Review: Oregon Scientific Smart Globe: not just for geographers.

There was a time when I didn't care about what the capital of Tunisia was (it's Tunis). That time was about 11 am yesterday morning, at which time I discovered the Smart Globe from Oregon Scientific. Now my life is marked clearly as Pre-Globe and Post-Globe. 

The Smart Globe is an interactive globe which uses a smartpen to pinpoint areas of the world, after which it can give you all manners of information, from exchange rates to flying times. Did you know that Russia celebrates Christmas twice a year? Nope. Me neither.

There's heaps of fun to be had from the Smart Globe, as soon as you've retrieved it from the packaging, built to withstand all but the most determined type of person.  You then use the smartpen to choose whether you want straight information, (on weather, language, the national anthem or any number of fascinating facts)  to compare two countries (offering flying times, exchange rates, populations or time differences) or to engage in a battle of wills: You vs. The Woman Who Knows Everything.

The globe revolves horizontally and vertically, to ensure you've got easy access to the whole world. Well, the whole globe at least... It also features a pull out tray which has a larger map of the United Kingdom on it, allowing you to play such games as 'how long does it take to fly between.. Middlesborough to Leicester' (approximately 22 minutes). 

Presumably there will be people out there that see this as a learning aid, rather than just a fantastic way to spend a few hours. Those people are catered for too. The Globe can be set to one of three age groups, 15+ being the oldest. And if you think 15 is far too young for you, ask yourself whether you're still taking Geography lessons three times a week. Exactly.

The smartpen is connected to your computer via a mini USB plug, through which you can update all the time sensitive material such as world news, weather and exchange rates. Unfortunately, we've got a super-advanced copy of the globe, so can't vouch for the updates.  We're assured that the software issue will be sorted before the actual launch of this product, which is scheduled for September. When we tested it out, the exchange rate for the US came out as $1 equalling 55 GB pence, which is pretty spot on anyway.

One complaint would be about the sensitivity of th smartpen. The smartpen works the same way the scanner in Sainsbury's does, and you know the times where they have to type in the code for your loaf of bread? The smartpen does occasionally suffer the same fate. There is no worse feeling in the entire world than when you are frantically jabbing at New York, only for the Woman in the Know to say you've run out of time.  No worse feeling. In the world.

Essentially, the SmartGlobe is something that no classroom should be without, no office should be without and no home should be without. In fact, it should be issued at birth. It's available for £130 here, and is due to be available from September.