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By MiCHAEL CANNING
Published February 4, 2005
Everybody knows Brookstone and Sharper Image are great places to go for tech-related gadgets. But unless you visit those stores frequently, we bet there are a lot of cool, gratifying and utterly unnecessary items you don't know about.
Hey, things change fast in the tech world. James Bond knew to visit Q every time before he went on a mission. And so we recently visited the mall's version of Q branch.
A few of our favorite things:
What time is it? Relief time: When you're nauseous, your brain and stomach send signals to each other. They've proved this. But Sharper Image's Adventurer ReliefBand Device ($109.95) uses electronic pulse signals to rudely interrupt the conversation, supposedly. You wear it like a watch, and choose between five levels of stimulation. Included are a pair of 3-volt lithium batteries and a tube of "conductivity gel." Now there's a comforting thought. But, the Adventurer folks say it has been approved by the FDA.
Your world, in three colors: The post-hippy, establishment-embracing answer to getting stoned and staring at the lava lamp, Brookstone's Ambient Orb Stock Market Monitor ($150), is a plug-in oracle for the outside world. The small frosted glass globe shifts between red, yellow and green colors to convey activity on the stock market. Green means the market is up, yellow means no change, and red could mean it's time to start selling pencils. If you must ruin the deliciously inscrutable nature of this object and know how it actually works, there's a wireless data receiver inside that works much like a cell phone. The Ambient Orb Web site allows you to customize the orb's behavior and range of data intake, which can include additional market indices, weather forecasts, instant messaging and homeland security updates (for a fee).
Set phasers to "saute": You think your pan is hot enough to blacken your $20 slab of sushi grade yellow fin, but do you know it? Sharper Image's Culinary Laser Thermometer ($89.95) eliminates the guesswork. Take aim, pull the trigger, and an infrared beam instantly reads the exact surface temperature of your cookware. The temperature range (0-932 degrees) is displayed on a backlit LCD screen. Runs on a 9-volt battery, included. It also works on any surface, including body parts.
Sling fertilizer in style: It's a bitter irony. You wear garden gloves to protect your hands from the cruel outdoors, yet your hands get so sweaty you want to fling them off. What Would Martha Do? Use Brookstone's High-Tech Yard Gloves, ($25) we'd guess. Integrated hydrobands are fastened with Velcro to the inside of the wrist bands. Pull them out, soak them in water for a few minutes, reinstall them and their water-absorbing crystals will keep your hands cool till the work's all done. Made with stretchable fabric, padded palms and waterproof fingertips.
Rock on, Dick Tracy: Our favorite of the whole batch for its unadulterated secret agent appeal is Brookstone's MP3 Wrist Watch ($200). Its 256 megabytes of memory can store 60 songs. You can also record digital voice messages. Plus, there's a USB port built into the strap, rechargeable lithium battery, four equalizer modes, stereo earbuds, and adapter for standard headphones. Oh yeah, it's a watch, too.
- Got a shopping idea? E-mail Michael Canning at mcanning@tampabay.rr.com
[Last modified February 2, 2005, 13:29:09]
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