Here’s a look at just some of what we’re covering in our latest show:

• News Updates: The next generation of Freesat, YouView delays and o2 Wallet
• Focus: A look at the top products we found at Gadget Show Live 2012
• Interview: Tim Wander explains a little about the Marconi legacy
• Feedback: Your comments and questions on the YouView, PMRs, BBC iPlayer and Android devices

At Gadget Show Live 2012 at the NEC in Birmingham, we looked at the energyEGG power saver, the GB-Mito USB speaker, some iPad games from Jumbo, and the impressive AR Drone 2.0 from Parrot. We also talk about Marconi and the Titanic, and read out some of your comments and questions from the LV18 Lightvessel.

If you own an iPad, iPhone or iPod, then you can get the latest show now via iTunes – You’ll find it here: FrequencyCast on iTunes.

Alternatively, you can get the latest FrequencyCast online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html , where you’ll also find instructions on how to subscribe, download the show, or listen to us online.

Show Links:

• Show Notes for Show 75
• Gadget Show Live 2012 Coverage
• Offer: Free Audiobook from Audible
• Transcript: Gadget Show Live Review
• Transcript: Marconi Legacy – Tim Wander interview

Please remember that FrequencyCast is a free service. We need your support though – We don’t need your money… what we need you to do, is to tell your friends about us. Show you care, by Liking FrequencyCast on Facebook, or following FrequencyCast on Twitter and sending your followers a message about us. Alternatively, mention us online, in emails, or phone a friend.

We hope you enjoy this latest episode of FrequencyCast – we had a lot of fun making it and strolling around the NEC in Birmingham on your behalf.

We’d love to get your comments and feedback on this show – are you happy with what we’re doing? Like us to cover a product or service in more depth? Please tell us.

You can add a comment in the box below, or leave us a voicemail message on 0208 133 4567 (it’s the price of a call to London). Without your support, we’re nothing!

Pete and Carl are at the NEC Birmingham, and have been busy boys at this year’s top gadget and tech event.

We’ve spent the day zapping around the show on the Press and Professional day to find out what our lively listeners need to keep an eye out for at the show. We’ve just released an exclusive 10 minute review of some of the must-see gadgets and tech at the show, and a couple of stands that you must stop by.

Things to watch out for at the show include the Parrot AR drone UFO, tools to “spirit you away”, loads of tiny speakers, a 22 pocket jacket, robotic rabbit ears, 360 degree iPhone images, egg-cellent energy saving gadgets, enlightening programmable torchs, and clean up your technological act.

Gadget Show 2012 in Birmingham - About to open its doors

The audio report is attached to this blog post, and is also available to listen to online, or download – at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/gsl

Pete and Carl are here in Birmingham, ready for tomorrow’s first day at Gadget Show Live 2012.

We’ve just been standing outside the main hall. Here’s a picture of the hall being prepared, and a special recording hot off the press from the NEC in Birmingham.

Gadget Show Live 2012 - The scene at the NEC in Birmingham

More to follow at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/gsl

Here’s a look at just some of what we’re covering in our latest show:

• News Updates: The demise of itvDigital, London’s Digital Switchover, plus the Raspberry Pi
• Focus: Our round-up of the Ideal Home Show 2012, plus some product reviews
• Interview: Find out why Suzi Perry is not in the Gadget Show
• Freebies: Get a free audiobook on us
• Hands-on: Keep Fit by escaping Zombies
• Feature: Transmitting from the LV18 Light Vessel
• Feedback: Your comments and questions on the Evi app, is 4G really worth it, and your thoughts on Internet Cameras

If you own an iPad, iPhone or iPod, then you can get the latest show now via iTunes – You’ll find it here: FrequencyCast on iTunes.

Alternatively, you can get the latest FrequencyCast online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html , where you’ll also find instructions on how to subscribe, download the show to your portable device, and listen to us online.

Show Links:

• Show Notes for Show 74
• Transcript: Free Audiobook Offer
• Transcript: Ideal Home Show 2012
• Transcript: LV18 Light Vessel

Please remember that FrequencyCast is free – We need your support though – We don’t need your money… what we need you to do, is to tell your friends about us. Like FrequencyCast on Facebook, or follow FrequencyCast on Twitter and send your followers a message. Alternatively, mention us online, in emails, or phone a friend.

