I recently installed two mission M70 speakers in our conservatory as a wedding anniversary/birthday present for my parents so they could make better use of the space and be able to relax and listen to music, read the paper, do some sudoku, look out at the countryside…. The only problem is that the Hi-Fi is in the lounge and as the majority of my dad’s music is on his computer he needs to be within cable reach of the stereo.

Now, I could run a very long phono-mini jack to the conservatory so my dad can use it but that isn’t very tidy and its not as technical. Instead I have been looking at audio streamers that will run either through wired ethernet or Wi-Fi and my dad can then use the wi-fi in the house to stream audio off his laptop or my PC to the stereo.

Pinnacle and D-link have been making them for a while but they have all looked fairly hideous. Yesterday I saw the Slim Devices Squeezebox media streamer in my copy of T3 magazine. Initially it looked like another streamer but since reading reviews about it I am liking it more and more.

As well as looking good it can:

• load RSS feeds and display them on the screen
• connect to Internet Radio stations
• fire WOL (Wake On Lan) packets to wake up your PC/laptop at the same time as the streamer
• be controlled from any PC that can connect to the media server
• connect to multiple computers and audio sources

This could be the answer to all my media streaming needs and at just over £200 from broadbandstuff.co.uk its getting cheaper and more exciting!

gadget · music · music streamer

After a week of using the M600 and being averagely happy with it I am returning it to Orange for the slightly more powerful and expensive M3100. The M3100 is almost an identical phone but it has the added benefit of

• a faster processor
• full QWERTY keyboard
• 3G capabilities
• improved battery life

I’m also hoping that the new phone will be able to run Skype, MSN Messenger and all the other useful mobile applications. Then when I get round to setting up Exchange at home for my emails I can setup the phone for the push email service where my emails are sent to both my phone and my computer. Cool huh?

Orange are sending out a jiffy bag for me to return this handset and then once they have confirmed receipt of the item I am able to start to order my new phone!

gadget · M3100 · M600 · MDA · mobile phone · Orange · skype · upgrade · V3

Thanks to the guys at Gizmodo for finding this – i think it’s hilarious

gadget