Some gadgets to make your driving experience better
INQ1
Price:€99 Buy:three.ie or 3 stores nationwide
INQ1 is specifically designed for social networking and internet communications, integrating Facebook, Skype and Windows Live Messenger into one device. There are more than 400,000 Facebook users and more than over 1,000,000 Bebo users in Ireland and this phone is aimed squarely at them. The INQ1 integrates the Facebook experience Skype, Windows Live Messenger and a host of other social networking and makes the device the first ever real-time interactive “live contact book” with friends’ online status and Facebook profile pictures displayed against their contact details. In addition, the phone offers RSS feeds, free Skype-to-Skype calling and unlimited free instant-messenger capabilities. INQ1 also allows you to directly upload pictures to your Facebook profile from its 3.2-megapixel camera.
Cordless heated car-screen ice-scraper
Price:€25.49 Buy:Maplin Stores Dublin and Dundalk
We thought this might be appropriate for the weather we are having. The usual story when its frosty is that you boil kettles of water and run back and forth to your car. This sorts that out. It is a heated, cordless ice-scraper that will chisel the frost off your windscreen in no time. It works for about 20 minutes on a single charge, which should be about enough time to clear even the most frosted screen. Comes with a handy built-in torch too.
Parrot MKi9200
Price:€279.95 (including fitting) Buy:Fone Factory (1850-924429, fonefactory.ie)
There are few Bluetooth kits that can really properly handle iPods, never mind the sometimes hard to pair iPhone. The Parrot MKi9200 is probably the best kit we have come across if you want to tick every box. We have had one fitted to a car now for a couple of weeks and find it really good. It consists of a small screen fitted to the car, usually on the dashboard, and a remote control that can be mounted on the steering wheel or the dashboard and from here you can use your iPhone, iPod or other MP3 player. There are separate attachments for auxiliary, USB and a dedicated iPod-shaped attachment, and with the latter fitted to your iPod or iPhone you can scroll through playlists and even see album covers. The Bluetooth feature also keeps you legal too. It is a good system and well worth the money.
Marantz BD8002 Blu-ray Player
Price:€2,099 Buy:Munster Sounds, munstersounds.com
If you are after a really superb Blu-ray player then this is certainly worth a look as its Marantz’s top-of-the-line unit. With a full high-definition 1080p image, and the ability to output Blu-ray discs at 24 frames per second, your movies have never looked more life-like and crystal clear. The Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD decoding recreates an incredibly detailed, and 100 per cent lossless, high-definition soundtrack. Even better, the high quality video and audio processing ensures standard DVDs will look and sound almost as good as HD material.