December 29, 2006 8:10 AM PST

Will it rain? Ask the umbrella

by Mike Yamamoto
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(Credit: Gearlog)

Next to digital photo frames, one of the most common products in gadget catalogs is the weather forecaster. But this trumps them all: an umbrella that tells you if it's going to rain.

The "Ambient Forecasting Umbrella" has an LED light built into the handle that pulses when it detects chances of showers according to an automatic AccuWeather feed. As Gearlog says, "If the chances of rain are 60 percent then the umbrella handle will pulse once every second. But if you see it pulsing a hundred times a minute then that means there's a 100 percent chance of rain."

Or you could just look out the window. And even if its forecasts are correct, will you be able to watch YouTube on it?

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