Granted, solar chargers are just about everywhere these days, but how about one that doesn’t cost upwards of $100 and can still jack in to all of your mobile goodies? Get excited for the FreeLoader Solar Charger, able to soak up the power of the sun and store it for up to 3 months in a pack small enough to fit in your pocket. Whether you’re off the grid completely or just absentminded and in need of a power kick, a solar charger is one step up from an emergency battery since you’ll still not need an outlet when even that winds down — just pray for clear skies.

The lightweight aluminum FreeLoader unfolds to reveal two solar panels and comes with a USB charging cable, plus eleven standard adapters for your major cell phone, digital camera, PDA, GPS, and MP3 gadgets — and if the standard set doesn’t fit your device, there are extra accessories available to fill out your set (like an iPod adapter — now you can take long roadtrips and not worry about running out of tunes after 8 hours). Available for $49.95 from firebox.com, the FreeLoader is a great add to your power arsenal without breaking the bank.

Crocs are one of those seriously divisive brands — you either love ‘em or hate ‘em, but either way you fall you’re probably going to laugh when your dad shows up for dinner at a nice restaurant wearing black socks and bright blue Crocs. And now they’re releasing the perfect accessory for that fashion-blind weirdo in your life: a matching Crocs Cell Phone Case.

Because why not.

With all the crazy colors and jibbitz (we actually had to look that one up) standard to the Crocs line, the new cases are expected to hit the market on May 1. No word on pricing, but if you’ve already thrown down for a pair of shoes you’ll probably be ok with the pricepoint for the case.

Heads up, Apple — there’s a new cowboy in town, and its name is Ripserver. Taking an Apple-ish design nod for all things sleek and shiny, this new unit (set to officially release on March 1 but available for pre-order now) lets you store, rip and serve in one tight little package. With an aim to make the process of ripping all of your CDs as simple as possible, Ripserver is a true standalone piece of conversion storage — no monitor, no keyboard, just plug the unit into your network connection and your files are at your fingertips, quickly converted by inserting your CDs into the slot loading drive for a full disc rip in minutes (you can even adjust the MP3 options to set your own bit rate).

The embedded operating platform runs on Linux with an integrated UPnP server and USB access for direct access from computer to peripheral and back again. Ripserver is available in two different storage sizes — both 500GB and 1TB — and is compatible with any media player or device that can network share. Reserve yours now for £599 - £699 directly from the manufacturer’s website.

Merging a great love for imported beers and a delight in confounding friends, the Pop Up Bottle Opener is a surefire way to throw one more wacky looking gadget into your kitchen that’ll impress your guests. Designed by Giovanni Alessi Anghini, the opener seems like nothing more than a stainless steel egg sitting on your countertop til you plunk it atop your capped bottle and press down — the interior workings transform that pressure to mechanically lift the cap from the bottle and hold it tight with a magnet, thus magically lifting free of the bottle with the cap seemingly disappeared. We’re a sucker for fantastically functioning design, and this doesn’t fail to disappoint. Available for pre-order at Unica for $47.

While the world soldiers on to treat and purify our tap water, let’s face it — they’re not doing a real bang-up job. If they were, we’d all still be drinking straight from the faucet instead of mounting water filters and buying bottled H20. But you’ve noticed the difference, don’t like the way that tap water looks or tastes, and have decided to do right by your body and consume the cleanest water possible. Here’s the thing: your hair and skin are just as delicate as the rest of you and would LOVE the same level of TLC.

The Wellness Shower Filter is touting itself as an “anti-aging shower system”, but that’s not the real selling point: it’s that the same sort of system you’ve got hanging from your kitchen sink can now take out all of the harsh toxins from your shower, too — the chlorine, harsh metals and free radicals that dry out your skin and can even cause breakouts. The filter even goes one better by putting a little love back IN to the water — utilizing rare volcanic minerals, water is effectively “softened” and can help contribute to a more hydrating experience by increasing the residual moisture content of your skin and hair. Plus this purified water contributes to reducing the bacteria and fungal growth in your shower, so it may even speed up your bathroom cleaning. At $249 it’s a bit of an investment, but for healthy skin — and maybe a few less bottles of moisturizing lotion in your lifetime — it seems a decent trade off.

