Best Inventions 2005: On The Move

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NICHOLAS EVELEIGH FOR TIME

Roll and Rock
Inventor: Yamano Music
Availability: Soon, about $160
To Learn More: www.yamano-music.com
Traveling musicians, rejoice! With keys just an eighth of an inch thick, the 2-lb., 61-key Hand Roll Piano rolls up like a blanket and spreads out to about 3 ft. in length. Incorporating technology used in remote-control buttons and touch panels, the silicone-rubber keyboard, which has a built-in speaker, can be played for up to 15 hours on four AA batteries. But it's no lightweight. The Hand Roll comes with a set of 128 tones (from acoustic piano to bird tweet), 100 rhythms, 20 prerecorded demo songs and a speaker jack, and it connects to a computer.
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