It’s winter and it’s cold outside. No way you’re going to take off your gloves or mittens to use your iPhone or Smartphone. We recently showed you a great smartphone compatible glove solution from AGloves that lets you use your phone with your gloves on. However, unlike the capacitive touch screen gloves that have conductive fibers woven into the gloves, Digits Condutive Glove Pins are a less expensive solution that actually convert your existing gloves or mittens into touchscreen compatible gloves.

Digits Conductive Glove Pins work with any pair of gloves or mittens that you already own. With these conductive glove pins, you can easily convert your gloves into smartphone compatible gloves that let you operate touch screen devices without having to take your gloves off.

Here’s how the Digits Conductive Glove Pins Work

Digits conductive glove pins are made of a conductive silicone material and have a metal pin on the back that attach to your glove. To install, you simply place the back side of the conductive pin digit with the post inside of the fingertip of the glove and push through. Then you twist the other side of the silicone pad onto the post.

The Digits Conductive Glove Pins are really easy to install. Each set comes with four conductive glove pins and you can mix and match anyway you want. For example, you could place all four conductive pins on a single pair of gloves. Or you could install two glove pins on the fingers of two separate pairs of gloves.

The Digits Conductive Glove Pins are compatible with most touchscreen devices including iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android phones, and more. Next time you’re outside in the bitter cold and your phone rings, keep your gloves on and skip the frostbite with a set of Digits Conductive Glove Pins!

Available: ThinkGeek

Price: $9.99

There a lots of pedometers to choose from out there, many built into various common devices we all like to carry including digital watches and smartphones. And there are all sorts of different single device dedicated pedometers that you can hold in your hand or strap onto your wrist. But the problem with almost all of the little portable pedometers is they don’t display much on the screen. If you want to get the full picture, you usually have to scroll through different menus and drill down. That’s simply not convenient when you just want a full picture at a glance.

The Full Screen Pedometer from Hammacher Schlemmer solves this problem with most pedometers. This compact pedometer fits easily into the palm of your hand and displays five key datapoints on the screen at one time. With the Full Screen Pedometer there’s no complex navigation, no need to press multiple buttons to see what’s going on, and no need to drill down into multiple menus to get a quick “at a glance” view.

The Full Screen Pedometer provides the walker or runner a view of “steps walked”, “distance traveled”, “calories burned”, “time elapsed” and “average pace”, all with an easy glance at the backlit LCD display. No need to fumble around  with buttons to scroll through different menus and screens to view the information.

The Full Screen Pedometer simply has one large button on the front panel just below the screen, and that’s all you need to worry about to operate the pedometer. The dimensions are 2 5/8 inches high, by 1 1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch in depth. And the easy to use full screen pedometer weighs only 3 ounces. This is the easiest, quickest and least complicated pedometer you’ll ever use.

Available: Hammacher

Price: $29.95

Vacuum food sealers are a great way to preserve food as much as five times longer than conventional methods of storage such as freezer bags. The key to a vacuum sealing food storage system is the ability to keep the air out and seal the freshness in. The FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer has many advanced features that make this one of the superior vacuum food sealing systems available.

The FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer delivers a convenient and easy to use vacuum food storage system that not only helps you preserve and store your food for much longer in the freezer, it also saves you money. And one of the best advantages of using a vacuum food storage system is preventing freezer burn from ruining your food.

How many times have you purchased that extra quantity of meats, roasts, fish, or steaks with the intention of saving the extras in the freezer. Only to come back several months later and find your frozen meat items have spoiled due to freezer burn. What a big waste!

The FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer will pay for itself in no time when you no longer have to throw away spoiled food that you’ve been trying to save including freezer-burned meats and produce that too easily becomes moldy sitting in your vegetable bin. Not only will the FoodSaver food sealer save you money, your food will taste better when you preserve the freshness and vacuum seal in the flavors.

FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer Features

• Two different speed settings and two sealing levels, ideal for moist or dry foods.
• Unique CrushFree Instant Seal function immediately shuts off the vacuum process to prevent crushing delicate or fragile food items.
• Flat touchpad control panel for easy operation.
• Easy to use lock and latch function.
• Hands-free operation can vacuum seal the food and shut off automatically with a single touch.
• Bag roll storage and cutter built into the unit.
• Includes a double-wide sealing strip for foods with higher liquid content.
• Dishwasher-safe antibacterial drip tray.
• Dimensions: 13-4/5 inches by 18-2/7 inches by 6 inches.
• One year limited warranty.

FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer Accessories Included

• 11-inch-by-10-foot plastic roll for making custom-size bags.
• FoodSaver plastic bags – 3 quart size.
• FoodSaver plastic storage bags – 2 gallon size.
• Accessory hose with storage clips.
• Compartment to store writing pen for dating and labeling bags.
• Quick-start and reference guide.
• Instructional DVD.

Look, food is getting more expensive every day. And with a tough economy out there, getting the most out of your food budget is more important than ever. Stop wasting food that spoils in the freezer or refrigerator and make the smart money-saving move with a FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer.

Available: Amazon

Price: $91.83

We’ve featured baby monitors in the past at Mint Gadgets, but there are so many advancements in wireless and streaming video technology including a host of expanded functionality available in the latest baby monitors, we want to bring you up to date. The Motorola Digital Baby Monitor is a perfect example of the improvements and new features you’ll find in today’s baby monitors.

If you’re new parents or you want to upgrade your existing baby monitor device, the latest baby monitor products make this a perfect time to jump in. Baby Monitors are all about providing the reassurance that your baby is resting comfortably without having to jump up and check on your baby every fifteen minutes. After all, you need to get some rest too!

You’ll be impressed with the design of the Motorola Digital Baby Monitor and all the useful features and functions this advanced baby monitor offers. First, the Motorola MBP33 Digital Baby Monitor is equipped with 2.4GHz FHSS technology to improve the audio capability and provide the clearest sound possible. The 2.4GHz FHSS technology is vastly improved, more reliable wireless technology compared to the previous 900MHz systems.

And how about 2-way remote communication that lets you talk or sing to your baby remotely. You can also use the two-way audio to speak with a partner in the room. Now that’s pretty helpful! The monitor also has 5 LEDs that display the level of sound activity in your baby’s room. This gives you an additional quick “at a glance” view of what’s going on with your baby.

Security is important too. With the wireless devices in your home, that last thing you want to do is start broadcasting a real-time video feed of your baby all over the neighborhood. The Motorola Digital Baby Monitor employs full data encryption to keep your wireless baby monitor signals completely private and secure.

If you have a larger home, you’ll also appreciate the the Motorola MBP33 monitor’s 200 meter range. That’s almost 2 football fields in length, plenty of range for even the largest home. And if that’s not enough distance, the monitor is also equipped with an “out of range” warning so you can move around the house or outside yard and never be concerned that you might be missing or losing the monitor signal.

The Motorola Digital Baby Monitor has a room temperature sensor that displays the temperature in your baby’s room on the monitor’s LCD display. Now it’s easy to check at a glance if it might be too hot or too cold in your child’s room. And the digital baby monitor can also take still digital pictures and that come in handy as well.

Parents really love the the polyphonic audio playback that can play five built-in lullabies to help lull your baby to  sleep. Look, no one is saying you can replace mom’s soothing lullabies, but what if mom doesn’t always feel like singing? Dad’s definitely appreciate the built-in lullabies when mom is trying to get some sleep herself. Pretty cool, don’t you think?

With the Motorola Digital Baby Monitor you’ll be making the best choice to conveniently, easily and securely monitor your baby, the ideal baby monitor solution parents and caregivers.

Available: Amazon

Price: $169.90

Binoculars are fantastic tools for viewing remote objects up close, especially when you’re outdoors observing nature. And high-end binoculars have great optics so you can expect really sharp high quality images. So let me ask you, what would be more convenient and useful than the ability to actually record HD video with your binoculars as you’re viewing up close?

Well, now you can actually do just this with the Sony DEV5 Digital Recording Binoculars, the first digital recording binoculars able to capture full 1920x by 1080x 3D and 2D HD Video.

