I rented a brand new 2008 Mercedes C-Class Sports Saloon in Black with AMG Styling over the bank holiday weekend. Gorgeous car, I want one badly! I put almost 400 miles on it too.

http://www.c-class.co.uk/home.php

Very excited, seven boxes of my shiniest gadgets that have been in storage in Sydney are now powering their way halfway around the world aboard this container ship. They should arrive in London on the 30th October — just in time for me to move into my new flat. Perfect!

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=DPGZ

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_details.php?id=14799

I’ve been considering the gorgeous 70-200mm lens from Canon for some time now. Although I already have the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, I’d like one these too as the quality of shots at f/2.8L between 70-200mm will be nicer, and I think ultimately the lens will be more versatile for shots in this range. This is the lens of choice for paparazzi too

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Zoom_Lenses/EF70_200mm_f2.8L_IS_USM/

I’m very keen on this wide-angle EF-S lens from Canon, although with a EF-S mount it will be useless if I end up upgrading to a EOS 5D. Fantastic lens for tourist shots of landscapes and big buildings.

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Zoom_Lenses/EF-S_10-22mm_f-3.5-4.5/index.asp?ComponentID=221325&SourcePageID=26341#1

My IXUS 40 and then upgraded to IXUS 50 have been an excellent investment. These tiny pocket size cameras have seen much more use than my bulky Canon SLR setup as I carry the IXUS with me always. I’m quite keen to upgrade again to the IXUS 800 when it’s available next week. This is the first ultra-compact from Canon to feature an optical image stabiliser, just like I have in all my Canon EF/EF-S SLR lenses. The IS will help significantly with night shots out partying. I’ll be picking up one of these ASAP. Full marks to Canon for pushing the boundaries by introducing IS to ultra-compacts.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022110canonsd700is.asp

Even though I’ve only just picked up the new EDGE capable BlackBerry 8700g on O2, I’ll be switching to the new 3G (UMTS) capable BlackBerry 8707v from Vodafone as soon as they’re available. The snappy XScale processor in the BlackBerry 8700 has renewed my Crackberry addiction, and I just love it. I love that I have all my personal and work email accounts in one view, and access to all my public and work IM accounts via the excellent IM+. The quick wireless synchronisation with my Calendar and Task List is fantastic. I’m also running FreeNews RSS, Google Local, Zagat To Go and more on my 8700, along with wireless access to most of my regular sites through the BlackBerry Browser and Google XHTML transcoding. Froogle Mobile is particularly handy when you’re out and about on the high-street and want to see if you can get a better deal online. While many non-BlackBerry users snipe at the basic look of the interface on BlackBerry compared to the more sexy Windows Mobile and Symbian screens, I think this is what makes BlackBery such a winner from a usability perspective (excluding the horrible 7100 series). If you’re an email, chat and on the move browsing info junkie and you’re not using a BlackBerry, you don’t know what you’re missing .. that being said I am looking forward to playing with the Nokia E61 (with 3G!) when Nokia do eventually release it, and the T-Mobile Vario is nice (but alas not 3G). I did play with a engineering model of the Nokia E70 a couple of weeks ago and was wholly unimpressed with the speed of the processor.

http://uk.gizmodo.com/2006/03/24/blackberry_8707v_first_blackbe.html

One of these is high on my buy priority list this year for the European airshow season. I’m quite interested in the Close Call feature which will supposedly capture transmissions on nearby frequencies which will be ideal for finding inter-team communication during aerobatic displays etc where I’m not sure of the frequency. Unfortunately it is still very much aimed at the USA market and doesn’t support the most common European MPT1327 trunking standard. Still looks very nice, I am very tempted. Very pricey for a scanner though, but with a 6000 channel memory, and all those new digital and trunking features it’s the most advanced handheld scanner on the market, so the price is reasonable, but still overkill for airshow only usage.

http://www.ukmidlandscanner.co.uk/unibcd396t.htm

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2926400396387878713&q=maglev

Battery powered radio controlled helicopters are all the rage at the moment. Both WIRED magazine and Flyer ran reviews of a few differnet models last month, and most gadget stores/sites now sell a range of lower priced models. The more expensive yet still affordable helicopters are very capable. They come ready assembled with 15 minutes of flying time provided per charge of the usually Li-Polymer battery. Some of the rotors get up to an impressive 2,000 RPM! I’d quite like to get the Twister 3D Expert, however with no flying experience I might be better to go for the Twister CP V2. The Twister CP has a realistic collective pitch control on the main rotor (see second pic) to change the angle of attack on the carbon-fibre woven blades, just like on more expensive R/C choppers (and the real thing). Problem is I have no where to fly it in London. I could take it down the street to Hyde Park, but I’m pretty sure the park rangers would frown on radio controlled helicopters. I could fly it indoors at home, but I don’t think the helicopter blade scrapes around all the walls would go down too well.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000430055334/

