There's allsorts of cases and covers out there for your iPod, not to mention PDAs, cameras and phones. For something attractive and well-made, I like the Knomo cases, but the  Covertec range of cases could give them a run for their money.

Covertec specialises in rather stylish flip leather cases with a handmade finish for PDAs, cameras, smartphones, GPS devices and music players, with elastic sides to secure the device inside. The cases also come with a  belt clip using a screw assembly to attach to the case, which when removed means there is no protruding knob.

Prices are between £19.99 to £29.99, which is just a little bit more than the Knomo cases.

Find out more

More iPod covers:
Knomo add style to the iPod
Waterproof case for the nano

  Google has launched a new service that allows account holders to create their own home pages with the Google Page Creator website editor. However, when I tried to give it the "once over", the service had exceeded demand and is now (as I write) temporarily unavailable.

The editing tool has a 'what you see is what you get' interface, and requires no HTML skills. It's still quite basic, offering only the ability to create a page, rather than a full site whilst still in beta testing mode. A site building tool will follow, with a space limit of 100MB. Each completed page is also added to Google's search engine by default.

Google Page Creator is available to view in both IE and Firefox, but you'll need a Gmail account to use it. It should be back up when Google add extra capacity, so bookmark this link to claim yours.

More Google:
Google's PC starter pack
Google Video fails to impress

The Digital Video Chips from ROK, which feature a selection of TV comedies, music videos and even full-length movies, are certainly nothing new and have been available for Nokia's Symbian-powered handsets for some time. But what is new is that they've now extended their coverage to include Microsoft's PDA handsets, which makes the Chips compatible with around 70% of all smartphones.

ROK's licensed content includes BBC comedies including Little Britain, The League of Gentlemen, The Office and Red Dwarf, plus full length movies including The Shawshank Redemption as well as music video albums and cartoons such as Spongebob Squarepants.

Digital Video Chips are available to purchase online at www.rokplayer.com and some mobile phone shops across the UK, costing around £17 each.

More ROK:
Watch Little Britain on your mobile
ROK brings TV to Sony phones

There's never any shortage of strange and ownderful add-ons for an iPod, but this one certainly takes some beating. If you want to give your nano some kind of human form, pick up an iGuy from Speck, the functional iPod case with arms and legs!

iGuy is billed as "the first bendable, posable friend for you and your iPod nano". iGuy is a novelty with a practical purpose - he offers rubberised protection, acts as a docking station and also offers screen protection for your iPod nano. Not to mention being a talking point when you stick it on your office desk!

iGuy should be in Apple stores and other department stores soon, priced around £25.

More for your iPod:
Wireless headset for the iPod nano
Levi's to produce iPod jeans

According to a report from Macworld UK, Apple will next week announce that it's going to start selling full-length movie downloads through its iTunes Store.

The forecast of Apple's movie intentions comes from American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu, who told clients "there is a greater than 50 per cent chance that Apple will announce its first, full-length feature films available for download on iTunes". Wu further claimed that Apple will announce Intel-based iBooks and an "entry-level Mac Mini, both of which will now include a remote control and FrontRow software".

"What will make this new consumer notebook unique and likely a top seller is its small size and widescreen cinema display. Pricing should be competitive in the $1,299 to $1,499 range," he added.

We'll have the news as it happens next week at Tech Digest.

Via The Register

More Apple:
Apple launches MacBook Pro
The £50 shuffle

So, what do you think? A removeable drive? No, it's the actual Shuttle X100 ultra-small media PC, a step into the future for sure and a definite indication of how a media PC could look when it finally makes the move into your living room.

The XPC X100 is around the size of a compact scanner. Equipped with Intel's latest Core Duo mobile processor, ATI's Mobility Radeon X1600 onboard graphics accelerator with DVI/TV out and multi-channel digital audio with SPDIF, the XPC System X100 will certainly offer great performance. In addition, this preliminary specification also features a 250GB hard drive, 512MB of dual-channel DDR 2 SDRAM,  Gigabit LAN, Wireless LAN, a four-in-one card reader, 4x USB ports and Firewire.   
   
It might not be the most attractive of designs, but it's sure to catch the eye when it goes on display at the CeBIT show next month.

No release dates or prices are available from the company at present.

More media PCs:
EPC's 2000Gb media PC
Sony marries the PC to the TV

Wouldn't it be great to have your own top-of-the-range sports car? Speeding along those open roads without a care in the world. Sadly, my finances indicate this is unlikely to happen - and even if I could afford one, the speed bumps round here would cripple it in a week.

A more modest purchase for the Ferrari or Lamborghini enthusiast might be an Asus notebook, branded in the colours and logo of those classic cars. Asus has dropped a few more hints about what's going to be inside the dream machines this week - Intel's Centrino Duo platform, more than 1GB of memory and a hard drive with over 120GB of storage capacity. They will feature a 15 inch display, but weigh less than weigh less than "most" 14in notebooks. Best feature of all though - a red light on the lid, built into the raised section that's said by Asus' designers to reflect the tail-end and grille of a 1970 Lamborghini Miura. Nice.

