Tech Digest

Arcam's top notch DAB

Cambridge-based Arcam is renowned for its excellent quality of audio products, producing kit that comes with the very best components, along with all the attention to detail you want from your high-end audio gear. The company was one of the first to get into DAB digital products (and in fact made the first domestic digital tuner in the world), and now it's taken the technology a stage further with its latest tuner. The DT91 will set you back a hefty £449, which we're hoping means the radio is as good as Arcam promises. Providing both DAB and FM tuner, the DT91 comes with digital processing for FM. Digital output from DAB or FM can be used to feed external DACs, recorders, or an AV processor. The tuner's available from March.

Arcam

Hard Drive Camcorder from NHJ

Following the path previously trod by JVC with its Everio, comes NHJ and its painfully monikered D'Zign DV-5. This hard disk drive digital camcorder comes with a 2GB hard drive for storing digital video, allowing you to record MP4s at 640 x 480 pixels and 30fps using the 3.2-megapixel camera. You can also play back MP3s, hence the earphones. Hard drive seems to be the done thing for camcorders at the moment, and we're expecting a good crop to arrive in the UK in the not too distant future. While NHJ don't sell directly over here, the company frequently gets picked up by other retailers, so there's a good chance we'll be seeing this one soon.

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Navman gets into sports gear

GPS specialist, Navman, has done a bit of branching out and come up with this range of sports kit designed to appeal to active types. The company's decided to keep it all very simple with colour coding, creating GPS Sports Tools that are tailored to specific sporting activities. The lowest-priced unit, is the Inline Skaters' unit, costing £79. It provides speed and distance information, and has a special alarm that will let you know when your speed drops below a designated rate. The other units are for Walkers (£89), Runners (£99) and Alpine (Snowboarding and Skiing, £119). There's also a Marine version on its way for windsurfers and water sports enthusiasts. They all have similar features, but these are slightly tweaked depending on the pastime.

Runners get pacing and lap timers, walkers get calore usage info, while the Skiiers benefit from the most advanced info, with downhill distance to let you exactly how much actual skiing you've done in a in a day out.

The units have been designed to be worn on the upper arm, which is apparently a bit of a USP for GPS sports gear. They're accurate to within 10-20m over 1000 metres and will be available in sports shops from February onwards. Incidentally, if you don't like the allotted colour of your chosen GPS Sports Tool, you can get add-on clips to change colours.

Mikey and Slim: Hitachi's tiny hard drives

Hard drive stories may not be the most thrilling in the world, but when Hitachi sent us a load of neat little photos of its latest products, even we were momentarily beguiled by the tiny things. The Microdrives, nicknamed "Mikey" and "Slim" are one-inch and 1.8-inch hard disk drives respectively. Mikey is 20 percent smaller than the company's previous drive, and will have a maximum capacity of 8-10 gigabytes.

Meanwhile, the 1.8-inch Slim has 30 percent shaved off its thickness, leaving it just 5mm thick with a 30-40GB capacity. The Mikey is all set for the second half of 2005, while Slim will be launched shortly after. Hitachi's 4GB Microdrive is currently being used by Apple for the iPod mini, but with that capacity set to double, there's a chance we may see it appearing on an upcoming model. Current rumours seem to be that the iPod mini will move onto a Seagate hard drive, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of idle speculation.

Moto's Black Razr

Mindful that many celebrities are living on the bread line, Motorola is doing its bit by handing out free special edition V3 Razr handsets at this year's Oscars. A special black version of the super-skinny model will be gifted to all the super skinny models - winners and presenters - in attendance at the Academy Awards ceremony on 27th February. It's not clear whether the phone will also be offered for sale to the general public. More news as and when, etc.

More here and here.

Mio's GPS units with MP3

Mio, the company responsible for providing countless UK laptop companies with re-badged PDA offerings, has been dipping its toes into the Sat Nav market once more. The Mio 168 PDA/GPS hybrid went down pretty well, and now the company has branched out with 2 new GPS handhelds. This time the satellite navigation products are standalone devices, offering portable navigation for less than £300. The Mio268 (pictured) is the cheaper option, while the Mio269 comes pre-installed with all the European mapping software, which bumps its price up to £399.

