New Delhi: If 'YouTube', 'smart phones' and 'video iPods' marked the breakthroughs of 2006 on the gadgets front, there were also a few strange ones even as technology came on in leaps and bounds.
Around the world, scientists and product designers beavered away in high-security laboratories, investing time, money and effort to create some really silly gadgets.
A list of 2006's 20 strangest gadgets, prepared by TechDigest – UK and Europe's premier website on consumer electronics and gadgets – gives a fair idea as to what some of world's most pointy-headed scientists and product designers did when they were not designing a new MP3 player of an operating system. Here goes the list of top 10 among them.
Be warned! This list may get you chuckling, frightened or just scratching you head in bafflement.
1. Gupi, The Robot Guinea Pig: The Guinea Pig promises to be the ultimate pet. Small and furry, Gupi is festooned with all sorts of electronic wizardry to make him a truly interactive virtual pet. He has sensors in his eyes, so he can shuffle about the house without bumping into things, and in his legs, so he won't go and fall off steps or the table -- and he's so smart he can even find his way in and out of a maze! If you mistreat or ignore him, he hides and if you pet him, he frolics. It also has a 'magic carrot' and makes 30 different sounds.
2. The BeerBelly: BeerBelly is a false frontage that is particularly useful if you like a drink on the go. Just strap on your BeerBelly and you can drink what you want, when and where you want to. It's made up of an insulated neoprene 'sling' and a polyurethane 'bladder' with a tube for dispensing.
3. Solar-powered Insect Theatre: The Solar Insect Theatre is a neat little insect habitat. During the day, its solar-charged batteries get their charge, by night it uses the power to light up in a fashion appealing to moths and butterflies. This eco-gadget isn't that silly, actually. It stores power in the day, then lights up at night to attract moths and butterflies for you to watch.
4. LumiGram Fiber Optic Clothing: This is an integration of fibre optics into fabrics to create a whole catalogue of wearable goods from handbags to hair. It's hyped as a new advancement in fashion. Others called it party clothing for a shimmery effect.
5. Froot Loop Cereal Bowl Light: The Cereal Bowl Light is one of the odder and more entertaining uses of sensor tech. Put in the spoon and it lights up, no fooling. The perfect gift for the lovely nitwit in your life. And, mind you, they are made with real fruit loops.
6. USB Pole Dancer: Tory MP Anne Widdecombe called it 'cheap and tawdry' and 'demeaning to women'. But for the man who likes his desk to have a classy vibe, this piece can be a good choice. She's an eight-inch bikini-clad blonde, who dances on a lit-up podium.
7. Geek-a-cycle: This is where exercise met Internet browsing. It's a reclining exercise bike hooked up to a computer desk, ensuring that you can spend four hours a night updating your MySpace page and have calves of steel.
8. Fatman Referee Suit: It's one of the funniest football gadgets ever seen. This fat referee suit inflates in minutes and comes complete with a belt clip and fan! Meant for 'funny-men' at football parties, this gives the kind of hot air a referee probably had
never before.
9. Crazy Frog Karaoke Mic: Somewhere in a company boardroom, someone actually had the idea of teaching the kids to sing Crazy Frog songs better. The karaoke mic from Nikko Toys is actually designed to make youngsters learn and perform a number of the Crazy Frog's 'hits' and to make things worse, it's portable.
10. Spray-on Condom: This specially-adapted aerosol can will provide you with a condom in a choice of strengths and colours in just five seconds – and one tailor-made for you. And, to boot, it's actually hitting the stalls in 2008.
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