We hope you enjoy this latest episode of FrequencyCast – we had a lot of fun making it.

We’d love to get your comments and feedback on the show. Without your support, we can’t continue to provide these free shows, so please get in touch with your suggestions. Add a comment in the box below, or leave us a voicemail message on 0208 133 4567 (it’s the price of a call to London).

Pete and Sarah took the grand tour around the show on the lookout for new and unusual home gadgets, and to get a feel for the trends. These year’s show is divided up into several sections, and we took a look at each of the various areas on-by-one.

We’ve just released a 7 minute audio overview of our first look at the show, where we list some of the products, sights and stands that caught Pete and Sarah’s eyes. We discuss some of the products that we played with, the kit we tested, and of the more unusual products such as Toffee Vodka and chocolate Philadelphia spread.

We’ve recorded a large number of interviews with exhibitors and product vendors, which will be released as part of our new show. This short ‘teaser’ is to give you a flavour of what to look for if you’re planning to visit this year’s show at London’s Earls Court exhibition centre.

You can find the 7 minute ‘Special Report’ attached to this blog post, and it is available via iTunes and our show feed. You can also download it from our Ideal Home Show 2012 page, where you can find more interviews, photos and features from the show: Ideal Home Show 2012: FrequencyCast Coverage

Don’t forget, you can also download our six minute interview with Suzi Perry recorded at the show: FrequencyCast talks to Suzi Perry

Today, Friday the 16th of March 2012, saw the opening of the Ideal Home Exhibition, in London’s Earls Court. The FrequencyCast team was there to get hands-on with the latest home improvement gadgets, and to see what this year’s show has to offer. We caught up with the gadget legend that is Suzi Perry, who is the official ambassador of the Ideal Gadgets part of this annual show.

Pete, armed with his trusty voice recorder and some questions tweeted in by some of our regular listeners, asked Suzi to outline what she’d seen at the show so far, and who she’d had the honour of meeting at the show opening.

One of the hot questions, is what’s next for Suzi following the announcement that Suzi, Jon and Ortis won’t be in the next series of The Gadget Show. As well as looking into the future, she talks about her experiences of the newly-launched Apple iPad and her idea of her perfect home.

Cat lovers will be pleased to know that we also discuss Suzi’s furry sidekick (by popular demand), and find out why a stunt double of her cat was used in the filming of a previous Gadget Show. We also try to find out if her cat and the FrequencyCat could become friends.

If you’re a Suzi fan, you can catch our six minute interview here: FrequencyCast: Suzi Perry Interview

We’ll be adding more interviews, photos and features from this year’s Ideal Home Show over the next few days here: Ideal Home Show 2012: FrequencyCast Coverage

Here’s a look at just some of what we’re covering in our latest show:

• News Updates: 4G Freeview Filters, the Raspberry Pi, cheap broadband and DAB Re-tune
• Focus: We look at a report showing how we’ll be living 15 years from now, and talk future tech with Plusnet
• Feature: The Blackberry Playbook – Still cheap, and now with a new operating system
• Feedback: Internet TV apps, Powerline Adapters, mega-fast broadband and Windows Phone

If you own an iPad, iPhone or iPod, then you can get the latest show now via iTunes – You’ll find it here: FrequencyCast on iTunes.

Alternatively, you can get the latest FrequencyCast online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html , where you’ll also find instructions on how to subscribe, download the show to your portable device, and listen to us online.

Show Links:

• Show Notes for Show 73
• Transcript: The Home of 2027 (plus bonus material)
• Transcript: Blackberry Playbook

Please remember that FrequencyCast is free – We need your support though – We don’t need your money… what we need you to do, is to tell your friends about us. Like FrequencyCast on Facebook, or follow FrequencyCast on Twitter and send your followers a message. Alternatively, mention us online, in emails, or phone a friend.

We’d love to get your comments and feedback on the show. Without your support, we can’t continue to provide these free shows, so please get in touch with your suggestions. Add a comment in the box below, or leave us a voicemail message on 0208 133 4567 (it’s the price of a call to London).

Thanks again for your support, from all here at FrequencyCast.

The headline news is that Suzi Perry, Jon Bentley and Ortis Deley will be leaving the show, and won’t be appearing in the new series that starts in the spring.

