Your Next Gift

Back in the last century when audio cassettes ruled the world, people would spend hours compiling mix tapes. For all you whippersnappers too young to recall the days of wobbly spools and mangled tape, this involved recording a selection of tunes on a blank cassette and then presenting it to a friend or loved one. If you were really dedicated you even scribbled the track order on the box. Good eh? But why reminisce, because now you can do it the Noughties way with the brilliant USB Mix Tape.

This 64MB memory stick sits in a cool presentation case that looks just like an ancient cassette. Simply USB the stick into your computer, drag in a selection of songs then bung it in the suitably tired-looking faux cassette. You can then write the track-listing on the highly evocative paper insert. It's just like the good old days, only this time your compilations won't include annoying interruptions from the DJ, long gaps between tracks or bits where your dad mumbles 'testing, testing, one, two, three' over a Human League song.

Ideal for nostalgia freaks, you can almost smell the hair gel and hear the sound of the top 40 countdown the second you clap eyes on this hi-tech slice of history. It's like CDs never happened. Of course the major advantage is that your recordings will be in crystal clear digital format, not hissy old tape. Result!

A brilliant pressie for anyone who remembers doing the old rec+play finger stretch routine, the USB Mix Tape is the gift that keeps on giving, as recipients can bung new stuff on there as and when. Then again you could do that with blank tapes, couldn't you? Hmmm... Look, the point is this is infinitely more original than a common or garden memory stick, plus you can personalize it to suit. With six different styles to collect, we think this is another "instant classic" from Sam & Jude at Suck UK!

Available at: Generate (USA/Canada) & Firebox (UK/USA/Europe)

Always know what's behind your vehicle!

Keep your kids and pets safe from accidents and injury with this backup camera system. It mounts on your license plate and plugs into your reverse light socket to deliver a clear view of everything behind you via wireless signals beamed to the 3 1/2" liquid crystal display mounted on your visor, dashboard or air vent using the included mounting hardware.

Simple to fit, and if your reverse parking is like mine then you will be really glad you got this nifty gadget - lol!

Available at: Sky Mall (USA/International)

The Lexon Tykho Fan by Marc Berthier is in the permanent collection of the Pompidou in Paris. This fun and colorful fan is made in aluminum with colored PVC blades. It has two speeds and plugs into a conventional outlet. With its compact size, (9.75" x 9.75" x 4 5/8" / 25cm x 25cm x 12cm) it's not only perfect for the office desk, but will look great too!

Available at: Unica Home (USA/International)

So you want to give your pet the coolest designer gift around? We love the Wowo Raised Feeder - definitely for the coolest cat (dog/rabbit/chipmunk) in town!

The minimalist design will look great in your home too, and provide your pet with optimum comfort and convenience at meal-time. Handmade with only the highest quality of materials and real wood veneers, the Wowo Raised Feeder is available in 5 different finishes and sizes to suit all sizes of pets!

Available at: Generate (USA/Canada)

When it comes to multitools, Leatherman are the true professionals with unequalled build quality and resilience. Often however, multitools can go over the top with functionality and have far more stuff in them than you'll ever use. This where Leatherman's latest piece of genius knocks all other multitools into the bin. The Skeletool, aside from looking achingly cool (very important of course) is, we reckon, the best multitool ever made!

Weighing in at an amazing 5oz. (142g), they have stripped out all the unnecessary bulk and ensured that most of the super useful tools are instantly available, without you having to unfold and pull out endless hinged bits with your fingernails. The bottle opener is always out (yeah hey), the screwdriver (cleverly a universal multi-bit one) is pre-extended when you open the tool, and the knife blade is quick release - they really have designed a truly practical beauty here. More substantial than a pocket knife and less bulky than a traditional multitool, the Skeletool has the following functions - a combination straight and serrated blade, pliers, needle nose pliers, wire cutters, hard-wire cutters, a universal bit driver, a 3/6" and ¼" Phillips screwdriver bit, a bottle opener and a removable belt clip. And all of this comes in stainless steel with a hardwearing Tungsten DLC coating and has a very comfortable ergonomic hand fit.

With its truly excellent design, exceptional quality and the perfect level of functionality, the Skeletool has raised the bar on multitools to a whole new level!

Features:

- A stainless steel, super-lightweight multi-tool.
- A hardwearing Tungsten DLC coating.
- A combination straight/serrated blade.
- Pliers.
- Needlenose pliers.
- Wire cutters.
- Hard-wire cutters.
- A universal bit driver so you can pop on whatever bit is required.
- Storage for a bit in the handle.
- A Phillips 3/6" screwdriver bit.
- A Phillips ¼" screwdriver bit.
- A bottle opener.
- A removable pocket clip.
- Suitable for ages 16 years+.
- Weight: 5oz. / 142g.
- Size: 4" / 10cm.

Available at: I Want One Of Those (UK/USA/International) and ThinkGeek (USA/International)

Conducting crackpot experiments with everyday items is one of life's great pleasures. When you're ten. If you're still carrying out half-baked 'research' with helium balloons, baking soda and old chemistry sets past the age of fifteen, you really should take a long hard look at yourself. And once you've done that you should buy the spectacularly infantile Geyser Tube.

As any wannabe egghead will tell you, idiotic thrill-seeking knows no age limit, especially when the thrill in question involves 30ft soda volcanoes. The Geyser Tube has been created to maximise the effect of the old mints-in-fizzy-pop routine; you know, the one where your sweeties react violently when plopped in a bottle of somethingade.

Simply load the mints in this screw-on transparent tube, lock it on your plastic pop bottle (any fizzy drink will do but diet stuff works best) and pull the pin. Oh yes, and run for it. Because the moment the sweets hit the liquid, a powerful soda geyser erupts from the top with enough pressure to reach 30ft - yes, 30ft! And thanks to this ingenious little gizmo you'll get a perfect launch every time without getting drenched.

We really can't stress how entertaining watching a ferocious fountain of soda pop blasting skywards is. And with the help of the Geyser Tube you'll be amazed at the height your geysers achieve. In fact, here at the YourNextGift this innocent looking plastic tube has resulted in a marked drop in productivity. But we haven't got time to discuss that now; we're off to the car park to set off a ten-bottle cola Krakatoa. Whoosh!

Available at: ThinkGeek (USA/Canada) and Firebox (UK/USA/International)

The ridiculously popular USB Missile Launcher has had a radical refit, an uber upgrade if you will. Where once you could control it from your keyboard and fire wildly into the yonder, you can now, thanks to its on-board webcam, see what you're pointing at! So not only do you have a live image to home-in on (which is just SO cool), they've also added sound effects, such as a missile whooshing noise and a warning siren. As if this wasn't enough it can also hook up to your MSN and anyone on your MSN list, be they in the same building or the other side of the world, can control and fire your missile launch. Yes really, it's amazing isn't it. The fun you can have is almost endless. You could even hook it up to your machine at home, log into your MSN at work, and if anyone comes near your machine you can scare the bejesus out of them by remotely zapping them with a missile. It's almost too brilliant to comprehend. The image quality is excellent, you can adjust the camera angle to hone your accuracy, and find out just how much time you can waste at work (really quite a lot from our experience). This thing is awesome!

Features:

- A missile launcher complete with a built-in webcam.
- Control your launcher via your PC or hook it up to MSN and you or anyone on your MSN list can control it for you from anywhere in the world.
- The web-cam allows you to see a live image of your chosen target.
- Missiles are launched up to 15 feet at an extremely nippy pace.
- The camera angle is adjustable.
- A control panel will appear on your MSN, use this to navigate the launcher left, right, up and down.
- Choose from a selection of sound effects including a 'warning siren', a boinging sound and the classic missile launch 'whoosh'.
- The launcher has three foam missiles.
- A CD of software.
- Suitable for ages 12 years+.
- Size: 5" x 4.25" x 7.25" / 13cm x 11cm x 18.5cm.

Available at: ThinkGeek (USA/International) and I Want One Of Those (UK/USA/Europe/International)

Designed by Stefane Barbeau & Duane Smith, the Luau Portable Lamp makes standard table lamps look so, well, stationary. Suitable for indoor and outdoor use, Luau is a lighting solution that delivers dimmable ambient light without being tethered to an electrical socket. When Luau is lifted from its base, the lamp automatically lights. Increase or decrease the amount of light by spinning the lamp with the bottom against your palm. The versatile Luau can be placed on a surface or hung from a hook or tree branch. It comes with one stainless steel handle. Includes a 36-bulb LED pack and rechargeable NiMH batteries which last 6-10 hours when fully charged. Great for those BBQ's and late nights lounging on the patio!

