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We''re giving you the chance to win some fantastic prizes simply by referring your friends and family - how easy is that?
From April 6th - June 30th, when you refer a friend who signs up and registers for a personalized shopping list, you will be entered into our FREE Refer-a-Friend contest.
One lucky first prize winner will receive a TomTom One Europe Satellite Navigation system voted as one of the ‘best of the rest’ by T3 Magazine and worth over £230.
Each time you successfully Refer-a-Friend you will receive an entry into the contest, so the more friends you refer the better your chances of winning.
* Note that you have to have completed the entire registration process including the verification email to be able to enter the competition by referring a friend.
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Prizes are drawn quarterly - the next draw will take place on Monday 2nd July 2007 and the last entries into the competition for this quarter will be accepted at 11.59pm on 30th June 2007.
New from Sling Media
The SlingCatcher
The original Slingbox transmitted live television broadcasts, or shows recorded on the owners PVR, onto any computer with a broadband internet connection.
However the SlingCatcher is a different animal altogether. Measuring just 8in-long this flattened pyramid shaped box transmits video material from, say, a Sky+ box to a TV – no computer required – assuming the two are in different parts of the house or, indeed, in different houses.
When demonstrated at CES, the target TV was seen to display a standard-definition video that seemed a near perfect replication of the source footage.
So as gadgets go this one should be firmly at the top of your must have list when it arrives in the
Exercise while playing with Wii Sports
Exercise while playing video games
Who says we are a fat nation because we spend too much time in front of the TV not exercising? With wii sports you can now enjoy video games and exercise at the same time!
‘Wii sports’ includes tennis, golf, bowling and boxing.
The games are really easy to get the hang on and the wii remote makes it fun and energetic.
The games are multiplayers, and tennis with four people is great fun, especially as you try not to hit your mates with flailing arms. Boxing is a great idea, and uses two controllers allowing you to throw punches with both arms. A great way to release the tension after a stressful day at work!
These will give you quite a work out so be prepared to sweat. Who says exercising is no fun?
Check out the latest prices online at text4price.com or on your mobile at 84070.
Wii’s a winner
With the controls firmly set on fun.
Nintendo’s new Wii, launched today, is already on course to be this Christmas’s must have present – possibly due to Sony delaying the European launch of its new Playstation 3 until March next year.
Already the Wii console has sold out across
So what is so good about it, well the first thing that hits you is how small the console is, only a little larger than a stack of four DVD cases. Setting it up is a breeze, and the instructions are clear and easy to understand.
The key to the Wii is the controller. Shaped like a TV remote, it interacts with a small sensor bar placed in front of the TV to translate your own motion to movement on screen.
It’s an incredibly intuitive way to control games, and the Wii sports game supplied with every console makes full use of it. Take Wii tennis, for example, using the controller like a racket you swing at the ball and after playing your first set of Wii tennis it’s really hard to wipe the grin from your face.
That said the graphics are not up to Xbox 360 standard, after only a few sets of tennis the cartoon-like graphics begin to take on an appeal all their own.
The console has some excellent online features like being able to download games from Nintendo’s extensive back catalogue, news updates and even weather forecasts once you’ve connected to the internet.
If you’ve got the Plasma TV in the living room……
It’s now time to update to hi-definition in the bedroom.
The latest crop of small, well smallish, screen TV’s are superb and here we choose three of our favorites.
Samsungs 26in LCD looks fantastic on or off, and will also double as a decent PC monitor. The picture quality is brilliant and on-screen menus make it an absolute breeze to use.
Looks decent, although a bit retro, and features like the FM radio give this 23in screen an advantage over rivals. Looks great with HD signals but pretty average with standard TV
One of the most expensive sets in this size range, but it does look great. The concealed speakers sound excellent and the HD pictures look stunning – it’s a great all rounder.
Should you be dreaming of a Green Christmas?
Here are some suggestions
With just over 5 weeks until Christmas day shouldn’t we be considering how we can overindulge and splash the cash but still do our bit for worthy causes and the environment?
