Shiny Shiny and Tech Digest went along to a rather unusual preview event in London last night and got an exclusive hands-on with the Parrot AR Drone 2.0, a crazily advanced, huge and super fast iPad/iPhone controlled helicopter. Gerald Lynch, the editor of Tech Digest, wrote up his thoughts about Parrot's latest Drone, which we have a feeling will be one of the top toys of the summer...

Toys for boys don't get much cooler than the Parrot AR Drone quadricopter line. Lightwieght, iPhone controlled four-bladed remote control helicopters, they stole the CES limelight back in 2010. Back with a new and improved version (set for release in the UK in June 2012) we went hands on with the Parrot AR Drone 2.0 at a preview event last night, managing a mid-air collision in the first 20 seconds of getting our hands on the controls. Whoops!

That's not to say the AR Drone 2.0 is difficult to pilot. Far from it in fact; thanks to a new iOS app (compatible with iPod touch, iPad and iPhone) it's easier than ever to fly the Drone. A new "Absolute Flight" method has been added, making flight controls very intuitive. Two thumb sticks are onscreen. While the right stick is a touch slider that controls height and rotation, the left one is actually a button which activates the iOS device's gyrometer. With the button pressed, it's just a matter of leaning the controller forwards, backwards, left or right to get the chopper heading about in the appropriate direction.

Once you've mastered the basic controls, you're now able to pull off stunts with the Drone too. Double tapping on the app's thumbsticks sees the Drone 2.0 do a quick mid-air flip, which raised gasps from the journalists collected at the preview event. The Drones are surprisingly stable too; we pushed down on one hovering in mid-air near us, and it was able to adjust its pitch and yaw accordingly to remain in flight. With the range of the Drone only limited by the strength of your device's Wi-Fi signal, you therefore can trust in the Drone's ability to fly significant distances, even in fairly harsh weather conditions, without too many problems.

Perhaps the most useful new feature on the Drone 2.0 however is the ability to shoot 720p video directly from the chopper. When in flight, you get sent a real-time video feed directly to your iOS device of exactly what the camera is picking up. If it's something worth documenting, you can quickly hit the record button, which beams the video into storage on your device, ready to be quickly uploaded to YouTube. The same can be done with still images, which can be pushed to Picasa. Facebook sharing is top of the list of features coming in a forthcoming update too.

If the AR Drone 2.0 has one Achilles Heel, it's battery life. You'll get just 12 minutes of flight time per fully charged battery, and while the battery is easily removed and swappable, we weren't able to get confirmation of the cost of replacement batteries. If they're reasonably cheap that's not so big a deal, but it could be frustrating to have to head home from the park after less than a quarter of an hour's flight. With that said, we recognise it's a necessary evil; for flight control to be as effortless as it is with the Drone 2.0, the overall weight of the chopper has to be kept low, and a larger capacity battery would surely add significant heft.

But when it's in the air, it sure is a damn lot of fun. Hitting Amazon, Firebox, Harrods, Selfridges and select high street retailers and hobby shops in June 2012 for £279.99, we'll try to bring you a full review in the near future.

[Via Tech Digest]

I've been looking for a bag that'll fit all of my random bits of technology as well as stupid amounts of make-up, an umbrella, a spare bag... The list could go on and on as I'm such a hoarder. Of course you can go with a normal bag, but chances are it'll break under the pressure of umbrellas, eyeliner, tablets and laptops. Then there are some bags designed especially to house your tech stuff, but they're often a bit bulky and don't look great. I did have a brief affair with a backpack a few months back, but try getting on a packed tube or a bus with one on, it's near impossible.

This is why the Shiny Shiny team were interested in trying out a Knomo bag. We'd heard of Knomo a little before and basically it's a company that's been around since 2004 which specialises in creating pretty high-end, stylish bags that are also functional for all of your tech accessories.

We chose to review a Knomo Cholet 13" laptop bag and here are some of our thoughts.

Space

One of the main things I'm looking for when it comes to a bag to house both everyday items and tech is how much space it has. Although everything needs to be as compact as possible, no one wants keys scraping up against tablets, so there needs to be just enough room.

The Cholet 13" bag has just the right amount of space for a laptop and one or two essential bits and pieces that are separated by a thin, quilted section in between.

Materials

One of the main things Knomo likes to shout about is how high quality the materials used to make its products are. The foam inside which houses your laptop is a special shock-resistant, quilted material and the leather on the outside means it's super durable and looks good at the same time.

