Garmin has recently introduced its Drive range of portable navigation devices (PNDs).  I have had the opportunity to test the Garmin Drive Assist™ 50 product.  This particular PND combines the company’s well-established satellite navigation features with a built-in dash cam facility to record action and act as an eyewitness to possible incidents. Encased with a black plastic shell, this PND has dimensions of 160 x 85 x 30 mm (W x H x D) and weighs 214g.

Like other titles in the Griddler genre, this latest offering from Match Gems is based on a series of grids (hence the genre title of Griddlers) and numeric clues that can be used to create the mosaic-like images so beloved by the ancient Romans.

As it title of Latitude 12 Series 7000 2-in-1 might indicate, this Dell product is one of the new breed of hybrid portable offerings which goes by the model number of Latitude 7275.  This product has been designed to attempt to give the user the best of both worlds when it comes to working with a tablet and a laptop within a single product. Central to this product is the Tablet with dimensions of 290 x 195 x 9mm (W x H x D) and weighing 638g.  This 12.

While I am not a great believer in co-incidents, they do happen.  As an example I was in hospital having treatment for a skull problem when SkullCandy released its new headset in the UK. As its title might indicate, the SkullCandy Grind Wireless is an untethered device or, as the product’s packaging proclaims with “No Strings Attached”.  The SkullCandy Grind Wireless is a Bluetooth headset of the on-the-ear variety.

According to the accompanying press release, the PowerBank 3000 product from Sandberg is for people with style. This is a designation that I would seldom used to describe myself in normal circumstances.  But for the benefit of this review, plus I do have a need for a portable device to provide backup power to the collection of handheld devices that are my usual constant companions, I will regard the designation of style as being purely life-style rather than any other connotations.

Set in America of the last century, Love Story: The Way Home is a Hidden Object Adventure game.  This particular title is based around the story of Katherine as she grows up as an orphan and later relates the highlights of her life over the five chapters making up this game. As usual with games of this genre, you can create profiles for individual players so that their progress is recorded.

While mere mortals generally find the four Ethernet ports making up standard routers or router/modems to be adequate for their local area network needs, those involved in running small to medium business environments need more powerful devices with a greater range of available Ethernet connections.  One such product offering to deliver the additional power and more Ethernet connection is the NETGEAR ProSAFE XS708T.

Ten years ago, in 2006, Vodafone took the decision to develop its own brand of handsets appealing to the more economically priced market sector.  The first such device was a 3G clamshell handset christened the Vodafone 710.  Since then Vodafone Devices have racked up sales of 85 million units.  Aiming to add to this impressive figure is the latest Vodafone Device which is the Smart platinum 7 which Vodafone believes will answer the consumer’s need for a 4G+ smartphone.

Available either as a populated or diskless product, the LS520 is a NAS device which forms part of the Buffalo LinkStation™ series.  This review is based on the populated version of this two-bay unit featuring a pair of 1TB drives to provide storage capacity. Following the pattern that seems to be have been established by competitive products, the LS520 adopts a fairly standard box shape.

Let me introduce you to Digital Bounce House.  This is a small game development studio with tales to tell based on how we used to play games.  One such tale is that of Tick’s Tales with its subtitle of Up All Knight as it places you in the environment of an 8-bit sword and sorcery adventure with all that that entitles.

Decked out in computer grey, this multi-function, multi-layered device from Epson has dimensions of 461 x 442 x 342 mm (W x D x H) and weighs a fairly substantial 14.3 kg.  Due to its size and weight, this is a product that is best suited to having a permanent home rather being moved around to suit various circumstances in an office environment.

Highlighted by diamond-cut edges with sleek and stylish high quality aluminium casing, there are Canvio Premium models for PC and Mac users.  Units are available in capacities of 1, 2 and 3TB.  My review is based on the Canvio Premium PC unit with a capacity of 3TB. With dimensions of 109 x 78 x 18.5 mm (D x W x H) and weighing 243g, this appealing looking, pocket-sized device comes with a soft carry pouch for protecting the unit during transport.

Usually when a product arrives from Sennheiser it is a set of headphones but this time there was a difference.  Even so, being Sennheiser, the product was concerned with the delivery of audio but instead of a wearable set of headphones, the new product is meant to be positioned on a desk or table with the audio being delivered to those within the immediate vicinity of the device.  This is the Sennheiser SP20 speakerphone.

Echoes of the Past: The Kingdom of Despair is a Hidden Object Adventure game that sets you the task of freeing a variety of characters from a witch’s curse while searching for a path home.  This review is based on the Collector’s Edition which comes with a number of bonus items.  Most of these bonus items require progress to be made in the game before they become active. There is a bonus chapter, concept art, replayable mini games and a book of spells.

