We've traversed the acronym laden landscape of VoIP for you, and present you with the PC Authority guide to VoIP: what it is, what kinds of services you can find, what savings you can expect to make and how it is that you can go about setting up VoIP for yourself at home.

One of the larger form-factor units in this months Labs, Canons 9900F comes with a sexy mag alloy top coating and features a clearly labelled and attractive front control panel for easy single button press access.

Once the lens shutters are opened, the Canon PowerShot S50 powers up and welcomes you with a tone. Similar to the smaller Canon IXUS 400 in terms of features, it too ships with a 32MB CF card and AV cables. With fairly easy to navigate menus, the S50 also features video capture and a thumb-sliding preview mode.

Taking over on the innovation and user friendliness from where the original iPod left off, the iPod Mini features similar design to the original, but is in every regard smaller.

The compact EasyShare DX6490 is one of Kodak's latest in their DX high performance, consumer range of cameras. Featuring a 4.23MP CCD (with 4MP effective), the camera is capable of capturing images at up to 2,304 x 1,728 resolution, which places it at the higher end of the consumer digital camera spectrum.

Part 1 of our VoIP product and services roundup includes: MyNetFone, Broadbandphone, Skype, Firefly, BBP Global and Chat-Cord.

The Nikon Coolpix comes with a 3.2-megapixel CCD, 3x optical zoom and a good range of basic features needed for quick and easy shooting. One of the smallest in this round-up, the Nikon Coolpix 3100 is slightly larger than a credit card and about an inch and half thick. Its build quality is good and it will make an excellent travel accessory, easily fitting into a purse or a pocket.

Digital video is a rising star, with DV camera sales increasing from year to year and digital software sales to consumers and enthusiasts alike also on the rise. It's a welcome trend, to be sure, but with all such trends there is a widening gap between the digital haves and the have-nots, with no easy way to share video between.

The HomePlug networking standard has been around in the States and other countries for a few years, and has proven a popular alternative to running CAT 5 cabling in your walls or for the (then) expensive cost of setting up a wireless network. HomePlug is wired networking for sure, but it uses an existing infrastructure in your office or domicile: your copper electricity power 'network' that feeds your TV, hair-dryer, fridge and any other electrical appliance the juice it needs to run. In short, HomePlug uses your house's electrical wiring.

Acer is hedging its bets by releasing both Palm and Pocket PC-based PDAs

In what is an interesting first time foray into the crowded PDA market, Acer is hedging its bets by releasing both Palm- and Pocket PC-based PDAs. It's a curious gambit to be sure, and we're content to see which PDA branch blossoms while the other withers.

Type: Type: Soft phoneWeb: www.freshtel.net

Type: VoIP service with ATA Web: www.myfone.com.auPrice: $149 plus monthly charges

This PCMCIA card was fairly average in all tests, returning some uninspiring times and a middling tenacity to stick to its signal.

One of the few proper HDTV capable digital TV tuner cards reviewed, the Dvico FusionHDTV DVB-T was really capable in our tests.

The small USB S-Media MediaMate 210D is a fairly hardy TV tuner, with some basic software but enough to get the job done.

Supplied with Adobe Photoshop Elements it features direct printing, scanning, email and Web quick launch buttons.

The Canon LiDE 20 strikes a balance between quality and price. The scanner is well designed, with Z-hinges combined and the space-saving ability to stand upright.

High contrast and fine focal abilities make this display perfectly suited for business or student users doing a lot of reading. Impressive sharpness and resolution scores make it a great companion to those doing desktop publishing or graphic manipulation.

Oddly, in our tests, the BEFW11S4 performed better at long range with bad reception than it did at short range with good reception and a stronger, more robust signal.