Cool Gift of the Day
Friday, October 14, 2005
What it is:
A wireless laser projector that turns any flat surface into a virtual keyboard that you can use just like the real thing.
Why we love it:
Most of our cool gifts are useful gadgets, amusing novelties, or luxury items; in some rare cases, they're actually all three. The I-Tech Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard is one of the most amusingly novel and useful luxuries we've run across so far. It's a small device (about the size of a cigarette lighter) that connects to your PDA, phone, PC or other handheld device and then projects a laser keyboard onto whatever table or flat surface you happen to be using. You can type on the laser keyboard just as you would on a real one, when your finger touches the place where the keyboard projects a key, the virtual keyboard will react just as though you'd hit that key on a real keyboard. Yes, really. No, we don't exactly understand how it works. Still, for anyone who has slaved over the miniature keyboard on their PDA, or tried sending a detailed text message with any speed from their cellphone, this is a thrilling innovation. The laser is bright enough to be used in a fully lit room, though we admit it looks extra cool in the dark. It can be used on the table of a coffee shop or just about anywhere, though anyone who is using it will probably have to endure someone walking up every fifteen minutes or so to ask them where they got it, if it really works, and how they can get one too.
Who we'd give it to:
Computer geeks, gadget freaks, text messaging addicts, constant travellers.
Where to get it:
From
Expansys for a virtual $172.95