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
Say it very quietly I am looking at something that is pink, in fact worse than that its a series of things that are pink and at least one of them will not be able to be used behind locked doors.
Apart from the fact that it is obviously aimed at the female this is a rather good small portable DVD player. The claimed time for use on batteries is only two hours but I never got less than 165 minutes and on one occasion I got 174 minutes. You can of course run it from the mains and should you wish you can plug it into a TV.
A meteorite has landed preprogrammed with games that are truly out of this world, find, memorise and push the twelve buttons to control the ten different games
clear all ten games to play the final showdown.
When you realise that Lindy Electronics started life making petrol lamps in the 1930s, it is not surprising the companys latest offering has a glow.
As the prices of LCD fall the idea of picking one of the cheapest is perhaps not as stupid as it seems. A 32inch LCD TV for less than £600 and with free delivery.
Firstly this has all the connections at the rear including D-SUB and HDMI. It is an analogue unit, however if you attach a Freeview box to it you are all but up to date. I would have loved to have used the excellent DigiFusion FVRT200 box (29/3/06) but that was long since returned as it also has a built in PVR and has a dual tuner built in.
Described as the easy way to create video and slideshow disks sounds just like DVD MovieFactory 5 Plus is the type of software we need to check out.
There are not many things left that a mobile phone cannot do however this is the first I know that you can watch live TV on, I mean live and not a link via who knows where.
It is 11x6x2cm and weights only 150grams. Apart from a slight bulge on the right side it looks like a lot of other mobile phones. The screen is 4.5x3.5cm with a single button on that bulge on the right saying TV on the button. Below the screen there are 18 keys and five position controller. The left side has two buttons - volume up and down - while the top has the on/off button and the right side has a single button to activate the camera.
Broadband, Internet and mobile phones all come together with a new initiative from Hutchinson Whampoa.
A rainy day in London brought together some of the major movers and shakers from the IT community. It is not often that your intrepid reporter gets to rub shoulders with high up members of Skype, Sling Media, Yahoo!, eBay, Nokia, Microsoft, Orb, Sony Ericsson and Hutchinson Whampoa. Yet here we were, sheltering from the British climate, to celebrate a new vision for the communication future.
Most people think that PDF is the sole property of Adobe, however other companies make packages that can create and convert PDF files, here I am looking at packages from Abbyy and Nuance (ScanSoft), both cost a fraction of the Adobe product.
Want to cut down on the clutter in your pockets? The Sony Ericsson k800i can replace your phone, iPod, digital camera and personal organiser with a single, neat, light weight gadget!
I've just upgraded (painfully) my venerable . I've had it for over 4 years now and unfortunately the battery is now giving up the ghost. It's cheaper to get a new phone than a new battery - crazy? Probably. My choice this time round is the . I wanted a phone that did everything and was likely to last another four years. This phone meets the former requirement - only time will tell on the latter! Physically the phone is smaller than my old Nokia at 105x47x22mm and a little lighter at 115g.
If you feel your computer does not appreciate you then perhaps you need to add a glow to the relationship.
If asked to list the top ten features I would look for, or hoped to be included, in a desktop set (keyboard and mouse) then I can honestly state that a feature regarding illumination would not be included. Belkin, however, would appear to be of a different opinion. The company's latest desktop set has both the keyboard and mouse providing an illuminated display.
These used to very expensive and only really for a graphic artist, now apart from the specialist companies some others have produced them at reasonable prices one such is the Hyper Pen 12000U as sold by Gizoo.
Looking for a multi-purpose D.I.Y. tool then maybe this next product might be of interest.
Recently I reported on a gadget that combined the features of an AM/FM radio with a torch, now from the same source, , it is the turn of a device that comes with the offer of four separate functions found within a single product. This multi-function device, bringing together a calculator, tape measure, memo pad, and a white LED light, is listed as a tape measure with press-up calculator on the company's website. www.gadgeter.
Once again the yearly round of new product updates has started and the first of the 2007 crop to come my way is Microsoft Encarta 2007 Reference Suite and Encyclopedia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite.
Paint Shop Pro has undergone a slight name change with the latest version of the software.
With the latest release of , Corel has not only increased the version number (still sticking with Roman numerals) but also added the word "Photo" to the title. I'm tempted to say that you certainly get a lot of "P's" for your money but perhaps not.
Fancy a special Genre of music then RadioTracker 2 can help you to find your choice and automatically record tracks in MP3 mode onto your hard disc.
Countdown was the first program on Channel 4 when it launched, now there is another quiz show on that channel that has a huge audience Drummond Park licence two versions of the game in the UK.
One of the gems I saw at Dream Toys this year a certain hit, maybe almost as big 'can I have a 'P' please Bob' in case you are not old enough that was an ITV quiz called Blockbusters. There are two versions of this game a board version and a console version, the latter is the one for me. First a disappointment it requires 4xAA batteries and they are not supplied.
