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By SHAYNDI RAICE

Jari Arkko connected his toaster to Facebook.

Mr. Arkko, an engineer for Sweden’s Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, uses his home in Finland, which he shares with his wife and three sons, as a lab. He has connected the entire house to a wireless network so he can get updates on his computer or cellphone when the front door opens, when the laundry is dry or when his toast is ready.

SmartSlippers

“It just shows you these things are very easy and we will see far better ideas,” says Mr. Arkko, noting it took him only 20 minutes to connect his toaster’s status to Facebook.

He’s one of a growing number of engineers, working for giant telecommunications companies or small start-ups, inventing products that can send messages—from a diaper that lets parents know their baby needs changing, to slippers that can tell when your grandmother might be headed for a fall, to a device that lets farmers know when cows are in the mood.

With nearly everyone in America already carrying a cellular phone, companies are thinking outside the box—way outside—to drum up fresh demand for their networks.

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Milk Source

One potential wireless device could tell dairy farmers when cows are in heat.

U.S. carriers are betting they can get “wireless penetration”—now around 90%—up to 300% or 400%. In plain English, that means they need every man, woman and child in the country to each use three or four wireless products, a goal that can’t be accomplished with phones alone.

“From our perspective, we don’t think anything is off limits,” says Glenn Lurie, head of the emerging devices unit at AT&T Inc., set up last year to work with startups to create wireless products.

Wireless diapers are the brainchild of a startup called 24eight. Embedded with a cellular chip, they can send a “diaper wet” notification via text message to a cellphone. The company says they cost about two cents more apiece than normal diapers. David Schieffelin, chief executive of 24eight, says he’s still searching for the right partner to help him commercialize the product.

While babies come with a built-in notification method all their own, these diapers could keep parents updated when they’re out of hearing range. “A parent can remotely monitor a care center and get ‘diaper wet’ messages when they are at work,” he says.

Mr. Schieffelin was able to join with wireless carriers on another of his inventions: fuzzy slippers.

AT&T is running a clinical trial using “SmartSlippers,” produced by 24eight, that are aimed at the elderly. Verizon Wireless recently made an investment in the company, and Mr. Schieffelin hopes to sell the slippers this fall directly to consumers.

The slippers will cost about $100—and a cellular plan that would allow the slippers to send messages would cost $25 a month.

If the wearer gets wobbly, an “accelerometer” in the sole—the same gizmo that makes the iPhone respond to tilts and twists—will sense trouble. The slipper will then send a text over the carrier’s network to a family member or the wearer’s physician.

“Think of what can be gathered just off your feet,” Mr. Schieffelin says. “Why shouldn’t something as innocuous as a data device be placed into fuzzy slippers?”

Already on the market: A $10 pill bottle that glows, beeps, phones and texts if you are in danger of missing a dose. The so-called GlowCaps, from Vitality Inc., a start-up based in Cambridge, Mass., can also tattle, keeping records that can be sent to doctors or family members.

Tim Rowe, 43, runs Vitality’s landlord, the Cambridge Innovation Center. He started using the GlowCaps in 2009 to remember to take his cholesterol medication.

Once he stumbled into his bathroom well after midnight and saw his GlowCap bottle blinking. Fumbling to open the cap, he inadvertently pressed a button that sent a refill signal.

His wife was in bed when the phone started ringing. It was the GlowCap customer-service center asking if they could help refill his prescription.

“The wife was not pleased,” he says.

David Rose, chief executive of Vitality, says the company’s philosophy is about “understanding how people use everyday objects around us and trying to animate those with some additional service.”

The caps caught the attention of comedian Stephen Colbert. In a segment on his TV show, he showed company footage of a girl talking about how the product can help grandpa remember to take his medication by calling his cellphone.

“This is perfect,” Mr. Colbert said. “Because while old people can be forgetful, they are great when it comes to setting up the Internet, recognizing cellphone ringtones and accessing voicemail messages.”

Joshua Wachman, president of Vitality, says, “Ironically, being lampooned by Stephen Colbert made people take our product…more seriously, so we take it as a compliment.”

There are many kinds of wired connections, and also noncellular wireless technologies in the home, like a hand-held phone that works within a short distance. But wireless carriers want to exploit the longer-range technology of the cellular network.

