GadgetSpotter

Motion Activated Lawn Sprinkler

I wish I had one of these last spring when raccoons were digging up my lawn. It's a motion activated lawn sprinkler, for the express purpose of scaring away garden pests such as raccoons, dogs, cats, and other animals. When triggered by its infrared day-or-night motion sensor, it sprays a forceful stream of water at the intruders.

Casio Atomic Time Watch

I've seen so many watches lately that record and display all sorts of data that I'd forgotten what a watch is really for: to tell you the time. But how do you make sure your watch has the right time? With Casio's atomic time watch, you don't need to worry about it. The watch receives radio signals from five atomic clocks across the world, thus ensuring that your watch will tell you the correct time for the next 30 million years. Other features include the usual multiple alarms (4), timer, stopwatch, and solar power!

Philips DECT Digital Baby Monitor

Having suffered through two kids worth of basic, no-frills baby monitors, I now greatly appreciate the features that Philips have built into their new DECT digital baby monitors. DECT stands for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication, and it's basically the same technology built into high-quality digital cordless phones. Unlike the older-style baby monitors I had to use before, this one has zero interference from nearby monitors or other devices in or around the home. It's also a totally private connection -- the neighbors can no longer listen in. Recently featured in Time Magazine, the Philips DECT Baby Monitor features a two-way intercom so you can communicate with your child directly from the handset, an integrated thermometer reads ambient room temperature and displays it on the handset and base, 5 different lullabies are controllable from the handset, a nighlight is controllable from the handset, and rechargeable batteries with up to 12 hours operation between charges. Also included are a belt clip, neck cord, zippered travel bag, and a lifetime guarantee.

CEIVA Digital Photo Frame

CEIVA offers the world's only connected digital photo frames. With a digital photo frame, you can display photos from your digital camera as if they were regular photos, except that the frame can bring your pictures to life in a full-color slideshow. CEIVA frames can receive photos through the internet (no computer required) directly from friends and family anywhere in the world. New photos can also be sent directly to the frame from camera phones. CEIVA Digital Photo Frames are on sale now with a number of special offers to choose from.

Shure E500PTH - The Ultimate Sound Isolating Earphones

While these may the most expensive earphones ever, except perhaps for those with gold plating and diamond studs, the Shure E500PTH Sound Isolating Earphones are pretty much the earphones to drool over. Sound quality is, no argument, the best in the market. I normally hate ear bud style headphones, but the comfort of these can't be beat. They feel like nothing is there. And one of the nicest features - push to hear. Most noise-isolating earphones do just that, isolate the outside noise so that all you hear is your music. And then when someone talks to you, or you actually want to hear something outside, you have to pull them off. The Shures have a switch that causes them to reverse the sound isolation, so that you hear what's outside and not what's playing. They include a carrying case, and the "push-to-hear" switch can be removed for increased portability. You can't go wrong with these, as long as you can afford the steep price.

Aero-Garden Kit

This is the perfect gift for cooks or gardeners or yourself, no green thumb required. It's a counter-top herb garden, with the perfect balance of organic nutrients, oxygen, lighting and automation technology. No messy soil is needed. It comes complete with everything including seed pods and nutrients.

Lighted Tweezers

How often have you struggled with a tweezing job because the light was too dim? Here's a brilliant product (no pun intended) that solves the problem once and for all. Tweezers with a built-in light. They're stainless steel, with a bright long-lasting LED light, and batteries included.

Digital Picture Frame

Why stare at the same photo all the time? This 8" digital picture frame has 64 MB of built-in memory allowing you to store up to 100 6-megapixel photos. It can be positioned in six different ways for optimum landscape and portrait viewing, and is wall-mountable. Built-in speakers can play music while it plays a slideshow of your photos (remote included). New photos can be loaded via USB 1.0 or 2.0, or via various digital camera flash memory card formats.

Voice-Activated R2-D2 Droid from Star Wars

How would you like your own little R2-D2 droid chasing you through the hallways of your battle-cruiser... er, I mean house? This motorized replica responds to more than 40 voice commands, and plays games like tag using an infra-red sensor to find people. R2-D2 has lights, a swiveling dome top, and sounds that mimic the real thing.

