Nokia recently hosted a cocktail party to introduce journalists to its chief designer, Alastair Curtis. The Brit's formal slide presentation was a carefully crafted marketing piece, hammering in his Finnish employer's slogans such as "beautiful to use" and "connecting people." And he provided a bright glimpse into the company's future plans in response to our questions.

The revelations started when Curtis described Nokia's record in America. "The U.S. hasn't been Nokia's strongest suit," he conceded. But the company aims to change that, having just completed a fact-finding trip around the States, where Americans were "talking about music, talking about gestures, talking about what they want for the future."

Talking about gestures?

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Commuters in Grand Central Station got a morning sugar shock of eye candy when Sharp unveiled a 26-foot tall Christmas tree made by stacking 43 of its Aquos LCD televisions. The panels, growing in size from 19 inches at the top to 52 inches at the bottom, are wired together to display coordinated video shows, such as a waterfall that spills from the top panels and splashes down on the bottom screens, or snowflakes that float down the length of the tree. It currently cycles through nine patterns created by Japanese video artist Tsuyoshi Takashiro. To keep things fresh, Sharp will replace the originals with about 10 new patterns in December.

The tree is greener than just the pine branches that stick out from between the panels. The company is using the display to publicize the Hope Program, a nonprofit that provides job training and career counseling to help New Yorkers get out of poverty. “Their whole mission is not just to become part of he working poor,” said Judah Zeigler from Sharp’s marketing department.

Passersby can sign up at –

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Now bracing for category-4 mayhem means simply pulling down your shades. Storm-A-Rest manufacturer JHRG managed to turn a few pounds of .025-inch-thick fabric into stronger storm protection for windows than plywood. Faced with two-by-fours shot at 34 mph from an air cannon (one of the tests for category-4 certification in Florida), Storm-A-Rest panels survived undamaged; the boards punched right through plywood.

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Every year, hundreds of athletes suffer crippling spinal-cord injuries. The Pro-Neck-Tor, invented by medical engineer Peter Cripton of the University of British Columbia, is the first helmet designed to guard the spine. [ Read Full Story ]

I hate the word "audiophile," which implies a fanatic who imagines he hears things that don't exist and spends far too much money to get those imaginary sounds. But I do like music. And I'm extremely proud that I was able to put together a respectable stereo system for just $300 (thanks to eBay and close-out sales).

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If you've been in a cave the last three months you've been safe from the endless barrage of Blackberry Storm ads. If not, we feel your pain and are happy to tell you the wait is over (or at least that particular ad campaign is).

On November 21, the first touchscreen Blackberry will launch stateside.

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Last night, the Consumer Electronics Association kicked off the digital holiday season with the CES Preview in Manhattan. At first glance, it appeared to be one of the most depressing product shows I've ever been to.

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We loved Acoustic Research's original crystal-clear wireless home theater system, the WHT-6024, enough to give it a Best of What's New award in 2007. (To see this year's winners, click here.)

Sadly, the WHT-6024 was a short-lived product. But AR has a new kit called the ARW51 that includes the original system's best part -- a 2.4-Ghz transmitter-and-receiver system that takes the place of speaker wire.

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Houses are normally fairly stationary objects, and that's not considered a bad thing. But innovation never stands still, and a new prototype house that can walk on six legs has been built . The house is ten feet high, powered by solar panels, and is outfitted with a kitchen, toilet, bed, and wood stove. Last week, the house, a collaboration between MIT and the Danish design collective N55, took a journey through Cambridgeshire in England as part of an art project at the Wysing Art Center. Designed to move at the muscle speed of a human, the house walked at about five kilometers an hour around the 11-acre campus. (See video)

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In place of glass lenses that move in order to focus, liquid optics uses a drop of water that changes shape when an electric charge is applied. The system is smaller and cheaper than glass and can supposedly focus faster. The tech recently appeared in the Akkord SnakeCam, a webcam sold in China. We brought one stateside and pitted it against two versions with glass lenses.

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