accessories

LG has made great strides with their music phones, integrating stereo Bluetooth into most of its recent music-playing handsets. As a result, the company debuted a Bluetooth stereo speaker that will pair up nicely with them, acting as a cool, portable speaker that you can bring around on trips. The LG MSB-100 Bluetooth stereo speaker is a smart-looking device, with a glossy-black finish paired with milky-white accents. Not only can you use to blast your tunes, you can also use it as a speakerphone for conference calls. It will be available in May this year for around $120.

We usually like the Bluetooth headsets from Cardo, and lucky for us, the company has released a trio of Bluetooth headsets at CTIA this week. The sexiest of the lot is the Cardo S-800, a petite Bluetooth headset that weighs a scant 0.38 ounces. It's the first Cardo headset to have an in-ear earpiece, so you won't need the earloop to wear it. It also has a "hot-dialing" button that lets you call up to three of your favorite contacts. Other features include a battery status indicator, a headset location buzzer, a missed call indicator, … Read more

The Motorola H680 is a fashionably compact Bluetooth headset that was released at CTIA this year. Clad in vacuum metal and a black-gloss finish, the petite H680 only weighs about 0.42 ounces. It comes with a charging case that's made of clear plastic and the same vacuum metal material, which can be plugged into a wall or car charger. If you keep the headset in it when you carry it around, the headset's battery life will last longer. The rated talk time for the Motorola H680 is about 8 hours, while rated standby time is up to … Read more

Nokia has always been pretty creative with its Bluetooth products, and at CTIA the company showed several new and existing products designed to capture the wireless functionality that Bluetooth brings. The gizmos were under a glass cube, but we still managed to take a close look.

Front and center in the lower left corner of the photograph is the Nokia MD-5W Bluetooth stereo speakers. When paired with a music phone that supports stereo Bluetooth (it doesn't have to be a Nokia handset), you can blare or stream music from your phone into the public realm. For more private listening, … Read more

I've never been one for cell phone dangles. If you're over the age of 15, I just don't see the point of putting some useless accoutrement on your phone. But after seeing this doughnut dangle on Samsung's Simpsons phone, I have to admit that dangles aren't all bad. Pictured here on the Samsung Sync Simpsons phone that we first saw at CES, this doughnut dangle (complete with a Homer-size bite) is one of the most unique cell phone accessories I've ever seen. It definitely completes the desired effect on a handset that is as … Read more

Sony Ericsson has always been good about accessorizing their admirable Walkman phone line. And while the company hasn't announced any such new products at CTIA, it is showing its latest options in music phone speakers. These tiny portable speakers are perfect for a weekend trip or a day at the park, as they do a decent job of making your music public. Of course, they lack the wattage of your home stereo, but they still can turn any event into a small party. The MPS-70 portable speaker system feature two cube-shaped speakers that attach easily to any Walkman phone. … Read more

Even at CTIA, where hundreds of new cell phone accessories line the show floor, I love this little camera phone tripod from Sony Ericsson. The Camera Phone Kit (IPK-100) is so simple yet ever so useful, because even when you use a high-quality camera phone such as the Sony Ericsson K790a it can be so darn hard to hold the phone steady and get the best shots.

Just attach it to your Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phone, then bend the flexible legs for the best position, and it will hold the handset steady for getting better shots or for using your … Read more

Putting one of these laptop shades on your computer might make it look like an old-school microfiche reader from the mustiest corner of your local public library, but I think it could actually serve a useful purpose. Any laptop owner knows that toting your Vaio or MacBook outside is borderline impossible because the glare from the sun renders the screen unreadable. This add-on, called CompuShade, attaches to the top of your laptop and can be unfolded when you're outside and want to block the glare out.

Plus, it can keep people from snooping! So not only can you take … Read more

OK, you heard it here first: the Nokia 330 portable navigation system is headed for the United States. We got a little heads-up from Nokia tonight that it's going to announce the U.S. availability of the Nokia 330 Auto Navigation unit tomorrow with an expected ship date of April. It'll come preloaded with Navteq maps and features a 3.5-inch touch screen, turn-by-turn, voice-guided directions, and multimedia capabilities (music and video player and image viewer). You know, pretty much like every other portable in-car GPS device out there. Will it offer any compelling reasons to fork over $… Read more