Something which I didn’t discuss in my other reports of the opening Grand Prix was Kangaroo TV.

Kangaroo is a hand-held device which enhances the experience of sitting at the race. Melbourne was the first ever F1 race that it was available at but it has just been announced that they will be at every race this year...

So, what is Kangaroo TV, and how good is it?

Imagine an “L” shaped hand-held TV about 500 grams in weight, with a screen of about 75mm x 100 mm, black plastic casing.

See it here: http://www.kangaroo.tv/  (click on the F1 World > online demo)

More than a TV, this is an interactive unit which improves the whole fan experience at the race.

It has the main race TV feed as shown on the big screens around the circuit and the commentry from the main sound system at the venue, but it also has other features:

In-car TV feed allows you to select one of the drivers available. Not all drivers are available, and usually it is a choice between one or two. During practice and quallifying sessions there was a better choice. The view depends on what the TV companies have set up on the cars - we usually got the driver's shoulder view, but sometimes it was a rear pointing view.

Team radio; we didn't get too much of this, because radio transmissions are not common, but also because only some of the teams allow their transmissions to be broadcast. I think this will depend on the race, the venue, and hopefully will improve as Kangeroo becomes more widespread. 

Race statistics. Perhaps the neatest part for me was that you can set a feature called “my driver” and the stats will provide comparisons and progress reports on that driver throughout the weekend. One of the most difficult things at a GP is keeping up with all the lap times, and progress that teams are making. Often you find yourself photographing the big TV screens to try and read them later. With Kangaroo you don't need to do that, you can select from various options. You can compare team mates, or look at team times. You can also get championship standings (at Melbourne, of course there was nothing on this sheet because it was the first race). Of course you can also see the current leaderboards.

Event/Team/Biography information: you can look up the history of the track, biographies of the driver, and team information. I didn't play with this section much - but there are times during the weekend when you find yourself with a few minutes to spare, and I guess this could be entertaining... I guess ... 

I found myself using it most to keep up to date on lap times and rankings. From time to time I would use the in-car TV feed option, but the availability of that was limited to one or two drivers at a time. I would have preferred to have all cars available all times.

A couple of us knew about this device from chats about a year ago, and we had awaited it with anticipation. So when I found out it would be available for this race, I was over to the store like a shot. Sadly I tried a few places that knew nothing of them, then James called and told me he had found them. Be warned: they were almost impossible to find at Melbourne, so you need to look carefully - but it is worth the trouble.

At $130 (Australian) (£55, 100USD, Y12,600) for the weekend, it was an affordable treat for myself. Yusze hired one too. So between the four of us, there were two sets and that was perfectly adequate. The unit comes with in-ear phones free, or for a small extra you can hire large headphones like the teams wear. Next time I go to a GP, I will take a 2 in 1 adaptor (you can buy them for sharing ipods) so that we can share the commentry between two sets of headphones.

The screen was very clear and easy to watch, the data screens showed tables which whilst the text was small, it was still very readable. It would have benefited from brightness controls, but hey. The stats were available even after the session / race finished, making it a good tool for after-race chatting.

The sound quality was less impressive. According to the provider their signal was being turned down in strength by a certain Bernie Ecclestone for some reason. This meant that the commentary was patchy unless you held the device pointed at a specific orientation and position. Even when you could hear the commentary clearly, it was simply a repeat (with a 0.3 second lag) of the public address system. So as I sat there, I could hear the commentary from the trackside public address system, and then a fraction later, the exact same words through the earphone.  It was like a clear echo.

Would I hire one again?  You bet.

Would I buy one if I could? Yes, most probably.

If you have the chance to hire one for a GP, as either a novice to the races, or as a seasoned follower like me, I think you will get a lot from the experience.

They have a few things to improve on, but all in all I would award it a healthy 8/10.