Publication History For : C Wilson

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A neat and compact toaster that warms croissants and has single and both side toasting functions.
Here at Gadgetspeak we've kitchen-tested the Kenwood Response toaster - which has worked hard for its money.  It has three functions:  normal toasting, single sided toasting and warming.  The three functions are controlled from buttons on the front of the toaster, with additional buttons for raising and lowering the toasting rack, and buttons for adjusting the toasting time.
Shady Beats is a rather novel combination of MP3 speaker, cash carrier and sunglass case.
There are some things I absolutely love about this portable MP3 speaker and some I'm not quite sure about. The number 1 love for me is the sound of the speaker.  When this camoflauge patterned speaker arrived, I have to admit putting it to one corner for a week and resisted reviewing it.  I wasn't sure how something so gimmicky looking would compare.  However, when I plugged my MP3 player in I was more than plesantly surprised by the sound quality.
It doesn't sing or dance, but here is a bin that opens it's lid as you approach it - I had to give it a whirl.
I'm a great fan of Brabantia waste bins. I already had 3 or them in my home before trialling this one. There is something about them that smacks of quality, and any self-respecting yummy mummy has to have one! I'm not sure why, it's one of those brand things - like assuming all decent MP3 players must be i-PODs! Man handling the lid on your kitchen bin has always been the subject of design changes in the waste disposal line.
Gadgetspeak drinks from the cup of the UK's most popular coffee machine. Compact and easy to use, winner of Product of the Year 2007, as voted in a survey of 10,000 households
Now isn't coffee such a personal thing, and choosing the right coffee machine comes down to just how much of an aficionado you are and how much time you have on your hands.  Here at GadgetSpeak we will be testing some of the best selling and newest coffee machines so that you don't have to!  In the first of a series we have road tested the , winner of the Product of the Year 2007 (the UK's largest independent consumer vote on product innovation).
Back to Uni, renting a flat, camping, trekking, or just moving around a lot. Here are some MP3 speakers you can take anywhere!
The is the smallest and most vibrant edition to the i-Station speaker range, and the first of quite a few we'll be reviewing on Gadgetspeak. i-Station Traveller The is as small as my purse and folds to lay flat - so it meets its claim of being easy to put into a handbag or (reasonable sized) pocket.
Rosetta Stone present an entirely new way to learn a new language, modelled closely on how children learn their native tongue.For some of us learning a new language is easy, for others tortuous. However, we over look the fact that we all learnt our native language without a textbook or translator in sight. Usually by about the age of 5 we have a large command of our mother tongue and a vast vocabulary without ever knowing about verbs, nouns, pronouns and tenses. Somehow we just get it. And that's the whole theory behind Rosetta Stone's language course.
This software, available to learn in 30 different languages,  throws you straight into your new language without a written or spoken word of your home language in sight.  The learning is based on seeing pictures and hearing and seeing words, just as if you were growing up with those words and images around you. I tried out , mainly because I don't speak a word of Italian and wanted to try it out as a complete beginner.
In the build up to Christmas we are seeing the latest from Toy Manufacturers. This morning we received this cute little toy which records a short phrase and then raps it back to you.
Mock U Rappers has three little cool dude creatures that sit in a tree and sing along merrily in rap style.  They have their own little rap and then you can record your own phrase which they turn into a rap and sing back to you. Only short phrases are allowed, and the Rapper beeps at you to say when your recording period is finished. Now being an adult, I always try these toys out on my kids - as they appreciate the finer points of toys a little differently to us big people.
Now this is a strange little gadget and one which could prove useful if you need to do what it says in the instructions - cut flexible materials up to 6mm!
The Bosch Xeo is a hand-held 'universal cordless cutter'.  It comes into that category of 'things I never knew I might need until now'.  It is very much the sort of thing you might buy for that person who has everything at Christmas.  If you are considering purchasing this though, do make sure that it cuts the type of thing you (or your intended recipient) regularly cuts.
A low-capacity shredder, that looks neat beside your computer, handles up to five sheets at a time, and easily copes with its stated capacity of 30 sheets.
The shredder is billed as a space saving compact shredder for 1-3 people.  The capacity on the box says 30 sheets.  Of course, this is the first thing I put to test.  I did indeed get the autofeed to handle 32 sheets before the shredder made that lovely noise that makes sure you know not to put any more sheets in.  However, being like every other normal lazy consumer, I wanted to see just how much more could be packed in.
Now here is a game/puzzle that is more addictive than a Rubics Cube, more frustrating than the Quality Street jigsaw I bought my other half for Christmas last year and bound to be a fantastic seller this festive season.
As my daughter and I eagerly unwrapped the package our copy of came in we couldn't wait to rip off the cling film and get going. Four hours later we were still at the dining table having zoomed ahead on several occasions, only to find ourselves having to backtrack again. Eternity II The feeling is just like when you find you have one stray white cube in the middle of a face of green squares on your Rubics Cube.
According to the Met Office we are already experiencing a hotter than average Spring, with the hottest April in 300 years (as if we hadn't noticed). This weather is likely to continue into summer, with a 70% chance of higher than average temperatures, and even a 1 in 8 possibility of a particularly hot summer – as we saw in 2003 and 2006. So it seems like a great time to be talking Bar-B-Qs.
If you haven't already got one, now is the perfect time to contemplate culinary delights on sunny patios on unseasonably warm evenings. Remember that mid-summer's day is on 21 June. Evenings will get longer until then, but by the school holidays we are already looking to the nights drawing in. So get the Chef's hat on, pull out the bangers and arrange that summer party.
Do you fancy your own robot wars? The new N.S.E.C.T Swarm radio controlled creature could be just what you are looking for. A great toy for kids in the 7-11 bracket.
Do you fancy your own little robot wars creature? Mattel have brought out this radio controllled 'insect' which looks a lot like something you might see on Doctor Who but quite a tad smaller.  The N.S.E.C.T Swarm Nano Shocker is a creature about 6 inches across in 'protected' mode and 10inches in attack mode.  It has a whip of a tail which goes around its middle. Now being an adult I don't always get the play value of these things.