According to this article Aldi and Lidl are both selling a bottle of champagne for just £9.99. Aldi’s Vue Monsigny and Lidl’s Comte de Brismand both sell for just under £10. They get mixed reviews from critics with some experts suggesting the taste is not that great but others calling it elegant and fruity. Unfortunately I don’t have an Aldi or a Lidl near me otherwise I would buy some and post a review. Have you tried either of these bottles of champagne and if so what were they like?

Marks and Spencer have announced that they will hold a Penny Bazaar on Friday. The sale which will last one day only will see 15 different items going on sale at just 1p each. Items include socks, card games, puzzles, handkerchiefs, money boxes, tea towels, mugs, notebooks, ties, knickers, keyrings and chocolates. Marks and Spencer have previously hosted a similar event which saw people queued outside stores trying to pick up a bargain. If you want to get your hands on some of the cheap items customers are limited to five purchases each and you can check which stores are offering the promotion on the website.

This is interesting its an idea for laser guided cars that do all the driving for you. The cars would allow the driver to do something else whilst still being behind the wheel meaning you could sleep, read or perhaps catch up on some work. They would work using sensors and wireless technology which would lock the cars together in a convoy with each vehicle following the one ahead. The car at the very front would be manned by a professional driver and all the other cars would simply follow. Drivers would pay a subscription for the service and would need to book ahead in order to secure a place in the convoy. They would then join the end of the convoy at the allotted time via a slip road and when they choose to leave their car would be guided off onto their chosen slip road. I’m not sure I fancy it, it seems to bring back memories off getting stuck behind a tractor for some strange reason.

Sony have released two new phones that are made from recycled plastic. The phone are made from old CD cases and water bottles and have been launched as an eco friendly option for customers. The GreenHeart C901 and Naite both feature a camera, video streaming, bluetooth and WAP and work as a conventional phone would. The only difference is that the casing is made from 50 per cent recycled plastic. Both phones also include a low power charger and an in phone e-manual which reduces paper usage by 90 per cent. They also include an application that allows you to work out how much greenhouse gas emissions you can save by choosing to walk somewhere rather than using your car.

If you are looking around for an unusual gift then you might want to have a look at these Crystal Singing Bowls. Imported from the Himalayas they are used for meditation music and healing. The importer Silver Sky Imports travels to the region several times a year and handpicks their selection of singing bowls from Tibet and Nepal. Each bowl is individually catalogued and includes a recorded sound file and individual pictures so you know you are receiving the product you are looking for. Their latest range also includes fountain singing bowls which cause water to spout like a fountain when your hands are rubbed on the handles.

Having just sold our house I have been looking around at some furniture ideas for our new home. I came across some really nice rustic furniture that I think will fit the room quite well. I like the fact that is individually handcrafted, for me it is much more appealing than something that you can buy from most high street furniture shops.

We have a lot of problems with other cats getting in through our cat and eating our cat’s food. For this reason I have been looking around for a new cat flap that will only let my cats enter. There are flaps available that work by using a special collar which lets the wearer in but I have heard these are not necessarily fail safe as other cats who also the same collars are still able to enter.  This idea is interesting it’s a new cat flap called the Smartflap that works using your cat’s own microchip. The cat flap looks just like a conventional flap and is made to the same size so it will fit into the existing hole but the fact that it works using your cat individual microchip is a big bonus. It is battery operated and can be programmed so that only your cats can use the flap. You are also able to programme the cat flap to lock itself automatically at night, so if like us you like to keep your cats locked in after dark then this is a useful feature. If you want one they are currently on special offer and you are able to get the item on a 40 day free trial to check that you are happy with the product. It also has an 18 month manufacturers guarantee.

If you have a bit of spare cash then you might be interested in this swimsuit. At £2,000 its not cheap but it is hand embroidered with 5,000 Swarovski crystals in various shades of ruby, sapphire, emerald and gold. If you want one you can get it at Selfridges but they are expecting a lot of interest in the product, so there is likely to be a waiting list.

This is interesting its a TV that turns itself off when no one is watching it. The new Sony Bravia WE5 Eco TV includes something called a smart presence sensor that will turn the TV off if it no longer detects any movement in the room. The TV detects the movement and body heat of anyone sitting within range of the screen. If the viewer falls asleep or leaves the room the sensor can detect this and switched the picture mode off reducing the power consumption. The set then remains idle for 30 minutes before switching itself off completely. It’s an interesting idea, but I wonder how well it copes with people who sit still for long periods of time and also how it deals with pets moving about the house.

This is cool its the Terrafugia Transition a car that flies. The car works like a conventional car but has the added bonus of being able to fly with the help of some fold away wings. It runs on unleaded petrol and can fly 400 miles on a single tank of gas. It does look a little odd and at £139,000 its certainly not cheap but I think there are times we have all wished we had a flying car.

Richard Branson has launched his mothership, a craft that will soon launch the first space tourists into the atmosphere. The WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft which is named after Branson's mother is capable of reaching a height of 50,000ft. The first passengers are likely to be launched into space in around 18 months time but there is currently no set launch date as safety tests still need to be carried out. More than 250 customers have already paid a $200,000 deposit to be among the first space tourists.

Britain's first eco nightclub has opened in London. The night club offers free entry to cyclists and walkers. It also has its own wind turbines and solar energy systems. The venue has air flush waterless urinals and low flush toilets. It sells all of its drinks in polycarbon cups and has a high tech dance floor that generates its own electricity when people dance on it.

I was looking around for some gift ideas and found this website that sells silver jewellery. They are based in the UK but can ship items all over the world. The interesting thing about their range of jewellery is that the items are not available on the high street. They are sourced directly from the jewellery makers in Thailand and sold through the keysilver website. As they are not available at any larger retailers and are not produced in large quantities  you can you can find something a little more unusual and exclusive.

Their range includes silver bracelets and bangles, silver necklaces and silver pendants. All of their items are stamped with a quality mark of 925 to indicate the purity of the silver and most items are available for shipping within 24 hours. I particularly liked their range of silver bracelets especially the silver star bracelet (pictured) which costs £15.00. Many of the items also have matching necklaces and all items are sent packaged in an organza jewel bag so are great to send as gifts. They currently offer free shipping within the UK on orders of £10.00 or more and they offer a 14 day money back guarantee. Its certainly worth bookmarking this website for future use especially as they are adding new products all the time.

Asda have launched a mobile phone that costs just £5 making it Britain's cheapest pay as you go mobile phone. The available models including the Nokia 1112, Sagem My212x, Sagem My220x and Sagem My150x on a number of tariffs from Virgin, T Mobile and Orange. Over 50,000 handsets went on sale last Friday at Asda stores across the UK.

This is an interesting idea, a suit that can be worn and washed in the shower. It is made from fast drying Australian merino wool and is designed for the Asian market. It is aimed primarily at businessmen who are required to wear a suit in the humidity of an Asian summer. At the end of the day all you need to do is hose the suit down in the shower and hang it up to dry. It regains its shape and is ready to wear again the next morning without the need for dry cleaning.

Without our Dyson vacuum cleaner our house would just be completely covered in pet hair all the time. It’s great for cleaning all the fur off the sofas, and an invaluable piece of kit to have around the house if you, like us have four cats. It can, however, be a little bulky for carrying up the stairs and cleaning the car so I was interested to see that Dyson now do a compact version called the Dyson DC16. It is designed to be handheld and easily portable and is also bagless and like the bigger version is well suited to picking up pet hair. The advantage with this smaller version, however is that it can easily fit into all the gaps that its bigger brother can’t quite reach and is also great for cleaning the car as you don’t need to worry about trailing wires outside.

The Sat Nav trolley could soon be coming to Britain. The device will help shoppers by guiding them around the store to the items they want to buy. It will also suggest recipe ideas based on the food that you put into them. The trolley is made by Media Cart in conjunction with Microsoft and could be in UK supermarkets by 2009. It will also be able to download your shopping list and plot the quickest route around the store, depending on what you want to purchase. The trolleys are fitted with a location device so they know where in the store, they can they work out what the best route is from the current location to the product the customer requires. It seems like an interesting idea, I wonder how well they work in practice.

PC2Paper have just launched their virtual printer. The product has launched initially at a beta version but if early indications are anything to go by, it should make sending a letter from your computer much easier. Previously you had to log in and go through the process of uploading your letter or writing it online. The virtual printer, however, acts just like a desktop printer. Once you have installed it you simply select the PC2Paper printer option from your list of printers, add the address you want the letter to go to and choose your print options from the different types of paper and formats available. Then just enter your user name and password and the letter is automatically transferred to PC2Paper who take care of the printing and posting for you. What a great idea.

Weather balloons could be used to provide mobile phone and broadband services to rural Britain. An American company called Space Data has already used small phone masts attached to balloons to provide wireless internet access to remote areas. The group has supplied military and commercial clients for four years but is now preparing to link with broadband companies to offer services to residential customers. Space Data has patented the service in 41 countries and is now considering the US as a potential market. The service uses a small transceiver attached to a balloon which then rises to an altitude of 30,500m after it has been released. The company says that one balloon can beam a signal to an area equivalent to 80 mobile phone towers. The service does have one drawback, the balloons only last for 24 hours before bursting which means a constant supply has to be released to maintain the connection and the radio equipment on the burst balloon has to be retrieved by a team using location devices.

