Well, Amazon has decided to expand that service, creating the “universal wish list”.

Now, instead of having to search Amazon’s web site for products that you really want, you can add products from any web site.

US visitors may be thinking “we’ve had that for nearly years”. Indeed you have, my American friends, but as is so often the case, it’s taken a while to roll out the service to the UK, France, Germany, Canada and Japan.

Presumably, Amazon is generous enough that if an item on the wish list isn’t available from Amazon or a third-party seller, they’ll link to the other web site instead. After all, these services are as much about getting people to visit Amazon and stick around, and having a universal shopping list in just one place makes a lot of sense for customer loyalty.

The range includes specially designed cases for devices such as the Move, ONE Mini and PocketDAB 1500, a screen protector for Sensia; a selection of three rechargeable ChargePAK battery packs which fit in all PURE portable radios; cables; remote controls and all PURE additional speakers such as the S1 speaker for EVOKE-1S.

Hand-finished in real leather, the Move carry case (£19.99) is available in chilli red or midnight black and comes with a sturdy base which doubles over to act as a radio stand.

ONE Mini’s custom-fit case (£19.99) is lightweight and made from durable, semi-rigid EVA material which is both water and bump resistant to safeguard against daily wear and tear. There is a detachable wrist strap, an internal mesh pocket for storage and an additional pouch for the mains power supply.

The PURE Choice Screen Protector for Sensia (£19.99) comes in a twin pack including a reflective and anti-scratch screen protector as well as two cleaning tabs and a soft, microfibre cleaning cloth. The reflective screen protector has a mirror-effect when Sensia’s 5.7” display is off, but is completely transparent when the display is active. Both screen protectors are super-thin, made-to measure and are designed to combat the small scratches and dust encountered in day-to-day use. A guided applicator is provided for easy, bubble-free application. They are extremely durable and long-lasting but also easy to remove and residue-free.

PURE’s ChargePAK is a more cost-effective battery solution; the average radio listener listening to a radio with batteries can save both time and money if they listen to a PURE digital radio with a ChargePAK. ChargePAK is also a greener way to listen as it saves energy and reduces the amount of toxic materials sent to landfill. Offering a fit-and-forget solution, ChargePAK is much more convenient than disposable batteries as it charges when the radio is plugged in and is ready to go whenever the user is.

There are three different types of ChargePAK in the PURE Choice range; the B1 (£24.99) which is compatible with ONE Mini; the C6L (£34.99) which is compatible with Elan II, ONE Classic, ONE Elite and EVOKE-3; and the E1 (£34.99) which is compatible with EVOKE-1S, EVOKE Flow, EVOKE-2S and Sensia.

The PURE Choice accessory range is growing constantly, and will soon include a series of PowerPort accessories for PURE’s bedside range including Siesta iDock, Siesta Flow, Chronos iDock II and Chronos CD II. PowerPort provides power for USB accessories such as mobile phone chargers, reading lights and bedside fans solving the problem of having insufficient power points next to the bed.

All items are available to view at Pure.com

In fact, Yahoo and Samsung have been in partnership since 2007, putting web services onto mobile devices.

That collaboration has just been strengthened with the announcement that a range of Yahoo’s services will be installed on Samsung bada and Android-based phones.

Services will include Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Front Page, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Flickr, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Contacts, Yahoo! Calendar, and Yahoo! Weather.

Not all phones will automatically contain all features, as it will depend upon capability and price point.

Aimed at corporate customers but surely not out of place on any desktop, this 24-inch widescreen beauty is based on LED technology, which means lower power consumption for a extremely powerful display.

Features include height adjustment (important for those health and safety checks), 16:9 aspect ratio with full high definition (1080p) video compatibility, a range of calibration options for achieving the perfect picture, a simple button that allows selection of other aspect ratios, and full compatibility with Windows 7.

When it comes to power consumption, the monitor uses 44% less power than standard CCFL monitors. This rises to a 56% saving in Eco mode.

Available from 1st May for a very reasonable £199.

BenQ

If you’re a fan of compact digital cameras and of LEICA, you’ll probably love the new V-LUX 20, just introduced to the UK market.

It comes with a number of the latest features found on most compact cameras these days, including GPS tagging (automatically puts a location to all of your photos), facial recognition, a 12x optical zoom lens, 12.1 megapixel sensor, and image stabilisation.

It also includes a number of features for more advanced photographers, including the ability to set shutter speed and aperture settings.

That 30x zoom is equivalent to a 25-300mm 35mm lens, so it spans from wide angle to telephoto.

As well as tagging with standard GPS data, the local time is also stored for each photo, along with any interesting sightseeing locations gleaned from the camera’s internal database of half-a-million ‘points of interest’ across 73 countries.

There’s also built-in HD recording (720p at 60fps) in which all of the main features — auto scene selection, face recognition, smart exposure — are still available.

There’s a three-inch LCD for previewing photos and movies on, and the camera is finished in matt black and features simple, ergonomic controls.

Available from May with a suggested retail price of £495. More information

If that average figure isn’t enough to make you gulp, consider that around two million downloaders have over £5,000 worth of content.