The notebooks are set to ship in April with a price tag of between £1599 and £1799.

Via The Register

More notebooks:
Averatec 4155 widescreen notebook
Pegasus 550N notebook

Everyone, it seems, loves Tom Baker these days. Long after the halcyon days of Doctor Who, he has re-found fame as link man on Little Britain and bagged a tasy sum I'm sure being BT's voice of the text message.

Can it get any better? Well, it can - he's been voted Best TV Voice of all time. Most of the Radio Times list is fairly obvious, with the likes of Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry featuring highly. So how about a chart of more interested voices?

Over at TV Scoop, the team has been putting together their own chart of...shall we say...more original TV talkers - the voices you really remember off the telly.

Check out the chart and all manner of weird and wonderful TV truths and gossip over at TV Scoop.

There's a generally held opinion that a fixed BT line is cheaper for calls, but if you are a heavy user and choose the right package, you might be able to make a saving using one of the mobile operators for the bulk of your calls. It's a limited market I'd say - but it's the one that Burnside are chasing with their Desktop Mobile Phone.

The phone could also be a good solution if you need to set up a temporary line or you can't fit a BT line, offering a fixed location to make and receive calls, so homes or offices can list its number and callers don't have to guess who is at the location before making a call.

The Desktop Mobile Phone works on all four mobile UK networks and uses a standard SIM card slot. On top of calls, you can compose SMS messages with it and view incoming through the large display. It also features speed dialling, a 100-entry phone book, call register and a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery.

You can pick one up for around £149 excluding delivery and VAT.

Find out more

More phones:
Barabu's free mobile to mobile calls
Virgin bring live TV to the mobile

You know how it is, you're by the pool, fancy a swim and forget you've got your Bluetoth headset on. Or more practically, you get caught in the rain. Either way, it's not a good idea to go near water with electrics. However, Bluetrek claim their water-resistant X2 headset takes away that worry.

Weighing just 15g and based on Bluetooth 1.2 technology, the X2 offers up to 14 hours of talk time and 500 hours of standby time, with an operating range of up to 10m. It is water resistant and shock resistant thanks to its use of highly durable, lightweight, splashproof materials. A customisable system of loops and hooks made out of a smooth, silicone rubber guarantees adaptability to various ear shapes and sizes, as well as an ergonomically designed fit for continuous wear.

It should be in the shops in early March, priced around £59.

Find out more

More Bluetooth:
Design your own Bluetooth
Saitek Audio Bluetooth headphones

With claims in the press that ties could be passing on germs in hospitals, many are asking if there's any point in wearing them at all. Well, here's one - somewhere to put your iPod.

Yes, here's the iPod tie, or to give it the official name, the Pink Commuter tie. Billed as the  latest solution for today's busy man who needs to carry more than one gadget at any one time, the Commuter tie features a pocket on the reverse of the tie which will hold an iPod Nano securely, allowing your busy executive to have his hands free to grab a morning coffee, track his shares in the daily press or to do a spot of texting. There's also an extra fabric loop to keep wires out of sight and close to the body.

The tie itself is made from 100% silk the Commuter tie and is available in navy, red and pink. It's your for £49.

Find out more

More iPod clothing:
iPod snow jacket
iPod pants

No more the simple phone, the average mobile is now more of a multimedia tool - with users demanding increased capacity for downloading and storing their music, video and images. So it seems only logical that companies will introduce more flexible means of boosting storage. Sony's answer is the Memory Stick Micro (M2), with capacities of 256MB, 512MB and 1GB. 

M2 media is designed as an externally removable media with a controlled eject function to prevent loss of data. It's also dual-voiltage, so it will work with both phones and existing Memory Stick PRO compatible products.

The newly-launched Sony Ericsson M600i (pictured) is the first mobile phone compatible with the M2.  Users of the UMTS phone can store various types of content, such as contacts and email attachments as well as multimedia files including music, pictures, video clips and documents.  As the M2 is an external storage media, it allows users to exchange this content between the mobile phone and a PC with a Memory Stick PRO slot, using the supplied M2 adaptor.

Sony plans to ship the 256MB and 512MB versions of the M2 media from March, and the 1GB model from May 2006. Prices are still to be confirmed.

More Sony:
Hands on with the Sony Ericsson W950
Hands on with the Sony Ericsson K610

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the only portable player in the world was the iPod. Yes, it rules the market, but there are others of varying shapes and sizes - and almost all will work with the iGroove.

The iGroove, from leading US audio firm Klipsch, fits all models of iPod thanks to an adjustable sliding support, plus a special insert for the nano and mini. And it will even deal with your PSP, mobile phone or non-Apple player with a J-Cup adaptor that allows any audio device with a standard headphone jack to play.

Klepsch promises top-notch sound with a sophisticated network that delivers all highs to 1-inch Micro-Tractrix Horn-loaded tweeters and the lows to the 2.5-inch composite woofers.  What does it mean? A real depth of music on a par with your big old stereo system. The iGroove can also reproduce more deep bass frequencies than similar models thanks to a low-turbulence, tuned port located on the rear of the cabinet. 