Looks

The bag has a wood-grain leather effect on the outside, so it looks fairly formal and a little more tailored and special than the laptop bags we've all become accustomed to over the years.

Comfort

Now my only main issue with the bag are the handles. They're ideal if you like to hold the straps with your hand, but if you want it on your shoulder and it's filled with all of your stuff AND your laptop then it's going to dig into your shoulders a little.

If you're not going to be walking with it too much then it shouldn't be a problem and if you are you can always slip a special shoulder pad over it, just bear in mind it's not one for really long walks.

Extras

There are a few fancy extras that come with a Knomo bag, like the Knomo Tracker, a unique code printed inside, which means if you're fortunate enough to have your lost bag wind up in the hands of someone trustworthy, there's a good chance you'll get it back. Well maybe.

There are also lots of little pockets and compartments on the inside for your phone, pens and other bits and pieces.

Who are the Knomo bags for?

Someone who wants a bag that's a little bit different to the run-of-the-mill black, boring laptop bags on the market. The tailored design makes me think it's good for those who want something formal looking that'll fit in just as well in the office as it will on a weekend. It's also worth mentioning you'll need a few pennies to spare, you'll have to be prepared to part with your cash if you want enough space, quality and durability to transport all your gadgets around in.

The Cholet is available from the Knomo website for £185 (to carry a 13" laptop) and £215 (to carry a 15" laptop).

Showing you beautiful watches that haven't actually been made seems a bit cruel - but the joy of these concept watches and blue-tooth receivers from TokyoFlash is that some of them will get made, depending on user feedback...

The idea behind Japanese jewellry-cum-gadget site TokyoFlash is that viewers and fans rate each product design (Would you buy it? Yes/No) and leave comments. The feedback will then be used to develop the most popular concepts which will go into production. Users can also submit their own ideas too - this is high-end crowd-sourced watch design. One catch is that it doesn't state a price - I would buy practically everything if it were £20, but probably not if it were £300.

But do have to say I really love the designs. Lets look at a few beauties below.

ONE: The Hexagon Art watch - okay so the dial may be a little hard to read.. but is this special or what? Currently rating 4/5 stars.

TWO: Robotics Shapes watch - once again, it tells the time in a very abstruse way, which I don't fully understand. But that is not the point. It channels Ancient Egypt and modern technology in chunky black and midnight blue - lovely. Rating 4.2/5 stars.

THREE: the Tracking Time watch - Nu Rave or what? replacing the dial with neon caterpillars is an amazing idea and looks so out there it's beautiful. 4.4/5 stars.

Hot tip from Ashley at CES in Vegas: the Samsung LED 9000 3D HD TV. Yes you saw that right, this is a television set that shows three dimensional film. It is compatible with Blu-Ray 3DTV and 3D broadcasts from Sky etc.

What impresses me is that the device cleverly converts standard 2D TV into 3D too, though as Ash points worth seeing what that looks like before getting too excited.

The set is a miniscule 0.3 of an inch thick - about as broad as a pencil. It's kind of like a normal TV in reverse, the image is 3D and the slender set is practically two dimensional.

Hello. Looking forward to seeing Come Dine with me in 3D.... but I imagine the effects won't be quite as striking as in Avatar.

See the rest of Ash's tips from CES 2010 here.

Laptop makers ViewSonic released a new range of computers today, ViewBooks.

Targeted at users on-the-move, the ViewBooks are thin and light but aim to be powerful, all-purpose computers. More unusually at the portable computer end of the market, the 12.1", 13.3" and 14" ViewBooks and the 13.3" ViewBook Pro run Windows 7. (Many cheaper netbooks operate on XP).

The flagship ViewBook Pro(13.3 inch screen) is available in black or silver. As the company claim... it "takes the ultra slim notebook experience to the next level". With a slim chassis forged from high-tech magnesium alloy, the notebook is 1.7cm thick and weighs only 1.6kg.

That's thin and light compared to say, a 13" MacBook Pro which is 2.41 cm thick and weighs 2.04 kg, despite having a slightly smaller screen. Though it's still 0.7cm thicker than the thinnest notebook on the market, Dell's freakishly skinny Adamo, at 0.99cm.

As for the rest of the range: the tiny ViewBook 120 with its 12.1" screen packs Windows 7 and a dual core chip, and is pretty impressive for something that size. The 120 is available in black and white. It's slightly more expensive than other netbooks that run on slower Atom processors but is reasonable and below the £500 mark at £469.

