Fetish
Noise
Ignore any disturbing associations with Michael Jackson - the single Live Wire glove will probably make youngsters feel more like Darth Vader or Rocky. Contact points on the portable battery-powered toy let children make sound effects by touching an object. The sounds of a laser, a punch, screeching brakes, and a dozen other noises are available. While the glove will never kill the art of making a good machine-gun noise with your own vocal cords, it is louder. Keep in mind, what sounds way cool for kids may be torturous for adults. Live Wire: US$19.99 to $24.99. Mad Lab Toys: +1 (206) 448 1210.
Wizard
When you play arcade pinball, the tilt is often much too sensitive to really jerk the machine sideways enough to save a ball from dropping in the gutter. But Saitek's pinball lets you do whatever it takes to win. It has three tilt sensitivity levels, stereo sound, a choice of background music, and a chance for a bonus ball. It even saves your all-time high score for posterity. When you're done, just detach the legs and put it away. Like the old song says: "Ain't seen nothing like it in any amusement hall." Pinball machine: US$299. Saitek: (800) 452 4377, +1 (310) 212 5412.
Light
Just think, if all your furniture were inflatable, you could set up a comfortable home, anywhere, in a flash. The blowup chair from Inflate - a British design firm known for making lighter-than-air home furnishings - comes in a flat, shiny package. Simply assemble the sturdy, chrome-plated frame and take a deep breath. Each cushion is sealed separately in thick-gauge polyvinyl chloride. If you plan to purchase more than a few of these seats, you may want a bike pump, too. Inflate chair: US$600. New York Museum of Modern Art Design Store: +1 (212) 708 9669, on the Web at www.moma.org/.
Bake
While most microwaves have only a few settings for making popcorn and defrosting rump roast, Sharp's Multiple Choice radar range comes with an outsize LCD and a microbrain storing hundreds of recipes, cooking tips, serving ideas, and an onboard instruction manual. It knows how to bake everything from poached shrimp and rumaki to jelly fluffer nut squares and apple pie. It can even make a kid's crusty old Play-Doh pliable again. But despite all that technology, it still can't make toast. Multiple Choice: US$199.95. Sharp: (800) 237 4277, on the Web at www.sharp-usa.com/.
Digital
Jolt
Surrounded
Roam
