Publication History For : Michael Fereday
Click to see this members public profile
Older articles
Although it did not arrive via remote control delivery, this next Amazon product quickly made itself at home.
It is not often that I get the opportunity to check out the original version of a product and the new all-singing and dancing version of the follow-up version. However this rare occurrence has happened with the Kindle Fire HD and the Kindle Fire HDX versions of the seven-inch tablet. The former offering was a Christmas present that had been bundled with a one-year subscription for a national newspaper while the latter was supplied for review by Amazon.
Even before I had the opportunity to get into this next game, I had received an email announcing a price drop for this Match 3 offering.
Developed by NordCurrent and available as a download from Avanquest’s GSP game catalogue, Jewel Keepers: Easter Island is a Match 3 title. Profiles can be set up for three different players with adjustable volume levels for rather distracting and repetitive background music and sound effects plus whether to play in full screen mode or not.
A tube strike, while making it difficult to get t0 my destination, did not hinder my attendance at an event to promote the release of a USB 3.0 flash device.
Kingston Digital Inc., an affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products, has just released an all-new version of its DataTraveler® product. This is the DataTraveler Locker+ G3 USB 3.0 Flash drive which, depending upon your needs, will be available in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB capacities. My review sample was the 16GB version.
Small enough to fit into your pocket, a product from Sandberg proves that not all Android devices are created equal.
TLAs (that’s Three Letter Acronyms) are not restricted to the IT sector but they are certainly a favourite with many who occupy this particular environment. One of the more recent TLAs to come to my attention is OTG with the arrival of a product from our friends at Sandberg – more on this product a little later. OTG is not to be confused with the similar OTT.
From its Belgium base, as part of its Document to Knowledge mantra, IRIS has released the latest version of its IRISPen product. This is the IRISPen Executive 7 offering which boasts You scan, it types as it performs its designed role of a hand-held scanner.
While the product’s title refers to the scanner element of this package as a “pen”, it is more like a black magic marker or highlighter in appearance right down to the removable cap at one end. It is this end that contains the scanner element which is protected by the cap when not being used. This “pen” unit has dimensions of 15 x 140 x 25mm (H x L x W) with a mini USB port at the opposite end to the cap.
Set in southern Indian, this next game challenges you to complete Match-3 grids to make progress in a treasure hunt.
Joining the like of Apple and Samsung in offering users both smartphone handsets and tablets, Sony latest release in the latter category is the Xperia Tablet Z. This is a 10-inch tablet running the Android operating system.
Predominately black in colour apart from the silver Sony logo on the front and the Xperia name on the rear, the Xperia Tablet Z has dimensions of 266 x 172 x 6.9mm (W x H x D) with a weight of 465. Looking almost as if it has been on a diet, this tablet should have no problems with regards mobility.
suppose it had to happen sooner rather than later. With mobile devices, namely smartphones and tablets, being our constant companions giving us access to data and then storing what is important to us, you would expect companies to develop printers capable of supporting mobile printing. Well actually they have been around for a while but they are rarely promoted as such. That is until now as I have been sent a printer product that promotes itself as a Smartphone and tablet printer. The product in question is the HP ENVY 4500.
Let me clarify one important point first of all. The HP ENVY 4500 is a fairly standard All-in-One (AiO) device pure and simple. It combines print, scan and copy facilities along with a choice of USB or Wireless connectivity. In common with numerous other products from different manufacturers, it can accept content from and deliver it to various sources as long as they belong to the same network.
One of these days Edifier is going to produce a speaker system with a more traditional design concept for one of its speaker unit. But this is definitely not one of those days with the arrival of this next Edifier speaker system.
Arriving in packaging that reminded me of a suitcase, the Edifier Luna Eclipse is a 2.0 speaker system that once again put me under pressure when attempting to describe the shape of the speaker units. Let me deal with simple matters first before getting down to the shape of the speakers. The two speakers making up this system are decked out predominately in a highly polished lacquered black coating.
It is time to venture underwater as you embark on a Match 3 extravaganza with a choice of two difficulty levels.
Hidden Wonders of the Depth 2 is a Match 3 game originally published by Big Fish Games and now available as part of Focus Multimedia budget BlackLime catalogue. Developed by ERS Games this title brings together different types of Match 3 styles of game play with some additional forms of puzzles plus the opportunity to spend the money earned for completing tasks in an aquatic themed shop.
