Publication History For : Peter Wilson
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You still see a lot of people making calls from their mobile while steering with their other
hand. This is now of course an offence in the UK. The answer is a hands free kit. Until recently these
have involved installation of a wired device and was not cheap.
Recently though BlueTooth - the short range wireless standard - has come to the rescue with a number of solutions. The simplest of course is to use a . These often not geared to car use - and of course you have the problem of looking like a berk. BlueTooth headset The alternative is a BlueTooth speaker phone. There are a few on the market and here I'm reviewing the 'SuperTooth Voice' product.
Satellite navigation is become more popular with big price reductions and many
competing designs. The basic price though can still be fairly expensive. Here we
look at an alternative that uses the processing power and display capabilities of
your mobile phone to offer an alternative pricing plan.
When you buy ActiveNavigation 6 from Falk what you get is a small 4.5 x 9 x 1cm (WxHxD) unit with curved edges and soft rubberised finished that contains a GPS receiver and a bluetooth transceiver. The unit itself is very compact, looks good and will slip into trouser pocket or hand bag easily enough. There at three lights on the device.
We all want to do our bit for the environment - but it pays to ask questions and not accept
manufacturers claims at face value. Here we look at the FreeLoader that offers to power your gadgets
for free using the power of the sun. How does it measure up? You may be surprised!
Information on the FreeLoader arrived through the GadgetSpeak letter box a while
before Christmas and was followed up by a phone call - and then a duly delivered sample for review.
This LCD picture frame boasts a wealth of features that go beyond simply showing your favourite pictures.
Apart from the obvious ability to show a collection of images this frame includes stereo speakers with MP3 playback
and the ability to play back video. Let's start with the basics though. The frame itself is a fairly hefty 275x200x30mm (WxHxD) which hosts an 8" 16:9 aspect ratio
LCD screen. The frame only appears to be available in one finish - black shiny perspex.
For anyone with poor sight a mobile phone is normally a nightmare, however this offering has large buttons and an easy to read display, ideal for anyone who wants just a phone.
The ITT EasyUse mobile phone is a light grey colour and the phone weights only 112grams it is 13x5.5x1.5cm and the monochrome 4 line display is 3.5x2.2cm. There are twelve large buttons (four rows of three) each 1.4x1cm and all have a large white numeral on a blue background. Above this are the green call button and the red end call button both with large white illustrations on them these are each 2cm long.
Through the many years that have past since the first whisps of stubble fought their way
on my spotty young chin I've tried all the various shaving solutions in a vain attempt to
create a baby smooth finish.
During that time I've switched periodically between electric razors and
wet shaving. By far the best result is always from a good wet shave, albeit
often with the effect tarnished a little by the odd nick by one of the
ever increasing number of blades. I've recently been offered the chance to put the new Remington Titanium MS 5800
electric shaver through it's paces.
I worked for many years in the networking industry, seeing first the widespread use of big
thick COAX cable to network computers, then thinner twisted pair wiring into centralised
switching rooms. Wired technology was never widely adopted in the home for obvious reasons,
but the idea of making use of the existing mains power cabling was often anticipated.
Despite the ready availability of power cables to every point of every house, running
data over an environment that was designed to carry high voltage and high power was
never going to be easy.
I was more than a little skeptical when a toothbrush priced at over £130 arrived
here for review. At first I thought there must be some mistake in the pricing - but no. This is
the most advanced toothbrush in the Oral-B range.
I've been a fan of electric toothbrushes for a number of years now, but have been generally let down by the quality of the product, which often fails after a few months. Although not expensive in money terms - the sheer waste gets to me. Each of those (and I won't mention names) probably cost between £10 and £20 - often on special offer. The Orab-B Triumph is in a different class.
Until recently DAB (Digital Auto Broadcast) radio has been something of a niche technology. Dab radios
have offered little advantage over their analogue forebears other than limited battery life,
often poor reception and higher prices. A lot has changed in the last year with DAB radio
going mainstream.
Pure Chronos II
The government want us ultimately to use digital radio services. Why? Well as with most things
government it really comes down to money. If they can persuade us to 'go digital' they
can sell off the frequencies traditionally used for radio services to the highest bidder.
December 2006 saw the legalisation of low-power FM transmitters for personal use in the UK. As so often happens these
days outdated law was simply catching up with commercial reality. Already on the market were several
FM transmitters explicitly aimed for personal use to beam music from MP3 players into the cars hi-fi system.
Since the change in law the number of products in this space has blossomed. Here we take a look at a very small transmitter from Belkin called 'TuneFM for iPod'. The package it comes in is completely out of proportion to the product itself. Open the package you find a cardboard mock up of an iPod and right down the bottom the FM transmitter which attaches to the iPod dock connector. The body of the transmitter is around 60x25x11mm in size.
