Hi-tech Frontier

EyeClops Mini Projector We knew it was coming, and sure enough Jakks Pacific just introduced its EyeClops Mini Projector for a penny shy of $100 . Still light on specs, we can tell you that the palm-sized, LED projector features built-in speakers and up to 10 hours of operation off an unspecified number of D batteries when away from the mains. As to the quality, well, you typically get what you pay for and this pup is targeting a demographic of ages 8 and above -- 'nuff said. Look for it to ship sometime in the Fall.

Microsoft SideWinder X8 BlueTrack mouse The benefits of BlueTrack over optical or laser mousing technology in gaming situations will probably be debated amongst our children's children, but if you've decided that Microsoft's latest and greatest is the one for you, the SideWinder X8 gaming mouse hits stores this week. Besides that 13,000fps image processing of BlueTrack and a user-configurable 250 to 4,000 dpi, the mouse is a 2.4GHz wireless number with "virtually no latency" and it includes a play-and-charge cable for upping the juice without dropping the action. It even has a decent hands-on under its belt, so if you've been holding out for this one there's nothing really stopping your unemployed self from heading down to a local big box and plopping down $99 for th privilege.

Sony Lilac PSP Tired of PSP colors yet? Sony doesn't think you are -- and it also thinks you're a lady, because it's squarely targeting the new Lilac PSP at girl gamers. Tween girls, to be specific: the Lilac will debut as part of a $199 Hannah Montana Entertainment Pack that features young Miley's PSP game, a UMD with a few HM episodes, a 2GB memory stick, and some fun stickers. What do the less overstimulated among us get? An Assassin's Creed Entertainment Pack that'll launch with Altair's PSP debut later this year and "other content that will announced later." Awesome, thanks for loving us too, Sony.

Dell Studio XPS 435 Well, what do we have here? Dell's own website has outed a new Studio XPS 435 . Here's the specs for its supremum configuration: a 3.2GHz Intel Core i7 processor extreme edition on a X58 chipset, up to 24GB DDR3 SDRAM and 4.5 TB with three hard drive bays, ATI Radeon HD4870, Blu-ray disc drive, 15-in-1 card reader, and eight USB 2.0 ports . Of course, getting the max settings is certainly going to cost you a pretty penny, and at this point we've got no deets on pricing or availability.

Nintendo DSi in 3 more colors Check it: three new colors of the Nintendo DSi just announced in Japan for the usual ¥18,900 starting March 20th. How's it feel to know that Nintendo is already working on secondary DSi colors when they've yet to launch outside of Japan? Not that it matters, Australia will be limited to the black and white DSi models starting April 2nd; Europe's will launch in choice of black or white starting April 3rd; and the US will get its DSi on April 5th in either black or blue injury to accompany the insult of ranking last.

Syba RCG RC-VIS62002 pocket projector Its name may never be spoken aloud, but Syba's new RCG RC-VIS62002 pocket projector looks like it should at least get the job done for anyone in the market for a basic, not-quite-pico projector. As is par for the course with the more budget-minded models, this one packs a basic 640 x 480 native resolution (with "support" for XGA), along with a brightness rating of 10 ANSI lumens, a maximum projected image size of 40 inches from just over two feet away, and what seems to be the most basic of port selections: just VGA and composite. With a list price of $399 , it's also not the cheapest pocket projector out there, but we suspect this one should see some discounts if and when it becomes more widely available.

Sony OLED Walkman We know, there's only so much an American can glean from UK prices, but there's still excitement in the air from seeing Sony's OLED-packin' touchscreen Walkman up for pre-order at Amazon UK. The X Series is ready for ordering in 16GB (NWZ-X1050B) and 32GB (NWZ-X1060B) flavors, with both expected to be dispatched between a fortnight and five weeks. As for pricing? Try £214 ($308) for the little guy and £283 ($407) for the big brother . All of a sudden, Cowon's OLED-equipped S9 isn't looking like such a bad alternative, eh?

