Gadget Dose

Tiny Tag lets you turn your home into a laser tag arena. Though the small, black Tiny Tag “laser” is just 2-inches long, it packs enough power to shoot 50 feet. You must try to shoot your opponent, while avoiding your opponent’s shots.

Each time you are hit, a green light flashes and you hear a voice say something like “Bummer.” Each additional hit advances the green light. But be careful! If you get seven hits against you, your device will say -”Loser!”

Mind you for the price of $14.99 you get two - so you can easily afford to outfit the family for those long winter weekends of house hunting

You can find them HERE

Mezmerizing color combinations of green, purple, and blue rotate and revolve in a sound responsive light show with these interactive stereo speakers.

The LED lights dance with the music intonations and beats.

If you are allowed to play music in your office - now you can look super cool while doing so - it comes with its own power adapter and a standard speaker jack - so you could even hook these up to your pc.

Not too expensive at $39.95 - you can find a pair HERE

MP4 Watch II is a novel and fashionable design Portable Media Player (PMP) device. Just plug and play into USB port to transfer music files and data. You can Listen to Music, Watch Movie and Record Conversations wherever you go.

And just get a look at the massive feature set for this gem -

# Features: 2GB or 4GB flash memory
# MP4 Player + Music Player + FM Radio + Digital Watch + Voice Recorder + Photo Album + E-book reader, all in one featured product
# MP4 watch, support MP4(AVI) video
# High in focus 1.8″ TFT screen, 160*128 pixel image
# Shows time and date and watch design is outstanding
# Supports MP3, WMA and MP4(AVI) format, up to 8 hours of music playback
# Supports JPEG format, also displays lyrics and picture
# High-quality digital record, song circulation function and support several languages
# 5-equalizer modes, super bass 3-D sound effect playback modes
# E-book browse function
# Supports FM radio
# Build in speaker
# USB 2.0 High Speed transfer

The only thing not stated is battery life - which I cant see being more than 4 or 5 hours tops in video mode. Mp3’s and Recordings should have a much longer time frame.

It comes in a 2 gig and 4 gig size, and cost $92.00 and $118.00 respectively. Thats more than enough room for a high quality movie or two. OR 22 - 44 hours of mp3s.

You can buy one HERE

At 4.3-inches diagonal, the Mio C320 provides easy viewing. The screen enables you to see the full map view and a selection of route information as well. Easily identify route information, such as Points of Interest(POIs), without quitting the navigation function. And this very thin GPS unit slips easily into a briefcase or purse.

This little guy could help you navigate in almost any situation - from hiking and camping to visiting your family out of state. Small is the key - you could easily tuck this into your pocket.

# Touchscreen is easy to use and provides a smooth operation
# Full U.S. maps include Hawaii and Puerto Rico
# Compact and thin so it’s easy to take along
# 1.7-million preloaded businesses and landmarks let you search for gas, food, entertainment and more
# Turn-by-turn voice navigation in 16 languages (English, French and Spanish included)
# SD card slot lets you play MP3s through the unit

Yup it plays music too - and with turn by turn directions you wont have to pay 500 - 700 dollars for a separate car gps unit,

The price is great at $299. - and its being offered exclusively through Radio Shack — yeh - go figure.

I was gonna save this for the Friday fun gadget feature but I couldn’t wait - its just too cool.

Before shooting each suction cup-tipped, foam dart, you load a cap into each one. When the dart sticks to your target, the cap explodes with a load crack. Sometimes you can even see a spark.

Check out this video of it in action

You can get one at ThinkGeek for a mere $14.99!

With an astounding 792 pieces - this animated Lego creation will keep any kid busy for hours - the spine glows in the dark, its remote controlled and roars! - Woot!

Buy one at Lego for $90.00

How cool is this ? The game comes with a motion sensitive football, pad and main unit -

It plugs directly into a television and translates players’ running movements to control game play, allowing two players to compete against each other or play on the same team. Players stand on the control pad and step on left and right direction indicators to avoid tacklers and collect power-ups such as invincibility, earthquake, speed, and more. The football-shaped game paddle controls play selection, executes hand-offs for running plays, and allows you to throw passes.

Sounds like a heap of good fun - it does require 6 AA batteries - so if you have those to spare your all set. You can find it HERE for $59.95

If you’ve been visiting this site for a while you’ll notice I have a love of anything that lights up - and this gadget does just that.

