TechLounge

The internet is awash with reports of dodgy reception, but this has done nothing to quash the enthusiasm for Apple’s new mobile device, the iPhone 4. Having sold more than 1.7 million handsets in the first 3 days of release, the iPhone 4 is the fastest selling mobile phone of all time.

This new sleeker device has an updated 3.5 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 640×960, a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and a front mounted camera for video calls as well as all the bells and whistles which made the previous incarnations so popular.

Internal storage is 16GB or 32GB, but there is still no expandable card slot so you will have to make do with what you have. 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity are built in, as well as GPRS navigation and 3.5mm headphone socket.

The camera can now record video in High Definition up to 720p and has a fully fledged multimedia application for editing and adding music to your finished video. Boasting the same 1Ghz processor as the iPad, the iPhone 4 is super fast and can handle multiple applications at the same time.

Apple keeps going from strength to strength and the new iPhone 4 looks like it will boost the companies appeal throughout 2010. There are lots of iPhone 4 deals out there from all of the major networks so its easy to find a package to suit you.

The 6 in 1 Solar Robot Kit is a great way of getting your kids into renewable energy whilst having fun at the same time. This beginner’s kit is easy to put together with detailed instructions and you can choose to make a car, airboat, plane, windmill, revolving plane and even a puppy!

For best results it is recommended that you use the 6 in 1 Solar Robot Kit outside in direct sunlight, but you can also use it inside by putting it near a halogen light. This fun and simple kit will keep your kids entertained for hours and best of all its educational as well.

The 6 in 1 Solar Robot Kit is available for most major outlet stores priced around £11.99.

If you’re looking at starting out in t shirt printing then your best option is to look for a heat press. They can start at very low prices but that will only get you a budget heat press around £500 will get you a Pelican Purple Press 1515HP which will have an 15”x15” area of print press.

If you have a little bit more to spend then £800 should see you with a Pelican Purple 4 in 1. This heat press can be used for printing on mugs and China plates to t shirts and caps. This 4-1 press also has a very small footprint.

Been able to use a heat press is a great start into the world of t shirt printing and corporate merchandise.

You could even come up with your own design and start selling your items on eBay or locally at carboot sales.

Pelican Purple 4 in 1

If you’re thinking of switching internet providers in the hope of getting a better deal, there are plenty of options out there and you’ll almost certainly be comparing broadband deals offered by the big players. BT Total Broadband, O2 Broadband, Sky Broadband TalkTalk Broadband and Orange Home Broadband, to name but five of the bigger fish, all offer attractive packages. But it may well be worth your while taking a look at some of the smaller fry, Plusnet Broadband for instance.

When it started trading in 1997, Plusnet was simply offering a plain 56Kb dial-up internet service. Today it has over 200,000 customers and offers several exceptionally competitive ‘bundles’ (deals which integrate internet connection, home phone, line rental and VolP internet-based phone calls). Plusnet’s ‘Value’ broadband package offers a 10 GB download allowance, free downloads between midnight and 8.00am and connection speeds of up to 8Mbps. Moving up a gear, the ‘Extra’ package offers a thumping 60GB download allowance, free overnight downloads and speeds of up to 20 Mbps.

Plusnet Broadband has won a veritable smorgasbord of awards over the years for its high standards of customer care, reliable service and fast speeds, and it continues to have the virtue of offering the cheapest stand-alone broadband service currently available in the UK market. For anyone on a tight budget, Plusnet Broadband is an excellent option. As small internet service providers go, it’s deservedly become one of the most popular.

Making your children save money or indeed saving yourself can be hard, but now there is a fun way to save with the Mechanical Kitty Coin Bank. This delightful money bank is imported from Japan and is styled like an ordinary cardboard box with Japanese characters on it.

What’s great about this money bank is that if you put a coin into the food tray on the top, a mischievous kitty will pop up and steal it, meowing as it goes. It’s great to watch and you will get addicted to it, thus saving you lots of money without you realising it.

The Mechanical Kitty Coin Bank is available with a brown or white kitty inside and requires two AA batteries (not supplied). It is available from Think Geek now for $29.99.

