Tech Digest

One Minute Video Review: Motorola KRZR

Here's Ashley and I looking at the Motorola KRZR, and having heaps of fun trying to figure out how you say it. There's also a respectable amount of time looking at what exactly it does. Expect it to appear in the shops in the next few weeks.

Review: Philips SHN9500 noise cancelling headphones

The Propaganda

The SHN 9500 noise-cancelling headphones from Philips promise to cut out 85% of background noise, so are perfect for planes, trains and automobiles. They're premium range, so expect a lot of padding. Did you not know that's what premium means? How disappointing.

Noise cancellation headphones are always pretty chunky, especially when they've got technology integrates which actually takes into account the outside noise, rather than just attempting to muffle it. These create an opposite waveform to the outside noise, and in doing so, neutralises it.  There is also a set of neodynamic magnets in the speaker drivers to deliver accurate sound

The Good

Comfort-wise, they're probably the most comfortable I've tried. There is a serious amount of padding going on on the earpieces, and there's more padding on the top of the headband. I wore them on a train for 4 hours, and they were only mildly uncomfortable by the end of it. This was despite wearing glasses, which normally makes headphones sit pressed against that particular pressure point which gives you a blinding headache.

With premium headphones come a few bells and whistles that you don't get on budget models (although admittedly there's only  a limited amount you can do with headphones). On these, you've got a mute button which will allow you to listen to things like train announcements (handy for finding out you're on the wrong train) and oncoming lorries.  There's also an adaptor for the two prong airplane jacks and a carry case. A further adaptor means you can use them with things that have both a 3.5 or a 6.5 mm jack. 

The Bad

The bad news is the noise cancelling element, which might be a problem for Philips. It's quite ineffective, making me check several times if I'd turned the switch on. I had, and yet I still had a significant amount of the tube noise. At one point I could even hear the tinny innnc-innnnc-innnnc  from the headphones of the boy next to me. 

It's supposed to be the low frequency noise that is best cancelled, and Philips quote an improvement of 85%, which means that the tube shouldn't have been a problem. Voices and sudden loud noises don't count, since the technology isn't yet that fast at neutralising, but even so. The overall effect was better than listening through something such as in-ear phones, but I suspect that this was because of all the padding around the ears.

In our opinion

These headphones are really comfortable. And they come with lots of extras. But unfortunately, the noise cancelling element isn't really up to scratch. When you've got to check that they're on, you know there' s a problem... You can however, pick up a pair for £150 at Dixons

One Minute Review: LG KG810, the Chocolate Clamshell

Too lazy to read? In this instance you're ok, since you can sit back and watch a brief synopsis of the LG KG810 in this video (you might have problems with the rest of this site though). If you want more details, check out the full review here.

Review: LG KG810 aka the chocolate clamshell

The Propaganda

The LG Chocolate phone took over the Razr this year as the phone to be seen with, from Southhampton to Solihull. It was loved for its smooth finish, touch sensitive buttons, and of course the massive marketing campaign LG put into it.

They followed up on this by launching the white and the pink version, and have announced a premium edition with gold and platinum trimming. But essentially, they're all the LG Chocolate.

Until now. The LG KG810 is a chocolate phone trapped in a clamshell boy. The touch sensitive buttons are still there, although now they only work the MP3 controls. Not launched yet, it's currently doing the rounds in Asia.

The Good

The KG810, or chocolate clamshell as it shall eternally be known, is aimed at a market that doesn't want to spend ages figuring out how their phone works, where the shortcuts are, or how to configure their own personalised settings. Some would argue that we're all that market, but ho hum. LG clearly know that, since their keypad may not be the most attractive around, but does make all the basic functions easily accessible. There's a shortcut key for switching it to silent, your inbox, contacts, camera and MP3 player, as well as two soft keys and a favourites button you can configure to show your most used functions. Phew. In fact, there are many times when you'll find yourself having to go into the main menu.

There are also lots of features you'd expect on a phone like this: the numbers appear in different colours as you enter a phone number. There are loads of ringtones to choose from, and thankfully at least one that sounds like an actual phone, for us more reserved types.

The Bad

I'm just going to come right out and say it: I don't like the design of this phone. Where the Chocolate was innovative, this is tired. Where it had excitement, this invokes shrugging of the shoulders and an ill-concealed grunt.  No doubt not everyone will feel this way, but there's something about the thickness and the silver surround which doesn't work. In fact, it looks remarkably similar to the Motorola Razr maxx I took a look at here, which comes with HSDPA and a 2 megapixel camera for a similar weight and design.

There's also the seemingly insurmountable problem of actually touching the phone. Whilst the shiny surface is polished and lovely, it cries out to be stroked and there in lies the problem. It's possible that I have bizarre amounts of finger grease, but I suspect the fingerprints I've left on it would happen to anyone.

The other selling point, the touch sensitive controls, are only relevant to the MP3 functionality. Since they only work whilst the music is on, you still have to open the phone to do anything, including turning the MP3 player on. Incidentally, whilst writing that I realized just how lazy I've become, that I actually object to opening up the phone to use it.

The problem I came up against most with this phone was the battery life.  It requires charging every couple of days, and even then, it's touch and go whether you'd make it home before it concked out. However, having done a bit of digging I did find an power save mode, which dims al the screens, which could eak it out for a further day.

