Publication History For : Michael Fereday
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Combining its undoubted expertise in the area of graphics applications and experience as a company entrenched in the on-line community, Xara has developed a Web authoring tool appropriately entitled Xara Web Designer
The invitation gave little away other than this was to be a new commercial launch. My interest was further aroused when the location and timing was changed just prior to the event.
Arriving, at the Central London location, notebook (the paper variety) and pen in hand, I quickly discovered that this commercial launch involved not one but two companies and the new kid on the block in the mobile phone platform arena. Bringing together the combined development and marketing talents of T-Mobile and Huawei with the Android platform is the Pulse.
Maybe, like me, when you were a young child you were told not to be grabby when treats came around. Now Terratec wants you to ignore this advice as you use the companys product to convert your analogue VHS tapes into digital content stored on your hard disk or optical media. Appropriately enough this product is entitled Grabby.
Working in conjunction with Magix’s Movies on DVD software, the Terratec Grabby is a USB style flash stick device. The flash stick element measures 96 x 32 x 12mm. LED lights for power and recording feedback are provided along with a button to activate a quick record feature. Permanently attached to one end are leads for connecting to the audio left / right channels and Video In of your VHS player.
Developed by the German-based Blue Byte Company and now available from Focus Multimedia is The Settlers: Rise of an Empire. This is the sixth title in the Settlers series and consists of city-building features with resource management and strategic combat encased within a well-drawn, animated interface set in the medieval era.
It is often not easy to remember which data has changed since your last backup, so why not let the software take the strain
As its title indicates, AutoSave Essentials provides automatic backup facilities. Developed by Avanquest Software, AutoSave Essentials carries out its designated task by monitoring its targeted files in the background and then instigating backup operations according to a user-defined schedule for those files that have been altered. Installing the product is straightforward. You will need to enter the supplied 24-character serial number as part of the process.
Mention Dyson and you immediately think of vacuum cleaners. Now we have a Dyson cleaner powered by a new engine.
Deep in the heart of Wiltshire, beavering away at their Malmesbury headquarters, are a team of engineers lead by James Dyson. Best known for developing various vacuum cleaners (based on the cyclone principle), this team had recently turned its sights and expertise towards the main component driving these branded Dyson products. That component is the engine.
System Suite Professional brings together a number of utilities developed to protect, maintain, tweak and optimise your Windows system.
Now up to version 9, System Site Professional has been around for a good number of years. Checking my records, I note that my first experience of System Suite dates back to 2001 when the software was published by Ontrack. Along with the last few versions, this latest edition of System Suite bears the Avanquest brand. As is fairly standard with some Avanquest products, you will need to enter a 24-character serial number as part of the product’s installation procedure.
When searching for a missing professor, especially one involved in magic, it is a good idea to take precautions as the heroine of a game from Alawar discovered.
Over the past few months I have looked at a number of phones, mainly of the DECT variety, from Doro. As a result I am almost tempted to paraphrase a popular advert and say that Doro makes an exceedingly wide range of phones but perhaps not.
The latest Doro DECT phone to come under my gaze is the Form 35R model which combines a digital cordless phone with an answer machine. This two-piece unit, consisting of the handset and base station, has a sand-silver fascia with black backing. The handset measurements are 140 x 48 x 24mm (H x W x D) while the base unit’s dimensions are 147 x 97 x 90mm (W x H x D). Leads are provided for mains power and telephone line connection.
The proliferation of mobile devices using different video standards has created a market for companies to develop video conversion product such as the subject of this next review.
You may remember that a few months ago I took a look at a product that had been developed to aid the conversion and transfer of multimedia content from one format to another. Unfortunately I was less than impressed with the results I was able to achieve with this title which shall remain nameless. Now a competitive product, offering similar functionality, has appeared. This product, from Avanquest, is entitled TransferMy Video.
When is a mouse not just a mouse? The answer, as I discovered recently, was when the mouse is also a presenters tool.
As part of its new line up of SlimBlade mice, Kensington has come up with a device that combines the usual functionality of a mouse with those of a tool to control a presentation via Bluetooth connectivity. Appropriately enough this product goes by the title of SlimBlade Bluetooth Presenter Mouse.
Time to put your hidden object finding and puzzle solving skills to the test as you enter the world of Mystery Case Files.
Having just spent time updating my sisters television set up, and getting different pieces of kit to work in harmony, in preparation for the digital switch-over, I just wish I had waited a little longer until this next product came along.
Like London buses or any other kind of public transport for that matter, there are some products which you do not see for ages and then two turn up in close proximity. No sooner had I completed my look at one set-top digital box than another one popped up to start vying for my attention. Developed by Digital Vision, this product is the DV-DTR1 Digital TV Recorder (Gigo to its friends) which combines Freeview channel access with recording capabilities using USB 2.0 technology.
Bamboo has many uses but I never thought I would come across one that would involve my computer and various software mini-apps.
According to my Concise Oxford Dictionary, bamboo is a “Genus of tropical giant grasses; the stem, used as stick or material”. Wacom, however, would prefer you to look on Bamboo as a family of consumer pen tablets with, as far as I can see, absolutely no connection to the natural material. (Asus also has a Bamboo product – a notebook that is encased in bamboo.) The Wacom Bamboo family comes in three versions, namely Bamboo, Bamboo Fun and Bamboo One.
