LaCie is upping the storage capacity of its rugged design portable hard drive so you can carry more MP3s and such on the go. The LaCie Rugged Hard Disk now maxes out at 500 GB and you’ll find that pricing you between around $300 and $400.

The LaCie Rugged Hard Disk is, like select other LaCie products, designed by Neil Poulton. This particular external hard drive has a scratch-resistant aluminum shell and shock-resistant rubber bumper to protect the latest 500 GB Hitachi hard drive and others.

IOGear pumps out products like there is no tomorrow. They also assign them really funky model names, luckily tying those to titles we can actually understand. This newest product should be pretty clear therefore - the USB 2.0 External DVI Video Card, or model GUC2020DW6 if keeping track, priced at around $150.

The mission of the GUC2020DW6 is simple - deliver DVI video output to an additional computer display to spread workflow out. This external card does this via USB connectivity by connecting the video adapter and installing an included driver.

Those Mac-happy folks over at Other World Computing let word be known today about its highest capacity portable bus-powered storage device to date. It is known as the Mercury-On-the-Go 500GB and you’ll find it pricing around $360.

The OWC Mercury-On-the-Go 500GB portable storage drive does 5400 RPM and is designed to connect with Macs or PCs. This is done via its FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connections. Full retail versions of backup software are included for both platforms so you can back up your precious data.

Mitsubishi earlier this week rolled out the carpet on a variety of new HDTVs for release this year. These new models come in a variety of screen sizes and body configurations and should all begin being available this month in staggered releases.

General details of these new models include what Mitsubishi says is thinner frame and brighter DLP models as well as “ultra thin frame” LCD HDTVs with better sound. There’s also upcoming the first ever laser powered television. If you are curious to learn more, check out the entire press release after the jump.

Western Digital (WD) today kicked out some new portable USB hard drives which look good and are easy to carry. They are known as the My Passport Elite Portable USB Drives and are available in two sizes: 250 GB (around $170) and 320 GB (around $200).

WD’s My Passport Elite drives connect to a USB port to transfer data back and forth and are also USB-bus powered, so they don’t need their own power supply. They sport a soft-touch finish, weigh less than five ounces and come in multiple colors.

Another interesting product recently unveiled by importer SourcingMap is a laser pointer which pulls double duty as a wireless presenter control. It is called aptly enough the Red Laser Pointer Plus Laser Presenter and prices at around $13.

Gateway is making some noise today in the PC world as it unveils two new desktop PC computers - one of which includes an option for a SuperMulti drive for next generation disc support. Pricing is set at around $750 for the GT5662, while the GM5664 prices at around $1,150.

Both new Gateway PCs are powered off of AMD Phenom processors,3GB of RAM and ATI Radeon HD 2400XT graphics. Hard drive storage is offered at 1TB for the GM5664 and 500GB for the GT5662, with the former also sporting a Hybrid-SuperMulti drive that lets customers watch both Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs as well as offering burning capability on any type of DVD or CD disc.

WD launched the new My Passport Essential USB hard drive today with a new glossy look created to go along with the design of the company’s popular My Book hard drives. Like the My Book, the small new Essential drives have that “book” look to them with a bull-nose “binding” on one side.

But, aside from the new glossy digs this drive is still pretty much the same small pocket-sized portable drive that’s powered solely from its USB connection. It comes in sizes of 160GB, 250GB and 320GB with the largest capacity launching with a price tag of a penny under $200. They also come with some software to automatically sync up and store data from your computer along with some Google tools.

MXL has announced the release of what they are boasting as the world’s first “plug and play” USB microphone that features 24Bit/96 kHz recording. According th MXL the new USB.009 microphone can deliver “world class sound reproduction” by simply plugging the USB connection into an ordinary laptop running Windows or a Mac OS. Before making an effort to audition for the next American Idol you may want to use this guy to get an accurate listen of your voice, first. It might just save you an embarrassing spot on prime time television.

The MXL USB.009 microphone features a recording capability of up to 96kHz, a gold sputtered diaphragm, 24-bit A/D and D/A converters, and a dynamic range of 114 dB. It also houses an adjustable level control, mix control and a 1/8th-inch stereo headphone jack all withing the microphone. And our favorite part is the blue LED light that glows inside the microphone grill letting you know its powered on and of course giving it just the right amount of geeky-coolness.

Let’s say you pulled that old 40GB hard drive out of your notebook and replaced it with 160GB of storage. Ever wish you could do something else with the leftover drive, instead of throwing it away? Now you can. Just stick it in an enclosure and turn it into a portable USB hard drive.

Meritline.com has an enclosure for just $10.99 shipped (after entering coupon code HW1971413OFF, which expires 1/25). It’s compatible with all 2.5-inch IDE and SATA drives, and includes both IDE and SATA external interfaces (with cables). You also get a carrying case and a little screwdriver so you can open and close the enclosure. The drive itself is powered entirely by the interface, so you don’t have to use an AC adapter. Best of all you’re recycling and not throwing the old drive away and crapping up the environment.

Canon is introducing this week a new entry level digital SLR to its popular line of EOS Rebel digital cameras. It is called the Canon EOS Rebel XSi and pricing is set at around $800 for a body only kit and $900 for a lens kit which includes the EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens.

The Rebel Xsi is a 12.2-megapixel shooter which Canon has dressed up with “an improved autofocus sensor, enhanced 14-bit A/D conversion, an advanced Live View function, and the proprietary DIGIC III image processor.” Canon has also newly designed this camera’s CMOS sensor.

The Canon EOS Rebel Xsi will be available in April. To get all the details on this new camera, check out the full press release after the jump.

Finally some iPod earphones that Prince Charles or a giant can use. This new version is 500 times the size of the originals. You should probably use these as speakers for your PC or mp3 player, and not put one on each side of your head.

The 500XL speakers include a built in amp and can also be powered by batteries, USB or DC. No word on pricing or availability just yet though, so don’t alert your big-eared friends just yet. You have to love the clamshell packaging on these.

Here’s a third-party handheld Nintendo emulator that doesn’t look like total garbage. Though it has the typical generic name of Solar MP4, this little device actually has some impressive features. It can play MP4 videos up to 320×240 in size on its 3.5 inch TFT screen, it also has built-in emulators for NES, GameBoy and GameBoy Color games. Of course you have to use ROMS loaded via an SD card, but those are easy enough to find. It can even function as an e-Book reader with the ability to read out loud any text file as long as it’s written in English or Chinese.

And of course, it has a DS-like design with solar panels, so you can play games using the power of the sun. Not bad for a knock off. You can get one for $123.32.

Sony has just announced the arrival of the ICDUX70 and ICDUX80 voice recorders that double as digital audio players (DAPS). They feature 1GB and 2GB internal storage space and play back for MP3 files and also record in MP3 stereo format, can capture 290 and 581 hours of audio in LP mode and are powered via a USB port.

The design isn’t too secretarial looking as such devices have been known to be in the past, which is a big plus. The USB connection also enables direct battery charge. The ICDUX70 comes in black and pink, while the ICDUX80 can be had in black and silver.

Other World Computing, a developer of Mac accessories, has announced in conjunction with MacWorld its highest capacity, portable bus powered storage offering to date. It’s known as the OWC Mercury On-The-Go 320GB, 5400RPM and price is set to start at around $250.

The OWC Mercury On-The-Go 320GB, 5400RPM offers a variety of interface options, including FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, and eSATA. It features Oxford 9XX chipsets for all FireWire equipped models and will work with Macs and PCs.