Green Screen

It’s no surprise that today’s giant LCD and plasma HDTVs use more energy than their cathode-ray predecessors. But increasingly, consumers want to tread lightly while they go big, and Philips is happy to accommodate that desire with the Eco TV. By dimming its backlighting in low-light viewing situations, this 42-inch 1080p HDTV has the ability to reduce its overall power consumption by more than two-thirds.

This environmentally friendly feature isn’t only about appearances, though — it’s also about performance. While running at lower energy levels, the Eco TV also improves its black-level display. The set features Philips’ Pixel Plus 3 HD engine, which sharpens details and keeps the onscreen motion looking fluid, and its low-profile speakers kick out Dolby Digital sound. In addition to its energy-sipping ways, the unit also contains no lead and as little mercury as possible, and the packaging is made entirely of recycled materials. ($1,399; philips.com)

Copy Protection

Whether it’s your DVD collection or your old VHS home movies, either way they’re your videos — and you should be able to do with them what you please. The Neuros OSD allows you to liberate your movies from their media by connecting to a playback device (anything from VCRs to HD video cameras) and converting the content for digital storage. The OSD encodes movies as MPEG-4s, allowing users to eventually record them to DVD or upload them to an iPod or computer. The downside, of course, is that all those embarrassing old home videos are preserved forever, and far more accessible. ($179; neurostechnology.com)

Making a Splash

In the ever-escalating video camera wars, manufacturers typically one-up each other with bigger hard drives and longer zooms. But the Panasonic SDR-SW20 takes the fight to new ground — underwater, to be precise. With a waterproof design that lets it operate in up to five feet of water, the SW20 is the perfect fun-time shooter. Its 10x zoom can capture both guppies and kiddies, and the lightweight device writes MPEG-2 video files to SD-flash cards, making it easy to upload your footage onto a computer. Just keep it out of the deep end. ($399.95; panasonic.com)

Squeeze Play

The Internet is a fun place — too bad most people explore it when they’re supposed to be working. Thankfully, the Chumby liberates the Web from the workplace computer. About the size of a coffee cup, this beanbag-shaped device consists of a 3.5-inch LCD touch screen, some wireless networking components, and a network of widgets that’ll keep you entertained and informed 24 hours a day. It looks a bit like an alarm clock, but its innards are far more advanced (and it’s more enjoyable than most wake-up calls). For example, when was the last time your alarm clock gave you headlines from The New York Times, updated you on the latest sale at woot.com, showed you David Letterman’s top-10 list, or displayed a Flickr feed? ($179; chumby.com)

All Over the Map

If you went and upgraded your digital camera after every new feature announcement, you’d have more gear than the Los Angeles paparazzi. But with devices like the Sony GPS Unit, you can add new functionality without having to shell out for an entirely new model. When turned on, this 3.5- by 1.5- by 1-inch bangle tracks your location via satellite. And later, when you sync your photos with the device’s location log on your computer, the kit’s Picture Motion Browser software places your pictures on a Google map. Sure, GPS-tagged photos have been around for years, but this device teaches your old digital camera some new tricks. ($149; sonystyle.com)

Print in a Pinch

The worst thing about having e-mail access in a smartphone is having to then scribble down information for someone who doesn’t. But the Planon PrintStik PS950 has finally brought mobile printing to the masses. Connecting to mobile devices via Bluetooth and using direct thermal printing, this 1-by-2-by-11-inch printer can spit out roughly three pages per minute, so you can print out an important e-mail when you’re on the go. The printing method requires no ink or toner and prints up to 18 pages on one battery charge (the device’s compact paper cartridge holds 20 pages). Currently the Printstik supports Windows XP and Vista, Blackberry phones, and mobile devices that support Java. ($349.99; planon.com)

Perfect Timing

To our knowledge, no human being — except for maybe James Cameron, director of both Aliens and The Abyss — has ever needed the fantastic functionality of the Zenith Defy Xtreme Zero-G Tourbillon, a limited-edition watch that can perform in both zero gravity and 3,000 feet below sea level. Still, that won’t stop 10 dreamers from plunking down $500,000 on this souped-up wristwatch. At least that’s what manufacturer Zenith hopes.

Anyone who’s ever been shoved, fully clothed, into a pool knows that water can be the biggest enemy to a poorly constructed watch. The moisture wreaks havoc on the internal mechanisms, but it’s the pressure that really mucks things up. Similarly, gravity also can be precision’s undoing. The Defy Xtreme’s works are wrapped in a blackened titanium case with a sapphire-blasted titanium bezel; a dial of hesalite glass, carbon fiber, and aluminum; and two sapphire glasses, among other high-value materials. A helium valve allows for the water resistance. In addition, the titanium wristband has inserts of Kevlar, a material used in bulletproof vests. That’s a relief, because if James Cameron has taught us anything, it’s that there’s a lot of shooting up there in space. ($500,000; zenith-watches.com)