Sony late today unveiled the “world’s first 16.4-inch display.” It is more notable though for being one of the first notebooks powered by Intel’s new Centrino 2 technology. This laptop is the Sony VAIO FW Series and pricing ranges between $1,000 and $1,750.

The Sony VAIO FW Series is described by Sony as combining “the benefits of a slightly larger17-inch widescreen with the smaller ‘footprint’ of a 15.4-inch model.” Whether this makes much of a difference or not remains to be seen, but it does come with a nice load of technology features, including an integrated, optional Blu-ray Disc burner.

Toshiba this week announced it had updated select models of its Satellite laptops with new processor technology and other features. These models include the Satellite P300, Satellite A300, Satellite M300 and Satellite U400.

These updated Toshiba Satellite laptops feature Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo processor technology in addition to other enhancements such as “sleep-and-charge” USB ports and face recognition. You can get the full details via a Toshiba press release after the jump.

OWC continues to like to see how many directions it can go with its line of Mercury On-The-Go external hard drives. To that end it just announced what it is calling the highest capacity 7200RPM portable bus-powered storage solution on the market - the OWC Mercury On-The-Go 320GB 7200RPM.

The OWC Mercury On-The-Go 320GB 7200RPM, available with USB 2.0, USB 2.0+eSATA, FireWire 400+USB 2.0, and FireWire 800/400+USB 2.0 interfaces for a variety of prices starting around $240, offers what OWC says is 60% higher capacity to similar products. It is described as offering “3.5″ desktop hard drive performance in a 2.5″ solution.”

There is something a bit cheeky about a company who calls itself Genius. Still, I have looked at several Genius products over the years and for the most part they tend to perform well. The latest product from Genius has been announced and it is called the SP-T1200 2.0 Touch Speaker System.

As you might surmise from the name of the product, the speakers are controlled with the touch of a finger. Users are able to control the volume, bass, and treble by sliding a finger across the front of the speakers. The slide bar illuminates as you move the finger across the bar to show what level settings are at.

Buffalo Technology popped out today its own spin on portable mass storage by unveiling the MiniStation DataVault. It is set to price at around $130 for a 160GB version and $210 for 320GB.

The Buffalo MiniStation DataVault weighs less than eight ounces and includes a wrap around cable which snaps into place. The hard drive inside this Buffalo offering makes uses of hardware-based 128-bit AES technology for automatically encrypting all data saved to the drive.

I know, you’re always looking for a way to jazz up your cubicle. If only there was a way to have a trippy LED waterfall nearby to calm you and distract you from your work with it’s hypnotic lights. Maybe remind you of that time you had the bad colored M & M’s. Today is your lucky day.

If the sound of running water doesn’t have you running for the bathroom every half hour, there are other ways to waste time. You could put small action figures in it and pretend they’re beaming back to the Enterprise. It’s powered by USB or 3 AA batteries. You’ll also get colorful glass pebbles included. Only $24.

Imation announced today a new line of external hard drives which feature nice looks and decent storage capacities. The line is the new Apollo and the first model is a 2.5-inch hard drive for mobile users called the Portable Hard Drive.

The Imation Apollo Portable Hard Drive, priced at around $150 to $223, is available in storage capacities up to 320GB. This particular drive is a little over half an inch wide and weighs just 0.35 pounds.

Aromatherapy isn’t a new concept. USB-powered diffusers have been around for awhile. But the Aroma USB makes no bones about the fact that it knows something funky is going on in your immediate area, and like a glade plug in, it wants to help.

Maybe it’s that moldy half-eaten bag of cheetos you call a mousepad. More likely it’s your own BO, mixed with a subtle hint of Hot Pockets. The device has a scented fragrance strip that doles out pleasant smelling air when the air around you gets so bad that it threatens to attract the affections of Pepe LePew. A refill will last up to about a week. The noses around you will thank you.

As far as solar devices go, Thanko’s DAP actually looks pretty nice. I’ve seen much worse. In the front it looks like any other device with a 1.8-inch 220 x 176 resolution display, 4GB of internal storage space and a miniSD expansion slot.

But in the back is where you’ll find the solar panel that doubles as a stand for the unit. Just stand the whole thing up as shown and let it soak up the sun. It can also be charged via USB. No word on a price or release date, so who knows if we’ll ever see it in the U.S.

It seems that the guitar mania that has engulfed the geek world with games like Guitar Hero and Rockband is here to stay. So you may as well embrace it and get yourself this iPod speaker amp. You probably already have the Guitar Rocker and the catbox 360 after all. I’m sure this will make your life complete.

Just plug in your MP3 player and you are ready. It’s not just for your mp3 player either, you can also use it as a computer speaker. It has working treble and bass knobs and a 5-watt output. It can be powered from your computer via USB, or by using 3 AAA batteries.

When a device comes along that lets us operate with one less cable on our desk, we’re all for it. The latest offering from IOGEAR uses the sharing-over-network method with its new Net ShareStation.

It plugs into your router (wireless or not) and can take up to four USB devices of your choice, but you’ll need your own AC-powered 4-port USB hub if you want to use more than one device. Yes, that kinda sucks doesn’t it? But if you still want one, you can get it for $80.

Apparently, Angstrom Power is not just working on fuel cells for MOTOSLVR L7 prototypes. The company is also touting its G2 portable fuel cell power source that will keep a whole wide range of gadgets charged. It looks like an mp3 player from a mirror universe, but I digress. This one has eight V60 Fuel Cell Modules that all together provide two watts of power. That can be used to top off any device that charges with a USB connection.

Angstrom says that the G2 itself can also be replenished “in minutes,” by using an Angstrom P2 Portable Refueling Cartridge or an R1 Refueling Station, and it can withstand “several charges” before it needs to be refueled. No word on pricing or availability, but it will likely show up before those fuel cell-powered cellphones, which seem to be on track for a release around 2010.

At NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program Spring 2008 show, graduate students were exhibiting some interesting and unusual projects. Like Oscar G. Torres’s Helios Power Tree, for instance. The leaves are constructed from thin solar cells that are all connected to a battery at the tree’s base from the branches and trunk. The battery uses solar power to charge and powers blue lights around the tree. There are USB outlets on the base.

The idea is that the tree would sit in a public space so that people can use the solar energy that it collects to charge any of their USB-powered gadgets. Money may not grow on trees, same with gadgets, but it turns out that juice to power those gadgets can grow on trees.

Iomega has released a new drive called the Camo eGo hard drive for those that may want to stand out from the crowd at the office but blend in with the forest. The new eGo portable hard drive is powered solely by USB 2.0 and has a very decent capacity of 250GB inside its camouflaged frame.

The drive is also surrounded with a black “Power Grip” to help keep a hand-hold on it, but if you do end up losing your grip you can hope that the DropGuard technology does all that is says for drops up to 5 feet. The eGo Camo Portable drive is compatible with Windows Vista/XP/2000 and Max OS X.

Some of us just can’t get enough TV shows no matter where we are. For those people, the Asus My Cinema U3100 Mini is an awesome device. Your computer just needs a free USB slot. It’s bus powered, so there’s no need for an external power adapter, and with Asus’ Pop-Up TV technology, you will get instant display TV channels on your monitor without having to manually launch programs.

It’s compatible with the Asus Eee PC, so you can watch your favorites anywhere, never missing an episode again. It also works with all Windows XP and Vista platforms. Show recordings are also easy, just make sure you have enough storage space.