According to recent figures, notebook sales are outnumbering desktop systems in some quarters. In many cases the notebook is being purchased as a direct replacement for a desktop system. However this approach could raise a problem with regards to connectivity.
Galactic Conquest
Published in Software
on
12 Aug 2009
Forget conquering a single country. There is a whole galaxy out there waiting for just the right person to take complete control.
As its title indicates, Sword of the Stars Ultimate Collection is just that – a collection. This product comprises the original Sword of the Stars title plus the two expansion packs of Born of Blood and Murder of Crows. Installing the whole kit and caboodle gives you the single desktop icon as the various titles are integrated together thus introducing addition alien races and equipment to the original package of turn-based intergalactic empire building.
While the majority of manufacturers of external speaker systems have tended to concentrate their support for the iPod platform, Edifier has adopted a more wide ranging approach with the launch of its MP300 Plus Portable System.
As D-Day (thats the switch over from analogue to digital television) approaches for certain parts of the country, it is perhaps the appropriate time to look at a digital set-top box.
TVonics, a British privately owned independent design and manufacturing company that specialised in the digital television sector has developed the MDR-250 digital TV receiver to help users make the transition from analogue to digital television. This product consists of a Freeview box; remote control with a set of batteries; mains power, RF and SCART leads; an IR (Infrared) extender; plus Quick Start and User Guides.
Turn a standard mouse upside down and you have an inactive piece of kit but this is not the case with a new product from Kensington.
In the same way that keyboards have been designed with enhanced features, such as multimedia controls and zoom capability, their usual companion, of a mouse, has followed a similar pattern as is exemplified by this next product. This is the SlimBlade Media Mouse from Kensington. This offering is a laser mouse that communicates with the computer via a USB stick receiver with a wireless 2.4GHz signal operating on a range of up to 30 feet.
Crime Solving
Published in Software
on
5 Aug 2009
You are invited to a murder. But can you arrive at the correct solution within the designated time limit?
As we tend to use our computers when listening to music, some thought should be given to the kit that provides the audio output.
Often it is easy to focus on a company’s main field of expertise with regards to products while you ignore other areas in which the company might be active. I have to plead guilty to falling into this trap myself but in my defence I can put forward the excuse that, until very recently, I was totally unaware that Verbatim produced speaker systems.
Like many others I have a collection of VHS tapes holding video content that I would hate to loose. Looking to safeguard this content, I decided to checkout a product from K-World.
As technology advances, so we tend to have reduced access to the previous generations of media-based content. You only have to visit a local boot fair to see numerous examples of people trying to sell off old technology and its content.
Joining the ever-expanding range of iPod add-on devices is Kensingtons latest FM device for working with your car radio.
Kensington has consistently supported the iPod platform with many of its products. In the past the company has developed external speaker units; and adapter to enable the iPod Shuffle to be connected with standard iPod peripherals; rechargeable battery packs; and various solutions for in-car use. Recently added to the latter group is Kensington’s Liquid brand featuring both LiquidAux and LiquidFM products for connecting an iPod to a car radio.
Forget the chips, the fish in this title are of the tropical variety and they promise to be at your beck and call during relaxing interludes.
One of the attractions of owning an aquarium is the peace and tranquillity it can bring to those who observe the movement and interaction of the aquatic residents with their surroundings. For this reason, aquariums are often used as a screen saver by many users. Now with Fishdom H2O Hidden Odyssey you can create your own collection of aquariums and have some fun at the same time by searching for over a thousand hidden objects scattered on the sea bed.
Recently I have had the opportunity to try out Nokias answer to the Apple iPhone
Whatever your view of Apple and the company’s close control over its various products, you would be hard pressed not to agree that its design innovations have certainly stirred up sections of the IT industry. Take, for instance, the appearance of the iPhone and its subsequent effect it has had on the competition. Mobile phone manufacturers have been falling over themselves to produce an offering of similar style and functionality.
They are small and round, some would say cuddly but others might prefer tasty. Can you help them escape before they are served up for dinner?
Back in my younger days, the game of Bumps was regarded as a birthday treat for the unsuspecting that you, along with your mates, would be keen to grant to whoever was celebrating their special day. You would each grab hold of part of the victim and then throw them up in the air the required number of times. Unfortunately, as sometime would happen in the excitement, you might fail to catch the recipient on the way down.
X-OOM Photos on TV 3 is a photo presentation tool that, as you might well suppose from its title, lets you display your favourite digital images on a television screen. It does this by providing the means to create and edit personalised slideshows of your images and content from sources such as Google Earth.
Gear4 takes a different approach with its product that connects an iPod to your car radio.
With paddle in hand and a ball under control, the latest Arkanoid-style game from Alawar has been keeping me busy of late.
Many years ago I had my first encounter with the game of Breakout which required you to destroy rows of bricks using a ball and a paddle. Little did I think then that this game format would survive and evolve over a period in excess of twenty years. Since those early implementations, the game has changed out of all recognition as multiple balls, power-ups, bonuses and all-manner of theme-based environments now appear as standard offerings.
Whether you adopt the if it aint broke, dont fix it mantra or can not help making adjustments, you could benefit from using a set o software tools from Avanquest.
As its title indicates, Fix-It Utilities is a collection of tools that offer to keep your computer system performing at its optimum capacity. The last time I took a look at this particular product was with version 7 which displayed a “Works with Windows Vista” logo. That logo has now changed to indicate the product “Works with Windows XP & Windows Vista” with this current version 9 (I seemed to have missed out on version 8).
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