As we head into August, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the best gadgets so far this year, and those worth looking out for over the coming months.
Apple iPod (from £250)
A predictable choice, but the mark two version of Apple's iPod hard disk MP3 player, with its new slim case and increased storage (30 gigabytes if needed) is still so far ahead of the competition that it demands to be included.
Could this be the Walkman of the 21st century? Or has Sony got something up its sleeve?
www.apple.com/uk
Philips Streamium MC-i200 (£400)
Full marks to Philips for being the first to debut a hi-fi system that can be incorporated into a home network to access internet radio stations and MP3 files stored on a PC.
Once you have got past the slightly tricky setup procedure, it is very simple to use. MusicMatch's online service, which creates a mini radio station tailored to your listening preferences, is utterly addictive.
www.Philips.co.uk
Palm Tungsten C (£350)
It might be shorn of some of the more fun applications that PDAs boast nowadays, but the Tungsten C is Palm's best handheld for quite some time.
It boasts one of the highest-resolution screens on a PDA so far, features a simple to use keypad, and has excellent compatibility with both Windows PCs and Macs. Best of all, its Wi-Fi facilities are easy to use. Had Palm added Bluetooth, it would have delivered the most complete corporate PDA so far. www.palm.com/uk
Netgear ME101 Wireless Ethernet Bridge (£60)
For anyone with a wireless network at home, spending £60 on this gadget could represent the best investment of the year.
It connects to devices with an Ethernet connector, integrating them seamlessly within a wireless network, and works brilliantly with the Xbox, Philips' Streamium and Beyond's Icebox Kitchen PC to name but a few.
www.netgear.co.uk
NEC e808y (£50)
Although we are still waiting for the killer 3G handset, the NEC e808Y is a step in the right direction.
It boasts all the functionality of its e808 sibling (video calling, news and sport downloads, Java games, a large screen and 64 megabyte internal memory), yet replaces that phone's rather cumbersome clamshell design with a much more appealing PDA-style flat shell.
Add to all this Three's incredibly cheap monthly packages, and the e808Y has to be one of the bargains of the year.
www.three.co.uk
Electrolux Trilobite (£1000)
Yes, it is expensive - but once you have witnessed this robot vacuum cleaner zooming around your home sucking up all your dust, you will wonder how you ever managed to live without it.
www.electrolux.co.uk
Creative Labs MuVo NX (cost to be announced)
No self-respecting techie leaves home without a USB storage device dangling from their keychain. This excellent little gadget boasts 128 megabytes of memory, and also features an integrated MP3 player.
uk.Europe.creative.com
Archos AV300 (£500)
Video on the move is here, courtesy of a player that teams up a 3.8in LCD screen with 20 gigabytes of storage (enough for 80 hours of compressed video) and video and audio players. It is surprisingly watchable, too. www.archos.com
Samsung SGH-V200 (from £350)
Along with the Sony Ericsson T610, this is first real threat to Sharp's GX10 in the cameraphone market. It is very compact, features an impressive camera, and sports an excellent quality screen.
www.samsungelectronics.co.uk
Olympus C-50 Zoom (£550)
This is a really excellent five mega-pixel camera in a striking magnesium alloy casing. Unlike some previous Olympus digital snappers, it is very simple to operate.
www.olympus.co.uk
Coming soon
Handspring Treo 600: Compact PDA/smartphone using Palm's operating system. It is already receiving rave reviews on the other side of the Atlantic. Due out in October.
Wireless B Media Adapter WMA11b: A neat gadget that wirelessly transfers MP3s and JPEGs from your PC to the TV/hi-fi. Due out in September.
Nokia 6600: Potentially Nokia's best phone of 2003, the 6600 is a tiny smartphone crammed with facilities. Expected in October.
Perstel Bluenote: A digital radio not much bigger than an audio cassette, and retailing for less than £100. In the stores soon.
Sony Clie PEG-UX50: Sony's new take on the PDA sports a landscape clamshell design, a sizeable keyboard, and a screen that can rotate in any direction. Coming in the early autumn.