T-Mobile and Orange are to launch a new service that will give customers a live TV service on their mobile phone. They aim to start a trial service in west London in the summer. They plan to broadcast 24 TV channels and 10 digital radio stations although have not yet said what sort of tariff customers would pay for the service. The service will offer both conventional TV channels and some premium channels.

A new car has been unveiled by the Indian buyers of Jaguar that costs only £1,250 making it the world’s cheapest car. It has no air conditioning, no power steering, no passenger side mirror and only one windscreen wiper but it big enough to carry four people. Called the Nano its makers hope that it will make motoring accessible to millions of Indians who can’t currently afford a car. The car measures ten foot long and five foot high and is powered by a two cylinder petrol engine. It has a top speed of 65mph and does 50 miles to the gallon.

Nintendo have launched two new DS Lite bundle packs in time for Christmas. They come in a choice of gold or metallic pink. The gold console comes with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass whilst the pink console comes with Nintendogs. They will be launched in the US on the 23 November with a UK release date to be confirmed later.

I found this website the other day that specialises in natural skincare. They specialise in skincare and beauty products that are usually found in spas, department stores and doctors offices. As well as offering well know brands they also offer their own product line which includes their exclusive skin dimensions products. The products include acne care, anti aging products and moisturisers. They also have a range of gift ideas including a great coffeeberry antioxidant kit which would be great for that post Christmas detox programme. They offer free ground shipping within the US and you also get free samples with every order. 

Sony is going to launch a third generation model of its PS2. The new model will be a lighter version of the current design. It will be the same size but will weigh only 720g compared to the current model which weighs 850g. The new version will also include the AC power brick. The launch appears to be part of Sony’s plan to sell 12 million PS2 consoles by March 2008. The new version will come in a choice of white, silver or black and will cost the same as the current model.

There are lots of ways that you can cut your energy bills. Small things like loft insulation and insulated glass windows can amount to real savings over the course of the year. I was reading about double pane glass the other day called Heat Mirror Insulating glass. What it does is combine two air spaces to help block heat flow and provide higher insulation than ordinary glass. This helps cut down on emissions and helps reduce heating and cooling loads, saving energy. It also helps to block around 99% of the suns UV radiation so can help prevent furniture from fading and sun damage.

If you are looking around for an unusual gift you might want to have a look at this site that sells Funny Vanity Plates. They have a large range of plates to suit almost anyone. You can choose a design from some of their more popular plates and customise it with your own text or alternatively you can use the novelty and picture builder to create your own design. You can also add badges, slogans, surrounds and backgrounds to the plate.

If you want to customise your own plate then you can do that do. You can choose which background you want from a number of popular designs including popular football clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and less popular football clubs like West Ham, or if you prefer you can simply leave the background blank. You can also customise the font by selecting a typeface, colour and size and entering your own text. If after you have customised the plate you can’t get it quite how you want it then you can also upload an image of your design with your order and describe which parts of your design you want to appear on the plate. They guarantee to dispatch your order within 1 working day and delivery is either next working day by courier or Royal Mail Recorded Delivery.

I read this article about a computerised pillow designed to stop snoring. The pillow is attached to a computer which analyses snoring noises, it then reduces or enlarges compartments within the pillow to help nasal airflow and minimise snoring. I wonder what it does with a really bad case of snoring that it can’t stop; maybe it gives up and suffocates the user…Job done.

Sony is going to launch a new add-on to the Playstation 3 which will allow people to watch digital channels and record TV. The service is similar to the current Sky + service and is called PlayTV. It is due to go on sale early next year. It will include the current freeview channels and well as the high definition channels when they become available. Users will be able to store programmes on the hard drive and watch them via Sony’s PSP portable games console. It is not yet known how much the service will cost, but Sony have said there will not be a monthly fee.

I remember seeing the Trunki on Dragons Den a while ago. The idea is that is a kind of ride on suitcase for children. At the time the Dragons described the idea as worthless but the inventor has gone on to make his product a success without their help. He has now sold 85,000 of his suitcases. It is marketed in 22 countries and is a top seller at John Lewis, Mothercare, Fenwick and Debenhams. It is nice to see that that sometimes the small business man can make it even without the Dragon's help.

Japanese researchers have developed a table and chairs set that can change colour. The furniture has sensors embedded in and can work out the colour of items that are placed on it. They work by bouncing red, green and blue off of objects and recording which hues are reflected. An Apple Mac inside the table then sends wireless messages to the stool which project light to match the colour of the object on top.