Are you the technological whizz-kid of your household? Know your component cable from your HDMI, or have reached a zen-like level of interconnectivity between all of your social networks so that half the world knows what you're doing at any given moment in time?

Then the Gadget Helpline isn't for you. BUT, if you do fit the description above, you're probably sick to teeth of being asked to tune Grandad's VHS player or sort out Mum's Wi-Fi connection. And that's where the Gadget Helpline comes in.

£2.99 a month gets you a membership and unlimited access to the helpline. If your iPod wont sync or your Sky box has crashed, the Gadget Helpline's UK based gurus can be called 6 days per week (09:00 - 18:00 Monday to Friday and 10:00 - 18:00 Saturday) at 5p per minute from a BT landline.

It's jargon free, informal and informative, and would make the perfect addition to any techy present you may have lined up for Mum this Mother's Day.

Click here to sign up, or ring 08444 994 600 to do it over the phone.

EA may be well known for their sports titles such as the FIFA and Madden franchises, but did you know they also dabble in a bit of high-tech fitness kit every once in a while? Last year the gaming giants launched their Active range to encourage users to shed the pounds, and now they're looking to update the range with Active 2.0

Unveiled at this week's GDC, Active 2.0 will offer "true fitness results by featuring an innovative wireless control system powered by new leg and arm straps with motion sensors, a heart rate monitor to capture intensity and a new online hub to track and share workout data."

There's not much more known about the new kit at this time, other than that it will be headed to iPhones and iPods as well as Xbox 360s, PS3s and Wiis some time this year. But with new motion controlling hardware headed to the two HD consoles, could there possible be some Arc and Natal features added along the way?

Via: Engadget

IRIS are set to launch the Mobile NoteTaker. Clipping a receiver to the top of a blank sheet of paper, the battery powered pen converts your hand movements into a text file that can be edited on both PCs and MACs.

If you've spent years perfecting your cursive scrawl, you'll be happy to hear the software also archives handwritten versions of your notes too.

The USB receiver can store up to 100 pages of handwritten text, and can recognise 26 different languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Arabic and Russian. With the receiver plugged into your PC, the IRIS Mobile NoteTaker can then also be used as a mouse alternative.

Click here for more info.

Think your retro rotary phone sets you apart from the pack? Get with the times and think again - this Android based landline phone from DSP is what all the cool kids will be using to prank call from in the future.

With a 3.5 inch touchscreen and built-in Wi-Fi, this sleek looking home phone has a web browser, apps for emailing, web radio and web widgets, and can also be used as a universal remote for managing all your other household gadgets.

A built in accelerometer means you can also expect a couple of games to make their way to the phone too.

No pricing or release date for this one yet, but consider us sold on it.

Via: Gizmodo

A great story coming in from The Sun today; personal jetpacks are on their way, and will set you back £50,000. That's a fairly reasonable price to pay for some sci-fi wish fulfillment if you ask me.

The Martin Aircraft Company are behind the jetpack, which has now secured enough investment to go into commercial-scale production of the gear.

The packs have been masterminded by inventor Glenn Martin who unveiled his machine for the first time in July 2009. He said to The Sun that "This could be life-saving stuff. For us this is an excellent commercial step. We have somebody who is willing to put £8m on the table because they believe there is a sizeable market in their country."

Capable of travelling 30 miles in 30 minutes on a full tank of fuel, recent tests have seen the latest model reach heights of up to 2,400 metres and top speeds of 60mph.

Plenty of real world uses here, including everything from emergency services support to eye-in-the-sky mobile sports coverage. Best start saving those pennies.

Whether it's due to the prolonged cold spell or the "fresh-start" feeling that a new decade ushers in, it seems us Brits have taken to Spring-cleaning a little zealously this year. Top of the de-clutter casualty list is unwanted technology, a poll of 2,000 people has found.

Nearly 20% of Brits are having a bigger clear-out this year as it's the start of a new decade, with 34% saying that they'll be chucking out old CDs and DVDs. It looks like the age of the digital download is finally taking hold, as many look to replace their old films and music with devices that can store them digitally, such as iPods and Sky+ boxes. Physical media may well be on its last legs.

Not to say that this year's annual bout of Spring-cleaning is turning into some sort of technological holocaust; 35% of those surveyed said they'll be investing in a nice big flatscreen to fill the cleared space, while a further 20% would be looking into getting a new PC.

Looking for an expert opinion? Look no further than Changing Room's own Anna Ryder Richardson, who said that; "This year will definitely see a huge homes overhaul, being stuck indoors for a prolonged period due to the cold weather has certainly made people think about how they can improve their homes and the environment that they live in."

So there you go then.

Though carrying an iPhone around is like having everything but the kitchen sink in your pocket thanks to all its maps and apps, its Achilles heel is its relatively low battery life. You'll get a little over a day's worth of juice out of a single charge at best, which isn't too great if you're going to be away from a power supply for very long.

