Smoking 2.0: A Vaporizer for Tobacco Use Only

The NicStic is a cigarette-size plastic tube with a rechargeable heating coil that vaporizes tobacco instead of burning it.

Pop a filter on the end of the tube, and in seconds it is warmed up enough for a nicotine fix without the smoke. Because it has no smoke, it also has none of the tar, arsenic, cadmium and formaldehyde of regular cigarettes; it also passes muster with local anti-smoking laws here.

"I actually don't mind doing a bit of vogueing with this," said Victor Chambers, a former model and steady smoker, who tried the device at a reporter's request inside a crowded local bar. "Shivering in the rain for a smoke is just so last season."

Vaporizers have been an underground hit with pot smokers; and with tobacco-smoking restrictions or bans in effect in 33 countries -- from Cuba to Norway, and counting -- cigarettes are primed for their own killer app.