Jason Bradbury and Pollyanna Woodward will be the only two to remain, and apparently the show will switch from the current studio-based format to a duet with Jason and Polly touring the world on the search for gadgets.

The show has been running for 16 series and has built up quite a following within the tech and gadget community. The show has also spawned Gadget Show Live, which we attended last year, and will be reporting from this year.

Looking at tweets from the outgoing presenters:

@suziperry confirms that “the decision wasn’t mine”,

@jonbentley90 says “Thank you for your kind messages of support. It’s been a very enjoyable seven years”

Nothing as yet from @ortisdeley

It will be interesting to see what the new-look Gadget Show: World Tour will look like. Channel 5′s Factual Entertainment Commissioner Ian Dunkley says: “After 16 successful series it felt time for the show to go global and have some more fun. Our love of gadgets remains undimmed, and now the testing will be bigger, better, and in more exotic locations.”

Update: We caught up with Suzi Perry in March 2012 to discuss life after The Gadget Show. Listen to our Suzi Perry Interview

As an aside, in case you hadn’t noticed, Sky recently launched its own gadget show – Gadget Geeks airs on Sky 1 at 8pm on a Monday night. The show borrows heavily from the Gadget Show, but splits the show into two teams, a room of geeks that build gadgets to order, with the other team getting hands-on with tech. If you’ve tried Gadget Geeks on Sky, we’d love to know what you think.

Any thoughts on the demise of the Gadget Show team? Let us know and we may read some out in our next tech podcast, FrequencyCast Show 73…

Many thanks to dedicated listener Tish for pointing out this amazing bargain – As his Facebook status says “Impulsively cheap now!”

At the time of recording, online store EBuyer.com is currently selling the VAX R8801 VAX R8801 Freetime Robot Vacuum Cleaner for £65.99, down from £189.99. That offer’s now ended, but there’s an even better one offered by an eBay reseller: New VAX R8801 on eBay

If you fancy picking up a programmable domestic vacuum-cleaning robot, but don’t fancy the hefty price-tag normally associated with these little chappies, then at this price, it’s definitely worth a punt.

Apparently, this model is ideal for hard floors, is easy-to-use, and its whisker edge brushes can get into those nooks and crannies to clean the whole room. It also has step avoidance, so it won’t go for a tumble down the stairs, and it can squeeze itself under furniture.

VAX R8801 Freetime Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Specs:

• Weight: 1.5kg
• Capacity: 200 ml
• Run time: 50 minutes
• Charge time: 4 hours

If you want to grab yourself a dust-busting bargain, you’ll find it here: VAX R8801 Freetime

Update: At the time of writing, the VAX R8801 is out of stock, and pre-orders are being taken for delivery next week. You’ll have to hurry though… at this price, they’ll be flying down the stairs.

Update: eBuyer no longer offering the deal, but we’ve found an even better offer from an ebay reseller. We’ve updated the link to take you to eBay.

Sony Playstation Vita

The form factor is broadly similar to the PSP, but what’s under the hood has undergone a major overhaul. Here’s what the Vita packs:

• Multi-touch 5″ screen
• Multi-touch pad on the back of the device
• Three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer
• Front and rear camera
• Two analogue joysticks

For those into handheld gaming, this is an impressive piece of kit, and may inspire a little more that the Nintendo 3DS for playability. For the technically-minded, the new Vita has a 4-core CPU, and packs 802.11N and Bluetooth.

The Slimline Playstation Vita, from below

First Impressions

Although it’s an impressive looking and well-specced piece of kit that feels very comfy in the hand, it’s not cheap, and there are a few things to bear in mind. It seems that you can expect about 3½ to 4 hours of heavy gameplay from the Vita on a single charge. The Vita only supports MP4 video format. Vita games are a little pricey, and for downloaded content, you’re going to need a memory card, which isn’t supplied. Sony had also done it again by creating a propriety media format – so you can’t just use any old Micro-SD card, you have to buy a non-cheap Sony PS Vita Memory Card for your downloads.

We can apparently expect the obligatory Facebook and Twitter social networking apps at some point in the future.

New games that take advantage of the Vita’s clever hardware will be appearing soon, and the console is also capable of running existing PSP games, as well as a back-catalogue of Playstation content from the Playstation store.

