Wireless

It is always useful to have a small radio that is available for use as and when needed. This could be when sitting in the garden away from the house, when on a train journey or even when there is a power cut. The PowerPlus Cheetah is a pocket-sized radio which could fit the bill.

Whether you are a fan of the iPod or MP3 style of mobile music player, you presumably purchased your chosen device as a personal player for you ears alone. However once the item has been purchased, there is no need for it to remain a personal device.

The clue is in the last letter of the title, this is a stereo DAB radio. While the majority of DAB radios give a stereo output it is normally only heard natively in mono as they have only a single speaker. This is a more beefy unit and has two speakers.

When I first opened this box I thought another DAB radio from Pure, after a few minutes use I knew this was something that takes things to the next level. This is not simply a good DAB radio it is much much much more.

This is quite a squat unit, it is DAB only so no FM. However the white unit with grey sides looks quite nice. Normally a DAB radio on batteries is unlikely to get beyond ten hours this unit shatters that by a long way.

We live in a mobile world thanks to the advancements made possible by a range of technical innovations. Where ever we are there is an almost compulsive desire to remain close contact with all the trappings of this digital environment.

This is the last of the items I saw at Marks & Spencer’s Christmas in July event. This unlike some of the previous items I have reviewed has a real purpose. With all the talk of black outs a radio driven by a alternator certainly has a place.

In the past I have checked out various digital voice recorders from different manufacturers but this is the first time that the voice recorder bears the LINDY brand name.

The first some speakers that can work wired or Bluetooth these are from Parrot. The second a headset from Sony that looks unlike any normal headsets I know.

This is a DAB/FM radio that comes in chrome and looks rather like a toaster. Not simply looks like a toaster but the brand is more famous for kitchen equipment like toasters.

After looking at Sat Nav’s that have all the bells and whistles it’s quite refreshing to review a unit that has one aim to get you from A to B. Some extras are missing but some things you might think of as extras are included at a reasonable price.

This is a top quality DAB radio, it also allows you to play CD’s using a lot loading drive. Various colours are available, mine was shiny black but most things can be done using the 32 key remote control.

As with a lot of these gadgets they (or something like them) were first shown in films like various inventions developed by ‘Q’ in the James Bond films. However I doubt at that time they ever actually worked.

This is far more than a standard photo frame in a body not that much bigger. It is also a wide angle frame so images taken in the newer formats display full screen, however standard images can be enlarged.

Photo frames that can view content from SD cards are not uncommon however this offering from Parrot does not only that but it can also -via Bluetooth- view images on your phone, PDA or other such device.

If you add Podcasts and FM radio then the title above just about covers the abilities of this, the first of – that I know – a new breed of dual radio that can cover such a wide band of features, this is the Revo Blik.

Using Pure Highway turns your car stereo into a DAB radio, until now there have been very few DAB car radios and this unit from Pure makes it available without spending a fortune.

Here I am looking at two rather different offerings. The first from Jabra to give you stereo from your phone. The second from Mobile Fun with a rather novel way of working.

A true wireless keyboard, small in size and your only loss is the numeric keypad, it also has the possibility of being a mouse substitute as it has a rollball and mouse keys, ideal for use with a media centre type PC.

If you live somewhere where extending Ethernet is not feasible or should there be a pressing reason not to use Wireless then the Lindy HomePlug Ethernet Starter Kit could solve your dilemma.

The Bluetooth headset is the first comes from Parrott their Minikit, and, the second comes from the USA the quality V-Moda Vibe Duo earbuds.

While HP is no stranger to navigation this is the first of their units I have seen that is dedicated to satellite navigation. The others were iPAQ’s where an SD card provided the facility to the PDA, this is totally different as it’s primarily a navigation device.

Mio do several units suitable for pedestrians with an average battery life between charges of four to five hours. This could be used handheld but only for occasional use as the battery life is less than two hours, this is certainly an in car unit.

You still see a lot of people making calls from their mobile while steering with their other hand. This is now of course an offence in the UK. The answer is a hands free kit. Until recently these have involved installation of a wired device and was not cheap.

This is not just another DAB radio. It is small and neat and for good measure it can record onto SD card, not just at the time of playing but up to around 30 minutes after playing.

Not only can this connect all those on a single connection from NTL/Telewest/Virgin but also allow wireless connection and it even has a wireless/USB stick for those PC’s or notebook without wireless built in.

This is something that I first saw just over a year ago, a version was available but a new version was only a couple of weeks away. I gave up after six months of requests and then a few weeks ago I am told it’s available.

Until recently DAB (Digital Auto Broadcast) radio has been something of a niche technology. Dab radios have offered little advantage over their analogue forebears other than limited battery life, often poor reception and higher prices. A lot has changed in the last year with DAB radio going mainstream.

December 2006 saw the legalisation of low-power FM transmitters for personal use in the UK. As so often happens these days outdated law was simply catching up with commercial reality. Already on the market were several FM transmitters explicitly aimed for personal use to beam music from MP3 players into the cars hi-fi system.

Do you have somewhere that you want Ethernet connectivity but running a cable is difficult or not desirable, does it area have mains electricity? If so this offering could be the answer.