Both units are designed for multi-purpose use, with settings for car, motorbike, bicycle and pedestrian. This means you can use them for straightforward navigation, or you can get them to tell you the location of the nearest pub or petrol station. What's more, an MP3 player comes built into both units. The Mio268 relies on memory card storage as it doesn't have a hard disk. This means you can have up to a gigabyte's worth of music, but you'll need to get another memory card for the maps if you want a lot of tunes. The Mio269, meanwhile, is a 2.5GB hard disk unit. With all the maps preloaded, you'll have 500MB of free space to save the music onto.

Rio Forge 512MB launched

The latest version of the Rio Forge has just arrived in Europe. With an RRP of £129, the Forge now comes with a 512MB capacity. The flash device is Rio's sporty player, with durable strainless steel face plates and protective rubber grips. The SD/MMC memory card slot means that the capacity can be exanded up to 1.5 gigabytes, and there's some nice features such as the FM tuner that also lets you record straight to memory. A Stopwatch and lap timer, along with armband and sport clip earphones, make this a nice little sporting companion.

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Panasonic's Smartphone

Panasonic has just launched its first smartphone onto the UK market. The X700 handset is based on Symbian's Series 60 platform and comes with all the usual PIM features associated with that OS. It's also a camera phone, with video capability, as VGA camera and a flash light for nightime shooting. Support for Mini SD memory cards will come in handy for storing music, images and video files, but there's no mention of the phone's built-in memory capacity. There's a 65K colour main display and a colour outer display on the clamshell chassis. Other features include Bluetooth, voice recognition and tri-band frequency range.

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More Nintendo DS launch plans

Brought to you in bullet form:

• Nintendo has allocated 650,000 units to Europe
• There's an aggressive marketing budget of €35m for the launch
• The company showed off MarioKart DS with eight-player Wi-Fi wireless play, due for launch at some point in 2005.
• Nintendo says it will be marketing the DS to women.

All this and more on Games Digest

Nintendo DS UK launch in March

Well the news gamers have been waiting for all day is just in. In Paris today Nintendo confirmed that its new DS handheld will launch in the UK on March 11th and will retail for £99.99. There will apparently be 14 games available from day one.

The dual screen handheld has already been quite a hit in both the US and the Far East and its launch is eagerly awaited in Europe. Among the early games, which will cost between Those games will cost between £19.99 and £29.99, are Super Mario 64DS, Rayman DS, Project Rub, The Urbz, Pokémon Dash, Sprung, Asphalt Urban GT, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Zoo Keeper, Ping Pals, Robots, Polarium and Spiderman 2. The actual DS hardware will ship with Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt.

Loads more details and background stuff from the launch on Games Digest in the next couple of days.

Panny goes slidey

Siemens may not be having too good a time in the mobile phone handset market, but the slidey design it patented on the much loved SL55, goes from strength to strength. The latest company to offer a SL55 tribute/rip-off (delete as you see fit) is Panasonic with its just launched X500.

It might attract a few SL55 fans on account of its cute design and pocketable size (it weighs only 96g and measures 85x47x22.5mm). Also like the SL55 it is pretty low-end in terms of its features with just a VGA camera, video capture, Java and not a great deal else. No idea yet who is going to take it in the UK but Virgin Mobile is sure to be a contender.

O2 unveils 3G handsets

At a not especially glitzy bash O2 this morning confirmed its 3G launch for consumers, announcing a February 1st roll out date for the handsets and services.

The company seemed keen to stress that 3G was an evolution rather than a revolution and this was reflected in its choice of handsets. Some we have seen before, notably the Nokia 6630 (available through Orange and Vodafone and without a video calling facility, the Samsung Z107 (another Voda handset) and the Sony Ericsson SE V800 (Voda’s lead 3G handset). Others, like the Nokia 6680, are new.

