Publication History For : Michael Fereday
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This next review brings together a couple of Belkin products that offer to provide some assistance in protecting your home.
The Belkin Netcam, as its title might imply, allows you to keep a check on what is occurring within an area of your home when you are absent. With my review unit being supplied by QVC, the kit consists of a Wi-Fi camera with night vision, power lead, screws and rawl plugs for wall mounting, plus a Quick Install Guide. You will also need an Android or iOS smartphone along with a Wi-Fi router for Internet connection.
With a title that might discourage you from installing the product, Infected: The Twin Vaccine is described on the packaging as a spine-tingling Hidden-Object thriller. Developed by GoGii and available from Avanquests GSP game catalogue in Collectors Edition format, this game sets you the task of searching the town of Oxford for a missing girl who holds the key to preventing a global epidemic.
As usual with game of this type, you can set up a profile for individually named players. There is a choice of windowed, full screen or wide screen action with a custom of system cursor. Using slider bars you can adjust image quality and the volume levels for music, sound effects and voice dialogue. You can also opt to play in Casual mode which offers a tutorial, help text and quick recharging rates for the hints and skipping mini-games plus the appearance of glints.
While the big boys in the arena of Smartphone manufacturing tend to price their hardware at a level that many of us find incompatible with our financial constraints, other manufacturers of these must-have devices have a more economically viable approach to the pricing of their various models. One such company is ZTE, one of the worlds largest manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and mobile phones, with its Blade range of handsets.
Recently I checked out the company’s Blade L3 product and now it is the turn of the ZTE Blade S6 handset. As with the Blade L3, the Blade S6 features a 5-inch HD colour touch-screen with the product being aimed at the young and those of us who often claim to be young-at-heart. However before getting down to the product itself, I need to point out that my review sample, white in colour, arrived without any documentation whatsoever.
Not to be confused with a similarly entitled graphics product from the same company, Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 11 combines elements of creative design and photo editing software within a single package.
With this latest version of the Photo & Graphics Designer, Xara has integrated a number of new and enhanced features, which you might well expect with a new version, but, more surprisingly, has reduced the price being asked for this software by almost 30% and that is for new users. If you are upgrading from the previous version of the product then this software is currently available, as an introductory offer, at less than half price.
With the tag line of Liberate your Sound, the CHANT is a portable Bluetooth audio speaker developed by the House of Marley. This product is available in Mini and BT versions with this review being based on the larger BT model which shares many of its features with its smaller brethren.
The CHANT BT is available in a choice of Black, Navy or Blue Hemp. Unpacking the product reveals the CHANT unit; a recyclable aluminium carabineer clip for attaching the CHANT to a belt or other accessory; one of the shortest standard-to-micro USB leads, measuring just 20cm, I have seen; and a folded sheet of instructions using a font size that immediately had me reaching for my magnifying glass.
Eastville Chronicles: The Drama Queen Murder describes itself as a whodunit Hidden Object game full of love, passion and intrigue. Developed by Queen Media and published by TAG, this game is now available as part of the Avanquest GSP catalogue.
As usual with games of this genre, you can set up profiles for individual players containing their own range of settings. Adjustments can be made to the volume levels for music and sound effects. As the sound effects just consist of a couple of noises that occur when you locate one of the hidden objects, you may want to reduce this particular volume level.
The Ricoh SP 3600DN product is a mono laser printer. This particular unit has been developed to replace the Ricoh SP3500N, SP364510DN and SP4100NL models. As such Ricoh believes this product would be best suited for use in a small office or home office environment where it could service the printing needs of between 2 and 5 users.
Decked out in light and dark shades of computer grey, the SP 3600 has a sturdy appearance which is backed up by the unit’s weight of 14.5kg and dimensions of 370 x 392 x 268mm (W x D x H). The DN part of the product’s model number gives the indication that this device has both Duplex and Network capabilities built into the unit.
