Decide what to buy | the Reevoo.com blog, featuring news on TVs, cameras, laptops, mp3 players & other gadgets, shopping tips and deals, reviews and more

Ever wished you could smell who you were calling? No? Why ever not! Even if the thought has, understandably, never entered you mind, Japanese carrier NTT Communications Corp will soon be bringing an aromatherapy phone to our world.

Callers control small pots holding 16 scent cartridges with their mobile phones or wi-fi connection and can create and send 200 different aromas by mixing the cartridges. NTT have even produced a ‘recipe’ book to give users ideas of different smells they could send. NTT predicts that smell is the next big thing in communications with this being just the tip of the scented email, music and video clip iceberg.

Interesting stuff hey? Those of you just looking for a simple way to ring your mates can read a number of land line phone reviews and mobile phone reviews from consumers on Reevoo.

Some funny reviews to set you up for the weekend…

"It is a neat machine. It doesn’t fly to Mars, or sew up holes in your socks but it does what it is supposed to do" Indesit WIDL146

"The stickiness of the stick is fantastic. It’s memory capacity is capacitous" Kingston 1GB USB 2.0 Flash Key Drive

"Could be a little more aesthetically pleasing, although I realise that it’s a torch and not a display in the Tate Gallery" Shake Powered Torch

"The mp3 feature is not particulary great, the music keeps pausing and the tomtom keeps saying ‘you have reached your destination’" Tom Tom Go 910

"Scares me to the point of almost soiling the bed" Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock

This week’s gadget watch should be re-named ‘copy-cat watch’. If rumors are true, Microsoft, rather than admitting they missed a trick with the Nintendo Wii remotes have decided to just reproduce some of their own instead. Last week we reported that Microsoft faired pretty poorly in the 2008 Brandjunkie awards but with mixed reactions, it’s not certain whether this move will help or hinder their cause. One comment on MTV news states “This should be an indicator that Microsoft has run out of innovative ideas”. However, there are lots of positive comments too…”I’m glad Microsoft sees that and puts up some real competition for
Nintendo. I’ve held out getting a 360 but I might have to buy one now,
if this new controller gets good support”

The rumors indicate that the remote for the Xbox 360 is being developed by Rare, the Microsoft-owned studio, and will supposedly be released by the end of the year. What does everybody else think?

I know we’ve had quite a few Apple stories in the past few days but this is some more ‘green’ news so hopefully I’ll get away with it…

It seems that the iconic white Mac laptop is to be a thing of the past with current designs for the MacBook and MacBook Pro being phased out later this year. The move is part of the "greener Apple" promise by company chief executive Steve Jobs. The laptops will be losing their plastic cases and instead be made from more eco-friendly materials such as aircraft-grade aluminum and stainless
steel.

I’m sensing a collectors item…grab one while you still can! Have a goosey at some of the MacBook MacBook Pro reviews on Reevoo.

This week I’ve been looking for green products you can use with appliances you already have and I’ve come across these two gems that will help you to lower your personal emissions and save you some cash too.

The first one is something you can use in your fridge. On average, fridges use 10 kilowatt-hours a week, that’s enough to keep an average kettle on for five hours continuously - you’d certainly get a lot of use out the the Wash-Up with all those cups of tea you could make! The e-cube can change all that. It’s a small, black cube that fits over your fridge’s temperature gauge. The temperature gauge usually measures the air temperature around it and when things are getting a little too hot for it’s liking, it orders things to cool down a bit - cue increased electricity usage.

Food normally takes a lot longer to warm up than air so a lot of that cooling is unnecessary. The e-cube is a plastic box filled with wax which mimics food properties so when it is fitted around your temperature sensor, the sensor will be able to measure the temperature of the actual food, rather than the air, decreasing the amount of time your fridge switches on the cooler. Genius, hey?!

It’s estimated that this super cube can save up to 20% of your energy a year and you can pick one up for £25. According to the Guardian, if one was fitted to each of the 87 million refrigeration units in Britain, carbon dioxide emissions would fall by more than 2 million tonnes a year.

If you’ve got a fridge that’s over 15 years old, chances are that it’s guzzling way more energy than it should be and using harmful CFCs. You might want to upgrade pretty sharpish so that you can drastically reduce your energy bills and your effect on the environment - go all energy efficient and find out what shoppers are saying about A-rated fridges and A-rated fridge freezers to help you decide which would be best for you.

The next product is one you’ve probably all heard about but I thought I’d mention it anyway. It’s for use in those energy eating tumble dryers. Dryer balls can be put in the dryer with your washing to soften fabrics so you can save a few quid on fabric softener and dryer sheets and help save the environment from harmful chemicals at the same time.

In the reviews from Reevoo, Jane from Leicester says "I can use them for tumble drying my baby’s
clothes without worry as they have no chemicals which was a concern
with the tumble dryer sheets. They don’t dry out either"

On top of all that, they also get more
water out of your clothes quicker which means the dryer doesn’t need to be on so long. Another saving for you - less electricity - and for the environment - less greenhouse gas emissions. Bonus.

If you’re in the market for washing machines, tumble dryers or washer-dryers, make sure you read some reviews before you buy anything so that you don’t waste any more money getting the wrong one. Try and get the most energy efficient one you can by looking at the efficiency rating. Still confused by all this energy efficiency labeling malarkey? Find out more here.

