The Powersquid is not Aquaman's latest companion; rather it is a "powerstrip" without the strip. 5 grounded outlets, no more pushing, shoving, squirming and swearing when you try to accommodate all your chargers and blocky converters.  Why didn't some one think of this sooner?

The Powersquid can be had from ThinkGeek for $14.99, and is available in yellow, silver or black (so you can colour coordinate with your...um...outlets.)   -[Star C. Foster]

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When I first saw the Earbuddy storage system for the iPod earbuds, I thought to myself, "How cute!  And what a good idea!" After all, I spend about half of my daily bus commute home untangling my headphone wires from the mess they got themselves into when I tossed them unceremoniously in my bag that morning. It'd be nice to have them organised.

However, I then read the specs on this $15 accessory, and I see now that I never should have called it cute.  Apparently what I saw as earbud storage is actually earbud "body armour," made of "ballistic nylon" and "able to stand up to the everyday dangers of the urban jungle." This is a tough earbud holder, an earbud holder for earbuds that lead exciting, dangerous lives. Or perhaps an earbud holder for the slightly paranoid.  -[Star C. Foster]

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I suppose that it's a sign of my age that, although I switched to digital music aeons ago, the words "home stereo" instantly summon images of a covered-turntable balanced atop a long, flat radio receiver that also houses a tape deck or (gasp!) an 8-track player. 

The Geneva Sound System is just about as far from that image as you can get.  Designed for the playback of contemporary music formats - this sleek sound system can play back digital music directly from your iPod, your audio cds and FM radio. And, if you really miss the warm scratches of vinyl - you can hook-up your turntable via the line-in port.  -[Star C. Foster]

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More iPod Sound Systems
Tivoli SongBook
i-deck speaker dock for your iPod
iCarrier

ID badges - plastic fashion accessories that inevitably immortalise the worst of our bad-hair days - are an unfortunate corporate mainstay.  Iqua has found a way to at least make them useful -they've incorporated a Bluetooth enabled headset into the lanyard, so you can use the badge holder as a hands-free headset your mobile.
Since it has no e-mail capability, I doubt very much this will replace the Blackberry (the other corporate mainstay) - but maybe answering a call from your badge will make you feel a bit like you're on Star Trek; an hey - that's something. -[Star C. Foster]

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Looks like the infamous Audi-Oh is in for some competition this holiday season, as Love Labs is set to launch the iBuzz - a vibrating bullet that -  you guessed it - works in sync with your iPod. It's not an elitist about it though - despite the tiny "i"  it will  apparently work with any music source.

Although it will be available in the UK shortly, it's not currently slated for US or Canadian delivery; so you'll have to look to Katie and the other Shiny ladies if you're after a review. - [Star C. Foster]

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'Colour like no other' is apparently what you're getting from Sony's new HD-compatible BRAVIA TVs. Which explains why Danish director, Nicolai Fuglsig, scattered 250,000 bright-coloured bouncy balls down a hilly San Franciscan street for the new BRAVIA advert. In an effort to highlight just how much colour you'll be getting, Fuglsig filled the streets with the multicolour baubles and you can see the fruits of his labour for yourselves over on the BRAVIA site.

Advert in Quicktime: low res or high res.

********Promotional Post in Association with Sony BRAVIA********

You can keep your Stella McCartney coats (satin trenchcoat? She'll be designing a cardboard kettle next) and odd high-heeled lace-ups - the designer treat that's giving us goosebumps is Matthew Williamson's latest DAB dooling for digital radio overlords Intempo.

The KTM-02 is MW's follow-up to (have a guess) the KTM-01, whose peacock feathers had us all agog last summer. For the sequel, Matt's gone even more girly-swirly with a print called Tokyo Georgette from his new autumn/winter fashion collection - like a bling explosion in a retro wallpaper factory. The radios are exclusive to John Lewis and cost £125, a wodge of which goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. [Jane Hoskyn]

You know the Xda. Phone/PDA/whatever, does everything except empty the washing machine, yeah yeah yada yada. A bit clunky though, in't it?

