It’s approaching peak skiing season, I gather, for those in the northern hemisphere who enjoy strapping planks to their feet and sliding down mountains. High time, then, to feature a first here: a product with built-in ear warmers. However, this wireless intercom system – primarily for skiers and mountaineers, but also of interest to the more social cyclists who like to ride in a flock – isn’t a refugee from my Silly Street slot.

The Midland BT Ski allows you to talk to similarly equipped people up to 200m away – and also answer phone calls using voice activation. There’s a Velcro band for fastening the device to a helmet and the stereo apparatus is compatible with Bluetooth phones, iPods and other MP3 players. It also has an automatic gain control function that regulates the volume in relation to background noise.