Calling all big kids: have you ever been jealous of the kids zipping around on those shoes with the hidden wheel in the sole? Cursed the shoemaking gods for not thinking to extend the same favors to adult sized sneakers? You’re not alone.

Dualeez, evidently a company full of kids-at-heart, have built these Mutli-LED Strap-On Skates to leave a blaze of color as you skate around the quad/office/grocery store/wherever. No batteries required (it’s all magnetic flashing-light technology), the pair of skates easily strap to the heel of your sneakers adjusting to fit your shoe, and are quickly put on/removed so you can throw them into your bag once you’ve had your fun. With two wheels on either side of your heel you’ll enjoy a little more stability than those poor kids with only a single wheel in the center, but mind your balance (and your toes!) to avoid a full-force faceplant. Available from Glow Authority for CAN$39.95.

Thanks, internet, for giving in that special way that only you can do. In a short break from fun buys, let’s take a look at what our future gadget inventors are up to these days. Remember the Science Fair? Solar system dioramas, spurting volcano models, and lots of construction paper… but these days, seems the kids are digging a little deeper to find out the big truths, like:

Crystal Meth: Friend or Foe?
What’s My Dog’s Favorite Color
Garlic: the Silent Killer
Fat Man to Mars
and… wait for it… EXTREME WOOD

Shake your head for yourself over at photobasement.com.

Sometimes the most ridiculously drawn out arguments come over the silliest things — like what to eat. Every week or so, after the long workdays have beaten us down, my friend will dig into the sidetable drawer and fan out all of the delivery menus with a sigh and ask “so what do you want?” And so it begins, the battle to find the menu that’ll please everyone’s appetite. Why not just throw the decision to chance? This little aluminum die can settle all of these big grumbly tummy questions with a quick roll, landing on either pasta, chinese, mexican, sushi, burgers or pizza (that covers all of the biggies, doesn’t it?). And then no one can be grumpy about not getting what they really wanted because, hey, it was out of your hands, the dice decided! Hilariously yours for $8.

When your parents first taught you how to ride a bike, I bet they also showed you how to swing your arm out to indicate that you were about to make a turn, right? And even though there are actual laws on the books that require bike riders to make these moves while riding in traffic, I can’t tell you the last time I actually saw someone do it. Why? A) it’s kind of a pain in the ass, let’s be honest, and B) if you’re about to make a fast tight turn, do you really want to give up one of your arms and risk losing control of the bike? Heck no. So you keep zipping on and pray that nothing jumps out at you or a car suddenly decides to zig when you zag.

Easy fix: Bicygnals, detachable magnetic lights that fix to your handlebar and under your saddle that’ll tell everyone in traffic just where you’re headed. The signal switches are located right beside your handlebar shifters, so doing the right thing is as easy as pushing a button. Each set (front and back LED displays) require 4 AA batteries, with an option to use the front headlight and rear red indication in full beam or flashing mode. And when you’re not on the road, the kit comes with a compact carrying case so you can throw it in your bag and not worry about leaving the lights on your bike. All in all, this genius set is a must-have for any city or night riders, and is ready to order now for £39.95.

Digital may have killed the instant camera, but don’t count Polaroid out of the game just yet — as the dirt’s being packed over their legendary instant film, the company’s rolling out a new twist with the Polaroid Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer. Able to connect to both your phone and digital camera (via Bluetooth and USB, respectively), the pocket-sized printer whips out borderless stick-back 2×3″ prints in 60 seconds that are smudge-proof, water and tear resistant. Which reads a little ho-hum til you get to the interesting part: there’s no ink cartridge involved. The magic in the box? ZINK technology — which stands for Zero Ink — breaks through the ink barrier with 100 patents to deliver a special printing paper, an advanced composite material with 100 billion embedded cyan, magenta an yellow dye crystals that are activated via heat pulses to deliver the final printed picture. Talk about bonkers.

No word on pricing (their online shop hasn’t even got the product listed yet), but keep your eyes peeled for this one.