Tech Digest

Morphy Richards flip down TV

Morphy Richards - they make kettles and toasters don't they? Well yes, but obviously sensing the need that most people now have of being no less than two paces away from a TV, they've popped up with an LCD TV system - for the kitchen.

The flip down TV System attaches to your existing units with a neat swivel mechanism so you can see the Paul O'Grady Show or Richard and Judy no matter where you are in the kitchen. It features a 10.2” LCD screen, along with an integrated FM radio, stereo sound, a remote and an AUX input for connection to DVD and video. Where you put your DVD and video players isn't clear.

You can pick up the Morphy Richards LCD Kitchen TV System at B&Q for around £300.

Find out more

More TVs:
Maplin Electronics' 8 inch TV
Ultimate TV bed

Grab a ghost detector

I don't believe in ghosts. But that only because I've never seen one. If I sensed one was near me, I'd be out the door before you can say Scooby Doo! Which is why I was disturbed to read on Bayraider of the existence of the Gauss Master ghost detector - currently up for auction on eBay.

It measures ghoulish EMFs, is apparently widely by professional ghost-hunters (now there's a job that'll break the ice at parties) and even comes with instructions for "conducting paranormal investigations", just like they do in Most Haunted.

Interested? Head over to Bayraider now.

TUNiT: Football meets technology

Once upon a time, the only consideration when buying football boots was size, or for a brief time in the seventies, whether you wanted white ones! But times change and demands placed on players grow - to the point where a pair of professional boots is now individual to you and the way you play.

Enter Adidas with the TUNiT (pronounced Tune-it) - the world’s first fully customisable football boot, made up of component parts that allows players for the first time to change their boots to suit their game, the pitch or even the time of year.

The new technology will eventually offer 52 boot combinations, primarily from three interchangeable components: the upper, the chassis and the studs. By swapping the component parts, you can make the TUNiT any boot you want it to be - a warm boot, a cool boot, a lightweight boot, a cushioned boot or a soft, hard or firm ground boot. And if you're fashion conscious, you can even change the colour of your footwear from a choice of black, blue, white, green, red or yellow.

The Adidas group of F50 players will be wearing TUNiT boots from February 2006, with the boot expected to be big new during the World Cup. You can pick up the boots in stores from March as a Start Pack or Premium Pack, priced at £120 and £270 respectively.

More sport technology:
Solar-powered golf bag
Laptop with free World Cup ticket

Solar-powered golf bag

Technology and golf have never really crossed paths. Check trousers, a Ronnie Corbett sweater, some clubs, balls and a bag - that's been sufficient for years. So why not ruffle a few feathers in the clubhouse with something very 2006 - the Soldius Solar golf bag.

Featuring a built-in solar panel that provides 100% green energy, the Soldius bag can charge your mobile phone while you are busy playing a round. The bag has charging points compatible with more than 250 mobile phones including most of the market leaders and should complete a charge in 3 hours.

And it'll fit in nicely with your Lyle and Scott, being available in a variety of colours.

No UK price or release date as yet for this Dutch-made device. When we hear, we'll let you know.

Via Pocket-Lint

More solar-powered gadgets:
Solar-powered PSP charger
The solar bag

Leather jacket for your iPod

Apple aren't known for their range of colours - it's typically black or white for an iPod, so if you want your player to stand out from the crowd, you have to dress it yourself. So how about dressing it in this LeatherJacket from Gear4?

It's essentially a leather case for the iPod nano or video, available in a rather dull black or, mjust in time for Valentines Day, a more girlie pink. As well as being a fashion accessory, it has a velvet-like lining to protect your iPod from the usual wear, tear and scratches from being out and about.  It comes complete with detachable belt clip, has magnetic button closure and allows for full access to screen, click wheel and ports.

You can pick one up now for around £20.

Find out more

More for your iPod:
Video recorder for your iPod
Turn your iPod into a home media system

Pegasus 550N notebook PC

If you're on the look out for a new and indeed light notebook to serve you no the go, the Pegasus 550N notebook from rock could fit the bill. 

