the gadget show(1/10)

Beginning tonight is the seventh series of Five’s consumer technology show, presented by Jason Bradbury, Suzi Perry and Jon Bentley. This evening’s programme features a review of the new Apple iPhone, a look at a range of mini gadgets and an experiment to build a water-powered car.

The new series kicks off with the test for which all serious phone fans have been waiting –the Nokia’s N95 versus Apple’s new iPhone. Can the much-anticipated iPhone possibly be better than the N95 –the most feature-rich phone ever made? Suzi Perry and Jason Bradbury head to Barcelona, where they submit the two phones to a series of challenges to find which one emerges victorious.

The first challenge set to the phones –and to Jason and Suzi –is designed to test their durability. Having made a dramatic simultaneous bungee jump from a bridge, the intrepid presenters must use their mobiles to contact the men at the top of their ropes to ask to be lowered back to earth.

The next factor to be tested in the N95/iPhone debate is multimedia capability. For this, two of Barcelona’s most celebrated party animals take Jason and Suzi on a tour of the city’s nightlife where they will test the phones’ ability to take photographs and videos, often in the dark.

Finally, the pair embark on a breakneck race around Barcelona’s most famous tourist destinations in order to explore the phones’ satnav and mapping functions. The race culminates at the Nou Camp, with the winner being the first to run down the tunnel in full kit.

Elsewhere in tonight’s show, Jon Bentley investigates the trend for miniaturisation by kitting out Britain’s smallest house with the smallest technology he can buy. He then enlists the help of one of Britian’s smallest men –actor Warwick Davies, who appeared in ‘Willow’ and ‘Extras’ – and Britain’s tallest man to test whether small gadgets are a viable alternative.

Jason Bradbury, meanwhile, builds the world’s fastest (and only) water-rocket-powered vehicle – using an array of water cooler bottles, and a homemade kart –then tests it on a drag strip. It may not be the fastest vehicle in the world, but it gets a massive thumbs-up in terms of entertainment value...