Do you use Skype for video chat? Well, I don’t any more, but I used to in the past and one of the things that was quite annoying was that the video can be a bit flakey at times. It has gotten better with every subsequent release of the software and the great thing is that hardware has also improved. I was reading about the FV touchcam N1 that’s an HD webcam capable of delivering full screen 720p streaming video over the Internet. it uses embedded hardware H.264 encoding, a chip that takes the 720p video and using high-quality encoding technology, squeezes the video into a stream small enough to be sent over a typical Internet connection. It’s also the first webcam ever certified by Skype that can actually work at this resolution.

There are a number of other HD cameras on the market like the Microsoft Cinema and Logitech Pro 9000 but although they capture HD video, they don’t compress it on the fly, so cannot be used for webcam chat.

You can get the faceVsion webcam from the faceVision on line store which has a whole selection of their products from the FV ExpressCombo all the way to the webcam described above.

If you use Skype for video chatting and you use it often, it’s worth looking into these cameras as they can let you have full screen video chats with friends, families and colleagues. Check them out!

Here are the features of DreamStream:

• Playback of TV / Radio / Recordings
• one Channel on TV and another one on PC (only same Transponder on Single-Tuner)
• Wallpaper-Mode (Windows only)
• switch Channels
• set Audio-Tracks and Video-Subservices
• Electronic Program Guide
• Teletext
• Timer Management
• Remote Control
• Messenger
• Tag Editor
• up to 5 Profiles for different Boxes
• Multi Language
• Multi Platform (Windows/Linux)

No more worrying I’ve lost my remote control

Download it here

I’ve been reading about Powermat for some time now and it always great when I get a Sponsored Post about something I’m interested in. It gives me an opportunity to look a bit closer at the technology and to dig deeper into something which, to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind getting as a Christmas gift.

So, what is the Powermat? It’s an innovative new system to charge your gadgets. The user experience is just awesome; instead of plugging cables and chargers, all you need to do is drop it on a mat and watch it charge. As simple as that. You’ll need to get the correct receiving device on your gadget (so, for example, you need a sleeve for an iPhone), but then it’s just drop and forget. Check out this video about it:

So, how does it work, you might ask. Well, it uses a principle called electromagnetic induction which allows power to transferred over close distances. The Powermat also includes other bits of technology to make the whole thing work together. For example, bother the Powermat and the Power Receiver are RFID enabled so that the mat knows exactly how much power it needs to pour into the device. This also enables the Powermat to shut itself down when the device is fully charged.

The Powermat family includes a number of Receivers for a range of devices, but even has a Receiver which plugs into a mini-USB port, which opens it up to hundreds of devices. And if you have something that isn’t supported, the mat also has a USB socket to provide another alternative.

Anyone out there have one of these? Care to share your experiences?

• DC31 Dyson Vacuum Cleaner: An awesome device, the dc31 is a hand-held vacuum cleaner that boasts the world’s fastest motor. At 104,000 revolutions per minute, the motor turns ten times as fast as a commercial aircraft, and even five times as fast as a Formula 1 engine. It’s a switched reluctance motor which is a specialised form of stepper motor that can reach remarkable speeds.

• De Dietrich DOP895B: Remember when you used to pop your food into the oven, twiddle a knob and wait for your food to be cooked? Well, ovens have now grown up and the De Dietrich is one such marvel. It has a touch sensitive display panel that let you select the meal you’d like it to cook, and internal sensors to detect how your food is doing.

I wonder if my wife will let me buy these two?

I came across one today which lets you print a variety of labels in different colours. It’s a Brother one and print labels in 6 type sizes, 9 type styles and 1 font – all you have to do is type in your text and print. At the touch of a button, you can also add the time and date to your label, with a choice of 8 different formats. This label printer also give you the option of selecting from 71 symbols to display creativity on the label, and includes 5 auto formats and 5 framing options. Along with its easy-to-view, 12-character LCD display and easy-to-use typewriter style keyboard, it features raised keys for more accurate input. It also prints 1 to 2 lines of crisp text, and can add text framing and underlining.

