Today's Website of the Day is the Hip Tech Blog, an interesting gadget and tech blog written by Leon Huang.

Latest stories include: Soon, We Can All Climb Walls Like Spidey; Intelligent Carpet that Knows Your Sex; Recharge Cell Phones wth Water, and Transparent Fiber Spheres That Could Replace Lenses.

Nominate your own Website of the Day here.

The KG920 stakes its claim as the UK's first mobile phone with a 5 megapixel camera. Yes, five. That's better than many dedicated compact digital cameras and is a big step forward in combining imaging with communication.

Its twist design allows the camera to rotate up to 180 degrees so you can preview self-portraits. It's got a 4x digital zoom, and though all digital zooms don't always give the best pictures, with 5 megapixels and auto-focus to play with, there's more chance of getting a decent, unpixelated shot. It also has a built-in Xenon/LED flash that will reach 1.5 metres.

There's also an MP3/AAC music player, and a 256Mb memory card is included for music and photo storage. It's Bluetooth enabled, and can sync to your PC.

Whilst it doesn't have all the features of higher-end dedicated compact camera, it's certainly going to narrow the gap between the kinds of images you can take on your mobile compared to a dedicated camera, and helps reduce gadget clutter for the casual photographer / party snapper. It weighs in at 130g, with dimensions 10.8cm x 5cm x 1.8cm.

Coming in August, price to be confirmed.

Sometimes I curse technology. Mobile phones that do grainy video. Internet sites that peddle pap. Then, I realise that technology lies comedy gold. I mean real gold. If you haven't seen this video, prepare yourself. This is the best punchline I've ever seen. The build up involves a scooter, a roundabout on a playground and flying scallies. Enjoy.

Mof Gimmers

It seems Apple is facing up to its responsibilities and admitting that there are teething problems with the early MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers - the first to use Intel's dual-core processors.

Early-adopter users have known for some time that there were problems, and fortunately Apple now (almost) officially recognises it.

MacBook Pros which whine or buzz will have their logic boards replaced - Apple was actually quietly doing this under warranty.

They haven't openly admitted that white MacBooks discolour, but an internal memo seems to note the problem.

A limited batch of serial numbers for early machines inflicted with either of these problems should be able to get cleansing or replacement as required.

With Apple's perceived premium prices and classy design,  inevitable problems with first editions of hardware and software are even easier to spot. Apple haven't always been quick to admit mistakes and sort customers' complaints out, but this time at least things seem to be under control.

Despite bringing out some interesting gadgets, including this Flipdown TV and the DAB boom box, I imagine Morphy Richards will always struggle to get away from the association with kettles and toasters. New from the company this week is a CD micro system, but with a slight twist - it's for wall mounting, aimed at those of us with a shortage of space in our living areas.

It's got a nice contemporary look and a decent set of features, including an FM/AM radio, CD player, digital clock with sleep function and remote control, along with a USB port and SD card slot so you can connect your MP3 player or stored tracks to save you swapping CDs. The one drawback with wall mounted systems is the speakers - the subwoofer isn't going to save you a lot of space (or look good on a wall), but the actual NXT 5W speaker units are very slim, and backed up by the 20W subwoofer, you should get a fairly strong sound to blast round the house.

It's available now for around £129.99.

Find out more

More home audio:
Onkyo unveils CS-515DAB CD/DAB micro system
Sony launches CMT-EH20DAB and CMT-SPZ90DAB DAB micro Hi-Fi systems

The BBC has launched a 12-month trial of 'vodcasting' - a weekly videocast roundup of clips from news and current affairs programmes including the Ten O'Clock News, Newsnight and, later, Question Time. There'll also be a vodcast called StoryFix which will take a tongue-in-cheek look at the last week's news.

"TenWeekly" will be cast out every Wednesday, with StoryFix and Newsnight appearing on Friday's.

The BBC are already fairly well advanced in providing content to UK web and mobile users which can be watched on a PC or mobile phone, and this is yet another way the BBC wants to get content to people in the ways they want to watch it.

It looks as if most of the content will be news-based to begin with, but presumably if the trial is successful and videocasting is still a hit into 2007, they'll expand their offerings.

Would you watch the Beeb's content this way?

BBC podcasting/vodcasting web page

Here's a rather useful-looking add-on for your fifth-generation iPod - the iFlip from Memorex - which offers you improved sound and vision for your video, but still keeps everything portable.

