Smells like email

Why not swap annoying smartphone audio alerts for sweet or savory scents?

The Scentee plugs into a handset's headphone jack and, when it's done communicating with its supporting app, will automatically emit a scent every time there's a new message in the inbox or someone posts to Facebook.

But as well as filling the room with the smell of roses, fruit, or even bacon -- seriously -- the Scentee also glows, thanks to built-in, customizable LED lights.

The curious little device launched in its native Japan in November, where it proved a big hit, and now it's getting ready to launch internationally.

And, because it's coming to a wider audience, its makers are working on expanding the range of scent capsules available to appeal to western noses. Scent capsules drop inside the Scentee and will offer 100 bursts of a preferred smell before they need replacing. Users can already pick from rose, strawberry, coffee, lavender, curry, corn soup and buttered baked potato. But now that the device is launching further afield, new fragrances, including bacon and a wider selection of fruits, are in the works. The Scentee works with both Android and Apple handsets and costs $35 (plus shipping costs), ordered directly from the company's site, while fragrance refills are $5 each. Currently free apps are available that will let the Scentee release its fragrances as an alarm clock, when eating or when a Facebook notification, email or SMS has been received. Unfortunately, the device is only capable of holding and emitting one scent at a time, which is a shame because it would be great to assign specific smells to different contacts, just like custom ringtones or audio alerts.