The remarkable Sony DEV5 Digital Recording Binoculars provide 20x seamless zoom and magnification with a convenient autofocus feature. And the Optical Optical SteadyShot™   helps reduce blur. Now it’s easy to get up close and personal from a distance without disturbing your subject and record video in full 1080 HD at the same time.

The new and revolutionary digital recording binoculars feature two full HD image sensors to capture stunning 3D video as well as 7 megapixel still photo resolution. And 2D video as well, of course. Enjoy the powerful 20x zoom magnification even in 3D mode. With so many uses including  sports events, star gazing, bird watching, observing nature, exploring landscapes, and more, now you have a way to capture brilliant HD video as well. And the cutting edge Sony autofocus technology lets you keep the image in sharp focus no matter what magnification or level of zoom you choose.

The Sony DEV5 Digital Recording Binoculars are equipped with Sony’s “Exmor R” CMOS image sensors that help you achieve breathtaking results even in low-light conditions. And with Sony professional quality optics these digital recording binoculars deliver top-end optical performance producing images and video with vivid, precision color and astounding image detail.

Sony DEV5 Digital Recording Binoculars – Features

• 20x Seamless Zoom with Autofocus
• Full HD 1080p recording
• Exmor R” CMOS image sensors for 2D and 3D image and video capture
• 2-Channel Stereo Mic with Dolby Digital Stereo
• Sony Memory Stick and SD Card Slots
• Optical Image Stabilizer
• Image Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Weight: 2.65 oz.

Experience full 2D and 3D HD video capture with the groundbreaking Sony DEV5 Digital Recording Binoculars.

How many times have you thought to yourself, “if only I could have caught that on camera”. And perhaps you’ve even thought about hiding one of those video cams in the house somewhere in an attempt to catch a baby sitter, a house worker, one of your wayward children, or even a misbehaving spouse you might be suspicious of? Admit it, we all have a little spy in all of us, right?

Well, if you want to perform a little inconspicuous video snooping and catch someone in in the act that you might suspect, then have a look at the Video Surveillance Clock from Hammacher Schlemmer.

The Video Surveillance Clock is a smartly designed, attractive analog clock that has a motion-activated video surveillance camera and microphone built in. In fact, the video camera and microphone are so brilliantly concealed, it’s almost impossible to tell this analog clock is actually a video camera in disguise, no matter how  closely you examine the device.

Go ahead, have a look at the detail picture above, can you tell where the video camera is located? OK, I’ll give you a clue, it’s the small little black dot above the numeral 12. That’s it, pretty well concealed, don’t you think? No one will suspect your attractive clock is actually a video camera taking a picture of them. A very clever undercover spy gadget!

The clock’s camera image sensor is able to capture video at a resolution of 720px by 480px with a viewing angle of 62º at a distance of nine feet away from the object. And the embedded microphone is sensitive enough to pick up sound clearly from 16 feet away.

The Video Surveillance Clock can also take still photographs at a resolution of 1280px by 960px. Videos and images are stored on a 4GB microSD card included with the clock. The storage is sufficient to capture up to six hours of AVI video or hold up to 52,000 JPEG images. The surveillance clock can also support a higher capacity 8 GB microSD card if you need even more storage capacity.

Once you’ve captured videos or images, you can easily download the content to a computer with the included USB 2.0 cable. The lithium batter is also recharged with by attaching the clock to your computer through the USB 2.0 cable. A single 3 hour battery charge provides up to 1 1/2 hours of video recording time.

But remember, this is a motion-controlled camera, so 1 1/2 hours of recording time is actually a lot of start-stop video surveillance time. And the same full charge provides up to 18 months of stand-by-time if no video recording is actually activated. So you don’t have to constantly check on your video surveillance clock to see if the battery charge is still OK.

The Video Surveillance Clock is compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Mac. Dimensions are 2 3/4 inches in diameter with a depth of 3/4 inches, and the clock weighs 3 ounces. The video surveillance clock is definitely the perfect device for inconspicuously monitoring a room or office.

No question, cupcakes are back, the undeniable rage. Who doesn’t love cupcakes, and especially the little mini cupcakes. Maybe we think the little mini cupcakes won’t take as much toll on our waste line, as long as we don’t eat 50 of those little suckers at one time.