The Playstation Vita costs £209 here in the UK at launch (Playstation Vita from Amazon), but if you’re after one, the deal at ASDA seems to be the best at the time of writing – £197. There’s also a £100 trade in on a Nintendo 3DS. Best deal: Playstation Vita UK

Vita – Hit or miss?

We’d be very interested to know what our listeners have to say about the Vita… Are you drooling about the prospect of a high-spec games console for your pocket? Or does the idea of paying £200 for a gadget like this leave you cold?

Indeed – is there a future for handheld gaming devices such as the Playstation Vita or Nintendo’s 3DS – or is the future tablets and mobile phones that also act as our games console, video player and eBook reader?

Got a comment? Want to hear us review the Vita? Please add your thoughts below…

Here’s a look at just some of what we’re covering in our February show:

• News Updates: A new phone with a novel power source, upgrades in store for Virgin customers, three video-on-demand stories, an amazing price-cut on the Blackberry tablet, plus the fate of the leap-second
• Focus: We look at a selection of the latest wireless fitness products, and some applications that will help you stay in shape in 2012
• First look: We get some help from a guest listener to take a look at the just-launched Netflix service
• Review: Probably the oddest beverage accessory we’ve ever seen, plus a peak into Pete’s kitchen
• Feedback: Problems with Virgin speed, your complaints, plus the hunt for a Freesat/Freeview set-top box

If you own an iPad, iPhone or iPod, then you can get the latest show now via iTunes – You’ll find it here: FrequencyCast on iTunes.

Alternatively, you can get the latest FrequencyCast online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html , where you’ll also find instructions on how to subscribe, download the show to your portable device, and listen to us online.

Show Links:

• Show Notes for Show 72
• Transcript: Wireless Fitness Tech (plus bonus material)
• Transcript: UK Netflix Review

Please remember that FrequencyCast is free – We need your support though – We don’t need your money… what we need you to do, is provide us with feedback and suggestions, but more importantly, tell your friends about us. Like FrequencyCast on Facebook, or follow FrequencyCast on Twitter and send your followers a message. Alternatively, mention us online, in emails, or tell your friends about us. Without you, we’re nothing.

We’d love to get your comments and feedback on the show. If you have a comment, good or bad, please add a comment in the box below, or leave us a voicemail message on 0208 133 4567 (price of a call to London).

Thanks again for your support. We hope you have a great 2012, and we look forward to entertaining you in the coming months.

Engage The Cloak

According to a report on the BBC Technology site this morning, researchers at the University of Texas have successfully “cloaked” an object.

Using plasmonic materials, an 18cm cylinder has been rendered invisible. Sadly, it’s not quite as exciting as sounds, as it’s only invisible to light at the microwave end of the spectrum. According to the report, the technique and materials used are unlikely to work for the visible part of the spectrum, so all of those cunning uses that FrequencyCast listeners might conjure up for a cloak of invisibility… will have to wait. More details on this breakthrough at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16726609

Although we’re not there yet, it’s still, it’s good to know that some early steps are being made – at this rate, we might be able to have cloaking technology ahead of the Klingons, and that can only be a good thing.

We’re still waiting for those tech boffins to create the SEP Field – If you don’t know your Douglas Adams, the Someone Else’s Problem Field allows something to appear to be invisible because it’s too implausible to be there… “the brain just edits it out, like it’s a blind spot”

Apologies for this odd clipart – you try finding a picture of a cloaked object!!

Star Trek Tricorder

In other sci-fi related “coming soon” news… There’s a competition running to be the first to build a Star Trek Tricorder… If you can build a handy gadget that can diagnose 15 diseases, then you could net yourself £6.5 million in the X Price competition that was recently announced at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. Qualcomm’s stumping up the $10 million prize, and you can check out the terms and conditions here:Star Trek Tricorder X Price

What gadget from the Star Trek Universe, or the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy would you like to like to see become a reality? Add a comment below, and we’ll share your thoughts with the FrequencyCast audience.

Between the 3rd and the 6th of February 2012, the subscription channel ESPN will be free on Freeview, BT Vision, Sky and Top Up TV. If you’re with Sky, you’ll also be able to watch ESPN and ESPN America in HD for free.

