On display at this year's IFA were the Hannspree.z range of TVs. Details about the TVs and the UK distribution were a little vague, but now all has now been confirmed

The 'z' stands for zoo and these child-friendly TVs feature all the animals you'd expect to see in a zoo - and for some reason, a dog and a sheep. All are child-friendly, feature 9.6-inch LCD screens, padded bodies and removeable covers (for when sticky hands make their mark). There's also a remote control, 2x 2 watt speakers, 450:1 contrast ratio, 16ms response rate and compositie/S-Video connectors.

The Hannspree.z TVs, along with the company's Fantasy range (including an apple-shaped TV) are available now from Amazon in the UK, with prices starting at £199.

Amazon website

Sony's going big on Bluetooth. Having recently launched the CMT-U1BT Bluetooth micro Hi-Fi system, they now have a new range of Bluetooth headphones on the market - the DR-BT10CX, DR-BT30Q, BT10CX and the DR-BT20NX.

The DR-BT10CX in-ear headphones have a built-in microphone, allowing you to answer the phone whilst listening to music, as well as volume controls and a battery life of 11 hours. The DR-BT30Q are outer-ear stereo headphones with all the functions of the BT10CX plus remote functions (Play/Pause/Stop/Ams+/Ams-). The in-ear DR-BT20NX also has the remote functions, along with a neck strap for "the more active listener" (which probably means jogger of gym member).

Available in the coming weeks, prices to be confirmed.

Sony website

After what must have been one of the longest Beta trials in history Microsoft Windows Defender has finally been officially released. Defender, which began life five years ago as Giant AntiSpyware is one of the best malware cleaners around; it continues to be free to users of Windows XP and it will be included with Vista. Microsoft bought up Giant Software in December 2004 and rebadged the program as Microsoft AntiSpyware; soon after it released the first beta version for XP users and it was renamed Windows Defender in January 2006 when the Beta 2 version was released.

Throughout it has looked and performed like a fully functional program with very few problems reported, and whilst the extended beta test has theoretically allowed Microsoft to iron out the bugs, it also excused them from providing support. Being a free program support is still limited but XP and Server 2003 have now been granted 2 free ‘support incidents’. If you are using the Beta 2 release be aware that it will stop working on December 31st

With many of us being multi-gadget users these days, it's no surprise seeing a charger that can power up multiple gadgets at the same, as is the case with the SynCh.

Small enough to carry round at just 12cm long, 50g in weight and with a retractable cable, the SynCh comes complete with connectors to charge mobile phones, MP3 players, iPods, the Blackberry, Bluetooth headsets, games consoles and PDAs. It also has USB capability to transfer data between devices and computers laptops.

And suitably, as we tend to forget these things when we go away, the device is being launched in conjunction with the Travelodge chain. You can borrow one if you stay in said hotel or you can buy one from the Travelodge website from £20.

Travelodge website

Halloween is upon us kiddies. It will mean young chaps knocking on your door asking for sweets (or more likely credit for their mobiles). If only Halloween looked like this montage put to Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Cryptkicker 5's 'Monster Mash'

Seems that the speed of Apple's hardware development is accelerating at present. It didn't seem that long ago that the first Intel-based Mac Pro came out with 64-bit quad Xeon processors.

However, now Apple could be working on an 8 core update to the Mac Pro (what an update!). Though it's not a world first, it's certainly a major step for Apple, and could utilise two Intel "Clovertown" Xeon 5300 quad-core chips.

Last year we featured some cool iPod-enabled jackets from Kenpo retailing at around $275. Well, they've expanded their range of outerwear, all still iPod connected, and in a range of styles, colours and prices.

Unfortunately, they still appear only to be available Stateside, but they look good so we can have an envious glance across the Pond at them.

There are now 15 jackets including bonded fleece, ski, lightweight mesh, satin bonded, board, 3 in 1 system, Everest and Decathlon jackets, and available in a range of colours including grey, black, white, brown, green and blue.

They still have the five controls (play, track back/forward, volume up/down) on the sleeve, and accept most iPod models. They're also wind and rain resistant.

Prices range from $89 to $189, but still no news on UK availability. C'mon, Kenpo, we want your funky tech jackets, if only so we can do some synchronised iPod dancing in the street (check the video on Kenpo's home page)

Kenpo Jacket for iPod (via MacWorld)

The business portal Forbes.com has released a list of ten activities that it believes are the most dangerous things you can do online.