The Nokia X6 is one of the latest mobile phones from Nokia and follows in the footsteps of its music orientated XpressMusic devices.  With sleeker styling than the 5800 XpressMusic, the Nokia X6 sports a 3.2 touchscreen display (same as the one in the N97 Mini), 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity as well as a 5 megapixel camera on the rear.

Being a music phone, the X6 has a 3.5mm headphone socket and an internal hard drive with a capacity of 32GB. The built-in multimedia player plays most music and video formats and the rear mounted camera has autofocus and dual LED flash for low light situations.

All in all the X6 is a step up from the 5800 XpressMusic, but is substantially more expensive; this may put some people off, but Nokia fans will love the sleek looks and small form factor.

The Nokia X6 is available now from free on contract or around £249 on Pay As You Go.

If like us you love the taste of authentic Italian pizza then the Stonebake Home Pizza Oven is definitely up your street. As the name suggests, the Stonebake Pizza Oven has a rotating stone which the pizza sits on; this helps the heat to perfectly cook your pizza from top to bottom, providing a perfectly cooked pizza every time.

The Stonebake Pizza Oven has easy to use controls and a viewing window so you can check on the progress of your food and can cook fresh, frozen or even homemade pizzas. Everybody loves pizzas, but you wouldn’t want to eat one every night or you might turn into one, thankfully the Stonebale Pizza Oven can cook a wide range of other foods and comes with a handy recipe book for experimentation.

The Stonebake Pizza Oven is easy to use and easy to clean and is available now for just £59.95.

There are few experiences more frustrating than signing up to an ultra-fast broadband package only to find that, instead of flying through the network like Achilles on amphetamine, your Megabits are sauntering to your PC like snails on sleeping pills. Sadly, until the government’s ‘Digital Britain’ project concludes sometime in 2012, the communications infrastructure just isn’t up to the advertised speeds of the service providers in many parts of the country.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to put up with tooth-grindingly slow speeds, however; there are some measures you can take to give that Megabit rate a little nudge. You may not reach the maximum speeds advertised by providers like BT Total Broadband, Sky broadband, Tiscali broadband, and O2 broadband, but you may be able to move from a painful limp to something more like a steady jog. If you can afford the slightly eye watering monthly fee of £50, you might try switching to Virgin Media, the only internet service provider currently offering speeds of 50 megabits per second via it’s super-fast fibre optic network.

But some useful ‘in-home’ measures include keeping your modem and router clear of other electrical appliances (they can interfere with efficiency), always using the latest versions of web browsers like Internet Explorer or Firefox, ensuring you’ve put micro-filters on your phone and internet socket to reduce interference, and turning your router off if you’re just using the PC and no other devices in the house are accessing the internet (routers can slow down the connection). The speed increase will be more like moving from a 30 mph road to a 50mph road than a test drive with Jenson Button. But you won’t have to grind your teeth quite so hard.

If like us you can’t wait for the upcoming Tron Legacy film to be released, and you have $35,000 spare you can get a piece of the action with a real Tron Lightcycle. Built by Park Brothers Choppers in Melbourne, Florida, these custom choppers are replicas of the lightcycles used in the film.

There will be only 5 made, so if you want one you best be quick! Each lightcycle has a choice of engines and led colours (providing the colour you want hasn’t been sold) and are listed on eBay now. These choppers are built for eveyday street use and comes with a manufacturers built list.

Check out the pictures below, it’s well worth it!

With Pay as You Go prices starting at £99 and contracts from £10 per month, the Samsung Monte is billed as a high-end phone at an affordable price, but what do you get for your money? The Samsung Monte is quad-band so can be used all over  the world, great for when you’re on holiday. It also features a 3 inch touchscreen display, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, a microSD card slot and GPS navigation.

The Monte’s user interface (TouchWiz 2.0) is customisable, and although it’s not as good as the Android interface it’s still pretty decent. A fully functional multimedia player is also on board, as well as a 3.5mm headphone socket and music and video files can be stored on microSD cards up to 16GB.

A 3.1 megapixel camera is mounted on the back and is capable of geo-tagging and smile detection, and can record QVGA video at 15fps. As with most of the latest mobile phones on the market today, the Samsung Monte has social networking integration and can also provide you with live updates.

The Samsung Monte is a great phone for those that want a touchscreen and internet access but don’t want to pay a fortune for their phone.