Nick's Naked Gadgets

Cheap portable digital radio - Technika DAB-108P Portable DAB/FM Radio

Some technologies take a long time to recover from early hype. Digital radio or Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a classic example. It was supposed to offer CD-quality sound. Unfortunately it often can’t even match FM radio.

The better the audio equipment, the more DAB’s shortcomings are revealed. Away from the living room hi-fi, however, there is an area where DAB should be prospering, that’s in the pocket. Portable music player sound quality isn’t that critical because the music’s usually in competition with trains, cars, buses and all the other sounds of the city.

There have been pocket DAB radios around for a while, but compared with MP3 players they seem bulky and expensive. The smallest pocket DAB radio was the size of a pack of cards, and that doesn’t compare well with devices such as the dainty iPod Nano.

Now this is changing. New DAB chips can be put into smaller and cheaper packages such as this Technika device from Tesco. An even tinier and slightly more stylish portable DAB player has also been launched by Goodmans although it’ll set you back an extra tenner. Both, incidentally, have FM radios built in as well.

Unfortunately they haven’t shaken off one DAB radio annoyance. Both use their headphones as an aerial. So if you find the supplied set uncomfortable or are dissatisfied with the sound quality you can’t do much about it as your spare pair of buds probably won’t work.

On the quality front, digital radio could be set for a resurgence, but perhaps not here. There is a new standard called, unsurprisingly, “DAB 2” which offers superior sound and the potential for more stations. But, because the UK was one of the first countries to adopt the original DAB standard, there are loads of old sets around that could be left behind by the new technology. So it could be a while before many British broadcasters start to invest in DAB 2.

Price: £34.97 Further information from tesco.com

Related articles by Zemanta

• Tipping point for digital radio switch over could be 2015, says report
• Digital Radio Working Group expected to predict digital radio switchover by 2020

Nokia E71 smartphone - Apple's iPhone is not the only game in town

Thanks to the success of its publicity machine, aided and abetted by the world’s media, it would be easy to gain the impression that Apple was the biggest player in the world of mobile phones. But in comparison with the Nokia elephant Apple is a mere flea.

Look at the figures. As Apple was celebrating selling a million 3G iPhones over its launch weekend Nokia was announcing sales of 122 million handsets over the three months to June. That puts into perspective the target of 10 million iPhone sales by the end of the year.

The comparison is unfair in that Nokia sells dozens of different handsets whereas Apple has only one design, albeit one that’s very good for consumers of media. For anybody who wants to watch videos, surf the web or listen to music on the go the iPhone is hard to beat.

It’s not so good for responding to emails, texting or working on documents. That’s where the Nokia E71 really comes into its own, partly thanks to its full keyboard, but also because of the audience it’s designed for. The “E” in the name stands for “enterprise”.

Although it’s a business-oriented handset, the Nokia E71 isn’t all work and no play. One neat touch is a choice of “modes” which allows you to switch from business to pleasure with the appropriate functions pushed to the fore.

And the E71 has every function you could possibly desire from a smartphone including GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera and a very full set of productivity software even including a document scanner. As ever with a Nokia all this is easily navigated through an intuitive menu system.

All this fits into a design which is slightly smaller than an iPhone. Nokia claims it’s the thinnest ever phone with a qwerty keyboard. Despite its pocket-loving size the quantity of metal used in its construction means it feels very solid.

This article was originally published in The Scotsman in August 2008

Related articles by Zemanta

• Nokia e71 Initial Impressions
• Nokia E71 reviewed by Tweetdeck founder
• The Nokia E71's Workable Keyboard

Will anybody fall for the Hi-Fi Wi-Fi charms of the Creative Zen X-Fi?

 

Few manufacturers promote their MP3 players on the quality of their sound. Instead the selling points are weight, capacity, battery life, design and even their range of colours.

This seems a bit of an omission considering the main purpose of these devices is to listen to music.

It's uncharitable to suggest that most people buy MP3 players mainly as fashion accessories, although there may be more than a grain of truth in that. But how many of us would have the nerve to go into an electrical shop and ask to test a variety of players? Even if we did the results from a noisy showroom probably wouldn't tell us very beyond the way most players sound lousy.

So it's a brave move by Creative to focus on the audio quality of its Zen X-Fi series. These use technology to fill in the gaps from compressed music such as MP3s and to make the sound seem to come from outside your head. Some people will find this an improvement, partly depending on their taste in music. The problem is sound quality is so subjective.

That said, almost everybody will appreciate the quality of the earphones included with the device which are far better than you'll get with almost any other MP3 player.

The tiny device - smaller than a credit card and not much thicker - has some other tricks up its sleeve notably its wi-fi capability. This means you can stream music stored on your bedroom computer into the living room, listening through headphones or with the player plugged into a stereo.