The Smart Prime 6 is a new member of the Vodafone family of smartphones. In this particular case, the Smart Prime 6 offering is a Vodafone 4G enabled model that is being targeted at the budget market sector with a price point of £80.00 on a PAYG basis.
While budget smartphones can have a tendency to look the part, this is not true of the Vodafone Smart Print 6 model. While the unit’s casing might be constructed of plastic, its overall appearance gives you the impression that you are handling a device that would be acceptable in more exalted company with its smooth lines and round corners. Available in a choice of silver or gun-metal grey (my review sample from Vodafone), the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 has dimensions of 141.
Motorola certainly opened a Pandora style box with the release of its Moto G smartphone. As a result other companies are now developing handsets that combine reasonable specifications with a price point that does not cause you to catch your breath or feel a pinch on your wallet. One such example of this trend is the Idol 3 from Alcatel OneTouch. For those unfamiliar with Alcatel OneTouch, I should explain that the brand is the result of a joint venture between Alcatel Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China.
This handset is available in either 4.7-inch or 5.5-inch screen sizes with this review being based on the latter version. The Idol 3 adopts the standard smartphone look of a slab appearance with the screen dominating the front of the unit. In this case the Idol 3’s body, predominately dark grey in colour with silver faux metal trimming, has dimensions of 152.7 x 75.1 x 7.4mm (H x W x D). The Idol 3’s 5.
Placed on a remote island, your task is to locate various dinosaurs buried beneath the scenery. Are you up to the task?
With all the hype surrounding the latest movie to be released in the Jurassic Park franchise, it does seem appropriate to revisit a game I first encountered nearly ten years ago. Actually I had totally forgotten the game but memories came flooding back when a copy of the game turned up for review and I fired up the software and saw the Enkard logo decorating the screen. This was quickly followed by the title of Jurassic Realm.
When thinking about devices for providing navigational aids and other kinds of driving assistance, such as SatNav units, one name that immediately springs to mind is that of TomTom. This is a company that concentrates its expertise on the particular area of SatNav and has developed various ranges of products including the Start brand. One such offering is the TomTom Start 60 product, supplied by QVC for the purpose of this review.
Unpacking the TomTom Start 60 product reveals the SatNav unit, a car lighter adapter plug that links to the supplied standard-to-micro USB lead and a User Manual booklet covering major European languages. As the largest model in the Start range, this product has dimensions of 16.99 x 10.48 x 2.22cm (W x H x D). The SatNav device is predominately black in colour apart from a grey band trimming the front of the unit and a silver TomTom logo.
Currently Withings has two different products offering a combination of an analogue time keeping device and health tracking features. These products are the Withings Activité and the Activité Pop. Having reviewed the Activité Pop (see http://www.gadgetspeak.com/gadget/article.rhtm/752/841117/Withings_Ativite_Pop.html), it is now the turn of the top-of-the-range Activité model.
Unlike the Activité Pop, which proved difficult to extract from its packaging, the Activité’s packaging was far more accessible. This device comes in an elongated box featuring a pull-out drawer-like compartment that holds the product and various accessories located beneath the watch. These accessories include a spare watch strap, button battery and a tool for resetting and opening the watch back cover plus a small Quick Start Guide.
Bluetooth Speakers continue to be a popular item with regards to new products. This latest offering arrives from Lindy.
Under the tag line of “Connection Perfection”, Lindy has released its BTS-360 product which is a Bluetooth speaker with NFC (Near Field Connection) functionality. Included in the box with this compact speaker is a micro-to-standard USB lead for charging the unit’s 1000mAh Lithium Polymer battery and a small User Manual covering English, German, French and Italian languages.
This next title transports you back to the year 1450 as you enter the world of Royal Settlement created by the German based team of Magnussoft.
This game, entitled Royal Settlement 1450, is available as a software download from Avanquest’s GSP website. For some reason this game has been categorised as belonging to the Jewel Match-3 genre which it definitely isn’t. Royal Settlement 1450 is a time management offering. Times have been extremely hard in the kingdom on which this game is based. The king, who is the Supreme Head of the Empire, is not best pleased with the situation and you can hardly blame him.
