BluePack iPhone backup
Price: €32.90 (plus €5.50 shipping) Buy: firebox.com
The list of things that the iPhone is good at is pretty long – but the glaringly obvious bad point is the hopeless battery.
As an iPhone owner, you’re constantly eyeing up rooms for sockets and darent leave home without your charger. This little device will give you some help if a plug isn’t forthcoming.
The BluePack incorporates a rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery that can give up to 250 hours extra standby time, up to 3.5 hours talktime or up to 36 hours audio playback time.
Handy if you plan on using your iPhone for more than 3 hours at a time.
sWaP Mobile Phone Watch
Price: €264.37 Buy: iwantoneofthose.com
Those of you of a certain age will remember Dick Tracy and his watch that worked as a two-way radio and later on, Michael Knight used to summon KITT in Knight Rider with a magic watch too.
Now Science Fiction is Science Fact – this is the mobile phone watch and, not only does it work as a mobile phone, with audio going to a Bluetooth headset, but it will also work as a PDA – it can take pictures and record audio. A must for gadget fiends or would-be spies.
Dane-Elec Z Pen
Price: €93 (plus €12.90 shipping) Buy: pixmania.ie
This is a clever idea, even if we haven’t seen it work yet.
The Z Pen combines the function of a scanner, a USB key and a pen, in one device.
You can take notes and they will be sent to your computer as standard text. Perfect, we’d imagine, if you have good handwriting. Warning: may not be ideal for doctors.
Polar CS600X
Price: from €416 Buy: shoppolar.com
Aimed at those who want to take their cycling to a new level, this heart rate monitor may cost more than many bicycles but is as good as it gets when it comes to training aids.
The CS600X delivers accurate information on the body’s performance, cycling technique and environmental data and records positioning information with the G3 GPS sensor, to allow for post-exercise online route tracking via Google Earth.
The route shown on Google Earth will be colour-coded to reflect the user’s heart rate at that time, giving a clear indication of the intensity of the cycle.