Not all girls are into helicoptors, planes and other such microflying toys, so WoW Wee have now come up with two fairly girly options; Flutterby and Fairyfly.

Both charge on a hand held charging unit and take about 10 seconds or so to charge up and then fly for 20 seconds (Flutterby) and 5 minutes (Fairyfly).

The Flutterby can be used either indoors or outdoors and whilst not directly controllable via the handset, it will fly in a random circular pattern and, if the wind carries it, could go quite high.

Fairyfly can only be used indoors and is directed by the hand held remote control, which is perfectly suited to small hands.

Retailing at MRSP $24.99 for the Flutterby and MRSP $34.99 for the Fairyfly and available from Wowee.

Last year I wrote about Neosonik, who were trumpeting a Wireless HD home theatre solution. Unfortunately they had show gremlins and couldn’t demonstrate the video at the time.

I went back today to check up on progress, and guess what? It really works. I saw "Casino Royale" in 1080p, coming from a blu-ray source. Let me recap that, in case you glossed over it: 1080p high definition video with audiophile grade 5.1 surround (the system supports 7.2), without wires. OK, so you do need to run power to the speakers but that’s it.

The unassuming plastic box in the photo is the picture receiver module which plugs into the HDMI port on the TV. Range is about 200 feet.

Neosonik are running a few demo systems here at CES in adjacent rooms, which not only demonstrates that they actually have a working and reliable product but also that they can run in close proximity without interference. Handy if your neighbour gets one too!

Availability and price? Sometime this year, and since they’re going after the high-end market you can probably expect a price tag with 5 figures when it comes out.

SlingPlayer for BlackBerry - Almost there…

Sling Media will show a demo of the SlingPlayer for BlackBerry at CES 2008, and hopefully, the software will be released to the public before 2009.

In case you don’t know, SlingPlayer is a software that enables users to watch live TV on their own BlackBerry smartphone, be it with 3G or WiFi technology. The price to watch television on the go is $30.

If you’re at CES (I’m talking to you, Al) keep an eye on Sony’s booth because they will show a demo.
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Due February 2008, Astak launch their new Wireless Baby Monitor. It has a cute flower design soft light, with power on/off by touching the flower branch. Capable of operating a night vision mode with a range of upto 5m, so you can keep an eye on your precious little ones with their lights out. It also has 4 channels optional to avoid possible interference and built in microphone for audio monitoring.

The device comes in a range of colours with a 2.5″ TFT-LCD screen and is robust and compact for ease of transportation. With an external range of upto 100m, so you have the freedom to roam around the house or garden safe in the knowledge that you wont miss anything.

For further details of this and other products, go to Astak. The RRP for the Wireless Baby Monitor is $129 and should be available Feb 08 onwards.

In my house each of us has a different mobile phone, all of which require a different charger. This next gadget could eliminate that, the Anyfix, a ‘one for all’ charging solution.

The AnyFix has adjustable arms to hold different sized cells, and to cope with the different sockets you can manually rotate the various connectors built in the base. Presently it is aimed at the German market with adaptors for the popular models of the following brands:

• Sony Ericsson
• Motorola
• Nokia
• Samsung

It’s an okay solution to a common problem but I must admit I prefer the wireless charging solution that Marc reported on.

PC security is a tough subject to talk about. You can see people’s eyes glazing over as soon as you mention anti-spam and anti-virus software, and don’t even mention firewalls. Yoggie are trying to change this with the "personal security server".

This is a pretty cool concept. The USB stick actually houses a complete Linux based PC, complete with CPU, memory and security software. When you put Yoggie into your PC, it installs drivers that redirect all network traffic through the USB stick.

The CPU and software on the stick take care of checking your mails for spam and viruses and firewalling all network traffic. You can uninstall the anti-everything stuff from your PC, which has the handy effect of making it more responsive, and you offload all the security to the stick.

You also get web site filtering, parental control and just about everything else you’d need to keep your PC secure.

The great thing is that it’s fire-and-forget. You just plug it in and use the PC. Yoggie downloads it’s virus definition signatures automatically and stores them internally. No PC reboot required and no "keep your software up to date" nag screens. If you need control over the firewall you have it, but the default settings have been chosen to fit the needs of most people without configuration.

Street price is around the $100 mark and you get 3 years of security updates for that, which actually makes it comparable in price to software only security solutions.

Ever lost your dog, cat or even your kid? If you have, you’ll know the panic which can ensue. However, if your animal of choice (or child) is kitted out with their own Identity Pal USB device, it’ll have all the information on it to let people know where to return the wandering little so and so back to.

Also, if you or one of your family or friends is involved in an accident or incident where emergency assistance is required, again the Identitiy Pal will not only let people know who you are, who your next of kin are and how to contact them, but if you have any life threatening medical conditions they need to know about, your insurance details and anything else.

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