According to a survey out today by iome 20% of us have dropped our phone down the loo at some point in time.  Fully a third of us would feel lost without our phones and 25% of us would feel out of touch with our friends and family.  However, 12% of people would find loosing their mobile a positive experience, claiming it would make them feel free.

Phil Eames, CEO, iome said: “The survey demonstrates that many people now rely on their mobile devices to connect and interact with friends and contacts – whether via text, calling or even via mobile internet. The way

in which people communicate with one another has evolved over the years and the reliance we have on these devices is obvious. It is now seen as a multi-function device that enables conversation, social interaction and keeping up to speed with where your friends are and what they are doing, at any time.”

Personally I'd feel more lost without my PC and my yoga mat - I'm always being nagged for leaving my phone out of charge, off or at home!

What's the wierdest place you've left your phone and would you feel lost without it?

For further information on iome, visit http://www.io-me.com.

It's not often that a technology story surprises me, but this one from the BBC news website opened my eyes today.

It seems we are really on the way to seeing moving images in our newspapers.  Well at least, its happening in the US, so look out for it over here before we know it.   Video-in-print advertising is to appear in Entertainment Weekly.  A slimline screen around the size of a mobile phone display, that can contain as much as 40 minutes of video is being launched in the US magazine out on 18th September.

Check out the full BBC coverage here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8211209.stm

Way back when I worked in the mobile phone industry, when handheld mobiles were the latest thing, we used to dream of the time when mobile phones would take over the world.  Predicting when mobiles would eventually replace landlines was a daily pursuit as was the nirvana of one unit that would ' do it all'.  Now new research from www.rightmobilephone.co.uk tells us that our all singing all dancing mobiles are used by 1 in 5 Brits for internet usage, personal organisation, taking photos and even replacing the good old alarm clock.  Actually I'm surprised that it's not an even bigger number given the amount of functionality in phones these days

The research of 1,448 people found that 82% now own a mobile phone with 21% using their mobile phone to get them up in the morning, organise their day, take pictures of friends and family, use the internet and check their
emails.  A further 52% of Brits use their mobile phone as their alarm clock, of which 37% also use their mobile phones reminder facility to set alerts for meetings and days out with friends. In addition, 19% of respondents used their internet-enabled phone as their main or only source for internet access, including browsing the net,
interacting on social networking forums and dealing with emails; showing that for at least 1 in 4 people, the mobile phone has become their desired method of accessing the internet.

A little way to go then before the 'do it all' nirvana scenario but well on the way.

One for the girls!   We have mouse mats at our desks, now here's a heat protecting mat for your hair straighteners.  The mat is designed to protect your surfaces from the heat of straighteners and hair dryers.  The black (or pink) mat is a convenient size and what's more it changes colour when your straighteners are hot - a very handy safety feature.  My teenage daughter put it to the test and it was an instant hit.  No more standing them upright against the wall in her bedroom!  It's not a bad price either at under £10 and could prove a nice stocking pressie if you are thinking that far ahead.

The Gripeze is a heat resistant, non-slip silicone glitter mat designed for all hot hair tools and helps protect surfaces from heat damage up to 250C.  The mat is designed to grip most surfaces as well as the straighteners or tongs.  After use you can unplug your straighteners and leave them on the mat to cool down, or roll them up in the mat with the band provided.

It's a worthwhile investment to prevent damage to your carpet or dressing table - perhaps every mum should consider this mat an essential for teenage daughters!

Gripeze is available for £9.99 included P&P from  www.parmagray.com 

We've just launched a GadgetSpeak Twitter feed. It's a bit of an experiment, but if it's good enough for Stephen Fry and our friends at Bletchley Park then we feel we really ought to give it a go.

Now if all you Twitterers could wander over to twitter and start 'following us' then we'll see if we can give Stephen a run for his money

Come and follow us on Twitter here!

Would you believe it, Miele have launched a washing machine that knows your stains.  So whether it's grass stains on your kids clothes, red wine on your tablecloth, or lipstick on your collar, the new Miele W5000 range washing machines are reputed to be able to remove these nasties without the need for presoaking or treating.

These machines are a bit too big for us to test in the Gadgetspeak offices, so I'd be really grateful to hear from anyone who tries one out.  I'd be particularly interested to hear how these machines work with non-bio powder/liquid for those who prefer gentler detergen - as I often find this the restricting bit of getting clothes clean.