The promotion is to lure in viewers who’ve not opted to sign up for ESPN on one of the main services, and if any of the sporting action on the agenda tickles your sporting tastebuds, then this is a nice little freebie. Here’s a quick look at what should be available over the weekend:

The Sporting Action

Over the weekend, the following events are scheduled, and free:

Friday the 3rd:

• Bundesliga:  FC Nuremburg v Borussia Dortmund

Saturday the 4th:

• Barclays Premier League: Manchester City v Fulham
• Serie A: Roma v Inter   Milan
• NBA New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics

Sunday the 6th:

• UFC 143 Carlos Condit v Nick Diaz
• Serie A: Genoa v Lazio
• Serie A: Fiorentina v Udinese
• Bundesliga: Kaiserslauern v FC Cologne
• Serie A: AC Milan v Napoli

Enjoy the free weekend of sport on Freeview, Sky, BT Vision and Top Up TV, courtesy of ESPN.

For more information on digital TV in the UK, see our Digital TV Options page

From February 2012, customers of Virgin Media’s broadband service will start to see a sizable increase in speed or their already fast fibre-optic cable Internet connection.

For customers with 10Meg, 20Meg, 30Meg or 50Meg download speeds, these will effectively be doubled at no extra charge, whilst those on 100Meg will see a boost to up to 120Meg.

Virgin Media’s cable service currently offers the fastest broadband in the UK. When the 120Mbps update starts, they’ll be offering a service three times faster than BT’s current best speed, which is the 40Mbps service known as BT Infinity.

Virgin expects to complete the upgrade of their network to the new faster connection speeds by the middle of 2013, and the upgrades will cost a reported £110 million.

Speed increases will no doubt be welcomed by Virgin’s customer base, although as reported in our December show, only a small number of customers appear to be making use of high-speed downloads. As was discussed at the Internet Industry Insight Session, there aren’t that many consumer services out there that can really benefit from such fast download speeds – At least, not yet. This month, we’ve seen Netflix start in the UK, offering an impressively large collection of movies and TV shows for on-demand playback – video will certainly require a decent amount of bandwidth, but even live HD streams won’t get close to touching 120Mbps, and neither will current gaming services such as OnLive.

Nonetheless, if mega-fast broadband is your thing and you want to connect using anything over 40Mbps, then Virgin is the answer, and the doubling of speed is sure a good thing – it’ll also help the UK Government get closer to their target of getting the UK connected to a faster broadband network.

Personally, rather than seeing a speed boost, which is essentially just a headline-grabber for Virgin, we’d like to see them expand their network. If customers aren’t taking advantage of the faster network – rather than paying out to double the speed, how about bringing the service to a few other users? It’s been a while since the network expanded, and there’s lots of people out there close to a Virgin network, but not close enough. Here are FrequencyCast, we’re about a mile away from you, Virgin. Give us the fibre cable, and we’ll run it for you… no guarantees on how neat a job our lads will do, or how many folk will trip over it, but if it means we can play our OnLive games a tiny bit faster, then we’re in!

For more information on the speed enhancements, and to check if Virgin’s mega-whooshy network is available where you are, go to www.virginmedia.com

This is to let you know that our January show was released earlier today, and it’s available now for your listening pleasure.

Here’s a summary of what’s covered in the first show of the New Year:

• News Updates: Channel 5 Freeview HD, Apple iTV and Virgin updates.
• Focus: Our review of 2011, and a look ahead at the next year of TV & tech.
• Report: Updates to the Nintendo 3DS handheld console
• Feedback: X-Box 360 dashboard updates and printing from the iPad

If you own an iPad, iPhone or iPod, then you can get the latest show now via iTunes – You’ll find it here: FrequencyCast on iTunes.

Alternatively, you can download the latest show, show 71 direct to your MP3 player or listen online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html , where you’ll also find instructions on how to subscribe.

Show Links:

• Show Notes for Show 71
• Transcript: Review of TV & Tech in 2011
• Transcript: Nintendo 3DS Updates

As you know, FrequencyCast is a free service and shows are based on your feedback and questions – without you, there would be no show, and we reply on you to help spread the word. Please tell your friends about this latest show – Like FrequencyCast on Facebook, or follow FrequencyCast on Twitter and send your followers a message

We’d love to get your comments and feedback on the show. If you have a comment, good or bad, please add a comment in the box below, or leave us a voicemail message on 0208 133 4567 (price of a call to London).

Thanks again for your support. We hope you have a great 2012, and we look forward to entertaining you in the coming months.

