At first glance, the N91 appears to be a full-featured MP3 player-with dedicated music keys, prominent volume controls, a 3.5-millimeter stereo headphone jack, an FM tuner and a USB port. Only when you slide the faceplate down to reveal the keypad do you recognize it as a phone. Drag and drop music (MP3, WMA, AAC and M4A files) onto its four-gigabyte hard drive, then create playlists directly on the phone. $700

The size of a briefcase and weighing in at more than 10 pounds, Toshiba's Satellite 1955 didn't engender much interest at first glance. But then Masa Okumura, Toshiba's director of product marketing, casually removed the keyboard from the base-and explained that it'll work as far as 3 feet away. There have been laptop prototypes over the years that turn into full-feature desktops, but this is the first that actually delivers.

With the Polara ($1,799), Whirlpool brings refrigeration technology to the oven. A strange pairing, at first glance, but consider the benefit: You put food into the combo unit before you leave for work, and it stays cool. Then, at a time you specify, it switches from refrigeration to oven mode so that dinner's ready when you walk through the door. Tonight's Menu of Brecksville, Ohio, has created a similar prototype that connects to the Internet, enabling you to adjust start time from work.