Starting with the Forerunner 305, Garmin finally started producing GPS-enabled watches that didn't make you look like a total goof while tracking your pace and vitals, but these still weren't timepieces you'd be comfortable wearing to the office or even a bar. Then came the Forerunner 50, which had the perfect watch-like form factor, but unfortunately, no GPS. So fans of this line will be pleased to learn that Garmin has somehow been able to shoehorn a satellite receiver into a casing not much bigger than the 50's and dubbed it the Forerunner 405. Besides monitoring and logging speed, distance, heart rate and location, the 405 also features a touch-sensitive bezel for controlling its various functions, as well as the same proprietary ANT+Sport wireless syncing technology as the GPS-less 50. Available in either black (pictured above) or green (pictured after the break, along with a video walkthrough), the Forerunner 405 will start at $299.

For every gimmicky workout product that comes along like the push-up counter or talking grip master, there's also one such as the Nike+iPod or Entertrainer which actually seem to prove useful or motivational. Well you can add the upcoming Informance sunglasses from German lenscrafter Rodenstock to that list, which take your regular sports shades and tack on a tiny LED display that shows stopwatch or pulse data from a wirelessly-linked watch. Developed in cooperation with the UK's Cambridge Consultants, the display projects a 160 x 120 pixel image through a wedge-shaped prism, occupying 12% of the left eye's field of view in a reportedly unobtrusive manner when peering straight ahead. Look for actual products to hit the market sometime in 2009, for an estimated €700 to €1.000 ($990 to $1,400).

We've seen endless varieties of clothing designed to integrate with your iPod, and most of them do appear to offer either added functionality (see: all the jackets for gloved-hand control) or some modicum of security (see: Thomas Pink's shirt and tie). But a new set of duds from men's clothier Bagir -- appropriately named the iPod suit -- however, seems to be more of a solution that's looking for a problem. What make this suit so special are the soft, integrated buttons from Eleksen (creators of those fabric keyboards), which allow you to stealthily control your 'Pod from the inner lining -- because, you know, actually pulling out your DAP to change tracks during a board meeting is like totally gauche. Seriously, though, if you're really in a situation where you absolutely can't extract your iPod from its confines, it would seem that an in-line remote would work just as well -- and if you snatch up Apple's version, you even get an FM tuner to boot. Plus, if you're picking out your suits based on how high-tech they are and not how good they look, well, you've probably got more problems than the iPod suit can solve, anyway.

We always assumed that the "bag of the future" would come with a little robot that carried it around for you, but new additions to the popular Kata lineup of cases prove that we'll still be toting around our own gear for quite some time. What make the 17 new members of the Ergo-Tech series so futuristic, then, are a number of innovative materials such as "Elasto-Guard," "yelloop," and "Flexi-Shield" (all trademarked, so they must be special) that promise to deliver unrivaled comfort to the wearer and protection for his/her equipment. The wearable products in this collection are all form-fitting bags that flex and stretch for the geek on-the-go, while the carrying cases feature configurable interiors for surrounding your most delicate hardware with extra layers of padding. Like most of the totable solutions offered by Kata, these Ergo-Tech models are targeted mainly at photographers and filmmakers, but their numerous compartments and value-added features should help them appeal to a much wider audience -- isn't the future great? Keep reading to see a few more of the products that Kata has managed to bring back in time for its grateful customers...

Until full-color flexible displays start hitting the market in who knows how many years, the only way to get big-screen video enjoyment on the go (besides holding your iPod right up to your face) is by attaching your device to a head-mounted display. Far from the bulky eyesores they once were, HMDs have thankfully evolved to the point where you don't look completely goofy sporting a pair in public, so there will probably be some interest in a new low-profile model called the ezVision Video iWear Glasses. Typical of these devices, instead of advertising the actual size of the LCDs, manufacturer ezGear only claims that the ezVisions simulate a 50-inch widescreen TV at some undetermined distance. You also get an 8-hour rechargeable battery, iPod and RCA breakout cables, and a replaceable nose piece, all for $400 direct from the manufacturer, or perhaps less when they arrive at retailers later this month.

[Via Yahoo]

Update: Sounds like ezGear was using "iWear," a trademark belonging to another company, without permission. Woops! Call 'em the ezVision Video Glasses.

If we're not absorbing information at an alarming and astounding rate 24/7, we start feeling a little hollow and frivolous, being surrounded with all this connected technology and what not. Thankfully Manabe Hiroyuki (pictured) at NTT DoCoMo took the time to develop and create the wearable headphone gaze detector; slightly less elegant than the traditional neural implant, with this system you could not only record the goings on of your days and "bookmark" important events, but also train the cameras to feed you information about your surroundings based on QR codes or possibly eventually object recognition; think of it as augmented aural reality triggered by giving a passing glance. Shine on, you crazy diamond - -we think you might just have Masahiko Tsukamoto beat this time.

[Via pasta and vinegar]

We love 3D, who doesn't? We'll stop at nothing to get that third dimension, you know? We put up with anaglyphs, crazy glasses, polarized glass, but ColorLink's ColorComb eyepieces (yeah yeah yeah) have an angle on the Z-axis we've never seen taken before (no no no). Their new stereoscopic 3D headgear uses those already-on-the-market six-color LED backlit LCDs to simulate 3D, and can also be used like Sharp's dual-angled screens to enforce privacy or display multiple virtual-optical screens. They also had a 17-inch SXGA 3D monitor they announced, but we aren't yet clear whether that uses the same backlit LED panels necessary for taking advantage of their ColorComb. We know, we know, wearable 3D anything will never be the same as the taunting help me Obi Wan we've been chasing for nearly 30 years, but for now we'll takes what we can gets.

[Via Let's Go Digital]