Yet O2 has chosen to launch 3G to its consumers with an own-branded handset that bizarrely doesn’t feature video calling facilities. Available from February 1st and retailing for either £30 or nothing, depending on which contract you choose, is the X4. A deadringer for the O2 X3, although it is a little bulkier, the X4 features a 262K colour screen, a 1.3 mega pixel camera with 8x digital zoom, an MP3 player and video downloading and streaming facilities via O2’s newly launched 3G O2 Active site.

The handset which like the X3 is made by Taiwanese manufacturer BenQ has 10MB of storage, though this can be upgraded via a memory card.

O2 confirms Nokia 3G phone - before Nokia

Allright so we haven’t actually seen one and Nokia still isn’t acknowledging that it exists, but O2 in the UK today announced it would be first network to sell the new Nokia 3G handset, the 6680.

The company promised that the model, Nokia's first to boast two cameras and therefore offer full video calling facilities, would be in the stores soon after it launches its 3G consumer service on February 1st. Naturally we don’t believe O2, especially after the press office failed to furnish us with a pic.

Nevertheless we have a very good experience with the Nokia 6630 3G phone on Vodafone, and like the look of the 6680. Still can’t see us making any video calls though. The only other stuff we know about the 6680 is that it has Series 60 interface like the 6630, features a 1.3 mega pixel camera and, rumour has it, a 3D menu system.

Vaja Memory card case

Here's the ideal gift for the discerning memory card owner: Vaja's memory card cases. There's a selection of cases available, with room for various types of memory card. All cases are padded, with a soft leather lining to keep your cards in the lap of luxury at all times. There's also a magnetic clasp, which always makes everything feel that little bit special. As ever with Vaja, you can get the cases custom made, with your own personalised touches added. Prices start at $30.

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Vaja

Aigo's Hard Disk player

Despite being such a newcomer to the UK market, Aigo has now launched so many products it already has a strong portfolio of music players under its belt. The company's latest addition to the range is the P880. The 20GB hard disk player retails for £280 and comes with a number of additional features that should appeal. A dock comes included in the price, while the 65K colour screen lets you view JPEG images. These can be downloaded straight to the device from a digital camera, but there's also an SD/MMC card reader on board for transferring images and tunes. The inclusion of an FM radio sets it apart from most the other jukeboxes on the market, and the voice recorder is another nice addition. MP3, WMA and WAV files are all supported.

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Seagate's pocket hard disk

We don’t normally get too excited about hard disk storage but there’s something rather cute about the new Pocket Drive from Seagate. Targeted at PC users who want large amounts of storage in a pocket size device the Pocket Drive has a diamater of just 7xm and weighs only 63 grams. It connects to PCs via an integrated USB 2.0 connector and is available with storage of either 2.5 (£119) of 5 (£139) Gigabytes. It is on sale now.

Seagate is also aiming for digital camera users with a one inch CompactFlash card. Set to launch later in spring the card will be available with storage of either 2.5 or 5 Gigabytes Seagate also has a larger Portable Drive, which works in a similar way top the Pocket versions and offers storage capacity of either 40 (£129) or 100 (£219) Gigabytes.

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Alcatel back in UK phone market

Alcatel, which has a bit of an okey cokey attitude to the UK mobile phone market, seems definitely to be back ‘in’ after announcing a deal with leading Chinese phone manufacturer TCL, and the imminent arrival of the One Touch 655.

On sale now via its website and you’ll be able to pick it up through Virgin and The Carphone Warehouse later in the month, the OneTouch 756 is a chocolate bar style camera phone with a 262k colour screen. Other features include a VGA camera with an 8x zoom, video capture of up to 30 seconds and JPEG and GIF image format support. There are also MP3 ringtones, Java for downloading games and WAP and email compatibility. The triband handset has a talk time of nine hours and standby of 250 hours. Expect to pay in the region of £120 on a pay as you go contract for one.

PSP problems

Dead pixels in the LCD display, short battery life and UMD discs that randomly pop out when the unit's twisted. These are just a few of the gripes owners of Sony's new PSP handheld console have been moaning about online.

