Your Next Gift

Dance Dance Revolution... Kaos Style!

You may be familiar with the amazing pocket-sized Kaossilator Touchpad Synthesizer designed by Korg Japan. Now Korg brings it's revolutionary touchpad style interface to the Mini-Kaoss Touchpad Effects Processor. The Mini-Kaoss acts as if you took several hundred different guitar effects pedals and crammed them into one device. Give it any audio input like your iPod or CD player and run your fingers across the touchpad as the Mini-Kaoss pad transforms your music with amazing effects. Tap the BPM key in time to your music and the Mini-Kaoss learns the beat of the song and syncs the effects appropriately. With 100 different amazing sounding effects ranging from pitch changers, to flangers to reverb and delays... soon you'll be opening your own discotheque at your desk!

Features:

- Transform your music with amazing live effects controlled by the Mini-Kaos touchpad.
- Intuitive touch-pad interface gives you fingertip effect control in real-time.
- Battery operation and small size make it an ideal choice for any scene.
- One hundred effects including filter, delay, and looper meet the needs of any musical style.
- Numerous BPM effects are provided. You can use the "TAP/BPM button" to synchronize the mini-KP to your song's tempo, and apply a wide range of effects to your music.
- "FX RELEASE" function provides a natural decay when changing effects or removing your finger from the pad.
- Hold function lets you memorize the position at which you touched the touch-pad when you release your finger.
- Use the two memory keys A and B to store your favorite effect program settings, including the effect depth and the Hold on/off status.

Available at: ThinkGeek (USA/International)

We all know VHS tapes were rubbish. Dodgy tracking, limited lifespan, noisy spools, below par quality...we could go on. So we will. Bulky, clunky, fragile, ridiculously slow to rewind - the list is truly endless. But for all its faults, VHS was the leading video format for almost thirty years. And that's why you've got stacks of tapes languishing in the loft and piled up in the cupboard. And that's why you need the brilliant Ion USB VCR 2 PC Converter.

This idiot-proof video player allows you to convert long-forgotten VHS recordings into pristine digital files. So you can cringe at your shoulder pads in those homemade vids and laugh at all those old TV shows you taped, without cracking out your soon to be obsolete VCR.

Simply plonk in a tape, press play and leave the rest to this USB-friendly machine. It doesn't matter if you want to watch reinvigorated recordings on your computer, iPod, PSP or DVD because the included conversion software caters for stacks of formats. As well as its incredible ability to amalgamate declining technology with cutting edge jiggery-pokery, the USB VCR Converter can be used as a regular VCR, just plug it into your TV. And once you've successfully archived your VHS library the only thing left to do is bin those cumbersome tapes!

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

Also popular:

Ion USB Tape 2 PC and Ion USB Turntable

Today's computers are triumphs of technology, but divvy designers always seem to scrimp on the USB ports. A shame because practically every electronic device on the market is now USB-friendly - from cameras and MP3 players to phones, lava lamps and drum kits. And who can be bothered fiddling around the back of their computer looking for spare ports?

Not us. That's why we use USB hubs. But we don't use any old hubs to bolster our USB connectivity. Good grief, no! We use ones shaped liked Doctor Who's Tardis. Why? Well, for starters we love Doctor Who. But more than that we love the Tardis. This ingenious product of Time Lord technology is surely one of the most iconic objects in sci-fi history.

The Doctor Who Tardis USB Hub boasts four ports in which to plug your various gizmos. Simply plug in and you're away. But here's the good bit: every time you connect or disconnect a device, the blue light on the top of the Tardis flashes and that unmistakable de-materialisation 'vworp, vworp' sound starts sawing away at your lugholes. Thankfully it doesn't actually vanish into the time vortex, so you can enjoy the classic grating din again and again by plugging in more devices or pressing the demo button.

Perfect for Doctor Who fans or those of you who want to increase your USB connectivity via a pretend Gallifreyan time/space machine, the Tardis USB Hub makes an eye-catching addition to any work surface. And with 4 metres of cable, you can easily slip it out of view when the boss, wife, or anyone else who might disapprove of PC peripherals disguised as dimensionally transcendental vehicles, is around. Vworp, vworp!

