We need to come clean: we love gadgets. Big ones, small ones… basically anything that uses technology in a new way, looks like fun, or could make the dog go nuts. That’s why the Rovio is the newest gadget zooming around our office and causing the Luxe Labrador to lose sleep.

The Rovio is basically a GPS-enabled webcam on wheels that looks suspiciously like an upside-down Star Trek Enterprise. The robot syncs with your computer via WiFi to allow it to be controlled by your mobile phone, gaming console… basically anywhere you can get an internet connection. Say you’re sitting in Rome and want to know if your pooch is sleeping on the guest bed. Simply fire up the Rovio from your hotel room and check out the situation. The streaming video and audio will allow you to hear the dog snoring, see his drooling face on your pillow, and tell him to get off the bed.

The top-mounted movable camera and wide range of vision enables you to see and hear exactly what Rovio sees and hears on your screen, even in low light.

Although the company thinks this is a good home product, we could have much more fun with it at the Mi4M office. We’ve come up 7 compelling ways to incite office espionage with the Rovio.

1. 1. Guard our secret vodka stash from our advertiser
2. 2. Check out what the new employee is doing and contribute to her growing sense of paranoia
3. 3. Use instead of email to deliver papers from office to office (hey, what better way to “break through the clutter”)
4. 4. Keep an eye on the front door (due to the recession, we had to let the nail-filing, gum-chewing receptionist go… go figure)
5. 5. Watch the new intern try to figure out the Italian cappuccino machine and bark conflicting instructions at him
6. 6. See what the marketing team is planning to present, so we can quickly squash any good ideas they might have
7. 7. Follow the art director down the street to his favorite lunchtime bar (and make sure he’s drinking the good stuff)

Just refrain from going crazy with more babysitter videos… the internet has enough of that on it already.

This post is tagged gadget, in luxury living, mobile webcam, remote-control robot, rovio