There are headsets and there are headsets. This is also the RIG system.
Newly basking in the lime light following winning a prestigious International Forum Product Design Award 2014 in the Audio / Video category, the RIG system is a Plantronics product. It has been designed to allow users to immerse themselves in an audio environment supplied from various sources.
The original Amazon Kindle eBook Reader was quickly followed by the Kindle Touch model. This version, in turn, gave way to the current Kindle offering named the Paperwhite.
My review of the Paperwhite is based on the Wi-Fi model which is the technology used when you need to connect to the Amazon Kindle Store for purchasing your choice of literature. With dimensions of 117 x 169 x 9.1mm (W x H x D) and weighing 213g, this eBook Reader gives you a 6-inch viewable E Ink screen area for your reading material delivered at a native resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.
To paraphrase a certain cake companys claim, HTC designs some exceedingly nice looking handsets. A prime example of this from the Taiwanese manufacturer is the HTC One offering. This product is a smartphone device which is the subject of this review.
With its all-metal silver casing, bevelled polished edges and glass frontage, the HTC One certainly has a touch of style about it. The Smartphone’s dimensions of 137 x 68 x 9mm (H x W x D) and a weight of 143g means it can fit comfortable in the hand as it attracts admiring glances from others or while tucked away safely in a pocket or bag without causing any inconvenience. Leading the way in gathering these admitting glances is the 4.
To avoid any confusion for older readers, I should point out that the subtitle of this next game, Return of the Duke does not refer or have anything to do with Marion Mitchell Morrison (aka John Wayne) who was the star in numerous action films.
The Scuffs 2: Return of the Duke is a Hidden Object Adventure game that is now available on Avanquest’s GSP label. Spread over 10 chapters, this game sets you the challenge of helping Grandpa Scruffs, the rightful heir, become the next Duke of Scruffold. For some reason, not explained in the game, it has taken Grandpa Scruffs 30 years before stepping forward to claim his rights.
Last year at its annual IRISLink event, IRIS introduced its IRIScan Mouse device with the tag line You swipe, it scans. This year the combination of mouse and scanner has been upgraded to the IRIScan Mouse Executive 2 with the same tag line.
As it titles indicates, the IRIScan Mouse Executive 2 offers dual functionality. It can be used as a regular pointing device which can seamlessly switch to fulfil the role of a hand-held scanner. Unlike the previous version of the product, which was Windows only, this second incarnation of the scanner mouse can be used on either the Windows or Mac platform.
Magic, stone statues, innovative mini games and spoken dialogue are mixed together with a dash of evil intent in this next two-game pack.
The latest two-game pack to arrive from Focus Multimedia features a couple of offerings from the Grim Tales series. These titles are The Stone Queen and The Wishes. Both titles have been developed by Elephant Games and belong to the Hidden Object Adventure genre. When setting up your game profile for either game you can adjust the volume levels for music, effects, environment and voice plus gamma, special effects, full screen, wide screen and custom cursor options.
Serif WebPlus is a software package that offers to ease you gently into creating your own web-based presence.
Now up to version X7 (that is version 17 for those not versed in current marketing speak), WebPlus is Serif’s latest offering of a web design package for those looking to create their own on-line presence. Rather than dropping the user into the deep end of learning the necessary coding language, this program uses a drag-and-drop approach to placing elements on the page as required.
Amaranthine Voyage: The Living Mountain is the follow-up title to the first Amaranthine game which dealt with The Tree of Life. Do not worry if, like me, you missed the first offering as the Living Mountain is entirely self-contained and requires no previous knowledge of the first game. However your role will remain the same as you take on the mantle of Professor Burns who has now returned to the classroom while still trying to convince the populace at large that the tales of The Tree of Life actually happened.
With its logo of three colourful finches, ViewSonics latest monitor to arrive for consideration has high specifications and a price to match
The ViewSonic VP2772 is a 27-inch IPS SuperClear LED wide screen monitor which is capable of delivering a resolution of WQHD 2560 x 1440 pixels when the appropriate connection is applied. When setting up this monitor you first need to connect the panel to its companion metal stand. The two elements slot together and are held in position by a single screw. The resulting LED monitor has dimensions of 642.7 x 469.7 x 347.8mm (W x H x D) and weighs 8.
And you thought the Red Riding Hood story ended with the death of the wolf at the hands of the woodman but that was only the start.
