Gadget Gift Ideas

Enter any Japanese establishment and chances are you will be greeted by one of those cats with a waving hand, welcoming you in. How about merging it with some nested Russian dolls? You end up with the Yurakoro Lucky Cats instead.

A desktop craze in the making, these impossibly hip electronic moggies are based on the traditional ‘Maneki Neko’ – literally ‘Beckoning Cat’ – feline charms you see in oriental restaurants and businesses across the globe. The difference is Yurakoro (meaning ‘rock ‘n’ roll’) make random noises when you nudge them, pick them up or ‘pet’ them. Each roly-poly cat is preloaded with seven sounds, from adorable meows and cat bells, to shrine bells and traditional festival music. Put a Yurakoro in your palm and it will even speak to you (albeit in Japanese). Just like the ubiquitous Japanese figurines upon which they are based, each cute and colourful Yurakoro Lucky Cat is said to bring good fortune to its owner. In this case the two white cats are said to bring happiness while the black cat protects against bad luck (it says here).

Available in either black or white colors, the Yurakoro Lucky Cats will beckons for £7.95 a pop.

Summer might be over for most of us, but those who live in tropical climates that is basically sweltering all year round, the Handycooler Personal Air Conditioner might come in handy especially during the more unbearable moments.

Take cool air with you with our new Handycooler personal air conditioner! Evaporative cooling is the trick here. Simply drizzle a few ounces of water onto a sponge, and place it in a device a little bigger than a cordless phone, and enjoy cool breezes wherever you go. The fan draws air over the damp sponge, cooling it by up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The ducted fan rotates to move the air where you want it, but you’re gonna want to blow that heavenly cool air right past your sweating noggin.

It will require a quartet of AA batteries to keep running, so we’d suggest getting rechargeable batteries to go along with this if you want to be environmentally friendly in the long run. Of course, four batteries will bring you around 5 hours of cooling, but you can always opt for USB power whenever your computer or notebook is turned on. The Handycooler Personal Air Conditioner will retail for $39.99 a pop.

It’s that time of year again when us Dad’s should get spoilt rotten. If you’re stuck for what to buy your pa for Fathers Day check out our suitable coolest gift ideas.

If you buy anything from Think Geek, use the code DAD to get FREE shipping.

SoapJet Spray Nozzle – $8.99

SoapJet is the revolutionary new spray nozzle that gives you the power of a car wash in the palm of your hand. The secret to the SoapJet is it’s patented technology that combines soap and water outside the nozzle for total control. Ordinary soaping nozzles and brushes flush soap out by forcing water through the soap reservoir. This leads to either not enough soap or too much soap and it can even flush out all of the soap in a just-filled reservoir in a matter of seconds!

The SoapJet Spray Nozzle is available from Amazon for $8.99.

PIZZA BOSS 3000 Pizza Slicer – $14.99

Real men don’t use wimpy dimestore pizza cutters! Show that pizza you mean business with our new Pizza Boss 3000. Watch it blast thru pepperoni, extra cheese, even those hard-to-cut anchovies.
It’s built from tough engineering-grade plastics and comes equipped with a laser-etched stainless steel blade with a removable shield for easy clean-up. Most importantly, it’s really really cute and perfect for Fathers Day!

The PIZZA BOSS 3000 Pizza Slicer is available from perpetual kid for $14.99.

MagnoGrip – $14.99

The MagnoGrip is a magnetic wristband guaranteed to securely hold nails, screws, drill bits, fasteners and tools. It allows professionals and do-it yourselfers to finish jobs in less time and with less frustration. The magnogrip is built to handle the most rugged of jobs. Its fabric construct consists of durable heavy duty canvas, industrial grade velcro and high-powered magnets that are strong enough to hold a hammer.

The MagnoGrip is available from Think Geek for $14.99.

Bringing the Bacon Wallet – $22.99

The irresistible allure of bacon has crossed over into the fashion world!
This embossed vinyl wallet with printed design is sure to make a bold statement when you take it out to pay for something.
Each 4.24 inches long x 3.75 inches tall faux leather wallet has plenty of pockets for your cold hard cash and credit cards.

