But, like most of you here, I have a stack of things that require recharging.

We all know that the main ways in which to generate electricity are not the cleanest of processes - unless you use the power of that rare orange globe that hangs in the sky (generally for a week in August in the UK).

Solar power is the way forward!

Thanks to the award winning high-tech Solio solar powered charger you can pretty much go wherever you want and feel smug in an eco-friendly kinda way.

One of the neatest things that the Magnesium Edition has over the basic Classic is the “energy gauge” LED light.  This indicates approximately how much juice you have left by the number of times the gauge button flashes, (four flashes indicates a full charge; three flashes, about 75 percent; two flashes, 50 percent; and one flash, 25 percent).

There are a number of other features that are worthy a mention but you’ll have to check out that full review.

All-in-all the Magnesium Edition costs $149.00 in comparison to the Solio Classic whose price tag is $99.95, it’s a bit of a jump but the review on Modern Eco Homes concludes it’s worth it.

Have a gander yourself and you’ll probably be putting in an order

Solio Magnesium Edition Solar Charger Review

I’ve chatted about the 15.6-inch Eee Top before and, as far as I can tell, the touchscreen PC looks a decent bit of kit. 

You get a budget PC-based alternative to the iMac with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of memory, 160GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, 1.3MP webcam, stereo speakers, plenty of connectivity plus Windows XP for your OS.

Don’t forget you still get a keyboard and mouse so can navigate your way round even when your hands are covered in jam.

But if you think that the 15.6 inch screen is letting down the whole package there is good news on on its way.

According to Asus CEO Jerry Shen, the  Eee Top is being outsourced to Quanta Computer, which will be producing new 20-inch and 22-inch models for 2009.

And this aint no limited edition. Five million of the things will be produced in the next couple of years - so says Mr Shen.

If you’re cool with the 15.6 model Eee Top you can grab one from this month for around £399.

Well, look no further.  Your search could, quite possibly, end here.

I’m talking bout the Marantz IS301 Wireless iPod Dock - and, as promised, it’s, well, an iPod dock and it’s wireless.

The cradle uses Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR A2DP and Bluetooth AVRCP for the wireless link with a receiver that links up to your hi-fi via normal audio leads.

It can stream all sorts of media from your iPod or iPhone and also converts the iThingy to a remote so that you can mess around with the hi-fi’s volume and lots of other settings that can be found on a Marantz receiver.

The grooviest things are that you can have several docks wirelessly hooked up to one receiver and the fact that the docking port is detachable.

So, your iPod doesn’t have to be sitting in the dock cradle to stream music to the receiver - you can pick it up and take it into another room, and as long as it’s within Bluetooth range (around 10 metres) it will still stream audio.

This is what happens when Marantz makes a dock

Marantz via Akihabara News

Why bother with a portable hard drive when you could just drop this in your pocket, bag or even attach it to your keys? 

The only downside I can see is that you’re probably more likely to leave all your saved stuff on the pub table or lose it down the back of the sofa.

According to Jaja Lin, Kingston’s Flash business development manager: “The new 64GB DataTraveler 150 takes transportable storage to the next level with big capacity in a small package. As file sizes increase with digital media content such as music and photos, the need for USB Flash drives with high capacities will continue to rise. The DT150 certainly addresses those needs today.”

The Kingston DataTraveler 150 64GB will run on pretty much everything - but should you have any problems each stick comes with a five-year warranty and 24/7 tech support.

Look to pay around £120 for this chunk of memory portability

Thanks to those folks over at Walyou for this

This collectible was inspired by the 1980’s Lucasfilm holiday greeting card art by Ralph McQuarrie, the concept artist responsible for much of the look of the original Star Wars trilogy. The set comes with a display base and includes a full-sized holiday greeting card.

The good news is that you can get the “Star Wars Holiday Edition R2-D2 and C-3PO” from Amazon for $30.85 or over at eBay for the “buy it now” price of $33.50.

You can’t go wrong surly!

Merry crimbo R2 and C-3PO!