There are 22 wash options.  Users can select up to three of these stain options and the machine does the rest. It will adjust the wash cycle parameters including water level, spin speed, wash rhythm and duration, according to the type of soiling. The LCD display on the machines also offers stain removal hints and tips for improved results.

The range also boasts eco-friendly features such as low temperature washing (cold and 20 Celsius) and an Energy Efficiency rating which is 20% more economical than 'A'. 

It's not totally surprising, but new research  from a leading videogame and console price compare website, www.PS3PriceCompare.co.uk, has revealed that just under two thirds of men own a games console and 22% of those men spend an absorbing 2.5 days a month in their virtual bubble.  The nationwide study of over 1000 man reveal that, on average, men spend more time playing console games than they do with their friends or partners.

An astonishing 1 in 5 men spend an average of 60 hours each month  on their games consoles - that's 15 hours a week, or almost as third as much again as a full working week.  Conversely only 4% spend the same amount of time wining and dining their partner.  Only 1% of mean spent that much time doing something interesting with their parents.

The majority of correspondents, 71%, admitted that their PlayStations and similar consoles took up more than a working day a week - over 8.5 hours!! 

Now imagine if those guys could spend that time on overtime - they'd be rich. And if they spent that time and money on their girlfriends they might have a better time in bed.  But given the economic environment just now, taking their console to bed looks like a comforting distraction from the woes of the world and the worries of 'er indoors!!

Mike Elsmore, head developer of PS3PriceCompare.co.uk commented on these findings:

O2 has today announced that O2 Litmus www.o2litmus.co.uk, the community dedicated to finding and nurturing the very best new mobile, wireless and internet-enabled applications and services, has launched a new competition, ‘’the O2 App Showdown’’.

With a prize of £10,000 for the winning entry, the O2 App Showdown is a hunt for the best new iPhone app and the iPhone user community will help select the winner. All O2 UK iPhone customers are eligible to apply to be a member of the judging panel.

Launching on Monday 20^th July and running for two months, the winning iPhone app will help build a lasting relationship between O2 and its iPhone customers. In addition to winning the £10,000 prize, the winning developer will have their app promoted to O2's iPhone customers in the UK.

Peter Rampling, O2’s Marketing Director said: “Since we launched Litmus last year, we’ve seen some fantastic innovation and I believe that working together with the world-wide Litmus community we can develop amazing applications for O2 customers, initially on iPhone and then all our devices – the beauty of Litmus is that we will have a community of O2 customers who will also vote for their favourite.”

To learn more about the O2 App Showdown, please visit www.o2litmus.co.uk/appshowdown

Here's an interesting idea.  We're getting used to sending pictures to each other's phones now, but it seems we Brits (60% of us) still like to get a card in the post sometimes.  Now Touchnote, the company that turns digital pictures into greetings cards online, has launched a mobile application allowing you to capture your personal moments and create a real card to send to your friends and family anywhere in the whole.  Simply take a photo, or use an existsing image, add a message and the recipient's address and send from your mobile via WiFi or the phone's mobile data connection.  Your personal card is then created from the image you send and delivered in the post - in the UK usually by the next working day (provided the card is ordered before noon).

You can download the application for Nokia phones for free and your first card is free.  Subsequent cards are available in credit bundles (1 card for £3, 2 cards for £5 or 5 cards for £10).  Touchnote for Mobile wiill be compatible with all Series 60 3^rd Edition Feature Pack 1 and 2 phones. This includes:

• 5630 Xpress
• E71
• N78
• N79
• N81
• N81 8GB
• N82
• N85
• N95
• N95 8GB
• N96
  

For more information on how to download Touchnote for Mobile visit http://www.touchnote.com/nokia  

Continuing today's theme of beautiful looking gadgets, here's a look at the Phillip Starck "Zikmu" couture speakers - Unfortunately, we couldn't get hold of any to review but they certainly look fab! Beautifully designed by the world-renowned designer Phillip Starck, these speakers look elegant and stylish, offer the latest wireless technology and recently won first prize at the annual Bluetooth SIG Best of CES contest 2009. Parrot have developed a strong relationship with Apple and the speakers are compatible with all Apple ipod products. The speakers RRP at £1,200. So it's one to add to the list for Christmas for the one who has everything!

These speakers are available from August/September 2009 from Harrods, Selfridges and the Conran Store. But you can buy them now directly from www.parrot.com/uk.