YOU know the feeling. You are in the middle of the most important mobile phone call of your career and you suddenly notice that you are down to the last smidgen of power. Not so if you are the organised type with a Powermonkey. You charge it on the mains before a trip and then plug it in to get up to 96 hours of mobile standby time.
Its cigar-shaped design might get it mistaken for a sex toy and it is quite as exciting. Its best feature is that it comes with interchangeable plugs, meaning you can plug in everything from a BlackBerry to a Sony PSP for an energy boost.
You might need a bit of extra mobile phone power too with Sony’s latest wheeze. It is called LocationFree and is a way to carry your satellite, cable or digital terrestrial TV set-up in your pocket. Connect the LocationFree base unit to your TV box, plug it into your broadband internet connection and install a piece of software called LocationFree Player on your mobile handset. While you are on the road, connect your phone to the internet, either in a wi-fi hotspot or through a mobile 3G network, and the phone becomes a remote control for your TV box allowing you to watch anything you could at home. The system also works with Sony PSPs and laptops. You need never miss an episode of Coronation Street while you are away on business. Just watch the charges on your mobile bill.
Smartphones are now getting so smart we will soon be awarding them degrees from Cambridge. Palm’s Treo 750v has just been made exclusively available in this country through Vodafone and you cannot have missed the ads for it at UK airports. Unlike most other Palm devices it is powered by Windows and supports the new BlackBerry-like push e-mail functionality of Microsoft Exchange. It has also ditched the annoying external antenna on previous Treos.
A laptop that thinks it is a mobile phone is one of the goodies to look for in the next few months. Dialogue is releasing a new VM version of its Flybook. The Flybook VM’s petite size means it is more of a kneetop than a laptop and its sophisticated, glossy exterior has made its predecessors a favourite among the well-heeled.
Unlike most other laptops, it has a port where you can slide in your mobile phone SIM card, giving you access to mobile phone GPRS and 3G data networks when you are not near a wi-fi hotspot. The VM’s most innovative feature is its screen, which is mounted on a moveable column.
Another must-have for the tech-savvy business traveller is the Samsung SP-P300ME portable projector. If you have seen other laptop projectors, you might not think that they seem particularly portable. This Samsung model ditches conventional lamps for LEDs and saves plenty of weight and space as a result. It is about the size of five CD jewel boxes, weighs 700g and is perfect for giving a presentation while on the move.
Using LEDs means it is not as bright as traditional projectors but it works perfectly well, even in daylight. Combine it with Sony’s LocationFree above and your home cinema becomes a world cinema.
Powermonkey: £34.99 01420 542980, www.powermonkey.co.uk; Sony LocationFree: £199.95 0161 868 0868, www.expansys.com; Palm Treo 750v From free with contract 08080 741 741 www.vodafonebusinessshop.co.uk; Dialogue Flybook VM: price to be advised 0870 3456644 www.flybook.biz; Samsung SP-P300ME £490.09, 0870 9070800 www.europc.co.uk
