The Sansa Shaker is a small hour-glass shaped MP3 player and both its packaging and unique shake feature suggest it is aimed at children. Beyond its unique shape, the Shaker stands out because when you press the play button and physically shake the unit, the Shaker (what's in a name, eh?) will select and play a new song at random.

You may be thinking this all sounds very gimmicky and childish and you'd be right. But there's more. Underneath it all, the Sansa Shaker really is quite a good little MP3 player. And despite the 8+ label on the box - Not just for kids.

Read on for more..

Ulead has updated its excellent image editing software with the release of PhotoImpact X3.

Along with the cornucopia of image manipulation features present in previous versions, X3 features a bunch of new features, including enhanced ExpressFix, comic strip and collage creation, unique cloud pen tool and as a result of Ulead's new affiliation with Corel, the inclusion of two Corel applications: Corel Painter Essentials 3 and Corel Media One media management software.

And at $99AU, PhotoImpact seems incredible value.

While we try to secure a copy for review, you can find out more (and even download a 30 day trial copy) from Ulead's international website.

Brando HK has just released this 104/105 enhanced 2.4GHz RF keyboard. The keyboard features a built-in high precision 800 DPI trackball. It appears to be very portable and from the initial images we've taken a look at, rather fetching.

Features:

For more information take a look at Brando's website. 

Tegatech have announced the WiBrain UMPC B1H is coming to Australian shores.

The B1H comes standard with a 1.2Ghz Via CPU, 60GB HDD, Windows XP Home, 1GB RAM and a 4.8 Inch (1024x600) touch screen display. Wireless connectivity is covered via internal 802.11b/g support as well as Bluetooth 2.0 EDR.

Expect to see this UMPC in stores soon with a starting price tag of AU$1299 (for the slightly lower spec'd - 512MB RAM/30GB HDD - B1E model).

For more information see Tegatech's website.

 

The oddly named, Popcorn Hour A-100 is a network media player which allows you to playback more video formats than you can poke a stick at. And critically all those new HD varieties you’ve been dying to play back are on the list.

The A-100 also has an internal PATA connector to add a harddisk but is equally happy to grab videos over your network, over the internet (Youtube, Google Video, etc.) or from your external drives via its two USB 2.0 ports.

Add to this HDMI and component video out (up to 1080p) and S/PDIF coax digital audio for Dolby Digital/DTS pass through and we might just have the perfect network media player. Apple, are you paying attention?

Read on for full specifications including the incredible list of supported audio/video formats.

The Cue r1 is an elegant iPod clock/radio with features a plenty and an audiophile pedigree.

Like most modern clock/radios, the r1 has an auto dimming LCD, along with dual alarms and an enhanced AM/FM tuner. Unlike most clock radios however, it features what Cue Acoustics calls, "touch sensitive" tuning which is some sort of tactile feedback mechanism.

The sound is handled by a bi-amplified 3.5 inch high-power woofer/mid-range speaker and a 3/4 inch silk dome tweeter.

The r1's dimensions are smaller than a US "Letter" sized piece of paper and it will ship with a full featured remote.

The r1 should be available in the third quarter with a retail price of $399US, but interested parties can sign up for information updates at the Cue Acoustics website today.

Sporting Raid 0/1 and JBOD the Rocraid 2UB is a new home RAID solution from storage specialists, Rocstor.

The 2UB sports firewire 800/400 and USB ports to connect up to 2TB of storage to your MAC (OSX 10.4+) or PC (Windows 2000/XP/Vista). Curiously, the RAID configuration appears to be selected via switches on the unit's rear without any need for software GUIs.

We're curious to see how this system works and will try to secure one for review.

The 2UB is available now from US and select international dealers, visit Rocstor's website for more information.

Let's not pretend otherwise: Routers are normally pretty boring devices. The best routers tend to quietly do their job in anonymity amongst the Rat king of cables hidden away from view.

If you do happen to intentionally glance at your router, it usually coincides with the words, Why are you not working? Expletives optional.

The Belkin N1 Vision takes this truth and attempts to turns it on its head. Here is a router that wants to be looked at.

Read on to find out why..

Astute readers of DigitalReviews Network will know that we have reviewed a number of products from Nuance over the years, including earlier versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking.  Check out for instance our earlier review of DNS 9.

I have been very impressed with the later versions of DNS despite it having to cope with my problematic accent and it seems that a minor upgrade to 9.5 is not a big deal. It would certainly not warrant another in-depth review.
However, I have noticed a substantial increase in accuracy which might be due in large part to the wireless Plantronics headset supplied with this particular edition. 

So this review will be mainly concentrating on this Plantronics CS60-USB headset system.