This Dell 14-inch laptop has an understated appearance.  Black in colour, the only real embellished seen on the unit’s casing is the appearance of a Dell logo on the top cover of the unit.  Supplied with a two-piece power cord and battery pack, my review sample comes with an Intel Core i3 6100u CPU processor working in conjunction with an Intel HD Graphics 520 GPU.  There is 4GB of DDR3 RAM.

Adding to its range of Smart Ultra handsets, Vodafone has released its Smart Ultra 7 model with the promise of bringing speed, power and performance to the user.  With dimensions of 152.2 x 78.12 x 8.68 mm and a weight of 150g, this handset has a 5.5-inch full HD IPS (Plane to Line Switching) screen surrounded by a black bezel that is considerably wider at the top and bottom than the sides.

Better known for its work in and support for Powerline technology whereby your current (no pun intended) electrical cabling system is used as the conduit to deliver a home network, Devolo has other strings to its bow including home security and wireless networking.  In the case of the latter area, Devolo has just released a device to boost the range of an established home Wi-Fi network.

Living Legends: Wrath of the Beast is a Hidden Object Adventure game.  I have been looking at the Collector’s Edition of this game which is available from various gaming sites including Big Fish Games and GameHouse.com. Spread over six chapters, with the option of a bonus chapter once the main game has been completed, this game is based loosely on the story of Goldilocks and her ursine experiences.

Providing the hardware element in this package is the NETGEAR ReadyNAS 212 box.  This is a 2-bay Network Attached Storage device that comes with a three year Diskless warranty.  The box, combining a colour scheme of matte and lacquered black, has dimensions of 220 x 101 x 142 mm (D x W x H) and weighs, in its original diskless state, 2.03kg.  Powered by a 1.

Like Paddington Bear, I enjoy marmalade, the tasty spread that accompanies my morning toast.  However the same appreciation does not apply when the marmalade term refers to the patterned colour scheme that is adopted by a DAB radio.  Such is the decorative feature of this next product under review.  This is the VQ Retro Mini radio.

Aimed at the mobile business user who is constantly on the move, this Stylistic  R726 product consists of the screen element with a kickstand (that’s the tablet element) and a magnetic keyboard.  You also get a digitised stylus pen, two-piece power lead and various items of documentation plus a backup CD.  Applying the virtual glue to bring these hardware items together is a copy of the latest version of Microsoft’s Windows Pro 10 operating system.

The game of World Keepers belongs to the popular Hidden Object Adventure genre.  Your role in this game is that of Corsair Elizabeth Robinson, a sea captain who embarks on a voyage to help her close friend Ethan Brown.  Your task is to help him locate his lost son, Adam, who has somehow become involved with an evil force that leaves behind a trail of destruction and victims reduced to rags and bones.

No matter how many times you press this Print Screen or Prt Scr key your printer will not spring into action and automatically duplicate a hard copy of the current screen being displayed.  Actually this key does perform its task but rather than dump the screen content to your printer, this content is stored in memory from where it can be accessed by appropriate software.  Offering to take over this screen grabbing activity is SnagIt.

The reason for this change is the Bitdefender entry into the field of hardware arena with the launch of the company’s Box product.  While a definite change in product type, Bitdefender has remained true to its roots as this hardware release is still steeped in the field of protecting devices from malware infestation.

Mobile devices, as I am sure you will agree, can be extremely useful.  However these same mobile devices also have the ability to be really frustrating.  This latter situation tends to occur when that moment arrives as you discover that your mobile device’s battery lacks the power to fulfil its designated function of providing communications, Internet access or other tasks when it is most needed.

Every so often I like to take a break from checking out the numerous Hidden Object Adventure games and those of a similar genre by tackling a title that deals with just puzzles.  Generally my favourite example of this type of game is that of the Griddler or Mosaic genre.

A popular advertisement of yesteryear, that no doubt some older readers will have fond memories, featured a couple street urchins being captivating by the aroma created by flavoured gravy granules.  This advert, with the tag line of “Ah Bisto”, was brought to mind at a recent press lunch when it was revealed that “Ah Bisto” was an anagram of the company hosting the event.  I must admit that I was not the one who had spotted this.

The Last Door Season 2 could be regarded by some as a “blast from the past”.  By that I do not mean the game’s storyline is based on historical events, although it is set two centuries ago.  No, the reference to the past is due to the style of graphics and other elements used in this game.

From its base in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong, Venturer has released its hybrid 2-in-1 Mini Notebook product.  This unit is available in either BravoWin 10XT or EliteWin 11KT models.  In both cases the Mini Notebook has a detachable screen which can act as a standalone tablet once it has been removed from the keyboard element with both the notebook and tablet running the latest Windows 10 operating system.  This review is based on the slightly larger EliteWin 11K unit.