Mega Roundup– part 2
Collection of 2008's Gadgets, Goods and Gizmos
The Fastest Internet, From Space 
JAXA Kizuna Broadband Satellite
Kizuna, launched by the Japanese space agency JAXA in February, will deliver to remote areas of Japan and Southeast Asia the fastest satellite Internet connections ever—up to 1.2 gigabits per second, or 500 times the average American consumer connection. Unlike previous satellites, Kizuna is powerful enough to supply industrial-speed signals to small, inexpensive antennas on the ground. Another first: It tracks the weather and adjusts signal strength for specific regions accordingly; for example, it will send a stronger signal to an area where it's raining in order to penetrate the storm. www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html
Hitachi slimmed today's TVs from four inches to 1.5 by improving current technology. A new diffuser sits right against the backlight yet still spreads light evenly across the screen, and a specially developed power supply is one third as thick. From $1,500 (32-inch screen);
www.hitachi.us/tv
This mower won't bog down in even the densest overgrowth. The onboard 60-volt battery tucked between the front wheels is the biggest of any electric, but when that's not enough, just plug it in. It's the first mower with an onboard controller that applies the extra corded power as needed to keep the blade spinning steadily, so you can make short work of any patch.
$400; www.remingtonmower.com
A little Amp with lots of Power 
The ZP120 digital amplifier is the brawn of the Sonos wireless music-streaming system. About the size of a few hardback books, the amp pumps 55 watts per channel-—enough to power the largest stereo speakers—using the same technology that keeps satellites from overheating. Instead of a traditional power supply, which always provides the same high voltage, the ZP120 delivers only what the amp needs at the moment. The trick for Sonos was developing filters to shield the audio signal from stray frequencies produced every time the power supply switches voltage. $500; www.sonos.com
The Finish that Repairs Itself 
It won't save you from a key-gouging vandal, but the finish on the 2008 Infiniti EX and FX-model SUVs can erase scrapes caused by, say, car washes or stray branches. The clear coat contains a synthetic resin that, when activated by daytime heat and sunlight, flows into surface wounds, repairing the damage in anywhere from a day to a week, depending on temperature and the depth of the scratch. Thanks to the extra resin in the coating, the finish is more durable than most, too, showing 80 percent fewer abrasions than conventional clear coat after 50 trips through an automated car wash. www.infiniti.com
Fat Sound from Skinny Speakers 
Sony BDV-IT1000ES Bravia Theater System
This audio rig replaces giant speakers with thin bars you can hang on the wall. Using a new design, it generates full sound from 22-inch-long sticks measuring about half an inch wide by one inch deep. Traditional speakers create sound by vibrating a bulbous cone that is attached to a large electromagnet. Sony engineers replaced the big cone with a narrow, oval-shaped diaphragm. To make it vibrate, they ditched the thick iron post in standard electromagnets and instead attached a copper coil to the side of a thin metal plate. A Blu-ray-equipped receiver drives the front speakers, a center channel and (via a wireless link) two rear speaker sticks, plus a subwoofer. $2,000; www.sonystyle.com
A mini-Chip for Thinner Laptops 
Intel Core 2 Duo Small Form Factor
Thank Intel for this year's super-slim notebooks—the Apple MacBook Air, Lenovo X300 and VooDoo Envy 133 each measure about three quarters of an inch thick. These svelte laptops all contain a 60-percent-smaller version of Intel's Core 2 Duo that, at 0.76 square inch, fits in even the tightest spaces. Instead of shrinking the processor itself, Intel trimmed the metal-and-plastic package that surrounds it, bunching power wires closer together and developing a tidier epoxy to hold the chip with less goop. www.intel.com
This Web site uses ordinary photos—whether of national monuments, scientific specimens or your vacation—to build a 3-D view that you navigate as if in a videogame. Photosynth analyzes dozens of shots to find overlapping areas and piece them together. These high-resolution visuals are served smoothly over the Internet, using an algorithm that starts filling in pixels at the center of the screen (where your eye focuses first) and radiates outward. Free; www.microsoft.com
Gorilla's new superglue incorporates tiny rubber particles that allow it to flex slightly when it's dry, avoiding the brittleness that causes standard instant-set glues to shatter under a big impact. Like normal superglue, Gorilla's version sets in about 30 seconds and bonds smooth surfaces, but its unique chemistry makes it thicker and therefore easier to apply. $4; www.gorillatough.com
You're not the only creator in Spore. The game uploads other players' designs to an online database, drawing from these options every time you encounter another creature or vehicle. Programmers made this transfer speedy by boiling down the info needed to re-create a character, such as its personality, into a DNA-like text code. With more than 30 million player-made creatures at press time, Spore is the first of a new breed—a game that gets even more interesting after you buy it. $50; www.Spore.com
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