Publication History For : Michael Fereday
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Rather than a single title, this next offering from the Focus Multimedias game catalogue combines two Mystic Diary games. The first game in this Hidden Object Adventure series is subtitled Lost Brother while the follow up game is subtitledHauntedIsland. Each of these two games has its own separate installation routine and adds its own icon to your desktop.
Mystic Diary Lost Brother casts you in the role of a Victorian-era magician who sets out on a quest to locate his brother who has gone missing. To this aim you must complete the 12 chapters that make up Lost Brother by tackling 29 Hidden Object hotspots and solve 12 puzzles set in locations such as the brother’s study, a beach, jungle, cave, campsite and a dark manor. In order to move between the different locations that make up this game you will need to use the Mystic Diary.
Adding to its range of router products, Cisco has released the X3000 which provides modem and wireless functionality.
While looks may not be everything (as I tell myself every time I look in the mirror), they can give you a reassuring feeling as you unpack a new product such as the subject of this next review which is the modem router sitting on my workspace. This is the Linksys X300 which provides ADSL 2+ modem capability and a 2.4GHz wireless connectivity with support for 802.11b/g/n WiFi. The X3000 certainly does have an attractive appearance with its founded corners.
The portable computer family continues to expand. First we has laptops/notebooks, then came
netbooks closely followed by tablets.
Now Ultrabooks join the party.
Originally coined by Intel, the term "Ultrabook" refers to a notebook-style computer that conforms to certain specifications. The unit needs to be no more than 20mm (0.8-inch) in thickness and be powered by an Intel Core i5 or better processor. Storage can be in SSD format with battery life giving at least 5 hours rising to over 8 hours in some circumstances. The unit’s graphics should be capable of delivering HD quality.
Depending upon your view point, a hero could be a mythical character of old, a comic book creation with super powers, a member of the armed forces or just an ordinary person with special qualities.
In the case of Kodak, a hero is one of the company’s new range of multifunction devices designed for the home or small office. One of the models in this new series is the Office Hero 6.1 product. This particular model certainly catches the eye with its bulky appearance and dimensions of 465 x 420 x 255mm (W x D x H). The Office Hero 6.
If it is not vampires providing the threat in computer games
then it is zombies who take centre stage as being creatures to avoid. However in this next case both branches of
the living dead fraternity take the leading role in a new game developed by
Five.bn and published by Alawar. The
game, appropriate enough, is entitled Vampires vs. Zombies.
Set in the immediate future, the current year of 2012 actually, a local dictator named Boombata has plans to conquer the world from his base in the Limpopo Province in South Africa. His plan involves televisions as the delivery medium for a combination of voodoo and tam-tams that will have the effect of turning populations into zombies under his control.
Brother has recently added new functionality to some of its multifunction devices. One of these models is the DC-J525W.
The DCP-J525W is a multifunction device from Brother. This product provides scan, print and copy functions from a single unit. There is a choice of USB or wireless connectivity when setting up this device with the host computer. With the A4 flatbed scanner mounted on top of an inkjet printer with 40MB of RAM, the DCP-J525W is predominately black in colour with dimensions of 405 x 160 x 378mm (W x H x D).
Now up to version 16, Serif has released the latest edition of its PagePlus software for those wanting to create different types of documents containing images and text.
Building up a network can be made easier by using existing facilities in the home in conjunction with Homeplug technology.
Way Out West
Published in Entertainment
on
25 Jan 2012
Time to put on your planners hat as Alawar offers you the opportunity to visit the American Old West and build a township.
Back in the early days of growing up (some would say it is still an on-going process for me), Saturday mornings were a time to look forward to as the local cinema put on a special show for the younger generation. With a clear distinction between good and evil, a staple diet of these shows were the popular cowboy films set in various shanty towns and churned out by the truck load.
Media content can arrive in different formats which are not always compatible with all your devices. Helping cope with this problem is the stated aim of a product released by Binary Distribution.
Binary Distribution, a traditional software publisher and distributor, has released the mediAvatar Media Toolkit in theUK. This product concentrates its main functionality on the conversation between different video and audio formats with a range of pre-set and customisable settings. Currently available as a download (DownloadBuyer.com) or physical boxed offering (Amazon.co.
While better known for its DAB radio products, PURE offers an Internet-based service called the Lounge that you can inspect.