Ah, but wait - O2 has answered our sweetest gadget dreams and shrunk the Xda into the Xda Mini S, a fully-functioning PDA with sliding Qwerty keyboard, Bluetooth, Windows Mobile phone and 1.3MP digital camera, all in a sleek matt silver-white casing the size of a deck of cards. Shockingly, O2 is touting it as the perfect stocking filler. Stocking? A rancid old sock is no place for an item of such delectable dinkiness. Nothing less than a glass slipper will do. [Jane Hoskyn]

I wrote a piece for the Guardian on Saturday about the delights of moblogging that I thought you might possibly be interested in. If you don't already have a moblog I heartily recommend you get yourself a data deal and a cameraphone and get cracking, because they're so easy to run and your mum will like being able to see what you're up to. So do it for her if not for yourself. One thing I didn't cover in the article was the thorny issue of how to pronounce moblog. Is it mo-blog or mob-log? Personally, I say mob-log because blog is short for weB log, but the mo-blog fanciers have a point too since I don't say "mobble phone". Thing is, people who say mo-blog sound like wallies, and I think you'll find that claim can win any argument. Another weighty debate solved by Shiny Shiny there.

You can read the piece here and you can check out the scanned and moblogged images from the piece here.

SCOTTeVEST, creators of "Technology Enabled Clothing" (that is, clothing with lots of pockets designed to hold all your gear as well as special places to tuck your wires so they are useable without you looking like the Borg), have expanded their clothing line to appeal to the "iPod generation."  New items include baseball caps, hoodies, cargo pants, shorts, and the Tactical VC jacket - which has a volume control for the wearer's devices built into the jacket design.

I rarely leave the house without my mobile, camera and MP3 player - so the plethora of pockets and tech-friendly design certainly does seem useful...but why are the designs all so blokey?  Don't they know we gals like our gadgets too? - [Star C. Foster]

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I popped over to London's Abbey Road Studios yesterda to listen to the new Eclipse TD-510 super speakers. Not only did I get to sit in Studio Two (the one The Beatles and Pink Floyd used), I also got to listen to some impressively clear music played back through the stylish egg-shaped speakers. Apparently that egg look isn't just for aesthetic reasons - it's also responsible for the accurate music playback. Apparently box-shaped or wooden cabinets alter the sound, giving it that warm tone, while some of the noise bumps off every side of the speaker before eventually arriving - late - at your ear. They're very good looking speakers available in white, black and silver, and you can wall mount them or stick them on their special stands, tilting them to almost any angle you require. They'll cost you £1,200 for a pair. To find out more about the technology involved, check out Tech Digest and to see a pic of the Abbey Road Studio Two, see after the turn.

If you've already got a Sony PSP, or if you just like watching shows on your PDA, Smartphone or portable media player, this Neuros Video Recorder may be the just the thing you're after. Basically, you plug it into your TV just like a normal VCR or hard drive recorder. Record a show and it will convert it straight into MPEG4 format and save the video onto a Pro Memory Stick Duo or Compact Flash card. You can then plug the memory card straight into your PSP or similar, saving you the hassle of having to convert the files yourself. It'll cost you £149.99 and while I like the idea in theory, it would have been better if it supported more card types for those of us with SD slots on our portable media players. Handy if you've got a PSP, though.

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More Digital Video Recorders:
Sky's Designer Sky+ Boxes
Archos AV 700: First portable DVR
Sling Box

All my CDs are now stored away in cupboards and under the bed, leaving me with my iriver hooked up to my stereo. It's only when you pump the sound out through some proper speakers that you realise just how piss poor compressed audio sounds. But no matter, I have tonnes more space for other clutter now and I can access my entire music library on one little jukebox. And now Belkin's taken the whole thing a step further with this Wireless set up that lets

It wouldn't be fair if all the phone companies didn't have a crack at a super skinny mobile to challenge the under-fed delight that is the Moto RAZR. The my300x, my301x and my302x phones from Sagem are fairly standard mobiles, except that they're all just 14mm thick. As well as the skimpy casing, the phone is more naked than some, lacking the now customary presence of a camera. Perfect for those who just want a phone that makes calls, and for anyone who's not supposed to have a camera in the office.

