MyGadgetFinder.com

Casio’s popular Exilim series of digital cameras has been extended with three new models - the 9.1 megapixel EX-Z85 and two offering improved night-time and portrait capabilities, the EX-Z300 and EX-Z250.

These last two models take advantage of Casio’s new imaging engine - a high-speed module that packages the existing high-performance CPU with a new dedicated image processing CPU.

One result of this increase in processing power is that users can quickly and easily shoot and view complex images. However, these models don’t just offer improved performance in the usual range of features, they also offer completely new functions.

Casio promises the cameras are capable of delivering fantastic photos of people’s faces, night scenes and other subjects that have long caused amateur photographers to tear their hair in frustration.

It says the EX-Z300 and EX-Z250 can both detect difficult environments and automatically apply the necessary corrections. This might include night scene photography where camera shake could be an issue, or subjects that are backlit, carrying the risk of faces coming out too dark.

According to Casio: “This all means that users get great, well-balanced photos of family and friends against any background with no more worry than it takes to press the shutter button.”

Another feature is the ‘makeup’ function, aimed at improving photos of faces by using high-end image processing to smooth skin and soften hard sunlight shadows. There are 12 levels of this effect available, and the user can use the LCD monitor to preview which is the best to choose.

The EX-Z85 is a bit less fancy, but it does still have a couple of useful functions designed to help the less-than-confident photographer.

Its face recognition function can detect up to 10 faces and then give priority to any that have been pre-registered with it, picking the correct focus and exposure for them. And its auto shutter automatically takes a picture the moment the user’s hand stops shaking and the camera is still.

It also comes in eight colours - silver, black, two types of pink, blue, green, brown and orange - and users can customise the design of the focus frame and the colour of the menu screen.

Reviews of the new models have been generally positive, comparing the makeup function to an on-the-fly version of the image editing software used by graphic designers to improve rough photographs. However, some comments have suggested this feature is very similar to the ‘Picture Perfect’ mode available on some Samsung cameras.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed for more news and offers. Thanks for visiting!

Wondering if Wii Fit, the new exercise package for the Nintendo Wii, is for you? This review for The Telegraph by Glenda Cooper may help you make up your mind.

On the one hand, we thought gaming was supposed to be all about fun, not hard labour. On the other, what better way to expand the demographic? Anyway, here’s what Glenda thought, and if you have an opinion after trying it out, leave a comment, we’d love to hear from you.

Getting a Wii bit fitter?

I am unbalanced. It’s official. This is not news to my family or, indeed, to any neutral observer, given that I have impersonated a tree, headed imaginary footballs and run round my sofa for the last 30 minutes. But this is the first time I’ve had such a verdict delivered via my television screen.

I’m being insulted in my own home, courtesy of the latest idea to combat couch potato-dom. The success of the Wii video game console over the last year (last Christmas, Amazon sold 1,400 in a 10-minute period alone) has led its makers to develop a new “exergaming” (exercise combined with computer games) product called the Wii Fit, which is to be launched this month.

Exergaming has been around since the 1980s, when exercise bikes were hooked up to video games allowing the user to cycle through a virtual landscape. But the Wii, launched in 2006, was a breakthrough in that it was fun: players hold a wireless remote to mimic real-life sports - swinging it like a tennis racket, or punching the air to simulate boxing - while watching a computer-generated character of themselves (inevitably called a Mii) compete on screen with an opponent.

Read full article here…

The Wii Fit is due to be released on April 25. Pre-order it from Woolworths here >>

Here’s one of those fantastically daft products from IWantOneOfThose.com that the retailer tells us is fast turning into a sneaky best-seller - the Sound Asleep Pillow.

Making its first appearance in the UK, it works on the basis that lying in bed and drifting off to sleep listening to your favourite music is a great experience, whatever you like to listen to.

However if the fear of disturbing your partner or the uncomfortable sensation of headphones jammed into your ears, with the cord wrapped around your neck, is putting you off then you’re not getting the best from the experience.

Here’s where the Sound Asleep Pillow comes in. The retailer says that, as well as being very good at what it’s designed for - a superbly comfortable pillow - it also has a speaker buried deep enough inside to only be heard by the person whose head’s on top of it.

