Stuff Geeks Want

Mouse buttons are passé, or so says our friends at Apple. The Apple Magic Mouse replaces the Mighty Mouse, has no buttons and sports a “seamless multi-touch surface.”

According to Apple, that multitouch surface covers the entire device, enabling users to scroll in any direction or swipe through Web pages just by moving their fingers across the top.

Apple says the Magic Mouse “won’t confuse a scroll with a swipe,” because of its embedded ‘magical brain’. In short, Apple’s trying to mirror the multitouch functionality of its laptop trackpad in a mouse.

It’s Bluetooth only, so if you want a wired mouse, Apple has rebranded the Mighty Mouse as the ‘Apple Mouse’. How convenient.

Buy for $69 from Amazon

It’s been a long time in waiting and much-anticipated. The Acura ZDX is the more stylish offspring of the seven-passenger MDX. It’s lower by about six inches and seats five but uses the same 300 horsepower 3.7-liter V6 engine and it’s all-wheel drive.

The interior of every ZDX will feature leather seating surfaces, and occupants will get plenty of light from above via the standard full-length glass roof. You might notice those huge pillars on each side and wonder about the effort in looking back to change lanes. Acura’s got you covered there…a blind-spot information system, as well as a multi-angle rear-view camera.

The lower ride height together with its sleek exterior lines and sportiness brings some promise of a sweet ride in what Acura calls “a whole new level of prestige”. Arriving early next year at a base price of $44,000, consumers should expect nothing less.

For most of us a few cubes of ice in our beverage is cold enough. But when you’re drinking a $250 bottle of say whiskey or scotch, serving it at the right temperature can make all the difference.

Although it might look a little strange in the glass, Whiskey Stones by Teroforma are the perfect addition to bring out the real taste of a fine spirit. These little ice-imitators are specially designed to put a slight chill in your beverage.

You get nine stones in a muslin storage pouch and they’re now wet tumbled which takes some of the sharper edges off and results in a more antiqued look.

All you do is put them in the freezer for at least four hours and then pop about three into a glass. Pour in the spirit until it’s reached the height of one stone (about two fluid ounce)s and let stand for five minutes. Now, sip (don’t throw it back!). It’s a perfect (and cheap) little gift for anyone who appreciates a fine drink.

Buy for $20 from Taroforma

Who says a fan has to have blades? The people best known for vacuum cleaners and hand dryers have taken the technology of the latter and made the Dyson Air Multiplier fan.

It works very differently to conventional fans. It uses Air Multiplier technology to draw in air and amplify it 15 times, producing an uninterrupted stream of smooth air. Air is accelerated through an annular aperture. This creates a jet of air that passes over a 16° airfoil-shaped ramp, channeling its direction. No blades means it’s safe and easy to clean.

It’s a little expensive starting at $300, but those who’ve seen it say you’ve got to see experience it to appreciate it. One question…Could you stick you’re head through it and dry your hair? Just wondering.

Buy starting at $299 from Dyson

Heineken has expanded its success with mini kegs and added the famous northern English ale Newcastle to its lineup. Better late then never, we say.

The Newcastle Brown Ale DraughtKeg goes for $23. Five liters – that’s 1.33 ounces or about 10 pints, to be exact – that utilizes a patented internal CO2 system with a mini tap. This feature is intended to keep the beer fresh for up to 30 days after tapping and delivers the same taste experience as a pint of Newcastle poured in a pub.

I wish we could tell you where to buy one conveniently online, but you know those state and local alcohol laws (they screw it up for all of us, don’t they?). Just check with a quality liquor or beer retailer in your area. It’s presently available in Southern California, Minneapolis, and Chicago and will go U.S.-wide sometime in early 2010.

Any self-respecting tech-head will admit the Dyson DC31 handheld vacuum brings with it good looks and real power.

With the world’s fastest motor (104,000 rpm), it’s got ultra suction power and a dual power mode that cranks out 10 minutes of high constant suction or six minutes with 70 percent higher suction. It’s not meant to be your standard vacuum, but one that handles small jobs like a car clean-up or a quick dusting with strong, sucking greatness.

It weighs just 2.9 pounds and is well balanced for one-hand use. It uses both AC and DC power and despite it’s strong sucking power, isn’t any louder than a standard hair dryer.

It’s a fast, powerful and beautifully designed handheld vac.

Buy for $219 from Amazon

The new Ferrari 458 Italia isn’t just a car, it’s an object of worship.

The new two-seat, rear-wheel drive, mid-engined Italia was co-developed with racing legend Michael Schumacher. No wonder it hits a top speed of 202mph – a first for a volume production Ferrari – and zero to 62 in 3.5 seconds thanks to its direct-injected 4.5L V8 engine that pumps 562 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque.

The main controls, including gearshift and traction controls, will be on the steering wheel, just like an F1 car. And did we fail to mention it’s green? Yup, they’ve improved the aerodynamic drag so compared to the out-going F430, it gets 21mpg.

Ferrari North America has yet to confirm pricing for the U.S. market, but a leaked document puts it at around $240,000 at today’s exchange rate. Kick in those cash reserves.

Buy for $240,000 from Ferrari

How many cups in a pint? How many ounces in a pound? Oh, forget it! Check out the Taylor Kitchenware Digital Measuring Cup and Scale.

It’s the first digital measuring cup and scale combination. The unit measures in weight and volume as the recipe dictates. It digitally weighs dry ingredients as well as liquid ingredients and is pre-programmed to convert weight to volume for water, milk, oil, sugar, and flour.

The weight capacity is 4.4 pounds and the volume capacity is one liter. The unit weighs in increments of mililiters, cups, fluid ounces, grams, and pounds. The plastic measuring cup runs on one long life Lithium battery that’s included and the easy-to-read LCD readout is molded into the handle.

It’s a handy tool for anyone who loves to cook and a great solution for those who don’t.

Buy standard DVD for $35 from Amazon

Have an elderly family member or just forgetful when it comes to taking vitamins or other essential medication? The Vitality GlowCap Connect is a great reminder with four redundancies.

Here’s how it works: GlowCaps fit popular prescription bottles available at Walgreens and other retail pharmacies. Inside the GlowCap is a 900 Mhz wireless chip that enables four services. It knows it you missed your meds and alerts you or others with a light, tone, and phone call or text message. It even communicates with a USB stick to beam reports to an online system that tracks your diligence and automatically orders refills.

For the future Vitality is working on a version that can be used free of the USB sticks for those patients that aren’t terribly versed on computers or the Internet.

Buy for $99 from Amazon

If you’re in the kitchen a lot you know the tedious part of food making is the prep. Cutting. Slicing. Grating. You almost wish you had children just to give them the boring task of grating cheese or cutting tomatoes.

The answer to easy greating is the Pyrex Box Grater.

It’s slightly wider at the base so it’s much more stable than its competitors. But its real differences are these: see-through measuring marks on the side so you grate exactly the amount you need, an easy-release sliding door on the bottom to dump out your contents, and a convenient little slicer on one side to grate smaller vegetables and such.

Buy for $18 from World Kitchen