Only in New York: 'Wireless' meets 'barbecue'

After first turning heads at CES with gizmos like InstaForecast and Professional Weather Center, Oregon Scientific is heating up fast with devices ranging from the Multi-Room Climate Monitor to the Talking Wireless BBQ/Oven Thermometer.

NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) -- The InstaForecast i300 and i600 are portable gadgets that display live weather forecasts from all over the globe, syncing up with a PC to to haul in the data from the Web.

Also rolled out in January in Las Vegas, the Professional Weather Center gives people all the hardware they need to gather weather data from the back yard and display it on a screen indoors.

Since then, though, Oregon Scientific has moved on to create Multi-Room Climate Monitor, presented in a booth at this week's Holiday Gift Guide Show that also contained measurement and monitoring devices such as the wireless BBQ thermometer and a "Weather in Motion" clock with an integrated infrared motion sensor.

Spokespeople at the company's booth at a New York City hotel showed BetaNews how the small device displays temperature and humidity data from outside a building and up to three other locations, which can include three rooms inside a house, for instance.

The $89.99 device also includes a built-in "mold alert" function; a radio-controlled clock and calendar; and 12- to 24-hour weather forecasts.

The Talking Wireless BBQ/Oven Thermometer, on the other hand, lets you monitor the readiness of meat in the oven from as far as 330 feet away. Priced at $49.99, the gadget comes with a sensor capable of detecting temperatures from 32 degrees to 572 degrees Fahrenheit.

Verbal and audio alert options let you the know the status of your meal: "almost ready," "ready," or "overdone."

Also built-in is an audio alarm that sounds when the desired meat temperature has been reached, along with programmable controls for beef, lamb, veal, hamburger, pork, turkey, chicken and fish.

BetaNews also viewed Oregon Scientific's previously introduced Weather in Motion clock, which uses an infrared motion sensor with a detection range of 0.5 to 2 feet to figure out how far away you are away in the room.

When you are far away from the unit, the current time, day and weather forecast are displayed in large digits.

But when you move closer, the $64.99 weather clock switches to showing both indoor and outdoor temperature readings -- and the time and weather forecast icons automatically shrink in size.