Tokyoflash goes 'Negative'

WATCHES
I never quite got the whole watch-collecting thing, until I bought my first one from Tokyoflash. (I have marveled over the ridiculously expensive watches I'd read about in the Financial Times, the pink broadsheet stuffed with "how to spend it" advice for CEOs.)

My watch is the LED Jackpot, which doubles as a one-armed bandit, rewarding me with little chimes whenever I pull two or three of a kind.

One of the latest beauties from the folks at Tokyoflash (www.tokyoflash.com) - I told you about their Nekura Scramble in June - is called Negative, which has an always-on LCD screen, backlit with any one of seven LED colors you select.

It is a little like having seven watches in one, as you can change the LED colors at any time. When you order, you can also choose a black or a silver band and case.

You read the time and date by looking at the negative spaces formed by the bright squares around them. The effect reminds me a bit of the computer drawings we made as school kids, by stringing together characters on our Commodore Pet computers.

The Negative is available for about $158.

GAMES

Active Life for the not-so active

A video game that imitates outdoor adventures may sound a bit perverse, but playing outdoors in New England is going to get real hard, real soon.

Namco Bandai in Active Life: Outdoor Challenge does a fine job of recreating outdoor sports for stay-at-home jocks.

The games are hilariously frantic: You can skip straight through to "free play" jump rope endlessly, or jump on a trampoline, or use your Wiimote to paddle a kayak. See-sawing and river rafting are also in the lineup.

Other Outdoor Challenge games, such as "mine-cart adventure" and "log jumping," are two outdoor sports I have not experienced, however. (That's due to my fear of getting trapped in mine shafts, and of logs.)

Outdoor Challenge, about $60, comes with a mat controller that looks as if it's made for a high-tech version of Twister.

The mat controller is an excellent piece of hardware: It stays in place on the carpet in our TV room, and it can take the pounding doled out by my 2-year-old tanker of a girl, Oona. You can also navigate Active Life's menus with the mat's directional arrows.

You can play Outdoor Challenge alone, against another player, or as part of a team working toward the same goal. In the game's training mode, you can work on blasting your abs, glutes, or another body part that has not been seeing enough of the real outdoors.

SPEAKERPHONES

Hands-free and fashionable

I like to play it safe on Boston's angriest roads. If you spot me weaving along the Jamaicaway on my way to Emmanuel College, for example, you won't see me yakking on the phone, examining myself in the rearview mirror, or eating anything that requires utensils.

But if you can't bear sitting with your own thoughts for the time it takes to drive to work, the Parrot Minikit Slim Bluetooth speakerphone (www.parrot.com) can make and take your calls for you. That way, you can stay somewhat focused on remaining in your lane while chatting about Tom Brady's knee, or his girlfriend, or whatever.

The Minikit Slim, at about $100, might also be the last speakerphone you ever buy. That's because the device, which will be available before Christmas, can synchronize automatically with up to five mobile phones and store up to 2,500 names.

You merely clip the three-ounce Slim to your visor, where it can take a semi-permanent spot with your CDs, bank receipts, and St. Christopher medals.

The Slim has a flat-panel speaker. It places calls from your voice commands. Available in black or with a white-on-black floral print, it is also one of the best-looking speakerphones for the car that I've seen.

A four-hour charge yields 10 hours of talk time, with 20 days of standby time.