There's lots to like about the Gyration Ultra R4000 remote control. First and foremost, there's the sweet gesture-sensing technology that the company's known for, letting you wave the remote like a wand to control your gear. While that may not come in handy so much for regular TV watching, the remote's meant to stand in for your mouse, too, so you could use it to, say, move the cursor with your gestures to aim your clicking (though be careful of any Wiimote-ish mishaps). Second, you get a mini LCD screen (fast becoming a standard feature on universal remotes), letting you do stuff like browse your PC's music playlists right on your remote. A scrollwheel and left- and right-clicking buttons help to simulate the mouse experience.

Looking closer (click on the pic to see the remote up close), there's a mail icon down on the bottom row, which must be some kind of e-mail-checking function. Really, finding a reason to get up out of your chair will probably be the biggest challenge using this thing. The price, $200, seems a little high at first, but considering it uses both RF and infrared technology, meaning you don't even have to be in the same room as your gear, it has enough tricks to justify its price tag. Watch for the Ultra R4000 this fall. — Peter Pachal

Gyration, via SlashGear and Digital50.com