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Circumstantial evidence continues to suggest that we're on track for a February release of Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic in New World flavor, featuring quadband EDGE plus hearty helpings of 850 and 1900MHz HSDPA -- and if you're close to the New York or Chicago flagship stores, that release might be right around the corner. The Nokia Blog cites a trusted source that we'll see both locations unleash the 5800 tomorrow afternoon for $399 ; we called the Chicago store and were told that it'd likely be released within a week, "but you might want to try back tomorrow." In other words, yeah, tomorrow's looking like a lock, unless something goes horribly wrong, the shipping truck flips somewhere along a deserted stretch of I-80, and hundreds of precious handhelds lie scattered across the asphalt.

Samsung SGH-T929 Memoir Is the world ready for consumer-class 8 megapixel cameraphones? That's a loaded question, but one way or another, T-Mobile's about to find out now that its SGH-T929 Memoir from Samsung is in the marketplace. With a full touchscreen and support for that elusive 1700MHz HSDPA, the handset packs some serious heat at the top end of the featurephone heap, and we've now had a chance to put it through its paces. Read on for video, pictures, and -- for the literate types out here -- even a few words about Samsung's mighty 3264 x 2448 worth of handset muscle.

Pantech Breeze Looking for 3G, a wide VGA display, and a 5 megapixel cam? Well, friend, you've come to the wrong place -- but if you're looking for the drop dead simplest handset AT&T has to offer, the Breeze definitely has to make your short list. Following a white launch last year, Pantech's mega-simple clamshell for the older set has been redone in black, offering the same EDGE data, VGA camera, and one-touch "convenience keys" as the original. It's available starting today for $29.99 on contract.

Lenovo i60 and i60s At first glance Lenovo's i60 and i60s sets really do look grand with the requisite screen reflection, really clean lines, and the general lack of clutter. Of course, good things come to and end and a brief peek under the hood tells a different tale. The i60 (pictured left) is a dual-band phone with a nice 3-inch WQVGA display, support for up to 16GB of memory, and even dual-SIM slots. The i60s has a slightly smaller 2.8-inch WQVGA display, also only ships with dual-band GSM support, and changes up the face design with the inclusion of a few more buttons. So the obvious take away is that we won't be seeing this in North America, neither seem -- the spec sheet is a bit wonky -- to have Bluetooth or WiFi, and no OS is mentioned, though, neither has the proper hardware configuration for either Windows Mobile or Android.

Epson G5000 projector Making sure to differentiate white and color output separately, Epson's PowerLite G5000 comes in with an even 4,000 lumen figure for both metrics. The 3LCD, XGA resolution projector also boasts some nice convenience features like 30-degrees of tilt and both horizontal and vertical lens shift so you can quickly get things set up when moving from the classroom to the family room. Available now for $2,499 -- but that lack of 1080 vertical pixels and only 1,000:1 contrast leave us a little cold while we look across other Epson offerings, even if they require a little more light control in the room. Still, if blackout drapes are just out of the question for your setting, those 4,000 lumens speak volumes.

OPPO BDP-83 Early Adoption Program Seriously, why aren't more companies like this? In a somewhat unprecedented move, OPPO Digital has decided to let the people choose how it will proceed with the production of its highly anticipated universal Blu-ray player. Its Early Adoption Program will allow 50 randomly selected customers to purchase the BDP-83 for $499 before the official release; after those 50 have tested things out for a week or so, they'll be required to vote on whether the program should be extended or suspended. If 70 percent or more votes to expand, OPPO will select another 100 individuals to join the original 50 in testing. We're told that the deck will be shipped with a pre-production firmware version that will be updated "from time to time." Also of note, OPPO has confirmed Profile 2.0 support, internal decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats and that DVD-Audio playback is still in the works. Needless to say, we'll be doing our ...

Marantz CR502 all-in-one music system While Marantz is still generally sticking to its bread-and-butter AV receiver offerings, there's nothing wrong with a little diversion every now and then to see just how successful a new initiative can be. The CR502 micro audio system possesses two stereo amplifiers, each of which pack 25-watts of power. There's a built-in CD player, a DAB radio tuner and a nice array of inputs and outputs (USB 2.0 included) to complement the clock radio function. Of course, that whole "Marantz" logo helps explain the lofty £499 ($718) price tag, but if you've got it to blow, your night stand will thank you ad nauseam.