Gadgets

LG Portable LED Projector
The family holiday movie night gets a sprinkling of stardust when watched from a projector. LG's new portable model has just about all the features you'll want, and weighing in at just .54kg (a little over 1lb), has a tiny footprint to match. And it has the tech spec too. Long, long life LEDs mean an all too common projector bulb problem is eliminated: this can run for tens of thousands of hours. It has wi-fi, HDMI, USB and various composite connectivity, including for games consoles, and can throw up over a 3m picture.
$600 from amazon.com

ShaveTech
In itself, the sleek ShaveTech razor does its job – hair removal – reasonably, certainly for one this size. It's as slim as a smartphone in a case. What makes it distinctive is it recharges by USB, with a fold-out dongle that can slot straight into a USB port. Time was, this might have be a difficult find, but these days we travel with so many USB connected devices, it's more common than a square pin plug. $30 from shavetech.com

Nikon Coolpix S800c Android Camera
This is not the first of the camera makers who are trying a reverse move on mobiles: instead of a camera with your phone, how about a phone built into your camera? Well phone-like capabilities at least. Sharing of photos has become as vital as taking them. I snap therefore I share. So Nikon's Coolpix comes with Android's OS. You can load it with Apps, use wifi or tap your phone or tablet to share instantly. The camera spec is as high-powered as you'd expect from a Nikon compact.
Around €300 from dabs.ie and camera stores

Tom Kelly
betweenideas.blogspot.com