There are some decent offerings in there, including a 40-inch Samsung 1080p LCD for $609 and a Panasonic 50-inch 1080p plasma for $1095 (Buy.com). Check out HDGuru for all of the details—and you had better hurry. There was another 50-inch 1080p plasma from Panasonic going for a ridiculous $711 on the list, but that deal seems to already have expired. [HDGuru]

You will learn important lessons like: sizing your TV to optimize resolution, whether to choose LCD vs plasma vs LED and why you don't need to spend money on a 240 Hz TV. So, make sure to check out the following link before you shop. [HDGuru]

BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here.

Dyson Air Multiplier: Normal fans are fine for normal people who are home a few hours a day, but a full-time house-dweller needs a full-time fan. This is how you can justify $300 on a fan that's a gift. Because it's not just a fan, it's a statement: A statement that says your loved one may be too cheap to use air conditioning, but not too cheap to afford a Dyson. [Review; Dyson]

Sonos ZonePlayer S5: Anyone who values his time at home knows he needs music in every room. Every room. And The Sonos S5 is the first really self-contained unit that the music-streaming company has put out. It's easy enough to rig together your own setup of laptops, wireless streamers and speakers, but if you want to do it cleanly and do it elegantly, and if the recipient doesn't know anything about technology, Sonos is the way to go. Just be prepared to spend $400. [Hands on; Sonos]

Aquapeudics Shower: Total fantasy, but fantasy in the way that you can actually save up $4300 and purchase one for your own home. Yeah, it's a gift for yourself. Bathing is still important for people that don't go outdoors, and the Aquapeudics combines a multi-headed shower with a hot tub with an acupuncture massage with a foot massage with an alien probing station. [Shower; Aquapeudics]

Honeywell Touchscreen Thermostat: Just because someone's adverse to going outside doesn't mean they like walking up and down stairs in order to adjust the temperature. Get one of these, including the touchscreen remote, so they can carry the controls with them at all times. It even helps make sure the temperature is correct where they are instead of where the thermostat is. Is this person this adverse to moving around that you can justify $400 on this? Yes, yes they are. [Review]

Roomba 400 Professional Series: There are no janitors for your home to clean up after your mess. A Roomba is the next best thing. If you can find it on sale you can get it for all of $100 (or less!), but it is the ugly red model. Who cares, you're not the one looking at it. [iRobot]

Nikon Action 7x35 Binoculars: Just because your gift recipient is inside doesn't mean he doesn't want to see what's happening outside. In fact, he's probably very interested in keeping track of what his neighbors are up to. The Nikon Action 7x35 was named best budget binoculars by Consumer Search, and it's only $60. [Amazon]

Toto Washlet: There's an obvious upside to being able to use a personal bathroom all day. But the downsides are that your friend goes through toilet paper incredibly fast, and gets stuck with whatever comfort level they have on their best toilet. The Toto Washlet solves both problems. Depending on the model, it'll run you somewhere between $500 and $1000.

But everyone in Japan uses a Toto for a reason, because washing the ass before wiping cuts down on toilet paper usage by 80% (ballpark figure). And constantly heated seats is something nobody can turn down. [Toto]

Anything On This List: You know what agoraphobe means, right? They don't like going outside, so don't make them leave their house with any of the outdoors gifts on that list. [This list]

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

Version 1.3 of Home, as previously detailed, will add universal game launching from within the service. No need to stop doing the Running Man just to start up a Resistance 2 fragfest, as any title can be launched from Home as of tomorrow.

Of course, there's more to it than that, including new items, emotes and clothing categories. Plus, Home residents will be able to preview wearable items and furniture in real time. And soon you'll be able to eat shrink cakes and take pictures with an in-Home camera! Truly, we have finally jacked into the Matrix.

PlayStation Home v1.3 Coming Thursday + New Central Plaza, Neptune Suite and More! [PlayStation.blog]

One of the most important additions is the ability to do "bare metal recovery" on a Mac from Time Machine. This means you can completely restore your Mac from the network backup using the disc recovery utility that's bundled in. Also upgraded is the ability to do administration on a Mac.

There is also an included video conversion feature, which handles unprotected DVDs, as well as increased power (the 490 has a 2.2GHz Celeron and the 495 has a 2.5GHz Dual Core Pentium) and a "better" user interface. The ability to stream media from your iPhone or iPod Touch via a free app is included as well. And, of course, you get the standard Windows Home Server functions that we love using on a daily basis.

Preorders start today, but there's no solid word on a ship date.

And some games, like Street Fighter IV, Resistance 2, MotorStorm, and Far Cry 2 will include another level of Home integration, bringing along some multiplayer options.

Other Home improvements include clothing and furniture previewing (try before you buy), portable objects (like bubble machines) and an in-Home first or third-person camera (take a shot of that pretty girl you see so that you can dry hump her later rather than in the square).

