Diving directors: Everything about jumping out of an aircraft is a memorable experience, so filming the experience is a must. Skydivers have new opportunities to express their creativity thanks to Elmo Japan and its new SUV-Cam Professional, out March 26. The unit consists of a distinctly small camcorder head, which looks like a long thin camera lens, connected to a separate recorder unit with a 2.2-inch LCD display. The camera records video in MPEG4 format on SD and SDHC cards. The Lithium Ion battery allows for a continuous recording time of up to 2 1/2 hours, or five hours of playback. The waterproof camera head can be attached to motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles and other means of extreme recreational activities, beyond a skydiving helmet. The recording unit is set to be sold for ¥84,000 with the camera head slated to go for ¥31,500 and more details can be found at their Web site

Roof gazing: Big cities like Tokyo have many attractions, pure night skies for star gazing are not among them. Countering that is a home planetarium, a small device that projects images of the stars onto your ceiling, a kind of small-scale substitute for the real thing that at least means you no longer fret over cloudy nights. Sega Toys has just released a far more economic version of its HomeStar home planetarium. Looking like a big plastic black, white or even blue egg on a stand, the "HomeStar Pure" can project 10,000 stars onto your ceiling. You can rotate the projection to show different star positions and it gives a 25-degree view. Operating on four AA batteries, the portable gazer costs ¥9,975, check it out at: www.segatoys.co.jp

Obsolescent becomes modern: Owners of LPs have typically had to either replicate their collection in CDs, or scrounge the outlying regions of electrical retailing for record players. A third option is to reproduce your LPs as digital files fit for the latest modern age. Sony is offering the PS-LX300USB turntable to do the job. The device can be connected to a computer via USB. Then you can copy tracks from your LPs to your computer, mix and match them at will before storing them as digital files. The turntable is set for April 15 release with a pricetag of ¥28,350. Details on Sony's Web site