Some of you might remember a while back that I wrote about the Flip Mino on this very blog. Well, they have bought out a High Definition version. The Flip Mino HD is practically the same as the original but with much better capabilities.

The Flip Mino HD is still operated by clicking on the one button and it still has the flip out USB connector. The Flip Mino HD also features the built in software that made the Flip Mino such an instant and international hit.

The Flip Mino HD takes video in stunning 720p High Definition which is also Widescreen. It’s also possibly the smallest and easiest to use HD camcorder in the world. Not only that, but the Flip Mino HD takes 60 minutes of video on it’s built in 4Gb of memory.

You don’t have to carry around any chargers or cables either because it charges the battery through the USB connector. With this kind of quality, style and features they couldn’t possibly keep the price under £100. The Flip Mino HD also surprises on the price front because it’s under £170 - That’s got to be the cheapest price for a HD camcorder too. Go get yours today from PriceGrabber.

Obviously if I’m going to be doing these podcasts often I want them to sound as professional as possible. That’s where the Pop Screen comes in handy. It stops peaks in the volume of the recorded sound.

Getting a Pop Screen isn’t essential but it definitely makes things easier when it comes to editing the final podcast ready for submitting and uploading to iTunes (which I still haven’t looked in to). I guess a Pop Screen also helps by keeping your mouth at a constant distance from the microphone too.

 Pop Screens vary in price fro a few pounds to a hundred pounds. Obviously spending over £100 on a screen to stop the “pops” and “clicks” from my podcasts is a bit extreme for me. This is a hobby, not a professional studio setup. Anyhow, once again PriceGrabber have a selection of Pop Screens on their system. That’s always a good thing for everyone concerned.

I guess what I’m trying to do is get the best possible solution for my needs as a home based podcast creator. I’m not looking to produce a hit record here (although that could be fun too). The main point is that it’s easy enough for me to do on a fairly basic budget. With the help of PriceGrabber I’ll be able to achieve that.

The first thing I suppose I would need would be a microphone. Choosing one is a difficult task though. Do I go for a microphone that plugs straight in to the USB port, or get one that uses a separate pre-amplifier.

I’ve not decided on which one yet because I haven’t looked in to the software that I’ll need to record the sound from the microphone. I suppose a USB one would be the better option. As I said, there are many things I need to look in to.

Having an USB Microphone would cut the cost down I suppose and would speed up the recording process by not having to set things up, but saying that, I’m going to have to think of getting some sort of stand for this microphone too.
It’s an ever evolving process getting this set up. I can see me having to make a list. I thought it would be a pretty straight forward process… Get a microphone and you’re away. But it isn’t that simple I’ve realised.

Getting a Microphone is the most important decision in the process though I think. Luckily for me PriceGrabber have a huge choice available for me to choose from.

I’ve been thinking of getting some things together to start doing podcasts recently. I’ve been interested in podcasting for a while to be honest. It’s one of those things you’ve got to try I think. But what would I talk about? Well, the answer to that is simple; gadgets. I’d also like to make a podcast on general stuff too; the things that are happening all around us. I guess that would be social commentating or something.

Anyhow, over the next few days I’m going to blog about the equipment I think I’ll need to get myself started on this project. Hopefully I’ll be up and running in a few weeks after that.

I suppose that podcasting is only as difficult as you make it. If you know enough about your chosen subject it should all go well. But, if you haven’t done your research then it can quickly fail. I’ll need to find out if I need any specific software on the computer too.

This is all very exciting stuff for me; a new way of getting the message out there. Hopefully, it’ll be good enough that people will want to listen to it on a regular basis. I’m thinking as I write here, so forgive me if it seems a bit scattered. I wonder how you go about getting it listed in the iTunes store. That will be an interesting piece of research that I’ll have to do.

Anyhow, I’ll keep you posted as to the progress of my little project on this blog

Not a gadget at all but I thought I had to write about a book I’ve been reading. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer is a fantastic love story between a girl and a vampire. The book is the first in a series of books about Isabella Swan and her romance with Edward Cullen, or at least I think they are. The first book definitely is. I haven’t read any of the others yet.

I decided to read the book first before seeing the film, because it’s always better to do it that way around.  I’m worried that if I see the film first then I’ll not bother finishing reading the book. I’m also worried that if I don’t read the book I might miss some vital pieces of information that I might need to know in order to understand the flow of the film.

So Twilight is the story of Bella Swan who moves to a quiet town to live with her father whilst her mother is away with her boyfriend. She starts a new school and meets Edward Cullen who at first has a dislike of her. Bella doesn’t understand why at first, but that becomes clear further on in the book when she finds out that Edward is in fact, a vampire.

I don’t want to give too much away, but you really should get these books as they are absolutely fantastic. They’ve been international bestsellers too.

You can grab a copy of the movie on DVD now!

This is a pretty cool gadget for both adults and kids alike. I would definitely get one of the Stealth Speedboats. With the weather we’ve had recently it’s been the perfect opportunity to go and race a Stealth Speedboat on a pond or lake. Obviously if you are a younger person, make sure there’s an adult with you for safety.

So, why a Stealth Speedboat I hear you ask? Well, I had a radio controlled Hovercraft when I was younger and never really got to take it anywhere. Now that I’m meant to be grown up I think it would be a Stealth Speedboat would be the perfect gadget gift for me. What’s more, the Stealth Speedboat can reach speeds of up to 30 km/h due to its aerodynamics.

