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'Gadget Guy' Examines Latest High-Tech Items for the Home

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DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Some new high-tech items designed to make our lives better and easier have made it to the marketplace. Among them, an Internet microwave. Now what is up with that?

Let's check in with our gadget guy, Ed Curran, to find out more about that.

An Internet microwave, Ed?

ED CURRAN, GADGET GUY: Well, yes. And unfortunately, we can't show you that tape. We've got a little bit of a technical problem with that.

KAGAN: Oh dear.

CURRAN: But it's essentially a microwave where you can download recipes from the Internet, put them into a little cartridge you slide into the microwave, you put all the ingredients in, press one button and it does it. Isn't that great?

KAGAN: Would it make a good cook out of me, or is that technology not developed yet, Ed?

CURRAN: Well, technology can only do so much.

KAGAN: Yes, that is true. Let's be reasonable. What else do you have for us today?

CURRAN: But, we'll see that out later on this year at a price of only about $300 from Samsung. Very exciting.

This is from Mitsubishi, and this is Plasma Pure. And this is an air purifier. It's a Hefta (ph) filter. And also it has the special technology that electronically removes very small particulate from the air and odors from the air. Really neat, under $400. Very quiet in operation. Just set it in your house in the corner and it quietly filters the air in the room. Real neat technology.

This for the house, a weather station from Oregon Scientific. It's a wireless weather station. You have sensors like this that you can place and they pick up the temperatures outside and send them to here. This does everything. It will give you the temperature, the windchill the humidity outside by using these wireless sensors, the wind speed, the rainfall, all this. Wireless weather station from Oregon Scientific, a real neat technology here.

A lot of people have to watch their cholesterol level. And this is a brand new machine that has just come to market. And this, from Lifestream, is an electronic cholesterol checker. So if you want to keep track of your cholesterol, what you do is you get these little packages here. And there's a lancet in here. Use this automatic lancet to just do a little finger stick, take a drop of blood, put it on a little strip, and you slide it in here. And in three minutes, it gives you your total cholesterol count, which is really marvelous for people keeping track of their count.

If you need to do see the breakdown of good and bad cholesterol, you'll have to go to the doctor to do that. But in between visits to the doctor, this is a great way to stay on top of it, $129. Sharper Image stores have just started selling this great device.

From Tanita, this just on the market. This tells you the condition of your skin so you can see how to measure your skin's moisture and that type of thing. Just place it against your face and it'll measure your skin, and it will tell you what you need to do to hydrate your skin and all that type of thing, becoming available, too, for about $60 from Tanita.

So some real neat personal electronic and home electronic stuff that recently unveiled at a couple of the recent trade shows.

KAGAN: Very good. And, Ed, when you find that stuff that can make me a good cook...

CURRAN: Yes.

KAGAN: ... you let us know. We'll do breaking news animation here on CNN because that would be some big news indeed.

CURRAN: OK, and look for these light-up ice cubes coming soon, $4 apiece.

KAGAN: Very nice. Ed Curran, glad we could get you on today, live from Chicago.

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