Hokey Spokes

If you've ever felt envious of cars souped up with LED ground lights and neon tubes a la The Fast and the Furious, the Hokey Spokes should level the playing field. Well, almost. Essentially bicycle safety lights with a twist, these transparent blades attach to the spokes on your wheel. Start peddling and the blades spin, activating the onboard computer to modulate the internal LED lights, The result? Psychedelic design images and custom text appear, which will make you the grooviest cyclist on your block.

See how it's clipped on | the range of blades | the Hokey Spoke effects

Price: US$29.95 to US$39.95 per blade
Availability: Illumination Design Works, Inc
Device: LED for bicycles
Basic specs: High-intensity side visibility (both sides), fits on virtually any wheel, 3 AA batteries per blade, waterproof design, 6oz with batteries, only 7mph speed required for full image persistence (using 3 blades), lasts up to 48 hrs on fresh batteries

Datago handsfree for Skype

Skype is to VoIP what the Walkman was to portable music. And we're betting Skype may even become as generic as Xerox and Liquid Paper. In fact, Motorola, knowing a good thing, has teamed up with Skype Technologies SA on a co-marketing collaboration that will provide connectivity options and mobile devices for the company's 25 million-plus worldwide users registered on the free service. There's no need to wait, though. If you can get your hands on Datago's VC-1 PLUS, this gizmo plugs into your PC or notebook USB, headphone-out and mic-in ports so you can Skype truly handsfree without a headset, and even utilize it for conference calls. In Japan, the VC-1 PLUS is being marketed as a speakerphone.

Click to see packaging

Price: 8,980 yen (US$84.15)
Availability: Synnex in Japan
Device: Handsfree
Basic specs: Sensitivity speaker >75dB; +/-3dB, sensitivity mike -44dB, omni directional 5m all directions, volume control, mute button, USB connector cable for PC connection, 85cm shield cable line gold plate and connection jack, 3W, impedence 4Ohms +/-15 percent, echo cancellation speaker, 100 x 110.8 x 45.3mm, 200g

Clocky

If not for the Chinese belief that it's belly bad luck to give a clock as a gift, Clocky is a bloody marvelous present for those who just can't get out of bed in the mornings. Disguised as a brown shag carpet on wheels, Clocky apparently rolls off its perch onto the floor and plays hide-and-seek as soon as the snooze bar is hit. Devious? We think not. The sleeper is forced to get out of bed to locate the clock when next it starts shrieking. Imagine, multiple Clockies! Unfortunately, MIT Media Lab is still sleeping on this dream project.

Price: N.A.
Availability: Academic research project unfortunately not commercially available at press time
Device: Alarm clock
Basic specs: Carpet, velcro, foam

Yamaha EC-02 motorbike

Va-Vrooom! It's drool at first sight for this hip roadster on two wheels which seems almost made for the iPod crowd. And greenies will be pleased to know it's environmentally friendly, too. Running on electricity, 30 percent of the bike is apparently recyclable. Better still, this fun bike is tiny enough to pack away into the back of an MPV for those spur-of-moment East Coast Park spins. Wonder if Yamaha has headgear to match.

Packing it away in the boot | big image | hip in black

More news at Yamaha's Web site

Price: 209,790 yen (US$1,947)
Availability: Japan, April 27
Device: Electric commuter bike
Basic specs: Recharging time of 6 hrs, max. 40km per charge, 30kmh, 935 x 620 x 1,385mm, 47kg, compartment for iPods

Snap Alarm

With the recent Civil Defence messages on telly for Singaporeans to take fire precautions in their homes such as installing smoke detectors, the Swedish-made Snap Alarm seems like a godsend. There's no drilling or hammering involved, and no ugly blobs that will mar the clean lines of your ceiling. Just snap this device discreetly onto any light fitting chord, and you'll soon forget it was even there. Better yet, Desperate Housewives types can pick from a choice of colors so the Snap Alarm'll blend in with the décor.

See package | how to mount detector

Price: 40 euros (US$51.55)
Availability: OG Invent
Device: Smoke detector
Basic specs: N.A.

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