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T3: Looking for an MP3 player you just might lose down the back of the sofa? Well, the Philips Go Gear Spark could be the player for you.

Yes it really is that small, sized at around 1.6 inches across, but still with room for an even smaller OLED colour screen for displaying tiny album sleeves you’ll barely be able to make out or even some track details for the truly eagle-eyed.

Mind you, small is beautiful when it comes to pocket media players. Thankfully it’s not small on everything, with a battery life of 27 hours and storage ranging from 2GB to a very useful 8GB.

There’s also MP3, WMA and JPEG file compatibility, ‘SuperScroll’ navigation, a built-in equaliser, optional FM radio and according to Philips, top notch audio – although you might want to put that to the test before you open your wallet. Prices for the Philips Go Gear Spark range start at £39.99 (€44 ), moving up to a top end of £59.99 (€67).

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HomeToys: Video-on-demand (VoD) libraries and widgets will be the first generation of video services driving adoption of connected television experiences in the U.S., according to international research firm Parks Associates.

Consumer electronics manufacturers and service providers will benefit from higher margins and ARPU generation in providing these Web-like experiences via the television.

Parks Associates, in its new white paper From Boob Tube to YouTube: Consumers and TV, reports strong interest among U.S. broadband households for VoD libraries and TV widgets, which are Web-like displays that show customized news, weather, sports, or traffic information. In particular, 33% are interested in widgets, and almost 50% are interested in premium Web content, including TV shows and movies, through a connected set-top box.

“Broadband households are growing accustomed to viewing video off the Internet,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. “Demand for Web and user-generated content will increase, and those desires will influence their CE purchases and service provider choices. Widgets and VoD libraries will be the first in a long line of advanced video services people will want in their living rooms.”

Scherf said that consumers respond favorably to enhanced interactive features and are willing to pay – either on the price of a television or as an additional subscription cost – for certain features.

“For manufacturers and service providers, creative, well-organized interactive services will be key to creating new value out of the television,” Scherf said.

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Hacked Gadgets: Go big or go home! That seems to be the theme here, you are looking at a Huge Media Center Remote Control.

If your eyesight or manual dexterity are not what they used to be this may just the thing for you.

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EngadgetHD: Sharp’s back again with four more Blu-ray DVRs…  in Japan.

The main upgrade from last year is improved compression, going up to 7x, squeezing HD down to 3.4Mbps MPEG-4 AVC to fit up to 30 hours of HD on each disc.

The top of the line BD-HDW40 features 1TB of hardware storage, dual digital TV tuners, 1080p/60 output, BD-Live, and all the oxygen-free copper cabling and anti-vibration tech one would expect, with the other three spec sheets causing predictably lowered paroxysms of pleasure for slightly lower prices.

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Electronista: A roadmap presented late yesterday by Nokia senior technology marketing manager James Harper confirms that the phone maker plans to be one of the first phone manufacturers with shipping 4G devices using the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard.

In pledging Nokia to using the technology, Harper confirmed to GigaOM and others in attendance that the company will launch 4G hardware starting in 2010 and also predicts that notebooks and other such devices will also get support for the faster cellular data, which is topping 60Mbps in real-world tests.

It’s not known if the mention of “laptops” in the presentation relates to Nokia considering netbooks or else simply add-on modems for existing systems.

The firm’s roadmap also sees initial expansion for LTE going through until 2013, when efforts will shift towards more global coverage and to mid-range cellphones.

Internet phone calls will also get early momentum, Nokia said. True pervasiveness isn’t expected until sometime on or after 2020.

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HDGuru: The Z1 is Panasonic’s most advanced HDTV, retailing at around $5999,95 (€4,700). Available only in the 54” screen the Z1 packs every advanced feature into a 1” thick Full HD 1080p plasma panel.

The Z1 has a native contrast ratio of 40,000:1, a low energy consuming Neo PDP panel technology, an included swivel table stand, Digital Cinema Color gamut, THX Certification, 1080 lines of motion resolution, 24 Hz Cinematic Playback and an HDMI wireless receiver.

The companion wireless transmitter tuner/switcher box has VIERA Link Internet connectivity and VIERA Link SD card reader for viewing still photos or AVCHD video playback.

Currently, the only thin competitor in this size range (an obese 2.25” at the thickest part) is the Sharp LC52XS1, an LCD HDTV with separate tuner box and speaker bar which retails for a whopping $12,000 plus the cost of the optional wireless box (when available).

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Gizmag: Looks like mobile phones aren’t the only things going touch screen crazy. As a new Rubik’s puzzle gets ready to hit stores an updated version of the classic Rubik’s Cube does away with the manual turning of the cube’s sides in favor of utilizing the very latest in touch and motion technologies, so users swipe a finger across the surface to “turn” a side.

The new Rubik’s TouchCube features touch sensor technology on all six sides, a motion-detecting accelerometer, and colored lights in every square.

When a finger is swiped across three squares the lights will follow, “turning” a side of the Cube, while making an “L” shape turns the top face of the Cube a quarter turn.

Rubik’s TouchCube’s motion-detecting accelerometer only recognizes moves made on the top side of the Cube, so that a player’s fingers won’t move the lights on other sides when holding it.

An internal memory saves the current puzzle while players can also choose between modern or classic sound effects at varying volume levels.

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CNet: A little under a year ago, Flickr began hosting video alongside its online photo service. One of its shortcomings was that it did not support high-definition video, which in the past year has become a major feature on point-and-shoot and digital SLR cameras, as well as popping up on major video-hosting services like YouTube.

Video was also only available to Flickr users who were subscribed to its $25 annual professional membership. On Monday, both of these limitations have been lifted. HD is now available to paying pro users, whose previously uploaded clips will be re-processed to fit inside the new 16:9 HD player by the end of the week. Flickr is also opening up its video feature to free users, although their HD videos will only play in the SD player.

While beautiful looking, two large limitations remain: videos must be 90 seconds or less in length and be under 150MB in size. With standard definition videos this size limit is fine, but in a 1:30-minute test clip I did on my Nikon D90, the file was well above that limit at 252MB, meaning whatever I was shooting in HD would have to be much shorter, or be compressed in a third-party piece of software before uploading. For most people, neither of these options is ideal, and Yahoo should really address them in a future update. I have the feeling many folks will simply continue to go to YouTube, Vimeo, or another service to offload that footage instead.

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Home Theatre in a box Review: Yamaha has announced four new home theatre in a box systems. The YHT-791 and YHT-591 are 7.1 and 5.1 systems respectively and while they don’t include a Blu-ray player, they do offer HD audio decoding.

The YHT-491 and YHT-391 are more value-oriented 5.1 systems that don’t skimp, each tosses in an 8″ 100 watt subwoofer. All four HTiB systems are designed to be easy to use and include features like Yamaha’s Scene Modes, which let consumers press a single button to instantly fire up the system and select the proper input and surround sound combinations.

They all also work with Yamaha’s optional iPod dock and wireless Bluetooth receiver.

The flagship is a 7.1 channel system that pushes 90 watts per channel to the two-way satellite speakers while delivering 100 watts to the YST II powered 10″ subwoofer. The receiver features four 1080p compatible HDMI inputs. Supporting those is HD audio decoding that supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. The system also features 1080p upscaling and Auto Lip-Sync compensation to make sure the audio and video align perfectly. The YHT-791 also comes with the YDS-11 iPod dock.

Retail is around $649.95 (around €516)

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Engadget: Garmin’s CeBIT showcase was overflowing with Earthlings. Many of which, as you could likely guess, were swooning over the recently announced nüvi 1200 and 1300 series navigators.

The hippest addition to these two are the public transit maps, which inform individuals on foot what subway / tube to hop on, where to get off, which bus to take from there and how long to stay on.

Frankly, it’s a Euro-tripper’s dream come true.

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Guardian: Car makers may be in trouble, but that’s not stopping them rolling out new green ideas at the Geneva Motor Show, writes motoring journalist Richard Aucock.

1. GM hasn’t killed the electric car: In 2006, a documentary film Called Who Killed the Electric Car alleged that American automakers, including General Motors, had limited the technology. But GM has actually given it life. The Opel Ampera “extended range electric vehicle” – E-REV – is massively significant.
2. Volvo prefers to work better: with what we already have With no expensive hybrid technology, Volvo has produced a conventional diesel that matches the CO2 emissions of today’s Toyota Prius. The C30 DRIVe is much cheaper, will sell more, and lead to a far greater cumulative CO2 reduction.
3. Blue Volkswagen turns the best-selling car sector green: Thirty-five per cent of all the new cars sold in Britain are superminis. A new version of a best-seller, the Volkswagen Polo, is out this winter, including one that does 74mpg and emits 96g/km of CO2. Next year, we’ll get the Bluemotion II variant, which will do 85mpg and emit just 87g/km of CO2. It will still cost around £12k, seat five and have decent performance from its 1.2-litre 75hp turbodiesel.
4. Citroen asks how fast do we want to go, anyway? “We need to move from always having more, to always having better. The simple solution to greener cars,” says Citroen’s Vincent Besson, is to have smaller ones. These are lighter, need less fuel, so give out less from the exhaust. But this “reduction” policy will go much deeper and says that custommers are more willing to accept “less” for lower-emission cars.
5. Bentley takes the moral high ground: By introducing the “well to wheel” fuel efficiency argument into the mainstream, Bentley isn’t expecting to greatly reduce world CO2 emissions. Its entire range already emits “inconsequential” levels of CO2, says sales head Stuart McCullough. Making such low volumes of cars more ecological won’t alter global warming one jot. No, with the Continental GT Supersports, which runs on 85% bioethanol, it’s opening up the ethical debate over biofuels.
6. Toyota makes the celebrity’s eco-darling even greener: The consciences of Leo DiCaprio and Arnie Schwarzenegger will remain clear. When conventional cars are calling themselves Prius-beaters, you need to respond. Toyota has done so, with this summer’s all-new model. It’s got a fifth more power, is 10% more economical, yet also emits just 89g/km of CO2. That’s way down from even the slower current car’s 104g/km.
7. Peugeot solves the logical flaw in the hybrid argument: Petrol hybrids are very economical, but few return anything a conventional diesel model can’t. Obvious solution? A diesel hybrid. Making this an economic reality is another matter. Diesel engines are costlier than petrols. Hybrid componentry is another added cost. But Peugeot will become the first manufacturer to solve this dilemma in 2011, with it’s hybrid Number 4 swift 200hp people carrier that averages 109g/km – similar to a tiny city car. O
8. Open source thinking creates the first wiki-car: Following the logic that many minds are better than one, German engineering experts EDAG unveiled the Light Car. This is a small electric car with lightweight construction and novel features. The company wants many more besides, including those from non-automotive companies. It’s therefore made it “open source”. Companies can approach EDAG with their ideas. If viable, they’ll be incorporated onto a concept for next year’s show – so long as EDAG can have the rights to then put the solution into production.
9. Renault is quietly making the electric car a reality: Renault is working on plans to introduce Europe-wide electric car infrastructures by 2012. It has a headline Better Place project in Israel, that will see a nationwide recharging infrastructure installed. What’s been less well publicised is that similar developments are occurring Europe-wide – including the UK. Key to this is treating batteries as you do SIM cards in mobile phones. You lease them off a “mobility operator”, which immediately solves the problem of electric car range. How? You have a “filling stations network”, where you swap flat battery packs for full one, in minutes. Good network coverage in cities is the first priority, with London already signed up.
10. Auto giants offered off-the-shelf electric car: The Magna Steyr mila ev is a bespoke electric car concept showcased by Austrian coachbuilders Magna. It is a five-seat supermini-sized car, with lithium ion batteries providing decent performance and a potential 170-mile range. It has a distinctive composite body that can quickly be designed into any shape required – and that’s the story. For, Magna is offering this to large car makers to buy into. They can have a family-look, off-the-shelf electric model, built in numbers up to 20,000 a year, in as little as 2 years’ time.

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TechDigest: The gesture controlled, object-sensing that will be in everyone’s home. Honest. Even in the recesssion.

The debatably useful Microsoft Surface touch-sensitive computer table has finally hit the UK shores.

It’s expected to cost a hefty £10,000 (around €11,240) when anyone can work out where to actually buy it and I’ll offer an even bigger prize when I’m wowed by a really important application of this gesture controlled display tech.

The real bonus of the machine is its ability to interact with objects placed on the surface and I may be hearing about hospitals using it for patients’ medical records or hotels for self-check-in but no one seems to have, as yet, uncovered its real potential. And as far as Ballmer’s claims of one in your home go, unconvinced doesn’t even come close.

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