GadgetSpeak Articles
GadgetSpeak has close to 5,000 product reviews and other articles. You can use this page to find others opinions on anything from mobile phones to computers to the latest kitchen appliance
Brush up on your Match 3 game playing skills as you return to the Impossible Universe.
As you can probably surmise, Mundus Impossible Universe 2 is the follow-up title to the similarly named Mundus Impossible Universe. Both titles, developed by Rumbic, fall into the Match 3 category of game play as you are taken on a journey by the Great Shaman to visit and explore some of the worlds making up this unique environment. In the case of this follow-up title, the worlds that form your travel plans start off with one that is, and remains, unnamed.
When struggling to cope with different USB formats, this next device might help.
Standards, especially in the field of computers, can prove useful as different companies build their kit to fit in with, and take advantage of the currently accepted methods of achieving device partnerships. However, due to their popularity, the family of Standards does tend to grow. An obvious example of this is the USB Standard which started life as a device that could be daisy-chained but that it never happened. Now we have several different USB connection formats.
There are a number of video door bells on the market, here something different a door bell that probably still allows your original bell to function but it also allows you to communicate with the caller from your SmartPhone which could be with you miles away or in your lounge and the caller never needs to know if you are there or not, so cold callers cannot test their patter on you.
If you want video views of your callers then Arlo also has a range of offerings, but here I am looking at a door bell that works both locally and via the internet. It is 9x4.5x2.5cm and as such is less noticeable as anything more than just a door bell. If you already have a mains doorbell then you probably can just remove that and put this in its place and in a good percentage of cases the original bell or chime will still function.
Neos might not be a familiar name to regular reader of Gadgetspeak.com but its product might be relevant.
Whereas certain companies, offering security insurance, will tie their subscription rates to those customers who have installed security facilities developed by third parties, Neos has taken this type of partnership a stage further. Instead of concentrating purely on the insurance aspect, Neos has produced a SmartCam device to sit alongside its insurance offering.
This phone is one for those who like to watch films as the format is taller and slimmer than most, of course it still does everything that a phone should it’s just the screen shape that makes landscape use the most likely way to use it.
The Sony Xperia 10 measures 15.3x6.5x.7cm and weighs 162 grams. Startup is 20 seconds and shutdown is 2.5 seconds. The notional diagonal imperial screen measurement is 6inches. Going around the outside the top has a 3.5mm headphone socket, the right side has the on/off button fingerprint scanner and volume up/down rocker. The base has the speakers with USB ‘C’ socket in the centre of the bottom.
Let us step back in time with a quick detour into the future with this next game.
Guard Duty is a graphic adventure game developed by Sick Chicken Studio. This game started life as a hobby project back in 2014 when Nathan Hamley and Andy Saunders-White decided to realise a childhood dream of making a graphic adventure game.
Often a tall or wide building has problems receiving a Wi-Fi signal from a single point, one solution is power over Ethernet giving a connection to a loft or other far flung place but this could still cause problems with anything that is handheld as signals can be lost. Another possible solution is what I am looking at here Zyxel Multi U.
It works in a different way, one unit is connected to your router and can then connect to the next unit and even a third unit but if the signal is stronger from the third to the first it find this so the three units work together with all movements being transparent. For those who still need Ethernet each unit has the ability to connect via that, so not only can you roam around with a handheld device anything that is static can be connected via cable.
Although not providing sustenance for the body, the ThumbsUp avocado can power other devices.
Moving on from an animal basis (mythical and real), ThumbsUp remains in the field of nature with its next product for review. In this case, arriving from ThumbsUp is an Avocado. This is, as you might expect, an electronic rather than natural and edible version of the avocado which is some areas is referred to as an alligator pear or button fruit.
Size matters and here this is a small tower that can deliver as much as most large towers except of course take up far less desk space. So if you need expansion then this unit can give it as there are three slots although one is occupied in the setup sent to me by the graphics card. So what has Acer squeezed into this small format desktop tower.
It is 34cm deep, 16cm wide and 33cm tall. There is a vertically mounted optical drive 6cm down from the top just right of the centre of the front, above this is the turn on button. Towards the bottom of the front on the right edge a pair of always on connections USB ‘C’ and USB3 and below these 3.5mm sockets for headphone and microphone. On the front edges at the top are two small flip out handles to hold your headphones as for a gamer hearing tiny sounds can be life or death.
Adding to its range of smartphones, Sony has released its Xperia L3 model. As is often the case, my review sample of the smartphone handset has been provided by Vodafone for the purpose of this review.
