Envision Peripherals began selling today a new 22-inch widescreen display with built-in features for video conferencing. The new Envision E218c1 is priced at around $300.

The Envision E218c1 offers up would-be video conferencers a built-in 1.3-megapixel Web cam as well as a microphone with noise-canceling technology. One can adjust the height and swivel of this slim bezel monitor to accurately line up the Web cam for better conferencing. The widescreen design is also Windows Vista friendly for displaying side-by-side applications and taking advantage of Aero Flip technology.

iMONO took the simple USB hub a small step further by adding an individual sliding switch which turns on and off each of the 4 USB ports separately. It also has LED status indicators for each port and for the source cable so you can see what’s on and what’s not at a glance. At first this might not seem like too handy of a feature but you’ll be thanking me when the person on the other end of your Availabot can’t seem to maintain a connection or you get tired of plugging in your eye massager every day. It also could help save some electricity by conveniently turning off those peripherals when your not using them.

Because of all the attention gained by the HDD Stage Rack which gives users a convenient “dock” for their hard drives, Logitec has answered with a version of their own. The eSata HDD Cradle from Logitec seems to work very similarly to the Stage Rack supporting 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA hard drives, but no IDE. This model also looks a little bit more stylish and additionally houses a 4-port USB hub through it’s existing USB connection, making it a little more useful.

GeekStuff4U has the Logitec hard drive cradle available for pre-order now priced at $72.31 and will start shipping at the end of December, but unfortunately without support for IDE it doesn’t look like it adds much more value for it’s significantly higher price.

Gateway is out today with an announcement about some new high definition displays for use in entertainment or productivity. The new Gateway 24-inch FHD2400 and 22-inch HD2200 monitors are priced around $550 and $350 respectively.

The Gateway FHD2400 in particular offers a number of great features. It offers up 1080p support while delivering a resolution of 1920×1200. You also get a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a 3ms refresh rate as well as a four-port USB 2.0 hub. Viewing options with this display include auto-rotation for landscape or portrait viewing, 160-degree viewing angle and an adjustable stand.

Lenovo unveiled five new PC monitors designed for business users today, including one which is very environmentally friendly. The one drawing our eye the most though is the ThinkVision L190x, priced at around $380 and showcasing the slimmest bezel in the industry.

The ThinkVision L190x is a 19-inch computer display with a bezel just of just 6.6mm. Lenovo says this thinness is great for multiple monitor environments, letting one pair two of these monitors to provide “more than twice the viewing area of a 27-inch monitor.” It also comes with four USB ports to act as a hub for a variety of devices.

As far as USB gadgets go the iSharpener USB pencil sharpener could be considered one of the more practical ones. It actually has a practical use although I can’t remember the last time that I actually wrote anything with a pencil. The device of course is powered by your computers USB connection but if you’re all your ports happen to be occupied at the time your lead breaks it can be backed up by 4 AA batteries.

The iSharpener seems simple enough and personally I think it should have been called the iSharpen, but they did add a nice little “spin” to the device. Instead of just a boring old grinding noise while watching wooden shavings fall into the plastic bin, the makers added 3 colorful LED lights inside the light up when you’re sharpening! How’s that for adding excitement to your day?

How would you like to be able to use select USB devices a good distance away from your computer? That’s the idea behind the new Gefen Wireless USB Extender, priced at around $400.

The Gefen Wireless USB Extender makes use of a sender/receiver system to wirelessly transmit USB 2.0 signals up to 100 feet away. Gefen says it’s an ideal solution for those in particular who don’t want to run USB cables around the area. It requires no installation of USB drivers and can reportedly deliver data at speeds up to 54 Mbps.

Gateway delivered today to consumers an advanced high definition display which promises 1600p. The new Gateway XHD3000 is priced at around $1,700.

