PADDY COMYNrounds up the latest motors gadgets
Sony Vaio X Series
Price: TBA
Buy: sony.ie Sony Centres
This new laptop from Sony appears to be a rival to the super-light MacBook Air and, at 655g, this new machine certainly won’t weigh down your hand luggage. It is slim, measuring no more than 13.9mm at every point. It has a durable 11.1-inch X-black widescreen LCD with LED backlight technology. The X Series will benefit from VAIO’s Everwair WWAN which will let you get on to the internet without a WiFi hotspot, thanks to access to 3G HSPA mobile broadband networks.
Battery life is an impressive eight hours. This will be available from October 22nd.
Nokia Car Kit CK-600
Price: €170.99
Buy: expansys.ie
We haven’t looked at car kits in a while and it is still no less illegal to use the phone while driving, so here is the latest one from Nokia, a company that knows a thing or two about mobile phones. This device does the basics really well and also allows you to play your mobile’s music collection through your car’s loudspeakers.
This is really easy to use and should be reliable.
TomTom Start
Price: €129/€149
Buy: Electrical retailers
TomTom’s new Start is for people who don’t want a complicated navigation device and just want it to bring you somewhere without too much fuss. This simplified menu gives easy access to the safety camera database and thousands of points of interest pre-installed. It is available in black and white (EU map only), from retail stores at €129 for a regional map and €149 for a European map.
Changeable covers (StartSkins) are available via tomtom.com/startskins and retailers for only €14.95 per colour.
Wild Charge
Price: €54
Buy: firebox.com
The WildCharge is an incredible gadget that’s about to break the shackles of normal, everyday charging. Every time you lay your mobile, BlackBerry or iPod on the WildCharge mat, it’ll transfer all the juice you need directly to the device without you having to do a thing. The WildCharge comes with adapters that you can place on your mobile, BlackBerry or iPod that bridge the gap between your battery and the mat. When you look, the adapters have four tiny metal contacts that create a circuit when they’re placed on the mat. Great if you tend to fall over wires and chargers a lot.
