The TOP 10

Apple iPod Touch from 15,400 Apple’s flagship iPod just keeps going from strength to strength. Now even slimmer, it borrows the iPhone 4’s stunning Retina Display and dual cameras (one for FaceTime video calls and one for shooting Flip-rivalling 720p HD video) and combines them with Apple’s new A4 chip for improved graphics and speedier gaming. Capacities remain the same (8, 32 and 64GB) as do the many features that made it number one in the first place: Wi-Fi, email, maps and access to stacks of great games and killer apps, many of which are absolutely free.

Apple iPad Wi-Fi from 24,500 The 9.7 inch screen makes the iPad too cumbersome to be your day-today PMP, but feed it some movies and the 1024x768 resolution means video looks awesome (if you can avoid reflections). The Wi-Fi-only version is also better value than the four-star 3G model.

Sony NWZ-A845 11,990 Sony’s Nano rival falls short on sound (despite having noise cancelling built-in and bundled headphones), but with a larger 2.4 inch OLED screen, 16GB capacity and hi-res online streaming support it emerges victorious for video.

Apple iPod Classic from 15,200 For music fans with a collection that truly spans from Abba to Zappa, the iPod Classic is the only sensible option. Spectacular sound and space for 120GB of music (more than enough for stacks of Swedish europop) it’s not just a Classic by name…

Samsung Galaxy Tab 36,129 The iPad’s first major rival puts up a good fight with its quality build, Flash-enabled browser and responsive 7 inch touchscreen. But with a lack of quality apps and some holes in Android’s armour, it’s not quite the iPad-slayer we hoped it would be.

Cowon J3 from 9999 With a nice big 3.3 inch AMOLED screen (and a price to reflect it), Cowon’s 16GB J3 makes video sparkle. There are features galore, including A2DP Bluetooth and a Flash player for downloaded games, but the clunky menu system and sonics could be better.

Philips GoGear Muse from 9400 
Chunkier than its contemporaries and with a 3 inch, 400x240 screen the 8 or 16GB Muse’s strength is in video. It feels good in the hand and the menus are easy to navigate, although lefthanders might be put off by the rightside-only button layout.

Cowon S9 from 7250 The 4GB S9’s no-frills construction and clunky navigation mean it lucks out against the Touch, but its few buttons come in handy for in-pocket control of basic functions. Sonically, it truly rocks and the bright OLED screen makes video vibrant.

Creative Zen X-Fi Style 16GB 8999 
Creative’s been at this MP3 game for some time now. Longer than its successful competitor, Apple, even. It’s had hits and misses, but mostly hits, and its latest iPod rival, the Zen X-Fi, looks like it could be the best yet and is superb value-for-money.

Apple iPod Shuffle from 3200 A massive about-turn from Apple means the 
    Shuffle has 
    regained its buttons and kept the VoiceOver spoken track names – a neat way to make up for having no screen. Just 2GB storage seems stingy but it’s a great-sounding, simple player.

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7 GREAT iPAD ADD-ONS

Apple redefined the gadget accessories market with the iPod; here are some of the iPad’s greatest hits What is AirPlay? AirPlay allows music streaming throughout your home over Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It also sends track info and album artwork to compatible kit, and a single iTunes device can stream the same track to multiple AirPlay music systems simultaneously.     1 iXtreamer 13,000 (est) | amp3.co.uk A sensational box of tricks that’ll sit under your TV. Dock your iPad to play the good stuff thereon through your telly, stream media from around your home via UPnP over Ethernet or plug in a hard drive loaded with images, music and videos. It’s not fussy about formats.     2 Blue Lounge Nest 945 | bluelounge.com Just like a sanctuary for your Apple products, the Nest protects your iPhone and the iPad with a single, multifunction. You could keep your little wares in the cubby hole while the iPad holder creates the perfect angle for typing or swiping through the screen.     3 Crux360 US$150 | cruxcase.com Converts your achingly ‘now’ iPad into an achingly ‘then’ laptop. The iPad slips in to the screen frame, hooks up via Bluetooth and becomes a fully QWERTY’d road warrior ready for serious business. The swivel hinge lets you watch movies and such, just like on an old-school tablet.     4 Twelve South BookArc 2700 | twelvesouth.com This simple solution to the universal problem of docking the iPad is a no-brainer. An Arc with a slot cut out for the iPad’s landscape or portrait orientation allows you to watch movies in unprecedented style, and with minimalism.     5 Akai SynthStation49 15,000 (est) | akaipro.com Used with the SynthStation app, you can record MIDI tracks direct from the velocity-sensitive keyboard and drum pads. Plus, thanks to CoreMIDI compatibility, it works with all kinds of other iPad apps, including stage lighting control.     6 Twelve South BookBook 6300 | twelvesouth.com You might run the risk of being branded as Gandalf, but if you wish to protect your glassy iThingy, the BookBook case provides the perfect alibi in the form of antique literature. Not only will it avert onlookers, it will also boost your credentials... B&W Zeppelin Air 44,888 | bwspeakers.com  The ‘world’s coolest hi-fi’ is a fully-featured, 150W iThing dock with the added, and we must say very neat, ability to wirelessly stream tracks from any iOS device (including the iPad) or a PC or Mac running iTunes. How? Via Apple’s AirPlay streaming tech… <