Griffin's PowerBlock looks to relieve you of your charging woes. At first glance it may appear to be a regular USB AC wall charger. However, it features a detachable battery pack which can be used as a reserve power supply for your iPod or iPhone, while also charging other USB devices.

"The addition of a removable battery to the PowerBlock charger means you can take the power with you when you go," said Paul Griffin, founder and CEO of Griffin Technology, "It is a simple and reliable backup to ensure iPod and iPhone users never run out of power on the move."

The PowerBlock Reserve EU and UK model will be available at Apple stores from February priced £29.99.

It's that time of year again, where we all rush off to Clinton's for a naff card, a syrupy teddy and a box of Quality Streets for our loved ones. Yep, Valentine's Day rears its sickly head once again, and, like it or lump it, it's here to stay.

But how best to show the extent of your love for that special, nerdy man-child in your life?

If your boyfriend is partial to a bit of tech or some geeky toys, you've come to the right place. Check out Tech Digest's Top Ten Geeky Valentine Presents: For Him. Wedding bells will be ringing in a matter of months with these nifty little gifts, we assure you.

Click the image below to get started

This latest model of Buffalo's LinkStation Mini sets itself apart from the host of other media server options vying for your money by offering a built in BitTorrent client to manage all your P2P file sharing.

Available in black or white and both 500GB and 1TB storage sizes, the LinkStation Mini also features support for DLNA sharing with transfer speeds capable of up to 40 Mbps. There is also a WebAccess portal, allowing users to access files stored on the LinkStation Mini via the web from anywhere in the world.

Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the LinkStation Mini keeps itself discrete not only by its size, but also by its lack of a noisy fan. It's able to do without this heat-reducing gear as Buffalo claim power consumption is 60% lower than on previous models.

Paul Hudson, Northern European sales director, Buffalo Technology, commented: "As the appetite for digital media continues to grow, consumers expect high-quality, high-definition content to replace traditional formats. The LinkStation Mini is an ideal way for people to store all their movies, music and photos; share it with friends and family and to use it in their homes on a computer, laptop or television."

The LinkStation Mini is available now, with prices starting at £179.99, going up to £249.99.

Here's a full list of specs:

· High-speed processor provides file transfer rates of up to 40MB/s with enhanced performance
· Control access with group and user level security
· Direct copy of multimedia files from attached USB devices
· Supports Apple Bonjour
· Supports Active Directory
· Supports UPS connectivity via USB port
· Supports RAID 0/1
· In-built Print Server
· Auto-Sensing 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet port
· Silent, with no internal fan
· In-built DLNA CERTIFIED™ Server
· In-Built BitTorrent™ Client
· Fully integrates with iTunes
· WebAccess allows you to store, share and access files from any web browser via PC, Mac or iPhone
· Memeo™ backup software

Pocket mirrors are so last decade. If you want to look pixel-perfect these days, you need to get yourself in front of an augmented reality cosmetic mirror.

It's the latest craze to hit Tokyo malls; you sit yourself down in front of the Shiseido-built mirror, and by judging you skin tone, it makes recommendations on what make-up you should wear, overlaying virtual previews onto your face.

Judging from the video there's still a bit of work needed here though. Not on the model, you cheeky so and so, but rather on the tech itself. Rather than properly showing what she would look like with the recommended make up, it instead makes it look like her eyes have been gouged-out, King Lear-style.

Bet you weren't expect a Shakespearean reference when you hit this link, huh?

Via: CScout Japan

You can shove your PS3s and Xbox 360s; put yourself in front of a classic Galaxian arcade cabinet and watch as it devourers all the silver in your pockets with old-school gaming joy. Emulators like MAME may keep your piggybank full, but modern controllers don't feel right in the 8 -bit world.

Thankfully, Retro Thing have been quietly working away on their Clear Classic USB Joystick, modelled after controllers familiar to any gamers from the 70's and 80's.

Retro Thing worked closely with Legacy Engineering ( the team behind the Atari Flashback 2 retro console) to get the iconic feel just right, but added their own blue LED light into the mix to give it a Tron-like glow.

The controller, compatible with both PCs and Macs, comes complete with an Atari 2600 emulator and 80 homebrew games to get you started.

The limited edition joystick costs $29.95, and Retro Thing stockists Reflex Audio happily ship to the UK.

Buy one here.

Samsung has been announced as the largest technology firm in the world, with sales of their devices hitting the $117.8 billion mark.

The figure sees them overtake HP, who managed an impressive $114.6 billion, making them the second largest tech company.

With a big push in TV, camera and memory chip developments at Samsung HQ (not to mention their sizeable showing at this year's CES) it's no surprise Samsung are doing so well. It's only in the mobile sector where they appear to have lost ground.

