Virtually Indestructible Keyboard

If you don't mind the rather sinuous and silicon feel of the keys, this is one keyboard that'll banish any dust ball from creeping into those hard-to-clean grooves. Plus it's also the perfect X'mas stocking filler for klutzy friends with a habit of accidentally baptizing their keyboards with their favorite roast blend. And what do you know? There's a Mini Me variant at just 12 inches long as well as a PocketVIK for PDA users.

Click to see the keyboard close-up

Price: US$29.99
Availability: Smart Home
Device: Spillproof keyboard
Basic specs: 109-key unit, PS/2 or USB connector, 516 x 149 x 10mm, Windows HotKeys and Windows 98 Power Management HotKeys, LED indicators for number lock, caps lock and scroll lock

CyberCar

Fifteen European research centers have seen the future of motoring, and it is driverless. With 3,000 trial rides carried out successfully in the French town of Antibes, the CyberCar is slightly brainier than your autopilot airport cart, thanks to a pre-programmed route and a laser-sweeping device out front that avoids or stops at obstacles. Whether you're expected to get out and remove the offending hindrance isn't clear. But carjackers can kiss goodbye to nabbing this futuristic vehicle since there's no steering wheel to wrest control of. Then again, the golf cart-like CyberCar ain't no sweet-looking Toyota Lexus a la Minority Report.

Price: N.A.
Availability: Prototype
Device: Driverless car
Basic specs: N.A.

ifbot

It's hard enough getting our technophobic gramps to figure out the VCR Play button, let alone hug a hunka metallic programming. But that seems to be the name of the game for Nagoya-based Business Design Laboratory Co. Its 45cm-tall "cuddling robot" ifbot's prime directive is to keep the elderly calm and occupied with conversational responses, riddles and quizzes, thanks to tens of thousands of input dialog patterns that it draws on. Being lab-grown in Japan, ifbot is always mindful of being polite and respectful to its seniors. Ojisan (grandpops): "Oh oh! I just won first prize!!" ifbot: "Perhaps you are overtired. Why don't you rest today? " Ojisan: "Argh, my heart, my heart, somebody helppp..." ifbot: "Perhaps you are overtired. Why don't you rest today?"

Price: 604,800 yen (US$5,924)
Availability: Japan
Device: Robot
Basic specs: N.A.

USB Humidifier

There just aren’t enough USB ports on a laptop for the new weird and wacky USB-powered gizmos being dreamed up out there, if you ask us. The latest, from Japanese company thanko, is a plug-and-play humidifier which ranks up there with the USB coffee cup warmer and massager. Based on specs, the humidifier atomizes 35ml of cool mist per hour, utilizing an oscillating mesh formula technology. A failsafe feature turns off the device after 2.5 hours. Mac users have not been forgotten as this'll plug into any port so long as it's USB.

Other USB gadgets to add to your collection: George Foreman USB iGrill | USB Noodle Strainer

Price: 4,980 yen (US$49)
Availability: thanko
Device: Humidifier
Basic specs: USB 2.0 or 1.1, 0-40 degrees temperature, 5V power supply, LED operating light, 90 x 90 x 130mm, USB cable, filter

Sony VAIO Type X

If we had a dollar for every product labelled X, we'd be singing our way to the bank. Tra-la-la. Of course, pigs can fly, too. But we digress. Even a boxy home server blandly named Type X looks yummilicious in the hands of style meisters Sony. That's not all. This Sony VAIO beats with the heart of a Pentium 4 3.6GHz chipset, a 1GB DDR memory and a whopping 1TB (4x250GB RAID 0) of storage wow. Sony says the 500GB dedicated to TV is good to record six channels for five-and-a-half days non-stop. Navigating is eased by a special interface that lets consumers see thumbnails of what they've recorded. Oh, don't hold your breath, though, as Sony has no plans beyond its home shores.

Price: US$5,000
Availability: Japan only
Device:Home server
Basic specs: Pentium 4 Processor 560 (3.6GHz), 1TB hard drive (4x250GB in RAID 0), 1GB (512MBx2) DDR2 533 memory, 128MB ATI Technologies Radeon X600 XT, Intel 915P Express chipset, 1000/100/10 BASE-T, 2xUSB 2.0, i.LINK, 19.5kg, Microsoft Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2)

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