Whether you work from home or have cornered a hot spot at your favorite coffeehouse, chances are you want productivity tools that are light, efficient, and worry-free. We’ve rounded up a team of office devices to help you on your way to work nirvana.
A. If you’re like the rest of the more than 125 million cell phone subscribers with Bluetooth-enabled devices, you’ve been hard-pressed to find a headset that fits just right. Aliph Inc.’s Jawbone might be the solution. The super-light headset gives you a choice of six earbuds and four ear loops for a truly customizable fit. But the real draw is in Jawbone’s Noise Shield technology, which, in our tests, significantly reduced background noise. You can also turn the Noise Shield off or adjust it depending on the surrounding noise level. For the fashion-forward, Jawbone is available in gunmetal silver, black, and red. (www.aliph. com; $119.99)
B. On the prowl for a hot spot but can’t be bothered with launching a search every time you hit a new city? Try Canary Wireless’s HS20 Digital Hotspotter, a Wi-Fi detection and analysis tool. Weighing just 2 ounces, the sleek black device provides network ID, signal strength, encryption status, and channel data for 802.11 (b, g, and n) networks. Hotspotter’s scroll feature toggles between multiple available networks, a backlit display, and a larger screen with quick-glance icons. (www.canarywireless.com; $59.95).
C. You’re on the road and you need the latest sales figures to close a deal when you suddenly remember-you’ve left them on your home PC. With Rove Mobile’s PCMobilizr software, you can access your PC from your mobile phone. It even displays the computer’s screen and lets you control the keyboard and mouse-all remotely. In an instant you have secure access to all your files and applications. The software runs on any Windows Mobile device (the company promises iPhone and Nokia devices support soon, as well as a Mac version of the software). (www.pcmobilizer.com; free 30-day trial, $9.50/month).
D. Though the PC crowd might deny it, nothing says cool like Apple’s new MacBook Air. The “thinnovative” notebook weighs just 3 pounds and comes equipped with a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 13.3-inch glossy widescreen TFT, and five hours of battery life. Everyone who carries around high-performance portable Macs knows they tend to run heavy. The Air lets us travel lighter. (www.apple.com; starting at $1,799)