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

The Sanctuary charging station's simple and compact design brings order to his world of gadgets. Compatible with over 1,500 devices from most major brands--including Apple, BlackBerry, Motorola and Samsung--the universal charger allows it to charge up to 12 devices at the same time. The reversible inner tray insert turns this into the ultimate catchall. Tidy up your desk at home or the office, perfect for those with so many devices and gadgets to charge, the Sanctuary Charging Station will look neat anywhere!

Features:

- Available in black or white.
- Includes a fabric-finished inner tray that reverses to black or tan
- Has 12 built-in connectors for your electronics
- Measures 9" x 9" x 1 3/4"H
- Universally compatible with all models of the iPhone, iPod and BlackBerry
- Works with most models from Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony-Ericsson.

Available at: Red Envelope (USA)

Sick? Tired? Feel like being late?

Remember how easy it was to shirk responsibility when your mother could write you a note? With the Excuse Note, simplicity is here again. Whether you're late, absent, or just plain out of it, you'll be excused. Irrefutable written explanations! Authorizable by anybody - 50 useful pages included!

Available at: Perpetual Kid (USA)

Yes, it's absurd, we know, but boy is this gizmo a blessing in 1970s white plastic disguise or what! Stumbling to the lav at night is one of life's little irritations at the best of times, but what really makes it so darned annoying is having to half blind yourself in the process by turning on the bathroom light. You could almost get away with going through the process without truly waking up, if it wasn't for the 'Oh my good god, who put a 1000 watt bulb in when I wasn't looking' experience. Well now, thankfully, that whole snow-blindness nightmare is finally over. The Lavnav (great name) is a joy to behold.

You simply stick it on the inside of your lav lid (comes with sticky pads) and hey presto, whenever you stagger into the bathroom in the dark the motion sensor fires it up, and it shines a gentle guiding light into your lav, and turns off after you leave. It even knows if the seat is up or not - red light for up, green light for down. A brilliant, if slightly odd, product, and an excellent solution to prevent you being wrenched from half-asleepness in the middle of the night.

Features:

- Motion detector.
- Green/red light and seat position reader.
- Uses 2 x AA batteries.
- Size: 3" x 3.5" x 1" / 7.5cm x 9cm x 2.5cm.

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

Now you can hit the road with all your favorite tunes. This ingenious Wireless Radio Transmitter from Belkin is perfect solution to use your iPod or iTouch in the car without any messy or complicated wiring. The radio transmitter has a ClearScan feature, which cuts through the static by seeking out the clearest station on the FM dial with a push of a button.

Just plug it in, tune in and go!

Features:

- Easy-mount base fits any docking iPod or iTouch.
- Includes line-out for use with car-stereo inputs or cassette adapter.
- "Pro" setting optimizes audio and boosts volume.
- Transmits audio wirelessly on multiple FM channels from 88.1MHz-107.9MHz.
- Flexible neck for convenient, easy adjustments while driving.
- Dimensions 2 3 / 4" x 5 3 / 4" x 7 3/ 4"H.

Available at: Red Envelope (USA)

Need a gentle reminder of who to call, what to do, or who to email? Put your mousepad to work with this plentiful paper version, jotting notes and other important thoughts in the most convenient spot-right under your hand. Best of all, when you've filled a sheet up with brilliance, you get to start over clean and fresh!

Paper Mousepad includes 60 sheets per pad and is 9 1/2 inches long and 8 inches wide!

Available at: Perpetual Kid (USA)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, some Yoda-brained boffin created a few USB memory sticks resembling some of the greatest heroes and villains in the classic Star Wars universe. And now, thanks to our intrepid product scouts, these limited edition gadgets are available at Firebox.

Star Wars Mimobots are ultra-cool, highly collectable little gizmos that make rival storage solutions look about as impressive as Hayden Christensen's acting. Standing just over 2" tall, these cutesy characters are as eye-catching as they are functional.

1GB in capacity, Star Wars Mimobots are ideal for storing, safeguarding and transporting all kinds of data - from Death Star plans and rebel base schematics to more mundane things such as spreadsheets, music files and photos of Princess Leia in that golden metal bikini. Rrrrr! Simply pop one in the nearest USB port (Mac or PC) and drag and drop your files.