Charging the battery takes 4 hours and this gives you 30 minutes to play with your Stealth Speedboat. Now what I’m thinking is that 30 minutes isn’t really a long time, so I would probably have to buy some extra batteries (if that’s possible). That aside, the Stealth Speedboat is a groovy little gift for anyone who loves their radio controlled models. I absolutely love them and would love to own an RC helicopter.

The Stealth Speedboat costs just under £40 which is great for me.

Last week I finally got my hands on an Apple iPhone 3G after months of waiting. My O2 contract was in its last month so I took the plunge and updated to the mobile I had been waiting so long to get.

When I got the package containing the Apple iPhone 3G, I was surprised at how small it was, but it was still exciting to cut the seals around the outer box to reveal the iPhone’s box. The good thing was that it was partially charged so I could play with it immediately once I’d inserted my sim card in to it. I did have to activate it through iTunes, but that was a painless and quick task. The first thing I did was transfer my contacts from my Nokia N95 to the Apple iPhone 3G. This was slightly dull as I had to do it entirely manually. If I’d have had an iMac I’m sure it would have been easier.

Having owned an iPod touch in the past I’m sure it was easier for me to get going straight away. The touch screen on the Apple iPhone 3G is much more responsive than the one on my iPod touch, and it does seem to be brighter. That may be down to the Apple iPhone 3G being new though.

There were however a few disappointments. No multimedia messaging (MMS), no forwarding of texts (SMS), and no 3G Signal where I live. OK, the last one is not the fault of Apple, but the other two are. But, Apple held a special event on Tuesday to reveal the new Apple iPhone OS 3.0, which will include MMS and SMS Forwarding. This is what I’d been wanting to hear and it makes the iPhone the best phone ever in my opinion.

On my 18 month contract with O2 I get 600 minutes per month, 500 text messages per month, FREE Data access and unlimited WiFi all for £35. I think that’s a pretty good deal seeing as I was paying £30 previously and using data on that package was expensive! All in all I am more than happy with the new Apple iPhone 3G that I got, but will be even happier come the summer and the 3.0 OS.

PriceGrabber have a huge range of accessories and cases for the Apple iPhone 3G - Go visit the site through this link to have a look.

When I was a child I always wanted a microscope. I never did get one though. Maybe I will now that I’ve come across the Veho VMS-001 USB Microscope. I remember as a child having a fascination with seeing things really close up. When I got to do biology in school I had grown out of it and was more interested in physics and chemistry.

But as the years have passed by I’ve gone full circle and come back to wanting to know about things in detail. Maybe this is because of the work I’m now doing with Special Effects where attention to detail is very important. I may write a blog post on my degree if anyone is interested in that; let me know.

So the Veho VMS-001 USB Microscope is great if you want to see what a flake of skin looks like in close up, or even what blood looks like. I’m not one for looking at blood at the best of times, but close up it’s totally different (I usually get nauseous if I see blood and have to sit down). Being able to connect the microscope up to a PC via USB is a great advancement over peering down a tiny hole. I think that may have put me off Biology to be honest. It’s either that or having to dissect a sheep’s eye and a pig’s heart.

The Veho VMS-001 USB Microscope is an excellent gift for anyone who has a keen interest in the things around them. Whether it is alive or dead, you’ll be thankful you had a Veho VMS-001 USB Microscope to look at it close up. Having a microscope will give the user a better understanding of how things work and costing just £35 you can’t really go wrong.

Apple has again released a new device. This time it’s an update to the Apple iPod Shuffle. This will be the third version of the smallest iPod available. They’ve reverted back to the shape of the original iPod Shuffle with this upgrade albeit much smaller. This iPod measures a tiny 1.8 inches in height and its thinness is also small at 0.7 inches.

The Apple iPod Shuffle holds a special place in my heart as it was the first iPod I owned. I still have it too but it does look dated now. I can’t really see me buying one though, mainly because I have an iPod touch and an iPhone (yes, I’ve got my hands on one finally!) already.

Apple have made the decision to move the controls from the main body of the iPod Shuffle and put them on the cord of the headphones which is a smart move in my opinion as it allows you to leave the Shuffle in your pocket. So what else is new? Well, it now has 4Gb of storage space which allows you to put about 1000 songs on the device. There’s also a feature on the new iPod Shuffle which allows it to “talk” to you. It won’t hold a conversation but it will tell you what artist and track are playing at the press of a button.

The new iPod Shuffle costs £59, which is about right I reckon. Although the second generation iPod Shuffle are still available at about the £30 price mark.

Shocking, simply shocking, is what the Shock Ball is all about. About the same size as a cricket ball, the Shock Ball is a great little gadget that will amuse (and shock) you for hours on end. Play pass the Shock Ball with a group of frinds to see who becomes the victim of a surge of electricity.

The Shock Ball delivers random electric shocks to whoever is unfortunate to be holding it when it goes off. This in turn can create a tense and fun atmosphere in which vital decisions can be made. Use the Shock Ball to decide who has to buy the first round of drinks down the local, or even to decide who has to buy the tickets to the next big gig you want to attend.

Costing under £15.00, it’s a great little gadget to have when you’ve got a group of mates round for a few drinks. It can turn a night in with the boys in to an extremely fun night in with the boys. Heck, you could even take it out with you and have fun with random people you meet.

Without a doubt, whatever you decide to do with the Shock Ball, it will make you laugh until your sides hurt. You might even get to feel the shocking power of the Shock Ball for yourself if you’re the unlucky one to get a hit.