THE TWO-STAGE FLASH

It may seem counter-intuitive that the more expensive the digital camera, the less likely it is to have a built-in flash. The manufacturers assume that if you’re that much of a professional, you certainly own an external flash unit. Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-L1 and LC1 cameras, though, offer the best of both worlds. If you push the open button for the built-in flash firmly, it pops up and faces forward. But if you push lightly, it pops up to a different position, angled 45 degrees upward ¿ yes, in bounce-off-the-ceiling position. Great idea, cleverly done.

A RECORD RADIO BUTTON

Samsung Helix is a regular music player, like an iPod (though smaller). But it’s also an XM satellite radio receiver. That’s already a good idea, but here’s the clincher: When you hear a song that you like on one of XM’s 70-themed, ad-free music channels, one button-press records that song from the beginning — even if you were a little late hitting record. In all, this gadget can hold about 25 hours’ worth of recorded radio. Long-suffering music fans could probably have predicted that XM would be sued over this glorious idea, and, well, sure enough. Maybe what’s so great about this idea isn’t so much its ingenuity as its bravery.

MUSIC BEAMING

The Zune, Microsoft’s new music player, does something amazingly well that its rival, the iPod, doesn’t do at all: It lets you beam songs or photos wirelessly to another Zune. In practice, there’s more to the story. To avoid lynch mobs from the record companies, Microsoft designed the Zune so that beamed songs self-destruct after three plays or three days, whichever comes first — even, idiotically, your own recordings like college lectures and garage-band demonstrations.

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