Well the party season will be upon us before we know if as we all head towards Christmas.  I received a new product called the After Party Shoe from Redfoot - so I thought I'd give them a whirl.  I had a lot of local leafleting to do (sadly I don't really go to all night parties any more).  So I decided to inflict sore feet on myself by walking 90 minutes in high heels posting leaflets through doors.  What I do for Gadgetspeak - I must be mad. 

So now here I am sitting in my comfy, podiatrist designed, After Party Shoes.  They are a soft and lightweight pump which fold in half so they can slip easily into a little carry case and then into your party bag.  When folded the pair of shoes are just a little bigger than my purse and did fit into my reasonably small bag.   The upper is soft material and the bottom is a waterproof shoe sole.

Yes they are comfy, and looking at the website they come in a very large range of fashionable styles and fabrics - for business, party and holiday wear.  I've often had sore feet after shopping and a long day at the office, so they could be just as useful then as after a party.

My only question - what do you do with the shoes you've taken off that won't slip into your bag?   Better take a spare plastic bag with you as well!!!

After Party Shoes are £25 and available on-line from http://www.redfootrevolution.co.uk/

What's more if you buy a pair in October £1 is donated to Breast Cancer charity The Pink Ribbon Foundation.

In these turbulent times, Bosch suggests that we improve our homes if we can't move.  We're hoping to review these products in the Spring, but thought readers would like to know about them now - we know how popular home improvement tools are in the run up to Christmas.

Bosch have a range of home decorating Spray Paint Guns which use their low-pressure "Spray Control Technology" to produce a fine paint mist.  Bosch tell us that this speeds up the drying between coats, is 3 times faster than a paintbrush and saves you money by using 15% less paint. Sounds good!

The new Bosch PFS 105E is designed for spraying internal rooms as well as large outdoor surfaces.

The new Bosch PFS 55 is a hand-held system for small to medium spraying tasks, such as furniture or even wooden toys. 

Completing the spray gun range is the PFS 65, which became available for the first time this Summer.  It's a compact, portable and light weight system for medium sized projects such as larger pieces of furniture, garden fences or sheds.

The Bosch PFS  65 is already in-store and the PFS 55 and 105E will be available at B&Q from 6 October 2008.

The PFS 65 is also available online at:

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=152634

Prices frange from £59.99 to £139.99 including VAT.  For further information call: 0844 736 0107.

Following on from our review of the Photobox photo printing service we've received news of a Facebook application from Photobox available at www.photobox.co.uk/superphotos

The Superphotos application lets you upload photos to Photobox for printing and to Facebook for sharing through one portal.  From the Photobox site you can then turn your photos into photobooks, calenders, collages and more.

You can also export your existing Facebook albums into Photobox and give permission to your Facebook friends to use your photos to create prints or gifts.

Commenting on the new development, Lawrence Merritt, Photobox's Marketing Director, said: "Super Photos directly addresses feedback from our customers who want to print their Facebook photos, but found uploading to Facebook and Photobox separately was a pain in the neck. This application will give millions of users sharing their photos with Facebook the option to print them with our next day photo service. Now your indiscretions can be printed and posted back to your door!"

To add Super Photos to your Facebook profile directly, go to http://apps.facebook.com/getsuperphotos or go to the application fan page at http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=37946903376 and click 'Go to Application'.

Hexbug is a tiny robotoic creature of just over 2 inches in length which can can feel its way around sensing objects in its path and avoiding them. Objects in their way, or loud noises, such as a clap will change their direction.

There are five HEXBUG characters named ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO each has a distinct shape and colour.

Put to the kiddie test, our 11 and 13 year olds played with them for hours!  I thought they might be the sort of thing you open, watch it do a trick or two, and then forget it. However, our kids rapidly turned on their imaginations and started making little maze warrens for them from upturned CD boxes.  Having two of them was definately more fun than one. Only problem - we played with them until the batteries ran out on one!

Available from Amazon for £9.99 each.

Last week I received two products from Lakeland to help with the cost of washing - the Dolly Balls and the Dryangles.

The Dolly Washer Balls come in a pack of 9. You spread these small plastic balls evenly around your washing and they provide extra agitation - a bit like when you rub your clothes together when handwashing - if you can remember handwashing. The extra friction can, they say, save you up to 75% of your washing powder and make lower temperature washes more likely to work. I gave them a go at 30 degrees and with a very small amount of washing powder. It's not a scientific test, but I must admit the wash did seem to come out the same as it would have done with more powder.

The Dryangles are for use in your tumble dryer, to aid softness without needing to use fabric conditioner. I gave this a go with towels, and yes they did come out reasonably soft - they certainly weren't like cardboard. Lakeland claim that drying time can be up to 25% faster. I didn't notice any difference on this score - but again it's hard to do a valid test.

Dolly Washer Balls cost £13.99 for a pack of 9 and Dryangles are £9.99 for a pack of 2. Both available from Lakeland at Lakeland.