Available at: Design Within Reach (USA/International) and Generate (USA/Canada)

With the world coming round to climate change, recycling, organic food and generally going green, you could pretty much call it the latest fashion! No longer is it cool to have the biggest auto and harsh concrete gardens; these days you feel most proud by showing your friends and neighbors that you are the greenest by having a 'green' car and growing your own vegetables.

When inviting your friends round for an evening dinner party, make sure you serve only the healthiest food, preferably home grown! A salad is always a good starter, and what better way to serve it than with your very own leafy salad servers! No, not real leaves, these melamine salad tongs are shaped to look like 2 long-stemmed leaves, giving your dinner service the greenest look possible.

To enhance the organic look of the Salad Plant tongs, they stand bolt-upright in the accompanying plant pot style bowl making the set look like it belongs on a windowsill or on your patio! You can even use the pot to mix up your salad dressings! Sit it next to your freshly made salad topped off with the tongs, and your organic dinner service is complete!

Features:

- Unique salad tossers / servers.
- Melamine tongs and pot.
- The pot can be used to mix and serve dressing.
- Makes a great center-piece.
- 1 x Salad spoon.
- 1 x Salad fork.- 1 x 'Plant Pot' dressing mixing bowl.

Available at: Drinkstuff (UK/USA/Europe/International)

With a good sense of humor, the Popptags fill the void of creative, practical and memorable cards to accompany wine as a gift. Carefully designed and beautifully letter-pressed on recycled paper, Popptags will make an impression. Just slip the ribbon around the neck of a wine bottle and you are good to go. No extra time or waste is involved finding a gift bag or bulky card. Popptags can even personalize your gift of wine for all of your special events: weddings, corporate gifts, family reunions, parties, and more!

Available at: Popptags (USA/International)

Related popular gifts:

My Wines Direct (USA)
Wine.com (USA)
The Wine Messenger (USA)
Wine Enthusiast (USA/International)
Gifts To Drink (UK/Europe)

The Eva Solo Barrel Grill has been created by people who love barbecuing and design. Designed by Claus Jensen and Henrik Holbaek, Tools, the ingenious, yet simple design of the Eva Solo Barrel Grill features a number of unique solutions to enhance functionality. First and foremost it is - unlike barbecues using enameled, chrome or nickel-plated parts as it's made exclusively from stainless steel and will last longer. A portable coal bucket makes it easy to empty ashes, and the flat lid turns the grill into an extra surface on the patio when the grill is not in use.

But as even the most enthusiastic of cooks will spend more time looking at the grill than actually using it, it is also important the grill is pleasing to the eye - there is no need to hide this grill away after use. Definitely a BBQ for the design conscious!

Available at: Unica Home (USA/International)

The Reveal Light implies the presence of a real window by simulating sunlight entering through an imaginary window. This has a subtle, positive effect on how we feel about the space we occupy. a light breeze appears to move through trees in the cast image. Reveal is designed for use in most interior lighting environments that lack direct sunlight. The projector comes with an ultra-white, color adjusted 50 watt mr16 halogen bulb. This can be replaced with a standard 20, 50 or 65 watt halogen in order to customize brightness levels.

The image projected by Reveal is unique and cannot be recreated by any other device.
Multi-plane analog images create real depth of focus and air currents through the projector create organic non-repeating movement in the trees. The lamp color closely mimics multi-spectrum sunlight and the wide-angle glass lenses allow flexibility of installation and minimize distortion. Steel slides provide absolute blacks and long term durability. Reveal is fully American made and designed in Brooklyn NYC, by Adam Frank Incorporated.

Available at: Unica Home (USA/International)

It all depends on your perspective with this ingenious doormat by Sam and Jude of Suck UK. From one angle, it is a welcoming invitation into your home, reading simply "Come In". Don't feel that sociable? Turn it around and it keeps away unwanted guests with a not-so-subtle "Go Away"!

Another "Instant Classic" from Sam & Jude, we think it makes the perfect designer gift for a house warming!

Available at: Generate (USA/Canada) and Drinkstuff (UK/Europe/International)

Mix things up at your desk and pay homage to the beloved cassette tape of the 70s and 80s with this lighthearted rubber desk accessory. Cool for the home or office!

Available at: UncommonGoods (USA/Canada/International)

What looks like an innocent ceramic mug actually hides a speaker inside to use with your iPod or other portable audio device. Simply plug it in, drop the device inside, and carry your music with you wherever you go. And just to clarify; no, you can't use it for coffee too - lol!

A perfect gift for that music loving teen, adult or just great to have on your office desk!

Available at: Generate (USA/Canada)