Entries for June 2006

I drew some curious glances when I walked into the local pool carrying a shiny new digital camera. When I dived underwater with the thing, well, that started the questions. So the Olympus Stylus 720SW ($400, olympus.com) is an attention getter.

It was nerve-racking, though, testing its next distinguishing feature: the ability to withstand being dropped from as high as 5 feet. OK, drop–flinch–and gingerly retrieve. No apparent damage done.

I'm not one to wear those big sports watches. But Suunto has packed a striking mix of functions into its X9i model ($500, suunto.com/x9i), including perhaps the smallest GPS receiver sold. And while it sits high off the wrist, it's not too bad looking.

Lighting up a Frisbee isn't child's play. The inventors of the Flashflight tapped a number of modern technologies—most important, LEDs and fiber optics—to get a disk that not only would flash but fly.

Surprise: Digital video can be cheap and easy. The new Point & Shoot video camera from Pure Digital, also sold as the RCA Small Wonder, costs about $130, putting it at the low end of digital cams. Unlike other camcorders, it won't take still pictures, settings can't be tweaked, and it has no optical zoom.

For the young set that get more of their chats in text than voice, T-Mobile is updating its unique Sidekick–a combination phone and messaging device, with the emphasis on the latter. The Sidekick 3 ($300 with a two-year wireless plan, $350 with a one-year) adds an MP3 player, expandable memory, an improved camera, and Bluetooth support for wireless headsets.