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For a small to medium business having trouble with Wi-Fi connections, this is a problem which can actually stop you dead in your tracks, or at least make you much less mobile than you would like to be.

If you have a conference room that isn't able to connect to the network or your office space might be on different levels causing connectivity issues, the solution can become costly and disruptive.

I had a similar situation at home, where my home router was just not powerful enough to travel a distance of several metres through walls and upstairs. The Buffalo Powerline Adapter came to the rescue, no need to drill holes and extend cables, or even buy a stronger router.

This solution was definitely a "plug-in-and-go" product. The box comes with two chunky units: use the Ethernet cable to plug from your router into the first unit and then plug it straight into the wall, I then took the second unit upstairs and plugged it into a second outlet. Within two minutes I was streaming HD content in areas of the house which were previously complete blackspots.

The units both come with individual access codes, so theoretically it can act like setting up a guest network for your business.

The technology runs the internet at top speeds of 500 Mbps through the home electricity grid - pretty clever if you ask me. And the whole solution couldn't be easier to set up.

At a price of ￡46.99 including VAT, it is a very cheap answer to your connectivity woes.

The fundamental Boogie Board technology has been around for 20 years under the name Kent Displays, but for the last two years the company has concentrated on producing touch slates which replace the need for paper notebooks.

The cholesteric liquid crystal display (ChLCD) screen was developed out of the company's R&D, and the slates remind me of a darker Kindle screen.

English: The Taj Mahal, complete with ripples in the reflection (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The basic slate requires no power to generate or retain an image, and only a small amount to erase (supplied by a small watch battery, which will execute over 50,000 erase cycles).

The next stage Boogie Board (£80) connects to a computer via a micro USB, and as you write on the slate it can be seen replicated on the computer screen, alternatively it can be written away from the computer, connected and saved before erasing. I also played around with a prototype of the next generation device, which will be launched in Q4 2013, giving the Boogie Board wireless connectivity via Bluetooth. 

It's not particularly glam, or sleek like a tablet, but I can definitely see the appeal in utilities, call centres and in health care.

The last day of the mobile-fest that is Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and Samsung have announced a mobile wallet app for users to keep all their coupons, vouchers, tickets and membership cards in one place.

When Apple launched Passbook there was excitement in the air (for all of 24 hours), at the thought that this was the mobile manufacturer's first tentative steps into the domain of NFC and mobile payments.

A safe option is to start with mobile couponing wallet, similar to Passbook, which is what Samsung has launched today at MWC. However, these schemes are only as good as the volume of partners and brands involved.

What is the point in having my Starbucks points in my mobile wallet, if my Costa card isn't? (Although, in regards to Starbucks, what's the point in having a mobile strategy with a postal service for your coupons?) But I digress...

The same goes for flights, it's great to have my Lufthansa boarding card on my mobile ready to scan at the gate, but what if the following week I travel with a budget airline which doesn't? The CO2 I huff and puff while riffling through my draws for my travel wallet would probably equate to the CO2 I'm plunging into the atmosphere. But I digress again...

Samsung partners so far include: Belly, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Lufthansa and Major League Baseball Advanced Media - that's not going to get you far in day-to-day life without your wallet? However, the company did say that they were still in development, so we can keep our eyes peeled for more announcements which will later go unnoticed as they won't make enough noise in the industry on their own. 

I understand that the concept of the "mobile wallet" doesn't necessarily mean leaving your traditional wallet at home (yet!), but surely we should be aiming high for that type of lifestyle, knowing that we will fall short, to what will hopefully be a happy medium with plenty of brands to choose from.

I know these things take time, but in the UK we're already so far behind in the realms of NFC, it actually seems like science fiction rather than possibility. 

Early this week at MWC, Visa announced a partnership with Samsung to accelerate mobile NFC payments. 

Visa will include its payWave NFC applet on the next generation of Samsung NFC-enabled handsets. As part of the alliance, Visa will also partner with financial institutions to push forward global mobile payment solutions.

Maybe we're starting to get somewhere after this week, but until then, pass me my Radley purse.

While I was at CES in Las Vegas a few of weeks ago, it was not surprising that a fair few gadgets caught my eye. While at Eureka Park where the technology start-ups were all stashed away, I came across Nio, "the unforgettable accessory".

