Wacom’s Inkling is a fabulous concept: draw in your own notebook, with a real pen, and easily download digital versions of those drawings onto your computer. In theory, it improves on existing digital tools--support for layers makes it more flexible than a scanner, and real ink and paper offer better feel and control than a tablet. The Inkling should be a perfect bridge between digital and analog art. Unfortunately, the product still has a few kinks to work out before we can truly sings its praises. The Inkling certainly does what it sets out to do--it effectively captures a digital likeness of anything you sketch. We just wish it did a better job.

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.