Gadgets roundup by CIARA O'BRIEN
Chumby, €154
The oddly named Chumby is a nifty gadget. It is a widget-based device that grabs all the content you want from the internet and streams it straight to the Chumby when you connect it to a Wi-Fi signal.
So whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, sports news or current affairs, music or photos on a web-based account such as Flickr, you can get updates delivered directly to you without having to switch on your laptop.
The only time you need your computer is when you are setting up and choosing your favourite widgets, with more than 1,500 available across 30 categories.
The Chumby has multitasking down to a fine art and offers a pop-up notifier for Gmail or other POP e-mail accounts.
A built-in motion sensor is useful for playing games.
The Chumby even works as an alarm clock, rendering yet another gadget in your home useless.
www.chumby.com
Digital photo album, £169
Carrying images around on your mobile phone is all very well, but what if you want something a little bigger to show off your photographs?
This lightweight digital photo album comes with a seven-inch screen, displays photos on a clear, crisp screen and has a leather flip-open cover available in black and pink, back and silver or tan and silver.
The photo viewer fits in your pocket and the slideshow function allows you to show off all your best images.
The album’s 4GB of internal memory means you can store up to 40,000 photos without having to expand the memory with an SD card.
If needs be, you can add up to an extra 16GB.
It’s also compatible with most USB devices, so you can use your memory stick or hard drive with it.
The device is rechargeable and provides up to three hours of playback.
www.iwoot.com
Sony WX1, €329.99
The Sony WX1 is a compact camera with a wide-angle lens, 4x optical zoom and 10.2 megapixel resolution – meaning you get high-quality images of the subjects you want, even if they’re far away. It uses Sony’s Exmor R CMOS sensor, which boosts sensitivity, especially in low-light conditions.
The camera can shoot a burst of frames at 10 frames per second, and a sweep panorama mode allows you to take panoramic shots by pressing the shutter button once and moving the camera from side to side. The camera then automatically combines the images.
It also has the ability to shoot 720p high-definition video clips at 30 frames a second.
www.sony.ie
