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A while ago I got up early to attend a presentation and eventually I received the first of the requested items from this event. One of - shall we say – more difficult things to get hold of but in a way something that may be of use to a great number of people.
This is a quite large and very weighty padlock. It is 15x5x2.5cm and weighs 375grams. The top 8cm is the very substantial metal locking part, there is a 3cm circular section on the face of the lock it shows nothing but one of two ways to open the lock is stored in here and where you touch it will decide if you end up with a red light (will not open) or green light (opens) at the end of the entered combination.
There is a new kid in town. Well perhaps “kid” is not the appropriate expression as the new arrival is Maxcom, a company with over 15 years of experience in the design and manufacture of telecommunication products and is one of the leading mobile handset brands in Poland.
Headed by Chris Millington, previously Group Director and UK Mannering Director at Doro, Maxcom’s initial sortie into the UK market will consists of six devices belonging to the company’s Classic and Comfort ranges. Taking centre spot in this review is the 3G MM330 model. This is a candy bar style of feature handset. My review sample is predominately black in colour with occasional silver highlights.
I first saw this almost a year ago but the agency that looked after Roberts at the time seemed reluctant to send it out for review. Since a new agency has been appointed I am now catching up on requests made at last year’s 2017 Christmas In July event.
It is round but a little squashed at 25cm from back to front and the same side to side but only 15cm tall. Both sides are the pair of speakers, my test unit was cream and so the grill covering the speakers was white. At the bottom of the front is a SD card insertion point. Above this a small round knob that has four positions, from left to right, USB, SD, CD and Radio. Above this a small white on blue 3.6x1.4cm two line display.
As well as being used for meat, as its name indicates, the Heston Blumenthal Precision Indoor/Outdoor Meat Thermometer from Salter can also be used for other applications such as jam and cake making. It will enable a cook to take much of the guesswork out of their work and ensure that meat is properly cooked all the way through.
The thermometer consists of a stainless steel probe and the head unit with the On/Off switch and the LCD to display the temperature. The probe is inserted for a just a few seconds to allow it to reach and measure the internal temperature of the meat -- or jam or cake. The probe is 180mm long and has marks etched along its length at 1cm intervals. These enable the user to judge when the probe has been inserted just far enough to reach the centre of the meat.
As the lingua franca of electric documents, PDF (Personal Document Format) allows for a ranger of documents to be distributed between users with different system set ups.
Nuance, a leading provider of voice and language software for business and consumer users, has released the latest version of its Power PDF software.
This is the second offering from Sennheiser that I have seen in the ‘sports earbuds’ category. Being wireless means that it matters not how much vigorous exercise you do as the only connection is between the two buds whatever position the rest of your body contorts to the earbuds stay firmly rooted to your ears.
These are what are called ‘Fin type’ buds in that the fin goes inside the outer part of the ear taking the strain off the bud itself which plugs into the main cavity of the ear. Perhaps the most important thing with earbuds is that you use the correct size and for that purpose there are four different sizes of buds in the box. It is important not to stuff the buds into the ear - not only for comfort – but also for clarity of sound.
With a policy statement that begins “At Brainwavz we have a simple mission to produce innovative, high quality audio products with a dedicated focus on fidelity sound”, Brainwavz has been producing a range of over 25 earphones, headphones and accessories over the past ten years. Now for a look at one of the company's latest products.
Brainwavz has recently added to its range of earphones with the release of the company’s SO IEM noise isolating personal listening device. With this personal listening device, Brainwavz has paired its earphones with a Clearwavz remote and microphone module.
While almost all mobile phones have screens to show the images they are capturing what they do not have is the ability to print them, yes Wi-Fi to the majority of recent printers and All In Ones will do so, most of those are not mobile devices.
So to capture the moment then maybe the Polaroid camera can be what the occasion wants. Here is their latest offering the Instant Square SQ6. The camera is chunky at 13x11.5x6cm and weighs 453grams. The film comes in a sealed pack of ten and full instructions are on the pack and in the manual, follow them or you will expose the film.
Time to return to the classroom and practice your programming skills.
It has been quite a while since I last took a look at one of Orbotix’s Sphero robotic creatures. If memory serves me correct that product was Ollie who made its appearance back in 2014. In the intervening period Orbotix has made a movement towards a more educational stance with its robotic development. A result of this is the appearance of the Sphero Edu brand that includes the SPRK+ product.
This small unit can work with Alexa should you wish. It is both a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker. It becomes an ideal desk accompaniment and for someone like me that is a poor speller it can get you out of a hole when Microsoft Word fails to correct it for me.
Small and round at only 9cm tall and 6cm across, it weighs only 228grams, there is only one obvious control a rubberised push button on the base. The rear has the internal batteries charge connection point via the supplied micro USB lead. The top edge is twistable and this the volume control also touch anywhere around this ring and you are able to speak with Alexa as you would via any Amazon Alexa device once you have linked it to Alexa.
