When mobile phones shrank to the size of a Mars bar people complained that they were now so small they couldn't find them, even in their own pockets. Now the new Modu phone – from purelygadgets, and allegedly the smallest in the world – even has special "jackets" to make it bigger so you don't lose it. They can add features like cameras too.
Produced by Modu Mobile in Israel, it was one of the innovations on show at the Digital Summer event organised by David Fanning's Tin Drum PR outfit, a regular event that provides an interesting showcase for new technologies.
So is there anything about the Modu for schools? Probably not much apart from where concealment is an issue – it's a perfect second phone to avoid detection! Students would love it. But first impressions with technology can be very misleading, and it's often not until teachers and learners pick up innovations that we discover what can make them work for learning.
Take first impressions of the Q2 Tip & Tilt Radio (right). Despite already having had very good experiences with internet radios (the Logitech Squeezebox) it was difficult to find a learning angle. This is an internet radio that you program stations into via a USB connection from your laptop. It's a cube shape and to change station you just turn it on its side – one station for each side. To increase or reduce volume you just tilt it forwards or backwards.
The demonstrator's laughter was distinctly hollow when, at his instigation to "Guess how much", I replied £40. These babies are £80 each, so it's an easy to start thinking that if you weigh £80 against a 4-inch cube that can only give you four radio stations you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's not such a good deal.
Until the penny drops. For a learner with specific needs this could be a game changer. It's robustly designed, sound quality is excellent and, yes, you can only use four stations at a time but how many do you actively use on your own radio? And of course the permutations you can program in from a PC are almost limitless. It's no wonder it's promoted as "the world's easiest to use internet radio". Suddenly, that £80 price tag you thought a trifle excessive looks like far better value for money. It will be interesting to get a response from those working in special needs and inclusion.
You might get a similar first reaction looking at the Ergonomic Handshoe Mouse from the Netherlands – £100 for a mouse? Ergonomic mice are available at far more competitive prices. But hold on, this was developed to help students at Delft University who were unable to proceed with studies because of RSI (repetitive strain injury) problems. Just rest your hand on one of these devices and you instantly realise that the usual tensions you experience when using a mouse are not present. Your hand is comfortable and perfectly supported (left-handers are catered for too).
The Handshoe Mouse was developed by the Medical Centre of the Dutch Erasmus University and new, independent research from the University of Hasselt (Belgium) is due to be published this month, confirming that the position of your hand on the HandShoeMouse is the best possible to prevent complaints like RSI or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Want some evidence? Visit their website and find out for yourself.
Multi-touch screens are starting to make ripples now that Windows 7 is making headway (more soon on the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX multi-touch laptop) and it was interesting to come across a brand that is usually in catalogues from the likes of RM, and which reveals itself as a firm with an understanding of school needs – Iiyama. For those keeping up with trends, Iiyama's tough but light 22-inch multi-touch ProLite T2250MTS screens looked an appealing blend of quality and value for money. But Iiyama's Richard James ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) was quick to point out that the older robust technologies (ProLite P1704S-2 with TN+ toughened glass) were just as relevant for hard work in classrooms.
For those on the move, amplification is often a problem. Woofers don't make for good travelling companions. Digital Summer had two interesting candidates – the X-mini Max Capsule Speakers and Verbatim's Bluetooth Audio Cube. The X-mini Max speakers (less than £30 from online traders, eg Amazon) feature a novel design that allows them to concertina out from their compressed travelling mode. And when you pack them away, magnets clip pairs together. If that isn't clever enough, the sound they pack is way above their diminutive weight. They need to be heard to be believed. Connection is via USB (which recharges the batteries).
The Verbatim Audio Cube (from around £37 online) is a simple little black box, measuring 70mm x 70mm x 70mm. It's light and well designed with controls on the top. Connection is via Bluetooth, and the demonstration showed a simple connection to Nokia mobile phone with the cube allowing the usual controls, including fast-forward and volume. In fact volume was impressive for such a compact size, and power comes from either USB or four AA batteries.
While neither of these speaker set-ups give you top-quality audio, they are extremely impressive for their size and mobility, and for those who need those features they are well worth checking out.
Audio isn't something you would expect from the Verbatim brand. It's better known for storage, and the variety of USB and mobile hard disk personal storage exhibited continues to proliferate, along with offerings from Buffalo.
Two of the smartest expositions at Digital Summer came from Nuance and Elgato. Nuance supplies the standard voice recognition software for the PC, Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 (it has also taken over MacSpeech for Apple), and this technology has come a very long way. Nuance's Neil Grant ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) donned a Bluetooth headset to give a head-turning demonstration in what was a rather noisy room. Straightforward dictation was a breeze without a single correction required, while editing appeared just as simple.
Giving commands to programs was likewise very well developed and his opening of an email program and creating an email was only eventually thwarted at the point of sending it when he was let down by a Microsoft server setting. This software is now available for less than £100 and it's easy to see why teacher Jane Scaysbrook says that it has changed her life.
EyeTV on computers can generate a rich range of media resources
Elgato is a company that has made a name for itself by selling little devices that plug into Apple computers to give them full television facilities. There's a wide range of them and they are easy to use and effective. For example, the Eye TV Diversity I bought (at around £80) is about the size of a fat memory stick and plugs into any Mac to give all the Freeview TV stations – you only need to connect an aerial (decent quality for best performance). The software that comes with it provides all sorts of facilities for recording (even remote access).
Teachers familiar with the system could, licensing permitting, create and collect all sorts of video resources for their own use and you can find out more about this from the excellent website (Digmo!) run by Northern Ireland teacher David Cleveland.
But that's how it used to be. New developments take it further and we are back to the mindboggling. For example, if you load the EyeTV app to your iPod Touch or iPhone you can now stream TV programmes to your device. I thought that was only for your own home wireless network – but you can do it from anywhere you are online, and even programme recordings on your home Mac.
The Elgato team showed the app working on their iPad, and how easy it was to set up recordings on a Mac back home in Hamburg, and also stream German TV through to this London setting (The Plaisterers' Hall at London Wall). Just as music licensing has been tested to the brink of downfall by digital technology, it looks as if broadcasting will be next. Thwarted by the BBC iPlayer when abroad? Just turn to your EyeTV. You no longer need a Slingbox.
The latest Elgato product is the EyeTV Netstream DTT (above). This little box sits between your TV aerial and your wireless router. You just connect it and set it up on your Mac and it will broadcast right across your home network. It's a dual tuner so you can record and watch at the same time, and the software brings a wealth of options for the creative user. The software is available for Mac and PC so now the service is starting to service Windows too.
Digital Summer might not be the only PR event to showcase digital technologies but it's probably the best, and it will be interesting to see how what was shown will be taken up elsewhere, for example what Digmo! will make of the EyeTV Netstream DTT. If summer wasn't to be enjoyed at a leisurely pace it might be tempting to say, "Roll on Digital Winter".
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