The Voko Clock

Can somebody enlighten us why it's called the Voko Clock? Other than the odd choice of name, if you're a huge fan of the incomparable Stephen Fry (think the voice in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the unfortunate TV host in V for Vendetta), you'll be able to wake up to an utterly delicious Brit accent every morning, full of admiring Jeeves-like pleasantries designed to rouse you from slumber and put a smile on your face. A "madam" version for the gals is apparently on the way. But meanwhile, rise and shine to one of 50 sound bites to fortify you, including "there is a gentleman from Berkeley Hathaway to see you, sir. He says he wants to offer you a position based in the Bahamas at a salary of $72 million a year, sir". We wish! But any way Fry says it, we love it.

Price: 25.95 pounds (US$50.90)
Availability: Voko
Device: Clock
Specs: 110 x 110 x 85mm, 50 wakeup messages

iriver T50

The T50 from iriver is its latest MP3 player to feature the stick-like form factor. In this case, the player has a triangular cross section, much like a certain brand of Swiss chocolate. It comes in either white or black and has 1GB of memory. What's really interesting is the claimed 52 hours of music playback from one AAA-sized battery--quite a feat if it really manages that. The T50 is available only in Japan for now, with a price of about S$128 (US$84.21). Read more here

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NicStic

Fancy a smoke-free cigarette? We can almost hear the real smokers gasp raspily, the horror! The good news is that with the NicStic, you can light up and still get your nicotine fix without being booted out of smoke-free zones. What's more, this kit vaporizes tobacco instead of burning it, which leads us to sans smoke, sans tar, arsenic, cadmium and formaldehyde found in regular cigarettes. All good for your lungs, sort of. The cigarette case works as a battery charger where you pop a ciggie into a special opening in the case, filter up, and wait 20 seconds till the battery is charged. Once ready, it can fire up to about 20 fume-free smokes. Watch this with the hilariously tarred Thank You for not Smoking.

Via Newlaunches.com

Price: 80 euros (about US$100)
Availability: More info here
Device: Cigarette kit
Specs: Plastic heating case, three voltage adapters, carton of 10 filters, 3.7-volt Lithium battery required

Zune in pink

These days, when gadget makers want to target the ladies, a product ends up coming in a special pink version. Somehow, we wonder if that is really effective. In any case, the latest MP3 player to get the pink treatment is the Microsoft Zune. Cliczune got confirmation from EBgames that this wireless music player will be coming in that pastel shade. There was a limited-edition unit sold on eBay some time back, but it looks like the upcoming pink version is of a lighter shade. The pink Zune will be available from May 1 at S$381 (US$249.99).

Read more gizmos here | via Crave

Solar-powered air conditioner

Anything that runs off solar power and keeps our planet alive another day, it gets our vote. Increased use of air conditioners has been lamblasted for producing more greenhouse gas. SolCool's Millennia 4.0 works around that by powering itself on solar energy. Onboard batteries last up to 24 hours between charge cycles. If there's a need to go the whole green mile, this can even be attached to an Aquacell bottled water cooler system to collect the condensation for filtered drinking water. There's only one word for this: Kewl!

Get larger image here

Via CNET News.com

Price: N.A.
Availability: Mid-April, US, more info here
Device: Air conditioner
Specs: 24 x 24inch base, 48 inch vertical with battery, two DC compressors (one for heat pump), weight with battery backup 200lbs, three-speed blower, temperature-activated remote control, less than 600 watts at capacity

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