fVita R4 


A design statement, eccentric English music centre for the iPod age, including an integrated iPod dock, CD slot and DAB radio


From €700; www.vitaaudio.com

eJohnnie Walker King George V Whisky 


A blend of extremely rare whiskies, formed only from distilleries open during the reign of George V. Limited production but not a limited edition, so 
drink it don’t hoard it.


€480; www.johnniewalker.com

eBrocantique Clubchairs 


As well as selling a dwindling supply of original, 
restored pieces, Munich-based Brocantique will 
also supply immaculate, deco-style club chairs. 
Salivary glands on high alert.


Cost POA; www.brocantique.de

iThe Sony Reader 


Slim, portable A5-sized 
electronic reader. It stores up to 160 downloadable eBooks with a battery that lasts 7,500 ‘page-turns’ and will pay for itself after about 25 books.


€250; www.sonystyle.co.uk/reader

iiBlik Wi-Fi 


Contains all the usual iPod 
compatible radio features, except this one has Wi-Fi, allowing you to access thousands of internet radio stations around the world.


€165; www.revo.co.uk

ePhonophone II 


This clever gadget acts as a stylish mini-speaker. It exploits horn acoustics to take the output of headphones plugged into an iPod, amplifying it by up to 55 
decibels without requiring any power. 


€350; www.scienceandsons.com

Android lands

The smartphone market in 2009 looks set to be a battle between Apple, Microsoft, and now Google, as they all look to challenge software leader Symbian

Apple iPhone


The entertainment based Apple iPhone has been a surprising success among business users with features such as a multi-touch 
interface and push email making it easy to use. It also benefits from being the only phone on the market that is manufactured by the same company that produces its software, making it very efficient. However, its inability to edit Microsoft Office documents means the iPhone is unlikely to appeal to business users that don’t use Apple computers. 


samsung Omnia 


Microsoft looks set to take more of the smartphone market with its new Microsoft 7.0 OS, to be released in 2009. This will incorporate many features popular on the iPhone, but not accessible on all of its applications, such as the ability to draw on the screen, and motion-gestures to select an option. Phone manufacturer I-Mate will continue to be the dedicated supplier for Microsoft, but an increasing number of others will start to supply the Windows OS too, such as the Samsung Omnia, which is released this autumn and is 100% touchscreen. Seeing the threat from the iPhone, Nokia have bought Symbian so that they too can produce synchronous hardware and software. Currently Symbian is the most-used but least innovative of mobile phone operating systems and is losing popularity, but Nokia will look to change this in 2009.


HTC Google Android


Google is looking to challenge Apple with Android, and its use of Quickoffice software, compatible with Windows, will make it more attractive to business users. The HTC Dream also boasts a pull-out Qwerty keyboard and Google Maps synchronised GPS that could help Android tap into the market. It will not, however, be compatible with Apple documents, and users that want push-email will have to use Gmail. Android’s key feature is that it is open-source, so software developers will be able to edit the internal code of applications, therefore allowing companies to mould them to their own requirements. Like the iPhone, Android will release Software Developer Kits to allow developers to create applications that will be downloadable via an online store. The nature of these applications will largely determine Android’s business usability. 


The smartphone market is moving towards a point where all phones are touchscreen and have application stores. Quickoffice is finalising an iPhone application that will allow users to open and edit Micosoft Office documents and, if Apple doesn’t move to block it, the iPhone could then appeal to many more business users. For now though, it seems that Microsoft will be fighting with Nokia for smartphone hegemony, while it remains to be seen just how business-friendly Android will be.