Fresh from French designers La Tete Au Cube comes this hi-tech doormat, which does many things to a person's crib.

For starters, it says "Beware Of The Nerd" in a fairly charming way. It will show you to your door no matter how many Flaming Sambucas/microdots/spliffs you've had the (mis)fortune to consume on your travels. Door(mat) tax is $110 and you'll need a couple of AA batteries to make the little green men strut their spacey stuff outside your door. – Ad Dugdale

Product Page [Charles & Marie via UberReview]

Bad pun, I know, but I couldn't resist. We've already reported on the TomTom and Garmin cellphone rumors earlier this week. And now here comes some more news that makes the rumors about the SatNavvers wanting to multi-task seem even more likely.

Mike Goodenough, from the UK office of Route 66, has been quoted as saying that "Nokia's goal is to be at the top of navigation." Route 66 is, of course, the company that puts the GPS software on Nokia 6610s. And it won't just be Nokia's top-end cells that will be getting GPS—even Nokia's pay-as-you-go phones are expected to have the chips in them. –Ad Dugdale

Soon all Nokias will have a GPS Chip [NaviGadget]

Wash away your dark side every morning with a Darth Vader Molded Coffee Mug, and let's hope there's not a tear in the space/time continuum because you're eating cookies out of this Shock Trooper Cookie jar at the same time. It'll work fine—we're all a combination of good and evil, anyway. Darth's molded plastic coffee mug is $17.95, and the ceramic 12-inch-tall shock trooper cookie jar will cost you $49.99. –Charlie White

Shock Trooper Cookie Jar [Star Wars shop, via Red Ferret ]
Darth Vader Molded Coffee Mug [PCNews]

What will those packaging geniuses think of next? The VIZCap is their latest flight of fancy, a bottle cap that stores vitamins and fizzies away from that liquid, high and dry so they won't lose any of their potency.

When you're ready to quaff that revitalizing energy drink in all its vitamin supplement/herbal glory, push down on the cap and those dry ingredients are released into the liquid below, effervescing and/or dissolving their little hearts out. It'll be enough commotion to really make it seem like something big and curative is happening.

The VIZCap's creators, a cryptically named group calling itself AFGL, say they're "taking on the behemoth beverage industry," apparently hoping to sell their bottle caps to those evil megacorporations by calling them names. Good luck, guys. – Charlie White

Product Page [AFGL]

Samsung has confirmed that its BD-UP5000 Duo HD will ship sometime before Christmas, ending speculation that it would join LG in supporting both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs in the same player. (Shot at right is current Samsung Blu-ray player, but case design should be similar.)

By doing this, the two Korean powerhouses are taking a lot of the juice away from single-format developers. I mean, come the holidays, would you rather beat up some other shopper for the last Blu-ray player or the last dual-disc player at the Best Buy?

Perhaps it's no surprise to you that it was one of the format-agnostic studios, Warner Home Video, who first came forth with a pat on the back:

"We welcome Samsung's Duo HD player as another solution in the marketplace that will help reduce consumer confusion and buyer hesitancy towards HD media," said Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video. "This is an innovative product that can move us closer to mainstream consumer adoption of HD technologies."

Sanders did not add, "This also means you can buy a Blu-ray and HD DVD disc of every movie we release!" But you know he was thinking it. –Wilson Rothman

SAMSUNG Electronics to Release Duo Hd Player [Samsung]

This cellphone concept, designed by Dennis Hopkins, has been given the most awful name—considering its femme-friendly design. It's called The Intruder—probably something to do with UFOs which, judging by Dennis' website, seem to have influenced his idea.

Just 2.5 inches in diameter, the Intruder is just one-third of an inch thick when closed. Open it up and a 220 x 176 pixel display swivels out from the center section, giving you a 5-inch-long handset. A rather fabulous circular ray of light emanates from the phone when it rings.

The rather mysterious website isn't giving away any clues as to the technology, but who cares? It's quite cute, but it reminds me more of a powder compact, that rather outmoded cosmetic that only grannies seem to possess, than a UFO. Of course, we women always have seen the world differently than men. –Ad Dugdale

Product Page [Intruder via SciFi Tech]

The latest products in Creative's XFi series, the Xdock and Xmod wireless, have seen the light of day in Japan. A step on from last year's MP3 enhancer, as well as improving sound quality, the Xmod, which uses Creative's XFi Crystalize technology, will wirelessly transmit music from your iPod to your speakers. Simply connect one box to the USB port of your computer and the other to the speakers.

The dock is fourth-gen iPod- (and first/second gen nano-) compatible and, again, connects to your PC via USB, but it won't transmit images via wireless. Expect to pay $250 for the wireless, available in May, and $208 for the dock, which should be around later this month. There's a gallery below if you want to see more. – Ad Dugdale

Creative, radio USB audio "Xmod Wireless" [PC Watch]