Jamie Sorcher

• LaCie Hub ($80; lacie.com). Prevent a peripheral pileup with this handy hub. The eye-catching gadget enables you to connect as many as six devices simultaneously - such as external hard drive, keyboard, mouse - via four USB and two FireWire ports. It comes bundled with eight flexible cables.

Sam Runco is known as both a tinkerer and a talker. A motivational speaker before he became an inventor, Runco relied heavily on both skills when launching the video company that bears his name. His efforts in the 20 years since have paid off, though, in a series of front projectors and rear-projection and flat-panel TVs that have consistently set new standards for high-end home theater.

Powerful portable speakers can transform a digital music player into a stereo system or change a personal video player into an on-the-go mini-cinema. The speakers shown here look good, sound better than you'd think by looking at them, and are surprisingly inexpensive. I sampled JBL's latest gear while at CEDIA.