Hot wired: Ten beeps and you're out

The Blackberry

Why is it all the really cool stuff is generally available only overseas? Why can't we get cool stuff for the New Zealand market ahead of the pack?

Oh that's right, I forgot. There are only four million of us and we're on the far side of the planet. Bugger.

Still, being a world away from the action does have its advantages. Here are two bits of kit that should have the bugs well and truly worked out by the time they get to our shores.

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BLACKBERRY 8700

Ah, the BlackBerry. RIM is a strange Canadian company that produces what can only be described as a pager on steroids and frankly, the Americans love it. You can hardly pick up a Wall Street Journal or New York Times without reading how Washington insiders are using it to speed date or some other marketing hyped nonsense.

The BlackBerry is useful, though. Basically it connects with the work email server to push all your email out to you wherever you are. That doesn't sound too difficult but it's been revolutionary, turning email into a mobile service that people are willing to pay for.

You can also use the BlackBerry as a cellphone, although you look like a wally holding up what looks like a label printer to the side of your head.

RIM released a slimmed-down version of the BlackBerry but that doesn't do much for your image either. And for some reason RIM superimposed the letters on the number pad in QWERTY sequence rather than alphabetically, making it impossible to use by anyone who's ever sent a text message using their cellphones. Enter the 8700, which sadly addresses none of these issues. It's still a label printer, albeit a slightly smaller one.

Vodafone sells the BlackBerry in New Zealand but there's no word yet on whether it'll be bringing this model to our shores.

Price: Around $1000 for the old model.

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NUKALERT RADIATION MONITOR

This puppy is available in New Zealand, thanks to online shopping.

If you work in a large office you're probably wondering what all those computers with their monitors are doing to your health. Thanks to the NukAlert you can find out.

The NukAlert stays on all the time monitoring your radiation count and, should you find yourself in a less desirable situation, the beast will beep wildly, warning you to get the heck out of Dodge.

The back of the NukAlert has a handy radiation exposure chart, which you can use to better assess your situation.

Five chirps on the NukAlert means you're probably getting around 1.6 rads an hour, and you've got some time before you get toasty. Ten chirps means you're exceeding 50 rads an hour and it's time to flee to the hills.

Price: US$149 ($214)