The latest glitch is that almost 5,000 PSPs have had to be returned already due to a faulty button. The square control button is placed extremely close to the edge of the large screen, and Sony's designers appear to have been unwilling to either move the button or shrink the screen. The result? The control switch inside the PSP isn't actually directly under the button, which has meant a "sticky" or stuck button for some users. Surprisingly Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi responded aggressively to The Nikkei Journal over this fault saying: "It wasn't a mistake. There may be people who complain about it, but that's something users and game developers will have to adapt to."

Simon M

Games Digest

PS3 more powerful than Xbox2

Speaking to BBC News, Rory Armes, European Studio General Manager for Electronic Arts has said: "The rumours are that PS3 will have a little more under the hood than Xbox 2." Armes also revealed that his teams have received early "development kits" for Xbox 2, but not for either PS3 or Nintendo's "Revolution" machine.

Simon M

Games Digest

DVD player crammed with features

The KiSS DP-558 DVD Player has a a veritable feast of features. DVD playback with DivX3.11, 4 and 5 plus MPEG-4, along with MP3 CDs (as well as normal CDs obviously), Ogg Vorbis and JPEG images are all supported. As well as that, there's Ethernet connection to broadband internet, which lets you listen to online radio and play back audio, video and picture files from a PC. But it doesn't end there.

The Kiss DP-558 also lets you record TV onto its 80GB hard drive (no digital tuner though, unfortunately) as well as DivX movies downloaded to the hard disk from a PC.

Fairly funky Bluetooth car kit

We seem to have become so paranoid about getting three bonus points on our licence for chatting on the mobile while driving that all Carphone Warehouse seems to sell these days is Bluetooth kits for the car. Although it has bog-standard features we kind of like the look of the Bluetooth Car Kit LCD HS-8200 from Dutch maker Trust.

Essentially the pack features a semi-circular, well, blob, with a blue LED screen that flashes the number up of the person who calls you. It also has two fairly hefty looking speakers on the side an integrated mic and a volume control. Like most of its rivals it is powered via the motor’s cigarette charger. It goes on sale at the end of January for £80.

SK65 nearly here

The SK65 will be hitting the shops in the next couple of weeks. Despite countless rumours, Siemens still seems to be committed to the phone market for the time being at least, and the SK65 offers enough innovation to be a big hit. The fold out full size cross-to-type keyboard is the first of its kind, while BlackBerry push email is likely to make it very appealing to business types. Those not bothered about BlackBerry will be able to buy the basic handset which requires the usual logon and download to pick up mail. There will also be the more consumer-friendly BlackBerry service which we're assuming is the same as the one seen on the 7100 handsets. This doesn't require a business server to hook up with but, if the 7100 range is anything to go by, it also means you don't always get immediate push on emails. Worse case scenario, it can be anything to 3 right up to 15 minutes. (Having said that, we've always found the 7100s have always been instantaneous).

iPod Shuffle Looky-likey

Well, that didn't take long did it? No sooner is the Shuffle announced than you can get yourself a cut price imitation. The Plusmore Fly-04 matches the specs of the Shuffle pretty well - no screen, doubles up as a USB memory stick, plug and play - but it has got a couple of differences. Obviously it doesn't play Apple's AAC files, but it also only seems to play MP3 formats for some reason. There's a wider range of memory sizes - from 32MB to 2 gig - and battery life is just 8 hours commpared to Shuffle's twelve. Meanwhile, MPIO's FY200 looked like the shuffle before the Shuffle did.

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Math Bot

OK, so it's not *actually* a robot as such, but the Robot Calculator is built to look like a retro robo so it gets a mention nevertheless. The solar powered calculator will apparently help you with all your "basic math needs" (or "maths" as we quaintly call it over here), which we assume means adding, subtracting and all those other sums type things. On reading that the "Robot Calculator is 7” tall and can stand upright" we had a Spinal Tap moment and thought it was 7 feet tall. Now that really would be good... $8.19 from Buy Cybie

Akai unveils budget DVD recorder

Akai, now there's a brand we haven’t heard of in a while, is back in the UK market with a whole range of entertainment goodies, and to make its mark the company is leading off with what is one of the best value DVD recorders to date.