The iFlip features an 8.4-inch LCD display, integrated speakers, tilting iPod dock, and lithium-ion battery. You can watch videos stored on your video iPod on the built-in display or you can use the player's speakers for music-only playback. The fold-up unit has a resolution of 480 x 234, while the integrated battery offers up to five hours of power. It also features S-video out, line out, and dual headphone jacks.

Poor, undernourished, 'only just enough money for 10 pints of lager' students? Yeah, but they're just the ones that were inebriated under the student bar and couldn't take part in the survey that suggests they own a heck of a lot of hi-tech equipment.

Direct Line insurance commissioned the study of 587 students (must've been done in the morning or whilst Countdown was on) which showed that in 1996, students had possessions worth £1,900, compared with £2,900 now.

(Actually come to think of it I had tech stuff of around £1,900 by the time I graduated in 1996, but I had worked for a year. I was poor, man...)

Despite escalating student fees, the ensuing student debt looks like it's being fed in part by techie 'treats' that they feel entitled to - they see study as a job (uh-huh).

Two-thirds of those surveyed had laptop PCs, around half had MP3 and DVD players, whilst 12% had widescreen TVs and 6% had PDAs.

Ahh, student life eh?

Read

Ok, so we all bought a HD-ready TV for the World Cup - but so far, for the majority, not had any real use for taking this jump up in technology. Here's a reasonably-priced way of getting soem use out of your TV's functionality - the DVD1000 from Evesham, which the company claims will upscale your DVDs to HD quality.

Evesham reckons the DVD1000 will upscaling your existing DVDs into High Definition Digital Video Streams, taking the picture quality to another level, rather like the junp from VHS to DVD. By using the HDMI connector on the rear of the DVD1000 you get a direct, pure digital connection to your HD ready TV resulting in what they describe as a "striking, unrivalled picture in staggering HD quality". Certainly some claim there. Apparently, older connections processed images twice before they eventually displayed on your screen, but the new connections remove this process of converting back and forth from Digital to Analogue, eliminating degradation.

Moneysupermarket.com is to launch a broadband price comparison tool that will let users check out the best UK broadband providers.

The service should cover both standalone and bundled deals, such as those offering TV and telephony options. They're seeking to work with the broadband industry to develop an informative service to make it simple for the consumer to use.

Good luck to them! The broadband market seems to be shifting more quickly these days, with traditional and new players competing for custom.

Sounds like a useful service because it's quite a minefield. You'll probably still find that once you've picked the best deal and signed up for a 12 or 18 month contract, all the prices will change again. Isn't that just the way.

I'm inclined just to stay put with one provider and hopefully become a valued customer. Yeah, but then I stayed with British Gas, too...

With DVD drives pretty much as standard on PCs these days, not to mention high-speed downloads, it's no wonder we're looking for bigger and better monitors to use our computers to the fullest. LG has introduced two new models that are certainly worth considering - the L203WT and the M203WA 20-inch widescreen monitors.

The LG L203WT uses a contrast ratio of 1600:1, coupled with a fast response time of 8ms, which should eliminate ghosting and provide a smoother, flicker free image - a big plus if you're watching movies or playing games. It's also enhanced by LG's DFC (Digital Fine Contrast) technology which automatically adjusts the contrast ratio to its optimum setting for the task at hand and, for anyone working with high resolution video files, the screen resolution of 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA) further enhances the image quality and clarity. And there's LG's Flatron f-Engine picture enhancing chip which optimises images through local colour manipulations in movie, text and picture modes, beneficial when displaying high quality photographs and movies.

Phishing attacks, where attempts are made to get users to divulge personal information by visiting spoofed web sites, are getting more sophisticated, according to Mark Sunner of MessageLabs who talked to IT Week.

Spyware inadvertently downloaded, often thanks to enticing emails for free software and other 'goodies', is now collecting personal information about the victim from their own PC and using it to launch a more personalised, and thus convincing, attack.

So, whereas before you'd get emails supposedly from some bank you'd never heard of telling you that you needed to enter your account details at their spoofed website, now you might actually get email looking like it's come from your bank.

And potentially more worrying is that spyware and viruses could be used to track the keypresses you use to log in to your online banking system, then send those over the Internet to the fraudster.

Philips has launched several new PC speaker systems this week, the pick of which is this eye-catching SPA9300 2.1 system.

The SPA9300 2.1 system is the top end of Philips new speaker range, delivering 100W of music power from a 2.1 system - which should be good enough to give both your music and movies a boost from your computer. The speakers feature an inverted dome Mylar tweeter for a smooth, crisp and detailed top-end and use twin 50mm mid/bass drivers - reinforced with a six-layer voice coil - to deliver a balanced mid-band and significantly controlled low frequency response. Bass output is further enhanced by the subwoofer which features an 8-inch driver taking bass down to a low 35Hz. And if you want to use them without the PC, you can also connect external devices such as MP3, portable DVD or PVR players directly into the system via the 3.5mm stereo input.

