MAPTOR

Designed by Korean students, Jin-Sun Park and Seon-keun Park, Maptor is a portable combination map/projector. By downloading a map to the device, a user can project maps onto various surface such as the wall, ground, or a hand.

Maptor has integrated GPS so your position on the map is marked and tracked with a big red arrow making navigating easier. It's also made from environmentally friendly biodegradable plastic PLA (polylactic acid). Thumbs up to the Parks for making this cool device green!

Maptor is a concept device, so I'm not sure when/if it will become available for purchase, what the battery life is like, or the price. I also don't know how clear the maps appear in daylight.

The Maptor certainly has nerd potential...and this travel geek wants one.

THE WORLD IS APP CRAZY

Apps are big business. From gas calculators to dorky light sabers (complete with sound effects) there's an app for practically everything and everyone.

Apple, Palm, and Google have all staked a claim in the lucrative mobile application business, but what about Microsoft?

In addition to developing an upcoming mobile application store, a recent case study on the icrosoft Developer Network website details the process of running a complex iPhone app onto the Windows Mobile platform.