Most impressive? You'd better believe it because each Mimobot is also preloaded with a few nuggets of exclusive Star Wars content (wallpapers, avatars, videos and soundbites) that can be erased or transferred for posterity/disk space. These are the memory sticks you're looking for!

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

It's an indisputable fact that our own lives, thoughts and insights are considerably more important and fascinating that anyone else's. Thanks to the internet, we can now enlighten the world with our wit and wisdom by producing our very own Podcasts. At last someone has put together the ultimate Podcasting kit that comes with everything you need to broadcast professional and fascinating (well that bit's up to you) podcasts to the planet.

Behringer (a name to be reckoned with) have bundled a studio-grade USB audio interface with comprehensive DAW and podcasting software, and also thrown in a professional 5-input mixer with 2-band "British" EQ, high-quality headphones and a dynamic broadcast-style microphone plus cable and stand. All you need is something interesting to say - though that doesn't seem to be a pre-requisite anymore either - and you'll be ready to educate, fascinate, amuse, and possibly enrich us all. Tell it to the world!

Features:

- UCA 200- 2/2 I/O USB audio interface with hardwired USB cable.
- 5 channel studio mixer with XLR input/microphone preamplifier.
- Dynamic microphone with clip holder.
- Stereo headphones with mini jack and 6.3mm adapter.
- Table microphone tripod.
- XLR microphone cable.
- 2 stereo RCA cables.
- Quick start guide and manuals.
- CD Rom with driver/manual/software.
- Suitable for ages 14 years+.
- Mains power adapter included.
- Size: 17 x 13 x 7cm (the podcast brain).

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

There are some people who just can't seem to keep a plant alive. Maybe they don't have a green thumb, but it's a bit more probable that they simply forget to water it. The self-watering IV Pot is an ideal solution for the horticulturally-inept... or very handy if your away from home a lot on business or holidays, solving that problem of who is going to water your lovely plants. We also think it's a really cool addition to your home or an original house warming present for the design conscious.

Available at: Generate (USA/Canada)

A civilized way for visitors to announce their arrival at your cubicle entrance. This handy cubical doorbell has 12 different sounds to choose from, 3 different volume levels, self adhesive velcro on the back, and 2 AAA batteries that come with the unit!

Available at: ThinkGeek (USA/Canada/Internatioanl) and Prank Place (USA)

Crack even the toughest of nuts with this uniquely nut cracker, designed by Bruno Christensen. Featuring a stainless steel base, domed rubber top and non-slip rubber bottom, this modern nut cracker is sleek, streamlined and simply brilliant. Just place the nut on the metal plate and cover it with the rubber dome. Give the dome a light tap and the nut will be ready to eat, with the shell cleanly removed. What's its secret? A ribbed metal fitting on the underside of the dome ensures that only a light tap is needed to split the shell.

Available at: UncommonGoods (USA/Canada/International)

This is without doubt the most fun you can have at your kitchen sink! Introducing the Bubble Scrubber, the kitchen brush with an anatomically correct bubble wand hidden right inside the bristles. And, as every Perpetual Kid knows: bubble wand + dish soap + water = a heck of a lot of FUN!

Hey, maybe you can even get your husband or the kids to do the dishes! (well you never know? LOL!)

Measures approximately 10" long. Available with your choice of magenta or green bristles on a blue handle.

Available at: Perpetual Kid (USA)

Your guests will go bananas over the King Kong Tissue Box. This sneeze pleaser says it's okay to monkey around with a cold, cause you've got to work the laughs in where you can. Grab a tissue straight out of this grinning gorilla's schnoz. This is a great gift for an allergy-ridden pal, a child's jungle-themed room, or set it out on your tiki bar or coffee table for those uncomfortable moments when king-size Kong Kleenex is a must (sneeze-fests, daytime drama, sad movies and break-ups). Sized to hold a standard tissue box, easy in, easy out. King Kong Tissue Box fits any standard-size box of tissues and dispenses them out of his nose!

Available at: After 5 Catalog (USA/International)