Fancy some stargazing? If you do, the ETX-LS telescope by Meade Instruments makes it virtually effortless. You barely have to lift a finger. That's because the ETX-LS uses GPS range-finding coupled with CCD imaging to automatically align itself. It can even give you an audio tour of the stars above if you hook it up to a computer, automatically pointing out planets and constellations.

If you'd rather go a bit more hands-on with the telescope, it comes with a remote that will allow you to cycle through over 100,000 identifiable celestial objects. It also has a built-in SD card slot so you can capture and save images.

Best of all, the ETX-LS will weigh in at a comfortable $1,300 when it hits early this year. Stargaze the gallery below for more of this crazy telescope.

Lenovo's newest ThinkPad, the W700DS, has an extra 10-inch screen that pulls out of its side to supplement the main 17-inch display. The extra screen is designed for photo editors and designers to use to display a photo editing software tools pallet while the main screen shows the image being manipulated. The 11-pound behemoth runs $3,600 and will be available next week.

The future of touch and gesture interface technology is moving forward rapidly, but there are still innovations happening in area of traditional hardware interface devices. Hitachi recently unveiled a new kind of television remote control specifically designed to benefit the computer savvy needs of IPTV viewers.

The idea of the remote is to take the remote control away from the current 100-button monstrosities that currently plague TV jockeys and make the process of using an onscreen GUI an intuitively simple process. No release date or price has been announced, but if the current touchscreen revolution has sausage-fingered geeks worried, this kind of remote offers a bit of home media center hope.

Via Impress Watch

Coming this spring for $29: Duck Hunter victimizes a free-flying rechargeable duck with an infrared gun. Shoot that flying contraption three times, and he plunges to earth, ripe for the stomping.

Ceiling fans are without a doubt a great way to keep air flowing a room, but putting a wireless speaker in a ceiling fan is one great idea. Why? Because ceiling fans are usually in the center of the room, which is coincidentally the perfect acoustic location. That's why the folks at Soundolier (they guys who brought us those wireless lamp speakers) teamed up with the Hunter fan company to create the Hunter Concert Breeze Ceiling System, a wireless ceiling-fan speaker that emits sound that will feel like it's raining down on you.

Setup is easy: You connect the Soundolier Maestro 2.4GHz wireless transmitter to any audio source. Now the fan is ready to receive audio signals, said to be full-range digital-quality audio, from up to 300 feet away. The speaker is located in the fan's light, below the blades. The volume and light are controlled by a credit card-size remote control. It's set for release in "early 2009."

The Sign Language Translator by Krown does just what its name implies: it takes the words you feed into it and, on its modestly sized touchscreen, plays a video of the proper hand sign. If you type in "happy," for instance (or one of 3,500 other words), a video — acted out by a decidedly somber, almost creepy older man — plays and in a matter of seconds just about anyone could effectively communicate with the deaf or anyone who relies on sign language.

This is quite honestly the coolest application of a pocket dictionary we've seen in a long time. Looking up foreign words is just as helpful, but the Sign Language Translator could help the average person as well as caretakers, parents and friends of those who have lost their hearing.

Look for the Sign Language Translator to hit early this year for around $200, and check out the gallery below for more views of this gadget by Krown.

Power-adaptor-maker iGo debuted an 8-outlet surge protector that cuts standby power consumption — the minimal power your tech uses while plugged in but not turned on — by 80%. And it looks pretty slick for something you're used to kicking out of the way under your desk.

The firm's proprietary "Green Technology" allows the surge protector — available this summer at just under $70 — to communicate with the attached devices, using technology already found in most electronics, and effectively ending any powering up once they're fully charged.

And if you're using it in your home office, it also has a couple of "dumb outlets" that lets certain devices stay plugged in like normal, perfect for a clock or that coffee maker you've got on a timer in the morning.

It's one of three greener power options the firm rolled out today using their "Green Technology"; they also have a dedicated laptop charger and a wall socket that's essentially a one-plug version of the surge protector.

Soon, you'll be able to watch video from your home theater on an iPhone. SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone made its debut at Macworld today, with its release on the iTunes app Store planned by the end of March. This means if you have a Slingbox plugged into, say, your home cable box, a DVD player, or even an HD TiVo, you'll be able to watch that video from anywhere in the world on your iPhone.

Of course, you'll need a quick broadband connection to make that happen, especially if you want to watch your home videos in HD. And, the iPhone will certainly have to be of the 3G iteration, and will probably sling video with much better quality when connected to Wi-Fi.

But it's a hoot slinging video all over the world with the various Slingboxes, and now it'll blast onto iPhone screens everywhere. SlingPlayer Mobile has been available for other cell phones for years — it's about time it hit the iPhone. Read Sling Media's press release for details: