Which household appliances could you not do without? Different people would produce different lists, of course, but some of the items which might appear on most lists could include the fridge, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, television, and microwave.

Fridge
Keeping food usable for any length of time before the advent of the refrigerator usually meant having to preserve the food in salt or by pickling it, work which took time, effort, and a certain amount of skill. Today the fridge allows busy people to keep food fresh for prolonged periods of time. With a fridge there is no need to shop every day or buy foods such as dairy products in small amounts, as food can now be bought and stored in the fridge for several days at time. Without refrigeration many of the items we commonly see in the supermarket could not be sold at all.

Washing machine
Washing clothes before the advent of washing machines was also labour intensive. Laundry day could be just that – a whole day spent doing just the washing. With today’s machines clothes can be washed and even dried quickly and easily. The agitating action of the washing machine helps to release dirt and get clothes much cleaner than was possible before. Washing was once a back-breaking task, but today you simply switch on the washing machine and let it do all the hard work.

Vacuum cleaner
Years ago carpets were cleaned by hanging them on a line and beating them, but with the modern vacuum cleaner carpets can not only be cleaned deep down, but also washed and dried. Vacuum cleaners can even clear dust and debris from wood or tile floors rapidly. For people who have allergies, choosing a vacuum cleaner that is specifically designed to pick up pet hairs and other allergens can make life much more pleasant. Many modern cylinder vacuum cleaners have special filters that will retain allergens and pick up extra dirt. By using the variety of attachments that most vacuum cleaners come with, you can do a lot more than clean floors; you can also clean blinds, furnishings, stairs, and even the car.

Television
Television has provided people with a world of entertainment. Whether you prefer watching sporting events, travel series, news and educational shows, comedies or dramas, television has enriched all our lives. Before television was introduced people had to huddle around the radio or read the newspaper to get the latest news. Today, with hundreds of channels to choose, from individuals can easily keep up to date with the latest news, and enjoy a world of entertainment. The number of televisions in the world is growing, and broadcast television companies are competing more vigorously for viewers, which is resulting in higher quality programming. Associated technologies such as DVD recorders allow the viewer to schedule, record, and play programmes back at their leisure, giving them greater control over their viewing experience.

Microwave
The microwave oven was introduced in 1967 and for busy people they are the perfect cooking tool. A microwave can cook a meal six times faster than a conventional oven, which means that less time is spent preparing meals. Whilst some may prefer slow-cooked meals, the microwave is nevertheless very useful for cooking, re-heating, and even sterilising. Depending on the size of the meal being cooked, a microwave oven can also be more environmentally friendly as they may use less energy.

This article was first written in March 2010. Some stats may have changed since it was published.

Blackberry was there from the beginning of the smartphone revolution. The first Blackberry device was just a two-way pager, way back in 1999. However, in 2002 the first Blackberry smartphone was released and it was the first of its kind created for wireless email. Now RIM, the makers the device, control 21% of the market, second after Nokia and ahead of Apple and the i-phone series by 6%.

But what exactly is a ‘smartphone’? A smartphone offers advanced, computer-like capabilities such as emailing and web browsing but it is also synonymous with camera and mp3 functionality. They run on their own operating system which varies from phone to phone. In reality, smartphones are actually mobile computers with telephoning ability.

Most Blackberry users are businessmen and women. Blackberrys are less fussy than some of their peers and have a straightforward operating system that is designed for business. However, in the past few years, Blackberry phones have been ‘pimped’. They are now super stylish, come complete with decent cameras, mp3 players, loads of memory and still maintain the easy to use mantra that made them successful in the first place. So here’s the low down on top three Blackberry smartphone handsets.

The Blackberry Bold 9700 is the latest addition to the Blackberry family. This may be a phone for business but by no means is it a boring as a black suit. The colours are more vivid thanks to new processes fusing the LCD screen to the outer glass layer covering it. The handset also has a complete Qwerty keyboard, i.e. the one you get on a normal computer, and despite its small size it is completely usable. You can hold the phone to your ear without looking like your using a brick. It’s narrow but still has an effective keyboard.

It also makes full use of 3G technology. Up until recently, Blackberry opted to stay put with 2G because it felt this was fast and efficient enough, but now it has fully embraced the latest technology and it hasn’t had to sacrifice small size and efficiency to do so.

Up next is the Storm 2. It has a touch screen so should appeal to iPhone affectionados. It has wi-fi and 3G internet, better than its predecessor and like the Bold, it hasn’t compromised on space. It also has a few things the Bold doesn’t, such as mass storage and back up and restoration of PC files.