Now you can take the beauty of a kaleidoscope, customize it, and then project it onto your ceiling in full moving color! The Mangekyo Projector from U-Mate comes with four seasonal plates that can be enhanced with the include beads, or any other compatible objects that you can fit in there! It also comes with a dome top which will turn it into a light with the projections contained within. The free-rotation function allows you to point it in any direction at your ceiling and walls to view the beautiful evolving patterns.

Anything you can fit in there? - This could be interesting - “honey have you seen my keys?”

Heh - its available for pre-order HERE ($149.00)

How cool would it be to have a built in TV under the counter in the kitchen? - Now you can cook along with your favorite cooking shows, or save some time and catch the news in the morning while having your coffee. The built in DVD player is a bonus, you could watch a movie while you prepare that 7 hour Thanksgiving dinner. You could also make a DVD slideshow of your family pictures and put em in to play in a loop while your entertaining.

The 9″ LCD screen is decently sized , and the unit has a AM/FM clock radio - just in case you’d rather listen to Kasey Kasem dedicate songs.

Infrared remote and mounting instructions are included.

Its currently available for pre-order and is on sale - Down from $329 - to 247.73

Pre-Order yours today

What flies, floats, and hovers ? The Hydro Fly from Megatech!

Speed, incredible acceleration, and unbelievable maneuverability and the Hydro-Fly has got it - on land, on water and in the air - all wrapped up in one wild, ready-to-run R/C vehicle. Assembled and ready to run with radio, battery and charger include Wild maneuvers and fantasic vertical-climb capabilities 3 channel radio system.

Not too bad - any kid or kid-like adult would love one of these - just don’t let the batteries run out in the middle of a pond

You can find it on sale for $83.99 HERE

While certainly not the most glamorous of gadgets, this cool looking kitchen timer looks fairly slick, Unlike traditional sand timers you get a clock - a 100 minute timer and presets. I might not have liked this if it didn’t also have a little “sand falling” animation purely for eye candy. They come in black or white.

Handy and priced nicely at $14.95
Grab one at Amazon

Once your phone is activated, use MyTicTalk.com to set up parental controls. Enter phone numbers that can be called anytime and phone numbers that can only be called during permission-based times. Choose what times the phone can ring. Send your child a reminder message. And, you can enable or disable features on the phone whenever you like.

So you can set this phone to only dial mom and dad - and maybe an emergency phone number if you want. The phone has presets - so your child wont need to remember dads number at work.

The phone plan itself is a pre-paid plan so its good for the younger ones as an emergency communications link. This , I think would not be for the teens.

With 8 hours talk time and 100 hours of standby - this just might save you when the bus dosent come or if the kid gets out of school early and you werent aware of the earl dismissal.

I’ve got no definite word on price but Ive heard its less than 100 - heres the manufacturers page

Made by the fine folks at Estes - this bad boy takes video of the whole flight - and then you can connect it to your pc via USB cable and watch/edit the video.

We used to dream of such a thing when we were kids. Just make sure you launch it in a good sized area - you wouldn’t want to lose this one in a tree.

Includes a launch pad, camera software, and two sets of L1154 button-cell batteries for the camera. Injection-molded plastic . Includes launch pad and controller (requires four AA batteries).

Grab one HERE for $59.95 - not too bad a price.

How many time have you been on the road - saw someone driving like an utter idiot and thought.. “Man, I wish I had a camera - I’d turn this guy in.”

Or on the other hand - when you get into an accident and its purely your word against theirs.

With this dash mounted video camera all that can be a thing of the past - and if you want to take the camera out of the car to record something - pop in 2 AA batteries. Wherever your car is ….you are likely to be as well - so you’re never far from a video camera.

You can record up to 5 hours of video on a 2gb flash card - and to record more - just slap in a second card. - It records in .avi format so its very easy to work with on a Mac or PC.

Imagine your insurance companies surprise when you tell them not only was it not your fault, but you got the whole thing on tape.

and its only $79.95 Product Page

One thing to keep in mind is there is no built in transfer port so you’ll have to pony up 20 or so bucks for a flash card reader.

This could be a great help on trips or vacations where you want to know the forecast but you’ve got no TV in your tent.

It provides a 12 to 24 hour forecast and local temperature and humidity readings in a compact, handheld design. Also handy are the digital clock and alarm, add in the belt clip and you got something that not only looks cool - but you may just get a chance to use it.

Pretty good price point $39.95 over at Oregon Scientific