Product: M2 from QPS

Currently available in 6, 10 and 20GB configurations and with 30GB on the way, the M2 hard drive is not exactly new. Still, the unique stackable design makes the M2 a standout product. The M2 has a FireWire port on the back as well as male & female connectors on the top and bottom that allow you to connect multiple M2 drives without additional cabling. This, and the pleasing form factor, makes the M2 a compelling product.

Product: Dimage X from Minolta

The Dimage X looks like it belongs in a James Bond movie. Measuring 3.3" x 2.8" x .8" and weighing less than 5 oz. (sans battery and media) the Dimage X is the ultimate in portability. This petite camera still sports a 3x optical zoom, thanks to a clever design that uses a prism to "fold" the light path 90° in the camera. This allows the lens to zoom vertically (and relatively quietly) within the camera. The Dimage X only packe 2 megapixels, a low number by today's standards, but the printouts we saw looked perfectly acceptable. The Dimage X should be out before the end of the month and will retail for $399.

Product: India Titler from Prismo Graphics

We spent more time that we would like to admit staring at the India Titler demo. India Titler, available in standard and pro packages, is a program that lets you add titles to your multimedia projects. The diverse collection of effects was completely mesmerizing, ranging from fire and fog effects to letters sculpted on the fly from clay. A full featured India Titler is not currently available for OS X although Prismo Graphics was selling a stripped down OS X version at the show. Expect a fully functioning OS X release in the next few months.... MSRP: $449 standard, $899 Pro.

Product: WorkStrip from Softchaos

WorkStrip has been out for the Mac OS for a while, the OS X preview release has recently become available. WorkStrip serves as a replacement for the control strip under OS 9 or dock under OS X and adds a wealth of features aimed at making navigation and file/asset management easier.

Product: iPhoto from Apple

iPhoto joins iMovie, iDVD and iTunes to round out Apple's suite of "digital hub" applications. iPhoto streamlines the process of getting your digital photographs from your camera to the web or print. Each download from your digital camera is assigned to a "roll" in iPhoto's main window. You can easily adjust the size of the preview thumbnails with a simple slider and drag individual photos into albums. iPhoto also lets you perform basic editing functions, crop, rotate, red eye reduction etc. Editing options are sparse (Adobe doesn't have anything to worry about), but the basic necessities are there and Apple is likely to beef up the feature set in iPhoto 2. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of iPhoto is the variety of options to share your photos. You can print to your printer using a variety of templates, order reprints online through Kodak, set up a web page via Apple's online iTools or order a printed and bound book with a variety of different layouts. The sample books we checked out were drop dead gorgeous. Lastly, iPhoto can create a slide show complete with soundtrack. The slide show can be viewed within iPhoto or exported as a QuickTime movie.

Product: FireWire KeyChain from WiebeTech

WiebeTech has come up with a brilliant idea, marry the speed of FireWire with the diminutive size of flash memory. The results is the FireWire KeyChain which, when released, will be available in capacities ranging from 64MB up to 1GB! Since there are no moving parts involved, the KeyChain should prove to be a rugged little (and we mean little) device.

WiebeTech's president, James Wiebe showed us a QuickTime movie trailer running with nary a stutter or dropped frame off the KeyChain. Even more enticing is the possibility of installing a minimal system folder and 1 or 2 repair utilities onto the Keychain for emergencies. That said, it is not clear at this point whether the Keychain will serve as a boot volume. WiebeTech will post prices on their site January 23rd, with the product expected to ship in March. The FireWire KeyChain uses the popular Oxford 911 bridge.

Product: iPod Remote* from Griffin Technology

Griffin Technology, never one to leave well enough alone, showed off their latest innovation, the iPod Remote. The remote plugs into the iPod's headphone jack and, according to company president Paul Griffin, delivers solid performance up to 40' away. Those of you with 50' living rooms will have to do your own testing ;-)

Griffin said the idea came to him shortly after the iPod was released although he was understandably elusive about the specific challenges involved in bringing this unique product to market. The software, which will allow you to program in a variety of devices using standardized product codes, is still in its infancy, but Griffin expects it should be finished in the next month or two. Pricing has yet to be set.

* Not necessarily the name that will be used with the shipping product.

Product: HARMONi G3/500/500/256K from Sonnet Tech.

Picking Sonnet tech was something of a no-brainer as they were the only upgrade manufacturer to have a presence at the expo this year. Even so, the HARMONi upgrade is an exciting one as it not only boosts your processor speed to 500MHz, it also brings a FireWire port to the early iMacs. The HARMONi was announced last Summer, but is just now beginning to ship. We plan on testing a HARMONi card over at MacSpeedZone in the future, so keep an eye out. The HARMONI retails for $300 and works with the G3/233, G3/266 and G3/333 (Revisions A-D) iMacs.