Jan Lee of Daiwa Securities told CNN that he saw the mobile market as a potential growth sector for Samsung. "Compare it with Apple" he said, "There is still a gap in profit margins of their phone businesses."

Keep an eye out on Monday for Tech Digest's review of the Samsung UE40B8000 LED TV. Quick teaser; it's wicked.

Remember all those You've Been Framed clips of dogs playing the piano? Well that was just the beginning; thanks to Mattel's Puppy Tweets collar tag, your dog is about to enter the online world of social networking and Twitter. No, seriously.

First of all, you have to make a Twitter account for little Rex (stay with me here). You then clip the tag onto your dogs collar, which packs in both motion and sound sensing technology. The device then reads and categorises what your pet is up to, and sends it to the dog's Twitter account. Then you, smug dog owner person, sit back and marvel as the pooch tweets such dignified observations as "YAHOOOOOOOOO! Somedays you just gotta get your bark on" or "I finally caught that tail I've been chasing and...OOUUUCHH!"

This isn't exactly going to change the minds of those who still "don't get" Twitter yet. But can you think of an anymore zealous a group of animal lovers than dog owners? It'll sell like hotcakes, though I don't much fancy an army of Rovers following my feed.

And surely a "Budgie Tweets" collar would have been more appropriate? Hmmm...Excuse me while I just go file a patent...

Here's a novel new approach to camcorders. The Ion Twin Video features two cameras which record simultaneously in two back-to-back directions, producing a picture-in-picture recording.

It looks quite a lot like the Flip, hooking up to a PC via USB, recodrind to an SD card or SDHC and featuring a rechargeable battery pack.

I can't figure out if I like this one or not. On the one hand, being able to catch both jaw-dropping moments and your reactions to them simultaneously could have some fun outcomes; think You've Been Framed with added evil-grins. On the other hand, so far it seems that you cant dedicate the whole image to just one video feed and cut between the two lenses; you have to have a picture-in-picture set up, which could quickly become annoying and make the whole thing a bit useless really.

Might be one for narcissists only this.

Price still unknown, but expect to see the Twin Video in shops by the Summer.

Thanks to all the new wireless charging systems on their way to market, the shock-horror moment of being out and about and then having your mobile's battery die mid-way through a call may be a thing of the past. Of this new wave of chargers, the Airnergy from RCA looks to be the pick of the litter.

Airnergy works by harvesting wi-fi signals around you and converting them into electricity. Sure, we've seen this done before, but it's the efficiency that is the key here; the Airnergy can convert and store enough power within 90 minutes to charge a smartphone.

The magic here is the Airnergy's built in battery. It doesn't need to be connected to your phone to be charged immediately. Just keeping it in range of a decent wi-fi source means power can be held onto for when you need it most.

A small and simple device, it could really challenge the Power Mat, with all its frustrating accessories, for dominance in the charger market. And at a suggested retail price of $40 (around £30) its way cheaper too.

We'll be keeping our eye on this one to say the least.

Via: Oh Gizmo

If you live in the UK and look outside your window today, odds on the world around you is covered in snow. It may have been a good laugh when you were little, hiding stones in snowballs and peeing your name into the snow (you little deviant, you), but these days all it inspires is a moan, a groan, and the thought of a long journey home.

So, to help pass these next few snowed-in days, here are a couple of gadgets for both the snow-phobic and fanatic in each of us.

Heated Vest

The sort of item Inuits only dream of, why not invest in an electricity powered vest? Made from nylon and polyester with a heating filament across the back, it is powered by a hidden ultra-safe battery pack which can be switched on or off as required. Already got one? Look how cool you look now! No, seriously...

I-River Story E-reader

It's so cold that you'll likely want to stay in right now till the snow thaws. You may not even want to get out of bed, let alone hit the shops to pick up some reading material. What you need is an iRiver Story e-reader. With a 6 inch E-ink display, QWERTY keyboard and enough storage space for 1,500 books, iIt gives the most bang for your buck right now in the e-reader market, and will keep you entertained until someone comes to dig you out of your snow covered hovel. Pick it up here for £195.

Snow Storm Snow Machine

Perhaps you can't get enough of the snow? Not only are you an idiot, but you're in luck too! Turn your living room into a winter-wonderland with the Snow Storm Snow Machine! For £109.95 you can spray fake snow anywhere you want, anytime you want. I wouldn't recommend eating the stuff though, unless you enjoy trips to A and E. Grab one here.

Lost Planet (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Imagine the best bits of Starship Troopers and the snow scene from Empire Stikes Back. Then throw in some Transformer-like robots. Then throw in some more snow. And ice. And more snow. Mix it all together and you have Lost Planet, Capcoms excellent sci-fi shooter for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It may be a few years old now, but it's still amazing fun taking on the colossal Akrid snow aliens, and there's a sequel on the way later this year. Its age means you can pick it up cheap now too. Which is cool.