Essentially, Nio is a very small key ring which uses Bluetooth technology to pair with your Apple device (but they have to be either a iPhone 4S, iPad 3 or later!). Clip the Nio to your bag and when the Nio wanders too far away from your phone, it will sound an alarm.

You can set the alarm between two and 20 feet, as well as being able to adjust the sound, volume and vibrate settings. You could also attach the Nio to other precious things like your wallet, keys, laptop, luggage or even pets, and as long as you stay with your Apple device, it will alert you if these things move out of your designated area.

It is tiny and weighs a mere 10 grams so you would hardly notice it and it also holds a three month charge. It is intended to retail at $59.99 which is rather a hefty on-off price to pay, but I only think that because I'm not a forgetful  person (touch wood!), however some people I will not name in the Computer Weekly office, I would recommend buying three!

While in Las Vegas, Nio was looking to speak with retailers and more interestingly, with telecoms companies for accessories for corporations. Everyone has a colleague who has left their work laptop in the back of a taxi at least once, this would go towards protecting company hardware as well as data protection issues by preventing the device from getting into the wrong hands. 

Last night, 16 of the most innovative technology SMEs from the UK were chosen to join Web Mission 2013 to India in early February.

The chosen start-ups, building tech for various sectors including  health, education, infrastructure and mobility, included Audioboo, Cyceera, uMotif, Omnisoft Services and BuffaloGrid.

The Mission programme, organised by The Long Run Venture and the Co-Sponsorship Agency, is supported by the Technology Strategy Board and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), alongside other private sponsors.

This will be the eighth trip. Each trip is designed to help successful early stage businesses accelerate their growth potential overseas. According to the organiser, the chosen companies are all scalable, while offering profitable solutions for low and middle-income populations in urban and rural India, while also offering B2B opportunities.

"When you take UK and India, people think there is a lot of trade, but this is miniscule in terms of start-ups, especially when in terms of investments , eyes are drawn to Silicon Valley," said Guy Pattison, co-founder of The Long Run Venture.

"You would have around 10 million people to pilot a project in India, but a couple of thousand here. These start-ups have the opportunity to get in there and scale up," he said.

The hand-picked companies will visit the country for seven days, first heading to Bangalore to visit other big companies and universities and then onto New Delhi which will provide a government perspective to venturing into the country. 

Start-ups on Web Mission 2013 include:

• Audioboo - Audioboo allows users to record audio and post over social networks. With customers already including the BBC and The Guardian, the company claims to do to audio, what Instagram to did to photos. Audioboo is also delving into the audiobook and education sectors. 
• uMotif - uMotif is a telehealth company which builds attractive apps for users with health problems. The apps help users to comply with taking medicines, to improve treatment and reduce hospital costs of readmissions. The software works on various platforms, not just smartphones, by providing SMS services as well. uMotif is currently demonstrating an app to help people suffering from Parkinsons. The app, which was funded by the Department of Health and adminstered by the NHS Midlands and East, has an engaging colourful interface which encourages the users to "own their own data".
• BuffaloGrid -Buffalo Grid provides mobile charging power to rural areas of the world, where it could quite easily take a quarter of a day's wage to charge your device at a local power station. BuffaloGrid uses solar panelling to distribute power and customers can pay via text message. The company hopes to pair with mobile operators, while any residual power is then sold back to the local people at highly competitive rates. There are around 650m off-grid mobile phones in the world, 300m of which are in India, proving the move into this market incremental for the company's future development. 

Pop the piece of plastic on the end of your finger tip and make sure you practise for a little while. It's a bit tricky to get the angle right in order to make a connection with the screen, but these Tech Tips from a US start-up company try to compensate for sloppy handwriting and difficulties when clicking on tiny webpage links while using your smart device.

This fairly good idea, if not quite implemented as well as I would have liked, trying the tips out on my iPhone with a screen protector, proved a little sluggish (see video). My colleague tried them on a Samsung Galaxy S3, which worked considerably better, however the hard keys at the bottom of the device - which still require sensitivity to work - didn't work as well as your actual finger when being used with the Tech Tips.

The tip of your finger gets a bit sweaty from the plastic and it is not that precise when writing - so my handwriting wasn't great, but it was better than when using your finger tip.

However, it is great when you're on a website which has not been optimised for mobile use and the hyperlinks are really tricky to select with the pad of your finger.