Maxcom Comfort MM831 is a simple to use 3G flip-phone aimed at meeting the needs of the elderly and vulnerable as it incorporates an easy way to call a relative when required.
My first experience of digital game play was an offering entitled Pong. This console game required the use of a television set to provide the monochrome display as you played against a computer or human opponent.
Recently I have had the opportunity to step back in time and indulge myself with some retro game play. This period of nostalgic game play was brought about by the arrival of a Retro Handheld Console from Thumbs Up to review. This handheld device has dimensions of 92 x 56 x 21 mm (H x W x D) and weighs just 76g (with batteries inserted). As a result the device can be slipped easily into a pocket or bag without weighing you down too much or causing an unsightly bulge.
To be precise this is a Micro SD Card but it does come with an SD card holder so it could be used as an SD should you so wish. Being old my mind boggles at the size (capacity) of these tiny items. I well remember the first consumer hard drives they were heavy took a full size 5.25 inch drive bay and the capacity was 10MB.
About two years ago the size of Micro SD card acceptable to recent mobile phones started to rise and before this unit arrived the largest I had to test was 64GB now I can check claims with this 128GB offering that without the SD card is small enough to get easily lost and of course at this sort of capacity is both expensive and perhaps could contain a great deal of information not easily immediately recreatable. So most of my tests have been with a range of recent mobile phones.
With a model number of R1850DB, this Edifier speaker kit belongs to the company’s multimedia range of audio offerings.
The Edifier R1850DB speaker system is made up of a pair of bookshelf style speaker units, a small remote control device, a collection of leads and a User Manual covering a selection of European languages. With this speaker system, Edifier has bundled four leads designed for different purposes. By far the longest and thickest lead is that for connecting the two speaker units together. This lead measures an impressive 500 cm. Also included is a 3.
All In One PC’s are not exactly new but here is a large screen offering that is equipped with lots of good features and even includes a Thunderbolt 3 socket as well as HDMI in the latter ideal for you to attach a PVR for those after work hours watching.
The screen is 63x39x2cm the stand is fixed and raises it by 10cm from your desk. The stand is in the shape of a ‘V’ with 13cm being behind the screen, the sides of the ‘V’ are 33cm long which means it needs a total of 25cm from back to front of desk space. The notional diagonal imperial screen measurement is 27inches.
When the company in question is STM then you should realise for certain that the subject matter will concern a laptop bag.
With dimensions of 15 x 29 x 45 cm (D x W x H), this backpack is available in a choice of dark navy, granite grey and the black of my review sample. The rather subdued and dark choice of available colours does give an indication that STM feels that this product could be expected to be used within environments where it could meld into its surroundings without standing out too much.
While the desk version recently reviewed is small enough to tuck away when not required this is a far larger offering that would certainly dominate any environment that it would sit in as it is close to one metre tall but it will cool a larger area.
There are two distinct sections and the top area can cool one area and the lower section another, it can be used statically or rotating through a 90 degree arc. The unusual thing is that the top can be twisted to a separate position than the lower part so two static areas or even two different 90 degree sweeps can be produced from the same unit. It is 97cm tall and 15cm across apart from the base that is 28cm across.
These Salter digital kitchen scales have a rated capacity of 10kg and can weigh small amounts to an accuracy of 0.1g and so will prove a boon to any serious home cook as well as giving confidence to those on a learning curve.
The base of the unit is polished black in colour and is roughly 30 x 20cm in size with a smoothly curved profile. It is topped by the two different sized weighing platforms as well as a large and very clear backlit LCD display. The four digits which display the weight are about 28mm high while the “unit” indicators are much smaller.
What with the steady stream of various Match 3, Hidden Object and Adventure games that have come my way recently, I have had little opportunity to put my puzzle skills to work with one of my favourite game genre. That situation is about to change with this next title.
Developed by Awigot Studio, Rainbow Mosaics – Treasure Trip 2 is a puzzle game from the genre that is sometimes known as Nanograms. This genre is also referred to as Griddlers or Hanjie. Nanograms present the player with a series of square or rectangular grids made up of columns and rows that need to be inked in based on numeric clues. This process will have the effect of creating an image.
This is a complete Karaoke system that you can hold in your hand, that is the music on micro SD card, the microphone and the speaker and because it has a solid rechargeable battery you do not even need mains power with this unit.
It can also connect to your mobile phone via Bluetooth so whatever music is on your phone can be relayed to you to – in my case anyway – damage beyond recognition with your voice. However it is not all bad news it could be used as a microphone in an area where more volume above a normal voice is required. It can also connect to your mobile phone via Bluetooth so whatever music is on your phone can be relayed to you.
Well known as a home networking specialist, Devolo has recently updated its solution to curing the problem caused by a weak WiFi performance. This product, offering WiFi anywhere in the home, is the company’s dLAN 1200+ WiFi ac Starter Kit.