The £200 ADR-5800Di isn't just cheap, its is multi format too enabling its owners to capture video on re-recordable DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs as well as their write once counterparts.

Other features include eight hour recording, a couple of hours more than some of its rivals, iLink for hooking up a digital camcorder and PAL progressive scan. It also plays back a host CD and DVDs including discs with JPEGs, MP3 and WMAs. It goes on sale at the start of February. More here.

Xbox 2 set for late 2005 launch?

Information purported to be from inside Electronic Arts, regarding the next version of its Need For Speed games, may confirm the launch date for the Xbox 2. The game, according to various websites, to be called Need For Speed: Most Wanted, is to feature a return to NFS's old style of cop-chase gameplay. The game is set to release in late 2005 with "simultaneous ship with the Xbox2" according to the leaked info. Which, if true, confirms the rumours running for Xbox 2 to launch at least in the US by the end of the year.

Simon M

Games Digest

Argos first with silver PS2

It's the same as the new slimline PS2, only silver. Or rather gunmetal grey, if Argos' picture is to believed. While Sony haven't confirmed the imminent ship of a silver version of the PS2, Argos' website is letting customers put it on order now.

Argos silver PS2 listing

Simon M Games Digest

Sony PSP to feature on mobile

Ken Kutaragi has told business media site Bloomberg that an add-on turning the PSP into a mobile phone will surface "in the near future". Sony had already demonstrated mobile phone capabilities at a prototype stage at E3 in LA last May.

Games Digest  Simon M

PC sofa for lovers

Fancy cuddling up to your loved one while divvying around with your expenses docs? No me neither, but for those who really can’t bear to be parted from their significant others for more than just a second, Bluebroc has announced the C-Station, a weirdo kind of sofa for PC loving couples.

The theory is that they can curl up together while watching a DVD, or downloaded movie which is displayed on the LCD screen integrated into the sofa’s side. The design also incorporates space for those other little essentials like a remote control, phone and take-out Pizza.

Obviously there’s housing for your PC or Mac too. Apparently the chair came (in a vision?) to its inventor Paul Tasker as he motorcycled across Australia. ‘Sitting on the bike, I dreamt of comfort. By the time I crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge the concept for the ‘C-Station’ was formed.’ We know what you mean Paul. We have similar epiphanies while trying to get a seat on the 73 bus. There’s no word on price and availability, but you can check out the website here.

Add-on lens for digital cameras

Interesting little add-on for digital cameras from BoysStuff. The Digital Camera Telephoto Lens is a telephoto lens for your digital camera (talk about a ronseal "does what it says on the tin" gadget name). The gadget e-tailer is pitching this at web cams and camera phones, but they can also be used on digital cameras. (The BoysStuff blurb points out that most digital cameras come with a digital zoom so don't need telephoto lenses, which is nonsense of course, since digital zooms are rubbish). The lens can be detached and attaches using a magnetic ring that you stick to your camera or handset. It provides a 2X optical zoom and there's a choice of two sizes, so you should be able to add it to pretty much any photographic device.

MP3 Watch

Gadgets.co.uk is selling this MP3 playing watch to delight and entertain. The watch doesn't appear to have a name - unless you count MP3 Watch - but it's capable of playing MP3 and WMA files. With 128MB of memory you might think it's not worth it, but being able to record your voice is an added bonus and it should provide enough battery life for 6 hours music playback. We're still not convinced that we want to be seen wearing headphones plugged into our plastic watch, but for those that quite fancy the idea, this player can be had for £100.

Gadgets.co.uk

One charger to rule them all

Ok, so it's not the sexiest item on our wishlist, but it's still got to be near the top of our most wanted gadgets. A pad that you can chuck all your gear on for recharging without having to worry about the correct chargers would be a complete godsend. Apparently, it's not an entirely new concept, but the SplashPad from Splashpower (a business wing of Cambridge University) will be the first product that lets you charge as many gadgets as you can fit onto the pad in one go.

