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For gaming enthusiasts, the Wii Everlast Boxing Gloves fulfill the promise that the Power Glove for Nintendo offered in 1989.

The Power Glove initially generated a huge buzz, before people found it difficult to use – especially to simulate boxing in games like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out

While the standard Wii remote was a major improvement in interactive gaming, the gloves, created by Everlast Worldwide and Company X Accessories and priced at $30, offer a much better virtual-boxing experience.

They're real 3.8-ounce synthetic-leather training gloves, with straps for the Wii remote in range of the Wii's sensor. An opening for your fingers makes pushing buttons fairly easy. The sensor still takes some getting used to, but the gloves give you some sense of being in the ring – and also a pretty good workout.

R.M. Schneiderman

SONY CAMCORDER TAKES THE ‘CHEESE' OUT OF TAKING PICTURES

The Sony HDR-CX12 believes you should never have to say “cheese” again. This small and light camcorder automatically takes still photos whenever anyone in the frame smiles, ensuring that every shot is at least partially a keeper.

The camera records video at 1920 x 1080 pixels – 1080i quality – and records video and stills to an included four-gigabyte Memory Stick. The camera supports memory cards up to 16 gigabytes.

The video camera is available now and costs about $900. It can shoot photos at 10-megapixel resolution and records audio in 7.1-surround sound, adding a bit of realism to your next birthday party. It has a 2.7-inch screen and optical stabilizers that reduce jitter while recording.

Interestingly, the camera can distinguish between adult and child smiles, ensuring you shoot only the group you intended. The camera takes the photos automatically, even while recording video, and at five inches long, the Sony is small enough to be coat-pocketable. Because of its few moving parts, the memory-card camcorder is more durable than many tape-based machines. And for those subjects that aren't smiling? Just wait: Sony's working on a newer model that dispenses free lollipops and hugs.

John Biggs

YES, IT'S A PORTABLE PROJECTOR, AND NO, YOU AREN'T HEARING THINGS

Ever wonder what your gadgets would say if they could talk? Toshiba's TLP-X200U mobile projector answers that question for you via a built-in voice technology system.

The 4.4-pound projector orally guides you through its operating instructions and also speaks up when it needs a tune-up. The X200U's female voice says “check the air filter for dirt” when it is time for you to clean its air filter.

When the lamp needs to be replaced, the projector will state (cheerfully), “The lamp life is ending. Please change the lamp.” If the cooling fan needs attention, you'll be the first to know with the following prompt: “A problem has occurred to the cooling fan. Please look at the owner's manual.”

Should you grow impatient, the projector will kindly admonish you by saying, “The lamp will turn on shortly. Please wait a moment.” The X200U comes with closed-caption capabilities, 3,000 ANSI lumens of brightness, a 600:1 contrast ratio and a projection distance of up to 35.9 feet.

The TLP-X200U is available for $1,740. It seems all that talk doesn't come cheap.

Azandeh Ensha

A BIG-BUTTON CELLPHONE

Palm-size gadgets with barely-there buttons aren't always a baby boomer's best friend. The ClarityLife C900 mobile phone, however, is trying to offer something a little friendlier.

Made specifically for the older user, the phone features amplified volume control, large features and a simple design. The C900 also sports a one-touch emergency button (look for the heart icon on the back of the phone) that calls and sends text messages to five preprogrammed numbers.

More important, it continues to redial the five contacts until one of them answers. The C900 also amplifies sounds up to 20 decibels and flashes an orange LED to alert users to an incoming call.

Placing a call is also easy: The unlocked GSM phone (it will work on AT&T and T-Mobile networks in this country) comes with oversize call and hang-up buttons and a full slide-out keypad with – you guessed it – large buttons. The $270 C900, available now, also comes with a built-in flashlight. Even the grandchildren can't say that about their cell phones.

Azandeh Ensha

NOW YOU CAN TAKE A CELL PHONE CALL FROM ANY LANDLINE IN THE HOUSE

Do you find the idea of disconnecting your home phone service and using only your cell phone a tempting proposition? If so, there's a way to cut your landline and sort of keep it too.

With the XLink (www.myxlink.com), you can connect the wired phones in your home to the service of your Bluetooth-capable cell, so that when your mobile rings, you can use one a traditional home phone to see the caller ID information and actually take the call.

Using the XLink, you leave your cell phone in a part of the house that gets the best wireless reception. Two models are available: The $80 BT is for those who have already cut their home phone cord, while the $110 BTTN lets you add your cell numbers to an existing wired system.

While not the first product of its kind, the XLink does allow you to connect up to three separate cell phone numbers to your home phone network. Each phone can be assigned a distinct ring, so the appropriate family member answers. Knowing that their parents won't inadvertently grab a call meant for them should help teenagers in the house rest easy.

Eric A. Taub

A BIT OF THE SECRET AGENT TURNS UP IN ENCRYPTED BUSINESS HARD DRIVES

A number of hard-drive manufacturers, including Hitachi and Fujitsu, have just announced business-oriented encrypted hard drives intended to scramble every bit written to them. Only Lenovo's ThinkPad USB Portable Hard Drive, however, includes a dedicated keypad for adding a bit of James Bond fun to the process of encrypting – and decrypting – your data.

The drives come in 160 and 320 gigabyte sizes ($179 and $219, respectively) and will be available later this year. They have 128-bit encryption built in so everything written or read from them must pass through an encryption routine. This is important because the drive is less than an inch thick and smaller than a 3 x 5 index card, making it prone to theft or loss.

The drive can support up to 10 separate user IDs with 10 different security keys and it attaches to Windows PCs with a standard USB cable. It comes in standard ThinkPad black and the keys have a sufficiently “secret agent” flair about them to encourage envy – but not hacking – at your next business meeting.

John Biggs