Tools

Google Nexus One
So called iPhone killers have become a bit two-a-penny this past year or so, and none has even threatened the iPhone’s overwhelming popularity, in spite of its hefty price and indifferent performance in some areas. But if there’s one company
as clever as Apple, it’s surely Google, and its first own-brand phone, the Nexus, gathered plaudits even before its worldwide launch. First impressions are that its great virtue is being… almost like an iPhone. google.com/phone

Album Portable Digital Photogallery
This pretty, leather bound thing, the ALBUM portable digital photo viewer/album, is a rather brilliant new type of gadget. It’s not wholly a digital photo frame, not wholly a portable album. It is, in fact, both. An innovative and good-looking product that could even revive the art of the slide show on a portable scale. album-life.com

Dell Adamo XPS Laptop
Dell’s first attempt at an ultra-thin, sexy laptop, the hyper-hyped Adamo, released a year ago, was awful and massively overpriced. This new attempt is as good as the first one was bad. The Adamo XPS is currently the thinnest decent screen-size laptop in the world. It runs the impressive new Microsoft Windows 7 and boasts a unique electronic method of opening that you’ll want to play with all day. Very sleek indeed. dell.co.uk

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Mini
Bowers and Wilkins are British loudspeaker makers who got into the mass market with the iconic, extended rugby-ball-shaped Zeppelin sound system and iPod dock. The Zeppelin is a big old thing, though, and B&W fans with less space to spare may prefer this, the £300 Zeppelin Mini. It sounds almost as good and the more conservative shape is more restful on the eye, frankly. bowers-wilkins.co.uk