Bluetooth

If you're an iPad user who would rather not hunt and peck on a touchscreen, accessory keyboards can be a great convenience. Consumer Reports tested several that are Bluetooth compatible to assess their usefulness.  Belkin Keyboard Folio F5L090 , $100. Designed for the iPad 2, it has a built-in battery and is rechargeable via USB. Pros . The Folio is a good choice if you want an integrated case and a display stand with an adjustable angle. Its decent-sized keyboard has keys almost as large as those on a laptop or desktop computer.

If you're an iPad user who would rather not hunt and peck on a touchscreen, accessory keyboards can be a great convenience. Consumer Reports tested several that are Bluetooth compatible to assess their usefulness.  Belkin Keyboard Folio F5L090 , $100. Designed for the iPad 2, it has a built-in battery and is rechargeable via USB. Pros . The Folio is a good choice if you want an integrated case and a display stand with an adjustable angle. Its decent-sized keyboard has keys almost as large as those on a laptop or desktop computer.

Olympus LS-20M HD video/audio recorder by Olympus America Inc. $219 at Amazon.com High-end video cameras keep getting better and smaller. Olympus, of Japan, is taking the trend further, by creating a pocket-size HD camera that also makes an excellent audio recorder. The LS-20M is a solidly built device that resembles an old-school "candybar" cellphone. But a cellphone's camera is mounted on the back or front of the device. With the LS-20M the lens is on the top edge, where you would expect to find an on-off switch, and it is flanked by a pair of high-quality microphones.

HomeSnap real estate shopping app Free download for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch at the Apple App Store If you're shopping for a new home, you might want to buy Apple Inc.'s iPad or iPhone first. That way, you can use this remarkable app, which provides vital information about thousands of homes all over the United States. You launch HomeSnap, point the camera of your portable device at a house that interests you, and shoot a picture of it. Back comes information on the house; estimated value, annual property tax bill, the year the house was built, when it...

I'm Watch $329 to $14,999 at www.imwatch.it When you have a cellphone, you can live without a wristwatch, right? The oddly named Italian company I'm begs to differ. At the Consumer Electronics Show, it displayed a new "smart watch" that interacts with your phone. The I'm device is a wrist-mounted speakerphone that also displays your e-mails and SMS text messages, plays music and video, and hooks you up to Twitter and Facebook. Basically, it's a wrist computer, running its own version of Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

‘I don’t get emotional about money, I just want to make more of it,’’ says oily financier Kevin O’ Leary on ABC’s new reality series “Shark Tank,’’ which premieres Sunday at 9. The show -based on the Japanese “Dragons’ Den’’ and produced by Mark Burnett of “Survivor’’ and “The Apprentice’’ - features a parade of hopeless naifs and deluded hotshots beseeching multimillionaires to fund their business ventures....

BluCan portable Bluetooth speaker by GiiNii International Corp. $99.95 at giinii.com On sale in April. The engineers at GiiNii keep coming up with slick new ways to enjoy audio on our digital devices. A few weeks ago, I wrote about AudioBulb, the company's odd but clever combination of a wireless loudspeaker and a screw-in light bulb. Now comes a product that's impressed me even more. BluCan is a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds about 10 times better than you'd ever expect.

BluCan portable Bluetooth speaker by GinNii International Corp. $99.95 at giinii.com. Goes on sale in April The engineers at GiiNii keep coming up with slick new ways of listening to audio from our digital devices. A few weeks ago I wrote about AudioBulb, the company's odd but clever combination of a wireless loudspeaker and screw-in light bulb. Now comes a product that's impressed me even more. BluCan is a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds about 10 times better than you'd ever expect.

HomeSnap real estate shopping app Free download for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch at the Apple App Store If you're shopping for a new home, you might want to buy Apple Inc.'s iPad or iPhone first. That way, you can use this remarkable app, which provides vital information about thousands of homes all over the United States. You launch HomeSnap, point the camera of your portable device at a house that interests you, and shoot a picture of it. Back comes information on the house; estimated value, annual property tax bill, the year the...

MOBILE AUDIO Anyone who makes speakers wants us to enjoy what we hear when we flip the devices on. But some manufacturers are adding features that make them more like smart digital devices. The slick iPhone and iPod dock, the inMotion iMT630, for example, is among those that can be app-enhanced. Another pair of speakers, the iHome iDM15, takes phone calls. The iMT630, from Altec Lansing (right), is a neatly designed model, with rounded edges that form a shape like a classic handbag, and it comes with a cradle dock for your mobile device.

