Hot wired: Combining exercise with technology

What are summer holidays and long weekends for if not to escape all that workaday technology in favour of reading books, taking long walks and maybe rolling the arm over with a spot of backyard sport?

No need for electronic gadgetry for holiday fun right? Keep it simple. Hmmm.

The following, on show at CES in Las Vegas earlier this month, may well signal the end of the golden weather.

Electronic books have been threatening forestry for ages but with the succinctly named Reader, Sony have taken a big step towards delivering a viable e-book.

The Reader holds up to 80 average-sized books and can also display illustrations, blogs and news feeds. It will even play mp3s. The grey-scale display provides near paper-like contrast with minimised screen glare and the battery lasts about 7500 page turns. You buy books for the Reader online from Sony.

If long walks in the great outdoors mean your hubby complaining about missing the sport on tele then I can heartily recommend the Entertrainer - a wireless device that lets you power your TV with exercise. If its built-in heart-rate monitor senses you are slacking the sound on the TV goes down. If you overdo things the volume goes up. Brilliant - you can just relax a bit during the ads.

And something similar for those lounge-locked and out-of-shape gamers in the family. GameRunner is a game controller built on to a treadmill. It's compatible with a variety of PC games, as well as most Xbox and Playstation variants. Certainly one way of fighting gym boredom - as well as gamer's bum.

Finally, for the real inner sportsman there is the Xavix video sports selection of virtual tennis, baseball, bowling, boxing, ninja fighting and, of course, golf. Hook up the console to your TV and safely play in the privacy of your living room.

Xavix games come with software for the console and the appropriate piece of equipment - like an electronic bowling ball. The software shows you the bowling alley, and you use the wireless bowling ball to go through the motions. You see your ball hit the pins and count your score.

Now what could be more exhilarating than that? I dunno - maybe a brisk stroll on the beach.