Gadgets galore

As 2008 draws rapidly to a close, now is a good time to look ahead at the technologies, devices and gadgets that will make a big difference in our professional and personal lives during the next year. Here are the objects of desire that we think should be on the discerning CIO’s order list as the gift-giving season gets under way.

ViewSonic SwifTouch

Digital photo frames can be as simple or complicated as you like, but with its high-resolution screen (800x600) and discretely hidden, illuminated control buttons, this sleek 2GB model is a stylish accessory for the office or home environment.

It doubles as a video and MP3 player and also features a clock, alarm and calendar, so if you're mesmerised by the beauty of your own slide show - or just lost in music - a reminder of your schedule is never far away.

The USB 2.0 port makes photo imports quick and easy, the 7-inch frame supports JPEG and BMP photo formats, and you can tailor the transition effects in the slideshow, as well as video and audio capabilities, to your own taste.

Pico Projector

Optoma's pocket-sized Pico claims to be the world's smallest and lightest projector. Highly portable, it enables large screen viewing from personal media players, mobile phones, PDAs, cameras and gaming devices.  Weighing just 115 grams and a similar size to many mobile phones, the Pico offers 20,000 hours of lamp life, and features an integrated speaker and battery life of up to two hours.

The mini projector also enables all users to share images and videos from their media devices with a diagonal image size of up to 60 inches - as much as 100 times the size of the source device screen. The Pico is based on the advanced Digital Light Processing (DLP) chipset, providing the latest DLP technology and LED illumination. Clear, bright, high contrast images are guaranteed, according to creator Optoma.

Marlin SpyPen

CIOs with meeting-heavy schedules are always looking for alternatives to laborious note-taking. The Marlin SpyPen looks like an ordinary pen but is actually a hi-tech hidden digital video camera, complete with the world's smallest digital video recorder (DVR) and a super-sensitive hidden microphone.

Available in 2Gb and 4Gb models, it offers real-time recording in AVI video format. The device can then be connected to a standard USB 2.0 port of a PC, laptop, or any other kind of electronic equipment for easy playback.

The full-colour digital video recorder features Read/Write speeds of 900K/700K/second and - with a resolution of 300k pixels - lets you see the person being recorded very clearly. At the same time, the SpyPen's microphone can record across distances of over 15 feet, so that you can hear all of the conversation.

There are no drivers to install, and no bulky A/C power supply, as the device is charged via the USB port. And with a built-in, high volume rechargeable lithium battery, the SpyPen can work for up to two hours on a single charge.