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While the words ‘convention’ and ‘geek’ seldom make for a happy union, at the very least the fallout from LA’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) yield the occasional amazing toy for the rest of us to play with. This year much of the E3 buzz surrounded Microsoft’s best-kept secret Project Natal, a motion sensing bit of kit for the Xbox 360 that has the rare Microsoft distinction of doing exactly what it says on the tin. Picture the crazy gameplay you can do by waving a Wiimote around: playing tennis, swinging a sword, punching an adorable boxer. Now get rid of the Wiimote, and there you have Natal in a nutshell: a sophisticated camera that tracks your entire body and turns you into a controller: you golf by golfing, punch by punching, and hold on to a pretend steering wheel to drive a car. If you can get over the silliness (and the Wii did wonders for curing that kind of self-consciousness), it looks like the days of button-mashing might be numbered, if only we had a release date.

Apple, not to be outdone, hosted their annual conference just a short drive away immediately following E3. Awash in speculation about a new iPhone, MacBook, tablet, or cure for ebola, black-clad acolytes of Steve Jobs unveiled a raft of updated tech and software, but few surprises. Chief among the new toys was a revamped iPhone 3GS, adding a faster processor, compass, movie move, new OS, and a hefty new price tag. O2 will start selling the phone in the UK on17 June, and will slash prices on the existing 3G model – which may finally make it a viable option for us mere mortals. Also unveiled were a 13” MacBook Pro, a new version of their Snow Leopard operating system, a new Safari browser, and, for many, a distinct lack of innovation. C’mon, guys, we know times are tough, but let’s see some of that old Apple crazy-talk, like when you said we could fit 500 songs in our pocket or use a mouse without buttons. Ah, memories. [Alex Cole]