Anyone who has ever taken a few pictures knows that lighting is the most important factor. It can mean the difference between a great picture and a catastrophe. Ortery’s Photosimile 5000 is a PC-controlled light box, 360° turntable and a CPS(camera-positioning system) that is compatible with many digital cameras. The Photobox will give you shadow-free pictures for use on websites, presentations, eBay etc.

It’s a pretty simple concept. Just you just attach a camera to the light box while your object to be photographed is on the rotating platform, as if you are microwaving it. The light box connects to your PC via a USB cable. The software takes care of all the details, like the camera’s tilt and the speed of the turntable. As long as the item can fit in the box, you’re good to go.

I love design. I also love vacuum tubes. This Tube Lamp is an homage to high end audio amplifiers, with some funky details. What you get is a series of 9 tubes with 25 Watt lamps inside. The glass tubes glow when switched on, so you can pretend you are a mad scientist.

They really went the whole nine yards, encasing the tubes in a black bakelite box and giving the device a toggle switch, mirror top and dimmer knob. Anyone who has an appreciation for old tube technology will love this. Imagine what a great conversation piece this would be. Especially if you are the kind of evil genius who connects about ten of these things together.

You don’t generally see improvements in camping lanterns. For the most part they’ve remained the same for years, but this one has a pretty clever design that’s sure to make camping more enjoyable. How about a light powerful enough to be seen from a mile away? The lights are mounted on trays so you can swivel them where you need to see.

There’s also a jack and speakers so you can plug in your mp3 player and have some fireside tunes. If that’s not enough to get you in the great outdoors, there’s also a digital clock and an AM/FM radio with local weatherbands. Having these features all in one unit will lighten your load a bit. Uses 6 C batteries. AC and DC adaptors included.

The MP3 Telephone Recorder ia capable of recording up to 50 hours of conversation on it’s internal 128MB flash memory. The recording device fits between the handset and the actual telephone, and gives you the option of manual or automatic voice-activated recording.

Playback is in a non-standard audio format to prevent the unauthorised use by someone other then yourself. Connect it to the PC via USB socket and use a password to access the memory on the device. At that point the software converts the non-standard format into MP3 as the password decrypts the audio stream.

Now you can play Mario Kart in the real world away from your screen and in slot car form. The set includes 2 cars, a transformer, straights, curves, narrowing set, 2 hand controllers, guardrails and spare contact brushes, guide keels plus a track link.

Race Mario’s B-Dasher against Wario’s Brute on twenty feet of track. This should be a fun way to enjoy the classic game in a whole different way. I can only assume that more cars are forthcoming, since racing Mario against Wario could get boring after awhile. Some of us prefer Toad’s well balanced ride. This is a great fun concept. I’m surprised it’s taken them this long to bring it to market.

I got my Eco Media Player about 2 weeks ago and I’ve been checking out it’s various functions. The device has several features like a video player, music player, fm radio, LED torch, photo viewer, hi-fi recorder, memo recorder, data storage device and a mobile phone charger. You charge the device via USB, but if you don’t have a computer nearby it can be hand cranked to recharge the juice via a fold-out handle on the rear.

They claim that 40 minutes of audio play requires only one minute of self powering. Actually when I put that to the test I got a whole lot more. Closer to 2 hours. I don’t know if that is typical or not, but I let the battery deplete to nothing before I wound it. So that was a plus. I loaded a few videos and the conversion software is pretty effortless. The quality of the video is surprisingly crisp and clean for the small 1.8″ color screen. No complaints there.

Keeping with the trend of making new things look old, Design Town’s new radio sports a look that would be at home in any 1950′s diner aka Greasy Spoon. This is the radio to sling hash to. It even has a handle on it like the one on that lunchbox you had when you were a kid and a telescopic antenna. Retro knobs adjust the volume, frequency and switching between the AM and FM bands.

I love retro looking devices that are new, but I do have to say that slapping the words “Vintage Radio” tends to ruin it somewhat. They probably should have put in a CD player at the very least, but I guess some people just like radio. This one comes in sky blue and pink. it will cost you $15.

How many times have you wished that you could turn off all of the lights on your Christmas tree just by blowing on an ornament? Surely I’m not the only one. Well, my prayers at least, have been answered. In years past, you had to unplug the extension cord from the wall or flick the switch to off. For some people that’s alot of work.

