One of the best innovations in recent times, in my opinion, is the ability to customize nearly everything you get your hands on: your cellphone and most other electronics, your wallpaper (real and virtual)--even your beauty products. I've always appreciated the ability to customize a desktop computer, but you usually have to go straight to the vendor to do so. Velocity Micro has partnered with Best Buy to enable you to customize your own gaming machine at Bestbuy.com--a great marriage of customer service and geeky attention to detail.

Now, when you visit Best Buy's site, and make your way to the gaming desktops area, you are navigated to a special site where you can choose your specs, accessories and other fun stuff--case lights, cooling systems, even the case. Although I'm not much of a gamer myself (I still miss Atari), this is way cool!

GearLog's breathalyzer reviews continue with the Alcohawk Precision (left) and Elite (right) models. PC Magazine's Whitney Reynolds tested the Precision, while PJ Jacobowitz tested the Elite. In Jacobowitz's own words, he describes both the Precision and the Elite as the "Olsen Twins of breathalyzers: firm bodies and almost identical to the eye, but with different personalities." (I think he only said that because he wants to score a date with them.)

The Precision has a yellow "ready" light that flashes when warming up, and turns steady when it's okay to blow into it. It does not display a countdown like the other AlcoHawk models (except for the Micro), but we counted about 60 seconds until it's ready.

The AlcoHAWK Elite dons a crisp blue LCD screen that allows for more information to be displayed. It shows a countdown, and when it reaches zero, it displays the word “wait,” and then “RDY” at which point it's ready to test.

Precision Test. Reynolds took the Precision to Kenka, her fav Japanese Restaurant, for some heavy-duty alcohol testing. She downed four beers at dinner. She was anxious to see what her BAC level was, so she rinsed her mouth out with water and tested at a .100%. When she arrived home, she tested herself again, and received a very different reading: a .058%! Clearly, there was something wrong with the device.

She then had six more beers 4 hours later (damn this girl could drink me under the table) and tested at 0.117%, which seemed more reasonable.

Just so you don't think Reynolds is a lush that flies solo, she dragged both her roommate and PC Magazine's Arielle Rochette along for the ride. Her roommate had several glasses of Plum Wine and reached .030%; Rochette reached 0.010%, only after 2 glasses of wine, which didn't make much sense.

Accuracy. Readings varied greatly depending on if you had any alcohol residue in your mouth, or if you used a mouthpiece that had been used by someone with a higher BAC.  The device didn't really seem very accurate to Reynolds because of this...too many other factors could lead to a false reading.

Overall Impressions. Reynolds found the Precision to be fun and entertaining to see quantifiably how drunk she was. When she was at 0.058%, she figured one more drink would put her over the legal limit to drive (although she doesn't drive), and it was interesting because she wasn't very tipsy at all. Her BAC was always higher than she thought it would be. The device's size was a little unwieldy to have in a pocket or a purse, and the mouthpieces seem like they'd be easy to lose (and you'd really need to wash them regularly to get accurate readings).

Elite Test. Jacobowitz's experience was much difference with the AlcoHAWK Elite, considering he couldn't remember exactly how many drinks he had. But, he believes that it's somewhere around 6 beers and 2 shots over the span of 3 hours. His BAC level reached 0.13%, which definitely seemed accurate. When he was out partying with the Elite, it was as if he was a celebrity, because everyone wanted to meet him and blow into the breathalyzer. Unfortunately, the Olsen Twins were nowhere in sight.

Get the AlcoHAWK Precision for $79.99 or the AlcoHAWK Elite for $130.

Stay tuned for a final test of all 7 breathalyzers against the FC10--the breathalyzer that law enforcement uses.

-Alcohol Test 5: AlcoScan AL6000

-Alcohol Test 4: Brookstone Digital Alcohol Detector
-Alcohol Test 3: AlcoHAWK Micro
-Alcohol Tests 1 & 2: AlcoHAWK Slim & AlcoHAWK ABI
-Alcohol Safety Month Intro

Note the singular 'speaker' in the title. Instead of a pair of speakers like most =solutions for the iPod, the Kensingon SX-2000 is single, huge (in relative terms) flat speaker and integrated iPod dock that produces very good sound for those times when you wanna share the music. Mike Kobrin, PC Magazine's lead analyst for audio, gave it 4 stars out of 5, noting that while its sound wasn't as good as the Bose SoundDock, it was quite good for half the price. But that's when it cost $159.99. Buy.com now has the SX-2000 for $69.99. That's wicked cheap, as the kids say.

Don't have an iPod? There's a line-in port for other MP3 players. And then just use the dock area for a deck of cards.

Now if only I could only figure out why Kensington gave such a boring name to such funky looking speakers.

I know, I know. How could anyone ever tire of shoving earbuds in their ears? But believe it or not, some people apparently do. And there also seem to be people that sometimes want to block out all extraneous noise when they listen to their music.

If you fall into either of these categories, check out Buy.com's deal on the Altec Lansing AHP712i noise-cancelling headphones. They're originally $150 and most places today have them for $85 - $100, Buy has them for $27.99! Factoring in their original price, PC Mag's audio expert, Mike Kobrin, rated the headphones 4 stars out of five. Click here to read his review. When I showed Mike this new, lower price, his exact words were "Wow...now that's a deal."

Microsoft takes another step into your car's dashboard with the first car radio that works with PlaysForSure players, the Dual XDMR7710, shipping in July. This $250 (street) unit and two siblings from Dual will be the first car radios that connect to most portable music players (except, of course, Apple's) and stream content from the player, including subscription-music-service downloads.