Another problem is, how do you measure your finger tips to know what size to ask for, small, medium or large?

Capacitive touchscreens do not actually detect touch, but instead detect the presence of an electrically conductive object. Tech Tips have included this technology into small pieces of plastic to produce an electrical conductor that smart devices will recognise.

The company is looking to have discussions with UK distributors in the coming weeks, and Tech Tips will also be available on Amazon within the months.

At this point the individual retail cost for a single Tech Tip stylus is $3.49n (£2.17) and $9.99 (£6.21) for a multi-pack of four.

The company has also demonstrated Nano Nails - fake nails which include this technology. I don't wear fake nails myself, but I can see these as a really great idea that could take off as my friends tell me how difficult it is to use their phones when wearing ludicrously long pieces of plastic.

Image: Tech Tips Nano Nails

Still in beta mode, the Nano Nail doesn't have official pricing as yet, however, they are expected to be around $10-12 (around £7) for 4-5 pack of nails. The company is currently still in the process of testing out the technology, for instance a set of nails which were worn for a week needed touching up with the nail polish, and Tech Tips is currently looking to see how the technology withstands to nail polish remover.

What other objects conduct the electrical impulses needed to work a touchscreen device? 

Huawei launched a few devices at CES in Las Vegas this week, while none of them were confirmed with regions, dates or prices, two smartphones, which are expected to ship to China and then worldwide, caught my eye.

The Ascend Mate - giant phablet with the "worlds largest screen"

Again, a growing trend at CES this week has been a huge leap in screen size, be that in tablets, phones, monitors or TVs. Huawei's Ascend Mate is a monster. Huuuuge, at 6.1-inches of HD 1280 x 720 LCD touchscreen compared the 5.5-inch screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note.

But tell me something, when tablets are generally growing to ridiculous sizes, but also shrinking to 7-inches, and smartphones are growing to 6.1-inches, where will the line eventually be in the phablet space? In six months time, what will be a phone and what will distinguish a tablet?

I found the Android device surprisingly light in the hand. The rows upon rows of Android apps sitting on the screen could get very messy or be a joy to organise for someone as OCD as me.

The Ascent W1 - Huwaei's first Windows 8 device

This entry-level Windows 8 device looks much simpler than a Nokia Lumia 920 or a HTC 8X. It still has the insanely bright colouring of the other Windows 8 devices, however it doesn't feel as superior as the other devices did when I first held them.

It's light enough, but still feels a bit chunky, like the Lumia. I found the back panel in the bright blue to look not very appealing in plastic, which made it look like a child's toy.

The device was fairly responsive, with easy scroll feature, but not as light to the touch as the Lumia and HTC models. It also comes with the standard additional features of Windows 8, such as kids corner and this model also features NFC.

As I said, no pricing or availability announced as yet. 

At CES in Las Vegas this week, Panasonic unveiled a tablet to be added to CES's growing category of super-size screens.

Sitting more in the "table PC" category, than "tablet", this technology demonstration will hopefully be out later this year with a few tweaks here and there. But the 20-inch tablet impressed me more than Lenovo's Horizon 27-inch Table PC, also launched at the show this week. At only 2.4kg, it's still very weighty, but compare it to its rivals - the Sony Vaio Tap 20 is 5kg and Lenovo's Horizon is a whopping 8kg but only 7-inches bigger. I found the device easier to pick up, but I'm always quite delicate when I pick up devices of this size. When doing so I found the aluminium backing very elegant, but also very warm, a kink that Panasonic will most definitely sort out before mass production.

Panasonic claim that the device has the thinnest body with a screen of this size. It has 2 hours of battery life and at the moment the company is thinking of marketing it to photographers, architects and designers who will appreciate the large screen super high resolution screen from an artistic point of view.

The Windows 8 Pro device set up in CES also came with a special handwriting digital pen which I had a go at using, it was very responsive and was able to create hair-thin lines to chunky paint brush type strokes. The device had a Intel i5 Core processor, 128GB SSD as well as 16GB of memory.

Kyp Walls, director of product management, said that the device was set up to use Bluebeam software for architects using blueprints, it enabled users to collaborate together while working remotely. The device is still portable, he said, "because architects are used to carrying around big flat folders of designs anyway."