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Kena Kai has created a line of
DataSafe wallets that are designed to
prevent identity thieves from picking
up personal or financial information
with wireless scanners.
The GrooveTooth Talk is a hands-free
Bluetooth device for your car that clips
to your sun visor.
The $40 Pet’s Eye View Cam takes
still images from your pet's collar.
Gadgetry Finds Novelty
By ERIC TAUB
Published: December 1, 2008
Searching for a stocking stuffer? Before you absent-mindedly grab a
chain-store gift card off the rack, why not consider an actual gift?
The digital age has brought to the marketplace a wide range of
relatively inexpensive gadgets. Odds are that they will be much more
appreciated than a blinking Santa or a bottle opener that plays the
Notre Dame fight song. Here are some of the more interesting
products we’ve seen this season.
A NO-SPYING ZONE FOR YOUR
WALLET With the increasing use of
radio-frequency identification, or
RFID, tags in credit cards and drivers’ licenses, Kena Kai
(kenakai.com) has created a line of DataSafe wallets,
leather billfolds lined with layers of a material that blocks
RFID signals. The wallets are designed to prevent identity
thieves from picking up personal or financial information
with wireless scanners. The wallets, which cost $40 to
$250, have been approved by the General Services
Administration as “electromagnetically opaque sleeves.”
DON’T STICK IT IN YOUR EAR If driving around with
a Bluetooth headset in your ear is not for you, consider a
Bluetooth hands-free unit that clips to your sun visor.
Several models from different manufacturers are available,
including the svelte $80 GrooveTooth Talk from Cygnett
(cygnett.com). The device, which is two and a half inches
long, can be recharged through its car adapter or a U.S.B.
port. Cygnett says the device is good for 460 hours of
standby and seven hours of talk on a single charge. It pairs
quickly and easily with a Bluetooth-compatible phone. In
tests, voice quality was excellent in the car; noise and echo
cancellation cut out all extraneous and overlapping voices.
But several callers reported muffled speech, even though
they were using landlines.
IT’S A DOG’S WORLD — STEP INSIDE More than 20
years ago, scientists thought of attaching video cameras to
animals to see the world from another creature’s point of
view. Now Uncle Milton Industries (unclemilton.com) is
offering a home version, perfect for your dog or cat. The
$40 Pet’s Eye View Cam (sold by speedydog.net) takes still
images only, at 1-, 5- or 15-minute intervals, that can be
downloaded through a U.S.B. link to a computer, giving
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Gadgetry Finds Novelty - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/technology/techspecial2/0...
1 of 2 8/31/15 3:23 PM

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The U.S.B. Beverage Chiller from
CoolIT Systems will keep a cup or can
at a refreshing 45 degrees
When the Eco-Button is pushed, your
computer hibernates to a point where
it is drawing only 1.8 watts of juice.
More Articles in Technology »A version of this article appeared in print on December 2, 2008, on
page F7 of the New York edition.
you the opportunity not only to see where your pet went,
but how it got there as well.
CHILLING WHILE YOU’RE SURFING Who wants to
sit in front of a computer with a rapidly warming can of
soda? Thanks to American ingenuity, that’s no longer a
problem. The U.S.B. Beverage Chiller from CoolIT Systems
(coolitsystems.com) will keep a cup or can at a refreshing
45 degrees. The $25 accessory uses 5.75 watts of power,
minimizing its effect on a laptop’s battery life. The unit
must be plugged into a computer’s U.S.B. port; it may not
work if plugged into a U.S.B. hub. It’s designed to keep a
cold drink cool, not bring a can down from room
temperature.
PUTTING YOUR PC TO SLEEP When you walk away
from your computer to stick your head in the fridge, your
PC continues to consume power. The Eco-Button ($25,
from ecobutton-usa.com) can help save energy. You
connect the device (PC only; a Mac version is in the works)
to a desktop with a U.S.B. port. When the button is
pushed, the computer hibernates to a point where it is
drawing only 1.8 watts of juice. Pressing any key on the
keyboard restores the computer to life. The company says
that the device, which will be available early next year, can
save up to $50 a year; a calculator on its Web site allows
users to figure more precise savings based on local
electricity costs.
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Gadgetry Finds Novelty - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/technology/techspecial2/0...
2 of 2 8/31/15 3:23 PM