Enter the Santa Magic Blowout Ornament. Once you have Santa wired into your lighting system, just blow into the ornament to turn off all the tree lights. To turn them on again just push the button on the chimney. I know, it’s one of those gadgets that on one hand is lame, but then again it does make it easier to turn your lights off.

We’ve covered devices before that will update your old-school cassettes to digital, like the plusdeckEX. The plusdeckEX even has a great retro look, but the Ion Dual Ripping Cassette Deck with USB Output beats it hands down for an authentic 80′s design. This dual-ripping tape deck transforms your old cassette tapes into digital files, so you can listen to them on your MP3 or CD player. You won’t have to worry about those old tapes wearing out from years of play.

The device is compatible with both PCs and Macs and even features normal and high speed dubbing for cassette to MP3 conversion. I understand if you don’t want to admit to still using your old cassette tapes, but it’s time to get one of these and upgrade. Haven’t you lived with your horrible secret long enough?

The idea behind the Animated Tree Face is to attach it to your tree with the provided ties and let it entertain all of your friends. This thing looks like somebody cross-bred E.T. with a Chia pet. Your guests won’t know whether to be more scared of you or the Extra-Terrestrial that has taken your tree hostage. I just can’t see an enjoyable and delightful evening with this thing peering out at me, but to each his own.

If you set it to motion activation, it will tell one of 6 hilarious holiday jokes that it knows, or it will sing one of 3 song parodies. Or, if you really want to be remembered for many years to come as a total dork, you can use the included microphone to make it talk and sing with your voice. The mouth and eyes move and flash whenever it talks and sings.

The Oberon LED watch is certainly easy on the eyes. It’s like wearing a small starfield on your wrist. Any watch that looks like it has stars on the face catches my attention right away. It looks very stealthy with it’s white LED display and streamlined black stainless steel body and strap. The outer ring of lights tell you the hour, the next ring is for single minutes, and the third shows minutes in groups of tens.

You can read the date in the same way. It takes some getting used to, but it’s worth it. Aside from looking awesome, it’s water-resistant down to 50 meters. The price is about $135.

You’ve heard of card sharks and loan sharks.(Hopefully you don’t know the latter very well.) How about a Guitar Shark? The Jay Turser Shark Guitar is a fairly unique hand painted shark shaped guitar that would make any amateur want to play. It would even be perfect and maybe way over the top to have a shark guitar if you play your gigs on a beach.

It’s designed for young players of course and includes a strap and gig bag. This shark measures 37-3/4″ in length. A unique instrument like this is a great way to start that future rocker’s career. Years down the road, you’ll be wondering why his songs all seem to all involve fish. The amp is powered by a 9V battery so the guitar can be played anywhere.

I love looking at the gears on old timepieces, so I can immediately appreciate this industrial style clock. It’s a simplification of the idea of course, but that’s what makes it neat. It could proudly sit on any mantle and await those magic words uttered by your friends, “Hey, what’s that?”. It’s innovative design of course. Gears are cool. Ask anyone.

In silver and black, it has a fantastic modern look. As you might expect, the gears go around and around while displaying every hour, minute and second of the day. More moving parts would be great, but there’s something to be said for simplicity.

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not crank up the radio and get your day started right. The retro Sci-Fi stylings of Kenwood’s radio/toaster will add some pizazz to your decor.

You might think that despite it’s good looks and presumably great sound, inside it’s just a few wires being heated up, like any other toaster. Nope. It has an electronic temperature sensor that monitors temperature and adjusts toast timing so you get consistent toasting, time after time. It’s nicely sized as well, measuring 11 x 8.7 x 6.3 inches

These will definately add some style to your home. At first, these apple remotes seem to be on the silly side, but they are a pretty interesting take on remotes, with some interesting features. This concept device is brought to you by Jason Roebuck. They certainly beat standard remotes as far as being eye pleasing. When in their charging station or cradle, or “bowl” if you like, they’ll blend in with their surroundings.

Each member of the house can have their own personal remote, programmed to their specific likes. Want to lower the volume? The device is motion sensitive. Just rotate it left. Rotate it right to raise the volume. When they are not being used, just sit them in the charging station.