As far as impulse purchases go, this has to be the coolest one I’ve made in a while: at lunchtime today, on the way back from grabbing some sarnies in M&S, Toffa and I dropped into Dixons and I came out with a 24mm x 24mm x 24mm cube (called a Q-BE) that weighs just 18g, includes 1GB of memory and is an MP3/WMA player.

The manufacturers claim that this is the smallest MP3 player in the world.

The Q-BE also includes a graphic equaliser with 6 settings, an OLED display and a clock. The built-in lithium-ion battery is charged via a USB to 3.5mm headphone adaptor cable, which is also used to copy music files to the device. As it appears as a removable drive in Windows, I can see no reason why it couldn’t also be used for data. According to the instruction manual, there is an optional FM radio capability, but I can’t find anything else about that; although the Q-BE website indicates that it will soon include software updates for download. The Q-BE also comes with earphones and a lanyard, as well as a protective case.

I haven’t mentioned the best bit yet. I don’t know why (maybe it hasn’t sold well and they’re dropping it?) but, in the UK, Dixons and Currys are selling the 512MB version for £24.99 (was £74.99) or the 1GB version for £39.99 (was £99.99). I’d find it hard to buy a USB stick with that capacity for that price – let alone one with MP3 capabilities that looks this cool!