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Slideshow | All Shots

The XDMR7710, the flagship of the line, has a motorized faceplate that drops down to reveal a large LCD. It tunes in AM/FM, plays MP3 and WMA CDs, hooks up to XM Satellite Radio (via an optional external device), and has a line-in jack.

Most important, though, by adding a $100 external USB adapter to the EAUSB20, users can plug in any current or recent music player using a standard USB 2.0 cable. The connector recharges the player, and transfers track and artist information along with the music.

In our brief demo, Dual showed us MP3 downloads and subscription-service music streaming to the head unit from an iRiver and a Philips player; both players were controllable by the head unit. The XDMR7710 and its siblings can sort and select music by artist, album, genre, or playlist.

The PlaysForSure certification is a Microsoft guarantee that any two PlaysForSure devices can communicate with each other and play music, including monthly-subscription-service downloads and protected-content song downloads. Nearly every music player currently made is PFS-compatible, with the exception of Apple iPods. A short-term solution, included in the Dual radios, is a separate line-in jack that accepts music from iPods but doesn't let the radio head unit control the iPod. Dual's product manager, Rob Sutton, said Dual hopes to have an iPod solution in the future, but he wasn't able to provide details.

Two cheaper models, the XDMP680 and the XDMR6850 (prices not yet set), will have the same functionality, but the faceplates aren't motorized; they are removable for theft protection. These may be better for cars in which the drop-down faceplate would obscure some of the console controls.

All three radios use the standard single-DIN cutout, about 2 by 7 inches, that works on virtually every removable car radio. Each has small (not tiny) buttons, as is the annoying norm for virtually every replacement car radio currently offered.

PC Magazine analysts Joel Santo Domingo, Michael Kobrin and myself visited the new, cube-a-licious 24-hour Apple store in Manhattan today and took plenty of pictures. Click on any one of these pix to blow them up to a more pleasantly viewable size.

The entrance to the store is a glass cube, 32 feet on a size, made up of hundreds of panels imported from exotic locales like Italy and Queens. You enter through the front of the cube and proceed down either a spiral staircase or through an elevator. Apple has Wi-Fi'ed the entire plaza around the store, which it shares with famed toy store FAO Schwartz. (Some great cross marketing there - grownup toys and kid toys ...)

Peering down from the plaza at the spiral staircase and elevator tube, into the store.

Joel Santo Domingo walks down the spiral staircase. It's made of glass panels supported only by their edges, like the staircase at the SoHo Apple store.

Didn't Superman lose his powers in one of these? Look, it's Stevie Wonka's Great Glass Elevator. The elevator is driven by a single piston sunk 65 feet into the ground.

iPods, iPods, iPods as far as the i can C. The store is basically one big room, with sections for each kind of Mac product and a Genius Bar / iPod support bar / media support bar area.

Natural light filters into the store from above. At night, light will filter up from the store into the surrounding plaza.

Now that's something you'll never see again. An empty Genius Bar queue. I wonder: will the 24-hour nature of the store mean you can show up with a question at 7 PM and get served at 2 AM?

Resistance is most certainly futile. Apple's new store in midtown Manhattan will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year -- so yes, Santa probably will be coming down the great glass elevator into Steve Jobs' paean to either the Mac Cube or the Borg. (Or both.) We got into the press preview for the store this morning to snap various shots, but the store is opening to the public tomorrow (Friday) at 6 PM.

Apple intends for the store to become a meeting point in Manhattan - a place where sleepless Japanese tourists can check their e-mail at 4 AM, I guess. It'll be interesting to see if people end up floating around the surrounding plaza using the Wi-Fi on their MacBooks at all hours.

Speaking of MacBooks, Apple will be giving one away each hour for the first 24 hours the store is open. So bring some No-Doz and your iPod and take the N, R or W trains to 59th Street and 5th Avenue. (If you come during the day, you can drop the kids off in the FAO Schwarz toy store next door.)

For more photos, you awful, awful Apple lover, see our gallery article.

Attending the opening of the Borg Cube Apple Store on 59th Street in New York City today, I noticed an interesting poster over the MacBook display, announcing that Apple's laptop line was "now complete." Apple doesn't say anything about future product releases, so there's always a little bit of Kremlinology in these things. But I read that to mean that there's going to be no 12" MacBook Pro -- when Apple says "complete," they mean we're looking at the full complement of Intel laptops for this go-round.

How do you read it? Click on either image for a bigger version.

I'll post a full gallery of Apple store photos later today.

Sony Ericsson announced today a new, classy cell phone for business professionals. The Z710i is a Quad-band EDGE/GPRS phone that features Bluetooth 2.0, 2-megapixel camera with digital zoom, 1.5-inch LCD screen, multimedia messaging, USB support, and FM radio. You can also get updated calendar and contact info, write e-mail, and enjoy a fast Internet connection with Access NetFront full HTML browser.

What's different about the Z710i from most phones is that it includes Image blogging, which lets you take a picture and send it to a live blog; Conference Call support for multi-party calling; and RSS feed access.

The Z710i starts shipping during the third quarter of 2006, and you can choose from two colors: Twilight Black or Metallic Sand. It will be available in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Africa. A different variant of the phone, the Z710c, will be available in China.

Finally, you have a choice. The Bose SoundDock digital music system is now available in black.

The Bose SoundDock features rich, full sound, an infrared remote control, and a docking cradle compatible with the iPod, iPod mini, iPod nano, iPod with color screen, and the iPod with video.

The system is more expensive than other iPod speaker systems, but you can't beat its incredible sound.

Get the Bose SoundDock for $299.

[via SmartHome]