The Gateway XHD3000 is described by Gateway as a “quad-HD” display. It offers up a 30-inch, 2560×1600 resolution widescreen display supported by a Silicon Optix Realta HQV video processor. The display offers built-in upconversion to take 1080p images to 1600p and is capable of connecting to a variety of devices via range of inputs including HDMI, single-link/dual-link DVI-D, VGA, component, s-video and composite interfaces.

If the Memory Squid isn’t to your liking and you are still in need of some extra flash memory consider Traxdata’s EZ Drive YEGO. Think of it as a high-tech Christmas tree.

Each EZ Drive is a USB storage device that holds 2GB of Flash memory and that splits off in a Y-shape to give you an additional two USB ports (which are compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0 specs.) If you need more memory or if you just want to grow your EZ Drive tree add another couple of Yegos to your base and voila, now you have four additional USB ports to play with — and so on and so forth.

There are two classifications of cute gadgets: the “Awwwww!” group and the “It’s Hello Kitty so it must be destroyed” group. We feel that United Pepper’s Lili and Oscar fall into the first category and so they should be allowed a place into our homes and hearts (but we will keep the flamethrower close by in case something Hello Kitty should surface.) Awwwww!

Lili is the five-legged octopus lass and Oscar is the starfish-shaped guy. Explained in practical terms, the deep sea dame is a funky designed 1.3-megapixel webcam with microphone while …

Take some decent quality notebook speakers. Add in a multi-port USB hub. What do you get? The new Logitech AudioHub, priced at around $100 and available in October.

The Logitech AudioHub offers up an an adjustable one-piece, three-chamber speaker system with an integrated subwoofer teamed with a three port USB hub. The AudioHub has a low-profile design, says Logitech, measuring three-and-a-half inches in height. It comes with a cable management system on its base and a cable hook on the back to take care of cable clutter.

Enermax USA, a designer of PC components, announced today the upcoming release of its stylish Jazz line of external HDD enclosures. These drives enclosures will be available next month with pricing of $25 (EB207S-B), $55 (EB307S-B) and $65 (EB307ES-B).

The Enermax Jazz line up offers a nice take on your traditional external HDD enclosure with its waved mesh cover and aluminum body which help disperse heat. It’s easy to install and remove a hard drive, said Enermax, and comes in 2.5″ SATA interfaced Jazz (EB207S-B), 3.5″ SATA to USB (EB307S-B) or eSATA (EB307ES-B) interfaced Jazz configurations. There’s also a tri-colored LED backlight design and crystal acrylic stand, among other features.

Well, the wazoo is actually the only place this little guy doesn’t have a USB port, but the USB Hub Man does have USB ports coming out of each of his four limbs, extending your USB capacity by 3. If you’re going to have a small, entangled USB hub sitting on your desk anyway why not at least make it something interesting to look at, plus the felxible limbs make various connections a little easier.

Unfortunately only one port is USB 2.0 at this point, and these little guys are expected to start shipping sometime in October for $19 each.

Planar Systems unveiled today three new widescreen LCD monitors which reportedly offer up to 82 percent more workspace than a standard 19-inch monitor. These new models are branded as the PX2611W, PX2411W and PX2210MW.

These new Planar PX LCD desktop monitors come in 26-, 24- and 22-inch screen sizes respectively and are geared for specialty markets like graphic design and video editing. A lot of features are available on these units, depending upon the model, and include WUXGA 1920 x 1200 resolution, DVI-D inputs, a four-port USB hub, built-in speakers and a stand which offers height adjustment.

Overheating and ergonomic issues are two potential problems laptop users face. A new laptop stand/cooling dock combo device has been introduced which claims to effectively combat both these problems. The Cooldock Laptop Stand is priced at around $65 and available now.

The Cooldock is part of a small category of generic laptop stands which one can use to put the laptop at more traditional eye level to take strain off your vision. This is accomplished via one of eight adjustable levels for height tilt. Also built into this product is a four port USB hub for connecting items like keyboard and mice.