If you're after truly global digital comms, then the Nera WorldPhone Office is your baby. As small and light as a notebook PC, the slinky satellite phone takes advantage of the high-powered spot-beam technology deployed in the latest inmarsat communications satellites to minimise power consumption and antenna size.Nera WorldPhone Office: US$3,000 plus subscription to Station 12 Altus service US$25 per month then US$3 per minute. Station 12: +31 (255) 545 111, email station12@pi.net.
No serious fitness fanatic would be seen dead without a heart rate monitor on their wrist. The Polar Accurex Plus goes a step further, allowing you to download your heart rate data on to your PC for post-session analysis. Perfect for plotting the onset of your coronary.Accurex Plus: £199.99. Polar: (01926) 851 404, on the Web at www.polar.fi/sampola/.
Take your average mini hi-fi stack, affix two Wellington boots, apply the odd curve and spray liberally with silver paint. Et voilà! You've just designed the new PA1 Max ghetto blaster from Grundig. The PA1 Max does all the things any self-respecting late-'90s portable stereo should do, and has the added bonus of looking completely bonkers.PA1 Max: £329.99. Grundig: (01788) 577 155.
This treasure box looks unusual at first glance, but knowing the origins of this beautiful object highlights its macabre appeal. Formed from the cast of an elephant beetle, the head, when pressed down, releases the wing cover of the box, revealing a hidden compartment for storing your trinkets, which the bug's exoskeleton was re-engineered to do.Beetle treasure box: bronze, US$510; silver plate, $610; gold plate, $695. Nikolas Weinstein Studios: +1 (415) 587 5987.
For a sociable shoot-'em-up, you can't beat a genuine, mid-'80s table-top arcade game. After a decade of spilt drinks, working examples of Pac Man, Defender and Space Invaders are rarer than a Frenchman's steak, but NB Classics are scouring dodgy bars across the UK for the few remaining glass-topped relics.Renovated table-top arcade cabinets: from £400. NB Classics: (0973) 720 312.
A high-tech arms race looks set to afflict the ancient and noble sport of bubble blowing following the introduction of the Super Bubble Snake from Cap Toys. The rapid-fire bubble chain gun will blast aside more humble breath-driven bubble blowers. You can even adjust the diameter of your ammunition.Super Bubble Snake: available in UK Spring 1997 at around £7.99. Cap Toys: +1 (216) 292 6363.
Okay, so the new O2 workstation from Silicon Graphics looks remarkably like a vacuum cleaner, but that in itself is unlikely stop hardcore pixel-pushers battering at SGI's door to get their rendering mitts on the little beastie.Specifications in-clude 2.1 GigaByte per sec-ond BUS and a dedicated graphics engine. O2: from £5,060. SGI: (0800) 440 440, on the Web at www-europe.sgi.com/.
A flabby, saggy, double chin is no joke. Just look what Nigel Lawson went through to lose his. But fear not, fellow flabsters, salvation is nigh! Available through Innovations, the Chin Gym tones up the offending masseter, mylohyoid and platysma muscles to leave you looking ruggedly square-jawed. Just don't get caught using it.The Chin Gym: £39.95. Innovations: (0990) 202 224.