Carry A Tune

By Maryanne Murray Buechner; Lev Grossman; Anita Hamilton

SINGING SNORKEL

Just in case floating in pristine waters past colorful sea creatures and brilliant coral isn't entertaining enough, a French company has invented the first snorkel with an FM-radio receiver built in. The battery-powered snorkel gets reception as long as the tip of the air tube is above water. There's no earpiece needed because sounds are transmitted through vibrations in your teeth and jawbone. What if you're not near any radio stations? The company is recruiting resorts to develop special audio tours, in which canned music or information about the area can be piped to snorkelers from a boat up to 80 yds. away. INVENTOR Amphicom SA AVAILABILITY Now, $129 TO LEARN MORE aquasphereusa.com

DIGITAL JAMMING

We've already got digital music files like MP3s and digital music players like the iPod, so why not create music with a digital instrument in the first place? In January, Gibson will be the first musical-instrument maker to release an electric guitar with a digitizing microprocessor and circuit board built right in. When a player strums the guitar, the analog signal from each of the six strings is converted into a digital file and then pushed out of the guitar through an Ethernet connection attached to the instrument. The resulting sound is much clearer and less susceptible to all sorts of distortion. Rock on! INVENTOR Gibson Musical Instruments AVAILABILITY January 2004, about $3,000 TO LEARN MORE gibson.com

SUPER SAUCERS

The aluminum platters stacked on top of these BeoLab 5 speakers aren't just for show. They're designed to distribute the high-and mid-range sound waves emanating from within the cone-shaped speakers a full 180DEG--without the usual sweet and not-so-sweet spots. To ensure that the speakers sound their best in any space, there's a built-in calibration system. Simply press the button on top of each speaker. It will send out test bass notes and then automatically adjust the sound to be evenly distributed. Pumping out 2,500 watts apiece, these saucy speakers definitely know how to rumble too. INVENTOR Bang & Olufsen AVAILABILITY Now, $16,000 TO LEARN MORE bang-olufsen.com