Lego Mindstorms NXT Robotic Building System

This all-new Lego Mindstorms pack has a new NXT Intelligent Brick with a 32-bit microprocessor and more memory. The kit features 3 servo motors with built-in rotation sensors for precise control, and over 500 Lego Technic elements. The computer software features intuitive drag-and-drop programming.

Levitron Omega Levitating Spinning Top

The American Association of Physics Teachers called the original Levitron "the best new science toy in a generation." This, the latest version, is so much more than a spinning top. As it spins (using only your finger-power, no batteries are required), it levitates above a magnetic pad, high enough for you to pass your hand under it, and is great fun for kids and adults alike.

The World's Best Prelit Christmas Tree

This is the most realistic tree in the world, professionally strung with the best lights available, guaranteed for life. The tree is molded from a live Abies procera, or Noble fir, considered one of the most desired holiday trees for its deep blue-green color and symmetrical branch pattern. Unlike other trees that have light strands which fail immediately when one bulb ceases to work, this tree has strands of advanced integrated circuit lights that withstand the failure or removal of multiple bulbs, ensuring bright, clear, reliable lighting year after year.

Darth Vader Nutcracker

Handcrafted from select European hardwoods by Steinback, the only name in high-quality decorative nutcrackers. Highly detailed, with a red lightsaber, this nutcracker is the perfect gift for your favorite Star Wars fan, or as a conversation piece for Christmas gatherings. Yeah, it's expensive, but you can't put a price on cool.

Radio Controlled Robotic Shark

Cue the Jaws soundtrack. This 2-foot long radio-controlled shark is ready for the pool. With a submersible controller (so you can swim with the shark), it has a range of 40' and a 15-minute runtime.

GPS for Your Bike

This device mounts to a standard 1" bicycle handlebar, and has a GPS receiver previously only available for automobiles, with integral antenna and a speedometer, that accurately displays your location within 10 meters and your speed on an easy to read LCD. Never get lost on two wheels again!

The Remote Control Reconnaissance Plane

Your very own AWACS! This oversized remote control model plane has a detachable digital camera that takes still photos from hundreds of feet above the ground. This plane is BIG, with a nearly 5-foot wingspan, and it has a range of 1000 feet. Flight time is 7 minutes per charge, with two rechargeable batteries included.

Computer-Controlled Stargazer's Chair

Do like watching the stars? Sure you do. What if you could do it from a reclining motorized chair that lets you smoothly rotate a full 360 degrees to find and track whatever it is you want to look at. A built-in green laser pointer helps you find what you're looking for. Sit on it and rotate.

The 120-M.P.H. Electric Car

It doesn't look like much, but this little car hits 60 mph in 4 seconds, and has a top speed of 120 mph! With over 1000 lb-ft of torque, and not much wider than a motorcycle, this electric car can carry two people (one behind the other) up to 80 miles on a charge. Is it safe? You bet. The center of gravity is low thanks to 1100 lbs of batteries all being in the floor, so it has an extremely low rollover threshold.

Next-Generation Robosapien Robot

This is the next evolution of the Robosapien, capable of autonomous behavior and equipped with interactive sensors to recognize objects and respond to sounds. It can be programmed to execute more than 60 different movements, including dancing, exploring, lifting items, or bowling (ball and pins included). It responds to touch and sound with advanced sensors like a camera that detects skin tone (hold out your hand, and the robot knows to shake it) and object color (the robot collects blue objects when handed them). The robot avoids obstacles intelligently as it walks, and sonic sensors detect sharp noises, responding with a hearty Hey, there! and turning to face the sound. It can bend and pick up small objects on command, using its precision-gripping, articulated fingers, and then it can throw the object to you. The robot has true-to-life bi-pedal walking gaits and realistic double-axis head turns. It can use its sonic and infrared sensors to guard an area (sounding an alarm when motion or sound is detected) and to interact with other Robosapiens.

