Samsung ST550 camera

£270 samsung.com/uk

What is it? The first compact camera with a second, front-mounted LCD display. This may sound daft but is ideal when framing a self-portrait or group picture of you and your friends. The front screen is smaller, just 1.5in, and can show a countdown timer — useful if you are delaying a shot. A single finger tap activates the front screen along with face detection, which automatically focuses on a human face if it’s in the frame and, if set to do so, will shoot when you next smile. The main 3.5in touchscreen is classy too. Touch any part of a scene depicted on it to focus on that object, and if you keep pressing, it takes a picture. The 12.2Mp Samsung also has a 4.6x optical zoom.

Should I buy one? The ST550 is an innovative camera with an astonishing array of features, most of which appear to work well. Aside from the sobering price tag, the big trade-off is that, as with most Samsungs, image quality is nothing to write home about. The lens is ordinary and the pictures aren’t that detailed.

Pure Sensia Radio £249

www.touchmyradio.com

What is it? A smart wi-fi radio that brings Twitter to your breakfast table as well as your favourite internet, DAB and FM stations. The Sensia’s 5.7in touchscreen makes it easier to navigate through the thousands of internet radio stations available and is a huge improvement over many rivals. Once connected to a wi-fi network, it is able to run certain apps, including Twitter and weather reports. This allows you to view tweets and even post them via the touchscreen keypad. Pure says that when the Sensia goes on sale, exclusively in John Lewis, later this month, it will also have a Facebook app along with one for Google’s Picasa photo-sharing service. Others will follow.

Should I buy one? Pure’s wi-fi radios are mercifully simple to use because you can designate your preferred stations on the company’s bespoke website first rather than use the set to trawl through the thousands available. Then, when you switch on the radio, it automatically offers you these. The screen also allows you to search for podcasts far more easily than on other wi-fi radios, but is still fiddly. The casing is a bit plasticky and the sound is unexceptional but the Sensia takes radio into a new dimension.

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