A VERY SMART WATCH
Misplaced your smartphone? Press a button on Casio's G-Shock GB-X6900B watch and your phone will sound an alarm, making it easy to locate. Using the included phone app and a wireless Low Energy Bluetooth connection, the watch also can issue alerts for incoming calls and e-mails and can even function as a remote control for your phone's music player. With the push of a button on the watch, you can play a song, skip to the next track or adjust the volume on your smartphone. Don't remember the name of the song? The watch displays the title as the song plays. Your phone also can send commands to your watch. You can, for example, use your phone to set an alarm, turn on the countdown timer or switch to a different world time on the watch. Like most do-it-all watches, learning how to operate the various functions requires some patience. But once you've figured it out, the results are sure to impress. Available in blue, black or orange, the watch is compatible with the iPhone 4S/5 and the Galaxy S4. It costs $200.
THIS IS VERY TOUCHING
One of these days someone will probably invent a way for you to tell a computer what to do by just using your brainwaves telepathically. For now, touch screens are the way to go, and a compact new model from Gateway provides some features designed to get the most out of your notebook. Priced at about $330, the LT41P04u sports a 10.1-inch LCD touch display, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, two USB ports, an SD card reader and an HDMI port for a big-screen TV hookup. Powered by the Windows 8 operating system, this model also includes a 1.46GHz Intel Celeron processor, 2 GB of memory and 320GB of storage. Other configurations are available.
NOW YOU CAN GET CRACKING
The last thing you want before you go make that batch of holiday eggnog or a Sunday morning omelet is a carton of eggs past its prime. Why not take a high-tech approach to make sure those refrigerator staples are as fresh as they can be? Enter the Egg Minder, a smart egg tray that wirelessly connects to your mobile device, so you'll always know how many eggs you have and how many are going bad. Ready to whip up an omelet? LED lights on the tray let you know which eggs are the oldest, so you can use those first. The Egg Minder tray from Quirky costs $70.
NO NEED TO CRY IF YOU'RE DRY
The bad news is you are a dried out husk of your former self. The good news is that's only because winter is almost upon us, and there are steps you can take to blunt the effects of cold, dry air – like by using a "smart" humidifier that knows just how much moisture to release. On auto mode, the Breath machine from Roolen senses when the humidity level is at its peak and goes into sleep mode, saving both energy and water. You also can set the quiet-working device on high to deliver twice as much water in a very dry room, or on low to conserve the water flow. Available in black and white, the compact device costs about $130.
