This post was written by Jim Marino
IWOOT’s Sun and Moon jars must win out in the dinkiness stakes. The solar jars take sunlight, store it up, and then, when the day is ended, glow. The Moon Jar gives out a gentle blue light while the Sun Jar gives out a mellow yellow glow. They are discreet and funky, providing an eco-friendly way to add a little atmosphere to any room. The jars are safe for kids aged 5 and above so could make a great, low cost night light for any littlies worried about monsters under their bed.
OneForAll’s Energy Saver remote supports up to four devices, defined as TV, STB, DVD and AUDIO. The first stage in setting-up the remote is to program in a code to allow it to take over the function. An interesting concept and a universal remote that works very well with no problems. The Energy Saver element is something of a convenience. The reality is, perhaps, that you want a universal remote, rather than a remote controlled socket, but if this reduces the number of devices you have on standby, then so much the better.
NICE’s MegaCity looks surprisingly like any other small city car. No kooky styling like the G-Whiz and apart from the noise, or lack of it, most people are unlikely to spot at first that you’ve got a considerably different engine under the bonnet. The car is exceptionally light. The rest of the inside is fairly bare, however the thing that stands out the most is the gigantic boot certainly big enough for the weekly shop. The automatic gearbox is also likely to appeal to city dwellers stuck in traffic.
Horizon’s H-racer hydrogen car is the ultimate executive gadget that will set you back a crisp £50 note to prove your green credentials to the rest of the office. Once you’ve filled the fuelling station with water and turned it on it takes about a minute to fill the small gas chamber with enough hydrogen to power the car - with blue strobe lights it looks pretty cool too. Good, but only for those with money to burn like the petrol they put in there not so green car.
HP’s iPAQ Data Messenger Smartphone is a much larger and wider than those two main rivals with the result that it looks slightly dated. The Data Messenger is not a gee-whizz handset and, in truth, there’s little to get really excited about either in terms of design or its feature set. However, the phone is aimed mostly at business types so the understated design is understandable and although its line-up of features isn’t earth shattering, it does have all the essentials covered.
Samsung LE40A558 40in LCD TV lacks the red-tinged aesthetic flourish introduced by the step-up A656 range. Its screen, meanwhile, boasts the now increasingly de rigueur Full HD resolution, and a very attractive-looking maximum contrast ration of 30,000:1 with the Dynamic Contrast feature activated. However, the various motion issues exhibited by the 40A558’s pictures make it impossible to give it a whole-hearted recommendation, and will likely make it a non-starter for AV purists. The LE40A558 lacks any 100Hz processing to back up the Movie Plus arrangement.