The Brother PT-80 Thermal Label Printer normally sells for around $50 but this week it’s currently available on sale at Buy.com retailing for just $7.99! Note that tape cartridges are around $10 each.

I always wanted one of these when I was at school, so I could label my books, stationary and other stuff, but it was always out of my reach. Now I’m older and wiser, and although I could afford one of them, I can’t really justify it. Maybe I should get one to label Arthur‘s things

I’ll be perfectly honest, my laptop bag has a pretty vast selection of different bits and pieces in there. I have a couple of webcams, a mouse that turns into a Skype phone, a USB-powered fan and all sorts of other peripherals. But the one I use most has to be my multi-card reader. Most of the time it’s for transfering photos from different cameras, but I have also used it to transfer data to my phone SD card when I was missing the correct cable.

And they’re not particularly expensive either, if you look at the sale page on Buy.com you’ll see that you can get one for just $7 (that’s $13 with a $6 rebate), which is really peanuts. (Actually, the last time I bought peanuts from a hotel they cost more than that).

So, if you’re looking for something small to fill someone’s stocking and you know they have a computer, check if they have a multi-card reader. If they don’t I would get them one of those.

I was looking at the price of SD cards and it’s amazing how cheap these things are getting. For example on the sale page on buy.com you can get a Kingston 16G SDHC card for around $26, which is a bargain by anyone’s book! My fist SD card was 16M in size and cost me £10; this card is 1000 times as large and only costs twice as much. Isn’t that great!

If you try extrapolating that growth into the future you can make up some really crazy numbers as to how cheap memory will get. And you can apply that to processing power also. Moore’s Law postulates that the number of transistors you can place on a chip doubles every 2 years which is an exponential growth rate rather than a linear one and as long as this holds we’ll be seeing massive growth in storage capacities and the speed and power of computers, digital cameras and all the other gadgets we can find around us. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for this fact, a number of gadgets we have available today just wouldn’t be available if it weren’t for the miniaturization we have available to us nowadays.

Should be fun to see what the next 10 years will bring about!

Personally I like using binoculars but they are not my gadget of choice. It would be different if I went hunting or birdwatching, but they’re not one of my more usual hobbies (though I’m not averse to trying out something new)

It looks like a neat little printer boasting everything you would want from a laser printer and then some more. Here are some of the features on offer:

• Fast laser printing at up to 23ppm
• Includes built-in wireless (802.11b/g) and Ethernet network interfaces
• HQ1200 resolution (up to 2400 x 600 dpi) for high-quality output
• 250-sheet paper capacity
• 32MB memory standard
• Compact size for home or home office
• Great for family or office printer sharing
• PCL6 emulation standard
• 10,000 pgs. maximum monthly duty cycle

That’s a pretty nifty line-up of features and I’m not only saying that because I was looking for something similar for home. You see, our printer is currently in the attic and most of the time we use our laptops downstairs in the living room. Whenever we print something out we have to run up to make sure it printed fine. I *could* rig up a webcam to see what’s happening, but that’s really a bit of a round-about solution. If I could get myself a wifi printer, I could just lock it away in the cupboard and pull it out only when I need it.

Obviously there are other scenarios where a printer like this could be handy. It’s nice to have something like this wired up in case you ever need to print something at your desk (instead of using the big office printer). Or I can see areas where someone involved in PC support could benefit by having one of these they could cart around with them and whip out them they need it. Yo udon’t even need to plug it in, just use the wifi capabilities to get your prints out.

I love the way gadgets are going nowadays, just getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper

I’ve only come across Gadget Advisor recently but it seems to have a growing collection of reviews and news about hardware, software and all sorts of gadgetry. So if you’re after that perfect universal remote or looking for some way to backup online; then pop down and have a look. You’ll be sure to find what you’re looking for.