Tech gadgets: Holiday chatter and mind control - plus the best messenger bag for all your gear | November 24, 2009

By Peter Wolchack

	Hands on the wheel. It’s the law BlueAnt Q1 Hands-free driving laws are now in effect in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario. B.C. is currently considering a similar move and other provinces may follow. In response, manufacturers are flooding the market with Bluetooth devices and we’ve selected three that stand out. The BlueAnt Q1 is small and attractive but, most importantly, it employs an innovative voice interface that controls its functions. For example, when a call comes in, it reads out the caller ID to you and to answer you simply say “Answer.” To ignore that call say “Ignore,” “Redial” redials, etc. This voice approach helps keep your hands on the wheel. Retail: approximately $150.
	Supertooth 3 For those who prefer a speakerphone, BlueAnt also makes the Supertooth 3, which offers similar voice features. It reads out caller IDs and allows you to answer and initiate calls. Our favourite feature is the vibration sensor, which detects the driver entering the car and then automatically reconnects to its paired handset. Retail: approximately $155.
	Yada Rearview Mirror Speakerphone Or, if you want to wow passengers in addition to simply answering a call, pick up the Yada Rearview Mirror Speakerphone. It actually clips over your existing rearview mirror. When a phone call comes in, call display information appears on the mirror’s surface. Buttons on the unit handle volume, initiating and ending a call, and menu items. While the button-based interface is not quite as hands-on-the-wheel friendly, the visual display works well in noisy environments (such as teenagers blasting the stereo). Retail: approximately $150
	Messenger bag review winner Tom Bihn ID messenger bag Backbone recently generated a full comparative analysis of seven computer messenger bags from the top manufacturers in the business. We’re going to ruin the surprise, though, by announcing the winner here: the Id messenger bag from Tom Bihn easily led the pack. First, it does a great job of protecting your valuable equipment, as each bag is actually two parts: the bag and an insert, called a Brain Cell, that is sized for specific laptop dimensions. This means the laptop is held securely in place. Other manufacturers do a good protection job—notably Brenthaven—but Tom Bihn also wins in our second major criterion: design and usability. When you first get an Id, zipping it open and going through the various compartments is a pleasure, because there are a lot of them and each is well designed. The zippers are splash-proof and the bag itself water resistant. And if you end up buying one of these, throw in a couple of Organizer Pouches: these zippered bags hold cables and memory cards and clip to one of the many O-rings scattered around the bag’s interior. The Id—which comes in five colour combinations—is not cheap, however. The bag costs US$140 and the required Brain Cells are US$60. Add in US$30 for shipping to Canada and it adds up, but in our opinion this is the best laptop messenger bag out there.
	Mind games Mindflex From the have-to-see-it-to-believe-it file comes the Mindflex, a game that uses the player’s brainwaves to raise or lower a ball on a column of air. Essentially, it’s an EEG machine hooked up to a mini obstacle course. But how it works doesn’t really matter. What does is that you can control an object with your mind, and that’s just cool. Mindflex, about $100 retail, is a unique and fun present.

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