The ViewBook 120:

The larger versions, the 14" ViewBook 140 and the 13.3" ViewBook 130 ups the graphics and aesthetics on the 120.

ViewBook Pro - £699 / £729 here
ViewBook 140 - £629
ViewBook 130 - £499 / £569 / £649 here (according to the processor and chipset you choose)
ViewBook 120 - £469 here

Classic kitchen gadget, the SodaStream, which has fizzed up drinks in homes since the 70s, is back in a sleek new version.

The SodaStream of 2009 comes in different colours (chrome, red and white) with a new emphasis on being eco-friendly and health-conscious. Very late noughties. The strapline is still an original 70s gem though - "Get busy with the fizzy!".

The new model uses the same mechanism as the classic gadget with a few tweaks around the edges. For example: the flavours all come with new low-sugar varieties, including Cola, Lemonade, Limited Edition Orange & Mango and vitamin-rich 'Energy'.
Green credentials come from the fact that the SodaStream doesn't use batteries or electricity, but is powered by Alco2Jet Cylinders which are refillable.

They tell us SodaStream is a highly energy-efficient small appliance. And as they point out, if you make your own fizzy drinks instead of buying them, that saves on packaging. Apparently every one litre bottle of SodaStream you make saves three aluminium cans.

How it works:
1. Fill the carbonating bottle
2. Screw the bottle into the drinksmaker
3. Press the button until you get the famous SodaStream buzz (3-5 times depending on how fizzy you like it)
4. Add your flavour concentrate

Look here's an advert for SodaStream from 1980. Great fizzy drinks, great hair:

The soda-maker is £59.98 with gas canisters and bottles of flavours starting from £2.99.

An SodaStream Pop-up Shop will open in Central London in mid-December selling limited-edition products. You can also buy SodaStream via sodastream.co.uk and selected stores (listed on the website).

Cath Kidston is well known for her quirky floral styles and is a popular choice for celebrity clothing.

However, it seems she's not content with just conquering the clothing world, moving into the tech market too. She's teamed up with radio company Roberts on two occasions now to bring us DAB radio with style and we've been lucky to get our mitts on the newest limited edition.

Mobile broadband dongles have been around for a while now, going from a business buy to a household necessity.

Over the past year many deals have sprung up offering free laptops with mobile broadband contracts, which would in my eyes suggest that these are set to replace the standard wireless connection and work just as well.

I have been a bit slow on the uptake here preferring to use my trusty Virgin connection but after much consideration decided to bite the bullet and buy one of these genius gadgets.

I chose to try out a T-Mobile pay as you dongle, as the coverage in my area was good. It's easy to install and once you're set up, you ready to go. Or so I thought.

On my first day of use the device cut out more times than I could imagine, cue lots of calls to T-Mobile. The people on the other end couldn't see the problem and their first idea was to refresh my dongle. What this basically means is that you can't go online for half an hour.

But of course after this time the problem wasn't resolved, cue another call to T-Mobile, where I sat through an hour of usage and directions but with no result.

Now I'm sure if we can take this as admittance of failure but, by the end of the call, and after all routes were exhausted the technical guy apologised for the "shabby service" and told me I could be better off with another provider.

I've been advised to take the dongle back to the store and replace it with a 3 or Vodafone device. Not really something T-Mobile bosses would be happy to hear.

I want to make sure this problem isn't just happening to me so please leave your comments below and let me know if you have had any problems with your dongle provider.

Despite having written about HDTVs for a long time, and even compiling an in depth guide to buying one, I've never had my hands on one for longer than a week. This all changed when LG delivered the delightful looking LG 42LH5000 to my house to my (and my flatmates) unequivocal delight. But once I'd unpacked it from its mounds of bubble wrap and peeled off the stickers would I find it a joy to use, or would the manual be more complicated than the Gaza peace treaty?

Read on to find out about my experiences with it.

Way back in March I told you all about 5 new sporty models from Sennhesier and I've been dutifully putting the PMX 80 Sport 11 through its paces to see if it can stand up to the rough and ready confines of my gym bag plus the large amount of acidic sweat that's an inevitable part of sports 'phones.

Design

The words functionality over form springs to mind when taking a look at these hot orange headphones, as they're designed to be useful pieces of kit rather than super stylish accessories, But hey, they're sports phones, and what really matters here is that they can cope with my semi-strenuous workout schedule (and general disregard for headphone care). I like how they rest across the back of the head, as this means they're very secure when running, and the plastic band rests very comfortably and doesn't chafe. They're also designed to be sweat and water resistant and seem to stand up to prolonged workouts well.

