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Oh Gizmo: Remember back when the Nintendo Wii came out, how there were reports of idiots tossing their Wiimotes through their fancy TVs?

Well that sort of thing is still an issue for people with LCD and Plasma TVs, and not just from flying game controllers. Since the screens are easily harmed, one company has decided to specialize in protecting these expensive pieces of equipment.

TV Armor is a simple way to prevent objects from impacting (and thus ruining) the screen of your HDTV. The solution is about as low-tech as it gets, consisting of a thin layer (¼-inch) of acrylic held on by Velcro straps. The acrylic is considered optical-grade so that it won’t reduce the quality of the image.

The TV Armor won’t win any awards in the looks department, but it isn’t hideous by any means. The acrylic blends in rather well, and the Velcro straps are barely visible. You’ll need to set back $69-$289 (47-198 euro) depending on the size of your TV. It’s a little salty, but far less than you paid for your fancy-pants TV no doubt.

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Slashgear: A mouse for the general public is typically a boring accessory to an average computer. However, for those of us that live and breath through the computer we need awe-inspiring accessories to accompany it. This sparkly mouse is just the thing to sit next to any pink and/or sparkly keyboard.

The mouse measures 10 x 3 cm and is being sold online for about €35. Which is much cheaper than some of the Swarvoski adorned gadgets that have popped up here and there.

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PMP Today: Does anyone remember the Surface? You know, the multitouch table from Microsoft. It can sync with Zune and your Bluetooth cellphone that rests on top of it. The Surface recognizes the device instantaneously and displays it on the table content so you can gesture and multi-touch photos and videos as you like. Such technology, surely, is years in the future for the average household.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, on the other hand, thinks this year is the year of the Surface. Microsoft already has a few customers with pockets and deep enough to order the Surface but the company has bigger plans for the technology. They think they can sell it to ordinary folks like you and me.

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Absolute Gadget: Leaky pipes not only lose water but can make you run up huge bills too, but now engineers at Thames Water have invented a new gadget that could detect those leaks and slash bills. The device, called ‘Leakfrog’ detects the amount of water escaping from your pipes – which accounts for around a quarter of all water lost in leaks. 

When attached to a water meter overnight on a property, the Leakfrog shows if any water is being lost. This lets customers know if they need to get the leaks fixed and will reduce subsequent water bills. 

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Absolute Gadget: Surveys often state the bleeding obvious, and a new study from purveyor of fine batteries Energizer about what gadgets we want for Christmas is not that much different. According to the research, plasma tvs and the Wii top the list of must-have Christmas presents.In second place is the Nintendo Wii (assuming you can get your hands on one). The survey found that just under a third (30 per cent) of 16-24 year olds would choose a games console compared to nearly half of 25-34 year olds (42 per cent). The poll shows computer games are now more popular than ever with older generations.

According to Michael Brook, who edits some other gadget publication, the Nintendo Wii and the iPod, have thrown the electronic goods market wide open. 

“The launch of the Wii has had the biggest influence this year,” said Brook. “It’s completely re-written the rule book on computer gaming. While the X-box and Playstation were battling it out for a predominantly teenage market the Wii snuck in through the back door.”

Brook said that the Wii “opened up the market to people who just wouldn’t have been interested in gaming before.”

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GPSmagazine: We’ve already seen GPS tracking devices hidden in sneakers, dog collars, and even tracking beacons fired from a cannon. Now it seems a British clothing company by the name of Bladerunner has developed GPS-enabled jackets to locate those wandering kiddies.

“The jacket is not something that was released due to people losing their kids,” said Adrian Davis, a partner at Bladerunner. “It was originally made for mountain climbers, skiers and snowboarders.” However, Davis added that the company decided to make a children’s version of the jacket aimed at parents concerned about their children’s safety.

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Engadget: For every gimmicky workout product that comes along like the push-up counter or talking grip master, there’s also one such as the Nike+iPod or Entertrainer which actually seem to prove useful or motivational. Well you can add the upcoming Informance sunglasses from German lenscrafter Rodenstock to that list, which take your regular sports shades and tack on a tiny LED display that shows stopwatch or pulse data from a wirelessly-linked watch.

Developed in cooperation with the UK’s Cambridge Consultants, the display projects a 160 x 120 pixel image through a wedge-shaped prism, occupying 12% of the left eye’s field of view in a reportedly unobtrusive manner when peering straight ahead. Look for actual products to hit the market sometime in 2009, for an estimated €700 to €1.000.

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Gizmag: These days the term skateboard tends to refer to a whole raft of different transport modes that go way beyond the two-axle, four wheeled conveyances that rose to prominence in the 1970s – everything from in-line caster boards to spokeless mini-motorcycles and sit-down street machines tend to be categorized under the genre. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the ramp, a new concept has emerged that could see self-balancing technology and electric propulsion incorporated into the skateboard design. The iSlide concept by industrial designer Ofir Tal is a one wheel motorized board that utilizes a hydrogen fuel cell and onboard gyroscope to attain speeds of around 15 kph.

Described as a mix of snowboarding and skateboarding, the iSlide’s motion is controlled by leaning forwards (to accelerate) and backwards (to slow down).

To optimize its urban transport functionality lights have been included in the design for night-time use and a handle is integrated into the rear of the board for ease of transportation on buses and trains.

The prototype model is yet to have the computer and gyroscopic array finalized.

Sony hit the drawing board with a concept that also relied on self-balancing technology back in 2006, but we are yet to see any products emerge from the designs.

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Akihabaranews: This is the type of thing you wouldn’t usually think of buying and once you have it you use it for everything!
This Microscope can be plugged in to your computer (1.1 or 2.0) and zoom on anything you’ll want to “examinate” up to 200x !

65€ for all the physician wannabees!

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Product Reviews Net: You can now have your own personal masseurs immediately to hand so if you need a solution to relieve all those aches and pains we get sitting behind or more probably in-front of your computers all day then this is it.To use this USB Massager you just have to simply plug into your nearest USB port and press it into sore areas.

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Product Reviews Net: Do you like the idea of having your own personal trainer in your own home with out even having to go to the gym? This is now possible.This is the only cable motion Interactive Personal Trainer System around that connects to the internet and downloads exercise routines from virtual fitness professionals demonstrating the correct exercise form and pace on a conveniently placed 17″ LCD monitor.

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SCI FI Tech: Even today, there are millions of people who own and listen to records (you know, LPs? Vinyl?). Did you know that there’s music on LPs that was never released on CD? Enter the ELP Declicker, whose sole purpose in life is to remove clicks and background noise (but not the hiss) when transferring music from records to digital.

More importantly, it does all this without the help of a computer. Touted as the only product on the market that will do this, the Declicker will help transfer your analog LPs to CD or MP3 discs without the need for any fancy software. It’s said to work well on reducing noise on 33rpm and 45rpm records, but I’m told it’s not as effective on 78s.

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