PADDY COMYNrounds up this week's motoring gadgets
Pentax K-7
Price: €1,204 (body only) Buy: pixmania.ie
THE PENTAX K-7 claims to be dustproof and weatherproof, making it one of the few really tough SLRs around. It also packs a lot into the tough exterior. You get a 14.6MP sensor, shake reduction technology, face recognition and 5.2fps continuous shooting. But its main party trick is the 30fps hi-def video recording in 16:9 format. There is also a mic input and a HDMI port so you can record really good quality video too.
Sony Ericsson HCB-108
Price: €59 Buy: phonesonline.ie
THE SONY Ericsson HCB-108 is a Bluetooth speakerphone with a slim design.
It features ultra long talk and stand-by times and has a high quality audio performance. It is perfect for any car. It is very easy to set up and is pretty decent value too. It is certainly cheaper than getting fined and getting points for being on the phone while driving.
Powershot D10
Price: €399 Buy: connscameras.ie
IF YOU ARE a little on the clumsy side, then the Powershot D10 is probably a good buy for a powerful compact digital camera. The D10 has 12.1 megapixels under the skin and it is quite serious skin; the tough casing allows it to survive falls of up to 1.2m and it can also be submerged into 10m of water. There is a 2.5in LCD screen and optical image stabiliser as well as face and blink detection. You can expect superb quality pictures from this and it isn’t overly heavy either; at just 190g.
Zeiss Cinemizer
Price: €352 Buy: zeiss.com
THESE MIGHT look pretty odd, but they are from the very clever German lens folk at Zeiss and when you connect them up to a visual device, such as an iPod and iPhone 3G, you will feel as if you are sitting six feet away from a 45in screen. It gives the impression of full colour 3D movies and works well with specially adapted games. You are probably best advised not to wear these while you walk around though, for fear of accidents.