Technofile:Still dying for a Wii? Join the queue.
Gamers are having trouble getting hold of Nintendo's new platform as shops try to fulfil orders and Nintendo ships too few consoles. The Wii was launched on Friday and already consoles are appearing on eBay. It may be January before you get a chance for a Wii. (Okay, consider that an end to the Wii jokes).
n If you can't decide whether to get a hard disk or DVD camcorder, then check out the Hitachi DZ-HS303E and DZ-HS301E models. This has mashed together DVD - which means an unlimited shooting time - with the simple editing advantage of a hard drive. Some 8GB of storage will be good for 110 minutes of high-quality video.
This means you could shoot on the hard drive, then record an edited version to the in-built DVD drive.
The 301 has a 1.3MP sensor while the pricier 303 has a larger 3.3MP. Prices start at around €700.
n The Philips GoGear SA9200 is something of an iPod Nano clone with its thin design and black finish, but it sports a slightly larger screen, has MP3 and WMA compatibility and 14 hours of battery life. It's worth a look if you are interested in an alternative.
n Linksys has announced a USB wireless adapter based on the 802.11n specification. Confused? 802.11n will be up to 12 times faster and with four times the range of the normal 802.11g you'll find in the average PC. Just by plugging this in to a spare USB port you can participate in the future. Maybe. The new specification hasn't been fully agreed yet by international standards bodies, which is a risk you'll have to take. Available now for around €90.
n The new Sony Ericsson M600i has been launched at the business market on T-Mobile. It supports MS Direct Push e-mail and Blackberry Connect. Packing 80MB of memory and a cut-down Qwerty keyboard, you can also sync to Gmail, Yahoo or AOL e-mail accounts. There's also an MP3 player, pre-loaded games, stereo Bluetooth for music, and an expandable 64MB memory card. It'll even take CoPilot Live, the satellite navigation software.
n Bored at work? At linerider.org, you can draw a ski ramp for a little tobogganist to slide down. It's harder than it sounds, believe me!
n A bizarre wireless charger may be on the way. An electrified pad dubbed WildCharge claims to be able to charge anything placed on it.
This could mean an end to carrying around loads of chargers. See WildCharge.com and check out the claims for yourself.
