If you’re a bit handy with the old DIY you might already know about Black & Decker’s range of Autoselect tools, which include drills and jigsaws that are pre-set by experts to make them easier to use. It has just added a screwdriver to the mix which uses an adjustable picture dial to help you automatically select the most appropriate application and adjust power and speed. There’s a magnetic retractable screw holder built on that holds the screw in place so it can be operated with one hand and a lithium ion battery helps the tool stay charged and ready to use for up to 18 months. It’s available for £34.99 from places like B&Q, so if you’re planning on setting up a bunch of flat-packed furniture in the near future it could make for a worthwhile investment. - Paul Lester [Black&Decker] tools DIY autoselect

Researchers from the Boston University College of Engineering are currently spending their time looking at ways to use light bulbs instead of traditional wireless communication to transfer data. This ’smart lighting’ system has the bulbs flickering at imperceptible speeds to talk to network-enabled devices at up to 10 megabits per second and since they require line of sight, claim to be far more secure. It’s unlikely to ever be suitable for high-demand applications like video streaming, but the boffins are saying it’d be great for household appliances like internet-enabled fridges, digital photo frames or printers in the modern digital home. Professor Thomas Little excitedly stated: “Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires.” Personally we can’t really see the appeal. If the light isn’t on, or the bulb blows, it wouldn’t work. Plus what if you’re standing in the line of sight or there’s an object blocking the view? Little claims that widespread LED lighting could effectively form a computer network in large buildings. He also goes on to say that they could be used in brake lights for cars to actively slow vehicles with that fancy automatic cruise-control seen in modern Mercedes. Still not convinced? Neither are we. - Paul Lester [Cellular-News] LED wireless lighting

Sick of doing the vacuuming? Feel it’s only right to rope the wonders of modern technology into annoying daily chores? Fear not, because Electrolux’s Tribolite 2.0, the successor to the world’s first fully automatic domestic vacuum cleaner, is here to help. The new model is stylishly designed and has a built-in timer so you can program it to fire up at certain times of the day or week and get things looking all spick and span for when you get home. There are also three cleaning modes, depending on how dirty your floors are, and it handles everything from hardwood to deep-pile carpets. The Tribolite uses ultrasonic signals to spot and avoid objects and move about and ingeniously can even find its way back to a docking station when it’s running low on juice to charge back up. Sound easy enough? Well it better be, because all of this wondrous convenience will set you back a cool £1000. - Paul Lester [Electrolux] Electrolux Tribolite vacuum

Remember when rechargeable batteries and battery chargers first came out? Remember having to leave them going overnight so you had enough power to use your walkman on a long journey? Well things have changed a great deal since then, and we have Uniross to thank for much of it. Only this year it released a ‘1-hour charge′ device but has already trumped it with the new ‘world’s fastest’. This time you can get four AA or AAA batteries fully juiced up and ready to go in just 15 minutes. That’s crazy fast. So fast in fact that the unit has its own cooling fan to prevent it from overheating and it’ll cut the power after 20 minutes so they don’t explode while still keeping them topped up. Supplied with an AC adaptor and in-car cigarette lighter charger to use on the move, the Uniross 15-minute Charger is available now for £34.99. - Paul Lester [Gadgetspy] batteries uniross power