Kate is a professional copywriter and long-time gadget fan. With more than a decade of experience spawning techie content to critique the miniscule detail of a printed circuit board through to the far-reaching potential of augmented reality, she’s not afraid to get physical with the hottest trends and give them a thorough grilling. Kate cut her literary teeth in the heady world of internet how-to guides, had a stint in technical writing for electronics components, dabbled in cartographic copy, dipped into sports scribing, jotted radio advertising ditties and is presently a full-time teller of all that is noteworthy in GPS navigation. Now at the giddy age of 32 she hopes a foray into freelance copywriting will keep presenting her with new windows for comment. Kate joined the LatestGadgets team in December 09 primed to scrutinise the latest high-tech kit with a questioning eye and digits poised and sharpened ready to relay the truth. Her gadgets of choice tend to be high-gloss and highly quirky, but she challenges all manufacturers to prove her wrong. See more at copy-kate

Digital Stream goes with the HD flow – Def one to watch

Forget staying up all hours to catch the latest live telly action in full HD splendour. The Digital Stream Freeview+ HD box has landed in our laps just in time to capture a summer of world-class sport. Now, we know the South African World Cup has been conveniently scheduled to coincide with more traditional UK waking hours, but if you’re one of those people who likes to digest the action…

Who’d Leica snap-nav?

Pro photographers and affluent amateurs on a quest to find the ultimate compact will be keen to roadtest the latest challenge from Leica, the V-LUX 20. While packing an impressive spread of traditional features that reads more like a who’s who of top-end trimmings – 12.1 effective megapixel sensor, Leica DC Vario-Elmar 4.1-49.2mm f/3.3-4.9 ASPH zoom lens with 35mm equivalent focal range of 25-300mm etc – the German photographic powerhouse…

Air2Air’s ‘DraganFlyer X4′ takes HD skyward

Unmanned airbourne vehicles (UAVs) have really taken off in recent years. Innovation is seeing these clever critters call the shots by taking pictures at angles hand-operated cameras can only dream of. Traditionally the territory of the military, surveyors and the police, Canadian UAV big-shot Air2Air has launched DraganFlyer X4 for the more mainstream aerial photographer and videographer. This amazing unmanned helicopter has the impressive spec of its wingman, the DraganFlyer…

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom5 – back to the landline?

With Mobile World Congress poised to present the latest in cell phone innovation, you may be surprised to find us making a reverse-charge back into the world of the humble landline. But this chic cordless from sound-system heavyweight Bang & Olufsen more than merits a passing comment. The elegant BeoCom5 uses the same acoustics as the company’s famous loudspeakers to promise surround-sound audio. Bang & Olufsen has certainly earned its…

Pick-your-own (BlackBerry) PowerPoint

If your PowerPoints are often stifled by the inevitably-stressful hit-and-miss set-up, BlackBerry Presenter promises to soothe your woes by beaming slides straight from your smartphone. This unique presentation partner is pitched at those who find travelling with a laptop too cumbersome or the urge to present too strong to hang around for a computer to boot-up. Perhaps you’re one of those people compelled to draw on a whiteboard to illustrate…

Feeling flabby? Swap miCouch for miCoach…

If your quest for New Year fitness has already taken a nosedive, Adidas has launched just the gadget to get your training back on track. miCoach is an interactive personal trainer which measures heart rate, pace, distance and stride and tells you when to speed up or slow down (safe to say the latter option on my unit won’t be breaking a sweat…) Provided you don’t cheat, these real-time stats…

iOwner wrist cramp? Take a stand with Crabble

The iPhone has come a long way in recent years, with video, apps and skins to name a few milestones. So when we spied the cryptically-named Crabble iPhone accessory we were mystified how a credit card-sized wedge of polypropylene could dare try to resolve the one issue we had with our smartphone and penetrate where the whizzy apps and pricey add-ons had tried to gloss. See, we can’t get enough…