Too personal? Well, if you are chilling out in the lounge, putting your makeup on in the bathroom, or reading a book in your bedroom, headphones can be infuriatingly restricting. The Hipper 50 egg changes all that. It may look like it is straight out of a cool 1950s sci-fi film, but is very much full of science fact. Simply plug it in to your mp3 player (or phone, Walkman, CD player... in fact with an industry standard 3.5mm jack socket audio output). The internal amplifier boosts the signal and plays your favourite tunes through its own speaker.

More than that though, it has a built-in sound to light unit. Some rather cunning electronics listen to the music, and control 10 light emitting diodes (LEDs), changing colour in time to the beat of the music. When the music finishes it will revert to slowly cycling through the colours, or for a bit more of a party atmosphere, you can set it to dynamic mode, where the lights rapidly flick through the colours.

Hipper is also great for younger children. Of course it is perfect for playing soothing music or spoken-word books, but set it to night-light mode and it will glow comfortingly, helping your child drift off to sleep.

• Connects to any standard audio source via 3.5mm jack lead (included)
• Built-in amplifier and 2 Watt speaker
• Changes colour in time to the music
• Disco mode
• Mood light feature
• Night light mode
• Link several together for a great effect!
• Complete with mains adaptor