The adoption of wireless technologies in new kinds of devices accelerated after 2007, when Amazon.com introduced its Kindle along with a cellular connection for downloading books—but, in a key innovation, required no phone bill. The cost of the service was embedded in the purchase price. Today, some cars can be started from a cellphone.

Carriers think the market for such devices is huge. Ivan Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications Inc., has said there could be 60 billion connected devices by the end of the decade, up from four billion today. Ericsson Chief Executive Hans Vestberg in April guessed 50 billion.

Applications extend to the animal kingdom. Cellcom, a wireless carrier that serves Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan, is building a device that can tell dairy farmers when their cows are in heat. An antenna on the cow’s ear can track its location and temperature.

“It used to be you knew the cow’s name and you watched the cow’s behavior,” says Bob Webb, the project director. “Now you’re dealing with farms with over 2,000 cows. Farmers need that kind of information they used to garner just from having familiarity with a cow.”

Roger Meads, a veterinarian for Milk Source, a dairy farm in Wisconsin with more than 17,000 cows, pushed the carrier for such a device. Cows that can’t get pregnant, he says, “leave the herd”—which is a nice way of saying they get sent to the slaughterhouse. About a third of his cows leave the herd every year, a percentage he’d like to bring down by having more of them get pregnant.

“When a cow is in heat, she’s more active,” he says. “If we can record those things, we can greatly improve the conception rate of cows.”

Oh, the pleasure of sports data. Baseball would not be baseball if statisticians didn’t keep track of things like the probability of hitting a double when the temperature is under 75 degrees on a Tuesday and the batter’s shoes are blue and double-knotted. And fantasy football wouldn’t exist if there weren’t quarterback ratings and detailed records of tackles every Sunday. Numbers, like them or not, just make sports more fun. It’s no different with the simple act of running. Even if you’re not a pro athlete with a team of coaches, it’s easy to keep track of how well you’re performing and to better your time with the Nike+ SportsWatch. Using GPS technology from TomTom, the watch keeps track of where you’ve run and for how long. At the end of each jog it tells you how you’ve measured up to your previous workouts. Plug the watch into a computer using the built-in USB connector, and your info is automatically uploaded onto nikeplus.com. Here you can see maps of where you’ve run and performance charts—it’s a great way to make the sport more tangible and helps you set goals so you don’t feel like you’re, you know, running in circles. The watch is also a mini motivator—if you haven’t laced up your sneakers in some time, it will remind you to do so.

$200, tomtom.com

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Nike+ SportsWatch

Big Brains: In addition to time and distance, it also tracks pace and elevation.

Slap Happy: To mark a lap while you’re running, simply smack the screen.

No GPS Signal? No Problem: The optional Nike+ sensor will continue to log speed and distance info.

By MICHAEL HSU

If gathering around an iPad to watch movies on vacation isn’t cutting it, consider tossing an all-in-one projector into your weekend duffel. These systems cram a projector, speakers and video source into a single box. Just plug in a power cord (or, with one projector, you can attach an optional battery pack) to transform a blank white wall into a movie screen.

The beauty of these systems is how quick they are to get up and running. Pair them with an iPhone, iPad or newer iPod touch, and you’re just a few swipes away from thousands of movies and TV shows through Netflix and Hulu Plus (iDevices are still the least annoying way to access these streaming services). Or if you’re vacationing without Wi-Fi access (horror!), just download movies from iTunes before you leave.

Although the models shown here are designed to connect simply to specific devices, they can also be hooked up to other sources such as laptops and standalone DVD players. But ease-of-use trumps all here. While others are still optimizing their video signals, you’ll be watching the campfire scene from “Blazing Saddles.”

—Michael Hsu

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Boyle + Gardner for The Wall Street Journal

Optoma Neo-i

FOR THE iPHONE

Optoma Neo-i

In the rarefied world of ultra-portable, all-in-one projectors, the Neo-i truly shines. At just 2.2 pounds (not quite as heavy as the smaller Macbook Air), this is the lightest projector of our lot.

But it manages to throw an exceptionally bright image (it’s one of the brightest Pico projectors on the market) that’s larger than most flat-screen televisions—up to a whopping 120 inches diagonal. (Keep in mind, though, that you’ll get a more vivid picture if you keep the image smaller by placing the projector closer to the wall.)

