Pocket Power

Vodka martinis and women are readily available if you know the right places to look. But the general lack of international hoodlums in your life doesn't mean your gizmos shouldn't class up as well. Here are some (legal) gadgets you can enjoy without having to sign up for the secret service.

We don’t endorse illicit video-taking, but the Muvi Micro DV Camcorder is certainly up to the task. As one of the smallest DV camcorders in the world at 55mm, a 2 mega pixel recording quality isn’t half bad. The videos are stored in AVI format on an included 2GB Micro SD memory card. If you find yourself in a position where the use of your hands is compromised, the camcorder also features a voice-activated start/stop function.   

 £79.99 ($168.40) from www.gadgets.co.uk

Jabra Clipper

Bluetooth headsets tend to look like jazzed up hearing aids, so if you’d like something stylish and discreet, the Jabra Clipper gives you just that. Weighing a mere 20 grams and measuring 5cm in length, the clip connects wirelessly to a Bluetooth-enabled phone and mp3 player and is compatible with any pair of 3.5mm earphones, though it already comes with its own noise-cancelling ear buds. Its unique selling point is the ability to answer calls while listening to music, as incoming calls will automatically override the current song played, so you’ll never have a reason to miss a mission, uh, business call again.

$78 from Challenger and EpiCentre stores

It’s happened to the best of us: Sitting at a table with a group of friends who are discussing some much debated issue which you have no inkling of. So instead of playing along and upping the chances of being found out, excuse yourself and get a quick lowdown on just about anything with the WikiReader. Three buttons and a touch screen will give you access to Wikipedia’s 3 million topics and it doesn’t require an internet connection. Software updates are free as well, and just two AAA batteries should give you enough power to use it for a year. It’s about the size of a deck of cards, making it perfect for bluffing your way out of any situation.

US$99 ($135.80) from www.thewikireader.com

USB memory sticks are small. That’s a given. But it also means they’re easily lost. But when they look as good as the ones offered by Bissol, you’ll want to keep it close. It’s currently one of the smallest 4GB USB memory sticks around, measuring 28.9mm by 12.4mm and only 2.2mm thick. It’s available in 24k gold plated brass and electroless nickel coated brass (it’s silver). It’s not going to shoot lasers or disarm security alarms but its small size and mighty fine design allows for the “discreet movement of private information”. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.  

US$238 ($326.45) from www.bissol.com

FlexiSPY Pro-X App

Easily the most invasive phone app ever created, the FlexiSPY Pro-X brings mobile snooping to levels just a line tap away from a lawsuit. It allows you to install the software onto another phone without letting onto the owner that it’s in there, and then the fun begins. Listen in on live phone calls, listen in on the phone’s surroundings, track the person via GPS, access text and call histories and so on. All for the sake of protecting your children or catching a cheating spouse. Or so they say.

€250 ($453) from http://utilities.flexispy.com

Available for iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile