Stories by: Matthew Overington

Home theatre projectors are big business and most consumer electronics manufacturers are capitalising on the research done for the business space by pushing DLP devices into the home entertainment market. The DLP-based projectors have a number of benefits over conventional LCD models including increased colour accuracy and less noticeable space between pixels.

The popularity of broadband in the home has given webcams a new lease on life. Creative's Live! Motion WebCam takes a number of elegant features to help it appeal to the power user.

While lasers are an obvious choice for high-volume printing because of the lower cost of operation, most homes - and a number of small businesses - look to ink purely for the ability to print in colour.

Low-cost colour laser printers are finding a niche in small businesses and homes alike. Lasers are faster and generally cheaper to run than their inkjet counterparts and leaps in cartridge technology means that relatively complicated laser devices are ready for consumers.

Wireless networking has become de rigueur for tech savvy households, however inexpensive broadband and an explosion in notebook sales is placing Wi-Fi in the hands of the mainstream consumer. The 802.11g wireless networking standard includes provision for a certain number of wireless networks to operate within a given area.

As far as networkable colour laser printers go, Epson's AcuLaser C4200DN is handcrafted for the small to medium business.

Though wireless technology has substantially changed computing in homes and offices, a lack of speed and limited range still plague emerging devices.

Digital cameras, mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, and hordes of other digital devices all demand some form of removable media to store data. Though the computer and consumer electronics industries have worked hard to rally around standard formats, flash media still comes in countless shapes and sizes. Worse yet, there are an enormous number of USB connectors that allow digital devices to connect to a PC, so you have to wrestle with a bundle of cables just to transfer pictures, MP3s or work files back to your computer.

Apple's iBooks are designed to offer a less-expensive alternative to the impressive flagship PowerBook range. The company offers two models - fitted with 12- or 14-inch displays, and either a 1.33GHz or 1.42GHz PowerPC G4 processor.

Canon's beige and grey LBP-3000 laser printer looks a little like a paper shredder, but is a good choice for an office worker or home environment with light to moderate demands. The diminutive machine has a footprint similar to an inkjet device, measuring 37 x 25 x 22 cm and weighing in at just over 6kg, so it should fit neatly on most desks.

Samsung has an impressive lineup of both GSM and CDMA phones. The SGH-X460 is available in either black or silver and offers support for the GSM network.