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Another Android!

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That's Expensive

Tag! You’re it! Tag Heuer Gulf Meridiist | 3,95,000 Okay, so you got yourself a Tag watch. Aren’t you thrilled? You strut around in your racing suit and shoes like you’re Steve McQueen reincarnated, but then, you get a phone call, and you pull out your ugly little whatever and it all comes crashing down on top of you. All is not lost, and you can fix the mess you made by getting yourself the limited edition Tag Heuer Gulf Meridiist, a ‘communication instrument’ for the rich, famous and fast. The iconic orange and light blue colours of the legendary Gulf Racing team of Steve McQueen adorn this talking tool, which means that the racing driver in you gets a conversation starter to go with the theme of things. Snazzy.

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That's Freaking Small

STORAGE 
Victorinox penknife is also world’s smallest 256GB hard drive The humble Swiss Army knife has come a long way. Victorinox’s latest, the Secure SSD, has a 256GB solidstate drive squirreled away inside, giving plenty of space for the Swiss Army’s important documents. And a screwdriver. And some tiny scissors.

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Tablet

Creative new tablet ZiiO’s in Creative has launched their shiny new ZiiO tablet, in two avatars - 7 inch and 10 inch. The former will support a max video resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, while the latter will support upto 1024 x 600 pixels. That means in either forms, the screen does not support HD resolutions. The good bit is, it is the first tablet to support Apt-X technology, which is an advanced audio encoding standard. The device runs on Android 2.2 and will be offered in in 8GB and 16GB memory capacities. The 8GB ZiiO is priced at 17,999 and the 10 inch will sell for 21,999. The pricing is quite competitive, if not great, but how it performs when compared to the current crop of tablets, remains to be seen.

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Dell's Quickest

Dell dives in to the lucrative smartphone arena, with its stylish ‘Venue’

A superslick, feature-packed Android phone from Dell? That actually works superbly? Yes, that would be the Venue. But at 29,990 is it worth buying?

What’s with the massive screen? The Venue features the largest AMOLED screen on the planet, 4.1 inches of touchscreen glory. It is beautifully designed on the outside, and packed with firepower on the inside. Clean lines mark the exterior of the phone, with the 4.1 inch ( 800 x 480) screen dominating the front along with three touch-sensitive buttons for ‘back’, ‘menu’ and ‘home’. The power/ sleep / wake button is on the top along with the 3.5 headphone slot, easily accessible and a delight to use. 
What about HD videos? The rear is dominated by the 8MP cam which can record video at 720p and supports Autofocus. It also packs in an LED flash. 
Is the force on our side? Yes, it is. Because on the inside, the Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon CPU powers this device. The 1400mAh battery provides enough juice for you to use the phone all day long, but turning Wi-Fi and GPS on runs the battery out a wee bit quickly. 
How does it work with the new Opera 11 Mobile browser? Opera recently unleashed the latest version of its mobile browser for the Android OS. Opera Mobile 11 offers you the superb thumbnail preview homescreen and also supports long- click menus. Using the latter you can now open a link in a new tab, copy/paste text and do much more. We used a preview copy of this on the Dell Venue and were mighty impressed by the slickness of this browser. Web pages load quicker and panning and zooming is fun too. Highly recommended. VERDICT 4.1 inch AMOLED screen impresses, and overall, the Venue is a fun phone to work. But it is pricey.

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