Thursday, December 20, 2007

WEIRD GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS





Would you like to put a bit of spring into poor old tired Santa this Christmas?


Well, the Skyrunner could be just the trick.


RELATED LINKS
Find all these gifts at LatestBuy.com.au Eee PC $500 laptop The Flying Alarm Clock Amazing Flying Monkey The Interactive T-Shirt CNET
It's one of the wild and wonderful gifts available, if you’re game enough, this Christmas.



THE SKYRUNNER: The idea is basically to put a set of short, springy stilts on your feet and then bound around town — but the Skyrunners’ ability to launch wearers two metres into the air with ease and run at 30 kilometres per hour means this Christmas craze is already big news around the world this December. The ‘spring’ itself is actually a band of curved carbon fibre and fibre glass for strength and lightness, while the main frame is aluminium. Also, there are three different body weight sizes on offer: 50-70kgs, 70-90kgs and 90kgs-110kgs.

“You'll also need heaps of safety gear because it's a long way down, but you can enjoy yourself, loose weight, burn calories, build muscles and actually have a whole heap of fun while you're doing it,” says Australian distributor Greg Paynter.


"Like all new pursuits, you have to start with small steps. Take it easy and be well padded up when you start.”


The Skyrunners cost between $249 and $299 a pair and are available for anyone over five-years of age.

How to get a pair of Skyrunners:

The shoes are only available for purchase in Australia from Centro Toombul shopping Centre in Queensland or by contacting Greg Paynter via email at skyrunner@people.net.au.



THE ASUS Eee PC: Our personal pick for a breakthrough gift that doesn't cost a fortune? A laptop for kids. It does nearly everything like the big ones, it even has wi-fi, and its tough, small, light, and oh so very simple.

“It's the ASUS Eee PC — it is $500, which is just amazing for a laptop."

Find out more about the Eee PC here


At the frivolous end of the spectrum for Christmas gifts this year are a stack of stocking fillers defying description.



THE FLYING ALARM CLOCK is guaranteed to get you up, because you can't turn it off until you've retrieved the aerial bit. When the digital alarm hits wake up time, sleepers are treated to the traditional alarm wail, while a plastic propeller takes off around your room. And guess what’s the only way to stop the alarm? Yep, you have to catch the propeller to do that. It’s certainly effective.

Search for companies selling The Flying Alarm Clock here



THE AMAZING FLYING MONKEY: is also an attention getter — already a huge hit on the American toy market, the flying monkey can be catapulted over long distances using his elastic arms. You put two fingers in the hand pockets, pull back and let go. The soft, furry monkey can fly up to 50 feet. As an added ‘bonus’, every time you shoot him, he makes a real-life monkey screech as it flies.

Search for companies selling The Amazing Flying Monkey here



THE REACTEE INTERACTIVE T-SHIRT: This is an interactive T-shirt that combines mobile phone messaging with a customised slogan you write yourself. First, you visit the company's website and write the slogan and a keyword to be placed on your shirt such as “Do I Look Fat In This?”, "Save Our Whales” or any slogan you like. Anyone who sees your T-shirt can react to your message by texting the keyword you placed on the shirt and calling 41411. The system responds to that person with whatever message you entered at the company's website. A strange idea, but there it is.

Click here to visit Gizmodo


If you have trouble getting coffee the way you like it, there is the Colour-Coded Cup, which tells you when your cuppa is hot, or when it has gone cold simply by changing colour on the outside. And there is a tap extension that will save you a few burns — it lights up blue for cold water and red for watch-it!


“Gadgets are a very popular gifts for Christmas, everybody obviously wants that new phone that new MP3 player, but recently at Cnet.com.au we've been looking at some gadgets with some pretty quirky qualities,” says Cnet.com.au product tester Ella Morton.


Ella tests all the seriously clever, cool, but not cheap, new technology that is on our shelves this Christmas.


“The HP Touchsmart PC retails for around $3,699 and is sort of designed to replace the fridge door in a busy family — you an write each other notes, drag them around, or drop them into the calendar,” Ella says. “It’s also a proper computer.”


“There’s also a Sworovski crystal encrusted USB key with 1GB of storage that retails for $299.


Now one to make you smile.


“A great new one is the Smile Detecting Camera from Sony. It will actually refuse to take your photo unless you are smiling, so it tracks your face using facial detection technology and there you go its found you,” Ella says.


“Another big one is the Australian version of the phone that Paris Hilton had hacked. It's called the Hip-hop Slide and is available on Telstra — but it’s meant for teenagers.


Guitar Hero 3 works with Xbox or PS3 consoles and will send your children wild.


Have a weird and wonderful Christmas, but don't break anything! Especially your bank balance.

ARTICLE COURTESY OF NINEMSN.COM.AU

1 comment:

Smirking Cat said...

I just saw an alarm clock on all-terrain wheels, I kid you not, and it rolls away from you so you can't keep hitting snooze. Hmmm...first thing in the morning when I'm tired and just want 5 more minutes, a sneaky alarm clock would most likely just anger me, and it would end up scrap metal, but maybe somebody would like it as a gift!