Owners of one of the more recent PURE DAB radio models with Wi-Fi and Internet radio capability will have already encountered the Lounge. For those unfamiliar with this feature, I should explain that the Lounge is PURE’s online portal providing a gateway to an environment of Internet radio and on-demand content made up of podcasts, listen again programmes and a collection of ambient sounds captured from natural phenomena.
Continuing my look at various Epson multifunction devices, it is the turn of a model smaller than the other units seen recently.
Rather than the usual “All-in-One” classification, the Epson Stylus SX235W is described as a “Small-in-One” device. The reason for this slight change is that this particular Epson multifunction unit is smaller than some other print, copy and scan devices that are currently available from the company. The SX235W has dimensions of 390 x 300 x 145mm (W x D x H).
As its full title indicates, Lonely Dream is the third offering in the Specialbit Studios Haunted Hotel series. I missed out on the first two episodes and so came to Lonely Dream without any preconceptions as to what to expect from this Hidden Object Adventure game originally published by Big Fish Games and now part of the Focus Multimedia catalogue.
Like most games, Lonely Dreams has various options, including the volume level for background music and sound effects plus screen brightness, which can be adjusted to suit your taste. There is also an option to play in either Casual or Advanced mode. In the former you get a quicker refresh of the Hint feature plus the opportunity to skip some of the puzzles with less of a delay.
Helping bring together your collection of digital photos, music tracks and album plus videos so that they can be directed towards an appropriate output medium, such as a television, is the role ideally suited for a multimedia player. These types of devices tend to come in a range of shapes and sizes with some variety in their feature set. The latest such device to make its presence felt on my desktop is the ACME Portable Media Centre (MPO1).
With its dimensions of 142.5 x 85 x 23mm (L x W x H), the ACME Portable Media Centre (MPO1) could easily be mistaken for a small portable hard drive. This mistaken is easy to understand when you realise that it is possible to insert a 2.5-inch SATA drive, of up to 1TB capacity, into the body of this brushed metallic silver multimedia player. However this particular feature does not form part of this review which will concentrate on other aspects of this product.
As one of the major anti-virus companies, Kaspersky has created a product that enables the user to protect different devices.
Rather than stick with a single device, we are becoming users who regularly call upon a number of devices to satisfy our computing and communication needs. In some cases we might rely on a Windows computer, smartphone and an Android Tablet without giving it a moment’s thought. As each of these devices is capable of communicating with the Internet, some form of security should be in place to ensure you are protected from malware and other anti-social attacks.
It is that time of the year when Adobe reveals the latest version of its graphics package for those on a limited budget.
While Adobe Photoshop is the market leading graphics package, its price point puts it out of the reach of many users. For those that fall into this category, Adobe offers its Photoshop Elements product with the latest version being number 10. The product is available for either the Windows or Mac platform and comes as a standalone product or as part of a bundle with Adobe Premiere Elements. This review is based on the Windows standalone version.
More Adventure than Hidden Object style of play, a new game from Alawar takes you to an abandoned amusement part to solve a mystery.
What is it with journalists? Some of them seem incapable of researching a good story without getting into a whole heap of trouble. For instance take the case of John Flatter who set out to investigate an abandoned amusement park that has a pretty gory history with disappearances and deaths. Before you know it, Flatter has disappeared, adding to the mystery of the place.
As I say goodbye to one Epson multifunction device, so another model takes its place. This time it is the Epson Stylus SX535WD.
Following the pattern established by the previous Epson Stylus multifunction units I have looked, the Epson Stylus SX535WD is a box shaped unit with rounded corners to give it just a touch of style. Predominately black in colour, combining matte and areas of reflective black that tend not to show up finger smears (do I hear a shout of “hurray”), this model has dimensions of 445 x 367 x 169mm making it slightly smaller than the BX635FWD that I looked at recently.
Adding to its range of handsets, Samsung has released its Galaxy S II handset to tempt you to part with your hard earned cash.
Have you ever wondered what happens to all those mobile handsets that are now considered to be no longer the favour of the moment? Judging by the rate at which new models are appearing, there must be a vast army of handsets, sitting on retailers’ shelves or clogging up various warehouses, which have been replaced by the must-have model.
Bringing together video, music and pictures is the role of a media player such as the hdMEDIA RT3
Newly arrived from our Dutch friends at Eminent is the EM7280 HD Media Player otherwise known as the hdMEDIA RT . This black box device is considered to be the successor to the company’s EM7180 HD Media Player that gave you control over the various aspects of your media content stored on various devices. Slab-shaped with dimensions of 222 x 155 x 55mm (W x D x H), this product comes with a collection of leads and a full size remote control unit.