Medion's stylish new black and silver 10-inch notebook is now on sale in Sainsbury's stores nationwide, priced at £299.99 including VAT.

Summary of press information:

With 1GB RAM and an 80GB hard drive, the 1.2GHz Intel Atom-based Medion Akoya Mini E1210's has plenty of storage for personal pictures and videos downloaded via the memory card reader.  The Akoya Mini E1210 is small and light enough to be carried in one hand, its bright and clear 10-inch screen is easy to read outdoors and it comes with the latest Draft-N wireless connectivity to make the most of WiFi hotspots.

The Medion Akoya Mini E1210 has a full-sized keyboard, three USB ports and a webcam and microphone for keeping in touch with friends and family.

And here's the link to details on the Sainsbury web-site.

Sony have today announced a reduction in its 60Gb PS3 to £349, with a new 40Gb model breaking the £300 barrier to launch at £299 on 10th October.   We'll be following this race very carefully!

With the Nintendo Wii, XBox 360 and PS3 all in the same price bracket, will the Nintendo Wii and Xbox follow with their own price cuts?  Who do you think will win the race for people's hearts and wallets this Christmas?  We are really interested in your views.  If you already have a Wii, XBox or PS3, let us know what you think - and help others to make the right request of Santa!!

If you are looking for good ideas for children's Christmas gifts and toys, then today's announcement from the Toy Retailer's Association may help you along.  Gadgets and techno toys are expected to feature highly on every child's Christmas List - many inspired by the small and big screen such as the Transformers Movie and Dr Who. 

From their list we've already had a chance to review Eternity II and Flytech Dragonfly and we'll be bringing you more toy and game reviews in the run up to Christmas. 

From the Toy Retailer's Association predictions of this year's Christmas best-sellers, here are the gadgets and games that look most interesting:

• Are You Smarter Than a 10 Year Old? (Hasbro RRP £19.99) A board game based on the Noel Edmonds TV programme
• Doctor Who Dalek Sec Hybrid Voice Changer Mask (Character Options  RRP £29.95)
• Golden Balls  (Vivid Imaginations RRP £19.99) - board game
• Puppy Grows and Knows Your Name (Mattel RRP £44.99)
• Transformers Movie Leader: Optimus Prime (Hasbro RRP £39.99)
• Creator - Monster Dino (Lego RRP £69.95)
• Transformers Optimus Prime Voice Changer Mask (Hasbro RRP £29.99)
• Transformers Ultimate Bumblebee (Hasbro RRP £79.95)
• High School Muscial Mystery Date (Hasbro RRP £14.95)
• Monopoly Here & Now UK Edition (Hasbro RRP £19.99)
• Rubiks Revo (Drummond Park RRP £14.99)

Of course, the Toy Retailers Association don't have the last say on the best kids gadgets and games out there, so we'll be reviewing lots of others.

Absolutely among our favourite reviews so far are:

• Funkeys (Mattel) and
• Squawkers McCaw (so good we reviewed it twice here and here)

Have a look at more games and toys and games reviewed on Gadgetspeak and keep coming back for more. If you've registered for the Gadgetspeak newsletters and updates you'll keep up-to-date with all the latest news.

Last year an estimated £4bn was spent on unwanted presents - the equivalent of £92 per person.  At Gadgetspeak we've seen a worrying trend of products that just won't make people happy this Christmas.  One thing we've noticed  is just how difficult it is to judge a product from it's packaging and advertising and yet this is exactly what many of you will be doing.

We're on a mission to make sure that you get totally unbiased views, so you can make the right choice.  I'll never forget the DVD game my daughter argued so heavily for one year that she spent her own pocket money on it.  It was heavily promoted on TV and piggybacked the success of another popular product. I have never seen such a disappointed little girl, the product was truly dreadful.  I tried to get her money back by saying this game was not worth the money, but because there was nothing physically wrong - we couldn't.  My daughter learnt a very valuable lesson not to trust advertising that day.

A couple of years on, and here at Gadgetspeak we will often get that same experience.  A product that is too difficult to use or just doesn't meet it's promises, like the electronic game whose only electronic bit is a recorded voice to announce the rounds of the game.  Others are just plainly badly made - look great on the packet and fall apart on opening.  Sometimes these products come from well  known brands.  In particular gadgets are sold on the back of marketing success of television characters or programmes.  There's nothing wrong with this as long as the product is great.

Take these simple steps to help make your Christmas Presents wanted presents:

• make sure you know someone who already has the product and ask their opinion
• check gadget review sites like Gadgetspeak
• check the user ratings on selling sites like Amazon
• find a shop where you can take the product out and physically play with it.

Every product that you see here on Gadgetspeak has been taken out of it's packaging and thoroughly played with by real people.  We read the manuals, test the products, and then put together our views good and bad for you to read.

As much as two thirds of your Christmas presents could end up unwanted - that's just money down the drain. Make sure you take these simple steps for a great Christmas day.