The iGroove also features a remote and charges your iPod whilst playing. You should be able to pick one up for around £200 from March.

Find out more

More speaker systems:
Boomtube portable speaker system
Ministry of Sound MP3 speaker system

Remember we told you about the Pebble, a rather cool pendant MP3 player back in December last year? Well, you can now pick it up in the UK.

If you missed it, the Pebble, made by Korean company EZAV, was pitched as a wearable piece of technology. I'd be surprised it you could carry it off as a piece of jewellery, but to compensate, it's also a pretty decent MP3 player. Despite its size, the player has a fairly easy to read display, showing track information and battery life. It even has an FM tuner and voice recorder built into it and can play WMA and ASF files along with MP3.

It connects to your PC via USB, supports multiple languages and is available in 512MB and 1GB size.

You can buy it now for £79 and £99 respectively.

Find out more

More MP3 players:
Dixons offer players with free music
VoToL PK-MV300 - media player or hip flask?

The indoor aerial - whatever you do with it, that wire and metal mish-mash always stick out like a sore thumb. Which is why One For All's indoor digital TV aerial, which doubles up as a metallic photo frame, seems like a decent idea.

The frame has 18dB amplification, with filters to eliminate interference from wireless devices.  The aerial is 22.5cm by 22.5cm and will hold portrait or landscape images size 10cm by 15cm. It's good, but not perfect - it still has a 2m cable trailing out of the back that  plugs into your TV. Bit of a giveaway that.

The One For All Picture Frame Aerial is available now for around £27.

Find out more

More for your TV:
Exercise controlled TV
TV-B-Gone

Do people really watch TV on the go via a laptop? With the number of products appearing to facilitate it, you would have to say yes. I'm just struggling to think of a suitable scenario. Does the idea excite you? Please let us know.

If you're taken by the idea, even if its only for novelty, the Pinnacle PCTV USB Stick is a portable tuner that converts your laptop for digital terrestrial TV.

Requiring no cables, it plugs directly into the USB port of your laptop and includes Pinnacle TVCenter software, which transforms the PC into a PVR, which means you can watch TV or record in MPEG-1/-2 and DivX video formats.  Pinnacle TVCenter also has timeshifting, customisable channel lists, a trial of EPG and extra-fast Teletext, along with a remote control and antenna.

You can pick it up from March for around £50.

More TV on the go:
Mini digital TV USB
Hands on with LG's DVB-H TV phone

Somehow, taking on eBay doesn't seem to be the best business model, but if you're successful, the financial benefits are certainly impressive. Hunt For It is the latest challenger, launching on March 1st and aiming to beat eBay by aiming its service at mobiles, even with the full eBay service being available on i-mode.

Over at Bayraider, they have all the details of this new online auctioneer, how you can bid and recieve auction alerts on your phone, how you can make money when someone places a bid for your item via SMS and the impressive prize draw if you sign up now.

Interested? Head on over to Bayraider now.

Looking for a new computer? Need a new desk? Why not combine the two with a Powerdesk, believed to be the world's first integrated desk and personal computer.

Two basic designs of the Powerdesk are available - the wood-based Barcelona and the steel, glass and wood Tokyo. Neither desk looks all that stylish - certainly no better than you can pick up in Ikea. But I guess the big selling point is what it does rather than how it looks.

What is does is cut down on clutter - the wiring and the hard drive are concealed within the desk leaving only the monitor on display. All of the controls, including a CD/DVD drive and USB ports, are embedded within the desktop, as is the sound system. I'd be worried about upgrading, but Powerdesk says it uses upgradeable PCs from leading manufacturers, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Powerdesk Barcelona is available from £1250 and Tokyo from £1850. Bespoke options for both desk and PC are also available.

Find out more

More space savers:
Sony's hybrid VoIP mouse
The world's smallest external hard drive

The world's most downloaded podcast, The Ricky Gervais Show, returns for a second series - but this time you'll have to pay for it. No longer available via The Guardian, it will be available only from Audible.co.uk and the iTunes music store, with the first episode online from February 28th.

Season 2 will consist of at least four half-hour shows, each costing 95p to download, or £3.75 for all four. Like the first series, the new shows feature Ricky Gervais with Stephen Merchant along with the butt of all jokes and opinions, Karl Pilkington. You can listen to a sample from the show now and sign-up to receive the new series at www.audible.co.uk/ricky.

Will it be as popular second time around? With a fee involved, you somehow doubt it.

More podcasting:
Sex talk on your iPod
iTunes adds podcasting

If you want to know how influential Apple is, just look at the rush of speculation and excitement created by its latest press invite.

Apple has promised "fun new products" next Tuesday. But what? The rumour mill is already busy with stories of possibles - a new Intel-powered iBook? A flying car? A time machine? The promised Apple boomboxes? Well, the clever money right now seems to be on the new video iPod.

A new touchscreen version of the video player has been rumoured for some time, with a possible release date talked about for April. Will it come early? Or will Apple surprise is with something completely different? Read Tech Digest to find out first next week.

Via Engadget

More Apple:
Apple's MacBook Pro
Apple to go boom in 2006?