The LG TONE+™

The LG TONE+™ offers enhanced audio quality with a number of improvements over its predecessor. The extended bass register of the LG TONE+™ effectively increases the available sound range, providing a perceptibly improved audio experience that will please even the most demanding audiophile. The LG TONE+ also adopts a professional grade audio codec, the aptX® which is used by discerning music studios, broadcasters and manufactures around the world and is favored for its ability to deliver CD-quality sound by automatically fitting high capacity audio data to the available bandwidth while transmitting.

The talk and standby times of the LG TONE+™ have been extended to 15 and 500 hours, respectively. Its sleek, behind-the-neck design ensures user comfort and fashion credentials at the same time. The LG TONE+™ will be available in Korea, the United States and China by the end of this month in blue-black and white-pearl color options.

Getting into the world of Touch

Having Windows 8, the one keyword you hear most often is "touch." That means touch-screen tablets and slates, touch panels added to traditional clamshell laptops, and touch-enabled all-in-one desktops. It also refers to Microsoft's new emphasis on touch gestures for touch pads, as well as the ambitious plans component companies such as Synaptics have for touch input in Windows 8.

Computer mouse had transformed, with its left and right buttons, scroll wheel, and single optical sensor (or trackball, for the old-schoolers) has changed little over the years, aside from shedding the USB (or earlier PS/2) cable for a wireless dongle or Bluetooth. A handful of models have added touch sensors along the top or extraneous side buttons, but the basic concept is the same, and increasingly far removed from how we interact with the rest of our high-tech devices.

HP Spectre had just-announced one all-in-one. This $1,299 desktop with a 23-inch 1080p display doesn't have a touch screen, but has  standalone touch pad, which matches up with an also-included wireless keyboard. Together, the pair looks an awful lot like the Apple wireless keyboard and trackpad combo sitting on my desk right now.

The LG Splendor

Like the Optimus L7, the Splendor runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, sports an impressive 4.3-inch screen, and has decent battery life. In addition, the Splendor has a faster 1GHz processor than its global counterpart, making it a breeze to handle. And while it isn't NFC-enabled, I'm willing to go without this novel piece of technology if it means getting more reliable performance.

The advantage: 

U.S. Cellular's LG Splendor is an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich device with a zippy processor, a bright display, and a thin build.

The unfavorable:
The Splendor's 3G data speeds are slow, its output speaker is poor, and its camera quality is mediocre.

The offer:
The LG Splendor doesn't have the fastest network connection, but it's an affordable and snappy handset that's loaded with Android 4.0 and a swift CPU.

The HP slides out

The new HP x2401 24-inch-diagonal LED backlit monitor has an 11-millimeter profile encased in a glossy black-piano finish and brushed-metal case.

Sporting a resolution of 1920x1080, it taps MVA (multidomain vertical alignment) to deliver good viewing angles and 5,000:1 and 10,000,000:1 static and dynamic contrast ratios, respectively.

DisplayPort and HDMI ports are built in. And wall mounting is also possible.

The x2401 follows the ultrathin x2301 23-inch display announced last year.

Both a consumer and business version will be offered. The consumer HP x2401 starts at $249 and is expected to be available in the United States on Nov. 7. The commercial version, the L2401x, starts at $259 and is expected to be available worldwide on Nov. 5.

The Sonos Connect

The Sonos Connect resembles the larger Connect:Amp with the same squat shape, but instead of the two-tone color scheme the Connect opts for a simpler, and arguably more attractive, all-white design. The device sits on blue rubber feet, which offers some isolation from the outside world.

The advantage: 

The Sonos Connect brings the Sonos ecosystem to users who don't want a standalone speaker system. Setup is incredibly easy, and the software apps are effortless. Sound quality is good, and the digital output means it can be even better. The analog input means the system can stream analog components around your house.
The unfavorable: 

There are other components in the Sonos range that beat it for sound quality. If you're not using it as part of a multiroom setup, it's somewhat pricey for what it does.
The offer: 

The Sonos Connect brings effortless wireless media streaming to existing hi-fi owners, but it's not the first Sonos system we'd recommend.

The Vizio E320i-A0

The 32-inch LED-based LCD, which Vizio says will cost about $300 at Wal-Mart and Costco when it goes on sale in October, is the cheapest smart TV I know about (at press time the online price shows as $370 from Vizio directly). That's about $50 more than the Toshiba 32C120U, but once you add a Roku or other device that price advantage evaporates. And in a bedroom setting where a TV this size is most at home, there's usually less room for external boxes, and less budget to add the universal remotes that make using such boxes just as easy as an integrated smart TV.
The advantage: 

The Vizio E320i-A0 32-inch LED-based LCD TV is a superb value, bringing Smart TV and solid picture quality in the same price range as many small TVs with neither. The Smart content selection is excellent and responsiveness was very good. Image-quality highlights include relatively deep black levels and good color. With its thin bezel, the set has a more compact, sleeker look than competitors.

The unfavorable: 

The Vizio's picture falls short of some entry-level TVs', with subpar shadow detail, and shows some discoloration in dark areas. Its Smart TV interface design seems a bit dated.

The offer: 

For people seeking integrated Smart features, the Vizio E320i-A0 is the strongest value we've seen yet among 32-inch TVs.