For this show, we look at the future of the Internet – We were invited to attend a special session discussing broadband trends, Internet demand, and the thorny subject of “up to” broadband speeds. It made for a lively debate, and we have a recording of the entire session, plus our exclusive interviews, ready and waiting!

Here’s a summary of what’s covered in the latest installment of FrequencyCast:

• News Updates: Sky’s plans for Formula 1, 3DS update, TiVo and DAB
• Focus: Pete’s been to an Internet insight session. Here’s his report.
• Hands-on: The Livescribe smart pen
• Featured: Control your TV with an iPhone, plus weather stations revisited
• Your comments on TV + 1, printers and GetJam

If you own an iPad, iPhone or iPod, then you can get the latest show now now via iTunes – You’ll find it here: FrequencyCast on iTunes.

Alternatively, you can download the latest show, show 70 direct to your MP3 player or listen online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html

Show Links:

• Show Notes for Show 70
• Transcript: Internet Insight Session – The Net of the Future
• Transcript: Livescribe Echo, UnityRemote & Weather Station

As you know, our shows are free, and we rely on our listeners not only to set the agenda, but also to help spread the word about what we do. Please tell your friends about this latest show – Like FrequencyCast on Facebook, or it Tweeting’s your bag – follow FrequencyCast on Twitter and re-tweet this here posting for us!

We’d love to get your comments and feedback on the show. If you have a comment, good or bad, please add a comment in the box below, or leave us a voicemail message on 0208 133 4567 (London call).

We hope you enjoy this latest show, and, like us, are looking forward to seeing what tomorrow’s Internet has to offer.

Who is Pollyanna Woodward?

Of course, she’s one of the presenters of The Gadget Show, on Channel 5. The show is loved by many a gadget geek, including the gang here at FrequencyCast.

We met Polly and the team at Gadget Show Live this year, and spoke briefly to Polly for our podcast (FrequencyCast Podcast 63). To the right of the words that I’m typing now, you’ll see a picture of the lovely Pollyanna, taken at Gadget Show Live – Note that the fingers belong to Pete.

We’d love to tell you more about Polly – but we can’t.

And that’s because yesterday, her Wikipedia page was removed.

We were alerted to this by listener Steve L  (thanks Steve), and on checking, sure enough, her page has been zapped by the powers that be at Wikipedia. The stated reason is as follows:

“Only a handful of tabloid lifestyle pieces of no significance. The Gadget Show is high-profile itself but her presence on the team has yet to generate independent impact.”

From Polly’s own website, www.pollyannawoodward.com, we learn that Pollyanna’s made over 4,500 hours of telly, was a finalist in Popstars the Rivals, was a Miss England finalist, as well as some tabloid and FHM coverage. It seems, at least to us, that  this Nottinghamshire-born lass has every right to be on Wikipedia with her credentials, especially given some of the personal vanity pages you’ll find on Wikipedia.

We note that pages for the other honourable show presenters Suzi Perry, Jason Bradbury, Jon Bentley and Ortis Deley remain intact. Even former presenter Dallas Campbell has a Wiki page.

Pollyanna Woodward, formerly on Wikipedia

Why do we care?

Well, we can sympathise with young Polly, as our own FrequencyCast Wikipedia entry was zapped in July of this year. The reason for our removal was that we’re an “unremarkable podcast” (sob), with another reviewer nothing that Frequencycast “Does appear to have won an award, however the article does not assert any other notability.” 

Despite the fact that our shows have been running for five years, and we now have almost 3 listeners, we know we’re a small minnow in a huge online ocean – Polly, however, isn’t. Although FrequencyCast is unloved by the Wiki Mods, at  least we’re in good company though.

Our SaveGadgetPolly Campaign?

We think Pollyanna deserves a Wikipedia entry, along with her untouched colleagues on The Gadget Show – Hence “#SaveGadgetPolly” (her Twitter ID is GadgetPolly). After we tweeted our first “Save GadgetPolly” message, regular listener Rob Dickson replied with “How do we save her?”. It was at this point that we realised our campaign had hit a stumbling block.

At the moment, our campaign consists of us here at FrequencyCast HQ uniting with Polly by raising a fist and quietly mumbling “Damn you Wikipedia Mods!” Hardly consists of a major campaign – but we know we hold the moral high ground!

