Sun
Silver Alert GPS monitoring system, Amber Alert GPS Canada
Babylonian Twins
ESP Office 6150 All-in-One Printer, Kodak
A-Frame tabletop stand, Griffin Technology
1. Silver Alert GPS monitoring system, Amber Alert GPS Canada, $300 with one-year monitoring plan
Keep track of kids and elderly relatives with this tiny GPS unit that can be tossed in a knapsack, the trunk of your teen’s car, or even sewn into clothing. To keep tabs on its whereabouts, you call it from your cellphone — it doesn’t ring, but sends a text message back with its location that you can then pull up online on your smartphone or computer. You can set perimeters for safe zones and trigger a destination alert; it also has an emergency SOS button so whoever is carrying it can instantly alert you to a problem. It has voice monitoring to let you tune in on conversations without the people at the other end knowing. A high-tech Jack Bauerlike babysitter. Can’t see teens being happy to have their parents virtually riding along, but parents no doubt will like it, and it is useful for caregivers worried about elderly relatives. Monitoring is $12 a month, with the device available in combination with one-, two-and three-year plans. www.amberalertgps.ca
2. Babylonian Twins, $2.99 for iPhone, $3.99 iPad version
This game was first conceived by Rabah Shihab, an Iraqi-born software engineer who created it while he was living in Baghdad back in the days of the Commodore Amiga computer. Economic sanctions put a halt to his plans to have it published, but years later, the release on YouTube of video from the retro game was met by an enthusiastic response in the gaming community. That, plus the imminent arrival of the iPad prompted Shihab, who now lives in North Vancouver, to get back to the game and get it ready for release on the iPhone and the iPad. The game follows the story of twin princes of Babylon, Nasir and Blasir, who are protecting the city from an evil sorcerer. In its first day in the app store it rocketed to the Top 20 for the puzzle games category. babyloniantwins.com
3. ESP Office 6150 All-in-One Printer, Kodak, $230
Print from a Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone or your computer. This four-in-one prints, copies, scans and faxes, and Kodak promises its ink cartridges will save you on average $137 a year compared to other consumer ink-jet printers. www.kodak.ca
4. A-Frame tabletop stand, Griffin Technology, $50 US
With the iPad now out in the United States and to follow in late April in Canada, there has been a rush of iPad accessories to the market, including this stand that props your iPad up for viewing. It works in both the upright position and for landscape mode. Folded flat, it acts as a stand that puts your iPad into a tilted position for writing or playing games. www.griffintechnology.com
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