Platinum ipod nano

Sometimes, the type of music player hidden in your pocket just isn’t enough to express your personality. You need something more. Luckily, if your personality is money, we may have the answer.Goldstriker, experts in lathering top-end tech in top-end precious metals, is releasing a platinum covered iPod Nano.The sexiest Nano we’ve ever seen by a country mile and three-quarters is either the biggest add-on for your iPod collection, or an exceptional gift for that certain special someone. And at £400, that’s a very, very special someone. Pity it doesn’t come with a platinum-plated version of iTunes, as well. Though we don’t know how that would actually work.EssentialsPlatinum covered iPod NanoPrice: £400On sale: January 2008

- LG watch phone hands-on

Well would you look at that. The best gadget we've seen at CES so far: LG's watch phone. Again, no details as these shots were taken on the sly. Regardless, it appears to be a mere prototype at the moment. Hear this, however. It features the slickest three-button, watch-phone interface you've seen this side of Chester Gould. Video on the way

gadget of the month

This month's gadget is Steve's Wacom Graphics Tablet. For some reason, Steve is not fond of mice. In fact, he has spent his entire computing career in search of the perfect substitute for the mouse, and has tried many weird and wonderful (and extremely superfluous) gadgets in his time. This is the latest. And the weirdest.
Steve swears by it. The rest of the Plokta cabal swear at it. Clicking on a button while keeping it in one place is nearly impossible. Double clicking while keeping it in one place is impossible. Moving the cursor right to the edge of the page involves moving the pointer right to the edge of the tablet, which is fiddly in the extreme.

The pen is mightier than the mouse
However, Steve may now have been converted to the majority view. His brand new printer wouldn't print graphics. The only clue to the cause of this aberrant behaviour was the strange query that popped up a couple of times when installing the printer asking if he wanted to uninstall the graphics tablet. Sure enough, as soon as the tablet was replaced with a conventional mouse, the problem disappeared (and everyone except Steve breathed a sigh of relief at having a proper mouse to use for the rest of the weekend).
Behaviour of this kind exemplifies all that we find most characteristic of superfluous technology, and eminently qualifies the tablet as gadget of the month. Now if we can only nobble his Microsoft Natural Keyboard as well, the PC will approach usability.

mac book air

The MacBook Air was Apple's worst kept secret since, well, last year's Macworld and the launch of the iPhone. And boy, did Jobsy make us wait – only after wearing us down with iPod Touch firmware announcements did the world's thinnest notebook finally slip out from its manila envelope.The Air is 19.4mm at its thickest point, tapering down to an incredible 4mm at the front. Its outrageous profile isn't obvious until you pick it up, when it feels like you're just carrying a screen. Only Sony's now discontinued X505 ever felt as light in the hand.The good, the bad and the screenIn terms of what it can actually do, the MacBook Air is a mix of exciting innovation and big compromises. On the good side, its trackpad includes some of the multi-touch gesturing seen on the iPhone. It doesn't feel quite as intuitive as the iPhone, but improves navigation in apps like iPhoto no end.The screen is a 13.3in LED-backlit number – the same size and resolution as the bigger MacBooks – and the keyboard, rather over-excitedly described as "full size" by Steve Jobs, is illuminated to help when you've run out of lightbulbs. The Air also has decent grunt under the bonnet, with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB memory and an 80GB hard-drive, which can be replaced by a 64GB solid-state drive (for a hefty premium).

Pros Thin, light and gorgeous. Innovative wireless hijack of optical drives
Cons No Ethernet or FireWire. Only one USB port. No optical drive

mini bluetooth phone

How many times have you been out somewhere and saw someone who looked like they were talking to themselves? Chances are they were chatting away into a Bluetooth headset, but unless you’re driving there’s really no need for them, is there?The Bluetooth Phone is a miniature handset, and as the name suggests connects to your mobile device via Bluetooth wireless technology. This allows you to make or receive calls on the move or in the office. As you may be aware, or may not, a Bluetooth connection does not require the phone and the mini phone to be in line of sight, but both devices should be within 10 Metres or 30 Feet of each other. The wireless mini phone may be pretty small but it has a good selection of features including: Indicator light, volume keys, charging socket, answer/end key and a charge socket.With crystal clear sound, cute looks and simple setup, the Bluetooth Mini Phone can be conveniently carried around on your neck with the supplied lanyard, and is the perfect solution to having a piece of uncomfortable hideous plastic stuck to your head!



Technical specifications• Bluetooth Mini Phone• Compatible with phones that support Bluetooth wireless technology• Accept calls on the move • Both devices should be within 10 Metres, 30 Feet of each other• When fully charged the phone has power for up to 12-15 hours talk time or up to 120-150 hours standby time• Mini phone is equipped with: • Indicator light• Volume keys• Charging socket• Answer/end key • Charge socket

The Gadget guru

What looks like a like a trio of Coke bottle boxes from the outside is actually a Coke Mini System CD Player that comes with the following features :-

0.9″ LED alarm clock display
Alarm clock with wake-up-to buzzer/radio
Power on/off/auto switch able
CD/AM/FM band switch
Tuning control, Volume control, Snooze button
Alarm set/Time set/Hour set/Minute set/Sleep set button (back)
16 CD programmable memory
Play-Pause/Stop/Skip up/Skipdown/Repeat/Program button
6.5′ line cord with Polarized plug
4 inches, 8 ohm speaker x 2 (slot type speaker holes)
Speaker cords, 6.5′ each, one end attached & the other clip type
Back-up battery for clock: DC 9V (battery not included)
Max. output power: 1.2W x 2
Power source: AC 120V, 60 Hz
I guess there’s nothing quite like gulping down a refreshing bottle of Coke while grooving to your favorite tunes on a sweltering summer afternoon with this $179.95 audio system.