In our first of a series of gift ideas for the 2006 shopping season we show you how you can have a caring sharing Christmas.
Charity Gifts
Here are some brilliant gifts that where a proportion of the sales goes to the Breast Cancer Campaign:
Morphy Richards Accents Powder Pink 2 Slice Toaster
Filofax Pink Pocket Organizer and Pen
Eco-Friendly Gifts
What about all those batteries you need to buy to power all those lovely gadgets you are about to wrap up. Here are some
A Podgear Solar Powered mains charger
Fair Trade Gifts
You can always go global and think ethically when you’re doing your Christmas Shopping. Look for all the fabulous fair trade items on offer.
Finally don’t forget the Christmas decorations and there are plenty of ways to stay green when decorating your house.
An artificial tree, like this Canadian Pine for example.
Or this ‘Fruits of the
Have you ever thought………
What is a smartphone?
A smart phone can synchronise contacts, diary, tasks and emails with a PC, run software from third-party developers, provide access to email and the internet, and can be used for voice calls and messaging.
There are several operating systems: Windows Mobile for Pocket PC phone Edition, Windows Mobile 5.0, Palm OS and Symbian.
Symbian comes in several different versions. S60 is found in phones from Nokia. Series 80 is designed for landscape screens and found in Nokia’s 9300i and 9500 smartphones range.
UIQ supports touch-screens and is found in Sony Ericsson’s P990i, W950i and M600i.
Finally, series 90 supports touch-screen capabilities, and runs on the Nokia 7710.
Looking for an iTrip?
No longer a perfect cell mate for your iPod…….
iTrips are the latest in wireless technology, micro FM transmitters which connect to your iPod and broadcast and broadcast a signal to nearby radios.
You can listen to your favorite iPod tracks on your car radio, home stereo, or any other receiver in the vicinity.
iTrips are currently illegal in this country, falling foul of measures designed to stop pirate radio stations. However, Ofcom is planning to amend the law, legitimizing their use.
If and when that occurs, iTrips are set to be big sellers; Ofcom estimates that around 87,500 people are using iTrips already and a further 800,000 units will be sold in the
Ofcom’s final consultation is set to have finished on November 6th, and the devices should become legal shortly after.
So, this Christmas you can probably have an iTrip in your stocking without a trip to prison.
Sony SZ3 VAIO Notebook
Until now, slow download speeds have made it difficult to use broadband on the move.
This problem has now been solved by the high-speed mobile connection of the new VAIO notebook, which has a current download rate of 1.8 megabits per second.
This is thanks to next generation ExpressCard™ hardware, which automatically switches to the fastest internet service available as you move around.
It also provides the user with a robust, trouble-free plug and play experience, and has a lower battery power consumption rate than old-style PC cards.
Yet more battery power is saved by another unique feature – the SZ3 VAIO is the only notebook in the world to have two graphics chips, enabling you to draw upon immense graphics power when required, but conserve energy by using a low demand chip the rest of the time.
The notebook also has an integrated webcam, fingerprint recognition and hard disc drop detection.
It combines all these features with ultra-portability and a high-performance, easy-to-use internet service, making it the ultimate business VAIO.
LG U400
A Mobile DJ with a difference.
Music-orientated mobiles that try to rival MP3 players are increasingly popular.
The U400 is LG’s flagship music phone and was exclusive to 3 but will be widely available shortly.
The 3G slider-style handset is easier to operate than previous LG models.
It has a wired remote control with music playback buttons and an iPod-like dial for moving through menus or tracks.
The dial is too fast, but it also acts as a four-way direction pad, which works better.
Playback through the supplied headphones is decent but the U400’s cable has a standard 3.5mm jack that will take other makes.
Enjoying MP3 files dragged onto the phone’s SD memory card can be fiddly.
However, the U400’s biggest flaw is its modest battery life: it will need daily recharging if you listen to your favorite tracks regularly.
So where’s the fun in that?
Men will drive a £7bn Xmas shopping spree
From an armchair of course………..
Internet shopping is predicted to hit a record £7 billion this Christmas and it is men that are likely to be the ones driving the growth.