As with the other models shown here, set up is a snap (just add electricity), but the Neo-i has an optional battery pack that lets you ditch the power cable, too. Roughly the size of a deck of cards, the battery runs for about 90 minutes—too short for “The Sound of Music,” perfect for an episode of “Glee.” $450, optomausa.com

Boyle + Gardner for The Wall Street Journal

Cinemin Slice

FOR THE iPAD

Cinemin Slice

The dock on the Cinemin Slice does a neat trick: iPods and iPhones sit nearly flush with the front of the projector when seated, but to accommodate an iPad, the dock slides forward. (Brilliant.)

Other portable projectors may have integrated iPod docks, but the Slice is the first to cradle an iPad this seamlessly, propping the tablet’s larger and easier-to-swipe controls at the perfect angle (it beats fumbling through the smaller iPhone screen).

The Slice’s two side-firing speakers pump out a modest six watts each, but they sound surprisingly full for their size (keep in mind that the projector sits closer to you than a television’s speakers would). Incidentally, if you enjoy watching movies lying flat on your back—we’re told “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” is best viewed this way—this is the projector for you. The Slice has an adjustable projector arm that you can aim at the ceiling. $430, wowwee.com

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Boyle + Gardner for The Wall Street Journal

Epson Moviemate 85HD

FOR THE DVD

Epson Moviemate 85HD

While the Slice and Neo-i are powered by tiny DLP pico projectors (those palm-sized wonders often toted to board rooms), the Moviemate pairs a slot-loading DVD player with a full-fledged LCD projector. What you give up in portability, you gain in performance. The much heavier and bulkier Moviemate easily outshines the lighter models with a blazing 2,500 lumens (compared to the Slice’s 16 lumens and the Neo-I’s 50).

The result: a larger, more vibrant image that won’t appear as washed out if you start your screenings before sunset. And because the resolution of a DVD is higher than that of a compressed video file (like those downloaded from iTunes or streamed from Netflix, for example), the Moviemate promises a much sharper viewing experience all around. For those of you who find popping in a DVD as antiquated as hand-cranking a phonograph, fear not. Apple’s $40 Component AV Cable is all you need to connect an iPad or iPod and bring the Moviemate into the 21st century. $900, epson.com

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Boyle + Gardner for The Wall Street Journal

PACK ALONG SOME AUDIO PUNCH

Want bigger sound to complement your projector? Here are two portable speakers that go boom

Jawbone Jambox: This tiny jewel of a Bluetooth speaker may not be able to handle the rumble of a Michael Bay blockbuster (Woody Allen’s mono oeuvre is a better match), but it makes up for it by being completely wire-free. Position it close to you to keep dialogue crisp and clear.$200, jawbone.com.

Logitech S715i: The S715i is billed as an iPod dock, but it’s also one of the best sounding rechargeable speakers of its size. Connect it to your iDevice’s headphone jack for more compelling bass and a wider stereo image than your projector’s speakers can deliver.$150, logitech.com

Toshiba

Like many laptops, the Thrive, above, has full-size USB and HDMI ports.

While Microsoft and Apple are working to bring aspects of tablet computing to the next versions of their computer operating systems, one big computer maker, Toshiba, is going the other way: It is introducing a tablet that emulates a laptop in some key respects.

Unlike other well-known tablets on the market, the new Toshiba Thrive, a 10-inch Android model available this month, sports a full-sized USB port that works with a wide variety of devices and files; a removable battery; and a file manager application like those on PCs. It also includes a full-sized SD slot for flash memory cards and a full-sized connector, called an HDMI port, that can use a standard cable for linking to a high-definition TV.

Walt Mossberg reviews the new Toshiba Thrive, a 10” Android model tablet. Unlike most other tablets on the market, the Thrive emulates a laptop in a number of ways including its removable battery, SD card slot, and USB port.

Some tablets, such as Acer’s Iconia, have a few of these features, but I haven’t previously tested a tablet with all of them. And they aren’t built into the tablet that dominates the market, Apple’s iPad.

Like Acer, Toshiba is trying to differentiate the Thrive from the iPad with a lower price. The base model of the Thrive will cost $430, which is $69 less than the entry-level iPad 2. However, there’s a catch: It only has half the memory, 8 gigabytes, versus the base $499 iPad 2′s 16 gigabytes. A Thrive model with 16 gigabytes of memory will cost $480, or just $19 less than the comparable iPad 2.

This first tablet from Toshiba is Wi-Fi only. But the company plans a model with cellular connectivity in the fourth quarter.

