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The growing antagonism between Google/You Tube and the creators who involuntarily supply their video content has shown that the PC is becoming the place to go to watch videos. So wouldnt it be nice if you could stash all of your huge video and music files someplace other than your own computers hard drive? And if such a place could be easily connected to your living room TV and stereo system, so you could view the videos and listen to music without having to integrate a PC into your living room stack of gear? And wouldnt it be nice if could you use a wireless connection to move these files from your PCs too, since you cant or wont wire your living room with Ethernet?

These arent empty questions, but the idea behind the $275 MediaGate MG-350HD. It is the size of a hardback book with lots of cables and connectors to hook up to your TV and hifi. It sorta works. http://www.Mediagateusa.com

The box has your choice of component, composite, S-Video or DVI video connectors and coax, optical or twin RCA audio connectors. Among that selection should be some combination that can hook it up to what you have in your living room. Unlike having a Media Center PC, it is quiet and doesnt generate much heat.

You can connect it to your PC via either a regular USB connector, or use either the wired Ethernet or wireless networking ports. It doesnt come with any hard disk youll need to buy an older model 3.5 inch IDE drive. (It would have been nicer if they included a SATA interface, especially since those drives are pretty cheap now.) After taking off four cover screws, you can quickly connect the IDE drive inside the box and then close it back up, power up and format the drive. There are instructions that are written in badly translated English for various versions of Windows on how to do this.

The good news is that the box has just enough intelligence to handle all sorts of video files that I stored on it. I asked my 20-something stepson to give me a sample of video downloads to try out. One came with German subtitles, one was a version of Babel without any subtitles (which is tough because a lot of dialogs isnt in English), and one came more or less like the theatrical version. None of these files could immediately play on an ordinary Windows PC without installing further audio or video encoders, such as Divx. They all ran as is just fine on the MediaGate.

The bad news is that the wireless and networking support will take some effort to get working. To use the MediaGate as a network storage device, you need to install a special driver on your Windows PC. It was easier to plug in the USB cable and move the files over to its hard drive, which somewhat defeats the idea behind a network storage box. I have WEP configured on my home network, and I couldnt get the appropriate key to work with the MediaGate, despite its supposed support for this encryption level.

The unit comes with a small remote control that is used mainly for setup tasks, and for scrolling through the various files to play them. And scroll you will do the interface is similar to Windows Media Center, showing you folders and file names on screen in large fonts that mean just a few listings per screen. If you have hundreds of files, it will take some effort to find them. Another cool feature is that you can store video and audio files on ordinary USB key drives and then plug them into the unit and play them.

Both audio and video quality seemed acceptable. You have your choice of 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios of the video. Overall, the device does a decent job. If you arent a fan of Windows Media Center, this might be a good alternative. Apples iTV is comparably priced when you factor into the fact that it includes the hard drive but not the cables. But iTV doesnt do 4:3 and you need to use iTunes to manage how the content gets moved over to the box.

David Strom is a noted speaker, author, and consultant. His blog can be found at http://strominator.com, and he can be reached at david@strom.com

Vodafone are becoming very good at sealing exclusive deals with the top mobile manufacturers to launch new products for a limited time frame. This ensures the operator is the only outlet where a customer can get the new handset connected and further boosts their credibility within the industry. However, this can be bad news for consumers as the limited amount of tariffs could mean that they are not getting exactly the right combination of free minutes and text to suit their usage requirements.

A typical example of this scenario has just played out with the new Nokia N95 8GB, Vodafone originally launched the phone as an exclusive handset over a month ago and so any customers wanting to purchase this upgraded model had to connect it to the Vodafone network.

This is now no longer the case as the exclusive period has now expired and the 8GB N95 is now available from two new networks, O2 and 3 Mobile - also known as Three network. The latter is probably of most importance as the operator offers far more free minutes and text messages than any other UK network giving the consumer the best value for money, add to this the fact that 3 Mobile are offering the 8 gigabite N95 from Free with a 30.00 per month line rental tariff and you can begin to see the benefits for yourself.

The upgraded N95 holds many of the original features and specification of the previous model, however there have been some cosmetic as well as technical advancements made to this high end N-Series handset.

The first thing a savvy consumer will notice is that the 8GB version is only available in a black coloured casing to distinguish it from the original model, but on closer inspection the layout has also been changed to accommodate some new hardware and dimensions. The main display screen has been enlarged to a substantial 2.8 inches which now dominates the front fascia of the handset, this makes for easy reading and typing of text messages especially for those with not so good eyesight, it also makes viewing video downloads, pictures and movies far easier on the eye and now feels that it could be a contender for a 'real' multimedia device to rival standalone products.

The most obvious change from the original N95 is contained within the new model name, 8GB. This new extended memory is a godsend for photographic enthusiasts, music lovers, film buffs and business users as the extra space allows for far more file saving and downloading capabilities. Music lovers in particular are excited by this memory upgrade as most have used an 8 gigabite standalone MP3 player and now can upload their entire collection of tracks and albums to their mobile phone.

The battery life has also been extended in this new model but not without sacrifice, the battery has had to be enlarged meaning that the reverse of the handset has had to be slightly redesigned to accommodate.

In conclusion, the presence of this new model alongside the expiry of the exclusive period with Vodafone is exciting news for consumers, with new tariff options from O2 and 3 Mobile plus the extra capacity and functionality of the upgraded model the Nokia N95 8GB is a high end product which now falls within most peoples budgets when looking for a new mobile phone.

The Nokia N95 8GB is one of many new N-Series handsets to be released this year. Should you require any further information please feel free to visit our mobile phones shop.