The pad has been three years in the making, but the company thinks it may have finally cracked it now. An array of coils create a low-power magnetic field accross the surface of the pad, which the gadgets then pick up. The charge is sufficiently low-power not to affect things like credit cards or tapes lying nearby, but strong enough to charge a number of devices in one go. Unfortunately, you won't just be able to sling your current gadgets onto the charger as mobiles, digital cameras, PDAs, etc will need to have a sheet of magnetic alloy that acts as a receiver attached to them. The coiled receiver is the size of a stick of chewing gum.

Splashpower is aiming to license the product to gadget manufacturers and claims that six companies are currently considering the product. Apparently, the promo material shows pictures of Nokia and Palm devices. If any companies go for the product we could see it available before the end of the year.

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NextBase portable DVD player

NextBase's DVM-125 has a plethora of features, including playback compatabilty for DVDs, CDs VCD, MP3 and JPEG pictures. It will play DVD-R/RW discs and CD-R/RW discs and comes with a 2.5-inch colour LCD screen at 160 x 234 pixels. There's Composite AV Out, plus Dolby AC-3 decoder, Optical Digital Out (audio) and in-line remote control. The battery should last for 3 hours of playback. All in all, a nice little player. It's just a shame that the Hong Kong-based company hasn't got a UK distribution. But with the likes of Firebox and BoysStuff around, you never know.

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Radio you can Rewind

The Genus PR1 is a digital DAB radio you can pause and rewind for up to 20 minutes (depending on the station) should you ever have the need. It's also got a slot loading CD drive cabable of playing MP3-laden discs, and a standard FM Radio. Plus, all the usual features - alarm clock, preset stations, etc - are present and correct. It costs £149 and is available from John Lewis and Dixons and the like. Call 023 92 313090 for full stockists.

Sega iDog

I4U has got more details of the cute looking Sega iDog up on its site. The Soroban Geeks lot said that it was basically a glorified speaker that could play tunes and hook up to an MP3 player. I4U has elaborated with the additional information that the Sega robot can store about 70 children's songs (damn, so it's only for the kids then) and can mimic your voice. It does this by playing sounds that are in a similar wavelength to your voice. Apparently the iDog is set to get a US distribution so we're hoping to see the little fella over here sometime in the future. For the children in our lives, naturally....

Soroban Geeks
I4U

Is iPod going silver?

If Think Secret's suspicion that the fifth generation iPod is going to be silver is true, we'll be a mite disappointed. After all, isn't pretty much every other gadget silver (apart from the ones now ripping off Apple's design)? Or maybe that's the idea - now that everyone's starting to copy them, they go and thwart everyone by getting into silver. Either that or they just want to get the product in line with the PowerBook and Mac Mini products. Whatever the reasons, we're not best pleased. Think Secret has also suggested that Toshiba may be called on to hand over its 80GB hard drive as well as its slimline single platter 40GB unit for the purposes of a 5G iPod. Meanwhile, the website believes that a 5GB iPod mini is on the cards using a Seagate hard disk in place of the current Hitachi model. There's a chance of more colours as well and certain members of the TD team are praying to the god of minimalism for a red mini.

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Napster considers video downloads

Over in America, Napster is considering a move into the world of film, TV and video game downloads. The company has suggested that it can apply the same principles of its online music service to other downloadable content, widening the company's appeal to the younger video game generation. The company's chairman and chief executive, Mr Gorog, was quoted as saying "I do think that while there are huge players in the delivery of movies like Sky, there could be a role for Napster." It seems like an obvious step for the downloads market to us, but with the American arm of Napster only just beginning to consider it, it will probably be a long way off yet for UK subscribers.