Several D-Link routers sold for consumer and commercial use have been found to have a serious security flaw that could provide a backdoor for hackers. The problems centres on a buffer overflow, where the attacker sends a long string of code to the device. This triggers the overflow that would then allow the hacker to execute code or modify the routers firmware, which could, in theory provide access to an entire network. The models affected are DI-524, DI-604, DI-624, DI-784, EBR-2310, WBR-1310 and WBR-2310. Users should visit the D-Link website and download the security patch to protect their systems.

This tip from Propellerhead is mainly for advanced users and concerns the Windows XP Swap File or 'virtual memory'. This is a portion of hard disc space that is used as an extension of your PC's RAM memory. Basically it fools the computer into thinking that it has a lot more memory that it really has and on a well used PC files are being moved in and out of the swap file all of the time. The trouble is this keeps the drive really busy, which has an impact on your machine's performance, particularly if you have less than 1Gb of memory.

If your PC has a second hard drive then you can lighten the load on your main drive by moving the swap file to the second drive. To do that open System Properties (Winkey + Break or System in Control Panel), select the Advanced tab then under Performance click Settings, in the Performance Options box select the Advanced tab and then under Virtual Memory click the Settings button. Make a note of the Initial Size and Maximum size settings and select the second drive, enter the Initial and Maximum values and click OK.

Sagem has unveiled a new line in Bluetooth accessories with the Sagem CK1 hands free kit, the H2 Bluetooth headset and the SH1 Bluetooth stereo headset.

The CKI hands free kit is a slimline accessory that can be used in a car or on a desktop. As it's small, it fits onto the dashboard of your car or clipped to the sunvisor. The speaker offers good quality sound, with side keys to change volume, take a call (or sign off) do a last number redial or manage call queuing. Battery life is 15 hours talk time and 10-25 days on standby.

Onkyo has unveiled its CS-515DAB CD/DAB micro system, which the company claims is tuned "specifically for UK ears" through research of UK sonic preferences and analysis of CDs available in the UK.

The system comprises of a one-box DAB/CD receiver, with a CD player that's MP3-capable, spinning CD-Rs and CD-RWs. It uses a high-grade Wolfson 1-bit, 192kHz/24-bit D/A converter - usually seen in standalone quality CD players. And there's DAB radio reception as well as AM/FM frequencies, with a total of 59 presets available. Onkyo has replaced the DAB module used in their previous CR-505DAB model with a new design that offers greater sensitivity, improving reception in weak signal areas.

I imagine most people buy a sat nav system because of the features and price - but you can't discount those who just want their gadgets to look right. Intempo Digital's Buddy is aimed at such a market, with the company unashamed to admit it's aiming for "instant female appeal" with the pink casing decorated with flowers and butterflies. 

That's not to say the technology is inferior - it has all the features you'd expect from a sub-£300 unit. It features a 3.5-inch touchscreen, with location inputted via city, street or postcode information or from accessing Buddy's "Points of Interest" database, which allows direct navigation to airports, hotels, bars, restaurants and petrol stations for example. Favourite destinations can be stored and accessed at the tap of the screen as can a list of recently visited locations in the History option. And if you miss a turn or take the wrong exit the software will quickly re-route by calculating the next quickest journey almost immediately.

Bayraider's been busy today, they've turned up a scooter driven by oompa loompas in the recent Charlie & The Chocolate Factory remake. Its starting price is £1,450, although strapping six-footers need not apply. They've also had a scout for domain names relating to Microsoft's new Zune brand of iPod-killing multimedia devices, which are being flogged on eBay (the domain names, not the devices sadly), and rounded up a bunch of musical items, including a Kiss 'rub'n'play' magic transfer set, The Who's Roger Daltrey's old Marshall Amp, and Ian Brown's used harmonica. Let's rock.

Spam poems are the new Shakespeare. Not in the sense of providing a timeless illumination of the human condition (at least, not yet). But more in the sense of inventing marvellous new words that are sure to be in the Oxford English Dictionary in a couple of centuries time. Trouble is, those pesky spam filters mean most people don't get to read spam poems any more, so end up with a limited vocabulary. Read on for our pick of the bunch - learn them all, and you'll be acclaimed as a nutter genius!