I’ve never been a ‘gamer’. Personally, I can’t find justification in whiling away the hours controlling fantasy figures in fantasy lands, when there’s plenty of other real life stuff to be getting along with (like quality time spent with real people). Truth be told, I did once own a PS2, but it ended up getting lost behind the TV cabinet in amongst the dust, cracked CD cases and long-lost remote controls.

I do however enjoy watching a decent film and listening to inspiring music. I’m also quite partial to exploring and better understanding the web (heck, my job depends on it). I really don’t like clutter, so am always on the lookout for ways to reduce the number of media ‘devices’ around the place. Enter the PS3 Slim.

The original 80GB model looked like some strange bloated shiny being — too big and ugly to consider. But now there’s the 120GB PS3 ‘Slim’. It’s a lot smaller and will fit snugly within a TV cabinet compartment. It can be used as an all-in-one media hub, so the fact that I’m no game player is now a non issue.

Briefly, I can:

• Play Blu-Ray DVDs
• Watch and record Freeview TV via PlayTV (no more of the horrible drop-out I experience with my current built-in receiver)
• Stream media from iTunes (etc) via software such as MediaLink
• Browse the web, watch iPlayer BigScreen and more (like play games)…

So, off to Toys R Us, where they’re currently £20 cheaper than Amazon.

^{Image from Gizmodo}

I’ve become so accustomed to working with a dual screen set-up that I no longer consider it a luxury. When working with multiple applications and scripts etc, having two interconnected screens substantially increases efficiency and definitely reduces stress levels.

But, there are times when I have to hot-desk or work whilst travelling, so I do still regularly work with a single (laptop) screen. I’ve often wondered about the possibility of including dual-screen within a laptop’s casing and today saw this article on Mashable.

The units don’t exactly look lovely (but then what PC laptop does) and the increased power drain, weight and price tag ($3000) will, in my opinion, put almost all potential buyers off. Still, the important thing is that someone’s made the move towards designing a plausible solution.

Apparently the ‘gScreen’ could be on sale by this Christmas, but I don’t think it will pose a viable product for the majority of professionals. To be attractive, it will have to score top marks in 3 important areas—look, feel and functionality—a combination that will likely come only from Apple…

Hmm, a laptop with ears.

Predicament. Away travelling for a couple of weeks without on-site power. Need to have internet access to keep a daily monitor on web servers and urgent business contacts. The iPhone, for me, has been a God send in this respect. I can surreptitiously keep a tab on things without having to carry around a laptop all the time. But, an iPhone needs power (and lots of it, going by the poor battery life so many complain of). Sure, you can disable push and turn the screen brightness down, but you’d still be lucky to get a couple of day’s use out of one full charge. So, back to my predicament, how to deal with powering the mobile device for extended periods away from a power source?

I shudder at the price of chargers for mobile technology. I started looking into car chargers and was shocked to see prices for decent brands at around the £15 mark. There’s no way I’d spend that much, particularly given that it would likely only see use over 3-4 weeks a year, whilst away on holiday etc. Whilst baulking at prices, I happened upon an all-in-one charger and battery pack from Kensington. Nothing special in itself, but a very neat concept. Essentially, it’s a small external battery pack that’s charged from the mains or a car adaptor and then later used to charge an iPhone whenever it runs low. It’s like a portable mains socket; plug your phone in and leave to charge. Kensington claim it ‘extends music playback by up to 100 hours and talk by up to 6 hours’. Now, I’m not convinced that this is realistic but, for checking emails and brief bouts of surfing the web, I’m confident it should provide at least a few extra hours of life.

On-the-go

Personally, I could charge it in the car and then use it to charge my iPhone over days of no mains availability. Also, if I did happen upon a power socket I’m able to use, I’d be happy to leave the battery pack charging and return for it later—something I’d never do with my iPhone itself!

It’s expensive (around £30) and I’ve yet to test it. But, if it works well, the investment will be worthwhile as I will have an on-the-go power source and no need for any other charging devices. I’ve heard some reviews claiming poor power output, but then I’m convinced that some people either (a) leave their iPhone/iPod plugged into it for far too long, thus draining to much juice (b) use their device on full brightness to play games and watch videos, the two things that drain power the fastest.

I just hope it’s as good as the concept suggests…