Gardening and computing have not been good bed-fellows before, but that’s changing with the introduction of the USB-based EasyBloom “stake sensor”, a device that will be able to tell you in plain English why your prized pumpkins or extraordinary orchids aren’t growing as they’re supposed to. Well, maybe not orchids, as many of these are not actually grown directly from the soil, but certainly a wide range of plants and trees.

As with all great concepts, this one is followed by an exclamation of “why didn’t I think of that?” Or perhaps you have, but only lacked in the execution. In this case, the Inamo restaurant in the West side of London has nailed both the concept and the execution in melding (presumably) snooty dining with cutting edge stuff that will appeal to both sides of the social divide.

                                             The restaurant and bar looks utterly normal from the outside.

Gaming isn’t what it used to be. Putting aside the obvious advances on the hardware technology side (faster processors, better GPUs), you once only needed a board and a rodent to get up and going with your favorite RTS, FPS, or simulation. Now things are a bit more specialized, and niche markets have sprung up everywhere, for everything. This SteelSeries WoW Gaming Mouse illustrates this trend perfectly.

                                              This mouse will surely attract many buyers if SteeSeries offers other logos and ingrained designs.

While all of us geeks entertain notions of “someday” having some of the technologies found in the oft-watched series of our youths, a lot of companies and individuals have gotten down to it and started creating amazing technological realities far and away from the imagined high-tech roots that it came from. Take robots. Robots have once been a dream of science fiction writers like Asimov, and more recently has been confined to places like an automated manufacturing plant. The HAL however, is a real robot designed for commercial use – and uses brain waves to boot.

                                              Pose? Check. Cool blue lights? Check. Disability/old age? Uhh, no check, but I still want one.

In keeping with copycat tradition, a company that will remain unnamed has outdone itself by aping a nearly iconic device and making it (seem to) do something else. Supposedly a Sony T700 digital point-and-shoot camera, this little beauty looks just like the real thing – until you notice what looks like a pinhole/webcam lens behind the main glass protector of the camera.(All pictures courtesy of eprice.com.tw)

There’s no real technical innovation involved in the creation of Salavador DaBot - unless you count the integration of super-fine robotic control, world-class image recognition, intricate real-life modeling for the arm movements, and speech synthesis that doesn’t sound stilted – all combined into one package and dashed with a little bit of whimsy.

There’s fans, then there’s the fanboys (and girls) – the crazily devoted peons of a franchise, an idea, or more often these days – a fictional character. Many things can indicate the difference between the mere fans and the fanatic, and the most scarily convincing show of devotedness can come from the calculated and well thought-out tribute to the original. The object of fanboy-ism this time is Meta Gear Solid, which is by now in its fourth outing and is named “Guns of the Patriots” – fitting, as this tribute is of the gun carried by the hero of the game – Solid Snake – with some smart modifications.

I can get pumped up by the smallest of things, if its about tech or gadgets. In this case, the device I’m talking about is literally very small – a two inch LCD panel made by Casio. Two inches you say? Surely the 150” monster over yonder makes your blood pump all that much faster? Well if put that way, then I’d just have to clarify that this little ‘ole 2” screen is as exciting a development as the 150” monster. How so? Read on to find out.

                                             You'd think that the above title had a typo, but in fact, while this pictures looks like that of a huge screen, it's in fact only 2" - but sports 546 ppi.

There always comes a time in a PC gamer’s life when he feels he absolutely, positively needs to upgrade his PC, or be left in the dust and debris of old, obsolete games. This is not true for everybody of course, but for the select few who needs to play the lates games at the highest possible resolution that their hardware (and wallet) is capable of, they have benchmarks that change from generation to generation that reflect the needs of the gaming industry so much that they become the basis of “leetness” and determines how updated your hardware is.

                                             Luxury didn't factor into the building of the Warhead PC.

I guess it was inevitable with the march of progress and the incessant convergence of technologies. The “Scan Toaster” puts everything you need with breakfast onto a slice of bread, that is, if your typical breakfast consists of bread and a quick look at current events from your favorite broadsheet.

                                           This isn't even close to being a "fancy piece of toast".

Your notebook/productivity tool/mobile office dragging you down with a sub 3-hour battery life? Aren't these devices meant to "free you from the wired inconvenience of desktop-bound machines"? (quoted from an ad somewhere). Well so far the most dissapointing aspect ofmobile devices have always been the battery life, or the lack thereof. In comparison, wireless performance, form-factor and the resulting portability, applications and the features have all improved tremendously over the years, leaving long battery life as the holy grail for future mobile devices.

                                            Getting desperate for power?

Peripheralistic Paralysis Syndrome, or PPS, is probably something that you've never heard of before. A pretty sure thing, since I just made that up. Still, it's an appropriate description for gadget-centric dudes n dudettes who can't get enough of plugging in more and more gadgets into their PC, consoles, home theatre systems and others.

Are you spoilt for choice? Ever had the quandary of choosing between caramel flavor or mocha flavor? Well, Coca-Cola is about to make things all that much harder for the indecisive, and everyone else who happens to be standing behind them waiting to make their own purchase. I am referring to Coca-Cola’s plans to introduce a vending machine that is able to produce 100 different flavors of soda.

There have been many examples of wireless speaker technology over the years, and while the majority works well enough for what it promises, range has not been one of those exemplary virtues of these products. The IFA however has brought to light TrekStor’s Wireless SoundBox, and now getting long-range sound wirelessly is as easy as plugging in a USB dongle.

                                                          Although seemingly over-the-top, this render is actually a good representation of Dubai's plans of world domination (in tourist numbers). Witness the following few images.