The pillow has a jack at one end to plug into an iPod or MP3 player, and will serve up the sleeper’s chosen music gently enough through the pillow that no-one else need ever hear a note of it.

Self-indulgence? Or the perfect pampering gift? Only you can decide…

Learn more about the Sound Asleep Pillow here >>

We’ve added a new site feature to MyGadgetFinder that we’ll hope you’ll like - a hot products section based on the most popular searches that bring people to our site.

Naturally we don’t track individual users, but we do get a summary of what makes people visit us, and we’re compiling the new list based on that.

This offers an excellent opportunity to take a sneak peek at what other people are buying and using in their gardens. We love it because it gives us some great tips for neat products we might otherwise have missed out on, and it’s also a brilliant source of ideas.

Just click on the link below to find out for yourself - and we’ll keep it regularly updated to make sure it properly reflects what’s happening on the site.

Check out the What’s Hot page here >>

There’s a lot of it about right now - it seems like there are thousands of gadgets competing for our attention. Here are our picks for some entertainment goodies that should keep your attention a little bit longer than December 27…

• Nintendo Wii from Rapid Electronics - from £238.29. You want a Nintendo Wii? Well, this retailer will be happy to oblige. Choose from three different deals, including a chance to pick up a portable DVD player or to buy as part of a LCD TV bundle.
• Pyramat Sound Rocker PMS1000 from Gadget Shop - £99.95. A chair for those who are serious about their entertainment. Surround yourself in the action of your video games, movies and music - compatible with PS2, PSP, XBox, Xbox360, NintendoDS, MP3 Players and iPods.
• Sony MDRNC60 high-quality noise-cancelling headphones from Sound & Vision - £149.99. Reduce ambient noise and provide a quieter environment to enhance audio entertainment. Capable of reproducing vocal and instrumental sound with vivid clarity.
• Revo Pico Wi-Fi from Advanced MP3 Players - £149. The world’s first self-powered internet radio, featuring an internal rechargeable battery for cordless, go-anywhere listening freedom. Capable of accessing thousands of internet radio stations from all over the world.
• Tangent Quattro portable WiFi Radio from HiFiBitz - £179.95. Listen to digital radio or your stored music anywhere in the house - and there’s four funky colours to choose from.
• Slingbox Solo from Advanced MP3 Players - £129. Watch your TV from anywhere in the world on your laptop or cell phone. So now you can watch your DVR, digital cable, satellite receiver, or DVD player to catch your favourite movies, series and sports - wherever.
• USB turntable from Firebox - from £89.95. Put all your vinyl records straight into your digital library. Plug either the classic or contemporary-styled turntables into your computer’s USB port and convert your collection - software included.
• iRiver Clix 2 portable MP3 player from Advanced MP3 Players - from £89.99. Sleek good looks, ingenious operation and a giant screen - as well as up to 8mb of storage, not to mention a fine array of functions and still amazingly small dimensions
• Roberts Robi iPod DAB Radio from HiFiBitz - £48.99. Turns your iPod into a portable DAB radio - and it doubles as a handy remote control.
• Wireless FM Multifunction Transmitter and MP3 player with USB Port from TechFocus - £9.99. Works as a standard FM transmitter or a fully-functional MP3 player when used with a flash drive or portable hard disk. A USB port connects it to storage devices and a line in jack connects your media player.

Just imagine their little faces on Christmas Day, unwrapping their new games console in a rush of excitement - only to hurl it away tearfully because it’s a PS3 and not a Wii or a DS.

Yeah, well, tough - Nintendo’s finest are as rare as hens’ teeth at the moment, whereas Sony’s Playstation 3 is sufficiently easy to get hold of to make it a realistic present.

Take this deal from PC World, for example - the 60GB console gamers’ package, which includes three games (Ridge Racer 7, WWE Smackdown v Raw 2008 and Resistance: Fall of Man) and free delivery, priced at £379.

They won’t thank you for it. But when did they ever?

