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SKIS
MICROCHIPS TURN BAD VIBES INTO A STEADY RIDE
Smooth Operators
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Images by Craig Maxwell
Head first made tennis rackets to power up your serve. Now the sports equipment company wants to strengthen your slalom. Its All-Mountain skis contain microscopic fibers — originally used in Head�s racket frames — and microchips that keep your blades steady regardless of terrain. With these skis, there�s no telling where the powder ends and the ice begins.
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Fibers Ceramic fibers laminated to the skis� titanium-alloy casing sense torsional forces — changes in pressure between the skis and the snow — as you pick up speed. The energy produced is sent to a processor.
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Processor A microchip embedded under each binding captures the fibers� energy, increases it sevenfold, and then sends it back down the skis through their X-Frames.
X-Frames Two X-shaped frames — one in the wood core and another in the casing — run the length of each blade. The frames stiffen or relax based on feedback from the processor, so the skis handle changing terrain with consistency.
All-Mountain iC-300: $750, www.head.com.
TOY
A TOY GUN THAT SHOOTS FOG
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Images by Craig Maxwell
The Vaporizer This Halloween, augment your space-age costume with the Zero Blaster. This plastic gun shoots 2- to 6-inch fog rings at targets up to 14 feet away. A heating element at the back of the gun vaporizes a cherry-scented fluid, creating a seemingly smoky haze.
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Rings Because the fog is nearly room temperature, the rings don�t linger long. This means Zero Blaster�s fog won�t settle into fabrics like actual smoke would. In fact, it evaporates within minutes without leaving a trace.
Fluid The gun comes with a nontoxic, water-based liquid similar to that used in fog machines. One 3-ounce bottle fires up to 25,000 rings; extra bottles cost $4.
Zero Blaster: $20, www.zerotoys.net.
PHONE
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Craig Maxwell
A Higher Frequency Cordless phones working at 2.4 GHz are notorious for static, be it from a neighbor�s Wi-Fi or your own microwave. Fortunately, VTech�s dual-mode phone receives signals at 5.8 gigs, a frequency higher than most wireless networks and home appliances. The VT 5831 handset has the same range as a 2.4-GHz talker and relies on the lower frequency to communicate back to the base station, so it�s more energy-efficient.
Sound Select If your convo sounds muffled, press this button (top photo) to access the phone�s equalizer. Pick from four different modes: Natural, Midrange, Treble, or Bass.
VT 5831: $180, www.vtechphones.com.
UTENSILS
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Images by Craig Maxwell
Kitchen Comforts OXO�s Good Grips started the ergonomic utensil craze but stopped at the handle. Now Zyliss — the company that invented the salad spinner and the garlic press — is picking up where OXO left off with its Gadgets line of kitchen tools. Consider the two-piece pizza wheel: It allows you to apply more pressure without wrist wobble and breaks apart for easy cleanup.
Tools Zyliss and design firm IDEO spent six months at the drawing board to come up with 24 utensils, including a veggie peeler with a built-in carver tip for removing potato eyes.
Design Every utensil has as few parts as possible, to cut down on the number of food traps. This whisk�s wire base, for instance, is open-ended, making washing it a cinch.
Gadgets: $7-15 each, www.zylissusa.com.
CAMERA
HOOK IT ON A KEY CHAIN FOR QUICK PICS
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Images by Craig Maxwell
Wee Little Cam Digital Dream�s L�espion is only a 0.1-megapixel camera, but it�s one of the few shooters you won�t mind toting around. The 1.6-ounce snapper doubles as a key chain and lets you snap pictures with one hand.
Port This fixed-focus camera stores 80 lo-res pictures or up to 8 seconds of raw footage in its internal memory. Download images to your computer through a standard USB connection.
Buttons Truly a point-and-click camera, the L�espion has only two triggers — one to change from photo to video mode and another for snapping pics. There�s no way to preview pictures, but a pop-up eyepiece frames your shot.
L�espion: $63, www.digitaldreamco.com. For purchases within the US: www.firebox.com.
| PLAY
| REUBEN WU Ladytron The tunes at the top of his playlist:
| Valley of the Kings, edited by Kent R. Weeks
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