In the category of gadgets we can't believe were invented only last year comes GE's IntelliCorder, a motion-sensitive peephole camera (disclosure: GE owns SCI FI). It's less like a surveillance system and more like an answering machine for your front door. It can't record the thieves sneaking in the side window or crawling across your roof, but it will activate itself and start recording whenever there's motion directly in front of your door. Hello, FedEx guy. The IntelliCorder stores its videos on internal memory (no word on how much) or on an SD card so you can download them to your hard drive and watch them over and over.

This is an old-fashioned solution to a relatively nonexistent problem. There are security systems out there that will e-mail or call you when something's going wrong; with this system you actually have to be there to see what's going on. At $300, it costs twice as much as this similar solar-powered wireless system, plus, if you have a screen/storm door, it won't work at all. — S.E. Kramer

Jasco Products, via Popgadget