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BatMax: Extend your battery life

A sticker that extend your mobile's battery life? It may sound unlikely, but that's what BatMax claims to have come up with. The sticker is compatible with all mobiles and can extend your battery's life to up to twice as long, we're told. It's based on IonXR "nanoceramic material" whatever that may be. This slows down the rate at which batteries lose their juice-storing capacity, extends power from each charge and also speeds up the charging time. It will work on pretty much any type of battery and can be used on older batteries to rejuvinate them. It elimates battery "memory" effect and regulates the current supplied from power sources to protect against variations. It costs $12.95.

BatMax

Telewest unveils PVR and announces HDTV

As we have been predicting for a while now cable company Telewest will debut a hard disk based personal video recorder, or if you want the shorthand - the cable equivalent of Sky+, later this year.

The box, which is made by Scientific Atlanta, boasts a storage capacity of 160 Gigabytes (just like the high end Sky box) and features three video tuners, which will allow viewers to record two programmes while watching a third. This gives it a slight advantage over the Sky + box, which can only manage two channels at once. And, just like all other hard disk based recorders it will offer viewers the chance to pause and instantly rewind live TV if their viewing is interrupted.

There’s no word yet on whether the box will be sold, rented or both, or whether subscribers will be able to use it to record high definition transmissions.

Perhaps even more importantly the company has confirmed that it will follow Sky in delivering High definition TV to its subscribers at some pointing the future. There are no details as to what its plans are though. Earlier in the week Telewest unveiled its video on demand service, for more info about that read here.

Creative's OLED screen Micro

One of CES’s big hits was Creative’s latest versions of its iPod mini rival, the Zen Micro. The new model, nattily titled Zen Micro Photo, caught the imagination of the Vegas punters for its really superb 262k OLED colour screen.

Just like the Apple iPod Photo, and plenty of rival players, the screen will display both album artwork and JPEG images. It comes with either a 5GB or 6GB hard disk, plays MP3 and WMA music, including tunes downloaded from online music stores, and is available in 10 colours.

There's no confirmation of price, but it is tipped to arrive in the UK in early summer. Also spotted at CES was a new version of the Zen Micro in 1GB, 4GB and 6GB flavours which will arrive in the UK in the next few months.

Talk to your music player

It won't be long before we're all prattling away to our electronic gadgets if these developers have anything to do with it. First mobile phones you can order to dial a number for you, then ones you can dictate text messages to, and now it looks like we'll soon be chatting to our music players like some sort of modern take on Prince Charles's floral chitchat habits. Gracenote, a company that specialises in metadata for music files, is working with ScanSoft, a voice recognition company, to come up with an MP3 player you can bark orders at whilst driving your car. Obviously, the Japanese will be the first to take the plunge, and the companies are hoping to unleash the service by the end of 2005.

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Mobile Saver battery pack

Here's a more environmentally friendly version of the Cellboost disposable battery pack for mobiles. The Mobile Saver from STC Global is a rechargeable power source that you can carrry with you as a back up should your mobile battery run down. The Mobile Saver MSC-1000 can apparently recharge a mobile 3-4 times before it needs recharging itself. Eight LED lights give you a more accurate idea of how much power is left. The power pack itself takes 6-7 hours to recharge (although it's safe to leave overnight with no risk of overcharging, we're told). It's obviously not as fast at recharging your mobile as the usual wall socket, but at 2-3 hours for a full charge, it's a good solution for those times when you're away from a power source. There's also the Mobile Saver MSD-2000 for digital cameras. Prices aren't cheap, however, starting at $59.99.

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Porsche gets into DAB

Eton Radios have hooked up with Porsche Design to create its latest two DAB radios. They certainly look different to the usual DAB fare, but whether you like them or not really depends on how much you like big silver circles. For our part, we’re rather partial to them, so the goggle-eyed look is working for us. There are two different versions available - the P1731 for leaving on your sideboard, and the P1732 for carrying to cricket matches, sunbathing sessions and other outdoor events that require radios.

The P1732 is only 2cm deep, while the P1731 comes with two full-range speakers and a powered subwoofer. Recommended manufacturer prices are £99.99 for the P1732 and £149.99 for the P1731 – not cheap, but that’s what happens when you get Porche Design in on the act. They’ll be out in May 2005.

