GadgetLiving

This golf simulator can be played with any club in your golf bag and allows you to swing with the same tempo and force as you would on an actual course.

There are over 800 preprogramed courses and each one of your strokes is analyzed by the advanced hardware, and tells you if you’ve hit a hook, fade, draw, or slice.

Check price and availability at Hammacher Schlemmer.

“The turf has a regulation golf ball mounted on a flexible tether which allows the ball to spin when it is struck, resulting in the same feel and “ping” sound that is produced on a golf course. Embedded optical sensors in the turf measure clubhead speed, launch angle, swing path, and ball spin thousands of times every second, calculating the distance and trajectory of the ball, while the included EA Sports™ Tiger Woods PGA Tour® 2006 software visually renders your shots on your PC’s monitor as you negotiate faithful reproductions of world-renowned golf courses such as Pebble Beach, TPC at Sawgrass, and St. Andrews.”

This Interactive Talking Globe doesn’t just help you find out where places are, with its unique interactive “atlasphere,” this globe helps you and your children learn about geography and cultures as well.

Touching the surface of the globe with the magic pen lets you hear thousands of amazing facts about the world’s oceans, continents, countries, states and provinces, and more.

You can buy the Interactive Talking Globe at National Geographic Online.

“Compare statistics such as population and land area, calculate the distance between points, learn the current time for each time zone, and even hear national anthems and popular songs from the region. It offers six games with three skill levels that test the knowledge of up to four players. Made by LeapFrog®. For ages 8 and up. Four C batteries, not included.”

This LCD projector hooks up to any DVD player, cable box, gaming console, or video camera, and turns a blank wall or ceiling into a big-screen theater.

The projector can create up to a 60″ diagonal picture when placed 100″ from any surface. It delivers sharp resolution and clear sound with its built-in 2″ speaker. Just imagine the fun your kids will have Christmas afternoon watching their new DVDs on their very own big-screen theater.

You can buy the Children’s Multimedia Movie Projector at Hammacher Schlemmer.

“Audio-visual interfaces that connect to most any media device are easy to use, so children can swiftly alternate between playing games on the ceiling or watching movies on the wall, without requiring configuration by an adult. The manual focus ring allows immediate fine tuning of image clarity. With volume, contrast, and brightness controls. Requires one standard 35-watt bulb; includes AV cables.”

You hear the footsteps coming down the hall, you hurry to close the game running on your computer. It’s a close call, maybe too close.

The Stealth Switch installs quickly, and with just a tap of your foot, it can hide the current window, hide all windows, or hide all windows except for specified windows. Not just minimize them, but clears them from your screen.

You can buy the StealthSwitch at ThinkGeek.

“The Stealth Switch can also mute the sound, hide the taskbar, hide the desktop icons, and password protect the restore function. When the coast is clear, another quick tap and you are ready to frag in peace.”

This Beer Dispenser by Nostalgia Electrics fits all traditional 5 liter kegs with gravity flow design.

It has a attractive brushed aluminum door panel and drip tray. Equally attractive is that is makes virtually no noise, and keeps your beer cold indefinitely.

This electronic version of the classic game Battleship has all the sounds of Star Wars. The system guides players through the different games with voice commands, while the distinctive sound of ion cannons, concussion missiles, and proton torpedoes signal salvo launches can be heard.

The game provides four different strategy games, including solo play and a player-to-player challenge. Try to knock out your opponent’s Star Destroyers, X-Wing Fighters, Millenium Falcon, and other iconic ships from the movie series.

You can buy the Star Wars Battleship Games at Hammacher Schlemmer.

“The game folds down into a laptop-computer-sized component that stores all game pieces internally for easy transportation and storage without mess or the loss of parts. Operates on three AA batteries (included). For 1 or 2 players ages 8 and up.”

Do you Sudoku? If you don’t, what are you waiting for?

This electronic Sudoku game is programmed with over 10,000 Sudoku puzzles and features a 2 line, 14-character LCD display, If you love Sudoku, put this on your Christmas list.

