Gadget Fest April 2007

The gadget review last month was such a big hit, it's time for another one. Happily, people are always inventing new gadgets, so there is never any shortage of gadgets to talk about. So what's on tap this month?

What gadget list would be complete without a desktop hamburger vacuum, I ask you? When I was pondering what gadget would "Complete Me", well, this wasn't it, but you can't deny the kitsch factor here.

Gadgets aren’t just for geeks anymore, they are for construction workers and desert party goers now, also. Just look at the Romtek Heat Stress Monitor. Wearing this gadget will alert you if you are about to suffer heat stroke. This is a little gadget that could save your life and keep you form a lifetime of misery (once you have heat stroke once you are extremely heat sensitive and your productivity goes down, as does your ability to be in the sun for any other reason.

If you use the pool for exercise in summer, you might enjoy the new LapTrack device. It counts calories, time, speed and a variety of other pool-related information. The manufacturer says it maxes out at 50 laps, but I don’t many (ok, any) people that are die-hard enough swimmers to reach or exceed 50 laps. If you are one of those people, you really need to slow down anyway.

For moms of budding geeks everywhere, now you can send your kid to school with their very own… Lego© lunchbox! I would have loved this when I was a kid, but then I’ve always been a geek. I loved my R2D2 lunchbox to distraction, and sometimes may even wish I still had it. That will be our little secret, mm’kay?

Are you lazy? Come on, admit it, you’re as lazy as the rest of us. But are you lazy enough for this gadget: a pillow that picks up sound so that you don’t even have to waste all that energy sitting up to talk on the phone? I am almost that lazy, but even I have my standards. If you have no standards, you can get your pillow of all that is lazy here.

For the geekgrrl out there we have iPod earrings. They are designed to look like the buds from the in-ear headphones that ship with every iPod. Now that’s devotion to being an Apple fangirl! Not content to wear the actual iPod with the ear buds that play sound, the discerning geekgrrl also has to wear the iPod ear bud jewelry to really drive the point home.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, we have the HD photo frame. Not only does it display a slide show of High Definition, top quality photos, it can also play mom your HD home movies. Pretty slick. That should keep you out of the doghouse this year.

Are you an environmentally conscious car buff who doesn’t want to pay an arm, leg and first-born child for a hybrid car, SUV or truck? Never fear, technology is here. I give you the GasLock Indy Cater shifter. This little gadget simply reminds you which gear you’re in. It doesn’t sound complex, but knowing when you are in the wrong gear can help you remember to downshift and save gas.

If you want a smart home, but don’t have the budget to build one from scratch, you might want to follow the progress of Rosie. Right now Rosie is in pre-beta development, which means you can’t buy her yet. Rosie is going to be a single source for integrating home control into regular houses. It has a neat interface and a swingin’ remote (the little bowl in the picture is the remote), and will do everything from control your audio-visual experience to your appliances and indoor climate. You can keep an eye on the development of super-slick Rosie here.