Take Off and Landing Flight Trainer Plane

Most battery-powered RC airplanes don't have the power to take off on their own and must be thrown into the air. This one is powerful enough to taxi and take off with its twin engines. Made for beginners, it's still just as easy to fly as hand-launched planes. It comes complete with the remote and charger, and can fly up to five minutes per charge, with a 750' range.

Handheld GPS, MP3, Translator, Converter, and Audio Book Player

Does it shine your shoes? No, but this amazing wireless device combines a GPS, MP3 player, audio book player, picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters and a calculator in a device that fits in the palm of your hand and weighs less than 6 oz. Don't leave home without it.

The Push-Free Skateboard

What if you could ride a skateboard without having to push? Here's one that is propelled forward by the principle of leverage from Newton's laws of motion, in which a fulcrum point underneath the skateboard allows you to raise and lower the board in a seesaw motion, causing the spring-loaded gearbox to rotate the wheels.

Undersea Viewing Paddle Board

How fun is this? A compact and sturdy paddle boat with an acrylic window that gives riders a close-up view below the water's surface. You turn the paddles with your arms, similar to the way you would turn a bike pedal. Don't forget the sunscreen on your back.

The Oculas

The what? This private relaxation theater allows you to safely and serenely shut out the world with the perfect levels of lighting, sound, seating, and privacy. The Oculas has an electronic door that closes silently at a touch, coccooning a sitter inside the well-lit interior, which is upholste red with leather seating for comfort and completely ventilated for continual airflow that prevents stale air without compromising external noise reduction. An electronic controller allows the user to adjust the light through a complete spectrum of hues and brightness levels for optimal reading, video-watching, or relaxation and sleeping. The optional built-in massage chair accommodates a single person and has four settings from light to vigorous. An integral surround-sound system provides clear audio and the flat-panel video screen allows you to watch your favorite DVDs, or you can connect a video game console.

The Tumbling Vacuum Marinator

Why wait to marinate? Winner of Popular Science Magazine's Best of What's New Award in Home Technology, this marinator creates a vacuum inside the barrel that causes the food's fibers to stretch and become porous, while paddles inside of the rotating barrel flip and coat the food with marinade. Unlike conventional techniques that only flavor the surface and require 24 hours of marinating for thick cuts of meat, the automated marinator infuses restaurant-quality flavor and succulence into a 5-lb. brisket in less than 20 minutes, while using half the amount of marinade required for pan or bag soaking.

World's Smallest Multi-Function GPS Watch

Made by Suunto, this is the world's smallest multifunction GPS watch for wilderness navigation. It uses a text display of latitude, longitude and waypoints, and it also has an altimeter, barometer, thermometer, and compass.

Advanced Acrobatic Robot

This is an advanced programmable robot that can walk, run, kick, stand on one leg, turn cartwheels, and dance right out of the box. The mechanical humanoid is controlled by 16 powerful digital servomoters, built specifically for this robot, that allow the robot to perform numerous acrobatic maneuvers previously beyond the capabilities of most commercially available robots.

55-Hour iPod Battery Extender

This protective case slips easily and snugly over your video iPod and has a built-in high-capacity lithium polymer battery pack to extend the playback time of a 60GB i604 player up to 55 hours, 275% more playing time than the standard playback life of a video iPod.

The Digital Photograph-to-iPod Transfer Device

Never run out of storage space on your digital camera again! This simple portable device transfers digital photos from your SD memory card to your iPod without the use of a PC. The connector can send up to 20 pictures per minute to your iPod using the handheld player's control panel, with no extra wires, batteries or special software.

The World's Smallest Indoor Remote Control Helicopter

Last year I bought myself an indoor RC helicopter, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now I wish I had this one instead. It's the smallest, most stable, and lightest remote control helicopter available. It has two contra-rotating coaxial rotors that use gyroscopic inertia to keep the copter balanced and two micro-motors that spin the rotors at varying speeds, resulting in precise and effortless movement up to a range of 50'. Did I mention how small it is?

