A look at hot new gadgets

It's the first scanner mouse - a handy gadget recently announced by LG that lets you scan text, photos and other data to your computer and to the cloud. It has optical character resolution that converts text into Microsoft Word or Excel. It's real time, showing the image of what you're scanning on your computer screen as you drag the mouse across the page you're scanning. It scans up to A3 paper size or you can scan just a section of sheet of paper. There's as well real time sharing so you can send your scanned work via email SMS, Facebook and Twitter. Scan into online storage apps like Evernote and Dropbox or capture business cards to be sorted straight into your contacts in Microsoft Outlook, Google contacts or others. www.lg.com

Pedestal proved so popular when it

This sleek looking stand that puts your iPad or Android tablet exactly according to instructions on a pedestal proved so popular when it was released recently that it sold out however more are due to be available in March. Coming in black, white or stainless steel, they can put used on anything from a conference table to your kitchen counter to prop up your tablet, letting you view it from just about any angle with an 'iOsphere' that rotates it on the stand. Its base is weighted and a magnet clamps your tablet to the stand, using metal rings called iOdapts that come with the stand. You can set it up in landscape or portrait mode and swivel it to any angle you like. iOmounts as well makes a smaller version, the iOmini at $70, for smartphones. iomounts.com