The ten no-nos are:

1. Opening email attachments from unknown senders
2. Installing unauthorised applications
3. Turning off automated security tools
4. Opening HTML or plain text email messages from unknown senders
5. Surfing gambling and porn sites
6. Giving out passwords, tokens or smart cards
7. Random surfing of unknown, untrusted Web sites
8. Using any old Wi-Fi network
9. Filling out Web scripts, forms or registration pages
10. Participating in chat rooms or social networking sites

Wow. Whilst some of these are understandable danger zones, if you avoided everything on the list you'd have a very boring Internet life. And quite how you fill out a web script I'm not sure.

But then, sensationalism gets attention, and I'm sure some business leaders would prefer to avoid the Internet altogether.

(Via e-consultancy.com)

Miglia have released the TVDuo: their first dual digital TV tuner for the Mac so at last it's possible to record two programmes at once, or watch one whilst recording another. As with previous single-tuner models, it's powered via USB, and comes with two mini antennae, a remote control, USB cable, and CD with Elgato's EyeTV2 software and PDF manual. It should also hook up well with Apple's Front Row software, and the remote, for those Macs that have it. You can also enjoy Picture in Picture and all the usual PVR features.

The software also allows for burning shows to DVD and saving for viewing on a video iPod.

Price to be confirmed.

Miglia

According to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.com, one in four managers (at least in the US) check out future employees by searching online. And 51% of them said they chose not to hire someone because of what they found.

They were then asked what kinds of information they found online that caused them to rule out a candidate. 31% of candidates had lied about their qualifications, 25% had poor communication skills, 24% were linked to criminal behaviour, 19% badmouthed their previous employer or colleagues, 19% posted about drug or alcohol use, 15% shared confidential information about a previous job, 12% lied about an absence, 11% posted provocative/inappropriate photographs, and 8% used an inappropriate screen name.

The ever expanding world of Stelios and his easy... orange branding has taken another step forward with the launch of easyPizza. Like many of his other projects, there's savings to be had by booking ahead of time - up to 13 days in advance - so if you know you'll be wanting a pizza at 2am on Saturday morning, go online when you're sober and order away.

All pizzas are £4.50 plus a delivery charge, and there's even an El Stel pizza - the Stelios special.

It's initially available in a few select towns including Milton Keynes (of course), and some south coast pizza havens including Brighton & Hove, Bognor, Hastings, Worthing, and Eastbourne.

Easypizza.com

You've probably noticed the Google ads that sit on the page when you're using Gmail. It's one of the ways Google makes money out of your free email service. But have you noticed they also appear at the top of the page when you click on your Spam folder.

And because they're related to the content that you're reading, they're always recipes involving spam (the food) from the same website, RecipeSource? Anyway, here's Tech Digest's pick of the, er, tastiest recipes that we've noticed while clearing out our Gmail spam folder.

1. Spam Vegetable Strudel. Good for vegetarians (apart from the spam part)
2. Vineyard Spam Salad. i.e. it has grapes in it.
3. Spam Primavera. Popular in Italy. Possibly.
4. Spam Imperial Tortilla Sandwiches. Makes me whistle the Star Wars theme.
5. Creamy Spam Broccoli Casserole. Spam and broccoli! Together at last!
6. Spicy Spam Kabobs. Yes, they do mean kebabs. But I like that spelling too.
7. Spam Fajitas. Do Mexicans really eat a lot of spam?
8. Spam Breakfast Burritos. Start the day as you mean to go on. Retching.
9. Spam Hashbrown Cake. Props for the inclusion of a can of chicken soup too.
10. Spam Swiss Pie. Swiss Families get marooned on desert islands to escape it.

Just as it's not enough to have simple, ordinary speakers for your iPod, it's no longer cool to have an ordinary headset and speakers for making your Internet calls. No, you need to have a gadget - and if that doubles up as a mouse as well, so much the better!

And if it's a novelty mouse, woo-hoo!

The Street Mouse is a car-shaped mouse with built in speakers and microphone. It also has a headphone jack (you plug in to one of the wheels) for a little more privacy. It's a decent enough mouse too: optical at 800dpi, two buttons and a scroll wheel, and it even has working rear taillights and LED headlights (not that they're any help to your computer use).

