Fetish

__ Fetish __

__ Circarama __
With CycloVision's ParaCamera, you can capture video in a panorama, then play it instantaneously on a PC screen. While some 360-degree camera systems shoot film one angle at a time and piece together the images later, CycloVision's camera takes continuous video with its curved mirror and unwraps images real time with the included software. For a little more dough, the company also sells server software that pushes these all-around worlds to Web pages. ParaCamera S2: US$3,000. CycloVision Technologies: +1 (212) 499 0909.

__ Pugilist __
Having sold more than 10 million Tamagotchis in the US alone, Bandai has taught kids much about nurturing and caring for pets. Its latest offering, DigiMon, now adds a touch of Thanatos to the previously pacifistic toy. After a few days of feeding the little monsters, kids can connect the plastic "cages" and make the virtual occupants battle. It's cooler than POGs, cleaner than cockfighting, and, most important, shows that Bandai's digital beasties can be naughty as well as nice. DigiMon: US$15. Bandai: on the Web at www.bandai.com/.

__ McCoy __
ThrustMaster based the design of its Millennium 3D Inceptor on an older joystick it had built for the space shuttle. Now, the gaming-hardware company and government contractor has decided to sell one - and only one - of the original NASA-bound sticks. Mind you, this is a "rotational hand controller" - not a joystick. But ThrustMaster will add a peripheral cord and base to make it ready for any old PC. Rotational hand controller: US$10,000. ThrustMaster: +1 (503) 615 3200.

__ Wheelie __
With a new line of racing wheelchairs and glossy ads in Glamour, Bob Hall is blurring the line between high-performance sports gear and tools for the physically challenged. The superlight Defiant handcycle, for instance, boasts 21 speeds, trispoke composite wheels, and a brushed-aluminum frame. Powered by adjustable cranks, the Defiant cruises at a cool 18 mph on the road - or dirt trails if you opt for mountain-bike tires. Hall, the lead designer of his company's custom-fit cycles and chairs, is well acquainted with the need for speed - he's a former Boston Marathon record holder. Defiant: US$2,500. New Hall's Wheels: +1 (617) 628 7955.

__ Soho __
Working in your underwear has never been so hip. In fact, marketers have dubbed the small office/home office soho to conjure images of the trendy Manhattan neighborhood. In this vein, Xerox makes an office machine that perfectly suits the collar-free lifestyle. The curvy and compact WorkCentre connects to a PC and offers faxing, copying, scanning, and full-color printing. Says Lunar Design's Ken Wood, who envisioned its shape, "We wanted to make it stylish as well as comfortable and intuitive, like a toaster or teapot." WorkCentre 450c: US$499. Xerox: +1 (203) 968 3000.

__ Frankenstein __
Fischertechnik Mobile Robots have been unleashed. For 13 years, Fischerwerke, based in Germany's Black Forest, has made snap-together robot kits - essentially Erector Sets with brains - that connect to your computer with a 31/2-foot ribbon wire. Previously, you could program your bot to follow a short routine, and watch it perform on your desk. Now the robots are endowed with enough onboard RAM to store instructions. Get the 350-piece kit, assemble it, and write a program to send your invention to the kitchen and grab a snack from the fridge. Mobile Robot: US$399. Tim King Electronics: +1 (313) 928 2598.

__ Pickle __
Who is the future Cy Young Award winner on your Little League team? Rawlings's new Radar Ball will tell you. Regulation size and weight, the ball has a small LCD on its side that gives a pitcher's speed instantly. It uses an internal accelerometer to sense when the ball leaves a pitcher's hand and when it hits the catcher's glove. Speed is calculated based on the set distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate - whether you're using the 60-foot, 6-inch version for big-league ballparks or the 46-foot one for Little Leaguers. Radar Ball: US$34.99. Rawlings: +1 (314) 349 3500, on the Web at www.rawlings.com/.

__ Thin Client __
Mitsubishi's Pedion has a slender profile but packs a punch. This silvery box is a miraculous seven-tenths of an inch thick and weighs 3.1 pounds. Even more miraculously, its 233-MHz processor and 32 megs of RAM keep pace with everything else on the road. The unit's battery life disappoints, but the larger-than-average keyboard does eliminate one major problem with today's tiny computers: keys so small you have to hire a child to type for you. Pedion: less than US$6,000. Mitsubishi Electronics America: +1 (714) 220 2500.

__ Grid __
Recent experiments in the UK to send data through electric-power lines show that the technology still has a few kinks to work out. In the meantime, you can use the same idea to set up a local-area network in your house. By transmitting data over 110-volt electrical wires and using plain old outlets as ports, the Passport system links PCs around the house at data rates as high as 350 Kbps. The setup works a little slower if you activate the encryption option - but at least you won't have to worry about blasting private emails across the neighborhood power lines. Passport: US$249.99. Intelogis: +1 (801) 756 5199.