What would you do with an extra 8 terabytes of available storage? In my case I opted to use this storage space for a full system backup plus my collection of digital music and videos for starters.
As can sometimes happen, especially when an occasional urge prompts me to start (and rarely finish) one of my infrequent clear-out sessions, I came across a couple of 5.25-inch floppy disks just as I was about to begin this review. Those were the days when fully-fledged applications could fit on a single 720K disk with room to spare. Nowadays DVDs, or large downloads eating into data quota, are required when installing applications and games (smartphone and tablet apps aside).
Based on a H. P. Lovecraft novel, this next game places you in the role of a detective attempting to defeat a recently raised-from-the-dead murderer.
Dark Mysteries: The Soul Keeper is described on the box as a “thrilling and supernatural Hidden Object Adventure” game. This title, developed by Cerusus Media, is now available in Collector’s Edition format from Avanquest’s GSP games’ label. Along with the main game, there are some bonus items which I will return to a little later.
While desktop and lap systems usually feature an optical drive with burning capabilities, the supported format tends to be of the DVD variety. This next product includes Blu-Ray support.
Whatever others may state, size is important. However it does not really matter what the actual dimensions are as long as they are suitable for the user’s current needs. Currently the IT industry is throwing its not inconsiderable weight (and that is another issue that needs to be taken into consideration) behind mobility and the associated subject of miniaturisation.
A Dangerous Card Game
Published in Entertainment
on
22 Feb 2014
A Dangerous Card Game
It has been a while since I last had the opportunity to check out a HP printer. If memory serves me correct, this unit was a home photo printing model that I reported on in 2008. It was therefore quite a surprise when HPs PR agency rang me up out of the blue and asked if I would like to review the HP Deskjet 2540 product.
The HP Deskjet 2540 is a multifunction device that offers print, scan and copy facilities with the option of either USB or wireless connectivity. With dimensions at the base of 398 x 195mm (W x D), this unit expands through its height of 156.60mm to a top measuring 425.23 x 305.82mm. Decked out in non-reflection off-white, making a pleasant change from the usual diet of black (either of the matte or lacquered hue) models, this device has a fairly clean-cut look with rounded corners.
Like the grandmother in Red Riding Hood, there is a connection between the grandmother in this tale and a creature of the wolf family.
The Curse of the Werewolves is a Hidden Object Adventure game developed by Nordcurrent. The game is available in Collector’s Edition format from Avanquest’s GSP game label. This title bundles a couple of extra items with the main game. You get a jigsaw game with three different pictures to complete plus a similar number of wallpaper options. Both of these bonus items are immediately available from the game’s main title screen.
This next product has been designed as a container to turn a smartphone into a more appealing educational tool.
In the past I have reviewed a number of soft toys designed to pets. This list includes a Dragon’s Den bear (it had a tape recorder built into its stomach), cats, dog, penguin and a parrot. Now I can add the Ubooly which, unlike the other pets mentioned, is of a breed previously unknown to the public at large. So perhaps a few words of explanation would be beneficial.
Alex Hunter is your typical Private Eye or some might prefer the term of Gumshoe. Typical that is if you exist in a world inhabited by characters created by authors such as Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler. This slightly more refined Private Eye, than those Spillane and Chandler originals, is your role in the Epic Star developed game of Alex Hunter Lord of the Mind.
Available as the Platinum version from Alawar, Alex Hunter: Lord of the Mind belongs to the Hidden Object Adventure genre. I presume that the “Platinum” designation is just another way of stating that this is a Collector’s version as the game as both contains similar bonus items. Some of these bonus items, such as concept art, music and a secret room, can only be accessed once the main game has been completed.
The latest headset to arrive from Creative contains some features I had not previously encountered before.
Unlike the previous two headsets from Creative (TACTIC 3D and Evo Zx), which were coloured a distinctive and eye-catching red, the company’s new Hitz WP 380 headset has a more subdued appearance. This headset is predominately black in colour apart from brushed silver ear piece attachments. Another difference is that this headset has a more compact and lightweight feel to it.
A Mahjong Story
Published in Entertainment
on
12 Feb 2014
Described as an epic makeover of the ancient tile matching board game, Age of Mahjong (one of the various spelling used for this Chinese board game) combines a series of Mahjong board layouts with a story line that spreads over 56 levels. This Adept Software developed game was originally published by Alawar and now forms part of Avanquests GSP games catalogue.
Main Menu
