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Toddy Gear Cleaning Cloths

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It strikes me as a bit odd that people spend hundreds of dollars on phones, tablets, and other touchscreen devices, then walk around with them smudged up all the time. It’s hard not to – the glossy surfaces show every fingerprint and oily cheek mark. What’s worse, when they do get wiped clean, it’s typically with a shirt sleeve or other fabric that can scratch the surface. With the Toddy Gear line of designer cleaning cloths, there are dozens of options to keep devices smudge-free, while expressing your personal style. The Toddy is a dual-sided microfiber antimicrobial cloth that cleans and polishes your grimy goods, with designs ranging from drawings of vintage photographic equipment to preppy plaids and punchy botanicals. Machine washable, the cloths come in a 5″ x 7″ and 9″ x9″ size. $9.99 to $14.00.

Prizm Stand

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Resembling a sort of primitive Decepticon, the Prizm Stand from Hubb Innovations is a two-piece aluminum stand for phones, tablets, and MP3 players. Introduced at this month’s CES, the Prizm stand is made from aluminum alloys and precious metals formed into two identical parts that slide together. The low-profile stand comes in anodized colors including green, blue, pink, purple, red, yellow, and black, as well as premium metals like 14k gold, antique brass, antique copper, antique nickel, and carbon fiber. Ranging price from $24.95 to $34.95, the stands are a good gift idea for  sci-fi geeks, architects, engineers, or transforming robot aliens.

Zephyr Wireless Speakers

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Although our portable devices are extremely handy for listening to music, unless you wear headphones the sound quality needs to be enhanced by an outside source. Also, the darn things run out of power at the most inconvenient times (the middle of an eight-hour flight, with someone else’s toddler sitting next to you, for example). The Zephyr line of Bluetooth, high-definition speakers from SPAR, double as mobile phone chargers, making them the first portable, speaker/speakerphone/charger combination according to the manufacturer. A competitor to the JAMBOX, the line comes in three models: The Zephyr  300 can fit into a pocket and offers 12 hours of playtime; the 500 model fits into a bag or purse and runs for 18 hours; and the 550, encased in aircraft-grade anodized aluminum, is the largest of the three and offers 28 hours of battery life. You can throw one in the backpack for a picnic or beach trip or get one for a teen in place of an expensive sound system. With 28 hours of battery life, it would have been convenient to have this device around to keep our phones charged up during the week-long blackout we had in my neighborhood a few months ago — we could have then used the speaker to call and yell at the electric company. Prices range from $99.99 to $159.99.

Padlette

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Padlette is a new handle for your tablet that works like a fancy, wide-mouthed rubber band; you simply stretch it around two opposite corners of your device and you are done. Available in a rainbow of colors, Padlette is lightweight and fits iPads and other similarly sized tablets. One thing I noticed during my Padlette test drive was that if you are using the iPad2, you can’t put your Padlette on first and then put your Smart Cover on top of it. However, you can put your cover on first and then put the Padlette over it to pin down the cover to keep it from flapping open. While I think the handle is pricey for what it is (it retails for $19.99 on Amazon), it could be a great solution for those who lack the dexterity to handle a tablet comfortably, including children and those with arthritis. Two new versions are launching at this week’s CES show in Las Vegas, so stay tuned for more handy products from this company. 

Libratone Speakers

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Libratone is a Copenhagen-based audio company that offers line of speakers that blend wireless, hi-fi technology with a modern Scandinavian design. Introduced to the U.S. market last November, the speakers’ AirPlay connection gives you the freedom to move from room to room with your entire music library in the palm of your hand; an app streams audio wirelessly from iOS devices and Macs/PCs.

According to the manufacturer:

Libratone Live and Lounge … play like acoustic instruments, dispersing sound waves in multiple directions, reflecting them off the walls. This eliminates the sweet spot and gives you a 360° sound experience. To get a bit more technical, inside the cabinets there are five units each driven by dedicated audiophile amplifiers and each dedicated to spreading sound in a specific direction. This setup means that the system both spreads the sound and encapsulates you in it.
 

The collection features exclusive materials including a satin chrome handle, a wood body, a high-end piano finish, and Italian cashmere wool. A speaker made of cashmere wool? Sounds lovely. Available at select Apple stores in the U.S. Libratone Live, $699.95; Libratone Lounge, $1,299.95.

Skullcandy 2011 Roc Nation Aviator Headphones

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Aviator sunglasses are, hands down, the coolest eyewear ever created, and if you don’t believe me then you need to go rent Top Gun again. Skullcandy’s 2011 Roc Nation Aviator headphones (shown here in Brown Gold) transform the swagger of the jet pilot into some seriously fly audio gear. While the headphone’s performance reviews on the SkullCandy site are mixed, 92% would still recommend them, with owners citing comfort and the “optics inspired” polycarbonate housing. When I tried these on at a recent preview for the Consumer Electronics Show I thought they were stunning to look at and very comfortable (I didn’t have time to test the sound, but I’m no expert in that arena.) Would it be overkill if I wore these along with my old pair of Ray Bans while listening to the Top Gun soundtrack? Maybe, but it also might be the coolest thing ever. $149.99; free shipping in the U.S. with no minimum.