The Curve is designed for a broader consumer market, not specific to business users, but this does mean that it lacks 3G and HSDPA, restricted to 2G browsing. But for most uses this is perfectly adequate. It is quite a bit cheaper than the Storm and Bold too.

Image: official logo, owned by RIM.

HDTV is revolutionising the way we watch television. With broadcasters like Sky offering up more and more true HDTV content, as well as HD gaming and HD Blu-Ray discs, increasingly people are turning on and tuning in to the HDTV format. So if you’ve decided to make the switch to superior TV quality, where do you start?

With so many HDTV models on the market now, it can be a little bewildering. Our guide will help you sort the best from the rest, ensuring that you make a purchase that suits your needs and will truly deliver.

Screen Resolution

First of all, you want to make sure that the TVs you’re looking at are in fact High Definition. It can be easy to confuse flatscreen TVs with HDTVs. For a television to be deemed truly HD, the screen resolution must be at least 720 by 1280 pixels.

Always Try Before you Buy

It helps to do a bit of research before you scour the stores. Set yourself a budget, and then do some comparisons online, at HD review sites like HD Guru, to get acquainted with what you can expect for your price range. Then it’s time to hit the shops and try them out. Although all of the sets in-store may not be powered up or fully tuned in, sales staff will be happy to help to test run your purchase before you buy.

Compare and Contrast

Contrast ratios are one of the first things you want to try out. You’ll often see huge figures given in terms of contrast rations, like 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The truth is, these numbers are pretty meaningless. While most modern TVs now perform excellently in terms of the white side of the colour spectrum, it’s the quality of the black side that you should give extra consideration to. Ideally, you want truly dark blacks, so cup your hands around a black area of the screen and take a good look. Is it glowing, or deep, dark black? Plasma screens have traditionally been superior in terms of producing true black visuals.

Consider Viewing Angles

You also want to make sure that the HDTV you buy has as wide a viewing range as possible, without losing saturation or changing colour. This is really simple to test out too. Simply stand in the middle of the TV screen and move to the right or left. You’ll be able to judge how quickly the colours start to blur and change, and opt for the HDTV model that is least susceptible to this.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5067130/giz-explains-how-to-choose-an-hdtv-like-a-pro

What better way to kick off a new year than by treating yourself to an awe-inspiring collection of today’s (and tomorrow’s) latest and greatest gadgets? Cue CES 2012 – the Consumer Electronics Show, or ‘the industry’s largest educational forum to help companies expand their businesses and understand new technology’.

For four days, visitors and exhibitors alike took the opportunity to check out the very latest in technology & gadgets.

This year’s CES Hot Stuff Awards were decided by the editors from best-selling gadget magazine Stuff (and its online version). The Stuff team chose 10 products based on the ‘gadget joy’ they could provide their happy owners with.

At number 1, there’s the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga, which looks a lot like a ‘normal’ laptop but offers a 360 degree hinge so its snazzy 13.1″ touchscreen can be angled any way you like.

Number 2 is Starck’s Zik Parrot – headphones with triple-mic noise cancelling, touch-sensitive swipe volume and track controls, along with a proximity sensor that means the tunes start automatically when you put the headphones over your ears.

The Fujifilm X-Pro 1, at number 3 in the list, is a stylish compact system camera that looks good and delivers good pictures with ‘three beautiful prime lenses in its launch line-up’.

As you’d expect, there’s a TV in there too – the 55″ Super OLED Smart TV from Samsung at number 4. Seriously thin, this TV offers lovely bright images and also facial recognition! It’s also one of the very first TVs to come with upgradeable insides.

Number 5′s a great idea for anyone who’s ever stuck a drink in the freezer for a quick chill, only to forget it’s in there and have it explode. The Jet Flow system on the door of LG’s Blast Chiller can chill an entire bottle of wine in eight minutes – and a can of beer in just five.

The Xperia S from Sony (number 6) comes with all kinds of features to get a gadget fan excited, from a 12 MP camera and dual-core processor to its NFC (Near Field Communication) functionality.

Number 7′s the Blue Spark Digital Microphone, which that connects to tablets, PCs and Macs to let people ‘play old-school disc jockey with no-so retro features like Garageband compatibility’.

At number 8 there’s the HP Envy Spectre, an Ultrabook with a stylish look – its top panel is a ‘solid slice’ of glass, while the wrist rest goes with the silica theme.

If you thought vinyl was dead and buried, take a look at number 9, the LP 2 Go turntable from ION. Retailing at just $70, it comes with a speaker and is capable of ripping records to a PC. What’s more, it just needs four AA batteries, so it’s a good way of enjoying music on the go.