According to the College of Policing if your home does not have any security measures in place then you are five times more likely to be the victim of a burglary than those homes who have implemented simple measures. To give you some idea as to the scale of this type of crime, burglary remains a fixture in the Top Ten crimes committed each month with 33,084 instances reported during April 2015. While this next product will not guarantee to keep your home safe from a break-in, it does offer help that could result in the possible return of your property.
The product under review is the Y-CAM developed HomeMonitor HD Pro Outdoor Security Camera (model HMHDE05) which comes with free Cloud recording and alerts regarding detected events. This kit consists of a HomeMonitor HD Pro camera, wall mount, Ethernet cable, power lead with replaceable UK/US/EU adapter plugs, Wi-Fi antenna plus screws, rawl plugs and tools for use when fixing the wall mount.
Like many young boys I could not wait to begin shaving. However when the time arrived it did not take too long for this looked forward to activity to become a chore. Then technology, in the form of electric shavers, came to the rescue.
I am old enough to remember my grandfather using a cut-throat razor, in conjunction with a leather strap, for his daily shave (he was a publican and needed to look his best for his customers). The leather strap was used to ensure the open blade was sharp enough to remove the daily growth of bristles.
This next mobile handset is smart enough to act as a clock while it is being charged or not used for other purposes.
Described as being “Small size, Big heart” by Doro, the Liberto® 820 Mini is a smartphone. It is relatively compact by modern day standards of such devices, hence the “Mini” part of its title. Available in a choice of Silver, White or Red (my review sample), the Liberto 820 Mini has dimensions of 126 x 66 x 11mm (H x W x D) and weighs 132g (including the rechargeable Li-ion 3.
Stone Clearance
Published in Entertainment
on
12 Aug 2015
Step back in time to a bygone era as you help a clumsy sorcerers apprentice regain scrolls he had lost.
Unlike the similarly entitled “Games of Thrones”, an epic American television fantasy based on an adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, the “Games of Stones” is a completely different kettle of fish. This rokapublish Makivision Games title may be loosely set in a bygone age of sorcery and the like but its concept is puzzle based rather than sword, sorcery and conquest.
While products sometimes arrived saddled with a model number but no name, this next offering has a name that evokes images of sweet sounds being delivered.
When naming a Bluetooth speaker, an appropriate choice would be that of a breed of bird. After all Bluetooth speakers are generally used to deliver our favourite music stored on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphone while birds have been entertaining us for centuries with their songs. Developed by moremusic, part of the Xoundstar family of companies, the next Bluetooth speaker under review is the Hummingbird device.
Nuisance call blocking, Android apps and Internet access are all supported by this next phone.
I can remember, in the dim and distant past, when households with a phone were the exception rather than the rule with just BT providing both the kit and telephony service. Those were the days when, having just left home attracted by the bright city lights, I would have to ring the one neighbour with a phone to pass on a message to my parents.
As a breed apart, dedicated hardcore gamers demand the ultimate performance from their computer equipment set up. Issues, such as motion blur, flicker-free, refresh rate and response time, are considered to be paramount in the gaming world. This is the arena where milliseconds can mean the difference between success and failure. Naturally the monitor, providing the window into the world for ultimate achievers, has an important role to play.
Recently I have been checking out the BenQ XL2720Z ultimate gaming monitor. This kit consists of a 27-inch LCD monitor, two-piece stand, a selection of leads for power, D-sub, DVI-D dual link and USB connections. There is also an S Switch device which acts as a remote control for switching between display settings that can be designated for gaming, work and entertainment.
While you may not be able to see round corners or over high walls, a smartphone with a Selfie Stick could.
While the concept behind Selfie Sticks might seem like a fairly modern phenomena in the world of photography, evidence does exists that this is not the case. According to Wikipedia, the concept originated in 1983 with the “Minolta Disk-7” product. This was a camera with a convex mirror on the front to allow the composition of self-portraits. The product’s packaging showed the camera mounted on a stick.