So...any PS3ers in the audience use Home lately? I loaded it 2 weeks ago, but it was completely by accident. [PlayStation Blog via Kotaku]

* Note: The lead shot was provided by Sony. And even in its marketing veneer, the inhabitants of Home look completely miserable.

Reading this retrospective, I'm both surprised and unsurprised at how innovative and well-designed the Dustbuster is. It was rechargeable, wall-mountable, used a high-tech (for the time) design based on a familiar product (the dustpan), had an immediately catchy name and was instantly indispensable for every suburban family in the country. I remember sitting on the carpet and playing with it, which is certainly not something I was likely to do with a damn cleaning product, and the product's name quickly became both a universal noun and verb ("Oh yeah, I Dustbusted the stairs yesterday."). It definitely wasn't the most powerful vacuum cleaner on the market (any modern Dyson would clean its clock) and the filter had a tendency to jam, but for sheer utility, style and "I want that gadget!" appeal, the Dustbuster was and maybe even still is the tops.

The Dustbuster is, I'm comfortable saying, the gadget nerd's cleaning tool. It's portable, battery-powered, cute, and versatile, and has definitely made our lives better. Cleaner, at least. [Popular Mechanics]

Gizmodo '79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born.

Loaded with a variety of multicolored LEDs, you can change the hue of the luminotherapy bed with the touch of a remote. The resulting colors, such as pink, blue and green will make your lover glow with all the vibrancy of a Star Trek Original Series alien babe. Well, that, or they'll give you night terrors of being stuck on a Cylon base ship (before they got all lovey hippie on the humans) or a painfully hipster sushi joint. [phillipe boulet via Unplggd]

Much like the offering from DirecTV, U-Verse subscribers can browse through channels and set recordings to their home DVR. You can also search with filters and even look up shows by your favorite actors. Seriously, these apps are great for TV buffs, and since it's free there is no excuse not to check it out. [iTunes]

New iPhone and iPod touch Application From AT&T Lets Customers Schedule U-verse TV DVR Recordings On The Go

DALLAS, June 25, 2009 - AT&T U-verseSM TV customers can now use a free application from the Apple App Store to make scheduling and managing recordings on their DVR even easier when they're away from home. The U-verse TV Mobile Remote Access App for iPhone and iPod touch lets customers record their content from virtually anywhere and is another example of U-verse TV applications and DVR enhancements that have been rolled out to customers at no extra charge.

"This is the perfect example of how AT&T is bringing services together to deliver a better experience for customers," said Jeff Weber, vice president of video services for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "With AT&T U-verse, you get DVR capabilities you can't find from any other provider, and this app gives users the freedom to schedule their DVR from their iPhone or iPod touch."

The app allows users to easily search U-verse TV program listings from the full program guide, view descriptions of selected programs, schedule program or series recordings, manage or edit scheduled recordings, and delete stored DVR content.

The Mobile Remote Access App is available for free from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

The launch of the new U-verse TV Mobile Remote Access App follows several DVR enhancements that are currently being rolled out to U-verse TV customers, including an exclusive new Total Home DVR feature that allows customers to schedule and delete recordings from any U-verse receiver in the home - all from a single DVR.

AT&T U-verse was one of the first providers to introduce Web Remote Access to the DVR in November 2006, and it brought three-screen DVR access to all U-verse TV customers with Mobile Remote Access to the DVR in April 2007. In 2008, AT&T launched AT&T U-verse Total Home DVR, allowing all U-verse DVR customers to watch standard and High Definition recorded shows from a single DVR on any connected TV in the home.

U-verse TV customers can also enjoy several other integrated applications, including personalized, on-screen weather, sports, traffic and stock information via AT&T U-bar; local and national weather forecasts with Weather On Demand; the ability to view personal photos on your TV that you have uploaded to flickr.com; and more.

AT&T U-verse customers enjoy quadruple-play integration, enhanced features and greater value, all made possible by IP technology. AT&T U-verse TV ranked "Highest in Residential Television Service Satisfaction in the North Central, South, and West Regions," according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction StudySM.

The best part of this the Panthera Leo mower isn't the electric-powered design, or the recyclable materials it's made of. No, it's the LCD monitor and sensors, which work together to tell you what speed and height you should mow at, plus inform you when you're on too steep a hill or about to hit an object. And the mower lasts two hours on a single charge.

Jalopnik says Husqvarna plans to put something similar into production within five years (basically, forever). But seriously, I would have driven this thing to school every day if I had one. Trust me. Oh, and check out more pics over at [Jalopnik].

There are more detailed shots below, in the gallery, but do not blame me if you vomit.