Finally, number 10 is the Razer Project Fiona – a tablet with a serious Core i7 processor and PC architecture and two controllers with analogue sticks on the sides. For gamers who like tablets, this could be a great way forward…

Written by Think Insure.

Christmas is over, New Year is done and dusted and the sales have begun. Sales kicked off with a bang at the end of 2011; British shoppers spent a record £4.3 billion on the 26th and 27th December. Despite a tough economy this is a new record. The sales themselves were particularly impressive, with discounts of up to 80% off, so it’s no wonder some shoppers camped outside of their favourite shops overnight, waiting for the early morning 6am or 7am openings.

It’s not just clothes and electronics that have been reduced. The end of the December and January are by far the best times to buy a whole range of household items too. Washing machines, fridge-freezers and kitchen appliances are reduced to a great extent.

Dixons has some amazing sales on a whole range of household appliances at the moment, including the humble washing machine. There are a great many washing machines to choose from, but if you’re looking for a combination of a good discount and a top quality here are our top picks.

Bosch Exxcel 7

One of Dixons’ most popular washing machines is the Bosh Exxcel 7. It combines efficiency and power and at just £400 it represents fantastic value for money. This washing machine scores top points for energy efficiency, achieving the maximum A+++ rating meaning less energy is required by this powerful machine. Through its ActiveWater system, water is recycled and used economically, so it saves water as well as electricity. It has 16 settings including reduced ironing and energy saving options. It has a maximum spin speed of 1400rpm and can take up to 7kgs of washing in one go.

HotPoint WMAL641G

If you don’t have £400 to spend on a washing machine, this version from HotPoint is a better option (pictured). At £263 it is much more affordable, but it doesn’t compromise on quality. It has a wash capacity of 6kgs and a spin speed 1400rpm. It too has a range of settings, including quick wash and half load options, and an impressive energy rating of A+.

LG F1443KD

This washing machine is one of the best on the market right now. It’s a little pricy at £685, but it really does deliver on performance and quality. It can take a maximum load of 11kg and still manages a 1400 rpm spin speed and an A++ energy efficiency rating. For more information on energy efficiency in the home, check out the Energy Saving Trust website.

This is a cool little gadget, it is called the Lightspeed iHelicopter. I’m sure the little ‘i’ gives away how you control it – via an App.

You buy the Phone Controlled Helicopter from the ParamountZone website. Then you download the free app (Apple or Android) and get flying!

So is it any good?
The package arrived and I have to admit I was a tad excited. I already have one such gadget so was looking forward to trying this out. Opened the smart black box to reveal the copter and it’s contents. All very easy to open and get going via the included manual.

The helicopter itself has a nice simple but cool black and silver design. It is made of plastic, with the frame being metal. The plastic is good because Ive flown it into walls, windows, the TV and all sorts and all still seems perfect, the impact is absorbed. You do also get a few spare parts including blades should breaks occur. It also has a series of flashing lights which look wicked in a dim room. You do have the option to turn the lights off if you wish though.

How do you set it up?
To set up and get going is easy, although it will take a couple of hours to let both parts charge.

• First you charge the transmitter, via a USB cable.
• Second you charge the helicopter, via the same USB cable, but they have to be done separately.
• Third download the free app to your Android smartphone, iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad.
• Fourth slot the transmitter into the headphone socket and turn the volume to the maximum level.
• The fifth step is to get flying!

What’s it like to fly?
As with other remote controlled helicopters it does take a bit of getting used to. It takes a while just to be able to control it for 15 seconds. So I expect many hours of flying before it can be mastered. These sorts of gadgets do require a smudge of patience! However I would say I found this slightly easier to get the hang of then my other helicopter.

The controls are as simple as can be. The app works on Apple and Android devices. I haven’t tried it on my HTC but have tried it on my iPod Touch and iPad and both worked without hiccup. When you use it on the iPad it looks small, their is an option to double it’s size but the graphics lose a lot of their quality, so I stick to keeping it small as it is still easy to manage (see pic).

So in conclusion.
Currently priced at a penny shy of £30 I think this is a brilliant bit of fun. Fantastic value for money. A great gift for boys (ages 14+) who love fun gadgets to play with, and geeks who love their apps! Definitely a good gift this xmas. I rate it 9/10.

They also have other cool gadgets ideal as christmas presents at Paramountzone.

This is a photo I managed to capture mid flight, as you can see the shadows on the wall I’m sure you can guess how close it was to the wall! The office is small though in my defence!

Here are some more photos taken during the test.