Fish & chips, salt & pepper and bacon & eggs (who said I was food orientated) go together but a torch and a radio is something else.
Continuing my series of 32 and 37inch LCD TVs with this Digital and Analogue TV from LG, having both means PIP (Picture in Picture) can be used to show a second channel.
The was reviewed in the same place as the 37inch offerings with my own 28inch standard TV sitting on the floor sulking. While there was more space on top of the unit the missing five inches does not really detract. It is 80x61x13cm and sits on a silver grey stand that is 21cm deep at the widest point in the centre so the panel itself is well within the stand.
Not every digital photograph turns out as you expect. Often software can help correct matters.
So much talk about the next Windows operating system, so why not delve a little deeper with the help of one of the Dummies series, also everything you have ever wanted to know about web site visitors.
The price is £19.99 and is likely to be available from specialist bookshops or you could try Windows Vista For Dummies 204 sides of information on the next Windows operating system from Andy Rathbone. This paperback tome is produced from Beta 2 so there may be a few changes before Gold Code. It should still - we are told - be available to corporate customers this year with the likes of you and I being able to purchase it early in the New Year.
Continuing to push the boundaries of keyboard/mouse functionality, Logitech has come up with a VoIP enhancement.
It was an easy call to select the next item for review. Actually it was a that was to become the centre of attention. The desktop element of this particular product's title refers to the keyboard and optical mouse while the EasyCall appendage relates to a module which combines a wireless receiver unit and speakerphone. A headset and sixty minutes of free international calls via Skype are included in this package.
Here two different ways to charge your iPod all types and just for good measure one of the devices also allows files to be removed or added from the iPod as well.
TunePower First the one that comes in the Blister Pack - strong scissors and gloves required - while these look great on the dealers shelves they are devils to get into. Any iPod with a dock connector will be able to be charged from this device and if you disconnect the battery from the lead it can give an additional 8-10 hours of use to your iPod. It comes with a range of custom sleeves so your iPod will fit securely.
This is the first of my follow on pieces from Dream Toys and Test Tube Alien along with Phlat Ball and a couple of different Oidz go under the microscope.
Oidz These are strong magnets - complete with warnings about placing near computers - in a variety of shapes and sizes. The two sets I saw are from the smaller sizes one from the PlanetOidz set and the other from the AsterOidz sets. While the latter has a small collectable character the former has a disc looking rather like a gaming chip.
Completing our look at SOFTWINs family of protection products, it is the turn of the top of the range BitDefender Internet Security v10.
Increasingly the functionality offered by its other two BitDefender family members (BitDefender Antivirus v10 and BitDefender Antivirus Plus v10), SOFTWIN has released BitDefender Internet Security v10. This product consists of anti-virus, firewall, anti-spam, anti-spyware and parental control modules that are closely integrated into a single protection solution.
A printer for 15x10cm photographs, it has a small TFT screen and can be connected direct to cameras via Pict Bridge, print from a range of photo cards or even from a PC.
The is really small at 21x10x10cm when shut, in use the back tilts backward by 3cm at the top to allow storage of a few sheets of 15x10cm paper waiting to be printed. The front drops down this adds a further 10cm to the depth to catch the printed sheets. HP PhotoSmart A516 I found - when printing directly - that around two minutes is required from selecting the image on the TFT to a virtually dry printed page being delivered.
Whether it is video conferencing or live Web video content, you do need a webcam.
It has been quite a while since I last looked at a webcam. In the intervening period, the various models have certainly become smaller, more adaptive and feature-rich in their make-up. A good example of these various trends can be seen with the offering.
The lady who demonstrated this to me said as it has a ball even a man can use it I think it was a joke, however it is a very good vacuum cleaner.
For more years than I can remember I have used an upright Hoover and apart from emptying and occasionally changing the bag the only thing I ever remember doing was replacing the belt to the sweeping brushes a couple of times and this is over at least thirty years. Then a couple of years ago I found that the bags were no longer available.
Given the opportunity to play a new slant on an old classic genre was too good a chance to miss and so
..
In my last piece I covered reasonably small units, here a little larger in size still small enough to fit in a pocket and a lot larger in storage capacity.
Seagate 6GB USB 2 Pocket Hard Drive This looks very like a yo-yo it is circular 7x7x2cm and weights only 50grams. It is grey and black with a clear plastic centre that flashes blue when data is being transferred. Twist the grey outer cover to reveal a standard USB plug on the end of a 13cm black lead.
Here two gifts available from Gizoo that tell the time although neither can be said to be clocks. One an adult gift and the other very defiantly for the younger ones.
This is described as a message clock, however it does more and if nothing else it will be a conversation piece on any desk. Maybe an executive toy but for anyone who you struggle to find presents for it would be ideal. It is 20x20x6cm with a chrome bass and the rest is matt black, the messages appear at the top of the unit. Without scrolling they can be up to 13cm long and the display letters and numbers are 1.5cm tall.
Older articles
Main Menu