The Bringing the Bacon Wallet is available from perpetual kid for $22.99.

The Best Nose Hair Trimmer – $24.95

This nose and ear hair trimmer was selected best by the Hammacher Schlemmer Institute after extensive testing of trimming ability, comfort, design and features, and ease of use. Unlike lesser trimmers that leave behind hair clippings, this one has an integrated vacuum system that collects hair as it cuts, and it has two hypoallergenic blades angled 60° from vertical which improve cutting performance to provide a better, faster trim without plucking or pulling.

The The Best Nose Hair Trimmer is available from Hammacher for $24.95.

Digital Measuring Tape – $24.99

The Digital Measuring Tape features a large easy-to-read display that is capable of memorizing your measurements with the push of a button. It can give measurements in either feet and inches or metric units and will even display fractions of an inch (as small as 1/16th) just like a standard tape measure. There is also a setting for adding the case length for taking inside measurements.

The Digital Measuring Tape is available from TG for $24.99.

Mr. Beer Premium Edition Home Microbrewery System – $39.99

In just 14 days, beginning and advanced brewers alike can enjoy a glass of premium, handcrafted beer with this home-brewing kit. The 2-1/2-gallon brew keg features a pour tap and wide-mouthed lid for easy cleaning by hand. Included with this microbrewery kit are a can of West Coast Pale Ale mix, which produces a mild, full-bodied beer, a single-use packet of booster, which contains all-natural carbohydrates that enhance flavor and boost alcohol content, and brewer’s yeast. The beer-making ingredients are simply mixed with water, left to brew in the keg at room temperature for a week, and then put into the kit’s eight one-liter PET bottles for another week, during which time natural carbonation takes place.

The Mr. Beer Premium Edition Home Microbrewery System is available from Amazon for $39.99.

Men’s Extended Reach Body Hair Groomer – $49.95

This electric body hair trimmer’s hinged handle extends up to 3″ and locks into place at six different angles, allowing you to trim unwanted hair in hard-to-reach areas in the middle of your back. The six handle positions allow you to hold the shaver foils flush against the skin and accommodate the contours of shoulders, legs, and underarms. The hypoallergenic foils gently capture and lift hair before the blades cut it below the surface, resulting in a longer-lasting, smoother shave without the irritation common to straight razors.

The Men’s Extended Reach Body Hair Groomer is available from Hammacher for $49.95.

Stainless Steel Wallet – $89.95

Woven using 25,000 stainless steel threads that are three times thinner than a piece of paper –.001″–this is the only wallet with a hand as smooth as silk and the strength that surpasses leather. Impervious to stretching or staining, and without sharp corners or the inherent bulk of other wallets, the stainless steel is the same metal screen found in the architecture, aerospace, and automotive industries, resulting in a thin profile that allows it to fit into a front pocket.

The Stainless Steel Wallet is available from Hammacher for $89.95.

The Energy Detective – $149.99

Did you know that most households pay thousands of dollars a year for electricity? Yes, thousands! The Energy Detective (TED) can help you save 10-20% on your electric bill – hundreds of dollars – and the more you save, the more you help your neighbors, the community, and protect the environment.

The The Energy Detective is available from Think Geek for $149.99.

Forget about the good old Teddy Bear that has come in all sorts of shapes and sizes over the years – it is the 21st century, after all, and the time is ripe for a refresh with the Smart E Bear.

Smart E Bear is freakin’ incredible. Connect him to your computer and sync him with his downloadable software, and your kids will be amazed in no time. Why? Because Smart E Bear will actually talk to your kid by name (he’s got over 1,000 in his database). He’ll sing and tell stories and play games with your urchins in English or Spanish – all you do is load up the content you want, and your child triggers Smart E into action by squeezing his paw. And here’s the kicker: sure Smart E Bear is preloaded with tons of good educational content, but (like iTunes), you can always download more (even new languages for him to speak and teach your geeklings). This means that Smart E Bear can evolve and grow as your children do. He’ll be their friend, teacher, and teddy bear for all time. And when your children move off to college and say they’ve outgrown their Smart E Bear – then you can finally have him back all for yourself.

