Just Click on "Decaf"

By Wilson Rothman

YOU'VE GOT LARA CROFT ON LINE 2

NOKIA N-GAGE GAME DECK If you're hooked on video games but don't ever want to be out of reach, this is your phone. The N-Gage ($299) combines crisp color graphics with a GSM mobile phone for worldwide reception. Game titles are stored on MMC flash-memory cards, which can also be used to load MP3 tracks into the onboard RealOne player. The first games to hit the market will include Tony Hawk (Activision), Lara Croft (Eidos) and lots of furry critters from Sega.

THINNER AND BRIGHTER

ORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES LCD screens are ubiquitous. They're in phones, PDAs, televisions and computers. Trouble is, they depend on flat, heavy, breakable glass and require a separate light source. OLEDs provide the benefits of LCD but, like a firefly, generate light on their own, so they are thinner and more energy efficient. Kodak, below, and DuPont's Olight group are each developing OLED displays. They use differing technologies but share the goal of the OLED revolution: displays made of pliable plastic.

TALKING TO THE POT

SALTON BEYOND COFFEEMAKER Instead of fumbling with confusing buttons to schedule the coffeemaker, you "surf" to this $99 device via your Web browser and program it in plain English. Salton's breadmaker and microwave will even scan food bar codes to pull up recipes. And no more blinking 12:00. These appliances set their own clocks.

THE EYES HAVE I.T.

PLAYMATES BABY BRIGHT EYES At first blush, she seems rather ordinary. But look again. This doll ($50; due this fall) has azure blue oversize eyes that blink, sweep the room and interact with your child. NanoMuscle technology silently powers the robotic eyes to eerie effect. The spinoff possibilities are tantalizing: Chucky lives?

COOK AS FAST AS YOU EAT

GE PROFILE TRIVECTION OVEN Sure, the microwave is a technological miracle, but it's still used mostly just to defrost meat or reheat leftovers. GE's new flagship oven ($2,349 to $3,899; due this fall) combines thermal, convection and microwave cooking. A Thanksgiving turkey gets done in half the time but stays moist and crisp. And don't toss out your beloved cookbooks. The Auto-recipe tool converts conventional oven temperatures and cooking times.

SHOPPING CARTOGRAPHY

IBM CONCEPT CART Tomorrow's supermarket may look a lot like today's, but the humble cart is fast evolving. By next fall, using radio-frequency sensors to navigate, your cart will display a map to guide you through the aisles, pointing out sales and specials. Instead of taking a number, you'll use the touch screen to request shrimp from the seafood section or cold cuts from the deli to be picked up on your way to the checkout.

TAKE YOUR TV ANYWHERE

SHARP AQUOS WIRELESS LCD TV Your phone is cordless. Your computer jumps on a wireless network. So why not ditch the cords around your TV? The $1,800 set, due next spring, leaves peripheral devices, such as a DVD player, cable box or satellite hookup, connected to the SmartLink transmitter, far left, keeping the 15-in. television free of unsightly wires and letting you carry it around the house on a whim. The remote can command all your devices, so there's no need to race between rooms--or bribe a loved one--to go pause a movie.

SEX IN THE CITY, TO GO

DIGITAL VIDEO PLAYERS Now that the digital music player has gained mainstream acceptance, daring manufacturers are trying their luck with digital video playback devices. Think of it as TiVo on the go. Plug it into a cable box or VCR to record shows, then watch them wherever. The 20GB Archos AV320 ($600) started the ball rolling, and the next heavy hitter could be RCA's RD2780 Lyra A/V Jukebox ($449), left, due in October. The heat is on as versions of a joint design by Intel and Microsoft, above, are slated to be produced and sold next year by Samsung, ViewSonic and others.

A VERY SMART CAR

2004 ACURA TL Even when no one else understands you, this car probably will. The redesigned Acura TL (around $35,000) has HandsFreeLink, a service for Bluetooth wireless phones. When you step into the 3.2L V6 ride, the system searches for your mobile phone. Once it makes contact, a phone icon pops up on the dash; to make a call, you just speak a name or number. The navigation system is also voice-operated and recognizes 293 different commands. For those who would rather listen than talk, the car comes standard with an ELS Surround audio system that pumps out DVD audio--from Sinatra to Linkin Park--in surround sound.