Hasselblad H3DII-50

Streaking naked across the boundary between film and digital imaging quality is this medium-format DSLR from Hasselblad (www.hasselbladusa.com). Using a giant 36 x 48mm CCD sensor from Kodak, the H3DII-50 snaps 50MP images until you run out of storage. (An even larger sensor, the 645, should be unveiled before you read this.) We could throw specs at you, but when a DSLR costs $39,995 and has an imaging sensor with its own cooling system, you can assume it’s a fairly serious piece of kit. Options include a GPS attachment, plus Hasselblad’s innovative HTS 1.5 system that brings lens tilt and shift tricks to medium-format cameras.
Klipsch Palladium P-38F

Trickle-down theory works, at least as applied to tech gizmos. We love it when an innovator follows up an impressive high-end achievement with a lower-cost version. Take Klipsch (www.klipsch.com) with this new floorstanding speaker ($12,000 per pair), a direct descendent of the $20,000 per pair Palladium P-39F. The P-38F’s resemblance to its big brother goes deeper than its beautiful, eco-friendly Linia veneer. It uses the same Tractrix horn-loaded midrange and supertweeter as the P-39F, and it underpins them with a trio of 8-inch hybrid woofers. Klipsch also sells a triple 12-inch subwoofer unit and peripheral speakers in the Palladium series, so you can outfit your home theater as easily as your audio sanctum.
Volkswagen One-Litre Car

Forgive us for taking liberties with the parameters of “dream hardware” for a sec—when a car manages 264mpg on diesel without using even hybrid technology, it gets noticed (www.volkswagen.com). This concept car has been in mothballs since 2002, but with the oil crunch and the resurgent green movement, some think that its hour has come ’round at last. With a CFP (carbon fiber-reinforced plastics) monocoque and a reliance on magnesium and titanium parts, the whole two-seat car only weighs about 639 pounds. The “One-Litre” part doesn’t refer to the car’s 0.3L single-cylinder, but rather to the amount of fuel it takes to drive roughly 100km. Three video cameras take the place of mirrors. A report in the UK’s Car (www.carmagazine.co.uk) predicted a limited production run of modified One-Litres in a couple of years, but VW of America’s press and PR director Steve Keyes called the story incorrect. “There are no plans to introduce the car in 2010,” he said—which, you’ll notice, doesn’t exactly say “never ever.”