Eton

30X optical Zoom Camcorder

At 30X Panasonic must be current record holders for the world's most powerful optical zoom on a consumer digital camcorder. The NV-GS35 has 800,000 pixels and comes with a host of different modes and settings, including "soft skin" mode that puts a bit of colour on your cheeks and stops you looking too pastey. There's also colour night view, which records colour even in low level light conditions. An LED light makes night shooting possible, shedding light on the subject. The NV-GS21 is also being released, which comes with a 24X optical zoom.

Panasonic

Control your PC via mobile

Toshiba's Ubiquitous Viewer software provides you with the power to control your computer straight from your mobile phone. The service works on Windows PCs and you can operate software such as the MS Office applications, as well as gaining access to email, web browsers and other software. The software includes a special mobile menu that is supposed to make accessing and controlling programs on your PC easier (although you're inevitably going to be limited in what you can achieve by the small screen on your mobile). Advanced data compression technology makes it possible to transfer a lot of information at a pace described by Toshiba as "rapid".

Secure socket layer (SSL) encryption ensures that the data transfers are safe and the connection is also password protected. The service is set to make its debut on the KDDI au network in Japan but the plan is to extend the application to other carriers very soon, including networks outside Japan.

Press release

Motorola pushes Push to Talk (again)

Motorola is once again hoping to interest British mobile phone networks in Push to Talk (the system that enables mobiles to work like walkie talkies) by offering a pair of new POC (Push to Talk over cellular) endowed handsets. Ready for shipping now the duo includes the C698p, a chocolate bar style phone with a 65k colour screen and a VGA camera and the C381p, a low-end mobile that’s primed to take POC to the mass market.

Although Motorola insists that it is talking to UK networks about Push to Talk (and it has been for over a year now) it faces an uphill struggle to get UK networks to sign up. The system, which enables mobile phone to work like walkie talkies with users able to talk simultaneously to several people at the same time, has not really had much impact in the UK with only Orange offering a Talk Now service aimed at small business.

Push to Talk is however big news in the US where networks like Nextel and Sprint have successful services targeting both small business and consumers. Many phone analysts argue that in Europe text messaging operates in the same space which Push to Talk has filled in the US.

Motorola is however at the forefront of the push to talk market with 23 network operator contracts covering 27 countries around the world. The company hopes the two phones will attract even more subscribers — from mass market to high-end — and help pave the way for future “Push-to” services like video and data. Neither phone will apparently be launched in the UK unless a Push to Talk service is up and running.

Mac Mini a rip-off

One obligitory Apple backlash story coming right up. Yes, it's becoming something of a tradition that as soon as Apple launch a new product, everyone swiftly moves in for the usual round of Apple bashing. But this time the insults aren't being hurled by Windows fanatics, or Creative's directors, but by Apple lovers. That's because Apple has once again opted to charge hapless European customers a whole lot more for the Mac Mini than it's charging buyers in the US. European buyers have to pay up to €60 more for their supposedly-affordable Mac Mini units, while UK buyers will have to fork out more than £70 more. This price difference has led to a petition being created to demand that the costs are made more reasonable.

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Slingbox heading to the UK

Here's an interesting new product aimed at people who can't bear to be without their favourite TV shows. The Slingbox Personal Broadcaster sits under your TV and sends your programme signals out to any internet connected computer, turning it into your own personal TV wherever you are. It works by redirecting the TV signals to your chosen computer and will connect to any cable box, satellite receiver or personal video recorder (PVR), sending the signal via a broadband internet. This means that if you're in another country and don't want to miss Corrie, you can get on your laptop and watch it from there. Exactly what the signal will be like once it's travelled over high speed internet is unclear, but since the box is on its way to the UK in August/September time, we'll be able to see for ourselves (and it's out in the US in the next few months). It's potentially a great little service, though, not least because once you've forked out the initial $249 for the box, there's no additional service fees.

Slingbox

NTL/Telewest Give Nod to VOD