New products: Steer a toy car from your iPhone with CarBot app
- Chat with friends from Sena's snow helmet
- Keep tech gear safe with B7 backpack
- Props nylon cords keeps earbuds within reach
Phone the race in
If you played with Hot Wheels cars as a kid and have an iPhone today, the CarBot from Desk Pets will serve as a fun little distraction: It's basically a remote-controlled car, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Remotely controlled by an iDevice or Android phone, the CarBot can skitter across your desk or floor as you guide it around the room with a Desk Pets app on your screen and a dongle plugged into the device's audio jack. As you drive the car, you can make it go forward, backward, turn and stop. Depending on the selected mode, the robotic car also can use infrared signals to work through a homemade obstacle course or race around the room on its own, spinning in circles as it makes silly sounds.
When the car runs low on energy, it will emit snoring sounds that let you know it's time to plug its retractable USB charger into a computer or an adapter. A 40-minute charge will give you another 25 minutes of driving time.
Available in orange, red, blue and green, each colored car operates on its own frequency, allowing you and a pal to race the cars across the room. Each car costs about $30.
Connect on the slopes
Are you a safety-conscious snowboarder who also likes to have fun? Well, of course you will wear a protective helmet. And if you are looking for a way to communicate with similarly equipped friends, the SPH10S Bluetooth headset/intercom from Sena can be affixed to helmets, allowing you to alert others to snow conditions or just say, "It's time to get some chili!" The headset allows you to talk to up to three other riders via intercom as far apart as about one-third mile. The helmet also can be connected to a Bluetooth device, providing wireless access to a Bluetooth phone, GPS device or audio player. Designed to fit with compatible helmets from Giro, Burton Red and Smith, each headset costs about $220.
Backpacks toughen up
Let's be blunt: Sometimes when you buy a cheap backpack, you get what you pay for -- a bag that starts to fray or rip soon after you bought it. And let's be blunt again: Some new bags from ECBC are pricey -- but they are specifically designed to last.
Made with a tough, water-resistant nylon exterior and a rip-resistant interior with strategically placed padding, the new line of B7 backpacks provides a protective cocoon for your gear. The roomiest model, the Lance Daypack, has a padded fold-out FastPass compartment that can hold up to a 17-inch laptop that can easily be removed when going through airport security.
The backpack also includes a padded pocket for a tablet, a lined pocket for sunglasses and a music player, two hidden zippered pocket for water bottles and an easy-to-reach padded pocket for a phone.
Equipped with adjustable, padded shoulder straps, the sporty bag promises to be easy on the back. It costs about $150. Not in a hurry at the airport? The Harpoon Daypack, which provides space for a laptop without the FastPass system, costs $100. A similar line of messenger bags also is available.
Props keeps earbuds nearby
Did you ever get tired of fumbling for your reading glasses and decide to anchor them to a lanyard around your neck? Well, a product called Props does the same thing for those earbuds you'd like to keep handy. Worn around your neck, the Props nylon cord has two plastic clips that keep your earbuds within easy reach and a slider that lets you adjust the cord's length. Available from Quirky, the Props cord costs about $6.
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