The use of security cameras, of various types, shapes and sizes, is a current hot topic of late. I have checked out a number of these devices for use in either the home or in-car. Generally these devices require little disruption to the location where they will be positioned and can be set up within around five to ten minutes. However this next offering is a different proposition to say the least.
The product in question is the HD Video Security System which has been developed by Samsung Techwin. This company forms part of the Samsung Group and was set up in 1977 to cover aspects of consumer, professional and industrial security. This particular product comes with the promise of providing a 4-camera All-in-One security solution. Both in the size of the product box and the array of content it contains clearly mark this product down as one that expects to be taken seriously.
A visit to a Bluetooth event held recently in London introduced me to a rechargeable battery product designed specifically for Apple devices.
As its title indicates, the Power Tube 3000 is a battery charger that has a capacity rated at 3000mAh. Developed by MiPOW, this is a portable device designed specifically for use with the iPod and iPhone family of products. This Power Tube can not be used with Android devices due to the restrictions of its built-in lead capability. Available in a choice of black, red or blue, this battery charger is eminently portable with dimensions of 105 x 25 x 25mm (H x W x D) and weighing 85g.
Thos innovative people at Sandberg have come up with a product that I have a tendency to mistakenly refer to as Steamboat which, obviously, it isnt.
The enigmatically named StreamBoard is just that. This product is simply (concealed technology aside) is a board that streams your commands to an attached device via wireless frequency of 2.4GHz. The recipient attached device could be a computer or Smart television with the StreamBoard acting as a remote keyboard device from which to issue your commands.
Having worn glasses for over half my adult life, I found that I needed to remove this aid to my vision when reviewing this next product.
We live in a world that has depth as far as the eye can see in any direction. Several attempts have been made to imitate this situation within other environments namely 3D and virtual reality (VR). Generally the approach to the deliverance of these environments has involved headgear of some sort that helps persuade the eyes to convince the brain that the supplied images are not all that they might seem.
A visit to a central London hotel introduced me to a new product that promised to keep a watch on my home when I was away.
Better known for its home networking, storage and media products, NETGEAR has now entered the arena of home security with the release of the Arlo™ Smart Home Security Camera kit. This product sets out to provide video evidence of what is occurring in targeted rooms within your home when you are not there.
As part of its new range of inkjet printer models, Brother has released the DCP-J4120DW. This particular model is an All-in-One device that includes A3 print capability and automatic 2-sided printing along with its basic print, scan and copy functionality.
With a black layer mounted on top of a computer grey base, the J4120 has dimensions of 480 x 290 x 163mm (W x D x H) and weighs 8.1 Kg. Setting up this scanner and printer combo is relatively quick and straightforward. That is once you have got your head around the concept of paper being inserted into the 150-sheet capacity input tray in landscape orientation for documents printed in portrait mode. Once power is fed to the J4120, instructions will be displayed on the unit’s 6.
Making a change from the numerous Bluetooth speakers that have come my way recently is an offering from Edifier that can be purchased as part of your weekly Tesco shopping expedition.
The Edifier M1380 is a 2:1 audio system. Opening the box reveals a subwoofer and two free-standing satellite speakers plus a wired volume controller. There is also meant to be a User Manual but this had gone missing as the review unit travelled between various journalists for testing purposes. The subwoofer, with dimensions of 158 x 225 x 252mm (W x H x D), has a fairly solid appearance.
Get your snorkel and flippers ready as you set out to help Clowny and Sharky find out who has illegally parked a ship on the seabed.
While the card game of Solitaire has numerous formats with different styles of playing, the one that developers tend to opt for when building a game around Solitaire is the one referred to as Golf. For those who are unfamiliar with this particular form of Solitaire, I should explain that this is a game where you need to remove all the cards from the playing area in a sequence that can run in either direction by using a stock pile of cards.
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