Many men are going online as they seek to avoid shopping trips – opting for comfort and convenience instead, according to a survey of British attitudes to shopping.
A report by the British council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) revealed men dismiss lengthy browsing for the “hunter” approach to shopping, where they have a specific idea of what they want to securely and want to go about getting it as painlessly as possible.
“Men find it more convenient and cost-efficient to shop on the internet, and envisage that in the future they will only do more of their shopping online”, says the BCSC report.
“Women were at the opposite end of the spectrum. They were certainly not planning to do more shopping online, nor did they think it was more convenient to shop that way.”
Sound’s like that beginnings of many an argument in car parks up and down the country over the next few weeks…….
Singing in the Rain……
with this Sony Sports Walkman MP3 player.
Not only will Sony’s NW-205F MP3 player/FM radio monitor the distance you cover and calories you burn, its ‘music pacer’ feature will match tunes to your speed.
With and absorbent armband and handy short headphone cable there is now no excuse not to burn those calories.
Check for the best prices on the Sony NW-205F either online or if you are in store with us at text4price and be a smarter shopper.The Christmas gift idea that could match anyone’s style.
The Intempo PP01
This little beauty claims to be the world’s first personalisable DAB radio.
The Intempo's flat speakers come with two colourful protective sceens out of the box, but we think this could make the ideal gift for as you can design your own for her using a favorite photo, pattern or colour to match the room.
It’s not just a good looker either as you get 20 hours of listening on a full charge too.
Check it out online now and beat the high street rush before Santa's shops shut.
‘Sony Reader’ will be an iPod for Bookworms….
When it launches in America.
Bestsellers such as ‘The Da Vinci code’ will soon be available to buy for just 0ver £3 on a new portable electronic reading gadget.
The Sony Reader, a device that can store hundreds of books and display them with the same clarity as ink and paper, is being launched in
The makers have also created an online library of 10,000 electronic books from six publishers to coincide with the launch.
It’s described as the new iPod for books, and Sony hopes it will do for reading what the apple product has done for its music.
The readers screen has no flicker and no backlight, so bookworms can read for hours without straining their eyes.
Selling for under £200, the reader measures about the size of an average hardback.
Fuelsearch.co.uk - Fuel prices straight to your mobile.
We have found this great new service, called 'Fuelsearch.co.uk', for comparing fuel prices.
Not only does it feature a service for route planning that allows you to plan your journey and find the best fuel prices on your Journey.
You can also get the latest fuel prices wherever you are in the
You get 20 route searches, including full access to local price search service on the web plus unlimited text searches for £1.20 per month.
Texts charged at your standard network tariff plus 25p.
Supports Vodafone,
The Creative Zen V Plus
Excellent but it’s not Mac-compatible
Creative is always keen to stress why its MP3 players are better than those of its rivals, so its no surprise then that it has emphasized that the Zen V Plus is scratch resistant, after the damaged screen scandal that greeted the launch of the Ipod Nano.
Like the Nano, it is a flash-memory player, and comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB sizes, to store up to 1,000 tracks (creative gives higher figures than this, but it means losing audio quality).
Beyond that, its very different from its Apple equivalent – you can plug it into a Hi-Fi and record to it directly without the need for a PC, it has both an FM radio and a microphone built in.
We think it is a fine mid level MP3 player, its just a shame the Zen V Plus is not Mac-compatible, but with prices starting from £65 we can forgive it that.Powerball is the latest craze it take the world by storm.
Plus it’s the earth’s most powerful hand gyro.
“Here we go”, we can hear you groaning, “yet another new fangled gadget to add to the list”. Something you will be forced to buy – because temptation will get the better of you and advertising will convince you that you can’t possible live without it – and , as always, its enjoyment will be short-lived and it will end its sorry little life fighting for space amongst the other one hit wonders at the bottom of your cupboard.
Well this time it really is different, because Powerball is not a fad; it is a superlative fitness instrument, a definitive sports product and a gentle, non-impact rehabilitation tool – that just happens to be addictive. So, what on earth is this brilliant innovation and how exactly does it work?
