From flux to form: The finest gadgets you can almost buy
It’s partly the fault of CES, I know, but there are a crop of tasty if not quite solid gadgets floating around, a few of which seemed worthy of a roundup. Forgive me cribbing massively from the usual sources.
First is the Pacemaker.
What is it? A DJ iPod with a 120GB hard disk in a form factor smaller than a PSP. Includes effects, pitch-shifting, and touchpad and crossfader controls. Price? US$700. Video here.
I have one of these preordered, though I’m still vacillating about whether the price tag is worth it (I’m inclined to say yes if you consider what two iPods and a mixer with effects would cost).
Next is Belkin’s Podcast Studio.
What is it? A Geiger-counter-looking mic preamp and limiter/compressor with line level controls that enfolds your iPod for on-the-run recording.
Essentially, this ups the ante versus the various lower-quality iPod voice recorder accessories already available (though you will need a separate mic), and offers a lower-cost option to a dedicated digital field recorder; one of these and the spare disk space on your iPod may do just fine for a lot of people, especially given that it costs US$100.
Next, the considerably more vaporous Intel MID platform.
What is it? iPhone/Internet tablet killer, supposedly due out in 2009.
Very little idea what the specs are on this, but it certainly looks nice.
Another prototype, the iRiver Wing UMPC.
What is it? A UMPC, but put through the Magical Shrinking Machine. Is it mandatory that these things have to run Windows? Windows Mobile I can cope with, but its larger brothers give me the sweats.
No idea on how much or when, nor what it will cost to have your fingers milled down to fine points so that you can operate the keyboard.
