It may come as a surprise to discover that a visit to a certain shop located in Central London (actually in Portman Square just off Oxford Street), is high on the agenda for those involved in coming up with the equipment for these flights of fancy.

In the past I have looked at a couple of Digital Photo Frames from Polaroid. These have been of the smaller (7-inch) variety. Now it is the turn of a larger model. This is the Polaroid 10.2-inch Digital Photo Frame (XSU-01050B model) with support for MP3 music files. The products 10.2-inch display screen, with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a resolution of 1024 x 600, is surrounded by a bevelled reflective black frame that increases the unit’s dimensions to 12.625 x 8.25 inches (W x H).

For some, the defining memory of the Eighties could well be that of the fiendishly clever, or perhaps you prefer the description of annoying, puzzle – namely the Rubik Cube. I have to confess to being one of the many who fell under the spell of this contraption and spent many hours in attempting to solve this puzzle developed by Erno Rubik, a Hungarian Professor of Architecture and Design.

Although various competitive formats have appeared since its introduction, MP3 remains the choice for many when storing their music.  It does not matter whether the original tracks were stored on vinyl, tape, CD or Internet based sites, the content generally ends up in MP3 format on a computer’s hard disk.  But once it there, what do you do with it?  Magix MP3 Maker offers a range of features designed to help you take the next steps.

 In fact Teufel is a German company which started life as a single Berlin store back in 1979.  Since then the company has developed into Europe’s leading direct seller of loudspeaker systems.  Now Teufel is bring its direct selling approach of combining quality products with a more aggressive pricing attitude to the UK via the Internet.

During one of my infrequent clear-outs of kit that was of little use other than being a repository for dust, I came across one of the hard disks that had formed part of an earlier computer long since consigned to the scrapheap.  I hate to think how much this item of equipment would have cost when I purchased it.

Having mastered an air guitar you might feel the need to move on to the next level.  This is where Guitar RockStar from Tomy could enter the picture.  Guitar RockStar is constructed of plastic and consists of the head of a guitar and two and a bit frets overlaid by various controls.  Power is provided by two AAA batteries (not included) which fit into a compartment on the back of the guitar’s neck.  Also located on the back of the guitar is the speaker grill; 3.

Many more years ago that I care to admit, I spend an enjoyable summer season as a beach photographer at a local holiday resort snapping away at holiday makers in the hope they would purchase my photos.  The camera, a French Sept, was a converted movie camera designed for heavy duty work and had a clockwork motor.  It was certainly heavy enough to double as a weapon of considerable destruction.  How things have changed as I look at the Toshiba Camileo Pro HD camcorder.

How much capacity was available on your first hard disk?  If you have been around personal computers as long as I have then I’m guessing it will be a low number.  There is a distinct correlation between available capacity and the length of time involved with computers.  Those who have been around the longest will respond with a low figure while more recent members of the computing community will quote a much higher capacity.

Verbatim has recently introduced a new range of Store'n'Go USB drives.  Decked out in the company's familiar blue livery, these drives will be available in capacities of 1, 2, 4 and 8GB.  I have been looking at the 4GB model which has been priced at £19.99. This new USB drive immediately solves one problem that many users of this type of device will be familiar with on a regular basis.

Birth of America II: Wars in America 1750-1815 is not only a lengthy title for a game but also a follow up to Birth of America from the AGEOD and Ascaron Entertainment partnership.  This is a turn-based strategy game that sets the player the challenge of taking part in various battles based on historic events with authentic characters and fighting units of the period.

In the case of Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus, you not only get several additional items as standard but also a bundled copy of CrazyTalk 4 Media Studio from Reallusion.  As a result of this extra software (excluding CrazyTalk 4 for the moment), the installation of Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus does eat up a fair amount of time even when you reject some of the additional items - with some items you are not even given the choice of accepting or rejecting their installation.

Although we appear to be rushing headlong into a digital take-over of the entertainment world, there still remains a vast store of analogue media that many would be reluctant to discard.  One example of this can be seen as VHS players, and their tape content, are superseded by the new hard disk based PVRs (Personal Video Recorders).

The W960i is, as you might guess from the familiar "W" prefix, yet another member of the Walkman family of mobile phones.  With its GSM/GPRS functionality, this phone packs a 2.6-inch touch screen display and a 3.2 megapixel camera into its vinyl black body with a white 5mm band running around the sides of the phone.  The unit measures 109 x 55 x 16mm and weighs 119g.  Turning this phone on/off is carried out by pressing a recessed button on the top left of the handset.