Seeing as it’s April and the weather still consists of snow, gales and floods, I bet a load of you can’t wait to get into hotter climates and have already planned your escape. Looking for a nice, new, shiny mp3 player to while away the hours on planes and sunny beaches? Look no further. We’ve been ploughing through the reviews from shoppers at Reevoo to find out which mp3 players have made it into the top 5. We have to admit that what we did find was a little surprising - no iPods until fifth place and no Creatives in sight. Check it out for yourselves…

Top with a score of 9.8/10 is the Sony NWE016BC Black with top marks for value for money, design and sound quality. Funnily enough, this system beat the Apple hands down in the design stakes with shoppers rating it’s design 10/10 compared to the iPod’s 9.2/10!

Coming in a close second is Sony’s 3GB NWZA816 with 9.7/10. One shopper comments “The sound is brilliant…The size is perfect”

Middle of the pack is the Hitachi DMP20 2GB Black. Scoring 9.4/10, people praise its ease of use and battery life.

With a rating of 9.2/10, the Samsung YP-P2JCB 8GB Black wins over customers with its design, extra features and its portability but it loses points on value for money.

In at number five is the first and last Apple appearance. The New Green Apple iPod Nano 8GB scored 9.2/10. One customer sums it up as “nice shape and colour easy to use and sounds good” but comments about the lack of a carry case, the fact that you can only use itunes and scores on battery life push it into fifth place. 96% of shoppers would recommend this product, compared to 100% for the Samsung.

If you still haven’t seen one you fancy, there are a load more here.

It’s Friday again! Time for some more reviews that have brightened up our week.

"It eats batteries like a binge eater on acid!" DMC LS60 Digital Camera

"I like the remote control :),  I have lost the remote control " Iwi IW 250 iPod Docking Station

"This baby can suck" Dyson DC20 Stowaway Animal

"Very useful if you have kids or in our case grandchildren. Can be stored in garage.(Freezer not grandchildren !)" BEKO TZDA524FS

"
The bloody thing beeps at you incessantly when it has finished washing. It may be 2.00 am but it has no respect. I loathe it more than Windows 95" BOSCH WAE24162

It’s been an uncomfortable week for Apple in Las Vegas at CTIA Wireless 2008, the mobile industry’s  biggest trade event, as all the handset giants are battle it out to beat the iPhone. But while Apple need to watch their backs, we’re in for a treat with handsets packed full of features.

One to look out for is the Samsung Instinct. It’s touch-based interface comes with haptic feedback to let you know your touches are being received and as well as it’s removable battery it also has a 2MP camera, GPS and EV-DO Rev A and three handy navigation buttons. Pretty neat hey? Rumours around price put it at about £200.

If you’re not a Samsung fan, other iPhone competitors are the LG Vu, and the Nokia N78. As soon as we get reviews for these products, we’ll let you know what shoppers have said about them. In the meantime, there are lots of other mobile reviews from Reevoo, so go check them out if you’re looking for your next handset.

Nokia, in collaboration with Cambridge University, has recently unveiled something not far removed from sci-fi films such as the Matrix or Ultraviolet.Known as Morph and currently only a theoretical concept, not much is known about the device’s technical capabilities but the designs do show how the handset is able to “morph” its shape and size according to function: ranging from a wrist watch, a tablet and a traditional mobile phone.

This is made possible with the use of nanotechnology, which also enables the device to be self-cleaning, transparent and even able to monitor its surrounding environment whilst retaining its flexible shape. The handset also has a detachable earpiece that can be used as a Bluetooth headset and both parts use solar
power to charge up.

Can’t get your head round it? Check out this video:

This is really exciting stuff. iPhone anyone?

Unfortunately, Nokia has stated that they won’t be releasing this any time soon as it is still in early development but the technology behind the Morph may be readily available in their high-end mobile devices in about seven years time.

Check out Wired’s “7 Jobs That Nokia’s Phone of the Future Will be Good For” for a lighthearted list of things you can do with Nokia’s Morph.

For more information, visit Nokia.

If you can’t wait that long, check out the latest mobile phones and what shoppers have said about them here.

Nokia, in collaboration with Cambridge University, has recently unveiled something not far removed from sci-fi films such as the Matrix or Ultraviolet.Known as Morph and currently only a theoretical concept, not much is known about the device’s technical capabilities but the designs do show how the handset is able to “morph” its shape and size according to function: ranging from a wrist watch, a tablet and a traditional mobile phone.

This is made possible with the use of nanotechnology, which also enables the device to be self-cleaning, transparent and even able to monitor its surrounding environment whilst retaining its flexible shape. The handset also has a detachable earpiece that can be used as a Bluetooth headset and both parts use solar
power to charge up.

Can’t get your head round it? Check out this video:

This is really exciting stuff. iPhone anyone?

Unfortunately, Nokia has stated that they won’t be releasing this any time soon as it is still in early development but the technology behind the Morph may be readily available in their high-end mobile devices in about seven years time.

Check out Wired’s “7 Jobs That Nokia’s Phone of the Future Will be Good For” for a lighthearted list of things you can do with Nokia’s Morph.

For more information, visit Nokia.

If you can’t wait that long, check out the latest mobile phones and what shoppers have said about them here.