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No doubt you know the story of the first Cinderella. But perhaps you are not as familiar with the tale of the Final Cinderella especially when it forms part of the Dark Parables series of titles.
Dark Parables: The Final Cinderella is a Hidden Object Adventure game developed by Blue Tea Games.  Standard and Collector’s Edition versions of the game are available and this review is based on the Collector’s Edition which comes with a number of bonus items, most of which can be accessed immediately.  You can tackle puzzles, view wallpaper, check out a movie gallery, concept art and parable notes plus an additional game.
868034 ne For All Bluetooth Music Receive

One For All Music Receiver

This device turns an Audio System without Bluetooth into an Audio System with Bluetooth providing you have either RCA jacks or a 3.5mm audio input, however it has an extra not found on a lot of other devices it also has Wolfson DAC.
The One For All Bluetooth Music Receiver  measures 10.5x6.5x2cm and you should add another 2cm to the middle figure to allow for whatever cables are inserted into it. Supplied in the box is a DC lead to small power brick this lead is 1.8metres long, also a 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead that is 1metre long and a small RCA pair to 3.5mm plug that is 10cm long.
When all the router’s Ethernet ports are full, Netgear’s SOHO Gigabit Ethernet switches provide a means of connecting more devices to one’s LAN. In addition they can often make the house a tidier place by cutting down on the number of long cables needed around the network.
868036 Huawei Nexus 6P android smart phon

Nexus 6P from Vodafone

Early last summer I attended a Google launch I have already told you about Chromecast and Chromecast Audio. Here is a Chrome phone running Android Marshmallow (Android 6) – also launched at that event - from Nexus part of Google but made by Huawei and this one is from Vodafone, follow that, good.
The Huawei Nexus 6P measures 13.8x7.7x.7cm and weighs 177grams. The viewable screen is 12.6x7cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 5.8inches. On the right side are the on/off button and below that the volume rocker. On the base the USB 3.1 power connection. The left side towards the top is where your Nano SIM is inserted. The top has a 3.5mm socket for headphones.
I thought I would have reviewed my last cassette player quite a long time ago but if someone now brings one out they must think there is still a demand, perhaps the mix tape as a way of breaking the ice with a partner may be making a comeback.
868104 coreldraw x8 graphics suit

CorelDRAW X8 : Corel CorelDRAW X8

As its version number of X8 indicates, CorelDRAW has been around for a good number of years. In fact this software’s first appearance was back in 1989 as it offered users full colour vector illustration and layout functionality on the Windows platform. Over the years this software product has undergone numerous changes including a metamorphosis into a suite rather than a single offering.
This latest X8 version of this package consists of CorelDRAW X8, Corel PHOTO PAINT X8, Corel Font Manager X8, Corel CONNECT X8, Corel CAPTURE X8, Corel Power Trace X8 and Corel Website Creator.  You also get bucket-loads of content with 10000 items of clipart and digital images, 2000 professional digital photos, 10000 OpenType® fonts, 350 professionally designed templates, 2000 vehicle templates and over 1000 fills, frames and patterns to use with your projects.
868032 myzone mz3 activity and fitness bel

MyZone MZ-3 Belt

A visit to the Wearable Technology Show had me feeling less fit and able than normal. This device was one of the worst offenders simply because the people wearing them were the exact opposite of me in three ways, young, fit and healthy.
The chest belt is the hardware but more important is the software that knows what you have achieved previously and indeed how hard you are working. So in theory even an old decrepit specimen like me could become less decrepit assuming the effort did not bring on a fatal heart attack.
868105 Logitech G610 Orion Brown Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboar

Logitech G610 Orion Red

Whether playing to win or just for enjoyment, you need the appropriate tools in order to succeed in the competitive gaming arena.
As part of its expanding range of gaming keyboards, Logitech has released a couple of new Cherry Mechanical offerings under the G610 Orion brand.  Constructed of industrial grade plastic for a strong, robust appearance that is strong enough to handle the heavy workload of a gaming device, these keyboards are designated as either Brown or, as in the case of my review model, Red.
It will not come as a surprise to regular game players to hear that Shadlight, developed by Wadjet Eye Games, is a point and click adventure offering that is set in a world where everything is a little off-kilter. In fact the world of Shadlight takes you into an environment that has come about following a post-apocalyptic blast which occurred some 20 years earlier. This is a world where what is left of the population has split into distinct classes.
In the world of Shadlight the ruling classes are known as Aristicrats.  This highly distinct group, with names taken from the Roman Empire and an appearance that pre-dated the French Revolution, control all the world’s facilities and available resources.  They hand out titbits as personal favours for carrying out their wishes.
A Tablet is becoming more popular, some say they will overtake sales of Desktop or Laptop systems. Most Tablets I get to see run Android or Chrome but this one runs Windows 10. Tablets have touch screens which is a big part of Windows 10.
The Archos 90 Cesium  measures 23x15x1cm and weighs 459grams. The viewable screen is 19.2x12cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 8.8inches the screen resolution is 1280x800 pixels. Assuming you are using it in portrait mode the right side has on/off and volume rocker. The base is clear the right side has connections for an external keyboard attachment (not supplied).
While many users have an anti-virus contract in place, they sometimes fail to protect their data in other ways.
According to BullGuard, a fast growing anti-malware and mobile security brand, millions of us are putting our personal and financial data at risk.  One reason for this worrying claim is the habit that many of us have of auto-storing passwords on our smartphones.
868030 Roku 2 Streaming Media Player 4205