Three insurance providers that will cover digital downloads are Halifax (up to £2k), Hiscox (£2.5k) and LV= (£1k).

The advice on the loss of digital data is usually to go back to the original vendor and seek to download them again. However, this isn’t always possible.

This also highlights the need for good backup procedures, particularly for other digital content that doesn’t have a download value but, instead, has priceless memory value attached — family photos and videos, for example.

Head of home insurance at MoneySupermarket.com, Julie Owens, said, “I recommend checking the small print of your policy to find out what you are covered for and to what value. Being underinsured is also a dangerous position to find yourself in – if in doubt, speak to your insurer to find out whether you need to increase your cover for downloaded material.”

The DSI86HD has just been launched for £129.99 and offers a range of features including standard definition picture upscaling, HDMI output for hooking up to a HDTV, parental controls and seven day electronic programme guide.

The other two models — DTR84250S (£249.99) and DTR84500S (£299.99) — also offer hard disc recording and DVR (digital video recorder) features such as pausing and rewinding live TV. They’ll be available later in the summer.

Freesat is a subscription-free satellite service which launched in the UK last year. You’ll need to have a satellite dish professionally installed, unless you already have a compatible dish in place. You can find out more at the official Freesat web site.

It follows a number of successful trials of the 3D technology over the past few years, including a live test broadcast of Keane live from Abbey Road Studios on 2nd April this year.

In addition to this, Sky has announced that a new video-on-demand over broadband service will be launched, offering Sky+HD customers additional choice and control and complementing Sky+ and Sky Anytime.

“3D is a genuinely ‘seeing is believing’ experience, making TV come to life as never before. Just like the launch of digital, Sky+ and HD, this is latest step in our commitment to innovating for customers,” said MD of Sky’s customer group, Brian Sullivan.

Pricing and exact launch dates to be announced nearer the time.

Before O2 secured exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in Britain, there were plenty of rumours that Vodafone — along with the rest of the chasing pack of network operators — was keen to get its hands on Apple’s super-phone.

It probably was.

Then, Vodafone’s CEO, Arun Sarin, criticised the iPhone’s features, essentially saying that the big V wasn’t interested in selling the handset.

In February 2008, Vodafone showed its true iPhone desire.

It’s unsurprising that, at a time when O2 may have to give up its exclusive hold on the iPhone, Vodafone’s chief financial officer wants the UK and German markets.

“It’s a good product and we would love to have it in the portfolio in more countries,” said Andy Holford, with CEO Vittorio Colao (replacing Sarin in May last year) admitting that “it’s particularly clear that not having [the iPhone] has hindered us.”

It’s mainly about the cash, of course, and it’s no surprise that these comments came out during Vodafone’s first quarter financial results.

For consumers, though, more competition is definitely a good thing. Vodafone is a big UK operator, and having the iPhone operational on several large mobile networks will be a real plus point.

What we don’t yet know is when, or if, O2 will loose its grip on the iPhone. That will partly be down to Apple, but you can bet that O2 will want to keep hold of it for as long as possible.

Via

You’ve probably seen some promotions for the Sony Reader in bookstores like Waterstones, but now Kelly Osbourne has put her name to the virtual book reader by appearing in a photo shoot promoting the Sony Summer Reader Roadshow.

Enthusiastically extolling the virtues of electronic books, Osbourne said, “eBooks are such a great idea. It’s always such a nightmare carrying a whole bunch of books around with you when you go on holiday, so not having to do that anymore is huge bonus.”

“Plus you never know what you want to read so the Reader from Sony – which has now become my new summer gadget — lets me swap between lots of different books. I’m reading four at the moment.”

Excusing these stunted, PR-induced utterances a little, the Sony Reader is indeed a cool little device. There’s still a lot to be said for reading printed books, but devices like the Reader and Amazon’s Kindle are definitely increasing in popularity.

Here are the details of the roadshow, which begins today at the Sony Centre on Tottenham Court Road, London.

• Friday 24 July, London – Tottenham Court Road, Sony Centre with author Patrick Neate who will be reading from his bestselling novel ‘Jerusalem’
• Saturday 25 July, London – Piazza Covent Garden with Booker-prize shortlisted and multi-award winning author Justin Cartwright who will be reading from ‘To Heaven by Water’
• Sunday 26 July, Brighton, Brighton Pier with author Damian Barr who will be reading from ‘Get It Together: A Guide to Surviving Your Quarterlife Crisis’
• Monday 27 July, Bristol, Broadmead Shopping Centre with the UK’s most popular crime author Dan Waddell who will be reading from ‘The Blood Detective’
• Tuesday 28 July, Oxford, Eden Shopping Centre, The Pagoda with academic and bestselling novelist Harry Sidebottom, who will be reading from his recently published novel ‘Warrior of Rome, PART II: King of Kings’
• Thursday 30 July, Manchester, Spinning Fields with author Steven Hall who will be reading from ‘The Raw Shark Texts’

More details on the Sony Reader are available here.