Home movies are great fun aren’t they. Whether it’s a Christmas, a birthday or something a little less celebratory like your mate Steve doing the drunk pants on head dance, we all love to have those moments captured on video to share and re-live. Quite often though these moments pass us by and we don’t capture them because our damn video camera’s are so bloomin complicated that by the time we actually whip them out, get them switched on and have to fiddle about with settings, Steve has put his pants back on and is sitting rather angelically next to his girlfriend again.

What we need is a no nonsense, simple to use, sharp, stylish, convenient, cheap, good quality video camera that you can just whip out and press start. Now that sounds rather demanding when put like that but the Flip Digital Video Camera meets all of those demands and is a limbo dancing world champion low of a price at £99.95.

The Flip Digital Video Camera is so simple that it is literally just a case of pressing the button with “on” written on it then pressing the other button with “start” on it. With 2GB of memory you will have plenty of filming time and with a sharp 640 x 480 pixels resolution in MPG4 format you are not sacrificing video quality. You don’t have to worry about farcing around with stuff like focus and what not either. With a 2x automatic zoom your only job is to stand and point. Perhaps the most convenient little feature of all though is that it comes with a sweet little USB plug that flips out of the side. So there isn’t even any need for cables or any other uploading garbage, you just plug your Flip Video Camera in and away you go! At £99.95 this is bloody good value.

I had an interesting email in my inbox yesterday morning. It was from the Sling Media guys asking to see if I wanted to test their latest mobile client for the Nokia n95. Well I didn’t need to be asked twice. I was straight onto the website, filling in my details and downloading the client. Before I get to my opinion a little bit about the SlingBox.

The box, which now supports High Definition, allows you to stream content across the Internet to your computer or hand held device. I first picked mine up about 2 years ago [I think I was one of the first in the UK to actually have one] and must admit it’s probably been my most useful gadget to date.

The latest version now supports up to 4 video sources (including high def as I already said), although I currently only have my Sky HD box plugged in. You simply hook the box up to your home network and then it gives you what is known as a finder ID. This is the unique code to identify your Slingbox. You then install the client on your computer or mobile device and enter the finder ID of your sling box. The really cool thing about the Slingbox is that you can actually control your video source meaning you can change the channel while on the move. I also find the Slingbox very good around the home as well, especially streaming TV out to the garden - when the weather finally improves.

As I said though what makes this solution so great is that it works so well on the Nokia n95 as well. After installing yesterday I nipped outside and was able to stream the football over 3G. One thing though to be aware of is that over 3G this can eat up data faster than a pig in a pie shop so make sure you keep an eye on your usage. My advice would be to get an unlimited data plan, or go searching for a wireless hotspot.

The Slingbox is without a doubt one of my most prized gadgets and I highly recommend one to any gadget fan out there.

At the end of last year Creative launched a 32GB version of their popular Zen player in Asia and in true Creative fashion they teased us Brits with a one off limited amount of the mega memory player in December, a whole 50 of them! However from this week on the teasing stops as the Creative Zen will be available to all in the 32GB format.

With the same amount of on-board memory as the iPod Touch plus an SD card slot capable of taking up to 8GB more it’ll take a massive effort from you to fill this little baby up with media but I’m sure you can rise to the challenge. What is even better though is that if you are looking for a quality, teensy, mega memory player you no longer have to join the endless list of Apple fanboys, the Zen has everything you could possibly need. It will support file types WMA, MP3, AAC, WMV9, MJPEG, MPEG4, DivX and XviD and will display video at a 320×240 resolution. It has other great little treats for you to enjoy as well such as a built in FM radio and a built in microphone, supplied software for converting formats and it will play stuff bought from iTunes.

Fiddling about with the iPod Touch’ interface may be more enjoyable than that of the Zen but the Zen’ video quality is brilliant and with more memory you’ll squeeze a lot more movies into it. For a player the size of a credit card it packs a hell of a punch!

The BBC and Apple are getting closer and closer with each other as each day passes, so much so that the wife of BBC Director-General, Mark Thompson, is bound to be getting sick of the smell of Steve Jobs’ Apple flavoured lip gloss off him when he comes home at night. Recently, Apple and the BBC seem to have been inseparable. First the BBC announced that its TV programs were to be available for download via the iTunes service and now they have announced that BBC iPlayer service is going to be available through the iPhone and iPod Touch in the next few weeks.

Personally i don’t really see the point in the whole BBC/iTunes service, well, from a consumer point of view anyway. If you have missed your favourite TV program on BBC 1, the chances are that it is going to be on, on BBC Three or something either later that night or the next day and most probably all throughout the course of the week. Even then, if your life is too hectic to catch it second or third time around, it’s available on BBC iPlayer for the next 7 days sitting there waiting to be downloaded anytime you see fit. At £1.89 an episode from iTunes, I’m not sure the likes of Robin Hood and Torchwood are even worth the hassle.

The iPlayer service being available on the iPhone on the other hand, that i am in favour of. I am a big fan of BBC iPlayer as are a lot of other people judging by the 2.2M people who used the service in January alone. I find it particularly useful for the stuff i miss at weekends when i am out dancing, such as Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (Yes, i know!). Well instead of catching up with it on the PC, i can put it on my iPhone and watch it wherever i am, most likely public transport. You can never find enough stuff to keep you amused on a train or a bus! Catching up on missed TV makes much more sense while on the move.

I do have a concern with the download quality though. The iPhone’s speed is not exactly the greatest, also will i actually be able to download and store files in an iPlayer library on my phone or will it just be a more simple streaming system, that could mean disaster. I suppose for now we can only wait and see but as soon as i hear more you will be the first know.

