In the future, you won't need a desk. Well, the future is here now! Say hello to the cyberstation, a kind of quad-pod (if that's what you'd call a four-legged tripod) on wheels that cunningly houses monitor, upright hard disk, keyboard and mouse. The Cyberstation is the work of Net-friendly Chinese designer Shiu-kay Kan, who says we'll soon "... seek unlimited information and learn at any time, anywhere."Cyberstation: £293.75. Available from SKK: (0171) 434 4095, on the Web at www.easynet.co.uk/skk/.
The KeyStik is a joystick with a sense of humour. Rather than a black plastic serial-port monster that looks like you bought it in a sex shop, the Cursor stick is a cute li'l plastic number that sits on top of your cursor keys; it's about as plug-and-play as it can get. Yours for a mere tenner, the KeyStik will leave you with wads of spare cash to put towards your next fully interactive, fully networked gore-fest with CD-quality sound and free mug.The KeyStik: £9.95. CursorStick: (0181) 393 5506, email TomSMIT@msn.com.
Mountain bikers are usurping PC nerds as the ultimate kit worshippers. Take the new hydraulic disc brake from Hope Technology. Promising exceptional braking performance in all conditions, these dinky discs offer the weight-conscious rider a whopping 31g saving (slightly more than a packet of crisps) over an equivalent set of cantilever brakes. They look well wicked, which as any honest moutain biker will admit, is what really counts.Hope Hydraulic Brake System: around £400 for a complete set. Hope Technology: (01282) 870498.
Doncha jus' lurve it when tech designs itself out of existence? This miniature DAT cassette tape from Sony holds an incredible 90 minutes of sound. But the batteries needed to power the player are so bulky that it can't be made much smaller than one for a standard DAT tape. The BBC World Service is looking at the teeny tape as a way of compacting its sound archives, but Sony has no realistic plans for putting the technology into production.Sony Corporation: (01922) 816000, fax (01922) 817029.
Rogers has been making some of the world's finest loudspeakers for years now, carrying the torch for quality British hi-fi that companies like Quad lit originally. And though the company has finally decided to branch out and produce an amplifier, it hasn't lost its cool. No vanilla electronic circuitry for these boys; when they make an amp, it's good old-fashioned valves only. Best of all, Rogers has put the thing in a drop-dead audio-nerd black box - with a silver grill on the top so you can see its gorgeous inner workings.Rogers E20a: £1,090; E40a: £1,900. Rogers: (0181) 640 2172.
By the end of next year, expect mobile computers to be coming out of the cyberwoodwork in droves. This one, the Vision, is a BT-sponsored prototype forecast for a 1997 market launch. The Vision consists of a hand-held unit and a docking station with an A4 footprint. It has a pen-based interface and includes a hands-free mobile phone. And the top of the screen has imbedded in it a small camera for those all-important mobile video-conferencing sessions.Contact Peter Woodford: (0171) 381 0222, on the Web at www.kingsway.ac.uk/kiss/people/peter/frameset.html/.
Overweight and under-sexy the cathode ray tube's days are numbered - and the Fujitsu Plasmavision M21 is a fully paid-up member of the death squad. With an anorexic profile of only three inches and a highly flattering 21-inch display, the M21 is the waif-like supermodel of flat-screen televsion monintors. Barely tilting the scales at 9.8kg, the M21 has the latest gas plasma technology to thank for its stunning looks. Better still, the 640-x-480 pixel screen boasts a viewing angle of 160°, making it ultra-easy on the eye.Fujitsu Plasmavision M21: £5,627. Fujitsu UK: (01707) 272841.
If Zebedee has worn trainers these would have been they. Z-Tech's Recoil Shoes have a one-inch spring in each heel that absorbs the shock of your footfall and pushes your body up with a force equal to half the download, so there's more fun in your run. The springs can also be changed to match your momentum and weight, and you needn't worry about sprained ankles: the spring works like a car's suspension to increase stability, so the shoes are fine to wear even if you're running cross-country.Recoil Shoes: ¥19,800 (about £120). Z-Tech: +81 (3) 5469 0186.