Read [Via Tech Digest]

What does your mouse say about you? (Mine says, "Clean me already, will you?  I'm filthy.")  Maybe I should get one of these fun mice from the Pat Says Now collection.  I might feel a bit guilty clicking on the heads of the smiling dog and kitty mice; but I'll bet the pirate mouse would never complain if I neglected it when dusting. - [Star C. Foster]

Pat Says Now Mouse Shop (Via OhGizmo!)

Other Fun Mice:
Furry Mice
Saitek's Rainbow Mouse Selection
Bum Mouse
Nice Mice

Sony's BRAVIA "superballs" advert (in which 250,000 coloured balls are sent bouncing down a street in San Francisco in slo-mo) is set to that absolutely beautiful tune by José González' - "Heartbeats" - in case you were wondering what it was. Plus, the whole ad was done without resorting to computer graphics, making this a labour of love for the Sony BRAVIA ad team. We've already mentioned the "making of" featurette on the BRAVIA site, but if you're curious for even more backstage gossip, you can watch "behind the scenes" footage, featuring "cool characters" and more ball-fixated titbits right here.

Sony BRAVIA

*******Promotional Post in Association with Sony BRAVIA********

You know how much we Brits like to talk about the weather, and understandably so - there's so much of the bloody stuff over here. After a freakishly warm end to October, it's now cold enough to freeze the balls off that much afflicted brass monkey, which is why I need to get me one of these warm fuzzy winter bras. Triumph is the company responsible and the Warm Biz Bra is part of Japan's nationwide campaign to get people to wrap up warm instead of wasting energy. As well as being all furry, the bra also comes with microwavable inserts that you can heat up for even toastier baps, and the long arm straps can be worn as a scarf as well. I suspect this one is likely to be a bit more noticeable under your clothes than Triumph's much-copied T-Shirt bra, but if you're doing your bit to save the planet, keeping your lovely lady lumps warm is the least you can do. (PS. That song makes me want to vomit.)

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You thought those last two were simple, but it turns out there were even more features to strip away. This rather nice looking purple Z300 is a small clamshell that lacks the same features as the candybars (no camera, no MP3 player etc) plus, it also lacks a speaker phone and the changeable icon user interface option. It does however feature a 128x128 pixel, 65k colour display, embedded games and a calendar. The Z300 will be on sale later this year. Incidentally, I don't actually remember ever seeing a purple phone of this shade before. But maybe my memory is going in my old age. In which case, the purple phone should match the purple rinse I'm obviously headed for.

Incidentally (mark II), none of these phones are as simple as kid's phones. Release one of these iCare bear phones in a more grown up version and I'll be furnishing that father of mine with one straight away.

Sony Ericsson has gone back to basics for its new phone line. The handsets are designed to compete with Vodafone's Simply phone, providing easy-to-use mobiles that anyone can get the hang of. Largely bereft of features - there's no camera, MP3 player or email - they are designed for people like my dad who haven't a clue about technology, and people who are so drunk they can barely see let alone use a mobile phone. Actually, maybe that last one wasn't on the original brief, but by happy coincidence it works just as well for that group. Both the J220 and J230 can be fully customised to make them even simpler to use, although we'd have to do that bit for my dad as he'd be too busy regaling us all with stories of how he's never switched on a computer or used an ATM. But I shouldn't mock the afflicted - or my mum might read this and tell on me.

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

Shoewawa (Shoe Blog): Faith do Gina (again), We're off to see the Wizard, Bags of style
The Bag Lady (Bags & Accessories): Queen of couture, Bombay Duck keyrings, Miu Miu vintage leather bowling bag

Trashionista (Book Blog): Based on the novel by..., Where Rainbows End - Cecelia Ahern, Fair Game - Liz Young

Catwalk Queen (Fashion Blog) : How to wear jeans with boots, The best Winter coats, Harry Potter premiere

Corrie Blog : Sneak Preview - Sunday November 13, Ebay Gum, Corrie Calendar