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(Credit: Canon USA)

The Canon Vixia HF20 and Vixia HF200 aren't even available yet, but they'll be ready for a summer vacation at the beach when they ship--that is, if you accessorize them with the new WP-V1 underwater housing. The plastic casing allows you to shoot your HD video as deep as 130 feet. At $599, the case is a bit pricey, though. It's slated to ship in May.

Nekton Research's Ranger UUV.

(Credit: Nekton Research)

iRobot plans to acquire an underwater robotics company for $10 million, the company announced Monday.

The announcement comes one week after iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks said he will step down as iRobot's chief technology officer to pursue a new venture. While Brooks will remain on iRobot's board, his move has left some people questioning what's next for the growing robotics company.

Here's one answer the company seems keen to make known.

"We believe that the underwater market is the next frontier for robots. This acquisition positions us for leadership in robot solutions on both the land and sea," Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairman of iRobot, said in a statement.

iRobot predicts that the purchase of Nekton Research will garner it up to $8 million in product and contract revenue for 2009. The deal also expands iRobot's client list to include several agencies in the U.S. Navy.

Nekton Research's Transphibian robot aka Madeline is used for clearing underwater landmines.

(Credit: Nekton Research)

Nekton's products, according to iRobot, will dovetail with the Seaglider, an AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) iRobot purchased the commercial rights to develop from the University of Washington in June.

Nekton Research, based in Durham, N.C., was founded by a group of faculty from Duke University. It makes about five types of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and related robotics technology.

The Ranger is for search and underwater surveying with a faster version called the Nekton High Speed UUV. Nekton has several different fin-equipped UUVs when specific maneuverability is an issue, as with its Transphibian robot for clearing underwater landmines.

The BioBay is the sea equivalent of a chemical detection robot and can also take water samples. It's currently being used by the EPA in several areas where contaminated water is a concern, according to Nekton Research. Nekton Research is also developing a team of tiny swarming underwater robots called MicroHunters. They can be sent en masse for scoping out large areas of water.

(Credit: USCG)

You can't really say you have a private beach until you've installed a SM 2000 Underwater Surveillance System by Kongsberg to keep out the riffraff.

The system is designed to protect commercial piers, government and military vessels, cruise ships, terminals, and other high-value assets, but it'll work just as well for your hideaway surf break. You know it's good if the oil sheiks buy it. Kongsberg installed an integrated system at a "High-Value Seaside resort" in the United Arab Emirates; the exact location is classified.

The U.S. Coast Guard just picked up $2 million of Kongsberg gear to enhance its Integrated Anti-swimmer Systems (IAS) program at the nation's ports. The purchase follows the initial IAS contract worth $3 million.

Using software and sonar the system can detect and differentiate between "malicious swimmers and divers" and other targets, such as marine life and debris, at up to 1000 meters, according to the British Columbia-based company. A processor "captures a wide acoustic swath" to positively identify and localize the threat, then notifies security (PDF).

You'll be relieved to know that the Coast Guard and the EPA have concluded that the system will not "adversely affect threatened or endangered species or critical habitat." Whether a diver could do enough damage to justify the multimillion-dollar investment is open to debate.

Someone poaching in your favorite abalone patch? A frogman can be warned that he is in a restricted area and should surface immediately by "underwater loudhailer." If that doesn't work, deploy the "nonlethal interdiction acoustic impulse," an underwater shockwave emitter--which, despite its name, can be set on stun or kill.

(Credit: Firebox)

Anybody can turn an iPod into a mini-disco with a variety of accessories, from flashing cases to pulsating cube (though we'd hope they would resist the urge for their own sake). But in the bathtub? We thought that was reserved for Craver Caroline McCarthy and her only-in-Japan discoveries.

The concept has apparently made its way west with the "Underwater Disco Lightshow" from those cheeky monkeys at Firebox, which Chip Chick says can turn the tub into an aquatic dance floor. Just slip an iPod into the waterproof case, and Donna Summer will magically appear for the last dance.

(Credit: Underwater Technologies Center)

Ever want to send an underwater text message? Laugh if you will, but on your next scuba-diving vacation you'll wish you had one of these gadgets if your air tank runs unexpectedly low.

In fact, this "Underwater Digital Interface" from Underwater Technologies Center can reportedly keep up to 56 divers networked with ships or land bases up to 1,000 yards away. And fortunately for them, the designers kept the product's functions simple--because the last thing you'd need in this situation is a complicated keyboard. (We wouldn't want to take a chance on a finicky touch screen, for instance, or lug around a full LCD.)

The aquarian communicator is touted as "the world's first digital devices for undersea texting and SOS emergency communications," according to Dvice. We often scoff at "world's first" claims, but this is one category that presumably isn't overflowing with competitors, literally and figuratively.

(Credit: SeaLife)

The SeaLife Digital Pro Flash is a universal flash that can be used with most digital cameras. Tested to a depth of 60 meters with an effective underwater range of 2.5 meters, the SeaLife flash operates on four AA batteries for a total of about 100 exposures. It also features an auto flash intensity setting to keep you from having to second-guess your exposure settings--which is the last thing you need that far under the surface.

(Source: Crave Asia)

The ultimate mobile home

(Credit: Underwater Vehicles)

With housing prices what they are in the San Francisco Bay Area, many of our readers may be looking for other options. Don't move out of town--stay in the bay...literally...in this awesome floating house.

Underwater Vehicles, maker of commercial subs, portable decompression chambers, and the like, has a series of beautiful, highly impractical, semi-submarine dwellings by Italian naval architect Giancarlo Zema. They all feature space-age design and submerged underwater viewing platforms. The Trilobis floating home, in particular, is also geared for greenness, with hydrogen fuels, solar panels, and photovoltaic windows to keep down fuel costs. Your new abode can reach 7 knots of speed. It's not suitable for ocean crossings but is instead intended for exploring coves and inlets. This whimsical/practical lodging solution seems particularly well-suited for luxury seaside tourist destinations, marine scientists, and fans of The Life Aquatic.

What: Trilobis 65 Habitat
How much: $4 million to $5 million
Shipping: Unknown
Where: Sub-find

(Credit: Amazon)

Given the growing trend of people spending their entire lives in the bathroom, it makes sense that there's been a proliferation of waterproof LCDs, speakers, phones, DVD players and even remotes. But a radio that goes under water?

We're not talking about one of those music players for swimmers either. The "Aqua Radio" floats on the surface while submerging a corded speaker so you can "create your own underwater world with awesome deep-sea sound effects." Right.

Just for the record, the radio will play above the waterline as well, so the $15 you paid for it won't have been a total waste.

(Credit: Fantasea)

Little did we know upon our first post on the "Fantasea" line of underwater camera cases that it would be such a prolific business. Since then the company has come out with new models for various cameras every few months. But we can't help but notice that, unlike the cameras themselves, its casings seem to be getting larger.

Of the latest batch, which includes models to fit Nikon's Coolpix L12, S200 and S500 cameras, the S500 casing seems particularly bulky. In the picture accompanying this item, it looks big enough for the camera to do some swimming of its own inside. And if you add on the accessories, you might need to hire a whole crew to help you.

But we suppose all this is the price one must pay, in addition to the $200 retail, to take photos at depths of 200 feet. As for us, we think we'll just enjoy the view from our "Scooba-Doo."