http://www.psp411.com/list/games/Playstation_Portable_PSP_Games.html

http://www.gbpvr.com/

http://www.sipura.com/products/spa3000.htm

http://ozinternetphones.com/

I want one! [via jwz]

http://www.viceversa.com/Dynamic/Products,intCategoryID,34,intItemID,1447.html

http://www.google.com/enterprise/mini/index.html

I thought about plugging it into my existing LCD monitor and Microsoft wireless keyboard/mouse with a monitor switch to flick between that and my Shuttle XPC. But it’s not ideal, what would I do on the Mac that I’m not already doing on my beasty AMD64 3500+ 1GB RAM 200GB SATA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB machine? – infact I could do less, no games, no flight simulators, and drastically reduced access to programming tools. Possibly the only compelling switch reasons to switch are Final Cut Pro and a the sexy MacOS X GUI, but I’d have to forego a fair bit, or run a dual environment. Not forgetting all the software I’d have to rebuy for use on Mac. Really I may as well buy a Full Mac than mess around with a mini, otherwise it’d just be a toy and I’d continue to use my Shuttle XPC for most things.

I thought about plugging into my TV as a media centre PC. Kit it out with a S-video adapter, Apple Bluetooth module, Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo, add some extra RAM and the faster processor and I’ve almost doubled the base price of GBP339. I may as well get a faster higher-spec AMD based PC as a HTPC, which includes digital audio outputs for the hi-fi and video in for recording. My current setup has my Shuttle XPC treating the main TV permanently as a second display along with a neat infared remote control that gives full control over the mouse and media applications. At any time without having to touch the Shuttle XPC I can pickup the remote, change to the S-Video input and pull up anything from my audio and video library on the TV/Hi-Fi.

So what would make me buy a Mini? Make it even cheaper. Video In. Digital audio outputs. Media centre focused software (ala TiVo). Hi-fi style remote control. Did I mention making it cheaper yet? I guess I could buy it from the States where it works out GBP74 cheaper (you’ve gotta love that strong Pounds Sterling!). Great idea Apple, but I’ve gotta agree with Stu, the Shuttle XPC’s still win for me as a media centre PC – they’re cheaper, more powerful, have better hardware outputs and are more compatible (despite running Windows).

I have no doubt the Mac mini will be a roaring success, I can see many markets where this would work. I guess I’m just cranky as it doesn’t fit for me – yet.

http://www.blackberry.com

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/

Picked up a Canon IXUS 40 as my carry everywhere ultra-compact digital still. It’s really cute, and looks great in the genuine Canon IXUS 30/40 leather case. Also had the new 32″ widescreen TV delivered yesterday after 18 months using a little 34cm piece of crap. It’s a bit too big for our little flat, should have got the 28″. At 62kg it’s a beast. The inbuilt DVB digital tuner is nice though, and I’m tempted to get a Top Up TV card for GBP7.99 a month so we can can decrypt ten of the pay channels without a Sky subscription (there is a PC card slot at the back of the TV). I’ve got a S-Video <-> Scart lead running from the GeForce 6800 GT graphics card in the Shuttle XPC to the TV for watching video files from the PC, the quality is great. Don’t know how I’m going to get all these toys home when I move back to Australia one of these days..

http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000147025394/

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/vibraexciter-026373.php

http://www.skype.com/company/news/2004/siemens.html

http://www20.tomshardware.com/howto/20041113/projector-12.html

http://www.ipodlounge.com/reviews_more.php?id=2720_0_6_0_M

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/canoneos20d/

UPDATE: For the zealot who emailed me arguing USB 2.0 480mbps vs. FireWire 400mbps, take a look at FireWire 800mbps if you’re in any doubt to which standard is leading.

http://www.smartmobs.com/archives/003449.html

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/06/16/gps_system_that_look.html

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/06/16/ipod_pirate_radio_bu.html

Just when I was getting ready to pre-order a Sony Ericsson K700, there’s rumours of a new model coming out, the F700. I’d say it’d be at least six months before it’s generally available, so I’ll go for a K700 for now and maybe upgrade later. It’s also tempting to wait for the 1 mega-pixel S700, but no hints yet on the price. It’s bigger than the K700, and I’m really looking for ultra-compact at the moment. There’s a fantastic review of the K700 at Mobile-review.com (K700 pictured).

http://www.mobile-review.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=9435

Replacement for the DSC-T1 with that silly sliding front. Looks like it’s only available in Japan at the moment. The worldest thinest 5MP camera, drool.

http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-46.html

Drool. The latest digital capable handheld scanner from Uniden.

http://www.uniden.com/productpop/00_productpop.cfm?prd_code=BC296D

Nikon’s answer to the Canon EOS 300D. It gets a glowing review at dpreview.com and seems an excellent competitor to the extremely popular 300D, with better performance for a similar price. This might just be my next camera..

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond70/

Not that I’m going to rush out and buy one of these, it does look nice though.

http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/e3-sony-psp-high-resolution-shots-and-final-specs-016102.php

http://www.ipodx.co.uk/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/11/sony_vaio_pocket/