Apple has apparently patented a new display technology that will allow their iBlowers to have always-on displays with almost no battery cost whatsoever.

OOoooo, tell me more

Only part of the display would be activated using a secondary backlight located under the main one.

According to Apple, the objective is to give feedback to the user at all times, even when the main display is turned off:

The primary backlight system may block light from the secondary backlight system except for those one or more regions. Thus, the size and shape of the status indicator may be set by sizing and shaping the transparent or semitransparent regions of the primary backlight system. In addition to setting the size and shape of the icon, the color of the icon may also be set by adjusting the color of the light provided by the secondary backlight system.

For example, each indicator may have a particular color, blinking speed, or light intensity. These properties may be programmed into the electronic device by the user, or may be hard-coded or hard-wired into the system. Thus, when the secondary backlight is turned on, the properties of the light provided by the secondary backlight system may depend on the status of the device. Also, if the status of the electronic device changes while the secondary backlight is on, the properties of the light provided by the secondary backlight system may change to reflect the new status.

To avoid sucking the battery dry the backlight system will be low-power and looking at the diagrams they may not even be actual pixel-based icons but will be ‘cut-outs’ illuminated by individual LED lights shining through the main display.

Apple Insider

But Orb has just gone official, with its own app for the handset finally getting the thumbs up from Apple.

In an announcement CEO Joe Costello said:
 

“We released a version of OrbLive in May, but this was before the Apple SDK and App store.  You had to Jailbreak your iPhone to use it, but we still got 300,000 downloads,” he explained.

“Now it is ready for prime time — all the capability and blessed by Apple.”

All you have to do is install a small piece of software on your Mac or PC, and then tap into it from your iPhone wherever you are.

Simple!

Then all the media on your computer is instantly available, as well as live TV from any tuners you have installed.

Orb handles all the compression and file conversion on your home computer, so the iPhone doesn’t break a sweat trying to handle bulky files.

It gets even better…….

As well as dishing up live TV, radio and webcam feeds, it means the end of syncing your iPhone to tap into your media, since it’s all available over the network.

Best of all, Orb is free!

Download it direct from the App Store, and check out Orb’s website for more information.

Unfortunately not all media players have the power to make those hefty drivers in your cans really work.

Little things like iPod Nanos have enough to drive tiny in-ear headphones and earbuds, but at some point you get headphones where that signal just isn’t enough.

All you need to do is drop less than £15 and get yourself this itsy amp from Fiio .

The E5 replaces their E3 and boosts the signal without adding noise and makes your nice audio gear sound great when you’ve gone all portable.

It’s not yet ready on their website but I’m certainly tempted for when I’m wanting to use my fully enclosed monsters on the train, etc

Slashgear

Wow - I’m used to music and fashion going round in circles (I’m waiting for this 80s craze to finish so I can get loads of new clothes at budget prices) but technology?

This new service allows you to upload a photo, add a personal message which will be all put together.

Fair enough so far?

The next bit is the part that boggles my mind: They will proceed to print it off and then go and pop it in the post box for you.

Kinda like posting a personalised card or letter really - errrr…..neat eh?

You get a nice looking editor and image upload facility, and it’s real easy to produce something worthy of sending.

But coughing up the £1.99 plus postage? 

Buy a cheap printer (if don’t already have one) and some stamps and then Robert is your mother’s brother

Great idea - but surly a novelty for those who have never had to put pen to paper and actually write a letter.

Well, a new multimedia venture has just been launched that will bring together the content from more than 1000 cultural organisations across Europe in a free online resource.

The British Library is amongst the institutions that have signed up to the new European online library called Europeana.

The European Commission and the Louvre Museum are also to add content.

This is sounding fantastic!

The ambition is for internet users to be able to access more than two million books, maps, recordings, photographs, archive documents, paintings and films.

More lazy students……..I didn’t think that was possible!

The project was created by the European Commission and is run by the European Digital Library Foundation, and will launch in 2010.

BBC News