In familiar fashion the front of the handset is dominated by the unit’s display 5.7 inch screen delivering a 75.6% screen-to-body ratio. The Sony Xperia L3 is fitted with an IPs LCD capacitive touch screen that is capable of displaying 16M colours. With a resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels at 18:9 ratio, the screen has a ppi density of ~282. Providing protection for the screen, in the case of accidents, is a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
When I first saw the subtitle of this next game, it reminded me a little of the Mumbo Jumbo title of the Clockwork Man game I reviewed a few years ago.
But Duskless – The Clockwork Army, as well as increasing the mechanical force as its focus, is a different kettle of fish. Rather than an adventure game, Duskless – The Clockwork Army is a Match 3 game. With a cast list that includes King William, Hiro a young inventor, Jane a fighting warrior and the evil Professor Bazel, this steampunk game challenges you to save Etherpoint City from Professional Bazel’s plans involving his band of killer robots.
Not my Genre of choice, however I can appreciate it, and even if your Genre is whatever passes for pop music today a large amount of it is based on the notes of classical tunes even if they are sometimes delivered in a different order and often to a different beat. This is also true of what is my Genre jazz which now stretches back over 100 years.
While both Deezer and Spotify offer a good amount of classical music as well Qobuz to mention but three this service from Primephonic is totally classical. While this service is not new it now has extra features including something that is both useful and possibly vital for those travelling, first to save mobile data and second to save sanity when journeys do not run to time. My first look was as Sergey Rachmaninov and his Piano Concerto No.
They say “The camera never lies” but this is a view that those innovative people at Anthropics Technologies would not subscribe to.
Over the years Anthropics Technologies has developed a number of graphics editing products aimed at specific areas of photography. One of these areas is that of Landscapes with the product bearing the not unexpected title of LandscapePro. Recently the company has launched the latest edition of this landscape editing software. LandscapePro V3 is available in versions entitled Standard, Studio and Studio Max.
This flat panel from Dell ticks a lot of boxes it can be viewed Landscape or Portrait, you can connect to it via Display Port, HDMI or USB ‘C’ and it also has USB ports, and for good measure a screen that does take up unnecessary space.
These days a lot of people run their life from a SmartPhone however writing a long email or viewing a large spreadsheet on a phone – however large the screen – is still a strain on the eyes even for those with 20:20 vision. So when in the home or office just connect via USB ‘C’ and life should become easier.
Some of us reside in an environment that could be best referred to as one that is based on the Internet of Things (IoT) with interactive devices everywhere.
As more IoT devices arrive and are added to the equation, we are being encouraged to hand over control of our living environment to objects whose prime concern seems to be their ability to interact and communicate with each other.
A Match 3 journey is complicated by the appearance of various creatures and disadvantaged inhabitants.
Alchemist’s Apprentice 2 – Strength of Stones is a Match 3 game developed by Quick Click Games that take you on a journey to find a missing uncle. As the “2” part of the product’s title might suggest, this is a follow-up offering. Unfortunately as I missed the original title, I do not know how closely this title follows the pattern set by the first game.
This is a more unusual power bank in that it has two outlet ports that charge at different rates. It is also more like a character rather than just a device to let you slurp power when away from mains power for whatever USB device.
With 5 antennas and a slot for SIM card entry, this router caught my attention.
As a global provider of networking solutions and appropriate accessories, TP-Link has a large catalogue of offerings. I recently have had the opportunity to try out one of the company’s product. This offering is the AC750 Archer MR200. This product is a Wireless Dual Band 4G LTE Router and it is the subject matter of this review for Gadgetspeak.com.
Not to be confused with the I-Robot book of Isaac Asimov short stories or the I-Robot film staring Will Smith, the iRobot (note the slight difference in the spelling) Roomba is a vacuuming robot. I have been looking at the 980 model of this product which has been cleaning my maisonette.
Forming the central unit of this product is the Roomba 980 robot. Circular in shape, just like every vacuuming robot I have seen, the Roomba robot has a diameter of 355mm and a height of 110mm including the heavy-tyred pair of wheels. Decked out predominately in a combination of lacquered and matte black, the Roomba has the appearance of a weighing machine that it might be wise to avoid if you felt a collision might occur between your feet and the device.
True wire free connection as this kit is Wi-Fi and uses rechargeable batteries that should last months between charges. This means you just need to find somewhere to fix an external camera, this kit also includes a second camera and a motion detector even for total darkness so while other kits say they are wireless often you still need something going through an external wall.
The kit is controlled by the siren which can be set to on or off, this connects to your router via a supplied Ethernet lead and this also needs mains power once this is connected you download an App to your phone from either the Android or iOS store. Once you have created an account just follow the prompts and in around two minutes you should be setup. You now have two cameras each around 8x5x7.5cm although they are more oval than rectangular.