The 550N is packed in a smart and at 2.5kg, fairly lightweight case with a 15 inch XGA screen and a built in 1.3 megapixel webcam that includes a video recording function. It features an Intel Core Duo processor, 512MB DDR2 RAM, a 60GB drive and 8x speed DVD rewriter. Battery life clocks in at around 3 hours of use.

The Pegasus 550N is available now for around £799 exc VAT.

Find out more

More notebooks:
Dell's 20 inch notebook
Fujitsu Siemens first with 3G notebooks

Laptop with free World Cup ticket

As someone desperate for a ticket for this summer's event, I don't know whether this makes me laugh or makes me angry. Probably the latter. The new TV notebook Qosmio G30 from Toshiba will be sold in Germany bundled with a ticket to a match at the 2006 World Cup.

Toshiba is an official FIFA World Cup sponsor, which must mean access to a large wedge of tickets. Which means there's less for the rest of us. If you're fearing the worst and expecting to miss out, you could always nip over to Germany and buy a Qosmio G30.

Apart from a World Cup ticket, you'll also get an Intel Core Duo notebook with a 17 inch screen, 2 100GB or 120GB HDD that can be configured as RAID, TV Tuner and a DVD drive. Or just stay home and buy a better TV and a few cans.

Via i4u

More Toshiba:
Toshiba's Gigabeat S MP3 players
Toshiba's HD DVD players

Tom Baker becomes voice of text

A text message - that's a short message, so named because it is a message of text. Not anymore; BT has introduced talking text to and from home phones and for the first three months, they'll be spoken by Tom Baker.

You can send a text from a mobile to a landline in the normal way – just enter the landline number as the destination instead. To send a text from a landline to another landline or to a mobile, you need a text-enabled home phone, BT Caller Display and a compatible phone line.

If the recipient has got a text-enabled phone and has registered for BT Text, they will ordinarily receive texts in written format. If you want to surprise them with a Tom Baker text, you can force it to be delivered as speech instead by typing *tts# at the start of your message ('text to speech').

Find out more

More mobiles:
Mobile image sharing on the cheap
Live gigs on your mobile

Epson P-4000 Multimedia Storage Viewer

Do you take your digital photography seriously? If you want to store the endless number of snaps you take on the move or want a closer look at what you've taken, it might be worth checking out Epson's P-4000 Multimedia Storage Viewer

The Epson P-4000 features a hefty 80GB storage capacity (enough for 18,000 6MP pics) for image backup and with a 3.8” display size and resolution of 640x480 pixels or 212 pixels per inch, you can review your photos long before you get home. The rechargeable battery offers a playabck time of over 3 hours in continuous photo slideshow mode.

With integrated CompactFlash® (CF) and Secure Digital (SD) memory card slots you can transfer images from your digital camera to the Multimedia Storage Viewer easily or you can copy across via USB. The Epson P-4000 stores and displays images in RAW and JPEG format from most digital SLR cameras and can also store digital movies, in Motion JPEG & MPEG4, as well as play music in MP3 & AAC formats.

You can pick up the Epson P-4000 for around £500.

Find out more

More Epson:
Epson's projector with built-in DVD player
Digital photo album

Imation reveals smallest hard drive

Well, these things get smaller by the week, so it's hard to keep up on who currently tops the tiny table. According to Imation, they now lead the way with their Micro Hard Drive.

The 4GB Imation drive, weighing at just over one ounce, features a shock-resistant metal case and an integrated locking USB cable that can be used to clip the device to a belt loop or briefcase. Inside the device is the 2005 Guinness Book of World Records' smallest hard disk drive (HDD) from Toshiba, measuring less than one inch in diameter.

In addition, Imation offers the option to protect files stored on the drive with their Security Manager, which backs up multiple file versions and automatically synchronises the copies, allowing easy access to previous versions and preventing unauthorised access by locking all files with 128-bit encryption.

You can pick up the Micro Hard Drive for around £120.

More drives:
Seagate's 160GB notebook drive
The biggest USB drive?