Another really irritating feature is the alarm. I'm sure if anyone ever looked into it they'd find that 123% of people used their phone as an alarm, making this a function it is worth getting right. Unfortunately, LG have neglected to put a snooze button on this one. Yes, I'm lazy. Yes, I love my bed more than is healthy. But no snooze button? Why? Why would they do that?

Geek sheet

Display: Internal(262,000 colour, TFT type, 176x220 size) External(65,000 colour, TFT type, 96x96 size

Dimensions: 92 x 47 x 14.6

Weight: 86g

Standby time: Up to 200hrs

Band (in MHZ): >900 / 1800 / 1900 (Tri-band)

Sound: Polyphonic

WAP browser: 2.0

Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Email

Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB data kit

Accessories: Travel adapter, Strap, Stereo headphones and inline remote/Handsfree kit, USB data kit, Pouch

In our opinion

You only have to look at the balance of the good and the bad to know that I didn't like the phone. And whilst some of it is clearly subjective, such as the design, a lot of it seem like pretty obvious mistakes. The alarm for instance. But, if it's your cup of tea, you can get it for £285 from Expansys. It's not launched on contract yet, but if it's anything like its predecessor, it'll be free with contracts of about £30 a month.

One Minute Video Review: Philips Living Colours Life

More from the Philips Simplicity event now, and this time they're giving you a reason to completely give up on the whole decorating your house experience. With these lights you can throw practically any hue onto your walls, without even a hint of paint. They're planned for launch in the UK in the new year.

One Minute Video Review: Nokia 5500

Nokia has today announced the 5500 Music Edition, which is a super-rugged phone for sporty types. The music version features a 512 MB microSD card, a fitness carrying strap, bicycle holder and sports headset. I took a look at the 5500, not getting too worked up about the sport possibilities, instead focussing on the great game you can play whilst you're not out being fit.

One Minute Review: Dyson Airblade. Strike 2

YouTube is playing silly buggers, and I know the Dyson video isn't showing, so lets try it this way. It requires a bit more effort on your part, as you now have to click here, but just think of how much more clued up you'll be on Dyson's latest innovation. But you should know, there aren't actually any blades involved, despite the name.

One Minute Video Review: Dyson Airblade

Before you watch the video, it seems only fair to warn you that there are in fact no blades involved in this film, despite Dyson's name. It is in fact a hand dryer, but in typical Dyson fashion, involves something a bit different to your bog (geddit?) standard model.

Review: MobileWear bluetooth watch

The Propaganda

Fossil make watches. Sony Ericsson make phones. Together they make.... phone watches. This is their partnership answer to Motorola and Oakley who created the O-Rokr shades. The MobileWear watch uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone, displaying vital info on the screen in the clock face.  So is it a better deal than the not-so-lovely shades?

The Good

Unlike certain other partnerships that we could name, this watch actually looks like a watch. It's adapted from a number of existing Fossil watches, and to look at it you wouldn't notice anything amiss. There are two buttons on the side which control the Bluetooth functions, as well as a winding wheel to set the time.

To pair with your phone, it's simply a case of choosing the relevant icon and pairing it. Couldn't be easier. The icons are simple and just give you the ability to pair, turn the Bluetooth on and off (so it can just act as a normal watch) and choose whether you want to receive alerts for messages.

Once you've paired it the fun really starts. Receiving a phone call means you'll be alerted via a discreet vibration from the watch. You've then got scrolling text on the screen which alerts you who's calling. You can also reject the call from the phone, in which case the call goes to voicemail. There's also a vibration each time you get a message, and a little envelope icon is displayed.

The Bad

The watch is a chunky metal affair, and is likely to only be attractive to 50% of the population. The strap can either be metal or rubber, but either way, it's not going to set female hearts a-racing.

The functionality is great to begin with, but I was unable to secure a connection after about 30 minutes of use. This might be due to the battery power being low, or the fact that it was an early production sample, but either way, it didn't work.

It's a Sony Ericsson product, so does in fact only work with Sony Ericsson phones. This is contrary to many other Bluetooth devices which connect to everything, despite being made by one particular manufacturer.

In our opinion

When it works, it's fun. There are elements that would make it even more James Bond, such as being able to answer calls from your phone, or text messages being displayed on the screen rather than just an alert that they're on your phone. It's £150 from Widget.co.uk so not a cheap accessory, but you'll pay a large percentage of that for a Fossil watch anyway.

Shiny's video review round-up

Once more, our intrepid team has been out and about, trying to get their hands on the latest gadgets to give you a first-hand view of them before you part with your cash. Here's our latest pick of the week.

Fuji S6500fd camera
The Fuji S6500fd is the company's attempt to bridge the gap between compact and full SLR cameras. Do they succeed? Find out below.
Watch the video review

Parrot Photo Viewer
Parrot's Photo Viewer promises to proudly display the photos on your phone in a living room frame. See it in action.
Watch the video review

Motorola Razr Maxx
Motorola has a rather tasty new phone, which features HSDPA and a impressive MP3 player. Susi gave it the once over.
Watch the video review

Acer Ferrari 1000 laptop
Ok, you can't afford the car - but you might be able to afford the Ferrari-branded laptop. We took it for a spin.
Watch the video review

RS Media and Mark Tilden
More from the recent Boysstuff party, with Mark Tilden chatting about his Robo range, and in particular the new bot on the block - RS Media.
Watch the video review