Self-Stirring Mug

So you know how when you're drinking some hot chocolate or coffee and you get to the bottom and there's a big pile of unmixed gunk sitting there? Here's an innovative solution: This self-stirring mug has a miniature battery-operated propeller at the bottom of the well that spins at 3,000 rpms at the touch of a button on the handle, automatically stirring your beverage and eliminating the need to dispose of stirrers or find a place to leave coffee-dampened spoons.

Superior Surge Protector

I hate it when I can only use half the outlets in a surge protected power-bar because the power bricks (or AC-adaptors if you want to call them by their real name) are so wide they block they outlets next to them. Here's a nice solution: A surge-protector with each outlet on a flexible connector. It not only protects against electronics-killing power surges, but also filters the electricity for a cleaner signal with less electromagnetic interference. There's a reason it won an award at the Consumer Electronics Show - it's a great product!

Tilt-Steering Electric Ride-On Racer

So, your neighbor bought his kid one of those battery-powered ride-on jeeps? BORING! Here is an electric car that lets riders up to 150 lbs. shift their body weight in either direction to tilt the front axle and wheels for pinpoint steering. With a 24 volt electric motor, your kid will be burning up the tarmac at up to 8 1/2 mph.

The Remote Control Night Vision Spy Car

I can't tell you how many times I've thought "What if I could mount a video-camera on the front of an RC car and drive it around while seeing what the camera sees". Ok, I'll tell you - quite a few, because I'm an RC junkie. This remote control car not only lets you see what the car sees, it does it with a night-vision camera that sends images wirelessly to a remote headset with an eyepiece and LCD, allowing you to see what the car sees in the dark! Kids will absolutely love this. If they can ever pry it away from dad, that is.

Instant Whirlpool Bath

Just because you have an el-cheapo bathtub with no fancy jets, don't let that stop you from enjoying a powerful yet relaxing in-bath massage and whirlpool. The Instant Whirlpool Bath is a foldable padded mat that you place in your tub, and connect to an air pump with a 9-foot hose. It includes a floating water-resistant remote control for adjusting your massage and bubbles. With rotating foot rollers, powered neck massage and dual back massage, you'll be relaxed in minutes.

Half an umbrella

Ever wish you had just half an umbrella, due to limited patio space, or perhaps a desire to put a small table up against a wall? Well now you can, with a half-circle umbrella, which can be used either stand-alone (like an awning), or with a half-circle table and chairs. I like to call it a "halfbrella".

Northern Lights LED Sphere

With shifting and undulating lights reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis, this illuminated sculpture simulates the atmospheric phenomenon using powerful blue, white, and green LEDs projected through a fragmented diffuser against the light-bending curve of a silvered, borasilic glass globe. Got that? Me neither. All you need to know is: it looks way cool, and has absolutely no other purpose.

An iPod in the Kitchen?

I love to listen to music while I cook. Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of catching my iPod earbud wires in the blender. Enter the Under-Cabinet iPod Dock and Radio. Most under-cabinet radios have an AM/FM radio, and sometimes a CD player. This one houses any docking iPod (and charges it too!). Listening to your favorite songs, you won't mind spending all day in the kitchen. It even includes a cooking timer and a handheld remote, which can control both the radio and the iPod.

The Ultimate Wine Fridge

This wine fridge not only keeps 8 bottles of wine at the perfect serving temperature, it even pours the wine. That's right, it dispenses a glass at a time from 4 different bottles, using inert nitrogen gas to push the wine out, controlling oxidation and maximizing the life of the opened bottles. With an insulated solid mahogany-framed glass door, two-stage pressure regulator, and interior lighting, this handcrafted dispenser is sure to be the "Wow!" item of your next dinner party. Expensive? Yes, but you can't put a price on cool.

Transfer CDs to your iPod directly - no computer required!

So you've bought the LP to CD Converter and created CDs of all your old Elvis 78s, but now that you have a taste of modern living, you want to go all the way? Forget the CDs, you need an iPod! But how do you get all that music from your CDs onto your iPod? With the handy-dandy iLoad CD-to-iPod Music Transfer System of course! This is the only device that lets you load a CD directly onto any type of docking iPod without the need for a computer or internet connection. An entire CD takes only 8 minutes to convert and transfer.