An evolving bear that has the ability to continue “growing” over the years? Hopefully the amount of quality that goes into its $59.99 build is enough to last your little ones till they enter college, as you know how many stories parents have heard about teddy bears getting their arms and legs ripped off during a more vigorous playing session among kids.

Over 1,000 Target stores around the US will finally sell the new ZAGG’s invisibleSHIELD from this week onwards, bringing the tough, ultra-thin clear film that protects personal electronics from scratches and nicks to the masses. You will find five of the most popular invisibleSHIELD designs from ZAGG in store shelves, where they will include custom-made shields for Apple’s iPhone 3G, iPod touch, and iPod nano. Personally, which protective solution would you go for – something like the invisibleSHIELD that makes it look as though you’re not using any physical case, or a rugged version that will do infinitely more in absorbing the impact of a drop (assuming it is a good quality model)?

Press Release

Ah, handheld gaming sure has gotten a whole lot more complicated with releases from Sony like the PSPgo and the Nintendo DSi, so why not hark back to the good old days where the notion of handheld gaming did not mean the presence of some high resolution LCD display? Here’s the Thumb Stadium Electronic Game Kit
to get you started, and there are four different built-in games to choose from as described below.

Game 1 – ThumbWar
The object of ThumbWar is simple: press while the other player is pressing. If you do, you get a point.

Game 2 – SlapJack
During SlapJack, Thumb Stadium randomly flashes the center LED red or green. Be the first to press when center is green and get a point. Don’t press if it isn’t green or the other player gets a point.

Game 3 – Jai Alai
Center lights up ~ quickly press to “catch” your color. Press again to “throw” to the other player who has to catch on time and throw back. The time to catch gets shorter each throw.

Game 4 – Reflexy
Reflexy is a one-player game. The object is to quickly press the button that matches the color in the center LED. You go until you miss or are too late. The time to react gets shorter each turn. After the game, your score is flashed ~ Center = x10, Red LED = x1. Press the Red Side Button three times to restart.

The Thumb Stadium Electronic Game Kit can be yours for $19.99.

Despite all the advancements made in the world of portable gaming to date, there is just something appealing about going retro, even more so when you can carry those classic games with you wherever you go to kill time during short breaks at work or on a long commute back. ThinkGeek understands this and has released the Pocket Retro Game Emulator to cater such needs.

The Pocket Retro Game Emulator looks a bit like the GameBoy Pocket but that’s where the similarities end. Load on NES, SNES, GBA, Sega Genesis, or Neo Geo roms and play your old favorites in the palm of your hand. With 4GB of built-in storage and a mini SD slot for expansion you can bring every single game from the best classic consoles with you. Of course in typical all encompassing gadget style you can also play movie files, audio files, use the built-in FM radio, view jpg images, read E-books, do voice recording etc…

The Pocket Retro Game Emulator will come with four control buttons on the right alongside two shoulder buttons – just nice for games up to the 16-bit era. You will need to transfer ROMs over to the Pocket Retro Game Emulator via USB from a computer, but we won’t tell you where to get those. No idea if you would want to fork out $99.99 for this when the PSP already comes with homebrew solutions to handle old school games…

Mario and Sonic was thought to be eternal enemies, but necessity has brought both creative licenses together in the past, and who knows, with that, they could actually end up being best friends forever? With the GEN-X Genesis/NES Game System, this is possible since the device itself is pretty self-explanatory. While you can’t carry it around wherever you go like the Pocket Retro Game Emulator, you will be able to play legitimate games using your collection of old NES and Genesis carts that are collecting dust in the attic. Since it is meant to sit right smack in the middle of your living room, you will pay considerably less for this as well, retailing for just $49.99 each.