Looking for a way to spread out your home network? Two new options could solve the problem -- Hawking Technologies Inc.'s Wireless-G Range Extender, a wireless network signal repeater, and Iogear Inc.'s Powerline Networking Kit, which uses power lines to connect networks. But if extending a wireless network seems like a challenge, you may not be geek enough for the Daskeyboard.

Daskeyboard

Labeled keys distracted ubergeek Daniel Guermeur so much that he created Daskeyboard, a keyboard with unlabeled keys. The newfangled keyboard allowed him to type blindly, which sped up his typing speed and actually reduced typing errors. Now he's taken his blank keyboard to the world at large.

This is definitely "not your typical keyboard," said Guermeur, chief executive officer of Metadot Corp. Generic keyboards need the same 55 grams of finger force to recognize any keystroke, while Daskeyboard requires five different levels of force, depending on which finger is touching the keys. Keys like Q, A and Z can register a keystroke when pressed lightly by a pinky finger, while the thumb can hit the space bar like a hammer, he said. "The result is more comfort for your hands," he said.

At US$80, the Daskeyboard is for touch typists who can identify all keys, and it is available at http://www.daskeyboard.com.

BodyMedia

To stay in shape, there's Apex Fitness Group and BodyMedia Inc.'s Bodybugg, an armband that continuously collects information on how many calories are being consumed and burned. This fitness gadget wraps around the upper arm.

Bodybugg is better in data collection and analysis than pedometers and heart rate monitors because it uses more sensors to determine how many calories a body burns, according to Joshua Silverman, a BodyMedia spokesman. Four sensors measure calories burned by combining data about body acceleration, skin temperature, skin conductivity and heat generated. The sensors can use that collected data to also calculate a body's glucose, weight and blood pressure, he said.

BodyMedia, which makes the algorithms that analyze the data, claims a 92 percent data accuracy rate.

Data from the armband can be transmitted wirelessly to a database on a computer using RF (radio frequency) technology, or through a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, according to Astro Teller, chief executive officer at BodyMedia.

The database, called a dashboard, displays how many calories a user consumes and burns over short or long periods. Additional features, including customized meal plans, exercise calculators and nutrition information, assist in controlling calorie consumption and weight loss. Dashboard allows users to stay in line with their goals to lose weight and maintain a healthy body, and helps fitness trainers track progress of their clients and develop new workout regimes for them, he said.

"We want people to take charge of their own weight," Teller said. Bodybugg is sold only through health clubs, he added.

Wireless G extender

A good way to boost a wireless network's reach is through Hawking Technologies Inc.'s Wireless-G Range Extender, a 802.11b/g wireless network signal repeater. Hawking's HWUR54G access point consumes a wireless signal and retransmits it, doubling

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