Anything to say? Please tweet your support with the hashtag #savegadgetpolly , or add a comment below.

Yours,

FrequencyCast… unloved by Wiki…

Mario Kart 3DS

On the 8th of December, we’re expecting to see Nintendo roll out an updated version of their OS, which may include the following:

• The ability to record 3D video footage
• Improved sharing with other Nintendo products
• Improved StreetPlaza functionality
• A rumoured new game, Find Mii II
• Improved stability

Users will be able to install the new update to their 3DS from the 8th of December using a wi-fi Internet connection.

Hey! It’s Mario!

Also note that the Nintendo classic Mario Kart is about to go 3D, with the launch of Mario Kart 3D for the Nintendo 3DS set for the 2nd of December. At the time of writing, you can save a wquid by pre-ordering Mario Kart 3DS at Amazon. Hot feature for Mario on the 3DS is support for multi-player, not just with those in the room, but those connected online around the world. There’s also some new characters, courses and special power-ups.

We know that the 3DS hasn’t really been setting the world alight, although with a 3D Mario, and the recent pice drops, there’s still a chance this could be the surprise big seller over the 2011 festive period.

For more, check out our Nintendo 3DS review

Well, we’ve released some audio just for those getting into the festive spirit, and it’s all thanks to CoolArif79 who tweeted thus: “Can you for show 69 and 70 concentrate on gadgets coming out for Christmas?”

We don’t claim to have any insight on what are going to be the top gadgets for Christmas 2011, but we can help with a few ideas of things to add to your list. Carl and Pete recorded a special Update looking at favourite gadgets of the last six months, and then went out-and-about to see what stocking-fillers they could find at a major shopping centre in England.

The audio update lasts 20 minutes, and features a special guest. As blokes don’t do shopping, we were assisted by the lovely Kelly, who kept Carl and Pete under control, and also kept an eye out for a few gifts for the tech-savvy ladies out there.

We looked at a few high-end must have gadgets, some novelty items, and even a few high-tech kids toys… the aim was to suggest a range of gift ideas that you may not have previously considered – and on our show notes, we include a few links and photos to get your creative juices flowing!

We hope you enjoy this rather unorthodox FrequencyCast update. As you’ll hear, we had quite a laugh putting this together, and hopefully will give you a few ideas on what to look out for as gifts for the upcoming festive period.

Our Audio Special

The show has just been released to iTunes, and is also attached to this news post as an mp3 file. The audio will soon appear on our streaming radio service, and can also be downloaded from our FrequencyCast Update page.

Show Notes and Links

You’ll find the show notes, links and pictures here: www.frequencycast.co.uk/gadgets.html

We’ve also released a transcript, complete with pictures, at www.frequencycast.co.uk/festivegadgets.html

Marmite Chocolate?

So, why have we chosen a picture of Marmite chocolate to illustrate this audio update? Well, you’ll have to take a listen! We challenge our listeners to try this stuff for themselves – your life may never be the same again…!

Comments please!

We’ve love to know what you think of our little Christmas Special. Please add your comments below.

Remember, without your feedback, there’s no show, so please have your say on what you’ve heard, and what gadgets you want for Christmas…

As ever, you set the agenda for the show – what you’d like us to cover, and what questions you want us to answer. Here’s a summary of what’s covered in the latest installment of FrequencyCast:

• News Updates: BBC HD channel to be axed, iPhone 4S shortages, o2′s upgrade policy, PBS comes to the UK and festive DAB
• Focus: As requested by our listeners, it’s all about printers and printing.
• Review: iPhone 4S and the Siri virtual assistant
• Your comments and questions on dual monitors, Overdrive book lending and the Steadicam

If you have an iPod, iPhone or iPad device, you should find show 69 is available now via iTunes – See FrequencyCast on iTunes.

Alternatively, you can download Show 69 direct to your MP3 player or listen online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html

Show Links:

• Show Notes for Show 69
• Transcript: Printers and Printing Transcript
• Transcript: iPhone 4S and Siri Transcript

Please help us out by spreading the word. Tell your friends via: FrequencyCast on Facebook and FrequencyCast on Twitter.

Any comments on the show? Anything you’d like to ask our Siri? Please add a comment below, or leave us a voicemail message on 0208 133 4567 (London call), or drop us a text message!