A flexible personal GPS navigation system that can also provide a range of
other in-car services.
At heart the n
For a while Nintendo looked like it was going to play underdog to the
behemouths of Microsoft with their XBox and Sony with the PlayStation. Many
had written of this company as an also run. That was then. Several years on
from those predictions and Nintendo is breathing new life into not
only itself, but also the games industry as a whole.
This review takes a look at the latest in the DS line of hand-held game consoles. The
Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) arguably saw the turn around in Nintendo's fortunes and
a continuation of the strategy that brought the DS to market led directly to
the new Wii phenomenon. Put bluntly - Nintendo had the foresight to put the user, rather than technology, first.
A couple of years ago such a situation would have been hard to fathom - Palm virtually
single handedly created the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) market, only to be
challenged by the might of Microsoft. So - how is the fruit of this unlikely marriage?
We take a look at the Palm Treo 500v.
As an early adopter and fan of the Palm concept I owned one of the very early
Palm Pilot products from around 1998 (still in use by my Dad) and still have a
Palm V (circa-2000) in daily use.
You've got a TV in the bedroom, the living room, the conservatory and even the
kitchen. But the bathroom... Until now the last bastion of TV free living has
finally fallen with the arrival of a waterproof television from Tech Vision.
The 10.4"LCD screen of the TechVision TW104 is protected by a plastic case with front panel buttons for volume, channel and input selection. Other than that all TV functions are controlled by a separate water-proof remote control. Overall dimensions are 395x292x42mm (width x height x depth). The TV is certified to IP56, which broadly speaking means it can be hit from water at any angle and will be fine.
A small set of stereo speakers for iPod owners that produce good sound from a compact package and at a reasonable price.
Intempo produce a range of iPod speaker systems, along with a varied range of other audio products. The IDS-05 is a mid-sized unit at 23x13x9cm (width x height x depth). Sound is produced by combination of three speakers - two stereo 3W, 2" mid-range speakers to the front and a single, centrally mounted 9W, 3" sub-woofer to the rear. The speakers are not covered with any protective grill.
Polaroid is a name traditionally linked with instant film and sunglasses. They have however been
at the forefront of a number of technical developments over the years. Now they are capitalising
on that heritage to enter the high-definition TV market.
We'll be taking an in-depth look at Polaroid's Definia Range in December. This is a little sneak
preview of the Polaroid range. Paul Smart recently
and
was impressed with the results. The Definia range take that core technology and integrates a
digital (Freeview) tuner.
There are now a plethora of mobile video devices on the market. Personal DVD players started the
market which has been taken up by solid state and hard disk players like Apples iPod range and
the Archos range of products. While the concept has been great, personal video in public has never
been, well, that personal. A criticism myvu hope to address with their range of 'media viewers'.
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.
If it's classic styling you're looking for - a DAB radio that'll looks as good as it sounds
and that can comfortably take pride of place in your home then Roberts may have something for you.
The 'Revival' range has been around for a little while from Roberts in various finishes. This
limited edition version takes style to a new level. When you take it out of the packaging
the first thing you notice is the weight - at around 1.5Kg (3lb) without batteries this is
probably the heaviest DAB radio I've seen.
The demise of
VHS video tape has left a big hole in convenient TV recording not filled by the promise of DVD.
This Thomson box from Top Up TV offers a rich set of features at an unbeatable price.
Hard disk recorders have been around for a little while - most famously pioneered by Tivio and
then, in the UK, by the Sky+ box. Great if you're a Sky subscriber. With the advent of FreeView
based Digital Television Recorders (DTR) this facility is available to the masses without
the expense or restrictions of a subscription-only services. have launched their own product in this space - the
" " - not quite as catchy as "sky+" - but don't let that put you off.
Over the last couple of months we've reviewed a number of coffee machines, across a wide
price range and with distinct capabilities and characteristics. We're just about
coming down from our caffeine high so now is a good time to offer a summary!
First of all a few terms so we're all singing from the same hymn sheet!
is the common 'brew' across the machines we reviewed. Think of this as a base coffee
from which others are made. Espresso is a short (40ml) strong black coffee. From this base
you can add hot frothy milk to make , for example. The machines we reviewed made coffee either from special proprietary 'capsules', such
as the system or the Braun Tassimo capsules, from fresh ground coffee or from
.
For those of you that like espresso, but often just want a jug of warm coffee then
Krups have combined both functions in a single unit.
