Although it looks like a futuristic ashtray, this slick-looking item from designer Jacob Jensen is actually kind of the opposite — a smoke alarm. Beyond just giving your domicile some high-tech cred, the $150 alarm is "intelligent," with a microprocessor performing daily checks on the air to make sure its optical sensors are never out of whack. The best feature is probably the red button in the middle, which tells the alarm to chill out by notching down its sensitivity for 10 minutes so you can broil a steak without causing a panic. Why isn't that standard on all smoke detectors? — Peter Pachal

Optical Smoke Alarm, via Gizmodo