At the rate technology is progressing, slightly old stuff drop in price dramatically just a few months after they're released, while sometimes newer products don't exactly cost an arm and a leg to bring home. Case in point, the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 6500 UB projector that won't surpass the $3,000 price point. You will find the following inside the 6500 though :-

• Epson's Crystal Clear Fine D7 chip
• Cinema Filter for improved color accuracy
• HDMI 1.3a connectivity
• 2.1x optical zoom
• 4,000 hours lamp
• 75,000:1 contrast ratio
• 1,600 lumens brightness
• 22dB fan noise

Motorola has a trio of new handsets that will be released over the course of the next few months via different carriers, and we'll take a look at them right now. The Motorola W233 prides itself in being the first handset to be made from recycled water bottles - yes, that could be last year's Evian bottle for all you know inside. It has a carbon neutral footprint, so you don't have to worry about adding to the world's pollution by picking one up, while costing 20% less the manufacture. The W233 is a dual-band 850/1900 GSM/EDGE phone with nine hours of rated talk time, features CrystalTalk, has a microSD memory card slot and basic messaging features.

As for the Surf A3100, this touch-based handset will see the older Ming out. Although it is powered by Windows Mobile Professional 6.1, it will have its own user interface from Motorola (nothing to get excited about judging by their past record), a 2.8" display, stereo Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 3-megapixel camera, a microSDHC memory card slot, aGPS and supports quad-band GSM/EDGE as well as 850/1900/2100 tri-band HSDPA 7.2Mbps 3G. You will find this in selected Asian markets during Q1 2009, with no word on a North American release yet, if ever.

Last but not least we have the Tundra VA76r: - a military spec, ruggedized clamshell that will be available from AT&T, featuring push-to-talk, CrystalTalk Plus, Motorola's MOTOMAGX platform, a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth connectivity, a microSD memory card slot, aGPS and quad-band GSM/EDGE and dual-band 850/1900 HSDPA 3.2Mbps. Will any of these change the world? Nah, we don't think so.

[CES 2009] Another new gadget for gamers and it looks really cool in the picture. It is supposed to provide an immersive experience, thanks to the 7.1 surround sound and the Dolby technology that provides a detailed soundfield. Another cool feature is the six voice- morphing options. Gamers have to wait until March to get it from the Logitech website for $129.99.

Complete feature list after the jump

[CES 2009] The new version of the Logitech Harmony 1000 universal remote wins CES Best of Innovation Award in Home Entertainement, the second time for the Harmony line. One knows how hard the universal remote business is and I am not sure if this is the ultimate solution yet. But Logitech always comes up with very good looking designs and from the photo I can tell that this version looks even sexier than the previous one. It offers a 3.5 inch customizable touch screen that allows users to configure the commands they want, where they want them. The RF wireless technology allows to control the device even when they are out of sight and more than 225,000 devices from 5,000 brands are supported.

[CES 2009] Logitech is coming up with the new version of its famous highly customizable gaming mouse, the G9. The design is exactly the same and from the spec sheets it was hard to tell what is new here. The only new feature that i could spot is the higher precision: now users can adjust the gaming-grade engine up to 5000 dpi, before it was only 3200 dpi. It will ship in April 2009 for $99.99, you will be able to buy directly from www.logitech.com. Check out the specifications after the jump.

Being in space is cool but you do have to deal with the lack of gravity, although astronauts don't have to worry about their sagging bits and waste a ton of money on a plastic surgeon. One of the more inconvenient thing about being in space is relieving oneself, and currently they have special attachments to fit either male or female anatomies. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has a different idea though, and have dedicated their time in developing a next-generation toilet for space exploration. This diaper-like portable toilet is supposedly clean and easy to use, featuring an automatic washer and dryer to keep your skin baby smooth and clean once you're done with your business. Hopefully the cleaning will be thorough, as everybody loves a clean butt.

The last time that you've seen this image, it was in June, when SlingPlayer was demonstrating its software for the first time on the iPhone. This time around, Sling Media is telling us that the release will happen at MacWorld, but they mention that Apple needs to approve the software " in Q1". The second part of this news is Sling Player HD for Mac: those who own a Slingbox Pro HD will be able to stream HD content to their Mac at no additional cost. Yes, SlingPlayer HD for Mac is free. More about Sling Media.

[CES 2009] To complete the trend of product trying to use the human-brain interface, Mattel is coming to CES with this game that requires to wear a headset full of sensors measuring the user's brainwave activity. Using mental concentration, the gamer guides a small foam ball through a customizable obstacle course. We already published about Neurosky and the Emotiv Epoc neuroheadset, two super innovative products that are experimenting with the brain activity to control games interfaces. I am curious to see how well this new toy works, knowing that it is not that easy to have such technology work perfectly all the time

Mindflex will be available in Fall 2009 for $79.99 and it is for eight years old kids.

We got to spend some time with the HP Firebird with Voodoo DNA and while some describe it as a gaming machine, I don't think that I would agree. A large chunk of the resources (your money) spent on this computer is geared towards making it silent and nice to use. Making a powerful gaming machine that does not have any consideration for the power or noise that it generates is quite easy. Having a fast PC that can sit next to you without buzzing annoyingly is much harder - or expensive.

I found the use of two MXM GPU modules to be an interesting idea. MXM was originally designed by NVIDIA to make laptop motherboard GPU design to be more GPU neutral (to gain market share), but Voodoo convinced NVIDIA to help it design a desktop machine using this format. Now, the dual GeForce 9800S GPUs take only a fraction of a single card.

The liquid cooling and the external power supply help decrease the number of fans to nothing and finally, the dual 2.5" disks won't be heard while they seek for data. It's not really a desktop that uses laptop parts, it's not a laptop in a big case. It's a PC for those who want high-performance, but not at the cost of having a Harley Davidson in the PC case. We wonder if more PC Makers will follow and if consumers will bite. Would you? (Specifications in the full post)

The HP Mini 2140 is an update of the Mini 2133 that we have previously reviewed. HP has been listening to their customers and have improved a few things that were high on the users wish list. First, the display size: 10.1" is a bit more comfortable than the previous 8.9" display, although you should know that the resolution has increased to 1366x768, which is great from a technical standpoint, but that means "very small pixels", so take a good look before getting one. Secondly, the CPU is now an Intel Atom paired with a GMA950 integrated graphic. The pair should play fullscreen YouTube movies without any problems - that's an issue with the 2133. I'm not sure how battery life is affected by all that, but I think that it should mostly be the same. Finally, the construction quality is still very good.

[CES 2009] The HP Pavilion dv3 is an thin and light (<4lbs) laptop that packs a decent CPU and graphics card, along with a respectable amount of disk storage (400GB max). However, we like the fact that the motherboard can support 8GB of RAM (with a 64-bit OS). It's about time for laptops to go to the next level, even if right now, two 4GB modules of DDR2 800Mhz can cost as much as $725 - ouch. Assuming that the price of this laptop is reasonable , this is an interesting system that has a good balance in terms of power, weight and value. When it comes to style, everyone is entitled to an opinion, so what's yours? Check out the photo gallery and tell us if you like it or not.

The 13.3" format for thin and light laptop is dominating these days, but HP thinks that a well-priced 12.1" can gain some traction. In this case, well-price would mean "around $700". Currently, internet prices tend to hover around $1100 for 12.1" laptops. One thing worth noting is that the dv2 can optionally get a Gobi chip that would let the user connect on most wireless broadband networks in the country, whether HSDPA or EVDO - no external cards required.

[CES 2009] This is the entry level model from the new Samsung H-series camcorders, unlike the other 3 models it does not have an internal SSD but requires a SD/SDHC card. Thanks to the H.264 compression, users can record up to six hours of full HD video on a 32 GB SDHC card, since on average people record only 30 min of video each time, this less expensive model is a good choice for the regular users.

The Schneider Kreuznach lens features a 10x optical zoom with the new Samsung Optical Image Stabilizer and offers a 37 mm wide-angle focal unlike most of the camcorders available on the market (typically 40-50 mm). Other features include HDMI connections to watch full HD video on a HDTV, a 2.7" swiveling TFT LCD screen and a HD time lapse recording mode, that allows to record each image with a pre-selected time interval.

Now this is one mindless solar-powered toy that we would love to have at the office - the Solar Monkey. Equipped with a small solar panel no bigger than its back that pops up whenever you want to juice up this primate, it will start to climb up a string, hand over hand to keep children (and bored adults at the office) entertained to no end. The Solar Monkey will retail for $20 a pop and requires some bit of assembly, but the fact that you don't need batteries to power this mindless gizmo is refreshing. At least you don't have to feed it bananas or clean up after this origami-looking monkey.