Six amazing Chinese gadgets

Gadgets are cool, many people like these funny gadgets. Though China is often accused of not being innovative enough, but here are six china gadgets that put that myth to the sword.

1. Qihoo 360 Kids Guard 2

 According to the Chinese company Qihoo, more than 500,000 Chinese families already use the Kids Guard, a watch that allows parents to track their kids on their mobile phones.

Version two of the watch, a cute colourful silicon band designed not to irritate young skin, sold out instantly. As well as the GPS tracker, it also boasts an alert for when a child moves out of a pre-set range, and the ability to listen in for ten seconds to a microphone on the watch to hear where your child might have got to.

2. Beautiful Image 2 mobile phone

Can your mobile phone make you more attractive? Chinese mobile phone maker Meitu (Beautiful Image) is selling a ￡220 to ￡299 Android smartphone for vain selfies. Armed with a twin flash and a 13 megapixel camera, the phone automatically processes pictures to remove freckles, soften lighting, improve skin colour and add shine to the eyes.

3. The briefcase unicycle

 Popping up all over China's big cities are these briefcase-sized unicycles.

Stabilised with a gyroscope, commuters can carry their unicycle on the train or metro, then simply fold down the footrests on either side, step on and whizz the rest of the way to work. The top speed is around 12mph and cheap models cost around ￡180.

4. Quitbit smart lighter

 Not invented by the Chinese, but developed in a hardware development studio in the southern city of Shenzhen, the Quitbit lighter aims to help smokers cut down simply by telling them how many cigarettes they have had in the day. Your daily count shows on the side of the lighter and a detailed analysis is sent to your smartphone.

"Trying to cut back your smoking without tracking is like trying to lose weight without a scale," the company says.

5. Smart Plug 2

Why not put your electricity sockets to better use? Chinese companies are racing to make smart plugs, with this incarnation offering a dizzy array of add-ons. The plug can monitor batteries as they charge, cutting off electricity when they are full. It has USB sockets for charging phones. You can turn the socket on and off with your phone. You can connect it to a camera to monitor the house, and it has a sensor that can turn on a light for you if it detects you getting out of bed at night.

6. The EStar Holographic Smart Phone

3D smartphones are being developed around the world, but this is China's version. Using the front camera to monitor the eye movements of its user, the four camera Takee phone creates a 3D picture that looks, according to the manufacturer, like a holograph. The phone can also take record 3D images using its back cameras that can be printed out using a 3D printer. A snip at ￡360.