The is a stylish brushed stainless steel and black plastic unit. The combination of espresso and filter means that it's physically bigger than other machines we've tested at 35x32x31cm (Width x Height x Depth) - my measurements from the actual unit and weighing in at 3Kg.
The Thrustmaster Run'N'Drive is a wireless game controller for the Sony PS/2, PS/3 and IBM PC - an ideal
alternative to the wired variety if you're fed up with untangling wires - or just want to get further
away from the screen.
To look at this controller is similar to a standard PS/2 controller and includes all the standard gaming buttons one would expect. For PS/2 users two vibrating motors are included - with the option to switch them off to save battery. I found the basic controller pretty comfortable to hold - the two 'wings' are much longer than those on a standard PS/2 controller.
The iM207 is a small stand-alone speaker for those on the move, intended to be plugged into various sound sources - an MP3 player, iPod, your mobile phone or computer for example.
Having recently reviewed the I was interested to see how Altec Lansing served the lower end of the market. Where the iM600 is a top of the range stereo speaker system specifically aimed at the iPod - this time we're looking at a small circular speaker with built in amplifier. To look at the 'Orbit' is fairly simple. From above it's circular with the Altec Lansing logo embedded in the silver speaker grill while from the side it's a squat cone.
In our continuing series reviewing the world of home coffee machines we're taking a look
at a stylish espresso machine from Illycaffè.
We've now covered a wide range of coffee machines - now is the turn of the FransisFrancis X6 Trio - designed by Italian architect Luca Trazzi for illy. This machine makes use of standard ESE coffee PODS. ESE standards for 'Easy Server Espresso'. Each pod is very similar to a tea-bag - except hard. Each pod contains compressed coffee between tow pieces of filter paper. Each pod is suitable for a single cup and are available from a number of companies.
For those that like DAB radio and looking for something more comparable in size to a classic portable analogue FM radio may like
to take a look at this product from Intempo.
The Intempo TRS-01 is available in five colours : black, violet, claret, grey and blue - in a compact 205x38x105 mm (WxDxH) package weighing only 40g (excluding batteries). The unit is delivered with a mains 6V 800mA rats-lead power supply and can also be powered by battery. All the controls except volume are provided on the front surface - which also includes an illuminated LCD display. Reception is via a 60cm, six element telescopic aerial.
Continuing our series reviewing the array of coffee machines available, this time
we take a look at a well made espresso machine from Kenwood.
The Kenwood Retro is available in three finishes : red, silver and cream. Unlike many
of the machines we've looked at, the Retro takes a very manual approach to preparing your
coffee. Other machines we've reviewed attempt to correctly measure a perfect espresso. This then
leads to complicated 'programming' options to allow you to alter that amount of water used.
With the Kenwood Retro, you get none of this.
Continuing our series on up-market coffee machines, today we're reviewing the elegant 'Le Cube' from Krups.
Krups has a long history in the coffee business, being formed back in 1846 as (according to their web site) 'a brand dedicated to precision and technical perfection'. They moved into coffee in the 1960s, giving them over four decades in which to hone their craft. They should know a thing or two when it comes to coffee and in this case they have leant their name to this Nespresso machine.
We're now half way through energy saving week and are taking a look at a DAB radio with
extended battery life. For anyone that's tried running DAB radios on battery know exactly
how power hungry they can be - so any improvement is to be welcomed.
The is a stereo DAB and FM radio with an output power of 3W in total.
The FM portion benefits from RDS (Radio Data System) which will identify your FM station
for you rather than have to guess. Sound quality is very good as we've come to expect
from Roberts products. Unusually the unit comes with separate bass and treble controls,
which can enhance listenning is various surroundings.
We're all aware of the impact of carbon dioxide on the environment causing global warming,
climate change, flooding and worse is to come. We can reduce that impact by reigning in the release of CO2
into the atmosphere. The boffins are looking at some very clever ways of doing that, but in practice this
means using less energy! As we enter "Energy Saving Week" we're looking at a little gadget that
may help you change your energy burning habits.
Dubbed 'The OWL' this device comes in two parts - a sensor unit and a large display unit. It allows you to wirelessly monitor your households electrical energy consumption. The argument being that if you can how much energy you're using you're more inclined to do something about it. The sensor is very simply installed around the incoming live mains supply just before your fuse box (or consumer unit).
If you've got a BlueTooth enabled phone (or computer) stuffed with photos you never look at then
Parrot have just the frame for you.
Electronic have been out for a while from various manufacturers. Most of these allow you to transfer images from your computer via USB. That's all well and good, but each time you want to change the pictures you have to move the frame to your computer and find that cable (ok - where you safely store it this time? photo frames did Parrot have a different take on populating the frame with your images.
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