LUGGAGE THAT CHARGES
DEVICES ON THE GO
Power Commute and Power Q bags, $200, www.timbuk2.com
Timbuk2, a maker of luggage and accessories, has banded with Joey Energy to create a pair of bags with a brainy battery that keeps your devices charged up -- the Power Commute Laptop Messenger bag and the Power Q Laptop backpack, both at $200.
The Joey power pack fits into a pocket built into the Timbuk2 bags. The battery senses what kind of electronics are attached and charges them at the optimal rate, the company says.
The battery is comparatively slim and lightweight. In a test, it recharged a completely discharged Motorola Droid Razr Maxx and a nearly discharged Samsung Galaxy Note II to 25 percent power before it ran out of juice.
It has a "pass-through" capability, meaning it can recharge while a device is attached, and the battery brain will see that the device charges as fast as possible while excess power simultaneously charges the Joey.
The bags have durable Cordura nylon exteriors, padded pockets, some fleece-lined pockets and compartments for just about anything you would care to carry. The Joey is not available without the bag.
A TOOL FOR TABLET USERS WHO LIKE PEN AND PAPER
Sky smartpen, $200, www.livescribe.com
Seeking to cater to fans of ink and paper, Livescribe has created the Sky smartpen, a writing tool with a tiny computer inside that records notes written on special microdot paper. The notes are then sent wirelessly to a personal account in the cloud through a partnership with Evernote, the digital archive service.
The pen has up to 8 gigabytes of memory, which translates into thousands of pages of words, pictures and diagrams. It also records audio during the note-taking session. Users can play back precise moments of the audio by touching the pen to the corresponding spot in the handwritten notes.
Sky includes 500 megabytes of free storage through Evernote.
The Sky pen comes with a replacement ink cartridge, two easy-to-lose caps, a notebook of microdot paper and a micro-USB cable for charging. The pen and accessories are available online at Amazon.com and Livescribe's website, as well as at retailers like Staples and Best Buy.
The 4-gigabyte Sky pen, which costs $200, is easy to set up and use. The pen, although chunky, feels comfortable, and syncing through Wi-Fi to an Evernote account is effortless. The notes are quickly accessible on an iPad or iPhone.
NEW YORK TIMES