Those nice people at Gadgets.co.uk have been in touch to let us know about some of their products that are selling particularly well at present (hint: a quick-solve for your present woes). Fancy a sneak peek at what other people are buying? Here you go…

Plus, there’s even a discount code on offer to make it that little bit more attractive. First, here’s a few things you might spend it on:

1. USB Hamster Wheel - £15.95. Plug it into your computer and when you type the hamster will run in his wheel! In fact the faster you type the faster hammy will run!
2. Stainless steel chocolate fountain - was £29.95, now £18.99. Just fill with melted chocolate, turn on and off you go to chocolate heaven!
3. Electronic coin sorter - £19.95. The ideal solution to loose change problems - drop your UK coins in, press the button, and watch them all get sorted and stacked.
4. LavNav nightlight - £19.99. With a nightlight, visual targeting system and a ‘put the damned seat down’ warning feature, this is a practical solution to those perennial household arguments.
5. Darth Duck Fadar - £6.45. A long long time ago, on a planet many light years away, there was a slight accident. Here’s the result…
6. Salvation 1 mini radio-controlled helicopter - £49.99. Weighing just 27 grams, this micro chopper can fly forwards or backwards, left or right with precision control and unprecedented stability.
7. Silver rubber band gun - £5.95. Allows rapid fire of up to eight rubber bands - with a snazzy chrome-coloured finish it’s probably the best rubber band gun in the world.
8. Clockwork racing grannies - £7.99. Take two saggy, baggy, dotty old grannies with Zimmer frames, wind up their clockwork and race ‘em!
9. Sharp Shooter TV remote control - £9.95. Tired of the seemingly endless struggle over what to watch on TV? Solve your problems at a stroke with this gun-shaped remote.
10. Flying alarm clock - £19.95. When the alarm sounds the propellor is launched up into the air and will fly away from the clock, the alarm only ceasing once it has been located and replaced. By this time you will surely be alert enough to make the stumble into the bathroom.

Now, about that discount code. Get a fiver off when you order more than £50 worth of goods and pay using Google Checkout. Enter BONUS5 at the checkout as usual…

Having invested in that giant TV, you’re going to need somewhere to put it. Check out Home Cinema UK, a retailer that specialises in stands for LCD and plasma TVs - and also offers free UK delivery.

It’s pretty important to think about this - you can’t just balance your telly on a handy coffee table and expect to get the most out of it, never mind the consequences of it toppling.

Luckily Home Cinema UK does a buyers’ guide that should help you get a feel for the subject. Here it is:

Guide to AV Furniture

Home cinema is an exciting world filled with plasma displays, DVD recorders and multi-channel sound systems. It’s easy to get carried away with the technological marvels that are transforming the way we watch television and view movies in the home.

In all the excitement it’s easy to neglect an area that is actually critical to getting the most out of any installation – the furniture those shiny boxes are going to sit on.

Many are tempted to make do with existing tables, shelves or bookcases, but this is a serious mistake. If you don’t allocate part of your budget for dedicated AV furniture you are short-changing your system and yourself.

The market for AV furniture is estimated at around £1 billion and there are some compelling reasons why so many people are spending so much money. Read on here…

Spectral is one of the manufacturers it is particularly recommending at the moment - for the range’s elegance, simplicity and functionality. So definitely well worth a look.

For another view of the topic of AV furniture, we also suggest having a look at this buyers’ guide on the AVReview website.

The most talked-about gadget of the moment: the Amazon Kindle. This e-book reader offers you all the convenience of loading your books onto a hand-held gizmo - but at a price.

As well as the costs you incur using it, the material you buy is subject to DRM (digital rights management) software which restricts what you can do with it. For instance, swapping and lending is out, activities you’d think nothing of doing with a regular book.

At the moment it’s US-only so British gadget fans might have to wait a while before they can even contemplate getting their hands on the thing. (So what’s new already? And it’s just as boring as usual.)

So, in the meantime, here are two views on the thing. John Naughton, writing in The Guardian quite liked it (but with typical British understatement didn’t really see what all the fuss is about).

Over at BoingBoing Gadgets they thought it was promising, but clunky and expensive - and also worryingly laid down with DRM technology.

If anyone’s had a chance to get their hands on one, we’d love to hear your comments.