Technofile: Well, we're full tilt into the new year and it's high time we had a little round-up of some of the breaking news coming out of the gadget world. Hold onto your wireless headset, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
You've got an iPod video player, or perhaps a Sony PlayStation Portable. You want video on the go, but how do you convert DVD and VHS movies without having to spend the next three months reading deeply inane, geeky instructions on the most obscure websites? Here's what you do: get a DVD Xpress DX2. This converts analog videos to digital format without you having to even blink.
The plug-and-play device connects to a PC USB port and transfers analog audio and video signals into MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 and DivX formats. These can be stored on a PC or moved over to your portable media player.
It will be available in early February and it's not bad value at about €150.
New mobiles out on the market include the first to emerge from the takeover by BenQ of the Siemens handset division. Three BenQ-Siemens handsets were launched recently in Berlin, including the slim EF81 with brushed metal finish and stainless-steel keypad. The high-end handset has a two megapixel camera, plus MP3 and video player. It also features business applications such as Microsoft Bluetooth remote control.
This year will see every PC maker try to turn - usually inelegantly - the old grey boxes into the brand new friend of your TV and hi-fi.
Perhaps an exception to this rule will be Sony, which has brought out the VGX-XL100, a PC designed to sit comfortably under and connect to the TV. It is powered by an Intel Pentium D processor 920 and comes in a black and brushed silver case. It contains an analogue and digital TV tuner, while the respectable 250Gb hard disk is designed to record many a show.
However, Sony is not the only one out there. Entertainment PC has launched the Fidelity media PC range, which crams in digital TV, DVD, HDTV playback and recording, a CD player and recorder, internet access, digital photo viewing, games and e-mail.
The Fidelity features a 3Ghz processor, but the fun doesn't stop there. The hard drive options go from 300Gb all the way up to two Terabytes (2,000Gb).
In other words, that means you could easily transfer your entire DVD collection on to the PC. Who needs all those cases anyway? The slick and quiet system is the very least you'd expect from a system which starts at €4,380. See www.entertainmentpc.co.uk
n Avoid having to stare blankly into the depths of the abyss when you lose your laptop on that business trip.
Back up your essential files with the ExBoot, which connects via USB and claims to be able to restart your laptop if the darn thing has crashed and forgotten itself entirely.
The ExBoot costs about €250 and can store up to 200Gb of data - enough for most laptop hard drives. See www.onetouchbackup.co.uk
Possibly worth a detailed look is the new TuneCenter from Griffin Technology. If you have splashed out on a new iPod for Christmas you may as well get the most out of it.
The TuneCenter converts any compatible Apple player into a home media-centre system, beaming an iPod control interface on to a TV screen. It also plays internet radio stations via Wi-Fi and has video playback for photographs and videos. Moreover, it is likely to come in at about €150.
