Some accessories are so clever that we wonder why Apple didn’t just fold them into the product’s original design. And with the Magic Charger, a lovely rechargeable-battery solution for the Magic Mouse, you might end up wishing that Apple actually had made it.

How many remotes does your entertainment center need? The answer is probably higher than you’d like. And where did you leave all 17 of those crucial controllers anyway? Peel’s hardware/software combo attempts to address both questions by turning your iPhone or iPod touch into a universal remote and intelligent program guide. The app emphasizes specific TV shows and movies, steering you to recommended content instead of picking channels; it doesn’t even have a number-pad input. But because of that and other missing basics, the Fruit can taste a bit sour.

Ahhh, the trackball. Once the darlings of ergonomics-minded computer users, people often assume they’ve gone the way of those weird kneeling chairs from the 1980s. But like many other relics of the era—Eddie Murphy’s career, spandex, and Bon Jovi come to mind—the trackball is still alive. But trackballs have actually gotten better with time. Logitech’s M570 trackball combines the best aspects of the device you already know, with some new technology to make it even easier to use.

Apple users are used to being on the cutting edge. When the original iMac shipped, it was the first computer to drop old-school ports in favor of USB. Since then, USB has become the de facto standard for everything from printers to cell phone chargers. Two generations later, USB 3.0 devices are emerging, offering data-transfer speeds that crush earlier versions, but Apple has been dragging its feet about bringing that power to the Mac. Of course, this isn’t entirely Apple’s fault. Intel isn’t supporting 3.0 in its chipsets, and NEC—gatekeeper of the USB 3.0 spec—hasn’t released OS X–compatible drivers, leaving Mac-o-philes lusting for that super speed. But if you just can’t wait for USB 3.0 to come natively to the Mac, LaCie has a solution—sort of.