What's happening at some of our other top blogs this weekend?

Shoewawa (Shoe Blog): Paul Smith Pink Label, Butterfly Trainers, YSL at Less Than Half Price

The Bag Lady (Bags & Accessories): Bambi Bag, Chloe Silverados In Stock, Escada 'Eluna'

Bayraider (eBay Blog): Justin Timberlake's Shirt, A Bit Of A Headcase, Paper Plane For Sale

Tech Digest: V Festival to see launch of iTunes phone?, Movies to turn digital, Watch Freeview digital TV in your car

Turns out it's not just us modern ladies that like a bit of girlified gadgetry. Back in the day you could get Kodak cameras designed specifically to appeal to the fairer sex. Chip Chick has a neat little piece detailing all the varieties on offer, starting with the Vanity range on sale back in 1928, which included a colour-coordinated camera, lipstick holder, compact, mirror and purse all in a fitted case. I'd like to be outraged for the sisterhood about those matching accessories, but looking at the lovely deco designs, I can't help wanting the whole kit and kaboodle for myself.

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I'm over thirty, so I'm deeply suspicious of wearing any crystal that flashes of its own accord (thanks, Logan's Run), but if you're too young to be confused for a runner (or fancy looking like a walking rave) ThinkGeek's got the jewelry for you.

The Fuze necklace is a battery-powered, colour-changing LED embedded in a quartz-crystal pendant - and is available in "Teardrop", "Mood" and (somewhat ironically) "Natural" styles. Consider it as a fashion alternative for those outings where your LED underthings simply aren't sophisticated enough. - [Star C. Foster]

The Fuze Necklace - $29.99 from ThinkGeek (thanks, Elana!)

Time to break open the celebratory Green & Blacks - Firebox has just added this chocolate fountain to its product list. Switch on the electric fondue and your chocolate will be heated until it's ready to tumble down in a great gooey cascade towards your favoured treat (strawberries, marshmallows, more chocolate). It comes with 900g of chocolate and will cost you a hefty £89.95.

Firebox

It seems unbelievable that while we speccy types get to adorn our noses with the latest in designer eye-wear, those with hearing difficulties still only have the choice of grey widget or skin-coloured widget when it comes to hearing aids. An exhibition currently on at the V&A is set to change all that, with innovative designs from the likes of Priestman Goode, Industrial Facility and IDEO. And not all the products are for the deaf or hard of hearing. As well as the many fancy hearing aids, there are a number of concept designs such as a remote control that will block out certain noises, or a gadget that lets you hold a clear conversation in a noisy bar. Developed by RNID and the magazine Blueprint, the Hearwear products are being exhibited at the V&A until the 5th March 2006.

V&A

Argh! Take them away, take them away! They burn my eyes with their outrageous cuteness. If I hadn't forsaken CDs long ago I would be toting one of these ridiculous Furgle Belly Case 24-CD holders right now. Sure, I'd look a complete div, but with one of these dozy-eyed fuzz balls for company who needs real friends?

The Home Depot (thanks Grant!)

Summer holidays are sadly upon us, leaving the streets teeming with the nation's young. It's bad enough trying to dodge them out in the open, so I can only imagine the horrors of being shut inside a slowly moving vehicle with them en route to some child-friendly holiday location. Parents everywhere will be praising Vieta for kindly developing a Freeview box that works in the car. Digital TV on the move should mean you get less interference and fewer signal woes.

The TDT500C is a black box that you can hook up to any LCD in-car monitor. It will also integrate with existing car stereo, games consoles and DVD players. Pretty much everything you need to ensure that you don't have to speak to your children at all during any journey. At £399.99, it's expensive - but what price tranquility?

Vieta

The Q-Ying Gifts and Toys Company seems to be carving out a niche for itself, doing a nice line in products that no one in their right mind really needs or wants. And yet they keep plugging away. Gotta admire that spirit. As well as the Radio Pen, the company has also created this LED Flashing Cutlery set and the LED Candle, which comes with 7 colours.

One thing the candle does have going for it is the way the light comes on automatically when the candle is lit and goes off when it's out. Obviously, this isn't quite up there with splitting the atom, but since I still haven't overcome that innate caveperson awe of flames, it's safe to say I'm easily impressed. 

Q-Ying

Why in the world you would ever want a pen with a radio built it is not entirely clear, but that's not a question troubling the minds of the Q-Ying Gifts and Toys Company employees - they keep on making those Radio Pens regardless. Plug the headphones into the top of the pen, scan for a station, and get listening to your favourite shows. Since I spent the best part of 20 minutes yesterday trying (and failing) to hand write a short, legible note without my fingers cramping up - and without the aid of spell-checker, I'm not really target audience for this one. But then again, is anyone in the world really crying out for a pen-radio? Answers on a (neatly typed) postcard.

Radio-Pen

Well that's just typical. I go and have my photo taken with a lovely Rio Carbon Pearl strapped round my neck and a company called SigmaTel (the guys who make the chipset for the iPod shuffle) goes and buys them up, making the future of one of the oldest music player manufacturers look extremely unsettled. It's too soon to start digging a hole, but it may be worth getting the priest robed up for last rites. That's made my rainy day just that little bit more overcast.

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This is really the last thing we all need - London's not having such a great time with people carrying backpacks full of electrical stuff right now. Strap one of these portable solar-powered Wi-Fi hotspots to your back so you can do a bit of web-surfing on your laptop, and you may well find you get a frosty reception from the other commuters. If you're desperate to get online while you're out an about, probably best to stick with using a 3G card or mobile phone with your laptop. Or using a smartphone. Or a public hotspot. Maybe save this one for when you're backpacking in deepest darkest Peru.

