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.

Answer: Get your own virtual race car and race anytime you like. Meet the VirtualGT pro driving simulator. Calling this a “video game system” is like calling the space shuttle a 
“kite”. This is a system that pros like the ’08 Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon are using to fine-tune their abilities. The guys at Virtual-E Corp faithfully reconstruct the cockpit of a GTR race car, complete with full suspension, custom racing seat, 4-point racing harness, three headsets with boom mikes (so you can communicate with your pit crew), and your choice of a heavy-duty sequential shifter or gated H-pattern shifter console (or both, if you like). Displays of up to 82 inches with LCD, Plasma, HD plasma, and HD LCD projection options put you right on the race track. But the piece de resistance is their custom audio system: 500 watts of power delivered through four satellite speakers, one subwoofer, and four vibration transducers output 100+ decibels of sound and vibrations as real as if you were truly behind the wheel in a race situation. They assure us that the sense of speed and energy will raise your heart rate and even make you sweat.

The software includes the entire FIA GTR series including the tracks in Spa, Monza, Nurburgring, and Barcelona (third-party mods are already popping up with tracks in the US). Cars include the Ferrari 360, 550, 575, Porsche GT2 and GT3, Corvette C5R, Viper, Lister Storm, Mosler and Saleen S7. And if all this isn’t enough (and really, when is enough truly enough?), just have a chat with their software team and they’ll create custom tracks and cars for you. Just in case your current house isn’t up to snuff, they’ve partnered with interior design firms in 7 major US cities to help create the ideal racing lounge (their example concepts include a racing lounges, pit crew corner, and club area as part of one installation).

So suit up and get in the cockpit. If anyone gives you any flak, tell them you’re in training.

Meet the Seitz 6×17 Digital panoramic camera. This is the world’s only 6×17 digital panorama camera, meaning that it basically eliminates any limits on high definition photography. It can capture 160 million pixels in one second and its minimum exposure speed is 1/2000 of a second. This also means it’s images are 80 times the resolution of your iPhone photos. It can handle all of the world’s top large-format lenses, has full 16-bit per channel color depth, and works seamlessly with an included tablet PC for image control, display, and storage. Even if you don’t want to use the tablet PC, the Seitz 6×17 comes with a 640×480 pixel color LCD screen which is the biggest camera screen in the world and allows perfect preview, editing, zooming and image control. The body is cut from a solid block of aluminum with machining tolerances at 1/100 of a millimeter, meaning that it can crush your Blackberry in every sense of the word.

Each Seitz camera is hand-made in Switzerland and unique. So go on and fork over the roughly $40,000 for the full studio set-up; it’s about time that someone actually started posting GOOD pictures on Facebook.

With a remote control that fits in your plaid pants, it easily climbs hills and basically walks itself to the next hole all while looking super chic.  Controllable from more than 50 feet away, it has a stabilizer and glides over the rough on magnesium alloy wheels.  Powered by an enhanced version of NASA-derived software and it’s lithium battery, the F1 can outlast many golfers, reportedly able to keep going for more than 27 holes before needing recharging.  

As a double added bonus you won’t have to buy a gas guzzler to haul it around, it folds up nicely and will fit in the tiny trunk of your Porsche.  

Available in 7 colors, (red is my personal favorite), and a tricked out matching golf bag, who needs that chatty caddy!

In addition to the nail clipper and file (a must have for any fashionista or trophy girlfriend), the mineral crystal magnifier came in handy on last week’s exotic expedition.  

This record holding gadget also includes a fiber optic tool holder, a double cut wood saw with ruler, telescopic pointer, fish scaler and functions that can’t be mentioned in print for fear of breaking national security rules.  

It’s everything you need to survive a world threat or the urban jungle you call home.  It’s listed $1400 on the company website.  Go ahead, live dangerously.

Enter Jeremy Kipnis who has re-imagined the in-home theater experience by creating a complete immersion in the sights, sound and even the thundering feel of a movie.

His Kipnis Studio Standard is hand-crafted using a non-perforated laboratory grade motion picture screen that has a slight curvature for even illumination; increased light output for more realistic images and true color fidelity as well as a full range surround audio system that creates sound so realistic that the range from the most spectacular cinematic explosion to a pop corn kernel hitting the imported carpet can be heard in exacting proportion. You might think you’re actually in the movie.

Created simply because Kipnis wanted to see what was possible to achieve, the studio comes in three sizes, Gamma (small), Beta (medium) and Alpha (large) and will set you back anywhere between $3 to $6 million. If you are trying to sell your film to those jaded studio execs, this might be the next thing you tap into your dwindling trust fund to purchase. And really, how much is it worth to cement your name as a brilliant Hollywood mogul? A small price to pay to make them really like you.

And the coolest part? He uses Creston Automation Systems so all studio components are controllable from your iPhone.

The idea of sipping dirty martinis as we watch dolphins swim by sounds like the perfect date. And think of the grand entrance you could pull off at Cannes? Exiting from the top hatch of the sub in your stunning red carpet ready gown should get your photo in People magazine. Because of the handy top hatch you never even have to touch the water.

The SportSub can provide between two to six people unobstructed visibility of sea life just below the waves and on the ocean floor. A Depth Control System provides auto-hover and auto-target capabilities that allow it to maneuver like a helicopter – up, down, forward, backward, and sideways. You can even take your hands off the controls (mixing martinis, fastening the gown) and the auto-hover feature automatically holds the sub at your current depth.

The company also makes a Surveillance sub, originally designed for the Barcelona Olympics, that can operate in total black out conditions (hey, another use for your night vision goggles) so your personal security team can keep the waters in front of your Malibu home free from pesky amphibious paparazzi.

SportSubs can be tucked on the aft deck of your mega yacht and we know that a certain bachelor Crown Prince recently purchased one in yellow. Don’t ask us about our sources, we’ll never give them up.

Enter Bob Hofmann and the Bonefire, the “next generation of fire flaunting devices.” Available for public purchase now, the Bonefires are handcrafted, personal recreational flamethrowers ranging from 48” to 74” inches long (you know full well which model we recommend). Built out of polished aluminum, brass, and stainless steel, these devices are actually really cool-looking, like some sort of fantastic steampunk contraption. They run on propane so you can fill them up at your local gas station, which means you can avoid the hassle of tracking down napalm.

And now for the fun: you can control the flame, and depending on your technique, you can generate small bursts, smoke rings, or even “rattle some windows and possible your neighbors” with a 20-foot blast of fire. And while our lawyers would never let us advocate using the Bonefire in the situations mentioned above, Hofmann has some excellent suggestions on his website (one such gem: “A great ceremonial torch that could add a new dimension to your next wedding…”).

The seventy-four-inch version is a steal at $1,150 and since it “still fits in the mini-van with no problem” (once again in Hofmann’s own eloquent words), it’s sure to keep the home fires burning.

Allegedly, that type of driving will set off radar alarms in cop cars up and down the coast, but they can’t see him, so they can’t catch him.   While MI4M can’t condone this type of activity, we applaud the jackass with the balls to try it.

The NOTG2 is special opps commercial quality commando-style night vision unit. The NOTG2, with a comfortable head mount, has a built-in infrared illuminator that allows use in complete darkness and (hey mom!) with out hands! If you must try this absurbly dangerous activity, these goggles will set you back about $2100.  Plus the sports car.