Business Travel: 6 Gadgets That Make Life Easier

Theta, $19.99

Finally, a solution to the eternal problem of keeping your earbud cords from tangling. With the Theta, you wrap the cord around the outer circle and clip the earbuds to a slot on the side. (The Theta also doubles as a stand for your smartphone.) Because there are four notches available, you can wrap the cord without putting any strain on it.

2. Viewsonic PLED-W200, $500

For business presentations on the road, make sure you've slipped this 5x5-inch projector into your laptop bag. At 250 lumens, and with an LED bulb that lasts 20,000 hours, the Viewsonic PLED-W200 is bright and long lasting. Slides and video look crisp at 1280x800 resolution and a 2000:1 contrast ratio.

3.EatSmart Precision Voyager Digital Luggage Scale, $19.95

One of the major hassles of business travel is making sure your luggage does not exceed the weight restrictions for a given airline (often about 40-50 pounds per bag). You might have a scale at the office or at home, but this portable scale fits in your laptop bag so you can weigh your luggage at the hotel. The 5.5-ounce scale can weigh up to 110 pounds and shows the weight in pounds and kilograms.

4. TP-Link TL-WR702N 150Mbps Wireless N Nano Router, $24.95

Powered by either a wall outlet in your hotel room or your own laptop using a USB cable, this 2x2-inch travel router lets you share a broadband connection with those in your business group. The Wi-Fi signal is fast (150Mbps) and secure (WPA2) enough for tapping into the office network or accessing the cloud.

5. Personify Live, $199

Forget old-school webconferencing. Personify Live, which includes a webcam and a sensor that reads gestures, inserts you into the presentation. Your video image appears on top of the presentation, and you can flick to move between slides. The service also lets you pre-record a presentation. The cost normally is $19.99 per month (or $199 per year) per user, but this camera bundle includes three months of service for free.

6. IOGEAR GearPower 10K Mobile Charger GMP10K, $79.95

I took one of these back-up battery chargers on a recent trip to Las Vegas. The 10.5-ounce device uses a 11,000mAh lithium polymer cell battery, which means you can charge a smartphone about five to six times before you need to recharge the battery pack. There are two USB charge ports, and the durable case has built-in technology to prevent over-charging and over-heating.