I’ve been testing the Thrive for about a week, and found it to be a mixed bag. Its laptop-like features, especially the USB port, worked very well and will be welcomed by users who have yearned for an easier, more standard way of getting files into and out of a tablet.

Like most tablets introduced this year, it is thick and heavy compared with the iPad. Like all Android tablets, it offers only a tiny fraction of the tablet-optimized apps available for the iPad, which claims 100,000 such programs.

And in my standard tablet battery test, its performance was weak, only a bit more than half of the iPad 2′s.

Design

The Thrive, which has rounded edges, weighs in at 1.6 pounds. It’s 0.62 inch thick, and about 11″ long by 7″ wide—shaped to optimize viewing of widescreen videos. That means it’s best used in landscape mode. Its back, which is rubbery and ribbed, feels comfortable, and snaps off, to provide access to the removable battery.

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Toshiba

The standard case, above, is very bulky.

Extra batteries cost $80 each, and the company offers a variety of colorful replacement backs for $20 each.

The edges offer an array of switches and ports—some hidden behind little covers—including a mini-USB port for connecting to a PC or Mac. There’s a proprietary connector for attaching the Thrive to two optional docks. The device includes front and rear cameras.

There are also a couple of optional cases. I found the standard case to be very bulky. Also very bulky is the included AC adapter, for charging the Thrive, that’s the size of a small laptop charger.

USB

I focused a lot of my testing on the USB port, which worked very well. In my tests, I was able to successfully connect a variety of small flash drives and access their files, or copy them to the internal memory, using the File Manager app. Toshiba also includes a Media Player, which handles music, photos and videos, regardless of whether they are in internal memory or external storage.

I was also able to easily connect a variety of other devices to the USB port, including a camera, a wired keyboard and mouse. The USB port handled an external hard drive as well, once I converted it on a computer to the only hard-disk format the Thrive recognizes, which is called exFAT.

I was even able to simultaneously use a flash drive and a wired mouse with the Thrive by plugging in a small USB hub—a gadget that’s like a power strip for USB devices.

SD Card and HDMI Port

The Thrive can handle SD cards up to 128 gigabytes in capacity—though the largest of these currently cost around $300. In fact, Toshiba justifies the low internal memory on its base model Thrive by noting that users can add memory via SD cards. In my tests of several SD cards, all worked fine.

I connected my HDTV to the Thrive via a plain-vanilla HDMI cable and it played videos, photos and music through the TV without any problems.

Battery Life

The Thrive fared poorly in my standard tablet battery test, in which I set the screen brightness at 75%, leave the Wi-Fi connected and collecting emails in the background, and play videos back to back until the juice is gone. It managed just 5½ hours before shutting down, compared with slightly over 10 hours for the iPad 2 during the same test.

Toshiba claims the Thrive’s battery will last up to 11 hours in more general and varied use, and, while I couldn’t test such a vague claim, I was able to go a couple of days between charges while doing intermittent Web surfing, emails, social networking, book reading and game playing. But the screen— which sucks power on all tablets—was off for hours at a time during this period.

Performance

In general, the Thrive performed crisply, handling almost everything I tried and running numerous programs at once.

However, it crashed multiple times. The tablet spontaneously rebooted once when I removed a flash drive and the popular game “Words With Friends” crashed twice. Several other apps also crashed.

Unlike the iPad, the Thrive will play Adobe Flash videos and websites, but, as with other Android tablets, this capability varies unpredictably. Some Flash videos played well, others poorly or not at all. A couple crashed the browser. And the beautiful Picnik photo-editing website, which depends on Flash, wouldn’t work at all.

Cameras and Sound

Both cameras worked OK for stills and videos. But the sound, which Toshiba says is superior to that on other tablets, was tinny on several songs compared with the sound on the iPad.

Trial Software

One more similarity, alas, that the Thrive has to laptops is that it comes pre-loaded with craplets, limited or trial apps you may not want. Its bundled version of QuickOffice, a productivity program for viewing and editing Microsoft Office documents, can only view files, not edit them. A security program works only for 30 days before you must pay for it. A printing program will only print five pages before payment is required.

Bottom Line

The Thrive is a good alternative to the iPad for people who place high value on having standard ports, especially a USB port, and a removable battery. While it suffers from many of the downsides of other non-Apple tablets, it is closer to a laptop, and that will please people looking for laptop features in a tablet.

—Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos at the All Things Digital website, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Email mossberg@wsj.com.