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Racquetology

The highly engineered Prestige Pro is smarter than your average racquet.

BY ADAM K. RAYMOND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN LAWTON Used to be you could string some “natural gut” across a wooden hoop and you had yourself a primo tennis racquet. No longer. These days it’s all space-age metals and lab-engineered polymers. Consider the Prestige Pro from Dutch tennis company Head. It uses YouTek, a proprietary technology combining something called d3o, a “smart material” that allows the racquet to react to you, with a Tefl on polymer that all but eliminates string friction. The result: a racquet that will make your opponents swear you are the one who was engineered in a lab.

HIT ME Prestige Pro / $225 / head.com

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1. FRAME JOB The Vizit digital picture frame is just like its wood counterpart, except that it holds hundreds of pictures, connects to the internet and allows you to send and receive photos with its 10.4-inch LCD touch screen. Picture that. $280 / isabellaproducts.com

2. TRAINING DAY Wearing the Adidas miCoach is like having a personal trainer in your ear. The system consists of three sensors and a pair of headphones that provide workout instructions based on measurements of your vital signs. Best of all, it never yells. $120 / adidas.com

3. JUST DROP IT The Exilim EX-G1 is made for those who put digital cameras through it all. You can drop it, get it wet or bury it in a pile of sand without worrying, or so Casio claims. / $300 / casio.com 4. TIME AFTER TIME Designed specifi cally for travelers, the TX Airport Lounge watch hops time zones without missing a beat. Unfortunately, it can’t guarantee the same for its owner. $490 /watchismo.com

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