We get a lot of fun things to play with at the Byte-Sized offices, the most recent being a box of pet gadgets your four-legged friends are sure to enjoy. These prime pet accessories come from the ludicrously awesome SkyMall catalog – who doesn’t love it already? – and are a complete hoot.

Chatter Bowl Talking Pet Bowl, $29.99

Pets can get lonely when their owners go out of town, and what’s a better way to show them you’re still there in spirit than scaring the bejesus out of them every time they go to eat? Hehehe
This talking pet bowl is equipped to record your voice, presumably praising your baby for being such a good girl. When the motion sensor is activated by your pet approaching and/ or eating out of the bowl, the recording plays. The volume isn’t too loud.
I’m sure for some pets, this may be a pleasant surprise. But, I wouldn’t be alarmed if, after a few days of a business trip, Snowflake won’t come near you and looks a few pounds lighter.

Pet Door Bell, $69.95

We’ve domesticated pets this far, so why wouldn’t Princess want to use a doorbell, too?
Place the paw-shaped activator near the backdoor and wait for your doggy (or kitty, I suppose) to press down on it, alerting you they want to go outside. Buy the extension kit and get multiple activators to put at the front door and side doors, too.
The idea behind this … invention is sound, for sure. I mean, who wants scratched-up door jams? But, assuming you can teach Princess to use the bell when she has to pee, can you teach her not to use it when she doesn’t have to? Waking up in the middle of the night by a chiming bell because your dog wants to go play outside with the squirrels puts you a little too much at your pet’s beck and call.

Pet Hair Magnet, $12.99

OK, so we’ve had some fun with the absurd pet toys, now it’s time to get serious: The Pet Hair Magnet is awesome in a way that makes me want to go home and rub it over my entire house. I literally gave myself blisters I used it so much in one day.
The plastic miracle looks like a miniature squeegee. Rub it over your carpet and try not to openly gape at how much invisible hair was living under your feet. I dare you. I have two long-haired kitties at my house, and they don’t shed too badly, which was why, after trip up my stairs with the Magnet, I was surprised to have a pile of hair equal in size and density to an entire new cat! That, and my stairs looked brand new. And, for less than $20, including s/h, it’s easily the best of the bunch that I’ve outlined here. Get it now and don’t be frugal with your thanks. You’re welcome!

Labels: pet products, Reviews, skymall

With tomorrow's highly anticipated release of the iPhone 3G, that well-reviewed sleek sequel of Apple's ingenious smartphone will as surely fly off the shelves as I will skip it. Not that it isn't enticing -- the web at your command, always being connected, one step shy of a wire in your brain -- but I'm waiting to spend my cash on a Microsoft version.

'Gasp!' you cry, 'but surely every tech blogger must be an open-source-loving, Redmond-hating nonconformist!'

Nah. Not that I really have a strong opinion either way -- if it works, why break it? -- but, I just haven't had the horrifically overblown problems with my Microsoft toys that others report:

My Vista has never crashed. My Zune is 1,000x better than an iPod, if only because I don't have to suffer those stupid white headphone wires. My original Xbox (which I camped out overnight in the freezing cold to buy) still works, and my Xbox 360 -- complete with HD-DVD player -- is bar-none the best game system I've ever bought.

So yes, I like Microsoft more than Apple. There I said it. Though the Mac/PC commercials are pretty funny.

But, if you are one of the many technogeeks -- and there are many -- already camped outside the flagship Apple Store in Times Square, waiting anxiously on lawn chairs or the hot pavement for your new Apple iPhone 3G, good luck! Snap a pic with your 1st-gen model and send it to me :)

Labels: iPhone 3g, iPod, Microsoft, Reviews, XBox, Zune