Hauppauge Digital today launched what it calls the "TV stick" - a digital television tuner compressed into a compact, USB Flash drive-sized package.

The WinTV HVR-900 requires only a spare USB 2.0 port, from which it draws power, so there's no need to lug a power adaptor around as is the case with plenty of other USB-connected tuners. Into the other end, you plug the bundled high-gain aerial.

With the hardware in place, a Windows XP-based PC can access up to 40 digital terrestrial TV and radio channels, along with all the local analogue broadcasts, any of which can be watched and recorded onto the host PC's hard drive.

Hauppauge said the HVR-900 gives "excellent picture quality in all but weak signal areas" - so make sure you check for Freeview availability first. Freeview's broadcast signal isn't the strongest of digital telly transmissions.

The company is bundling a two-year warranty with the gadget, which will be on sale in the UK by the end of the month, it said. ®