What's New What's Hot is Travel Weekly's look at useful and fun travel gadgets, edited by Joe Rosen. Click on the image to open a slideshow of all of the featured products for November.
Phosphor World Time Watch. Just the thing for the international traveler, this sleek men's watch features a curved electronic ink display (the same technology used in the Amazon Kindle) that enables the wearer to select from 24 time zones while optionally displaying a second time zone simultaneously. The dual-time-zone display also can be configured to show the time of day or both the date and time in either oversize or conventional-size configurations. The watch is constructed of polished stainless steel and comes with either a black leather band or a white silicon band. It is water-resistant to a depth of 165 feet. $165; www.phosphorwatches.com.
VinniBag. This clever product is designed to protect bottled liquids such as wine, spirits, toiletries and olive oil as well as jewelry and other fragile objects while you are in transit. Whether packed in checked baggage, a carry-on or a backpack, the VinniBag cushions and immobilizes your prized bottle in a sealed air chamber. Recyclable, reusable and TSA-compliant, the VinniBag stores flat or folded, and its degree of inflation can be adjusted from minimum to maximum protection depending on the space available and the cushioning necessary. Sad to say, your fine bottle of wine encased in a VinniBag is more likely to survive a travel mishap than you are. $28; www.vinnibag.com.
Zipbuds. Great for travel or the gym, Zipbuds are an attempt to come to grips with a problem that plagues hairdressers and users of earbuds alike: tangled ends. How often have you reached into your carry-on or gym bag for your earbuds only to find them hopelessly twisted around each other, or tethered to your key ring or a charger cord you didn't even know you had? Zipbuds meet this issue head on by encasing the left and right cables in an integrated zipper coupling, which you zip open to determine the space you desire between the buds. When you are finished using them, just zip them up to avoid any nasty entanglements. The Zipbuds are flexible, relatively light in weight despite the sturdy zipper apparatus, offer more-than-adequate sound quality and come with three sizes of ear tips. $39.99; www.zipbuds.com.
Vans Sentry Parka. Global warming notwithstanding, winter is very much upon us in many vacation destinations, so it is only fitting (no pun intended) that a savvy traveler's wardrobe include a cold-weather coat such as the Sentry Parka. Still another quality item offered by the sports apparel firm Vans, the 100% cotton herringbone parka comes with a polyester quilted lining that can be worn as a separate jacket. The outer shell, which features plenty of pockets and is cinched at the waist, is packed with six ounces of insulation in its body and four ounces in the sleeves, while the water-resistant liner has four ounces of insulation in the body and two ounces in the sleeves. A hood with adjustable draw cords and removable faux-fur trim complete the picture. $164.50; www.vansapparel.com.
Mophie Powerstation. This high-power external battery can charge virtually any USB-enabled device, from smartphones to power-hungry tablets. The Mophie high-power, high-density battery charges up to four times faster than conventional USB batteries, has an easy-to-read charge-level indicator, is rechargeable for more than 500 cycles and features short-circuit, overcharge and temperature protection. The Powerstation does not come with an output cable; instead, it is designed to connect with whatever device you want to power up as long as the device's connector is USB cable-compatible. The Powerstation itself is charged by connecting it to a computer with an included micro USB cable or by using a third-party wall adapter. $79.95; www.mophie.com.
Got something for What's New, What's Hot? Email Joe Rosen at [email protected].