Fishstachio

The Pentax Optio W90 is the camera to take on vacation. It’s sandproof, dustproof and waterproof down to six metres. It’s also happy snapping in the cold, going as low as -10°C. The 2.7 inch LCD screen has an anti-reflection coating to help you shoot in glaring sun or snow. The W90 has a 5x zoom and takes shots at resolutions up to 12 MP. It also shoots 1280x720 HD video at 30 frames per second. And get this: it’s available in pistachio green.

Price: RMB 2,030. Web: www.pentaximaging.com

Roomba Rummie

Futuristic as they may sound, robot vacuum cleaners have been available for a while now. After a few iterations, they’ve even become useful. Schedule cleaning times for the Roomba 562 and it’ll set off from its charging dock and get to work without you having to lift a finger. The little guy knows his limits, sensing and avoiding staircases, and returning home when he needs a charge. He even senses particularly dirty spots and devotes extra attention to them. His navigation skills aren’t perfect, however, and Wired describes the 562 as a bit of a drunk, weaving around at random, covering areas he’s already been. But that’s the beauty of robots, pets and babies for that matter: they’re idiots, knowing even less than we do, but somehow they still get by. It’s inspirational.

Price: RMB 2,500. Web: www.irobot.com

Third D

James Cameron’s Avatar set the high water mark for cinema. It’s all downhill from here. That said, we can slow the decline of movie making and image taking by imitating JC’s meisterwerk, firstly by ending the embarrassment of two dimensional photography. Improbable tech company Loreo has created this stereoscopic dimension adder to do just that for China’s bajillion Canon DSLRs. Just screw it on and every time you click the shutter you’ll take dual images, which resolve into a single 3D image when viewed with Loreo’s special glasses.

Price: RMB 1,120. Web: www.loreo.com