The bag is very comfortable and large enough to hold a laptop, with plenty of room for folders, pens, and anything else necessary.  Powering all this is a Removable 3000mAh battery.  While it won’t be enough power to charge an iPad, it is more than ample juice to get your dead i-Device, Android Phone, e-Book Reader, or MP3 Player running again.  The batteries are upgradable and you can buy a backpack, briefcase, or messenger bag with different sized batteries already included or you could simply upgrade to a larger capacity battery later on.  On the front is a soft touch button which shows the battery level indicated by 4 LED’s.  The more LED’s light up, the more power you have in your bag waiting to be used. If you have your devices connected while the bag is plugged in, they charge first.  There’s even a tablet pouch up front which is perfect for an iPad or Kindle.

This is a well made, cleverly designed bag and it’s a must for anyone who needs a boost while carrying the stuff they need.  After all, who wants to sit tethered to an outlet at the Railroad station?

Sangean, a radio company, has recently introduced the WR-5, which is a wooden encased radio and iPod/iPhone dock. It has a built in FM tuner as well as dual alarms. What I was surprised at mostly was the sound. I was really Impressed. I’m amazed at this product has such big sound in a small package. The treble is well represented while the lows were not too deep but also low enough so you can know they are there. I tested the unit out in a few different settings and found it works best as a simple nightstand clock radio. The front LCD display is dimable which comes in handy at night when you’re trying to shut your eyes.

There is an slot in the back which houses a battery in the event that the power goes out, and a retractable FM antenna, as well as ports for an AM antenna, along with an Auxiliary Line-In port in the event you wish to connect a device such as a laptop. The included in fared remote allows for adjusting the display brightness, radio tuning, and basic iPod settings from across the room. In radio mode, the display shows station RDS information, such as current song, and station info.

I highly recommend this product and hope that more people come to understand that, just because something has a small footprint doesn’t mean it wont produce big sound. However, this isn’t the best option if you are even the slightest light sensitive when trying to sleep, as the lowest brightness setting is very bright.

Sangean 150.00

The Performance Mouse MX uses Optical Darkfield Laser technology which can work on surfaces such as glass and still offer smooth tracking, and the scroll wheel is a delight to use. You can switch between smooth scrolling or the traditional intermittent scrolling method with a simple button press. There is a battery level indicator as well as browser back and forward buttons which become addicting after using them for a few days. The buttons are fully customizable to perform virtually any task imaginable.

The included rechargeable AA battery Is easily replaceable with a new one and can be charged via USB. This is a great product for Mac and PC users alike.

Logitech – $99.99

I found the ability to control the lamp from the clock, to be very innovative. There is no FM radio, so you are stuck with what is on your iPod or iPhone. Even without a radio, it is still a great product for a dorm or bedroom. It has a lot of great features.

Stem – $99.95 Available at Apple Retail Stores

The case comes in two pieces. The battery pack is the main piece; while this clear plastic band is used to secure the phone to the battery pack. It seems really fragile and easy to break, although that just isn’t the case in the tests we ran it through. While Exogear, the manufacturer claims to double the iPhone 4’s battery life, I was doubtful. To test this, I did what I do for most batteries. I turned on the Wifi, and Bluetooth but didn’t connect to anything while I streamed a Internet radio station via 3G until the phone shut down. It lasted about 410 Minutes with the case, and 205 minutes with no extra power at all, except at fully charged iPhone battery. So essentially you do in fact double your phone’s life, but i wouldn’t recommend actually turning on the battery pack until the phone gives it’s 10 percent battery warning. This can give you even more time, so you get to re-charge your internal phone’s battery via the Exolife. It’s a great case, and it’s easy to hold with it’s non-slip grip on the back. On the bottom is a Mini-USB jack which allows for charging of the case. I would like to see a manufacturer incorporate a Dock Pass-through jack at the bottom, so the user doesn’t have to take the phone out of the case in order to dock the device to a speaker dock. The Exolife is both Powerful and light, while it minimally thickens the iPhone 4’s form factor. It isn’t tough to remove from your pocket either, like many rubber backed cases.

Exogear – $89.99

Although the speaker does offer great sound and well represented highs and deep lows, it is a bit buggy with the Bluetooth feature.  The Bluetooth built in does not have too good a range, and when paired with a computer, the sound quality is terrible.  The USB port on the back allows the dock to be used to sync your i-device with your computer.  Just drop it into the dock.  There is an auxillary input so you can plug in other devices as well, such as a CD player.

While I didn’t initally read the manual, I had to in order to figure out where the volume controls were.  They are cleverly hidden on the lower half of the front of the unit, where the 30 pin connector is for your iPhone or iPod.    There is a lot of innovation and technology built into this product.  One of them is Audyssey’s BassXT, which pumps out a surprisingly rich amount of lows from a device about the size of a stapler.  Audyssey says BassXT maximizes driver output in order to generate greater bass.  I notice while testing this product that some of the lows still remain audible even at lower levels, which is not very common.  Only the Bose SoundDock was able to do this as well.  The device contains two 3/4 inch tweeters and two four inch drivers, totaling 200 watts.

