Nokia 7280

From leaf shapes to textile wraps, and now to a key-less design that truly pushes the candy-bar form factor, Nokia's been angling for a winning look to recapture the 8210 glory days. Aimed at the cocktail crowd, the 7280 is eye-catching in an odd sort of way. But being the serial texters that we are, expect acute withdrawal symptoms as you figure out how to SMS with the iPod-inspired NaviSpinner controller. Oh, and since Nokia expects you to dial via voice activation, not a perfect application to begin with, prepare to exercise your vocals above party riffs of She Bangs.

Click here for: Idea of size | upright | side view | bottom view | specs

Price: N.A.
Availability: From Q4
Device: Mobile phone
Basic specs: Triband GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz, Bluetooth, 16-bit color TFT LCD display, rated for 3 hours talktime or 240 hours standby, built-in camera, 115 x 32 x 19mm, 85g

Sony DSC-M1 Movie & Still Camera

Hats off to the style-meisters for once again delighting us with a form that'll have you guessing it's anything but a Cyber-shot. The DSC-M1 could easily be mistaken for a chunkier cousin of Sony Ericsson's K500 camera-phone, until you crack open its body to reveal two sections attached by a 90-degree swivel. Half of that splits into an inverted L shape with a 2.5-inch LCD that can rotate 270 degrees. The other half pulls double duty as a 5.1-megapixel camera and MPEG-4 mini camcorder. Sony's gone even further with this transformer offering, doing a Vulcan meld of the still and video elements so every still snap captures several seconds of video before and after. Since it's not clear if this feature can be disabled, our advice: Start saving for that expensive Memory Stick you're going to need.

Click here for: Idea of size | front view | back view | closed | with cradle

Price: US$600
Availability: From December
Device: Digital camera-mini camcorder hybrid
Basic specs: 5.1 megapixels, 3x optical zoom, Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, USB cradle, max. recording of 27 minutes on VGA resolution, 30fps with stereo sound on optional 512MB Memory Stick PRO Duo, or up to 54 minutes with optional 1GB card

NEC 3D cell phone

Has 3D imaging's time finally come? NTT DoCoMo and Japanese J-Phone are already selling mobiles containing small 3D screens, while Sharp has released a notebook with a display that lets people view 3D images. Now NEC, literally thinking out of the box, has developed its own prototype cell phone which plucks an image and projects it into three-dimensional space visible to the naked eye. No need for those nauseating, eye-straining 3D goggles. While holographic 3D--of the Industrial Light + Magic wizardry we saw in Paycheck--will likely remain the realm of Hollywood for some time, NEC's technology greatly improves on current 3D LCD resolution. Utilizing a lenticular lens, this ups the ante to VGA 235ppi (pixels per inch) in 3D format, compared with a 90ppi resolution on a mobile phone using a QVGA 180ppi 2D display. We can just imagine the 3D spam coming your way.

Price: N.A.
Availability: In concept stage
Device: Mobile phone
Basic specs: 470ppi (horizontal) x 235ppi (vertical) pixel resolution in 2.5-inch diagonal and 640 x 480-pixel VGA format

Sony MZ-E630

More fruit loop eye candy as Sony's upcoming MiniDisc takes its cue from its hard drive-based MP3 cousins, the iPod Mini and Muvo² FM, offering a choice of six pastel shades. What's more eye-catching are the Etymotic-inspired earbuds which aren't your standard fare on portable audio players, designed to plug into your ear to block out ambient noise. The MZ-E630 is one of the first two non high-density MD players released by the Japanese Sony after the initial 1GB Hi-MD release which had yon dying breed of MiniDisc owners whooping with glee. However, it's our opinion that it'll take more than a pastel palette to convince the MP3 crowd to switch camps.

Click here for: The colors | closeup of the earbuds

Price: N.A.
Availability: From October
Device: MiniDisc player
Basic specs: ATRAC, 6-band equalizer, G-protection, choice of six colors (silver, blue, pink, green, black and white), 77.9 x 83.4 x 15.4mm, 99g

"A Frame" Golf Bag

Meet the world's lightest golf bag which lives up to its claim by virtue of the fact that there is no bag. Quite amazingly, this bagless wonder manages up to 14 golf clubs, 20 tees, 12 balls and an umbrella. The ultra-lightweight structure, said to be 80% lighter than conventional carry bags, was dreamt up by Brit inventor Jo Gascoigne, a golfer himself. An embroidered double strap spreads the weight evenly across the shoulders, sweet relief, while the clubs are snapped into place giving the frame its A shape. Our take: Cool for some attention getting on the greens. Not so cool when the weather turns wretched.

Click here for: side view | top view

Price: US$67
Availability: aframegolf.com
Device: Golf bag
Basic specs: Polypropylene material, 330 x 210mm, 350g

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