I've been using these for a while and am so impressed by the sound quality and the amazing contoured ear buds that I just had to share my experience with you. I'm quite pernickety when it comes to headphone as I have quite a large criteria that's normally very difficult to fulfill, but the hf2's do a stalwart job of living up to my expectations.

Design

They come packaged in a rather large box, but once you've ripped it to shreds you're left with a small pouch to keep them in with a variety of extra ear buds in differing sizes. I've been using the red ones, and as you can see from the pic, they really resemble the promo shots. The metallic red is a nice dark colour, and you also get a handy clip attached to the wires- great for pinning the wires to your shirt whilst out and about.

The area of acne is a big business for skincare. Everyone from troubled teens to forty something's want to put the dreaded spots to rest, and are prepared to pay big bucks to do so. We've already seen the the Zeno hit the marketplace to tackle pimples with heat technology, but now there's a new kid on the block.

Say hello to the no!no! Skin, a pocket friendly device that works on your spots. It works in a similar way to the Zeno, using heat and light to target the blemish at its source and minimize its appearance and lifetime on the skin. It uses green and red light to reach into the pore to combat the blemish at its source. The light destroys the blemish whilst the heat speeds up the healing process, and reduces swelling.

Zara has been checking out the KP500, which is a full on touchscreen phone also known as the Cookie. And coincidentally, we're giving one away, so if you like what you see, click on over here to be in with a chance of winning one.

Able Planet's Clear Harmony Noise Cancelling headphones missed being involved in the headphone head to head, so we'll never know if they can block the sounds of someone chomping on a bowl of Rice Crispies, a loud and inconsiderate Dom Jolly type on his mobile or the beating of a cereal bowl with a metal spoon. But given the headphones I tested in the head to head battle were a previous pair of Able Planet headphones which were pretty impressive, and retailed for a fraction of a price, it was already clear these headphones were going to surpass it cheaper sibling.

So I had a little play around with them, blasting out a bit of Linkin Park and Britney Spears to put it through its paces. And I must say I was impressed with how well they muffled background noise and made me feel as if I was in my own little audio bubble, which is great for the music listening experience, but can be a bad thing in terms of making you oblivious to everything on around you (so you must keep your wits about you).

Duncan, Lucy and Zara get cosy on the two-seater sofa, to test out the best in noise isolating and noise cancelling headphones. There's rice crispies, obnoxious phone calls and science goggles. We do things properly here at Shiny Towers.

Get your SHURE SE102s for £40 here
Able Planet Clear Harmony for $99 here
Denon AH-NC732 for £250 here

Ebooks are a natural progression for us 21st century folks, who dislike being tied down by clutter. They're light, easy to use and can store sh**loads, but which one would you want to spend your moolah on? We take a look at the four market leaders, and include the USA ones as well (hey it's a good exchange rate).

Round one: Size/Weight

Amazon Kindle- 292 grams, 7.5-in. x 5.3-in. x 0.7-in.
BeBook- 220grams, Width120mm Height 184mm Depth 10mm
iRex iLiad 2nd Edition- 435grams and is Width155mm Height: 217mm
Sony Reader Pr 505- 260 grams, Width122mm Height 175.3mm Depth 7.6mm

The latest PMP from Archos has won serious acclaim from a variety of reputed press. But just why is this sleek 5 inch PMP getting all this praise? I think it's so impressive I even put the 7 inch version on my wishlist, so I'm sure you're dying to know all about it now. Normally we'd show you it in video form but due to a rather shoddy wireless Internet connection in the office I'll take you through the pros and cons the old fashioned way.

Full disclaimer: I've just moved house, and the thought of a house without internet fills me with The Horror, so when Virgin offered me one of their fancy new USB dongles to review, I jumped on it. And it seems I'm not the only one - fixed line broadband connections are dropping in the UK, perhaps in favour of the increased flexibility of being about to connect over the HSDPA network.

Here's the second part of my Blackberry Storm review, including lots of lovely shots of things like the keyboard and the camera quality. I know you've been waiting on the edges of your seats, so no doubt you'll be relieved to finally find out whether I'm going for a Storm or an iPhone at the end of the video. You'll sleep so much better tonight with that knowledge.

Get the Blackberry Storm here.