And of course, nothing is better than an absolutely fresh, just-made mini cupcake. Now you can enjoy your favorite mini cupcake anytime you want with this handy Mini Cupcake Factory cooking gadget.

Have you ever stopped to consider why cupcakes are so delicious? Well, one reasone is due to the miniature size. The mini cupcake has a higher crust-to-cake ratio which means a larger percentage of outer layer of extra caramelized batter that soaks up a bit more of the oil. Very yummy! Look, this is Mint Gadgets, we have to get a little geeky here.

And with the Mini Cupcake Factory, we’re talking just minutes away to your next batch of fresh, homemade mini cupcakes. If you include the time to mix the batter and heat the cupcake pad, then add in the mere five minutes to cook the cupcakes, it only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish to crank out a nice little yummy batch of fresh mini cupcakes.

This convenient electric mini cupcake pan heats up in minutes and cooks 7 mini-sized cupackes in 5 short minutes.

Mini Cupcake Factory Features

• Bakes scrumptious mini cupcakes or muffins in just 5 minutes
• Easy to clean, non-stick cooking surface has room for 7 mini cupcakes
• You can use any cupcake, cake or store-bought mix
• Use of paper cup wrappers is optional

Watch The Mini Cupcake Factory in Action

You’ll love the Mini Cupcake Factory. Also perfect for the office when you want to please your co-workers with a quick, yummy and friendly cupcake snack.

Available: ThinkGeek

Price: $19.99

If you’re not familiar with spotting scopes, these useful optical devices fall somewhere between binoculars and an astronomical telescope, probably a little closer to a telescope than a binocular. Designed in a more compact and portable form, a spotting scope is optimized for viewing terrestrial objects and has additional optics to present the viewing image right-side-up.Typically, refractor and some reflector telescopes will orient the image upside down and you need an extra attachment called an “erect image prism diagonal” to present the image right-side-up (but usually reversed left-to-right). A “spotting scope” already has this image orientation correcting ability built in.

The Celestron Ultima 100 – 45 Degree Spotting Scope is one of the very best you can buy with superior optics and magnification power. The Celestron Ultima 100 has a 100mm aperture (3.95 inches) which means 50 percent brighter images (allows more light in) that the Celestron 80mm model. The additional light that the larger aperture can collect also means better performance in low light conditions. Spotting scope models more commonly have smaller objective diameters, usually between 50mm and 80mm (2.0 to 3.1 inches) which means less light. The Celestron Ultima 100 has one of the largest objective diameters available.

The Celestron Ultima 100 – 45 Degree Spotting Scope is manufactured with top quality multi-coated optics and housed in a sturdy and durable refractor design. The spotting scope comes with a standard 22x to 66x zoom eyepiece. The high-quality waterproof construction is safe to use in even the most extreme weather conditions. And the convenient, easy-to-use portable scope also comes with a soft protective carrying case.

People use spotting scopes for all kinds of applications including observing nature. Serious bird lovers and outdoor enthusiasts often prefer using a high-quality spotting scope over binoculars for better and more precise remote distance viewing.  Other typical spotting scope applications include target shooting (marksmen use spotting scopes on target ranges to avoid walking to the target to verify the placement of hits), and astronomy.

Celestron Ultima 100 – 45 Degree Spotting Scope Features

• Ultima 22-66 x 100 Refractor Spotting Scope
• Weight: (approximate) 4.50 pounds
• Optical Tube Length: 19 inches
• Magnification: 22x to 66x
• Angular Field of View: 1.8° to 1° Real
• Objective Diameter: 100 mm (3.95 inches)
• Includes a protective soft carrying case
• Waterproof design, protected from the elements in extreme weather conditions
• Eye Relief 18 mm
• Linear Field of View: 95 ft  to 53 ft @ 1000 yards
• 45° viewing angle
• 22-66x zoom eyepiece
• Sight tube for quick targeting
• Camera Adaptable: built-in t-thread on eyepiece allows you to attach a digital camera adapter and use your favorite digital camera with your spotting scope to take spectacular photographs (adapter is optional, not included)
• Tripod Adaptable: has mounting attachment to easily attach a tripod to the spotting scope (tripod not included)
• No fault manufacturer’s warranty

The Celestron Ultima 100 – 45 Degree Spotting Scope has been designed to out-perform the competition in a full range of viewing situations and will provide almost every outdoor enthusiast with a terrific all-around optical instrument.