From Wikipedia:

A meat grinder or meat mincer is a kitchen appliance for grinding, fine mincing or mixing raw or cooked meat, fish, vegetables or similar food. It replaces tools like the mincing knife, for example, which has been used to produce minced meat, filling etc. The producer puts the minced food into a funnel, which is placed on the top of the grinder. From there the material goes on a horizontal screw conveyor. This screw conveyor, that can be powered by a hand wheel or an electric motor, squashes and partially mixes the food. At the end of the screw conveyor there is a knife installed directly in front of the fixed hole plate. At this opening the minced meat comes out of the machine. The fineness of the meat depends on the size of the holes of the plate.

Four out of Five Gizmodo editors didn't have the stomach to post this. I can't say I blame them.

[where else?]

Kamen himself calls his house a "cross between a technology museum of old stuff and Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory." Accurate only if Willy Wonka wore a jean suit. But, both are pretty admirable people, so it's a fair comparison.

Also cool are the sports facilities (tennis courts, basketball hoops, a friggin' softball field), plus a steam engine. All befitting an impressive man who was nevertheless able to put me to sleep at my own graduation. [WMUR - Thanks Eq!]

The guides walk you through the process of converting your battery-sucking gadgets to use AC power. Both guides require rolling up your sleeves, ripping the gadget apart, and doing some soldering—if using a soldering iron is new to you, we've got a beginner's guide to help you out.

The first guide covers in detail how to use a switch, some wire, and an old cell phone charger to convert a baby swing to use AC power, and the second guide is a more broad, general overview of how to modify devices—but isn't quite as detailed. If you've got any personal experience in modifying gadgets to use AC power instead of batteries, let us know about it in the comments.

For more clever modifications, check out how to turn an old web cam into a spy camera, or use tinfoil to boost your remote control's range.

Designed by students at Ludens, a Mexican design school, the shelf has about 4 layers, which reveal places to hang clothing, store coins, write notes or stash your keys. There are even fold out sections that reveal a mirror and cupholders. This is clearly still a concept, and while it seems neat, I could also see this thing getting chaotic if you tried to use it for too many things at once. [Ludens via The Design Blog via Craziest Gadgets]

Armani's Calyx (yes, that Armani) is a kitchen outfitted with decadent wood veneers, glass and woven metal...all of which are masked behind floor-to-ceiling doors. Armani calls the effect a "discreet environment." I'd call it a cold and soul-sucking hospital room.

Besides, I'd over-stuff that kitchen like a WASP's linen closet. There would be no end to the bright orange corners of Cheetos bags making their way through the door cracks, Man's subconscious urge for untamed wilderness playing out in a quiet protest. [WIDN and SaukValley via BornRich]

Regardless of what countless lost games of Tetris may have taught you, these iconic shapes actually fit together very well. Their intrinsically flexible, modular design makes all sorts of sense to squeeze in an extra few cubbyholes or even, as Silvério and Filipov explore in the gallery below, the occasional drawer.

It's too bad these designs are just concepts, but you know the drill. Cry enough in the comments and maybe Target will realize that they can make a few bucks by licensing or just ripping off the design. [coroflot via walyou]

LightPot uses LED lights, and can collapse down on itself when not in use. Created by designers Studio Shulab, LightPot still a prototype, but they have big plans to bring this thing to store shelves soon. I want I want I want. [designboom and TreeHugger via CrunchGear]

Evatech's latest and greatest R/C "hybrid" mower can be manned from up to 2,000 feet away as it takes on 70-degree slopes at 8MPH. Its track system not only creates stability—it's perfect for winter traction as you can plow your driveway with a shovel attachment. Keep in mind, since the 22T can both cut grass and plow snow, you're really only paying about $6,000 per function—that's like half the listed price!

But without a seat and/or cupholder, I'm just not sure that I can justify the purchase. EvaTech]

Hmmm, it's definitely not the two anatomically-shaped butt supports that are filled with water. And it's not the six-pack abs back support, which is pretty much the industry standard. Ohhhh, it's red! That's it!

Phew, glad we figured that out because it was driving us nuts. [Pouyan Mokhtarani via DVICE]

Fitting in a standard bulb socket, the mercury-free Master LED bulb sips just 7W while burning up to 45,000 hours, or about 30x the length of a normal bulb. It's actually already available in parts of Europe (we can't spot a price, anyone out there know? UPDATE: About $50-$70), but with the proper retail availability, I could see an LED light with this form factor exciting the mainstream US public, couldn't you?

Philips also has a few other models coming that you can check out at the link. [Philips via Core77]

Produced by a company called FRED, Souper's limbs are fully posable, so you can eat your Captain Crunch (or Lobster Bisque) with serious superhero style. Perpetual Kid will sell the spoons next month for $10 (on second thought, I still might buy one. But only one). [FRED via 7 Gadgets and Perpetual Kid]

Made by French company Colonne, the 6' lamp uses two RGB drivers and 14 LEDs to power the three-color LED lighting system. And much like TVs, this lamp can reproduce the entire color spectrum by adjusting the levels of these three colors.

