Mega Roundup: part 6

Collection of 2007's best Gadgets, Goods and Gizmos

More Rooms for Roomba

One of iRobot's newest robotic vacuums cleans four rooms and finds its way back to its recharger. Radio and infrared transmitters at doorways tell it which rooms it has yet to clean and which to cross to get home. iRobot Roomba 560 $350; roomba.com

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Spot underwater features, whether trout or sunken treasure, in greater detail. An 800-kilohertz sonar wave-a higher frequency than in other consumer devices-creates near-photo-like images. Humminbird 997c SI Combo $2,000; humminbird.com

Small Packages

Is your living environment, shall we say, spatially challenged? Barely larger than most microwaves, the Mini Kitchen still manages to squeeze in an oven spacious enough for a whole chicken or pan of brownies along with two hot plates powerful enough for all your toasting needs. Best of all, it´s self-cleaning, eliminating the need for passive-aggressive reminders to your roommate. Mini Kitchen $200; russellhobbs.com

Hard-Disk Jockey

Fill your iPod for free. This FM tuner for PCs comes with software that records music both from Internet radio streams and the airwaves. By matching song snippets against a database, it adds title and artist info on the fly. ADS Tech Instant FM Music $50; adstech.com

Phoning It In

This GSM-networked box hangs inside a front door and alerts the homeowner´s cellphone when a vistior buzzes the intercom. A code punched into the phone then opens the door. Waleli GSM-doorbell $600; waleli.com

Look, Ma, No Cords

Want to go wireless with your audio system but cringe at the thought of having to buy new speakers? This set uses the most advanced 2.4-gigahertz wireless transmission technology to deliver interference-free CD-quality audio to your current speakers. Best of all, the set automatically scans for the best-possible frequency channel and switches automatically before any audio errors occur. KEF Universal Wireless, $600kef.com

Rethinking the Remote

Three hundred channels and a DVR full of recorded shows, and you're still sifting through it all with a controller straight out of the '80s. That's why Hillcrest Labs designed the Loop, a remote with nary a number on it. Instead, a button brings up an onscreen guide, which you navigate with a scroll wheel. To select what you want to do—browse recordings, change settings—just wave the remote around to move an onscreen cursor through a series of intuitive, icon-driven menus. Accelerometers inside the controller detect where you're pointing (a technology the company calls Freespace). The Loop, Price not set, Available soon; hillcrestlabs.com

Capture All

Buying a camera is usually a compromise: Getting pro-level features usually comes with pro-level bulk. The E-510, however, incorporates many of Olympus´s top-of-the-line SLR features-a 2.5-inch live-view LCD, mechanical image stabilization, and even dust-reduction for spot-free photos (thanks to ultrasonic vibrations and a special adhesive membrane)-in an especially lightweight and ergonomic body. E-510 From $800;olympus.com

Cursory Movements

Airplane trays don´t leave much wiggle room, so Razer outfitted this mini wireless travel mouse with an ultra-high-resolution sensor. Nudge it an inch to push your cursor all the way across the screen. Razer Pro|Click Mobile $60â€$70;razerpro.com

Weigh your Options

It´s great to know how much you weigh, but it´s better to know where the problem lies. This scale measures body fat separately for each limb and compares it against a healthy range, calculates everything from daily caloric intake to metabolic age, and plots it on daily, weekly or monthly graphs-making it that much harder to cite ignorance as your excuse for not working out. Innerscan BC-558, $300;tanita.com

Source: Popular Science