You can always rely on Sony to put emphasis on style with its products even when that product might be classified as being of the entry-level variety. An example of this tendency can be seen with the Sony DPF-D70. This is Sony’s entry-level 7-inch digital picture frame offering. Surrounded by a reflective black frame, the 7-inch diagonal screen has an aspect ratio of 15:9. It can be positioned in either portrait or landscape orientation.

Having spent between £50 and £100 for your MP3 player or substantially more if you have opted to go down the Apple iPod route, you might expect a reasonable set of headphones. Unfortunately you could be disappointed with the quality of the bundled offering. This aspect of the kit often seems to have been relegated to little more than an after-thought when it comes to comfort and audio output quality.

Whereas Acer has named its netbook the Aspire One, Packard Bell has opted for the “dot” designation.  Based on the Intel Atom processor with 1GB of RAM, the “dot” has an 8.9-inch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600; 5-in-1 card reader; three USB ports; built-in Wi-Fi (b/g); and a 160GB hard drive.  This netbook comes with Windows XP operating system and has a 6-cell battery as standard.

Xtreme PhotoStory on CD&DVD Deluxe 7 is the rather long title of Magix's latest software for burning photos to optical media so that they can be viewed on a television.  Various options are available from PhotoStory's installation routine.  These options include either accepting or changing the three different default locations used to store the program; templates and files; plus user files.

While some digital frame modules have taken the basic premise and enhanced the performance with increased functionality; some other products, fortunately in the minority, offer little in the way of innovation and just deliver an extremely basic performance.  The NuVue 710 digital picture frame from Digital Spectrum definitely falls into the later category as became immediately obvious on unpacking the product.

When keeping your data safe, especially the sensitive kind that is so attractive to certain individuals, what could be a more appropriate method than to use a safe.  However, rather than the physical metal box used for personal valuables, your data could be placed in the software equivalent of a virtual hidden container on your computer.  This is the rationale behind the Steganos Safe title which is now in its 2008 version and is available from Phoenix Software.

Never the one to sit back and contemplate past achievements, Acer took the opportunity, offered by its Global Press Conference, to announce several new products to help consolidate its position as third in the total PC market and second with regards to worldwide notebook sales.

Offering to provide various forms of protection is Steganos Privacy Suite 2008 which brings together nine tools covering different aspects of privacy.  Once installed, and you do have the choice of which tools are included, Steganos Privacy Suite 2008 will need to be activated via an Internet link and the entry of a 39-character product serial number.

Saving energy is important for both conservation issues and, especially with the ever-increasing spiral of rising costs, financial concerns.  Arriving with accreditation from the Energy Saving Trust, the Tefal Quick Cup product offers to help by delivering a significant reduction in energy consumption when compared against that of the average kettle.

Adding to the Siemens range of DECT phones is the black and silver Gigaset S675 model.  Consisting of a base station, which can be wall-mounted or free-standing, and a handset, this DECT phone features an integrated calendar, address book, SMS functionality and an answering machine.  It also brings a splash of colour to the user experience.

The Kodak ESP 3 is an all-in-one printer that immediately catches the eye due to its clean-cut appearance.  Box shaped with curved edges, and measuring 422 x 298 x 173mm, the combination of matt and reflective black, with a patterned top, certainly gives a stylish look to this piece of kit. As is standard with all-in-one devices, the ESP 3 brings together a printer with a scanner and includes photocopying capabilities.

It was certainly not what I expected when I requested a review unit.  Unlike the other voice recorders, this LINDY Wireless Voice Recorder requires to be connected to a computer running appropriate software before you gain access to its functionality which is rather restrictive when compared to some other voice recording devices.

My skill, or perhaps lack of skill would be a more appropriate description, as a helicopter pilot is renowned in my family circle.  Amusement is rife as I make valiant attempts to perform even the most basic manoeuvres of flight with various remote control flying machines.  In my defence I do try to claim that I am testing the crash capabilities (of which I am an expert) of the current device but this feeble attempt at justification rarely succeeds.

One way to help is to ensure that the drive is regularly defragmented so that files are stored contiguously rather than being scattered willy-nilly in different locations.  The situation of files being broken up and scattered to various locations on your drive occurs through the normal use of the operating system.  Rather than spend time looking for a space large enough to accommodate a file, the operating system will fill up spaces with portions of a file.

Adding to its extensive range of TV, video and audio based products, Terratec has recently introduced a USB media card as part of its Aureon brand range. This new product is the Aureon Dual USB device which has been designed to add multi media centre capabilities to your desktop/notebook system. The kit consists of an 82mm USB stick, black in colour, and a small adaptor for use with optical digital output.