Top five essential summer holiday gadgets

Speedo 2GB Aquabeat MP3 player

Underwater mp3 player from speedo is perfect for tunes in the pool

Okay, so you're going to take the iPod on holiday with you. That's a given. But what happens when you are lying on the airbed in the pool and you need some tunes? The new Speedo 2GB Aquabeat waterproof MP3 player is what happens.

If the idea of an underwater MP3 player sounds a bit scary – after all, electricity and water have never really got on that well, after all! – then don't be worried, because the Speedo Aquabeat really does make swimming, snorkelling and messing around in water a completely different and altogether better experience than ever before. You merely clip the small player to your goggles or face-mask and you're good to go.

And even if you are not planning on doing much swimming or diving on your holiday, the Speedo Aquabeat is still worth considering if you are in the market for a solid, waterproof and almost-unbreakable MP3 player to throw in your beach bag. The waterproof headphones are submersible to three metres (10ft) and the thing even floats, so you couldn't lose it in the pool if you tried!

Pick the new 2GB Speedo Aquabeat up now for £79.99 over on Amazon.

Gamepark GP2X Wiz

Gamepark's wiz is the open-source console of choice for retro-gaming nostalgia fun

If you fancy a bit of retro-gaming action on your hols and happen to be a fan of arcade emulators such as the mighty MAME, then Gamepark's new GP2X Wiz is pretty much your dream console.

Admittedly, this Linux-powered handheld is really only going to appeal to tinkerers and hobbyists. Which is exactly what we are, so we love it!

You want specs? The GP2X Wiz boasts a 533MHz ARM CPU (up from 200MHz on the original), 1GB of flash (up from 64MB) and two cross-shaped control pads on either side of the brightly lit OLED touchscreen.

The screen is perhaps one of the most impressive features here, as it can be easily viewed in the brightest direct sunlight, which makes the GP2X Wiz the ideal console for the beach. Particularly when your better half has commandeered your DSi!

Check the full GP2X hands on review on TechRadar.

Slingplayer for iPhone

Slingplayer for iphone is perfect for getting your tv soap fix while on hols

If you haven't got an iPhone yet, then the fact that you can now watch your home TV anywhere in the world (well, anywhere you're on a Wi-Fi connection) via Apple's magic tablet might well be the killer app that makes you finally kow-tow and invest in one.

Okay, you are going to need to invest in a Slingbox Solo box for home first (as well as the £18 Slingplayer for iPhone App) and fiddle around for around half an hour or more to get set up, but once you do you won't look back.

The picture on your iPhone Slingplayer is remarkably good, to say that it is the result of a lot of live video compression going on in the background. Plus, it rarely drops out (providing you have a good Wi-Fi signal) and we never tire of the fact that we can change channels on our home TV from anywhere in the world (although our partners at home seemed to tire of this quite quickly!). The only real downside is that the app only works with Wi-Fi and not with a 3G connection.

So if you have an iPhone and travel a lot or take lots of holidays and cannot bear to miss Eastenders or Coronations Street or Newsnight - or whatever your daily telly-fix is – then Slingplayer for iPhone is £18 very well spent.

Check out our fully detailed Slingplayer for iPhone review on TechRadar

Adam Hartley