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Perch is an iOS app, though there isn't an iPad-specific version yet. The idea is you take an iOS device like an iPhone, attach it to your wall, and start up the Perch app. It just hangs out there, waiting for someone to come along.

Perch is always on. It uses facial recognition to identify a person who steps up to it, gives you a countdown, then automatically starts to record. You share your message ("I finally reached Level 60 in World of Warcraft!") and it sends it along to the remote users in your Perch family. Those people can check the message at their leisure and then record and send replies. … Read more

Usually, iPhone docks are pretty interchangeable. A dock charges up your iPhone. Maybe it has some speakers. Maybe it has some other nifty feature that made you want to buy it. But the Lumawake iPhone dock has a whole bunch of nifty features to entice you.

Lumawake is designed as a bedside companion. It has an infrared motion sensor on it that watches you while you sleep, but not in a creepy way. Combined with an app, it tracks your sleep patterns and generates reports from the results.

The sleep-tracking ties in with a Smart Wake function. It determines when you're sleeping lightly near your wake-up time and slowly turns on LEDs to simulate sunrise. If that doesn't work to wake you up, a back-up alarm will sound to roust you from your bed.… Read more

Every morning and every night I wade through a gauntlet of screaming kitties, demanding their meals. This is the dark side of living with LOLcats. It would be nice sometimes to kick back in a coffee shop somewhere, tap on my smartphone, and let a machine do all the work.

The Pintofeed is an intelligent, Wi-Fi-connected pet feeder that's dialed in to smartphones and social media. It serves up food in half-cup portion increments and is controlled by Android or iOS devices. The standard capacity is 5 pounds of food, but an optional 10-pound holder is available.

There are plenty of safeguards built into the machine to insure it keeps working while you're away. It has a battery backup in case the AC power goes out. There are two motors so the secondary motor will kick in if the first one goes out. The owner receives an alert if something goes wrong.… Read more

Every Sunday morning, my squire helps me put on a full suit of chain mail before I head into the kitchen to do battle with cranberry muffins and eggs over easy. Now all I need is some Combat Kitchenware to truly force my hash browns into submission.

Combat Kitchenware is the melding of a sword with a pan. It swaps out the pan handle with a pommel, grip, and guard from a sword that could have been plucked off the set of "Game of Thrones." These pans would add a new dimension to Iron Chef battles, especially if the combatants were allowed to fight to the death. … Read more

Just like the 3DS before it, Nintendo's Wii U console will ship with limited functionality, falling short of what the company promised would be available on launch day this Sunday, according to a Nintendo press release.

Most notable from the release is the absence of the Nintendo TVii service, the free program the company had said would be available from day one. TVii will be activated for the Wii U sometime in December. As you may recall, TVii is the live TV, TiVo DVR, and streaming service integration that aims to become the jumping-off point for your living-room entertainment. … Read more

Your Roomba can do double duty as an air-quality tester and even a cat transporter, so why not a fragrance factory too?

Robot Add-ons has a nifty little accessory for your favorite robot hockey puck: RoomAroma is a stick-on fragrance that sweetens the air in your home while Roomba cleans up.

It's quite an innovative way to improve your air without bothering to plug in air fresheners, and it attaches to Roomba in a snap. It's no wonder the two guys behind Robot Add-ons are from iRobot. … Read more

Food generally isn't too big of a deal in the "Star Trek" universe unless you're talking about tribbles eating all the quadrotriticale or Picard ordering up a hot cup of tea to go with his space scones.

All those Enterprise crew members still have to eat and that means there's going to be some hot food coming out of the replicators. That also means you're going to need a space-worthy oven mitt. A Spock oven mitt. The $14.99 oversize Spock hand has just enough blue uniform on the cuff to designate its rank.… Read more

I've been to some bizarre spots in South Korea, from DMZ tunnels to a seaside park dedicated to giant penises, but a new theme park in Suwon is at the top of my must-see list: it celebrates toilets.

The Restroom Cultural Park is billed as the world's first toilet theme park. It's a monument to the colorful former mayor of Suwon, a man known as Mr. Toilet.

The late Sim Jae-duck was himself born in a toilet and had an affection for loos throughout his life, rigorously promoting public facilities while mayor. … Read more

Halloween's over and done with, the cold November rain is here, and the mercury is dipping. But the gadget ninjas at Tokyo's Thanko do not rest.

They've been preparing for winter, when millions of Japanese face less-than-cozy conditions at home and in the office. Central heating doesn't really exist in Japan, so people use everything from kerosene heaters to blankets to keep warm.

Add to that Thanko's USB Heated Futon Mouse pad.

This cute twist on traditional futon floor bedding, which is, of course, very different from the Western concept of a couch futon, comes in three parts: a mouse-pad mattress, a heated quilt, and a wrist pillow. … Read more