Roku 2 Streamin Box

Having reviewed other Roku items the Roku 2 seems something that until now has passed me by so when offered one to review I thought I would put that oversight right. Roku are one of the big companies in streaming things to your TV the box claims ‘1500+ channels’.
868033 Braun HC5010 Hair Clippe

Braun Hair Clipper

When you get to my age the bald look is in, not by choice but simply because hair stops growing on top, it makes up for this by growing extremely vigorously around the sides and out of most other orifices, so a Hair Clipper still has it uses.
868044 Huawei P9 32GB Smartphon

Huawei P9 Smartphone

Designed by Huawei, the P9 smartphone comes with a couple of “Firsts” that might appeal to purchasers.
Following the company’s recently established practice of alternately switching between the release of a premium and more budget orientated model, the latest offering to appear from Huawei is the company’s high-end P9 smartphone product.  Released with more than a touch of the style I have come to expect from Huawei, the P9 has been created in collaboration with Leica Camera AG.  The result is the first-time appearance of a distinctive dual-lens camera smartphone.
868031 intel securit

Intel and McAfee

A visit to London for the recent Intel Labs Day told me new things to come and also the current relationship with McAfee a company now part of their portfolio. An Intel Anti-Virus is something for the future here I tell you about what is available now.
Spread over five chapters, the game of Parallel’s Cross is situated in the grounds and buildings that make up a boarding school with the name of Westerfeld Manor. As you play this graphics adventure offering that is available for purchasing and downloading from various gaming sites, you are cast in the role of a mother who son has gone missing during a car journey.
Parallel Cross’s opening title screen gives you the option of adjusting various game settings and creating profiles for individual players.   You can adjust the volume levels for music and sound effects plus opt to play in full screen mode with the assistance of hardware cursor.  Three levels of difficulty are available for players of varying ability.
Mixing a touch of style with plenty of storage space and a single USB connection, Seagate adds a new hard drive to its portfolio.
In one respect this could be considered as one of those “Big Red London Bus” moments that occur from time to time.  Usually, in my experience, this type of event happens when two products of a similar type roll off the review production line in close proximity.  However, in this case, the products concerned are not all that similar in that one was a smartphone and the next to appear in the line is an external hard drive.
A few weeks ago I had a gas problem, when I realised it was going to take a while to fix I started to look around for other ways to keep warm in the mornings, at this time of year the afternoons are not a problem and nor are the evenings.
I have one halogen heater and while it could be moved around it’s a pain to keep plugging and unplugging, so that sits in my office, so I needed something very portable. I took a walk around my local town and could not find anything suitable so while I was waiting for my bus home I popped into the local Wilko store as much to keep warm and out of the rain as anything and there at the end of an isle was this little Beldray Fan Heater.
The Braun Beard Trimmer BT 5010 is one of Braun’s new range of grooming aids for men. It is a well-designed rechargeable battery-powered tool that makes it easy to keep one’s beard in good shape.
It fits neatly into the hand and has a matt black surface with the underside, where one’s fingers rest, having a rubberised feel for better grip. The press button on/off switch and other controls are usefully coloured turquoise. The comb unit can be removed by gently squeezing the turquoise buttons on either side to release the latches and then sliding it off.
867761 Edifier Sound Bar B3 bluetoot

Edifer Cinesound SoundBar

Having recently reviewed a Sounddeck and a Soundbase that both sit under your TV. I now turn my attention to a Sound Bar that can sit in front of your TV or be mounted on your wall if that is where your TV lives.
The Edifer Cinesound SoundBar measures 1metre long by 10cm tall and is 8cm deep. So first point if you are placing it in front of your TV make sure it would be raised by 10cm above whatever it sits upon. Of course it can sit elsewhere like on the floor but you will need line of site for the remote to work. The remote is 9x3x.5cm and has 12 well marked buttons in two columns of six, it is powered by a circular watch type button battery that is supplied.
867762 anywhere si