It comes in cherry red or silver and is supplied with some in-ear phones. Plugs into USB. It says it's PC compatible but there's no reason why it shouldn't work on your favourite Mac, too.

Available now for £21.95.

Product page

The Mus2 cordless optical two-button mouse is an unusual shape compared to most mice on the market, but it's been ergonomically designed to fit into the palm of the hand, for smooth handling of its 800dpi resolution and frame refresh speed of 2300fps.

It's made of matt-finish plastic, available in either black or white, and is supposed to feel like suede under your fingers. It uses two triple-A batteries for a wireless range of up to 2m, and has a battery indicator at the base of the mouse so you can tell when it needs refuelling. It will automatically switch to a low-power mode if it isn't moved.

Some PC extremists will probably cry that two buttons just isn't enough on a mouse. Where's the third button? The scroll wheel? But, for sheer intrigue value it'll do the job (and not everyone wants those extras).

It's compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X so long as you have Bluetooth, of course.

It's priced at £49.95 and is available exclusively from Boystuff.co.uk

Product page

Let's have some unintentional jokes from the biggest clown prince of them all to take us all into the weekend. George W Bush, it's over to you... "Fool me once... shame on you..."

Coming in at 79 x 48.2 x 10mm and weighing just 55g is the Meizu Mini Player, a pocket-sized portable player that still manages to feature a 2.4-inch QVGA screen - only slightly smaller than an iPod screen. And it's heading to Europe.

Available with 1GB, 2GB or 4GB of storage, the Meizu player supports MP3, WMA, WAV and OGG audio formats as well as AVI movies playback and BMP, JPG and GIF picture formats. There's also an FM radio and Li-Ion battery, which should give you around 20 hours per charge.

It works with both PCs and Macs and will be coming to Europe via French firm Dane-Elec in December in a choice of black or white, Prices are €119 (1GB), €149 (2GB) and €199 (4GB).

Dane-Elec website

Via The Register

Candles might create a mood in your living room, but there's always a danger when you're using a naked flame. Never fear - technology has some to the rescue, with the LED Blow On-Off Candles. Yes, they're candles - but there's no fire here.

The LED Blow On-Off Candles still have a waxy coating and a natural-looking, flickering light just like normal candles and go out when you blow. But unlike traditonal candles, these also blow on! Just press the master on/off switch on the bottom, and these candles will turn on and off as often as you like. And from a decent distance, no-one would tell them from the real thing.

Available now from $11.99 (that's around £6.30).

Find out more

Are you being ripped off for using the internet out and about? According to a new survey by Webaroo, you could be paying up to 28 times more for the your net access on the go, compared to the cost of access at home.

London was found to be the most expensive city in Europe, charging hotel guests on average £19.70 €29.08 for access for 24 hours. The second most expensive city was Munich (€25.32), closely followed by Paris (€21.20) Rome (€19.60) and Barcelona (€19.60). Worst hotel? That's the Hilton in London, costing £20 ( €29.84 ) compared to the same hotel costing €22 in Berlin. Internet café charged on average £1.77 an hour in most European countries, while airports chanrge on average £12.82 (€19) for 24 hours net use.

Obviously Webaroo thinks you should browse offline using their downloadable web packs, saving yourself the connection charges. Except of course, we often want access to more current content. What do you think? Are roaming charges excessive? Let us know.

Webaroo website

The Neverlate alarm clock is a gadget for organised people - the kind of people that do weekly shops, keep track of their bank balances - and plan when they need to get up every day of the week.

The Neverlate is specifically designed so you can program in your weekly schedule and never have to worry about changing the alarm clock for any day of the week. So when you slump into bed after a heavy night out, there's no need to worry about setting the alarm - because you'll have done it when you were at your best on a Sunday afternoon. In fact, if you had one now, you could even take into account the clocks going back - because you'll only forget on Saturday night.

There's seven programmable alarms for each day of the week, as well as an adjustable snooze timer and AM/FM radio. it retails for around £40.

Product page

Or Burger King, 007, Animal Crossing... Someone with a working knowledge of Photoshop has put a video up on YouTube showing an array of Wii customisation ideas, including the KFC one, which turns the Wii-mote controller into a piece of deep-fried chicken, and slaps the Colonel on the side of the console itself. And to think people complain now about consoles making kids unhealthy... Click below to see the video.