The develop dLAN 1200+ WiFi ac Starter Kit consists of a pair of dLAN 1200+ WiFi ac Powerline adapter devices, Ethernet cable and an Installation booklet. With the appearance of 3-pin plugs on steroids, the pair of Apple White adapter devices form the main thrust of the Devolo network system by taking advantage of the home’s existing electric wiring system to stream data around the building.
The answer is not seven, but it is a phone that is getting a lot of attention and the launch held recently took me to the Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Park near Stratford, a new Overground Station was almost complete and when finished will surely make this a venue of choice for people wanting to hold a worldwide launch, this was a venue I had never visited although the park itself got a couple of visits just before the 2012 Olympics.
This is a big phone without it looking as big as it is. 15.5x7.4x.7cm may not sound large but the notional diagonal imperial screen measurement is 6.3 inches. The front screen has the top line of messages, time, battery state, Wi-Fi etc. split into two halves by the front camera this can be got rid of in settings but of course this would reduce the total size to under 6 inches.
Smart devices for the home continue to be a hot topic with both manufacturers and users. The latest such offering to come my way is the Lightwave brand developed by LightwaveRF.
LightwaveRF has been in the business of developing devices to turn the home into a Smart automated area since it introduced the market’s first Internet enabled products in 2008. During the intervening period up to the present day, the company has produced devices to help with the monitoring of aspects of lighting, heating and power through the Lightwave platform and its collaboration with Amazon, Apple and Google Smart home offerings.
Having recently told you about the Teufel One M (May 2nd 2018) here I am looking at its much smaller sibling that still possesses almost all of its facilities but as it is far smaller just with a somewhat smaller volume output but it’s still rather nice.
It also has one big plus over its larger sibling it is a lot cheaper. The One S is 18cm across at the front and 14cm across at the back, it is 18.5cm tall at the front and 15cm tall at the back and 8.5cm thick. The speakers are the front and sides of the unit. At the rear near the base are seven buttons and inputs in a line. The top has a line of nine not that easy to read buttons the pale grey markings are on a black background and only really clear in a good light.
The Sinkstation from New Soda is described as a sink preparation colander. It is a fresh and versatile approach to the standard boards used in the kitchen for food preparation.
Available in a range of colours the body is moulded from a matt surfaced hard but not absolutely rigid plastic. Perforated with a large number of holes to allow water to drain through, it is 34 x 27cm in size and slightly bowl shaped with a pouring lip in one corner. This is a size that will drop comfortably into most sinks with space to spare although, as the note on the packing points out “not suitable for round sinks”.
The mythical kingdom of the Eleven Islands has been deactivated by an erupting volcano. You have been assigned the task of putting things to right.
Developed by Joyful Software, the game of 11 Islands belongs to the Match 3 genre. However, unlike some other titles of the same genre that I have looked at recently, the developers of this game have opted to use a basic style of graphics that was familiar a few years ago. Rather than grids made up of small tiles, those appearing in this game are much larger, in most cases featuring types of fruit.
This is a column fan described as a ‘Mini 15ʺ Desk Fan’ but it also works just as well on the floor, any fan is likely to disturb papers and while this at lower levels did not do this the rotating action of the unit is likely to catch the eye when on a desk.
The fan is round at 4 inches diameter and not surprisingly 15 inches tall, the vents are between 5 and 12 inches from the base and the five wide openings are spread over 2 inches and are five deep so a total of 25 vents, each is 2/10th of an inch wide and around an inch deep they are slightly staggered.
Forming part of BenQ’s Designer range of products, the PD2710QC is a 27 inch 2K QHD monitor. This particular model comes with the claim of being BenQ’s first USB Type-C display product to take advantage of the latest USB technology.
As can sometime happen when sample products are passed from reviewer to reviewer, some components can tend to go missing. The arrival of the PD2710QC product proved to be a case in point. The content of the delivered package consisted of the LCD Monitor pane; stand arm and a base unit which doubles as an additional docking element.
Those of us of a more mature persuasion remember the first mobile phones, they did one job making and receiving calls, they were huge and you probably got various strains from carrying them around. Now for those who want a simple phone that does far more and weights very little the phone I am looking at here could be the answer.
The Maxcom Classic 330 measures 12.6x5.6x1cm and weighs 111grams. The viewable screen is 6.5x4.8cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial screen measurement of 3.2inches. While it can make and receive calls it also has a torch, 5MP camera, FM radio and can take a micro SD card up to 32GB to store multimedia. Going around the outside of the phone has only two connections both on the top the Micro USB connection to charge the unit and a 3.5mm headphone socket.
At some point in your life you will probably be advised that it was rude to point with your finger – I know I was, However modern technology constantly encourages you to ignore this advise as you need to point & touch screen areas in order to carry out actions.
I regularly take delivery at my front door of review samples arriving by courier. These deliveries generally require me to sign a smartphone / tablet handheld device either using my finger or stylus. Often, in the case of the former method, nothing would register on the screen. However, when using a stylus, the courier would get some visible evidence of a scrawl although it would bear little resemblance to my actual signature.
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