Tech & Work

Photos: Wild for women's gadgets

By // August 2, 2006, 9:15 PM PST // billdetwiler

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  • A new line of headbands called Swapsets triple as a fashion accessory, headphones and optional headset. The products are available in a multitude of fabrics, varying from wool to cotton to silk, and the Swapsets site has a tool (pictured) for mixing and matching materials so you can come up with just the right look. Dangles, which hang from the bottom of the headband, are an optional accessory that look like earrings, to add a little flare.

    Swapsets

  • iPod owners can outfit their MP3 players in virtually any style of garb these days. These cotton and leather kimono cases by Miyavix are not only beautiful to look at, they are well-made, lightweight and seem durable. They run about $30.

    Power Support

  • The Miss A Kit, also dubbed the "Miss Army Knife," targets women on the go. It sells for $19.95 and comes with a flashlight, keychain, needle and thread, tweezers, perfume bottle, mirror, pill box, knife and more. The product comes in a rainbow of colors, including magenta, orange, purple, yellow, and yes, pink.

    MissAKit

  • Rebe, a mother/daughter design team, makes mod-looking laptop sleeves that are sized to fit Macs, but can be customized to fit a PC. They cost $78.

    Rebe

  • In June, Motorola and designer Dolce&Gabbana released a new Razr V3i in gold and silver. The phone comes with a complimentary gold D&G pendant. A line of accessories are available for purchase separately and include a gold leather D&G phone case, a gold H700 Bluetooth headset and gold wired stereo headphones with a gold on-wire volume control.

    Motorola

  • Surf's up! Chip Chick recently featured this Style Surfdive USB flash drive shaped like a surfboard. It's available in four designs and retails for $32 to $35 at Walmart.

  • Consumers, notably women, like to personalize gadgets to suit their own style. Hewlett-Packard has come out with a new line of skins (PDF) that can be used to spruce up laptops, desktops and monitors. They come in hundreds of designs: solid colors, abstract images, colors, flowers and faux fur.

    Hewlett-Packard

  • Some companies, such as Iqua, a Finnish maker of mobile communications accessories, feature women prominently in promotional materials.

    Iqua

  • The Hello Kitty icon has festooned everything from laptops, cell phones and USB hubs to $2 thermoses. The cute feline appeals to young girls, but many women say they need more than Hello Kitty to get them to buy gadgets.

    ETCHamac, a Macworld vendor, specializes in laser etching for laptops and iPods. On display at this year's Macworld was an etched pink Hello Kitty iPod.

    Ina Fried/CNET News.com

A new line of headbands called Swapsets triple as a fashion accessory, headphones and optional headset. The products are available in a multitude of fabrics, varying from wool to cotton to silk, and the Swapsets site has a tool (pictured) for mixing and matching materials so you can come up with just the right look. Dangles, which hang from the bottom of the headband, are an optional accessory that look like earrings, to add a little flare.

Swapsets

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By Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...