As I descended the numerous flights of stairs to this underground location, I couldn't help but hope that maybe one of the new gadgets would be available to help me climb the stairs on my return journey.  Unfortunately it was not to be but there were several other goodies that will tempt you to part with your cash in the forthcoming months.

click to enlarge The iPod Touch arrives in a fairly small package, sporting John Lennon on the front. Inside the box you'll find the device itself, Apples hallmark white headphones, white USB cable, a docking adaptor to allow the Touch form factor to work with the existing range of iPod accessories, a cleaning cloth and a tiny perspex stand.

Mi-Vox from £9.99 to £24.99 www.mi-vox.com One of my favourite things to do in airports, once the bags are all checked in and you have made it through the long queue for security, is to browse in one of the book shops.  With the thought of 2 weeks away from work, I usually end up with at least 4 novels.  It's a real pleasure taking the time to decide on which book will keep me company on the beach while my family frolics in the sea.

click to enlarge The new Sony Walkman NWZ-A829 is 9.5x5x1cm and weights around 80grams. It has a TFT screen of 5x3.8cm. It has two buttons below the TFT screen as well as the ubiquitous five position joystick arrangement between them. The base has input for earbuds and the proprietary USB lead. The left side, the top and the back are all clear apart from a small indentation in the rear for a stand (not provided in my sample).

click to enlarge If like me you've taken the trouble over the years to rip the bulk of your CD collection onto your PC you can be left with wondering how to then play that music.

The Kensington FX500 "speaker to go" is a slightly bigger than an A5 sheet of paper at around 150x200mm, around 35mm thick and weighing 400g. The unit has a soft finish that should be fairly robust and is reminiscent of a small zip-up folio case. From the front the product has a central clear window through which you'll be able to access front-mounted controls on your favourite MP3 player. A power switch is situated to the lower right.

I'm sure whether to classify the first announcement making up this report as multi-functional or more of a convergence in technology as Archos enhances one of its existing products.  That product is the Archos 605 WiFi Media Player which featured in an earlier review ( ).

Clear Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case The model I was sent works with iPod's with video. The dimensions are 10.5x6.5x1.5cm. The front was blue brushed metal with the rest acrylic apart from the area over the click wheel that is a thinner plastic that enables protection for the wheel while at the same time enabling you to use it. The area over the screen seems to cause no distortion to the image displayed.

This unit is black as are the speakers who as is the style are open displaying the cones. The main unit is 22x31x10.5cm, the speakers are each 15x15x21.5cm. The connecting leads are the bare wire type and are around 1.15metres in length. The case of the main unit is metal and the cases for the speakers are wood and have 10watts total power each speaker.

click to enlarge The JB7 from Brennan aims to make music simple - the way it always used to be before the advent of MP3 players, phones that do everything, downloadable music and the proliferation of media formats.

It is 12x8x1.5cm and weights 230 grams, the screen is 9.5x5.7cm. The top of the unit has an on/off button and another to switch the output from the screen to a TV. The left side has three pin hole LED's to confirm activity and an earbud socket. Two proprietary connectors are on the base. This leaves the right side of the front where there is a column of six cream buttons.

click to enlarge SlingBox comes in a various flavours - from the original 'Classic' through the the 'Pro', which is the one currently sat underneath my TV. What's a SlingBox? The clue is in the name. In short it takes video and audio from where they are and them to where you - SlingBox.

Archos has a long establish presence within the area of PMP (Personal Media Player) devices that have the capacity to provide a range of entertainment features.  Forming part of the company's latest range of PMPs is the Archos 605 WIFI.  As its title implies, this PMP has built in support for WiFi 802.11g connectivity to add to the provision of music, video and still image playback and viewing.

Although SatNav or GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) devices can prove extremely useful when it comes to providing navigational assistance to travellers as they get from A to B, these types of devices often remain unused for long periods.  You maybe an infrequent traveller or perhaps you stick to routes with which you are familiar and as a result navigation instructions are not required.

It is 10x5x1cm and finished in a matt metal effect with chromed sides. The total weight is only 65grams it will sit comfortably in your palm. The hold (lock) part of the unit is very important as when it is in your pocket the slightest touch on the screen is likely to change tracks. The screen is 5x3.6cm and it can display video quite well.

Like many others, over time I have built up a large collection of MP3 song titles stored on my computer.  I hasten to add that all the various tracks have been legally purchased.  While this is a convenient method of storing a music collection, it does place certain restrictions on the ability to listen to the music.

On a recent train journey virtually half the passengers had headphones inserted with their favourite music blasting into their ears. Despite an ever increasing range of mobile players capable of delivering video - not one of those passengers were making use of that video capability. There are probably a couple of reasons for this.

The Sony Ericsson W850i is the company's first slider model to grace its family of mobile phones.  Available in either golden white or precious black, this phone measures 98 x 47 x 21mm and weighs 116g which, while not the smallest device around, is a reasonable size for the functionality it provides.

This is a rather smart gun metal grey box 21x28x16cm. It comes with two speakers 16x22x23cm these are also grey with a different grey mesh grill. The speaker leads are the fashionable bare leads but the claw grab fittings lock onto the leads. Fifteen pages of the manual are a must read as it does a lot of things differently to other units I have used. Some appear - to me anyway - to be illogical.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, was in fine fettle delivering his 90 minute keynote speech to the Apple faithful this week as he rattled through product after product and feature after feature. All members of the range have been revamped, and a brand new product has been added to bring the iPhone interface to the media player family.