trueCall [sic] is a pretty cool way of avoiding nuisance phone calls while still letting through people you want to speak to.

It plugs into your phone line and screens all incoming calls. You tell it the numbers of your friends, family and other people who you want to speak to. Those phone numbers always ring like they did before, so no change there.

You can also put in a “zaplist” of numbers you never want to hear from. trueCall intercepts these calls and plays callers a message saying you don’t want to speak to them – without your phone ringing.

For those who dislike “number withheld” calls you can automatically block those too.

That’s neat enough, but there’s more:

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We covered The Games Room company a couple of days ago for those that want to create a classy, stylish nostalgic look in the games room.

If, on the other hand you grew up with Wargames then you’ll probably be more interested in Liberty Games, who’ll exchange some of your heard earned cash for original arcade consoles.

Prices start from around £2000 for a reconditioned Virtua Cop 3 (pictured) but if you want to start your own arcade they can also provide you with motion simulators. Sweet!

Myself, I have slightly smaller ambitions. I like the idea of a 28” widescreen MAME cabinet in the corner…

I’ve seen many smaller rooms converted into home offices and inevitably when you do that the bed has to go. That’s fine, until you want to put a friend up for the night. Then you realise you could really have used the sleeping space!

The StudyBed is a nice solution to this problem. It looks like a regular desk holding a regular PC monitor (or laptop, or whatever). What you don’t see is the bed built into the unit, which pulls down in an instant to turn the office into a sleeping space.

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I have to admit I’m a sucker for 50’s nostalgia and nothing symbolises that like an original Coca Cola vending machine.

The Games Room Company offer a large selection of games from pool tables to vintage pinball machines, but the thing that caught my attention was the “furnishings” section of the website.

This original (but refurbished) vintage vending machine will set you back a cool £6600 – then again, if it’s going in a room with a nice pool table and an authentic pinball machine I guess you don’t need to worry too much about the cost!

To complete the picture you’ll need some tunes, so in keeping with the Americana theme allow me to suggest the Rock Ola CD jukebox – perfect for that basement bar you always wanted to create!

Now all I need is the house to build the games room in…

Walking around the Ideal Home show yesterday I came across Message in a bottle tucked away in a quiet corner. They have a neat take on the recycling theme, by flattening glass bottles and turning them into clocks and cheeseboards.

All their products are made from recycled drinks bottles, heated in a furnace and melted just enough to be flattened while retaining the original texture and shape. The original labels (removed before the process, obviously) are then re-applied to make a unique clock or cheeseboard.

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Is it just me or is this aeroplane shaped cake tin strangely reminiscent of an Airfix kit before you build it?  OK so a cake tin isn’t exactly high tech but you have to admit it’s pretty cool if a little odd. 

Someone over at I want one of those.com obviously agrees with me as they’ve just added this little marvel to their website.  So with Easter just around the corner it just could be the perfect present for that aircraft obsessed friend of yours.

On first glance these new TV stands from Sony appear to be just that – a piece of furniture to keep your TV off the floor.

Look a little deeper though and you discover a neat secret – the stands conceal a surround sound amplifier and surround speaker rig.

There are multiple models in the range to suit different budgets and TV sizes – the RHT-G950 (pictured) can hold up to 46” TVs, has 470W of amplification on tap and conceals 5 speakers and a sub inside the cabinet. There are also versions to hold larger (up to 55”) and smaller TVs.

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Is it me or does The Stig look a little like a Cylon with the whole red visor thing going on? Anyway if you want to wake up to your favourite Top Gear test pilot, Play.com are advertising this “Stig” themed projection alarm clock. No details are available as yet, they’re taking pre-orders for release in June. So all we know is that it’s an alarm clock, it’s in the shape of the Stig and it projects.

[found, bizarrely enough, via OhGizmo who are in Canada. Guess TG really does have a global audience!]

Need an environmentally sound talking point for your patio? Well perhaps this lamp is just what you’ve been waiting for.

This novel design is an alternative to the usual run of the mill solar lighting solutions. It gets its power from a wind generator, powered by a sailcloth propeller . According to Dutch design house Demakersvan the propeller generates power in the lightest of breezes meaning it can continue to charge the on-board batteries even after the sun has set.

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This unusual garden parasol brings gadgetry to the garden. Okay so it’s a little early to be thinking about sitting on the deck watching the sunset, but we need something to get us through the long winter nights!

It’s solar powered, obviously, with 24 white LEDs on the spokes of the parasol and a central white LED spotlight at the top of the pole. The parasol is just short of 2.5 meters high and measures 3 meters across, so it should cover most tables.

Not too unusual so far but now enter the built in FM radio with an audio input for your favourite MP3 player. So now I can look forward to long evenings in the garden with a drink and my favourite music wafting from the parasol.

Roll on Summer!

Available from The Special Collection for £124 plus delivery.