Mini robot vacuum

If cleaning up after yourself ranks high on your list of non-favourite things to do, you might want to hook up one of these: A mini robot vacuum cleaner to suck up all your mess. Perfect for crumbs, shavings, beach sand and other unwelcome desk debris.

Now if they made a life-size version of this baby, we might even be persuaded to take it for a spin around the lounge. Once or twice.

Shirt Shuttle

Do you dread that as soon as you touch down from your long flight you have to jet-off to a meeting? What's worse is that you're gonna want to change your shirt but you know its probably just as creased as the one you have on.
What do you do? You can't possibly walk into the meeting looking as if you slept in that shirt, now can you?

The answer to your prayers is here...in the form of the Shirt Shuttle.

The Shirt Shuttle is a high strength, lightweight, water-resistant case that protects your precious cargo from the elements and from the rest of your luggage.

A very nifty travel mate?...we think so!

Handpresso Auto

Relish the thought of brewing yourself a fresh shot of espresso on your way into the office whilst sitting in back-to-back traffic?


Make it happen...with the Handpresso Auto.

This nifty gadget sits comfortably in your car's cup holder and plugs into the cigarette lighter.
Just add water and an ESE espresso pod of your choice, press the button, and Voila...seconds after (thanks to the 16 bars of pressure) you're ready to have your caffeine fix.

This one deserves a PHWOAA!

Mode Fridge Monkey

You're having the guys over for a game and being the mate you are, you decide to stock up your fridge with beers. Tragedy strikes when the wifey refuses to share her shelf space with you and has restricted you to just one shelf… Swooping in for a rescue is the Fridge Monkey!

The Fridge Monkey is one of those gadgets that no mans’ fridge should be without. It is basically a flexible rubber mat that's designed to maximise the storage space in your fridge plus the rubber base stops them bottles from rolling around and causing a ruckus.

Cool fact: The Fridge Monkey was inspired by the brass monkey commonly used on ships to stack cannonballs back in the day.

The neat part is that this monkey isn't restricted to one bottle size and it retails at a meagre R55.

Angel's Wings iPhone holder

This is not so much a gadget for you, but one you can get for her! And by her, we mean wife, mother, girlfriend, niece, sister, cousin or even a friend. If she has an iPhone, get reading, because she will love a pair of Angel’s wings for her phone.

The best part is that these “wings” do serve a purpose. They will hold up the phone and videos can be watched hands-free. They suction to the back of the iPhone and can be moved for landscape or portrait viewing.

She will love it, guaranteed.

Pinterest: Online pin board

Pinterest is the latest social media platform which allows users to pool resources on various topics of interest. Whether it is creating a vision board for your desired home renovations to keeping ideas for a party you’re planning, Pinterest lets you ‘pin’ various items from all over the web onto your pin board.

You can also use this to express yourself by creating a board and pin things that are a visual representation of yourself, or aspects of your life. You can share by “repinning” - this is when you pin something to your board that has been pinned on someone else’s. Be wary though as this is an open platform so you can’t block certain people from checking out your pins.

It’s great for collaboration – by adding contributors to one of your pin boards you can work together to plan an event.

Currently Pinterest is only open to invited users but don’t be dissuaded, all you have to do is request an invite at www.pinterest.com and expect an invite to be in your inbox within a day or two.

Get Pinning, it is fun and modern way to gather and share info!

Headphones of the future

Courtesy of a few researchers at the Igarashi Design Interfaces Project in Japan, a pair of “Universal Earphones” that automatically switch audio channels when placed in the wrong ear, could be coming out soon.

The headphones being developed have proximity sensors which mean that when the bud is in the incorrect ear, the sensor detects a mismatch and audio channels are swapped, thanks to a small embedded audio circuit.

If you’ve ever shared your headphones with someone to listen to the same song together, you’ll appreciate that these headphones now also create a mono mix of the song. Gone are the days where you get only the left/right channel. It does this by running a weak electrical current from one side to the other. When shared, the connection is broken. Film buffs or gamers will appreciate this for preserving 3D sound that matches on-screen visuals.

The researchers will present their work at the Intelligent User Interface conference in Lisbon, Portugal later this month.

The Nook Simple Touch Reader

With its excellent design and unique eBook-focused features and eBook options, the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch eReader is one of the best available on the market currently. Here’s why:

It excels in design and ease of use. It offers a smooth page turn with minimised blinking between pages that makes you actually want to use it daily.  It's also better for extended reading because of the wider bezel and an indentation on its back that makes it a hundred times more ergonomic than the flat-backed Kindle.

The buttons require quite a firm press so you know you won't press them by accident. What is the best way to make a gadget aesthetically pleasing? Give it a matte finish and this device is no exception! It has a sleek exterior which maximises the screen size and helps make it the perfect device for travel.

While this eBook reader lacks the features such as text-to-speech capability, games and radio, it has a few eReader-focused features such as LendMe technology, Nook Friends and the ability to borrow eBooks from your local library.

Users prefer the Nook's touch keyboard and navigation abilities that make it easier to use than other eBook readers on the market, so what are you waiting for…get yours now!

Retails at R770.

The DStv Walka

Do you wish you could have access to telly all the time? With the DStv Walka, that wish is granted! Besides having a catchy name, this device is basically a handheld TV with a tiny 320p by 240p resolution screen.

Inside the DStv Walka box is everything you would need to watch TV on the go. You get the Walka, a USB charger, earphones, a TV stand, and hand lanyard. A long, delicate aerial provides signal and it needs to be fully upright in order to receive the best signal.

Channels included with the Walka are M-Net Series, eNews, CNN, SuperSport Blitz, SuperSport1 to 4,  Cartoon Network, Discovery, SONY Max, E! Mobile, Africa Magic, Channel O, and M-Net Mobile.

The sound is horrible so do yourself a favour and attach speakers or headphones as soon as you can to avoid killing your eardrums. However, we love the convenience of being able to have a TV in your pocket. The list of channels is small, but adequate. And the price is reasonable too.

At the end of the day we say Walka Walka, yeah yeah! We couldn’t resist that…

Nissan - world’s first self-repairing iPhone case

Don’t you hate it when your touch screen phone is ruined with scratches? That could be a thing of the past with Nissan’s world first self-healing iPhone case that makes use of their Scratch Shield paint technology.

The Scratch Shield paint is made from polyrotaxane, which has a chemical structure that is able to change back to its original shape and fill the gap that results from a scratch. Small scratches can self repair in an hour, while more severe scratches can take up to a week.

The Scratch Shield paint also provides a gel-like surface which makes the iPhone easier to grip compared to the glossy, slippery surface it now has.

If demand proves strong, Nissan plans to release the cases compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S for sale to the public later this year. Then it is time to wave goodbye to scratches for good!

The Really Tiny Booklight

We’ve all been here: you find yourself unable to stop reading that riveting book, but your partner needs to sleep so they request you switch the lights off. Do you oblige and end up tossing and turning thinking about the story or move to another room?  Don’t be so hasty because you do not have to do either!

Not only is this the most fashion-conscious book light on the market but it's surely the most trim and slim. The booklight is available in seven glamorous rubber coated colours and comes with batteries.

It has a simple easy-to-use clip on design; rotates 90 degrees for illuminating an entire page and is great for travel and those late-night reading sessions while at home.

It retails at R109.