Neglected gadgets on stage

Ordinarily, this column is about electronics, or software, or tech culture.

Today, it's about guilt.

See, when you write a tech column, PR people send you pitch letters every day by e-mail. "My client has developed a new MP3 toothbrush -- a scalable integrated solution with an exciting form factor and a best-of-breed price point. We'd love you to have a look!"

If I think the thing might have promise for my printed column, my weekly e-mail column or my blog, I'll ask the PR person to lend me one to review.

As I did a little fall cleaning this week, however, I realized how many of these things I had never gotten around to reviewing. There they sat, wagging their little U.S.B. tails, looking up at me with mournful LED eyes and begging me to take them for a walk.

All right, fine. Here's my take on eight minor-league gadgets that have been waiting for their moment in the spotlight.

APPSTAND ($20) It's incredible how many flat-panel screens we buy these days. By the time you've bought a computer, cellphone, TV, GPS unit, digital picture frame and so on, you've single-handedly kept the LCD industry alive for six weeks.

The Appstand is a black wooden picture frame that saves you the cost of one screen. Your iPhone slips in and becomes its screen. Works great for picture slide shows on your desk and digital clock apps.

All jacks and buttons remain accessible. The frame can rotate 90 degrees. You have a choice of colored inserts to add some décor accents to the margin. It makes sense; why keep that beautiful screen hidden during your workday?

CYFI ($100) For the cyclist who has everything, here's the CyFi, a compact, water-resistant, aerodynamically shaped speaker that fastens to handlebars (or backpack strap, or stroller). Your phone or music player, nestled in your pocket, transmits music to the speaker wirelessly as you ride along. The company argues that listening this way is safer than wearing earbuds.

One model has Bluetooth, which handles cellphones, palmtops and music players that transmit so-called A2DP Bluetooth music. The other comes with a transmitter that snaps onto the bottom of most iPods. Each runs six hours on a charge and comes with a desktop stand for charging and home use.

Considering its tiny size -- the device looks like a bike helmet that's been smashed flat and shrunk to the size of a drink coaster -- the sound is surprisingly full.

SAMSUNG H03 PROJECTOR ($300) A pico projector is a pocket-size version of those boardroom slide show projectors, and this one, according to the company, is the world's brightest. Its LED lamps run cool, never need replacing and puts out 30 lumens. (A boardroom projector puts out 2,000 lumens or more, but most pico projectors manage only 10 or 15.) When the lights are low, you get a surprisingly bright, clear six-foot image on a screen, wall or ceiling -- from a black plastic cube the size of a brownie.

You can connect your iPhone/iPod, DVD player, laptop, microSD memory card or U.S.B. flash drive. There's a feeble built-in speaker, or you can connect speakers or headphones. Power comes from the AC cord or a snap-on battery, which lasts just shy of two hours on a charge. It projects photos, videos and even PDF, PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents.

The possibilities are tantalizing. On a plane, you can use the seat back or even the ceiling as your screen. Camping, you can review the day's photos on your tent wall. In the elevator, you can do an impromptu PowerPoint pitch for the boss.

The illuminated touch buttons are a little balky, the menus are confusing and you'll probably have to buy a cable for your computer or i-gadget. Over all, though, it's useful and amazing.

PRINTSTIK ($300) PlanOn, the manufacturer, calls this the smallest printer in the world. It's darned small, all right; at 1 by 2 by 11 inches, you could practically stuff it into a paper-towel core.

Unfortunately, that's the end of the good news. The PrintStik works only with Windows or, via Bluetooth, with BlackBerry phones. It prints slowly, in black-and-white, 30 pages per battery charge, on thermal paper -- those hideous, greasy, curly rolls that came in early fax machines.

Sometimes you overlook how badly the bear dances just because it's a dancing bear. In this case, you'd have to be pretty desperate for entertainment.

ETCH A SKETCH IPAD CASE ($40) This hard plastic case for your iPad from Headcase is a perfect replica of an old Etch A Sketch. You pry the halves apart with a coin, seat your iPad inside, snap it all together and there you go. The jacks and buttons remain accessible, and two flip-out legs on the back raise the whole thing off the desk slightly for easier on-screen typing.

There are much better, lighter, less bulky iPad cases. But this one isn't about utility. It's about hilarity.

POWER PLUG STICKERS ($6 FOR 40) You can totally imagine how some guy came up with the idea for these white, round, dime-size vinyl stickers. He was probably crawling under the desk among the dust bunnies, trying to unplug one of his gadgets -- and couldn't tell which power cord was which.

Each sticker has a tiny line drawing of the gadget it's connected to: coffee maker, toaster oven, laptop, whatever. Three sets, from ID Pilot, are available: one each for kitchen appliances, office equipment and electronics. You're supposed to stick one onto each plug as it enters the outlet or power strip.

The tiny drawings aren't especially clear; text labels might work better. And, of course, you could accomplish exactly the same thing with a Sharpie and some masking tape. But have you?

TIVO SLIDE REMOTE ($90) These days, the requirement to type into your set-top box is becoming more urgent, and the on-screen click-a-letter system is exhausting. It's not just typing the name of a show you want to record; it's also searching the built-in services like YouTube, Amazon and Netflix.

This remote resembles the classic, peanut-shaped TiVo remote, but the bottom half slides open to reveal a full, illuminated qwerty keyboard. It works great. You're supposed to plug the included, tiny Bluetooth receiver into the back of your TiVo. So, $90 for a replacement remote, just to enter text gracefully? A bit extreme, no? No. We TiVo-holics know who we are.

POWERMAT WIRELESS CHARGER ($80) We love our gadgets, we hate charging them. But wireless charging pads like this one offer a tantalizing dream; you can come home, slap down your phone and camera, and walk away. A magnetic grab and a happy "got it!" sound let you know that your gizmos are now charging via magnetic induction, and you never had to plug anything in.

Unfortunately, each gadget has to be retrofitted to work with the PowerMat. For a BlackBerry or Nintendo DS, that means buying a $20 replacement battery door, which adds an awkward raised hump on the back. For an iPhone or iPod Touch, you have to buy a $30 or $40 case that includes the same bulky bulge on the back.

To charge other gadgets, you have to buy a $30 "universal charger," a coaster that sits on the PowerMat and plugs into your gadget with a cable. But isn't the whole point of the PowerMat to avoid plugging in cables? Bottom line: The PowerMat, and its rival, the WildCharge mat, seem to demand a lot of inconvenience in the name of a little convenience.

All right, little gadgets, you've had your big moment. Now it's back to the manufacturers with you. To-do list completed. Closet space reclaimed. Guilt assuaged.