Handy DJ

Thanks to the iPod, most people's music now sits on their PC instead of on piles of CDs stacked beside the stereo. But when you want to play your tunes away from your computer on a proper hi-fi, what do you do?

(Yes, you could play the original CDs you bought and then ripped. Or you could connect your iPod to your hi-fi.)

But a better solution is to remotely access your music with something like Logitech's Wireless DJ, which sends the audio from your PC to your hi-fi - and it packs a nifty remote control too. Shame it's Windows only and subject to a little bit of wireless interference.

Read the full Logitech Wireless DJ review in today's paper.

In games, Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (PS2, 360) remains the football champion, as fluid and believable as ever. It's just the trimmings that are more shabby than before, particularly on 360, ironically.

Scarface: The World is Yours (PS2) takes a risky stab at rewriting the ending of the famous Pacino movie but pulls it off with some good writing and a strong GTA-style structure.

Mercury Meltdown (PSP) rolls out another helping of Marble Madness-style action, and it's even better than the last, introducing brain-scrambling colour puzzles while making the frustrating bits less, er, frustrating.

Juicier 'berry

Anyone who's tried a BlackBerry will tell you there's something deliciously addictive about receiving and sending e-mail on the go. But jeez, do the phones have to be so fugly? Enter the BlackBerry Pearl, a conscious attempt to make a sexy phone. Read the full BlackBerry Pearl review in today's paper.

In games, Company of Heroes (PC) may retread the same old WWII battlefields but through a combination of ace graphics and clever level design, it's ended up the finest RTS game of the year. FIFA 07 (PS2/Xbox, etc) edges towards the realism of Pro Evo Soccer without ever getting there. And Lumines Live (Xbox 360) is a cheeky attempt to exploit microtransactions: offering only half the game and making the rest downloadable for more moolah.

Sling's the thing

In five, maybe ten years' time, all TV will be delivered over the internet to your home. And if it's all digital all the time, you'll be able to view your TV shows away from home too. But back in 2006, part of the dream has become real thanks to the Slingbox.

A small box of electronics that sits beside your telly, it takes the TV signal (or DVD, video, radio, etc) and makes it available over the net - inside or outside your house - for viewing on a desktop or laptop. Naturally, it doesn't compare well to the big-screen experience but the power to watch all your shows in the study, in Skibbereen or Sacramento is addictive.

Read the full Slingbox review in today's paper.

In games, Just Cause (360, PS2) would like to be GTA set on a Central American island but the result is one-dimensional, albeit rather lovely-looking. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2) is a director's cut repackaging of the stealth meisterwork: lots of added value, some new online modes (as if anyone has got their PS2 online) ... and still an excellent original game. Finally, Doom has been given the Xbox Live Arcade treatment for the 360: immensely playable and atmospheric, in spite of the vintage blocky graphics.

Affordable professionalism

Anyone with a passing interest in photography knows that the point-and-shoot cameras will only get you so far - SLRs provide far more flexibility and quality. Digital SLRs are only just coming down out of the stratosphere in price and Canon's entry-level products are well-specced for the money. Today in the paper we take a look at Canon's EOS 400D, which is an upgrade to the highly regarded 350D.

In games, Yakuza (PS2) exploits the almost untapped world of Japanese gangsters. It's a bit GTA, a bit The Warriors, a bit Shenmue - and highly enjoyable. Enchanted Arms (360) leans too heavily on the crutch of RPG cliches for it to be interesting. Lastly, the Xbox Live Vision Camera is Microsoft's attempt to do an EyeToy on the 360, a webcam that uses motion tracking to control the action on-screen. Short version: it suffers from the same problems as EyeToy but the bigger problem is whether Microsoft can make any decent games using it.

Shootout at the three-megapixel corral

Phone-makers have slowly been upping the ante with the quality of the cameras in their handsets. Today in the paper we take a look at the first three-megapixel cameraphones to hit the Irish market: the Sony Ericsson K800i and Nokia's N80.

Neither is a real substitute for a proper digicam and both are on the fat/heavy side but they're the closest any phone has come to decent picture quality. Read the full review of the K800i and N80 in today's paper.

In games, Microsoft's annual Xbox showcase previewed some of the hot titles headed for the 360 in the next 12 months. X06, held in Barcelona, was Microsoft's attempt to increase its headstart on Sony's beleaguered PS3. The line-up was mighty impressive (Alone in the Dark, Bioshock and Assassin's Creed among them) but most won't land until 2007.