iPad accessibility

I admit it, I am waiting for my ipad - my 40th birthday was last december, but I put off having any presents until the new range of tablets came out. I looked very carefully at the ranges on offer, and the Notion Ink device came a very close second for me. However the fact that I wanted something very light, that turned on and off immediately, and could play my audio books in the background whilst doing some serious work without the need for a stylus swung it for me. Talking of styli - I just got a new Palm PDA from work, and the stylus is even smaller than last time - so thats not gonna get used, and the screen is less responsive than ever. I am not surprised they aren't doing very well.

But back to the iPad - so have got agreement form even the most diehard anti apple guys in the office that the iPad was the one for me, I have been waiting and watching with increasing lust, and envy of the americans who are getting their hands on them this Saturday. My husband has already warned me he draws the line at waiting in a queue for one, so I will be web ordering. I am disappointed that they don't seem to be offering engraving at the moment, as that would have been the icing on the cake for me. However some of this disappointment has been mollified by this page.

At last! Someone realises that accessibility needs to be built in, not just added as an afterthought with software. I shall definitely be using the zoom, high contrast and triple click from time to time, but love the voice over ideas. I cant wait to see what others make of it as well. Top marks, Apple - now when can I have my birthday present!?!

A cute laptop trolley bag

It may not look it from the photo, but this is actually a very nice looking laptop bag. After giving up taking even my UMPC into work as it weighed too much I started to look for a trolley bag, but the UK offerings were either hideous, manly or way too expensive! I waited until l I got to the airport and found the cutest one I have seen, for about £100. Admittedly this isn't cheap, but no back pain and style at the same time aren't easy to find, so I thought I would show it to you anyway. I have linked the pic to the only place I could find it, their site being down, lets hope this sort of thing starts to reach our own shores very soon.

And for the tea drinkers

If you find the kettle too heavy to lift, why not think about investing in a Tefal Quick Cup? As you only have to lift the cup from under the water, it saves all the arm work.  It can splutter a bit, so be careful not to leave your hand too close if you leave the cup on the surface underneath while it fills, but if you get the right size mugs, one press and it fills while you fetch the milk.  You can always top up a bit manually if you prefer your mugs bucket size.  They are available from many sources now, and the price is usually between £50 and £60 n the net.

My Baby - Samsung Q1 Ultra

For those of you who have way too much paperwork to carry round, but no strength or space in you bag to carry it, what can you do? - Well my preferred option was a Samsung Q1 Ultra. Its a full Windows Vista PC, but very tiny - the screen is 7". This makes it big enough to clearly see a document on screen and make note on it with the pen, but easily small enough to carry round on most days.

Sadly Vista runs like an asthmatic dog on it, and the Samsung site gets no marks at all for having a really bad flash site, pop up menus and just about every other sin imaginable. However if you take the hard disk shuffling off, its definitely useable for day to day, but not as a main PC running heavy duty applications.

The lack of keyboard doesn't bother me, but if you want this, then look elsewhere. I use the pen mostly, the split thumb keyboard occasionally, and the decidedly bizarre dial keys (an on screen touch keyboard split into two quarter circles extruding from the bottom corners for want of a better description) only to try and remember to turn them back off.

All in all its a great toy, the screen resolution on that size looks stunning, and I am always surrounded by jealous cooing tech guys whenever I put it on the table at meetings.

Other options are the Asus EeePC, and the HTC touch amongst an ever increasing variety of options. For more on the Q1 Ultra, try PC World