We got our first look at Hapilabs' HAPIfork during CES 2013, and to be honest, were a little shocked to see a fork on the show floor. However, we quickly saw it's not just any fork. The HAPIfork is designed to help you know when you're eating too quickly, and through vibration and LED alerts, will let you know when to slow down.

Almost ten months after CES, Hapilabs has finally announced availability for the HAPIfork. It will be available for your grumbling stomach starting 18 October, available exclusively at retailer Brookstone for $99/£61. Availability outside of the US wasn't made known. If you fancy yourself the HAPIfork in white, black, blue, pink and green, it is available now for pre-order.

The HAPIfork is designed by French entrepreneur and inventor Jacques Lépine and is made off the basis the faster you eat, the more you end up eating. Hapilabs doesn't come right out and tell us about the technology found within the fork - just that it does what it intends. However, they do say the HAPIfork pairs with an app to let you know long it took to eat your meal, the amount of "fork servings" taken per minute, and intervals between "fork servings." "Fork servings" are defined as the time you bring food from your plate to your mouth with your fork. 

During our hands-on time at CES 2013, we found the potential for the real time vibration to have more of an impact than entering your meal choices into an online diet system after the fact. There did appear to be some limitations though, like how no one eats pizza with a fork and fast food is often stuffed down our gullets with just our greasy hands.  It's a bit different than other weight loss techniques, but definitely a neat and useful tool for some users.

Fancy yourself a geeky fork? Head over to Brookstone and pre-order. We have to wonder if there will ever be a "HAPIspoon."