F-Secure, as you might presume from the company’s title, offers users a range of hardware, software, apps and Cloud protection solutions.
For those looking for an all-round protection software solution, F-Secure offers its Total product which consists of three main elements. There is another fourth element but I am reserving that element for another review. The three main elements are SAFE, FREEDOME VPN and KEY. As well as being available on a subscription basis, there is also a 30-day trial version for checking out the product.
Are their occasions when your audio system is on but for whatever reason you are in another room, unless you have a system from a recent vintage it will not have Bluetooth so their choice is either turn it up very loud – and annoy the neighbours – or do without. Now there is a choice with this little dongle from Brando that allows you to transmit to Bluetooth headphones.
It can also work in the reverse direction so a Bluetooth enabled device can stream to your quality speakers in your audio system, truly a two in one device and unusually for Brando the Kings of everything USB no USB charging is involved, however there is a USB on one end of the dongle. So to keep things simple I shall call receiving mode ‘RX’ and transmitting mode ‘TX’.
Left to its own devices, this next product can provide cleaning assistance.
Developed by ECOVACS Robotics, the Deebot N79s is an automatic floor cleaning device – in other words it is a vacuum cleaner that can operate without human physical guidance. Rather than take the Isaac Asimov approach of creating robots in human form, Ecovacs has designed their robot, with its low profile, to suit its home / office type environment and its floor cleaning functionality.
Instead of providing food and transport assistance, this llama has a charging facility.
The llama is a domesticated South American camelid that is widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean culture since the Pre-Columbian era. In their natural habitat, these creatures can grow to a height of 1.8m and weigh between 130 and 200kg during their lifespan of up to 20 years.
External hard drives used to be large and also require external power now not only are they powered by the USB lead they are also very capacious and often far larger than the hard disc of the PC that they are often connected to.
The drive is 11x7.7x1.7cm and weights 216grams with the supplied 40cm long USB3 attached. This will add another 2cm to the 11cm length of the unit. If you do not have full size USB ports and only USB ‘C’ you have not been forgotten as a USB ‘C’ to USB adapter has been supplied. This fits into your USB ‘C’ port and sticks out 3.2cm to give you a USB3 port. The total measurements of the adapter are 4x2.2x1.1cm.
With its Zink technology, this next printer is small enough to fit in a pocket.
Usually when I review a printer, it is a desktop inkjet model with the ink being delivered from cartridges or, more recently, tanks. The printed documents, produced by this type of printer, would be supplied on copy or photographic paper of varying sizes up to and including A3. However, in this case, the next printer under review is a different animal altogether.
Cygnett are an Australian company – now with a base in the UK - and they have been around for a number of years, they tend to concentrate on things that allow other devices to work more efficiently and this device is one of those to let you charge your phone more quickly, while some phone companies produce their own devices to do this, those tend to be device specific.
It is 14x6.5x2cm and weighs 246 grams. The total capacity is 10,000mAh. This device has the advantage of being able to charge both wirelessly - for those items that accept wireless charge – and via the USB ports on the unit. There is yet another plus for this unit over others that give only vague indications of the amount of charge by LED lights this has a two figure number IE 84 to state the current percentage of power showing on the top front edge of the unit.
When assigning blame after a traffic accident, an independent witness could prove useful
Accidents can happen and often do whether you are in attendance or not. Follow-up issues, when they do occur, tend to cause the most problems as the blame for the accident is allocated between those involved. Evidence and statements can be collected from participants and available witnesses. One witness that could prove invaluable, especially for the innocent party, could be a Dashcam device such as the NextBase 412GW Professional.
Out of the neck of a unicorn music was meant to flow, or so it was claimed.
The unicorn is a legendary creature with a single large, pointed, spiralling horn protruding from the beast’s forehead. According to ancient legend the unicorn’s horn had the power to cleanse poisonous water and make it fit to drink merely by being placed in it. Further beliefs attached to the unicorn’s horn include the ability to heal wounds. It was also believed that the unicorn could only be captured and tamed by a virgin.
Having the ability to display four screens at once is possible for all users of this panel and while technically you could do the same manually with a 1920x1080 display I am not sure how long most people’s eyes would last and indeed how much you could see with it. Here however once used to the AOC software moving things is a breeze.
This AOC LED monitor has a screen that measures 66x40x1.5cm. This gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 28inches. It has a ‘V’ shaped stand 43cm wide at the front and 9cm wide at the back, the stand raises the screen between 3 and 16cm from your desk. Looking at the rear of the panel has a thicker area in a smaller rectangle with a four port USB3 hub on the right side and all the connections on the underside which makes then easier to access.
Older articles
Main Menu