All you can see is not all that is available in a game that has you looking up and down as well as left and right in search of hidden objects.
Separation is the title of Chapter 1 of The Fall Trilogy. Spread over five chapters, this is an adventure game with more than a sprinkling of Hidden Object searches, puzzle solving and mini-game action to keep you occupied. You will quickly discover that this game takes a more all-round view of its world as you can direct your viewpoint to the left and right plus up and down as you move around an environment based around a hexagon layout.
Recently I have been able to give my Brother mono laser printer a break from its day-to-day activity as I replaced it with a product from Samsung.
Offering a choice of USB 2.0 or Wi-Fi connectivity, the ML-1865W is a mono laser printer from the Samsung stable. Combining glossy and matt black with its plastic casing, this box shaped unit with rounded corners has an appealing look and a footprint that is smaller than other inkjet and laser printers I have seen. With its front and top flaps closed, the ML-1865W has dimensions of 341 x 224 x 184mm (W x D x H).
While you may have built up an impressive collection of digital images, are you forgetting those negatives and slides carefully stored away a few years ago? honestech believes it can help in this matter.
As older technology gives way to more modern approaches so the need arises for a means of transferring the content produced by the old method into a format that is recognised and usable by the latest technology. One example of this can be seen with the more traditional photography that relied on negatives and slides for storing its content and today’s digital images.
When taking part in strenuous activities you might prefer to have an appropriate communication device with you/
While one of the numerous modern stylish smartphones will be the preferred communication device of many as their day-to-day companion, there are some occasions when such a device is nor the most suitable. If you are the adventurous, outdoor type then you might prefer to have a more robust handset to hand. One possibility could be the Samsung Solid Immerse which comes with the promise of being built for strength and ready for adventure.
Why stick with one body when reincarnation can switch you between characters in a Collectors Edition game?
Joining the popular Hidden Object Adventure genre is the Big Fish Reincarnations 2. Now available in Collector’s Edition format from Focus Multimedia and subtitled Uncover the Past, Reincarnations 2 includes the main game and a Strategy Guide. You also get a bonus Reincarnations story dealing with the Rainbow Circus, wallpaper, screensavers, concept art and a musical soundtrack but these only become available when the main game has been completed.
A recent visit to a trade show re-introduced me to a company that produced some of the early audio tapes I used for recording my favourite music from the radio. Those were the days. Now I have the opportunity to test another of the companys products, this time for listening to my current favourite music.
Established over 50 years ago, Maxell original was best known for the different types of recordable media that it produced. It was this aspect that I had my first dealings with the company. However a recent search through my collection of audio tapes failed to turn up even one of the Maxell products that I had purchased in my youth.
Aimed at users on a limited budget, Samsung feels a new member of its Galaxy family could be what you are looking for.
I’m tempted to ask just where the subject of this review fits into the Galaxy scheme of communication according to Samsung. After all this Samsung product is named the Galaxy Fit with the code designation of GT-5670. However on second thought perhaps I should just state that this handset is aimed at those users without deep pockets who want to indulge themselves in the smartphone experience. With dimensions of 110.2 x 61.2 x 12.
With its policy of providing systems for different needs and pockets, Acer presents its Aspire 5755G model for your delectation.
The Acer Aspire 5755G joins the already well-populated 15.6-inch laptop sector. This particular model weighs in at 2.5kg which is hardly lightweight but still makes it portable when the need arises. The unit’s dimensions are 381 x 254 x 28mm (W x D x H) in its closed state. While the laptop’s gleaming black casing has that initial “pick-me-up” appeal, it isn’t too long before unsightly finger smears begin to decorate the top cover.
If you have ever wondered what a toys eye-view would be like then Mattels latest Hot Wheels product could provide the answer.
Is it a toy? Or maybe it could be considered as a desktop decoration that could double as a surreptitious security device for keeping a watch while you are away from your computer. Actually it could be both but I have a strong suspicion that it will be cast in the former role in most households. I am referring to the latest addition to the Hot Wheels brand of racing toys from Mattel UK Ltd which goes under the banner of Video Racer.
From their base inGermany, the people at Nero have been busy developing the latest version of the companys multimedia software which is the subject of the review.
The latest version of Nero’s multimedia software is available in Standard and Platinum flavours. This review is based on Nero II Platinum which contains a tool set that allows you to rip, burn, convert, edit, backup and organise your media to suit your individual needs.
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