You can fixate on a single color, run through a preselected loop of 7 colors, or create your own pallate to look at. And using the remote, you can select what mode or color you want to view. But such convenience comes at a cost: a $2300 cost. [RGB Lamp via Nerd Approved]

The Bazooka Light (along with the uzi, sniper rifle and pistol) is not some plastic novelty. It's an all-metal lamp—one that will feel like a real gun in your child's hands as he or she puts a stop to the Boogie Man's reign of terror once and for all.

Sadly, these lamps are limited edition and probably cost a premium price. But what's the smile of a child worth, their small face beaming in the aura of luminescent weaponry. [Twenty First Gallery via Nerd Approved]

But instead of just filling with air, the Pack Chair has a cloth body that inflates with liquid polyurethane. Presumably that polyurethane is not something you can just squeeze out later, so the chair most probably becomes a permanent fixture in your home after its deployment.

Still, if it's strong enough to withstand the force of my pork-fed Midwestern frame, it sure looks more comfortable than a folding chair. [Design Boom via Craziest Gadgets]

The OVO Washing Machine concept takes and ordinary front loader and swaps the clear glass panel for an information-packed display. So from across the room, you can see, hey, my socks have four minutes left, or, ooh, my favorite sports team just won the big game.

Just imagine your buddy calling you up for his next Super Bowl party. You politely decline. Because you, sir, have laundry to do. [Yanko via DVICE]

The Grand HD Cinema does indeed take USB video (along with audio) and upconvert the stream to a 720p HDMI signal that can drive six different HDMI devices. As a means to get clips from PMPs to TVs it certainly makes a lot of sense.

But what you'd consider an impossibly calculation-intensive process really is. The converter requires an XP or Vista rig with a 2.4GHz (or better) processor. So while the Grand HD Cinema is still a pretty interesting device, it's by no means some convenient little adapter that will play your iPod on your HDTV.

The Grand HD Cinema is available for $140 imported from Japan. [Lancerlink via Crunchgear]

While we've had RF-blocking paint to cellphone signals for some time, manufacturers have been thwarted when attempting to stop higher frequencies, like we have on home networks.

Now a team of researchers from the University of Tokyo has developed an aluminium-iron oxide that blocks radio frequencies up to four times beyond existing anti-RF technologies. The paint puts out a magnetic field that resonates at the same frequency as the electromagnetic wave (in this case, a radio frequency) you're looking to block.

The good news is that the material shouldn't be expensive to produce. Right now it's estimated to run $14 per kilogram. Assuming our math is correct, if the average gallon of paint runs 2 pounds, then a can of Wi-Fi blocking paint would be $50 to manufacture. That's not super cheap, but neither is the lifetime of blackmail after your neighbor deciphers your network password and threatens to show the world your earnest, self-shot modeling portfolio. [PCWorld via Unplggd]

Like the previous version, this bulb utilizes Bluetooth to stream content to the built-in speaker. However, it also features a separate plug-in that can be attached to an iPod. So, essentially, you can stream your music throughout the house with a remote to control the action. Still, I would love to see something that could be plugged into any audio device and controlled with a separate remote. Because, outside of music, I can see this as being great way to establish a surround sound setup. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing when and if we will ever get a real world product to play around with. [Castiglione Morelli via Crunchgear via Boing Boing Gadgets]

In addition to being certifiably badass, a spiral wine cellar uses the ground to keep bottles at an ideal temperature without needing any fancy electronics. It saves space and, sure, why not, let's call it cost effective.

The Spiral Cellars come in sizes that can hold between 1000 and 1600 bottles, which is about 997 to 1597 more bottles than I usually have on hand. But if I had a trap door in my floor leading to a spiral cellar? I'd have closer to 15 bottles. Believe it!

Oh, and these start at $30,000, which is a lot of wine money, so you'd better have some serious scratch if you want to get on board. [Spiral Cellars and The Kitchn via Notcot.org]

Although it did begin its life as a regular tablecloth, after being soaked in some sort of resin dried over a template the cloth rigidified into a standalone table. The designers site doesn't have any info as to what kind of resin he used or for that matter how sturdy the table is, but something tells me you shouldn't serve a four course dinner on it.

There's no indication that this literal 'table cloth' will get produced any time soon, so it's a DIY project in the strictest sense—not only do you have to make it, you have to figure out how. [Pink Wolf via FreshHome via BBG]

The Daywriter basically uses what looks like chalk to write messages during the day. Use this area to place your apartments bills along with a hastily scratched "I can't afford to pay all these myself, you know."

Meanwhile, the Nightwriter has an added glow-in-the-dark feature, making it a wonderful place for you to scribble "We can all hear you" for your roommate's offensively loud paramour to catch on his way to the shared bathroom. [Yanko Design]