In a nutshell, it is the world’s most perfectly balanced gyroscope, a finely engineered and rapidly spinning rotor enclosed in a solid, hand-held outer sphere. To make it work, all you have to do is set the rotor in motion (by using a cord or your finger) and build up speed by subtle rotation of the wrist.
The stronger you are the faster you will be able to make the Powerball spin. The faster you make it spin the more inertia it generates and the more resistance it subsequently inflicts upon your body.
It can reach speeds in excess of 15,000rpm, generating a staggering 40lbs of inertial resistance. This, in turn, builds up power in your shoulders, arms and wrists – one of the main contributing factors to excellence in up to 95% of all sports.
It dramatically increases a Powerball trained player’s ability to hit a ball further, straighter and with more authority. It also boosts endurance levels, making it ideal for fitness enthusiasts of virtually every kind of sport.
In addition, because the inertia generated is directly proportional to the speed at which you are spinning the rotor, it is just as capable of gently rehabilitating a damaged limb as it is building up muscle.
The Powerball comes in several ‘flavors’ to suit everyone’s taste, try some of these for size:
Powerball 250hz Amber
Powerball Metal
Powerball 250hz Pro Blue
Powerball Neon Green ProSony Vaio SZ2
Tired of lugging that heavy laptop around with you
The new Sony Vaio SZ2 with an ultra-slim design and lightweight carbon fibre chassis should solve your back problems.
Its sleek black design houses a 2Ghz Intel® core™ Duo processor with 1GB RAM as standard.
The NVIDIA® GeForce® Go7400 is optionally activated, meaning battery life can be extended to a healthy 6 hours by running graphics of the Intel CPU.
The whole laptop appears designed to reduce weight. The screen is the thinnest of its kind, measuring in at just 4.5mm front to back.
The carbon fibre construction means it weighs in at an impressive 1.68Kg. G-sensor hard disk technology ensures that, should your laptop be accidentally dropped or knocked, the hard drive braces itself by halting all data exchanges a split second before impact, minimizing the loss of data.
Not only is the laptop physically secure, but finger print recognition adds a new layer of security on entry.
Add a quality LCD screen, 100GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a built-in webcam, and you have an extremely powerful yet portable laptop.
Compare the best deals on this lightweight powerhouse with Text4price online at www.text4price.com or from your mobile by texting ‘find’ then ‘Sony SZ2’ to 84070.What’s the cost of looking cool?
Well it’s about £3000 these days if you believe a recent poll.
Image-conscious men fork out nearly £3000 just to look cool and keep up with the latest gadgets, a recent poll has shown.
Must haves include Diesel jeans, Adidias trainers, and iPod, a 40in plasma TV, an Xbox360 console, a can of coke and a bottle of Vodka in the fridge.
Whilst the £3000 does seem expensive those fashion chasing blokes can rest in the knowledge that the total price to pay is among the cheapest in Europe as we found when comparing this package to other countries such as France and Germany.
If you want to be cool this Christmas and still have change to treat your family then look no further than probably the best price comparison site to do it, Text4price, and find the best deals online at anytime.
A traveller’s toolkit in your pocket.
It’s better than carrying a plastic bag.
Instead of carrying a stack of travel guides when you hot-foot it abroad, why not access Vodafone’s new Traveler’s Toolkit?
If you are a Vodafone customer, you’re Live! portal will automatically revert to its roaming home page, containing information on the country and the area you’re visiting.
Jetsetters can access Time Out city guides, mobicasts from The independent’s newspaper travel writer, plus a language translator and a currency converter.
Plus, if you’re still unsure of roaming costs, a price guide is included, and you can send a postcard to your mates back home to rub it in. Clearly Vodafone knows how to travel light.
Don’t forget that Traveller’s can also use Text4price Abroad. Simply send an SMS with the word ‘find’ plus the product name such as ‘iPod’ or ‘Chanel No5 100ml’ and find out within a couple of minutes if it really is a bargain.
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