Alive (DVD)

If you think you've got it bad, spare a thought for the poor folks of the 1972 Uruguayan rugby team. Their chartered plane crash landed in the snow-capped Andes. With no supplies and freezing snow cold all around, they begin to die of cold. The survivors then had to eat their dead mates. 'Nuff said. Sadly, it's yet to reach us in gory high-def detail on Blu-ray, but you can pick it up here from Amazon on DVD for £3.98.

The Consumer Electronics show, the behemoth of tech, the Valhalla of gadgetry, has come and gone for yet another year. But this time, rather than arriving with a bang, it slinked into sight with something more like a whimper.

CES 2010 had really had the wind knocked out of it before it had even got into the ring this year. All eyes were already on Apple and their rumoured Tablet in the run up to the event, despite the fact that Apple are traditionally a no-show at CES, instead planning their own top-secret unveiling at the end of January. Likewise, Google delivered a sucker-punch in the shape of the Nexus One, their flagship handset revealed at their own event on the eve of CES 2010's opening.

To make matter's worse, Microsoft's opening keynote speech (delivered by walking personality drain Steve Ballmer) was pretty darn dull. First a power cut, then a load of waffle on the 2 month old Windows 7, Ballmer hardly seemed to be trying to keep our attention. Though the Christmas release date for Project Natal was welcome news, it revealed nothing new about the device, whilst the partnership with Hewlett Packard for the new Slate device seemed merely like a case of keeping-up with the Joneses. Or should that be the Jobs-es?

But the Las Vegas event wasn't without its highlights. Far from it in fact. Maybe it's the recession, or the generally pocket-pinching mood in the air these days, but for once the most sought after tech wasn't in the realms of dreamy aspiration, but was actually fairly affordable.

Take for instance the brand new 3D TVs on show, of which the Sony BRAVIA XBR-52HX900 (video above, courtesy of Ashley) was the pick of the litter. Finally shaping up to the standards set by its cinema siblings, company reps promised that the average 3D TV will cost little more than a top-end Full HD set. Skype and video calling in many TV sets too will help turn your living room into somewhere the Jetsons could only dream of.

E-readers are also looking to be both big and affordable in 2010. As a comic book fanatic I'd have liked to have seen more attempts at a colour screened e-reader (I'm not including the MSI offering, which is really just a dual-touch screened PC, super-cool as it is). Plastic Logic's Que Pro e-reader looked great though, with a massive, durable screen, and was far lighter than the hundreds of books you'd be able to store on the tabloid-sized device.

There were, of course, tablets aplenty. The dual-booting Viliv P3 may be an underdog in the category, but seemed way more exciting than Microsoft's offering. The offer of both Windows and Android on the same device showed a respect for user choice not often seen in the back-slapping world of consumer tech.

There was still time for fun too. The Parrot AR Drone Quadricopter was fun and fresh, combining real-world toys with augmented reality controls. A little less high-tech but full of retro-chic was the Lasonic i931 iPhone dock/ghetto blaster mash-up. Odd's on its at the top of Flava Flav's Christmas list. And there was still some time for the weird and the plain old dumb, too.

Though less prevalent than other years, there were some great examples of brand new tech on show that were genuinely exciting. A real head-turner and my favourite item of the show was the Light Blue Optic Light Touch. Using a pico projection engine and a touch sensitive sensor, it'll turn any flat surface into a touchscreen. It works ridiculously well despite still being in the development stages, and has almost unlimited potential.

Some detractors say that, recession or not, CES looks to be on its last legs. It's sad, but not unlikely, when you consider the audiences that companies like Apple and Google can command for just a single product launch. However, for emerging companies like Light Blue Optics CES is still vital to gain some exposure, not to mention the fact that such a prominent date in the calendar forces the tech giants to have made some significant, competitive advances in their gear, year-on-year.

So here's hoping the old dog's got a bit of life left in it yet. Hopefully next year will kick off the recessionary cobwebs and kick the show back into high-tech gear. It wouldn't take much to tempt us back to the City of Sin once more.

Click here for full CES 2010 pre-show, day one, day two and day three round-ups.

OK, so the USB missile launcher is very old news indeed, but hardcore fans (like me) will be delighted to discover that there's a new technologically more advanced version coming that is more powerful and is controlled via a webcam - great for sneaky attacks.

No details on price yet, but it should be on sale in the UK very soon.

There are loads of iPhone solar chargers at CES but this is probably the best. It fits snugly on to your phone and can deliver thirty minutes of power for two hours of charging. It doesn't have to be connected to the iPhone to charge and if the sun isn't playing you can charge it up via USB. It goes on sale soon in Europe including the Uk, for 80 (not 8 as it says in the video) Euros. It comes with a free app that works out how much you need to use the sun to charge the battery depending on where in the world you are