Author: Shinychris

Sagem Freesat+ HD box as John Lewis reports record figures

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Sagem has announced the availability of its latest Freesat+ High Definition digital recorders. Available with 250GB or 500GB hard drives, the boxes also boast auto set-up and navigation menus.

Sagem’s Freesat+ digital recorders are available from all major high street retailers including John Lewis, Currys, Comet and Argos. The 250Gb model retails for £250 and the 500Gb model is £300.

Shinychris Digital set-top boxes, HDTV, Tech Digest news

USB laptop cooler inspired by, er, gas hob

How about this for just plain weird. It’s a USB laptop cooler, inspired by, er, a gas hob. The cooler has dual fans, which should be powerful enough to keep your laptop as cool as required. And of course it takes power directly from the computer’s USB port.

Compatible with any laptop computer, it features a blue LED light to simulate a gas hob. Just don’t try cooking on it though. The gas cooker USB cooler costs £8 and is available from here.

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Tech gender gap closes as women take control of gadgets

Once it seemed that only fellas would bamboozle you with talk of their hard drives, processors, operating system and number of mega-pixels. But now it seems that women are just as comfortable with tech-talk.

According to a survey commissioned by electric retailer, Comet, the gap between the sexes – at least as far as tech is concerned has closed with 48 per cent of women now feeling more comfortable with technology compared with 47 per cent of men.

Indeed only 15 per cent would now describe themselves as the tech-head of the household with 13% per cent even admitting to turning to their partner for advice on setting up and operating new technology.

Shinychris Polls

BenQ unveils 19inch 16:10 shaped LED display

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BenQ has added two new LED displays to its G Series line-up: a 16:10 shaped, 19 inch model (G920WL) and an 18.5inch, 16:9 shaped model, the G922HDL.

BenQ claims the screens boast the lowest power consumption rating in their respective size categories, making them appeal to cost- and eco-conscious corporate users. The panels are 100% mercury-free, which is a significant ecological advantage over traditional CCFL displays, great for corporate users seeking to proactively comply with changing environmental regulations. LED technology also enables the G-Series to use substantially less energy (approximately 60% less in G920WL and 43% in G922HDL) than CCFL displays of the same screen size.

Shinychris Monitors

Lightsleeper gadget helps you get a good night's kip

Here's a 21st century version of counting sheep. LightSleeper works by projecting a light onto the ceiling in a controlled, circular motion. Following it with your eyes encourages the mind to relax and, according to the manufacturer, helps you fall into a good night's sleep.

It switches off automatically after 30 minutes and can be reactivated easily by tapping it gently. For the thousands of people who want a self-help solution, who can't or don't want to take prescribed drugs, LightSleeper's arrival into the consumer electronics market will be welcome news.

According to Lightsleeper's research nearly two thirds of us (64%) have a bad night's sleep at least once a week, with nearly one in five having sleep problems every night of the week.

Developed by Quincom, LightSleeper has been designed and manufactured in the UK. It is the brainchild of Kate Evans, Quincom's Design Manager, who came up with the concept as a design student when she suffered from insomnia.

"I had terrible problems sleeping. My final year project was to design a solution to a problem suffered within a 24 hour society. I naturally chose to look into sleeping habits. I learned that the way the eyes track a book when reading can be soothing but that reading itself stimulates the mind. I then looked for a solution that made use of the relaxing eye movement that reading induces, but without the mind whirring."

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