You can buy Do You Sudoku? Electronic Game at BoardGamesUSA.

“Be careful not to blow a circuit when you hear that Sudoku goes technical with Do You Sudoku? Electronic game!”

This gadget stands at a mere 3.5″ high, but within, it holds an entire keyboard. It laser-projects a keyboard on any flat surface, allowing you to type almost anywhere accompanied by simulated key click sounds.

The keyboard has a full size QWERTY layout with 63 keys. Just connect it to your blutooth enabled PDA or cell phone and type away.

You can buy the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard at ThinkGeek.

“Product Features

* Connects to PDAs Smartphones and Computers using Bluetooth
* Projects a full size keyboard onto any flat surface
* Allows the convenience of regular keyboard typing in a tiny form factor
* Rechargeable battery lasts for 120 minutes of continuous typing
* Tiny size only 3.5 inches high
* Compatible with PalmOS 5, PocketPC 2003, Windows Smartphone, Symbian OS, and Windows 2000/XP. Limited Mac OSX Support.”

It’s getting harder and harder to find turntables. So if you want to keep listening to your records, get this LP-Rpping Turntable that converts your vinyl LPs into MP3s.

Simply connect your Ion USB turntable to your PC or Mac. The included software records and digitizes your favorite music. You can also connect your cassette deck or other audio source to this ingenious USB record player and save that music, too!

You can buy the LP-Ripping Turntable with USB Output at Brookstone.

“Now you can enjoy all your older music anywhere with the newest technology
Turntable lets you play your old LP records and then save the sound as an MP3 file. Then you can play that file on any computer or MP3 player including Windows, Macintosh and iPods. Turntable also lets you play your cassettes through it and then save that music TOO!”

This chic gadget shakes or stirs your martini until it reaches the optimal drinking temperature of 34° F. Now you can have martinis at home that even James Bond will approve of.

The stainless steel shaker moves up and down during the shake made, and gently rotates in stir mode. All the ingredients are perfectly combined in a mere 60 seconds.

You can buy the Perfect Temperature Martini Maker at Hammacher Schlemmer.

“A line on the inside of the shaker denotes the required amount of ice and the 1-oz. cap allows you to easily measure dry vermouth and gin (or other variations of the classic cocktail), ensuring precisely balanced cocktails. The 20-oz. shaker accommodates enough ingredients to make two martinis. About the size of a blender, the unit stores unobtrusively on a bar or counter top. With a three-button control panel for easy operation.”

Rowing machines work your entire body, giving you a great cardio workout that also tones both your upper and lower body.

This Fold-A-Way Rowing Machine has dual tension cylinders that provide controlled resistance, and length and incline settings that adapt to your body size. It measures strokes, cadence, and calories burned, then can fold-away and be stored under the bed out of sight.

You can buy the Fold-A-Way Rowing Machine at Brookstone.

“# Dual tension cylinders provide controlled resistance.
# Length and incline settings adapt to your body size.
# An easy-to-read monitor displays strokes, cadence and calories burned.
# Opens to a full rowing machine for exercise but folds nearly flat for easy storage.
# 46″ x 18″ x 9″.”

Just try hitting the snooze button on this alarm clock. If you do, it will roll right off your bedside table and hide, emitting a random pattern of beeps and flashes all the while.

It’s sure to rouse even the most dedicated of snoozers, because they have to get up and find it to shut it off.

You can buy the Runaway Alarm Clock at Hammacher Schlemmer.

“It is built from shatter-resistant ABS and has two rubber wheels that allow it to roll off your nightstand from a height of 2′ when it sounds its alarm, so there is no mistaking that it is time to get up. The wheels can move over wood floors and carpet, so it can maneuver into unexpected corners, increasing the challenge to find it. You can set the clock for one snooze cycle, one to nine minutes, before it seeks a hiding place, or for no snooze cycles for immediate escape. Includes low battery warning indicator; requires four AAA batteries. Wheels may be disabled in case of extreme frustration.”