It goes without saying that the new technology now entering the marketplace is leaps and bounds ahead of the technology introduced only the year before. In fact, it’s a fairly solid bet that you are reading this post on some pretty obsolete technology! And not only are the younger generations some of the heaviest consumers of these technological advances, but so are the various colleges to which they are most likely applying. And whether you like it or not, a student’s future success in higher education may eventually become dependent on access to technologically-savvy learning tools. These new waves of college freshmen grew up in the fully realized computer age, and therefore, they put a high value on convenient and up-to-date technology. It only makes sense to start a new college student off on the right foot, and purchase only the best and freshest technology to support this new college life.

For Times of Study

iPad 2

The iPad will eventually transform into both a student’s computer, and a complete textbook library! And now that Apple offers Bluetooth-enabled wireless keyboards, you don’t have to try to compose your entire term paper on a clumsy touchscreen. And it is completely normal to feel envy if you are currently harkening back to your days of the excruciating agony caused by lugging an impossibly heavy book bag all over campus! The iPad 2 is thinner, lighter, and faster, and it has a 10-hour battery life. It also has all of the wonderful apps that Apple technology has to offer, and more and more apps are being added every day. This seemingly endless array of apps can assist a student with new language development, strengthen vocabulary, enhance artistic skills, help with homework from that pesky history course, create that presentation due next week, generate a spreadsheet, end any mathematics difficulties, and much, much more. The iPad 2 also allows you to take notes, finish homework and assignments, write that essay, stay organized, and study.

Sony Digital Reader Touch Edition

With the Sony Digital Reader, your student can access books from the Sony eBookstore, browse 500,000 free public domain books on Google, reference the Oxford American English Dictionary, or even check out some required reading directly from the nearest public library. The Sony Digital Reader is lightweight and conserves energy, as it requires no power in order to maintain a static image. It also has a touchscreen keyboard that allows you to take notes and highlight various important sections, keywords, names, etc.

Livescribe Echo

This ingenious gadget is the ideal invention for those long-winded lectures, and it will help ensure that all information spewing forth from the professor’s lips has not been missed or forgotten. It will most certainly turn any student into a prepared and successful student. This is because the Livescribe Echo digitizes your notes and simultaneously records the lectures, all thanks to a built-in camera and special Livescribe paper. This smartpen will then transfer the images of those notes, as well as the audio, to your computer. Can’t find that place in your notes where you wrote down the name of the man who succeeded Stalin as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union? Quickly find the answer you need in your messy notebook by typing in a keyword, which will then be highlighted every time it appears in the text.

iTalk

Did you know that your iPod can record sound just like a handheld tape recorder? Probably not. All you have to do is plug the iTalk into the headphones jack of your iPod. The iTalk’s internal microphone will then record any lecture. Once class ends for the day, simply download the recording onto a computer, and then either copy the vital portions into your notes, or simply use the actual recording as a study tool.

Bose Quiet Comfort 3 – Noise Cancelling Headphones

Sure, you want to catch a couple quality hours of sleep before finals tomorrow, but some people in the dorm are already up late and celebrating the end of the semester! Rectify this troublesome situation by purchasing noise cancelling headphones. These soft, calm-inducing headphones make everything sound significantly quieter with the simple flip of a button!

For Playtime

Linksys Wireless B Music System

Simply put, there are no students currently on any college campus nationwide who are still blasting their favorite tunes from an old-fashioned stereo system. But with all this music confined to a personal laptop, how is anyone supposed to utilize it to keep the party jumping? This question is answered by Linksys, who utilizes a Wi-Fi connection so that this music system can grab songs right off of your computer and play them on a separate set of speakers, or on a different stereo system altogether, without the need of any cumbersome cords.

EdgeStar 5-Liter Mini Kegerator

I’m sure you’re a hard worker, but let’s face it, you like to party even harder, right? This Mini Kegerator is small enough to fit comfortably in your dorm room, and it is also inconspicuous enough to easily hide from an RA or a nosy set of parents! Keeping your mini keg frosty cool, the compact and lightweight Mini Kegerator also has a convenient faucet tap attached, and it utilizes carbonator pressure technology.

Roku’s Sound Bridge Network Music Player

Sure, you can just bring your laptop with all those songs on it to the party later tonight, but you probably don’t want a bunch of random jerks rummaging through your personal computer files. However, Roku’s Sound Bridge Network Music Player allows you to wirelessly stream all your digital music and playlists directly from your computer into any nearby room via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, as well as connecting you to various internet radio stations.

Daniel Davis is a college student and a aspiring writer. He loves keeping up with the latest gadgets and new mobile technology trends. When Daniel is not writing you may find him perusing his favorite tech sites or playing games on his iPad.