The rumours were flying around everywhere this morning that a new iPhone was going to be unleashed upon us today, fueled by Apple shutting down their online store and bloggers “confirming” that the new iPhone would be in stores by as early as lunchtime. Well, as it turns out, those rumours were very close to home and they err… confirmations by bloggers all over the Blogosphere were spot on! The 16GB iPhone is here along with a very surprising 32GB iPod Touch, something that none of the pundits predicted.

The beefed up iPhone was called by pretty much everyone in the Blogosphere this morning but the new iPod Touch has really caught everyone off guard. The new 16GB iPhone will cost £329 - a £60 rise on the £269 8GB iPhone and there is still no sign of the 3G that we crave. The new 32GB iPod Touch will also leave your pockets £329 lighter and is also a £60 rise on the price of the previous top-end model. Both new products are available immediately online to both US and International customers and are expected to hit stores as well in the next couple of days.

A week ago, Sony announced that Skype for the PSP was to be halted in Japan which left a US and European release looking very precarious indeed. As Europe rarely see’s a release before the Japanese i wouldn’t blame you for writing off your chances of receiving Skype on your PSP but those wind-up merchants at Sony have sneakily included the Skype feature in their new firmware update, Version 3.90, released today for the PSP.

The new firmware update is available to users in both the US and Europe as of today and you can access it via your PSP’s Network Update. Unfortunately owners of the original PSP will not be able to take part as Skype will only run on Slim and Lite models. The release of the new firmware means that Sony have managed to meet the end of January deadline that they first set. The new firmware update also includes Go! Messenger which will be running by February and will enable voice and video chat between PSP users, nice!

Adding the Skype and Go! Messenger features to the Internet Radio feature that was released in the last firmware update, the increasingly useful PSP is now becoming a very appealing piece of tech not just to gamers but to pretty much anyone, hell, even my mother has one now!

Audio and video player designers, Sandisk, are setting their sights on Apple’s Nano with their new 32GB Sansa View MP3 player. The Sansa View has been available since last September in an 8GB and 16 GB form but they have unveiled at CES in Las Vegas this week that a 32GB model is here and they are pretty much ready to give the green light, launching it in the US in February with a $350/£175 price tag.

This massive increase in memory will mean you will be able to hold around about 50 movies!… so you definitely won’t be watching the same one twice that’s for sure. To make it even better there is a microSD expansion slot so you can have even more memory if you feel the need! Battery life is also pretty darn impressive with Sandisk claiming that the 32GB View will be capable of a 35 hour lifetime with audio or seven hours with video.

Along with the rest of the Sansa View mob, the 32GB version will come with a nice 2.4 inch colour screen and a very sleek, super cool design. Will this new 32GB Sansa View have Apple quaking in their boots then? Most probably not but this is a great little player with some terrific specs.

We love watching Peep Show on our media players and showing off our immature video clips on our phones from the weekend but what about the guy on the train peeping over your shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of Peep Show too or those times when you want to show off your weekend beer antics to a larger audience. Would a ”Plug-and-Play” Projector do the trick?… I think it would!

Microvision, developers of light-scanning technologies are set to unveil an advanced prototype of the first handheld, battery-powered, ‘plug-and-play’ projector at next weeks Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The new PicoP project which has been dubbed as “SHOW” is an ultra-thin laser projector that will project media images onto any surface. The technology is also the base for projectors to be fitted directly to mobile phones, PDAs, portable media players, digital cameras and laptops. So you can project your laptops desktop onto the wall or the movie in your media player onto the roof or funny pictures on your phone onto your friends face!

Microvision say that the PicoP projector will be capable of projecting a widescreen, WVGA (848 X 480 pixels), DVD quality image - Of course lighting will come into equation, i mean, it is a projector after all but surely it can only be better than viewing through a portable media device’s puny 2-incher. If all goes well, the PicoP projector could become the hottest accesory not just for your mobile phone or your PMP but for pretty much anything “half-portable” or even slightly media associated.

In my day job I travel a heck of a lot. I think at the last count I had taken over 170 flights in the past 18 months. Don’t even ask me to work out my carbon footprint. For anyone who has been on a long haul flight you know one of your biggest problems is boredom. The in-flight entertainment is either very poor or you have seen it before, probably on the last flight you took a few weeks previous. So what’s a person to do? Take my advice and invest in an personal media player from Archos, such as the 605 Wi-Fi model.

I know for many when they first think about a personal media player they think Apple. Well in my opinion if you want movies on the go then forget about the iPod, and think Archos. The 605, 5th generation model, comes with a vibrant 4.5″ touch screen, which in my opinon is a perfect combination for those who want to watch more than just video podcasts. The addition of wi-fi and web browser means that you also get quite a pleasant Internet experience - YouTube anyone? My concern when I heard that the 605 would have a wi-fi enabled browser was that the quality of the main feature, media playing, would be sacrificed. I should not have worried as Archos have managed to deliver a great experience for both.

Given that the 605 supports JPG, MP3, AVI, WAV, WMA, MPEG-4, MPEG-2 and WMV, it’s fortunate that this beast comes in 30GB, 80GB and 160GB models. Another new addition is a funky little kickstand which is sturdy enough to allow the player to stand alone without fear of it toppling over. I’ve been an Archos fan, and indeed owner, since the first generation models, and they certainly have improved in both the feature and looks department. Looks however don’t mean that Arhcos have forgotten about build quality,  and I find the player feels just right in the hand, but can also take a knock or two.

One downside to the Archos range is that if you wish to record from your TV you need to invest in the separate DVR module, which allows you to record directly from your TV. This is one of my main uses of the Archos and quite regularly find myself watching Match of The Day somewhere across the Atlantic - I can spot the jealousy of the passenger beside me who is forced to watch a re-run of The Darling Buds of May.

For me the Archos is one of the first gadgets I pack when travelling and would recommend one to anyone who spends any serious amount of time away from home.