Rather less useful, thanks to the lack of a keypad, is the instant messaging capability.

But the X-Fi does have a sharp, if diminutive, screen for watching movies, a voice recorder, an SD card slot and even a speaker to properly annoy fellow bus travellers. It may not be the most beautiful MP3 player on the market, but it does offer a lot of features for its price.

There are three models in the Creative Zen X-Fi range – 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. (NB: The 8GB model does not have wi-fi capability.) Prices are currently £79.05 for the 8GB version and £124.61for the 16GB model.

This article originally appeared in The Scotsman newspaper in August 2008

Related articles by Zemanta

• GizmoCall tries to make cheap VoIP calls easy
• Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB media player
• Amateur Radio and Creative Zen MP3 player
• The unconfirmed G2 to unveil on April 2009

Is the Draganflyer X6 remote control helicopter the ultimate millionaire's toy?

Often I write about gadgets I wouldn’t buy because they are over-priced for what they actually do, but at least they’re not beyond the reach of the normal credit card owner. This week though I’m looking at a device that definitely falls into the category: “If you have to ask the price you can’t afford it.”

There are loads of remote control helicopters on the market. Some are quite sophisticated, but the Draganflyer X6 is in a totally different class. This is no toy. It’s a genuine miniature aircraft complete with autopilot for “operating autonomously” as the company says.

Most conspicuously it has no less than six rotors to give it stability. But it’s the hidden technology that makes it really clever.  It has 11 on-board sensors: three gyros, three accelerometers, three magnetometers, one barometric pressure sensor, and a GPS receiver. The last enables it to hover over the same point while you head off for a cuppa.

That doesn’t sound nearly as much fun as piloting it yourself which the company says can be accomplished with minimal or zero training. It’ll even stream real-time video to special glasses so you can swoop and take pictures of, well, whatever you’d want to capture with a small surveillance aircraft.

The little electric-powered chopper weighs just a kilo. It can carry cameras and suchlike weighing up to 500 grams. And if one of the rotors is damaged it can keep on flying until it lands safely.

Some clue as to the intended use of the helicopter comes from the company’s website which offers help for US companies seeking Department of Homeland Security grants. There are no suggestions as to how to get cash out of Brown or Salmond.

Incidentally, the name of the helicopter doesn’t come from some crappy piece of trendy misspelling, but from the company president, Zenon Dragan. I’m sure I should remember that name from one of the Superman movies.

For further information or to request a quote visit draganfly.com

Related articles by Zemanta

• Norwegians demo 10cm video & GPS pocket-chopper
• Flying Santa Puts the Crap Back in Christmas [Holidays]
• Robo-P Toy Helicopter
• Homemade Helicopter: Nigerian Man Builds Working Helicopters from Junk
• Gizmo - a network truck
• Helicopter Flying by Remote Control
• Research UAV is Preview of Hovering Spy Drones of Tomorrow [Drone]

Why I'd love a 3M MPro110 Micro Projector even though I really don't need one

If you want a device that perfectly sums up gadget envy the 3M MPro110 Micro Projector is it. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted one. Then the sceptical journalist in me came out.

 So let’s look at how a gadget can induce lust. For a start it has to be tiny. All the best gadgets are portable miniaturised versions of items we already know if not love. Think of the iPod compared with the stereo system in your living room.

 Of course an iPod doesn’t output sound so you have to plug in headphones or speakers if you want to share your music. This is only part of the story. The latest iPods have video capabilities as long as you don’t mind watching movies on a screen smaller than a credit card.

 And that’s where this palm-sized projector comes in. It’s capable of displaying a 50-inch image, equalling the biggest flat screen tellies in your local electrical shop. Sadly it’s not high-definition nor does it have a sound source so you will need to plug in a pair of speakers. But it’s still a remarkable piece of kit for its size and expected price.

 It’s perfect for those times when you’ve got something on your laptop, iPod or even mobile phone that you’d like to show to a group of pals. Think about it. And this where the sceptical hack in me comes out.

 Pulling a projector out of your pocket is a cool trick. Once. But you can plug most video devices into a standard telly which is generally easier than finding a blank wall for your projector, iPod and speakers.

 Now if I was a travelling salesman killing customers by PowerPoint I might have a real use for this pocket projector. But the very thought of being in a job like that is more than enough to cool my technolust.

This article originally appeared in The Scotsman in September 2008

The 3M MPro110 Micro Projector is available from Amazon.

 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Microvision Handheld Pico Projector Can Drive a 100-inch Image [Projectors]
• 3M ? Micro Projector
• Technophile: Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10
• Must have: Pico handheld projector