleviates this problem to an extent by allowing you to suspend the PIN service for a short period of time(for instance, 10 or 20 minutes) that you specify.
Because the smart card performs the actual log-in, hackers and keystroke loggers are walled off from those credentials. "It is safer than storing [sign-in credentials] on your browser," says Bill Loesch, GuardID's chairman and COO.
ID Vault can securely log a user onto any of more than 6000 financial sites, according to Loesch. To prevent users from being directed to malicious Web sites, GuardID validates the IP address of the requested site. A warning dialog box pops up if a user is not connected to the proper Web site.
The smart card works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 6, and IE 7. GuardID hopes to add Firefox support soon. At $50 for the first year and $20 per year thereafter, ID Vault is a bit expensive, but it could be worth the price of admission if you're seriously concerned about keeping your identity safe. The $20-a-year subscription charge helps defray the cost of keeping the database of valid IP addresses current, a company spokesperson says.
The Bacteria Detector
The longer a piece of meat or poultry sits in a refrigerator, the more bacteria it accumulates and the more it is likely to spoil. Food Quality Sensor International's SensorfreshQ lets you determine the levels of bacteria in these foods, with signal lights to indicate whether they are safe to eat.
The size of an electronic toothbrush, this $90 gadget takes less than a minute to measure levels of bacteria responsible for meat and poultry spoilage. Analogously to a traffic signal, a green light means that it's safe for the meat or poultry to proceed down the little red lane; a yellow light indicates that the SensorfreshQ has detected a small amount of bacteria but that the food is still fresh enough to eat; and a red light is a stop sign warning that freshness cannot be assured: The meat may still be edible, but it hosts elevated levels of bacteria, according to FQSI. Before taking readings, you must install a sensor cartridge, or QCard, in the gadget; each QCard lasts for about 200 readings, and a two-pack of replacement QCards costs $10.
Agam Shah is an editor with the IDG News Service, based in San Francisco. Questions or comments? Write to Agam Shah.
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