Available: Buy.com

Here’s a handy digital thermometer gadget that lets you take accurate temperature readings of just about any object or surface by just pointing and aiming with a handheld infrared thermometer gun. Simply aim the Temperature Gun Infrared Thermometer with Laser Sight at the surface or object you wish to measure and take surprisingly accurate temperature readings with the fast registering infrared thermometer.

Temperature Gun Infrared Thermometer with Laser Sight Features

• Accurate temperature readings with this handheld infrared thermometer gun
• Includes a red laser pointer for precision aiming
• Measures temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit (range: -32 to +380 Celsius, -26 to +716 Fahrenheit)
• Auto shut-off and low battery indicator
• Powered by a single 9-volt battery
• Portable, sturdy and light-weight construction, weighs less than 8 ounces

Infrared thermometers can easily cost much more, but at under $20, this temperature gun with laser sight is a steal and works just as well as the more expensive models. These infrared thermometer devices are not meant to be ultra-precision accurate, but for most every application, the temperature gun will get you close enough, usually within 1/2 to 1 degree F of accuracy.

People find all kinds of handy uses for the temperature gun infrared thermometer. You can measure your oven temperature at home, or a commercial oven in a restaurant. Technicians use the infrared thermometer to easily measure the chip and component hot spots inside a computer. Car mechanics can easily point and shoot to take temperature readings on the engine, transmission, exhaust manifold, etc.

If you’re a DIY home repair type, many situations come up around the kitchen applicances, clothes dryer, fireplace, heater and heater ducts where you might need an easy way to measure the temperature. Obviously works just as well for reading the temperature of cold objects as well. For example, how well is your freezer chilling your food items.

The Temperature Gun Infrared Thermometer with Laser Sight is a great addition to anyone’s tool box, and at under $20 it’s easy on the wallet too!

The Fireplace HEPA Vacuum Cleaner from Hammacher Schlemmer is the most effective, safest and healthiest way to clean your fireplace. Cleaning your fireplace with a vacuum cleaner is actually a very convenient way to dispose of all the ashes after you enjoy a nice cozy fire in your fireplace. But there are a couple of reasons why you really don’t want to use your household vacuum cleaner to do this job.

First, the ashes and cinders that remain in your fireplace after a fire can smolder for sometime and present quite a fire hazard. Your household vacuum cleaner is not designed to be fireproof and is really not suitable to cleanup a fireplace.

Second, the ash that remains in your fireplace is very fine particulate matter and will almost certainly clog the filters in your household vacuum cleaner. Furthermore, most vacuum cleaners do not deal well the level of micro-fine particles in ash and will typically allow a lot of ash to escape and disburse airborne throughout your house.

The Fireplace HEPA Vacuum Cleaner solves these problems and won’t recirculate the microscopic particles of ash throughout the air in your home.  This vacuum cleaner’s HEPA filter will safely capture as much as 99.97% of all the airborne particulate matter as small as 1/3000 of a millimeter (we’re talking microscopic particles). The HEPA filter is located on the intake side of the vacuum motor which will prevent the micro-fine and abrasive ash particles from damaging the vacuum or from escaping into the air throughout your house.

Breathing ash particles is simply not healthy for you!

The fireplace HEPA vacuum is equipped with a powerful 800-watt motor that provides plenty of suction power. The ashes are rapidly and safely drawn through the five foot fire-retardant aluminum hose and deposited into the 5 1/4 gallon fire-resistant steel tank. The vacuum lid is easy to detach and makes it easy and convenient to dispose of the ash.

Do keep in mind, even though the Fireplace HEPA Vacuum Cleaner has a fireproof design, to be absolutely safe, you should always try to vacuum cold ash whenever possible. The unit weighs 9 pounds, and is 17 inches high, by 13 inches in diameter.