Digital Gear: Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Look around: A peeping Tom may have placed a hidden camera in the room. Sharper Image's spy camera is concealed inside a table clock; it's so tiny it could easily escape notice. A more traditional and camera-free clock, Google's Infoglobe, is a useful gadget to have around the home. The MobiBlu DAH-1500i, billed as the world's smallest MP3 player, also has a small radio. In other news this month, Toshiba's wireless headphones use Bluetooth technology to deliver stereo sound from a PC to users on the move.

Clock With a Hidden Camera

Sharper Image's clock looks ordinary, with an LCD screen displaying the time and date. On the inside, however, is a digital camera designed with home security in mind. When it detects outside motion, the camera starts recording full-motion color images until it no longer perceives movement.

The device records video in AVI format at 320-by-240 resolution; a USB 2.0 connection feeds the video to a PC, where you can view it. The camera-clock comes with 64MB of internal memory that can hold up to 12 minutes of video, the company says. A Secure Digital Card slot lets you expand its video storage capacity.

The clock measures 5.5 by 4.5 by 1.8 inches, and if disconnected from an electrical outlet, can run on four AA batteries. It's available for $200 at the Sharper Image Web site.

Google Infoglobe

For people like me who forget their own birthdays, Google's Infoglobe could come in handy. Shaped like a globe, this combination clock and telephone accessory contains a 100-year calendar that stores reminders: For example, when a birthday arrives, an LED ticker rotates around the globe, displaying the name of the birthday boy or girl. Connected to a telephone, the Infoglobe also displays caller ID, and if you subscribe to a voice-mail service, the Infoglobe lets you know when you have messages waiting. This kitschy gadget, of course, also displays the time.

The $65 Infoglobe measures 6 by 6 by 5 inches. It comes with an adapter to plug into any wall outlet; a 9-volt battery powers its memory backup. Look for it in the Google store.

Toshiba Wireless Headphone

Bluetooth wireless networking technology is slowly making serious inroads into mainstream products such as keyboards, mice, headsets, PDAs, cell phones, and printers. Now you can add headphones for PC stereo systems to that list: Toshiba recently launched its Wireless Stereo Headphones, designed to allow people to listen to music while moving around, or to watch a DVD movie on a PC without disturbing others.

Bluetooth technology allows products to connect wirelessly within a range of about 33 feet. The wireless headphone uses Bluetooth 1.2 technology to receive sound from a Bluetooth-compatible PC. Though it supports all media player software for music and DVD software for movies, its volume and track changing buttons work only with Windows Media Player and InterVideo Inc.'s WinDVD software, said Rick Havacko, a Toshiba spokesman.

Setting up a Toshiba Bluetooth adapter (not included) on a desktop PC was time-consuming, but once that was done, the headphones performed well. In my tests they rendered great sound from a single off a CD from the band Thievery Corporation, with strong bass and crisp vocals--similar to the audio quality for the same song when I listened to it using Sony's wired MDR-V300 stereo headphones.

Though the sound held up well while I moved around, it did break up occasionally, and the headphones stopped functioning about 26 feet away from the PC.

I was able to adjust the volume and play different tracks on the CD using buttons on the headphones. The constant blipping of the Bluetooth adapter's blue light, which I had attached to a front USB port, was distracting; moving it to the back of the computer solved that problem. The headphone design takes a while to get used to: It flips around the back of the head, so it could be uncomfortable on your ears. The headphones' batteries last for 8 hours of use, Havacko says.

The headphones cost $99, and if your PC--like mine--doesn't support Bluetooth, you'll have to pay extra for a Bluetooth adapter. At this writing, Toshiba's Bluetooth adapter costs $45.

Explorer 1

Crosley Radios brings the past to the present with the Explorer 1, a beautiful retro-designed sound system dedicated to the successful launch of the Explorer 1 spacecraft in 1958.

The Explorer 1 has a radio tuner, three speakers, a CD player, and a satellite radio receiver. Crosley's tie-in with XM Satellite Radio delivers over 150 channels of music. The Explorer 1 also has a "Portable Audio Ready" feature that allows you to connect an MP3 player and play its music through the radio's stereo system. The handcrafted wood cabinet has aluminum accents, company officials say.

Such fine workmanship costs money, though: You'll need to shell out $400. Add to that the XM Satellite Radio subscription fee at $13 a month, and it's a pretty expensive item. Explorer 1 is available at Crosley Radio's Web site.

World's Smallest MP3 Player?

Apple's IPod may be the most popular item in the portable music player business, but Hyun Won America's MobiBlu DAH-1500i could be the smallest. The 0.6-ounce cube measures slightly under 1 inch square, making it the world's smallest digital audio player, according to the company.

For its size, the MobiBlu packs quite a punch, with a voice recording microphone, an FM radio, a USB 2.0 port, and a blue Organic Light Emitting Diode display with a clock. The MobiBlu plays audio files in MP3 and Windows Media Audio format, and users can download music files from online stores supporting Microsoft's Janus digital rights management system, including Audible, MusicNow, Napster, and Wal-Mart. The device's firmware allows for feature upgrades, according to the company.

The MobiBlu runs on lithium ion batteries and comes in two versions: A $100 model with 512MB of flash memory, and a $130 model with 1GB. Both are sold on Wal-Mart's Web site. The MobiBlu is being sold outside the U.S. under the JNC brand name.

Agam Shah is an editor with the IDG News Service, based in San Francisco. Questions or comments? Write to Agam Shah.