[via UberGizmo]

I'm having a bit of a Hippyshopper moment brought on by the miserable weather and a dearth of suitably female-friendly gadgets (if you've got any, send them my way). Those of you who've already embraced the joys of composting your kitchen waste will no doubt also have experienced the miseries of a stinky bit of tupperware that you keep in the kitchen to temporarily store the waste. Step forward the Compost Crock, an attractive ceramic storage bin for your debris that can apparently keep out the smells whilst still letting the air circulate (which should keep the waste from rotting in your house). Hand in hand with the Compost Crock is this LitterLocker, a storage bin for your cat's evacuations that lets you store two weeks' worth of soiled litter in a single plastic bag, rather than the endless bags most of us use every day. Oh, and some people will tell you it's fine to compost your cat's cack (so long as you've got a biodegradable litter that is); others will disagree. I'm staying out of it.

Kitchen Crock US
Kitchen Crock UK [via Kitchen Contraptions]

LitterLocker US
LitterLocker UK

Can't quite imagine old Garry Kasparov playing on this set, but for those of you who feel the traditional chess boards are a little too gloom-laden, this Hello Kitty set should perk up your game no end.

Read [via Gadget Madness]

Mobile phone obsessives are currently giddy with excitement over some snaps of what could well be Moto's new ROKR iTunes phone. The phone has gathered almost a mythic status in recent months and you'd be forgiven for thinking it held the key to eternal life the way we tech writers get all frothed up every time it's mentioned. But more important even than that are the pictures of a pink-coloured RAZR and some many-coloured PEBL handsets (including a rather nice green one). Having had a bit of a grope of the smooth little PEBL I can exclusively reveal that I want one. My only slight downer on it is the name - I can't help reading it as "peeble", which just isn't a sexy name for such a lust-have mobile. It should be here soon - although I can't promise anything on the colours. I've only seen silvery ones and matte black ones. PTO for the pink RAZR pic)

Multi-coloured PEBLs and RAZRs
Moto ROKR? [via Gizmodo]

Those of you who prefer your tech white, streamlined, and marked with an image of forbidden fruit will be excited to know Apple has updated two members of their hardware family: the iBook and the Mac mini.

The iBook G4 now boasts a processor with speeds up to  1.42GHz and both it and the mini now offer 512MB memory, standard.  (I'm not a Mac person myself, but as I understand the whole world stops to listen every time Steve Jobs does so much as sneeze, I'm  certain this is very big news indeed.) - [Star C. Foster]

The iBook starts at $999 and the mini at $499; both are available from the Apple Store.

Samsung is very concered that we ladies have cellphones to suit our every shallow need, and so they are offering the SGH-A400 Egèo -  "a beautiful symbol of your aristocratic dignity" that will "glow in your hands like a precious gem."  The product description doesn't mention - but we'll assume that somewhere between being dignified and glowing, it will actually make phone calls as well.

The Egèo offers the standard extras:  wireless infrared, WAP, games, SMS.   Additionally, like its predecessor the pearly pink E530, the Egèo comes fully equipped with Samsungs female-centric features:  a Bio rhythm indicator, a calorie counter & the infamous Pink Schedule. 

This is just too good to be true. Apparently, if you stick one of these doggies next to your mobile phone, it will start shaking its head and singing to you a few seconds before a call comes in. That someone has spent time, energy and money designing, developing and making something so cutely pointless is either deeply terrifying, or its a reason to hope for the future of mankind. I'm not sure which it is. But either way, I wants me one.

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Writing endless iPod accessory stories is an incredibly unfulfilling way to spend your day - there's only so many crap gags about muffs, skins and pouches a person can conceive in a lifetime. Still, I shouldn't moan - after all, writing the stories may be dull, but finding out about new bags and cases is one of my most favourite past-times (even more enjoyable than crocheting - never let it be said that I don't know how to party). Still, though, how much do you really need me to tell you? Griffin Technology's Chameleon cases for the iPod mini are tough polyvinyl skins that come in a variety of bright colours and patterns, cost $14.99 and won't interfere with your usual iPod usage. There, that tells you pretty much all you need to know. Oh, except that you'll be able to buy them here soon.

Griffin

The problem with most QWERTY-keyboarded smartphones is that they're pretty much all chunky lunks that just can't compete with the sleek good looks of smaller smartphones. Motorola's new Q QWERTY smartphone is ultra skinny, just like its RAZR line, but still can't shrug off that inevitable touch of ugliness that all QWERTYs have. Still, I haven't had a chance to paw one yet, so it may be more comely in the flesh. The Q mimics the design of the BlackBerry with the keyboard underneath the (320 x 240 pixels, 65K TFT) screen, but it is obviously significantly slimmer.

Moto's crammed on some nice features as well, including a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, MP3, AAC, WMA and WAV audio file playback and video capture. The device is also Motorola's first to run on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 and so includes Outlook, Pocket Explorer and compatibility with Word and Excel. No mention of whether it's BlackBerry-compatible or if it will have a similar push email service, so whether you'll be willing to give your BlackBerry the boot remains to be seen. Don't get excited just yet, though - it's not out till the start of next year.

[Update: Ok, I take it all back. Engadget's hands-on pics suggest that this is a peach]

Press release

Where exactly does the scroll wheel go? Or do you have to get the special old-lady-with-piles version for that?

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