031209_tf_tiny_m.jpgSo you all saw the new iPod Shuffle, right? About the size of a house key, many are jumping the gun and calling it one of the tiniest gadgets ever. But there are plenty of gadgets much, much smaller than this. Try some the size of a pencil lead, dice or a nickel...

Over on Oobject.com, a Web site that promises to be "like Billboard charts for gadgets," we found a list of the world's tiniest gadgets. While some might not be as everyday-useful as the iPod Shuffle (Why does someone need a combustion engine the size of a nickel?), they are all worth remembering when your gotta-have-everything-Mac friend brags about his new Shuffle at the gym.

031209_tf_tiny_engine.jpgThe world's smallest combustion engine, designed at UC Berkeley.



031209_tf_tiny_drive.jpgA Toshiba Microdrive, designed to replace expensive flash memory in PDAs.



031209_tf_tiny_solarcar.jpgA tiny, solar-powered toy car.



031209_tf_tiny_camerachip.jpgA tiny camera chip from OmniVision.



031209_tf_tiny_amp.jpgZVEX Nano amp, the world's smallest tube guitar amp.



031209_tf_tiny_fridge.jpgA microscopic refrigerator designed at NIST. When a voltage is applied across this panel of standard metal, an insulator and a superconducting metal, the temperature in the normal metal drops dramatically and drains heat energy from the objects nearby.