It's roundup time again, and this week gave us a nice mix of the genuinely useful and the pleasantly surprising. MSN collected sixteen of the most notable releases from the past several days, and I went through the whole list so you don't have to.

I'll admit it, the gadget roundups are my favorite thing to write. I've been doing this long enough to remember when a "new gadget" meant a slightly smaller CD player, so watching what counts as exciting now still tickles me.

So what jumped out? Wearables and smart home gear dominate the list, which tracks with everything I've been seeing all summer. There are a couple of earbuds options, some charging gear that finally acknowledges we all own too many devices, and a few items that made me actually say "oh, that's clever" out loud in my kitchen. My husband is used to it by now.

My usual advice applies here and I'll keep saying it until manufacturers listen: useful gadgets win every single time. Don't spend money on technology that works against you. Before you click buy on anything from this list, ask yourself whether it solves a problem you actually have, or whether it just looks fun in a product photo. Both can be fine reasons, but know which one you're shopping for.

A few of these will probably earn a closer look from me once reviews start landing, and if any of them hold up after real hands-on time, you'll read about it here. And if one turns out to be all sizzle, you'll hear about that too. Somebody has to tell you when the emperor has no batteries.