Anywhere SIM

I am sure we all know either first or second hand ‘hello, hello, hello then a range of expletives’ whichever phone company you use they all have ‘not spots’ so the Anywhere SIM allows you to make you call across three different major providers.
The SIM as I received is a full size or micro SIM but it did require careful extraction as the plastic surround was more solid and less well perforated than previous SIMs I have used. As most users will know some SIMs work better in certain areas than others and most will have a SIM to suit their locale.
Having recently divested itself of some of its product line up, Sony can now put more effort into offerings such as its Smartphone catalogue.
The Xperia Z5 is the latest addition to Sony’s range of smartphones to be available from Vodafone.  This particular model has dimensions of 146 x 72 x 7.3mm (H x W x D) and weighs in at 154g.  Featuring a 5.2-inch screen with 1080p resolution, the Xperia Z5 is available in a range of colour schemes including White, Gold, Green, Pink and, as in the case of my review unit, Graphite Black.
867757 Gigabyte P34W V3 CF1 14 Inch Gaming Lapto

Gigabyte P34

Not that long ago a 14inch notebook would be unlikely to display 1920x1080 this unit is IPS QHD (3K) which shows 2560x1440 and its quite useable. So what other features does this Intel i7 offering with Windows 10 have to offer.
The Gigabyte P34W measures 34x23.5x1.5cm and weighs just under 1.8kilos. This is a mixture of conventional and the latest, a Kensington Lock Port, Ethernet, VGA, USB3 (with charging when off), USB 3.1 and 3.5mm socket for headphone/microphone are the left side. The front has a line of five LED’s. The right side has USB3, SD Slot, USB3, HDMI and DC input. The rear is clear as the lid comes down to 135 degrees. The viewable screen is 31x17.
Health issues played a major part in the products displayed at the recent Wearable Technology Show.
It was over a decade ago that I first came across the Mio brand of devices.  These were various products offering SatNav functionality for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.  Recently, following a visit to the Wearable Show held at the Excel Exhibition Centre, I was re-introduced to Mio and the company’s range of activity trackers such as the Mio Alpha 2 which forms the basis of this next review.
Mixing together pirates, Leonardo da Vinci invention and islands within the Bermuda Triangle, this next game sets you the task of thwarting a plan to dominate the world.
Hidden Expedition – The Uncharted Islands is a Hidden Object Adventure Game developed by Floodlight Games and available from Big Fish Games.  In order to play this game you will need a 1GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 240MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.  Pricing is in the region of £7.70.
867760 Archos 55 Platinum Android 5.

Archos 55 Platinum

This is a large 5.5inch screen Android phone that comes with Dual SIM it has 8GB of memory and a Quad Core Processor so as it also has a 13MP camera with LED flash it may well tick all the boxes for a lot of people.
The Archos 55 Platinum measures 15x7.5x.7cm the last figure at the edges but the rear camera does protrude slightly, it weighs 162grams. The viewable screen is 12x6.7cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 5.5 inches. This is a 4G phone but the only available micro SIM at the time that I had was a 3G one, however I have no complaints about the speed of data transfer.
Spreading its audio net wide, Edifier’s latest speaker system can connect to a range of sources.
As sometimes happens, a model number gives very little away regarding the product's purpose. However it does give me the opportunity to explain that the R2730DB is a multimedia speaker system from the Edifier comprehensive range of audio products. This particular model consists of a pair of speaker units, a small remote control device and an assortment of leads for specific purposes plus a User Manual booklet.
Steaming food means that the goodness -often boiled away- is retained. So is it possible to have healthy and good tasting food. This item from Morphy Richards gives you a good chance and best of all it is not a whole lot of fuss to produce it.
While food can taste great things with different flavours still taste better when kept apart in preparation so this has two compartments and even a special container for rice. It is 29x21x29cm the last figure is the height so the footprint is small onto whatever you place it on. The front of the unit has a 7.5x3.2cm display with six control buttons in an ‘L’ shape down the left and along the bottom of it. Towards the right edge is a water gauge.
867758 corel draw graphic suite x

CorelDRAW X8

The main problem with a product 18 versions old is when you remember the first one. Corel were one of the main reasons you got a CD drive. It was all the extra content they provided in images and fonts. Now the download needs a fast connection as its 1.8GB.
Having done the download you then need to burn a DVD so it’s not a trivial process. Once installed I had 2.3GB less hard disc space and my Desktop had five extra icons – yes Corel still give extra – apart from the CorelDRAW X8, there is also Corel PHOTO-PAINT, Corel CONNECT, Corel CAPTURE and Corel FONT MANAGER. They still do 32bit versions if that’s what you need but 64bit is what I am reviewing it on and to be frank with anything complex you need memory as well.
Offering to be your personal private shopper, your Big Apple Buddy claims to get the tech items you want.
A recent spell of convalescing in hospital, as I recovered from a brain bleed, coincided with a number of UK launches I had planned to attend but circumstances decreed otherwise. Also happening during the same period were a number of announcements regarding certain US products that might be of interest to the likes of you and I. Fortunately I had been provided with details of these announcements, sight unseen, for the benefit of Gadgetspeak readers.
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