VIOlight

Your toothbrush cleans your teeth. Who cleans your toothbrush? VIOlight believes it has the answer. Named by Time magazine as one of the Coolest Inventions of 2004, simply drop your toothbrush into a slot, push a button, and the Germicidal UltraViolet (UV) bulb--the same technology used in hospitals and dental offices--starts to nuke those biohazardous denizens lurking on your toothbrush. Once the sanitization is done, the VIOlight has an automatic timer that shuts off after 10 minutes. If anything, this is one of the cheapest ways to own a piece of Philippe Starck designer ware, i.e. besides the Starck mice.

Click to see what's in the box | how it works

Price: US$49.95
Availability: Sold online at VIOlight
Device: Oral hygiene
Basic specs: VIOlight silver base, translucent cap with safety lock, reflective drip cup for easy cleaning, 4 VIOpegs for some types of electric toothbrush heads, VIOlight germicidal ultraviolet bulb, 120V AC power adaptor with 6ft cord, owner's manual

Insta-Snow

If you've always wanted your own white Christmas to rival Tanglin Mall's annual snow maker-generated blizzard, science is lending a hand with a home kit that'll create instant snow. Just add some water and, hey presto, the mix starts to freeze solid and expand to 100 times its size. So maybe it isn't the real stuff, but if it's good enough for Hollywood, it's good enough for us. Plus it'll be a lark just to see some jaws dropping on the faces of your guests. When you're done, simply let the stuff dry back down to powder for reuse. Sure beats those cans of spray-on snow.

See how Insta-Snow is created here, courtesy of Firebox.com

Price: £12.95 (US$24.48) to make 8 liters of snow
Availability: Try I Want One Of Those or Firebox.com
Device: Fake snow
Basic specs: Non-toxic and environmentally safe polymer which comes as a fine white powder, like salt, measuring scoop, complete explanation of the science involved

Samsung diamond-studded YP-W3 MP3 player

Rapper Puff Daddy's customized diamond-encrusted iPod may face some stiff competition if Samsung goes ahead with its plans to debut a bling'd-out digital music player. Unveiled at CES 2005, its YP-W3 Pocket Watch unit comes studded with (faux?) diamonds on a platinum casing. It may be flash-based, but this pendant musicbox offers up to 1GB flavors which should pack in sufficient tunes for a long jog in the park. Sweet and vulgar. It remains to be seen if the same goes for its price.

Click to see diamonds up close

Price: N.A.
Availability: N.A.
Device: MP3 player
Basic specs: FM tuner with recorder, voice recording, support for SRS WOW 3D sound, OOG, MP3, WMA, WAV and ASF, text and JPEG viewing, 4-tone monochrome LCD, Lithium-polymer cell of up 8 hours

SD card with built-in USB

Time to retire your memory card reader. Amazingly, SanDisk has managed to embed high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity into an SD card, bringing plug-and-play convenience to a new level. Now all you have to do is plug your SD card direct into any USB port to begin transferring your data, images, audio or video between devices. The new mechanical design does away with the need for a removable cap and even features an LED that blinks when data transfer is taking place--all on the tiny foam factor. Hopefully, twice the convenience won't mean twice the price.

Click to see the SD Ultra II that's been launched here.

Price: N.A.
Availability: Q1, 2005
Device: Flash memory
Basic specs: Capacities of up to 1GB

Translucent flash memory cards

Flash memory cards have finally gone flashy, possibly taking a cue from Technicolor masters like Creative and iPod and shedding their somber black or blue ensemble for color me pretty casings. SanDisk's new translucent, multihued SD and Memory Stick PRO Duo cards, showcased at CES 2005, are targeted at the handheld gaming and Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) crowd--not a bad move since the video game market is estimated at a cool US$25 billion. SanDisk has said it will initially kick off with 128MB to 256MB capacities, which it reckons is the sweet spot for now, with up to 1GB in the, er, cards.

Click to see SanDisk's new-look Memory Stick PRO Duo

Price: Memory Stick PRO Duo cards from 128MB to 1GB at suggested US$39.99-US$159.99. SD cards from 128MB to 1GB at suggested US$34.99 to US$104.99.
Availability: Sometime in January
Device: Flash memory
Basic specs: N.A.

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