There are a million eye-catching iPod accessories, but this one manages to stand out nicely. This odd looking iPod dock/speaker combo is from designer Jean-Michel Jarre and resembles something you would charge your lightsaber in that also doubles as a heater. It’s called the AeroSystem, retro in name and design.

It’s currently available only in France, and costs about $580, complete with an iPod-inspired remote. Seems to me that it’s more of a suicide station for when your iPod hears about the state of the economy or that Apple has released a new model. Stationed high atop it’s high-rise, it is free to make the decision to jump or not jump.

Beamz is a laser-based invention that is connected to a computer via your USB port. It allows you to pretend you are a musical genius from the year 2355, because you can play hundreds of musical instruments in true Jean Michel Jarre style.(Whoever the hell he is) How does it work you ask? Basically you are creating music by breaking the laser beams with your hands. It automatically generates pre-authored pulses, streams, riffs or loops of musical notes or sounds from a variety of instruments.

The beamz system as a whole has a “W” shape, with six laser beams over two sections. Just connect it via USB to your PC or laptop, and hook up some speakers. You’ll be rocking your lasers in no time. The interface is said to be simple and intuitive, making it easy to choose any of 30 included songs in 19 musical genres, for laying down a complementary rhythm track. The beamz library includes jazz, bluegrass, classical, hip-hop, reggae, heavy metal and more. Available from The Sharper Image for $599.95.