Oh and by the way, there is a funky tilt mechanism which supposedly allows you to tilt it in order to adjust the sound.  It doesn’t really work.  You have to enable the tilt in the App and when doing so, you lose the ability to adjust the sound manually via the screen of your i-Device.  Being that the dock is a bit heavy, it’s not really meant to be picked up.  That said, I just recommend leaving the tilt feature off.

All in all, this is one really amazing product, and even though the price is a bit high, it definitely won’t disappoint.

http://www.audyssey.com/products/southofmarket  -  $399.99  Available at Apple Retail Stores

For all of us who listen to internet radio, it has been long trapped inside our computers, so we have to sit at our computer and listen.  Pandora is really cool since you can just plug in a few artists and the website will play music you like.  There is now a radio that has the benefits of Internet Radio as well as the Pandora application, built in.  The Livio Radio featuring Pandora works either using Wired ethernet or WiFi and can stream internet radio right to the receiver.

Looking at the device after pulling it out of the box, it’s very simple.  Just a few buttons and a volume knob which, when pressed, acts as an “enter” key.  You do have to hop on your computer to enter your radio’s Key into the Livio website and register your radio under your name.  After that, the device doesn’t require a computer.  You can sign into your Pandora account or play practically any internet radio station you desire.  You can’t, however, manually enter the URL to a stream, (which i imagine would take some time using the knob.)  For Pandora, there are “Thumbs Up” and “Thumbs Down” buttons so the music can be set according to your taste.   The buttons and display light up blue, which is cool.  I’m a fan of things that light up, so that’s a plus for me.  There is an Auxiliary input on the back if you wish to use it for playing say, audio from a tape deck.  I wasn’t impressed with the sound, though. It’s very tinny and the lows aren’t represented too well.  I have heard radios that much nicer sound in a cabinet about the same size and this one is really not that great.  I peeked inside and indeed, it is a wooden cabinet.  I think the speaker they used isn’t too great.  Being that the Livio is meant to work indepentally, I would expect deeper, richer sound, rather than having to use the headphone jack to utilize additional speakers, when one is already there.  What else I noticed is that the WiFi signal drops very quickly in areas close to the router where my laptop had excellent signal.  This resulted in gapped audio. I think the antenna belongs on the outside of the radio, rather the inside.

Otherwise, the Livio is a fantastic product.  It’s very well thought out and has a lot of usability.

http://www.livioradio.com  -  $199.99

Philips makes awesome accessories for Apple products. They recently got into the Apple accessory business. If you go into an Apple store, you will see a few speaker docks from Philips which all work with an App that allows for customizing the hardware Equalizer built into the dock. The back is a single piece of curved white plastic and the front is cloth with minimal design and a dock that tilts to accommodate your i-Device even with a case on. Another clever feature is the volume buttons which illuminate when your hand approaches the unit. But the big thing you’ll notice is the quality of the sound which Philips brands as PureDigital. This takes the digital signal from your device and reprocess it for this specific speaker dock, resulting in surprisingly deep bass and well represented highs for a product which is just under $200.00. And from a name like Philips, you wouldn’t expect that sound quality would be so great, but it truly does pack a punch. Inside are two 2-inch neodymium drivers, with bass ports on the back for extra deep lows. It doesn’t have an FM radio or a clock built in, but this isn’t exactly an alarm clock product, although if you download the Fidelio app, you will get a clock displayed on your i-Device when the app is running, as well as the ability to set alarms and adjust Equalizer settings. If you turn up the volume high, the sound won’t distort too bad either, so this is clearly a very well designed product.

Included is a full featured remote control, as well as a cable for attaching a device such as a computer to the dock via the Auxiliary in port. It’s not the most portable device but it is great for a bedroom or dorm room.

Again, the best quality is the sound, and you just can’t find sound this great from an iPod/iPhone speaker dock at this price point, so that’s what makes this product unique.

– Philips – $199.99

Milwaukee makes a bunch of high-end power tools, but their newest creation, the Powerport, is a device that runs off their compact 12 volt batteries, and makes available a 12 volt cigarette lighter outlet, as well as a USB jack.  Both of which can be used to power your gadgets on the go when a power outlet isn’t available.  The battery is the same one that Milwaukee uses in their M12 line of power tools, (compact power drill, boombox, impact driver, etc..)  and holds a really great charge.  I used the Powerport and was able to get 2 complete iPhone recharges out of it.  The Powerport is a handy device to have in your travel bag in case you need a quick charge, say, while waiting for the train.  The battery slides out and can be charged using the Milwaukee 12V charger, or in the Milwaukee Jobsite radio.