If you think texting while walking is dangerous, just wait until everyone starts wearing Google's futuristic, Internet-connected glasses. While wearing a pair, you can see directions to your destination appear literally before your eyes. You can talk to friends over video chat, take a photo or even buy a few things online as you walk around. These glasses can do anything you now need a smartphone or tablet computer to do —and then some. Google gave a glimpse of "Project Glass" in a video and blog post this week.

G-Go portable Bluetooth speaker from Boombang Inc. $69 at Target Don't let the recent cooldown fool you. Summer's on the way, and it's time to think about outdoor gadgets. For example, a ruggedized, water-resistant Bluetooth speaker. The G-Go isn't completely submersible, but it's designed to tolerate a few casual splashes. Its rubberized body should also be capable of surviving a fair number of accidental drops and kicks. Pushbutton controls are coated in rubber to prevent leaks, and all access ports are locked behind plastic...

BluCan portable Bluetooth speaker by GiiNii International Corp. $99.95 at giinii.com On sale in April. The engineers at GiiNii keep coming up with slick new ways to enjoy audio on our digital devices. A few weeks ago, I wrote about AudioBulb, the company's odd but clever combination of a wireless loudspeaker and a screw-in light bulb. Now comes a product that's impressed me even more. BluCan is a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds about 10 times better than you'd ever expect.

BluCan portable Bluetooth speaker by GinNii International Corp. $99.95 at giinii.com. Goes on sale in April The engineers at GiiNii keep coming up with slick new ways of listening to audio from our digital devices. A few weeks ago I wrote about AudioBulb, the company's odd but clever combination of a wireless loudspeaker and screw-in light bulb. Now comes a product that's impressed me even more. BluCan is a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds about 10 times better than you'd ever expect.

I'm Watch $329 to $14,999 at www.imwatch.it When you have a cellphone, you can live without a wristwatch, right? The oddly named Italian company I'm begs to differ. At the Consumer Electronics Show, it displayed a new "smart watch" that interacts with your phone. The I'm device is a wrist-mounted speakerphone that also displays your e-mails and SMS text messages, plays music and video, and hooks you up to Twitter and Facebook. Basically, it's a wrist computer, running its own version of Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

Olympus LS-20M HD video/audio recorder by Olympus America Inc. $219 at Amazon.com High-end video cameras keep getting better and smaller. Olympus, of Japan, is taking the trend further, by creating a pocket-size HD camera that also makes an excellent audio recorder. The LS-20M is a solidly built device that resembles an old-school "candybar" cellphone. But a cellphone's camera is mounted on the back or front of the device. With the LS-20M the lens is on the top edge, where you would expect to find an on-off switch, and it is flanked by a pair of high-quality...

If you think texting while walking is dangerous, just wait until everyone starts wearing Google's futuristic, Internet-connected glasses. While wearing a pair, you can see directions to your destination appear literally before your eyes. You can talk to friends over video chat, take a photo or even buy a few things online as you walk around. These glasses can do anything you now need a smartphone or tablet computer to do —and then some. Google gave a glimpse of "Project Glass" in a video and blog post this week.

RFID Talk about function creep. A new product, the RosettaStone (www.personalrosettastone.com), guarantees that RFID will follow you straight to your grave. The RosettaStone is a palm-size stone tablet representing the deceased. It bears an RFID tag that communicates with mobile phones — directing users to an Internet memorial archive. That archive might contain photos and recordings of the departed, or notes made by others “left below.’’ The RosettaStone uses the RFID technology, Near Field Communication, or NFC, which is likely to...

The iPhone 4S has a little-heralded feature that makes it unique among phones, at least for a while: It can talk to a new class of wireless devices, such as watches and heart-rate monitors. The phone, which went on sale Oct. 14, is the first to have a new type of Bluetooth chip that can connect using very little power. The chip uses so little power that it can go into devices that are powered only by a standard "button cell" battery common in watches. The battery can last for years.

MOBILE AUDIO Anyone who makes speakers wants us to enjoy what we hear when we flip the devices on. But some manufacturers are adding features that make them more like smart digital devices. The slick iPhone and iPod dock, the inMotion iMT630, for example, is among those that can be app-enhanced. Another pair of speakers, the iHome iDM15, takes phone calls. The iMT630, from Altec Lansing (right), is a neatly designed model, with rounded edges that form a shape like a classic handbag, and it comes with a cradle dock for your mobile...