$30 • www.mattel.com

For some people Simon, the 1978 memory game from Milton Bradley, was a first encounter with a microprocessor. Next month Mattel will release a modern twist on the theme, with Loopz (powered by four AA batteries), which replaces the big light-up buttons on the old toy with motion-sensing technology that resembles that on an auto-flushing toilet.

Think of it as a "smart toy," one of a wave being released over the next three months from companies including Vtech, Jakks Pacific, Fisher-Price/Mattel, Hasbro and LeapFrog as the holiday season approaches.

Standing about 2 feet tall on a table, Loopz features four half-loops that light up and respond with a musical tone whenever something breaks the beam. Jabs, waves and an occasional elbow have an equal result, so it is fun to bring some creative choreography into the game play.

Mattel asserts that Loopz, aimed at children older than 7, does more than imitate Simon, which now belongs to Hasbro, a rival. Besides the motion sensors, it has a four-player game and seven play modes, including Music Studio, which lets children dim the lights and fool around with the LEDs.

SHIELDS FOR PHONES AND PREGNANT BELLIES

www.bellyarmor.com • www.pongresearch.com

There is still no definitive evidence that electromagnetic radiation from wireless devices like cell phones and laptop computers is hazardous. But many companies are profiting from public concern about the issue, most by selling unscientific placebos.

At least two companies, Belly Armor and Pong Research, though, are taking more scientific approaches. Belly Armor, based in Singapore and New York, makes blankets and T-shirts for expectant mothers from a conductive textile made of fibers and metal. The idea is to neutralize environmental radiation before it reaches the fetus.

Belly Armor is available online and in stores in Asia, and will appear next month in some maternity boutiques in the United States. Belly Armor says that in tests conducted by the Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, a Chinese government testing agency, the blankets and shirts blocked 90 to 99.9 percent of electromagnetic radiation. Belly Armor plans tests in American labs after its products are introduced here.

Pong Research, based in Los Angeles and Middleburg, Va., manufactures cell phone cases with a patented pattern consisting of a metallic coupling loop and horizontal metallic stripes alternated with insulating materials. The company says this redirects about 60 percent to 70 percent of a phone's electromagnetic radiation away from the user's head. The cases were tested in a lab in California that was approved by the Federal Communications Commission, Pong says.

The cases are available for BlackBerry and iPhone models.

NEW YORK TIMES