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This is the last of the recent batch of new SmartPhones from Emporia. This brand of phones looks like a normal SmartPhone but gives the user extra help be it more volume for those of us with hearing loss or brighter and more distinct displays for those with sight problems; however they can also be used as a standard Android SmartPhone.
It is 15x7.4x.7cm and weighs 177grams. The viewable screen is 12.3x6.5cm with the normal three control buttons below the screen in the surround, the centre home button is a slightly raised solid button. Going around the outside has the volume rocker buttons with the on/off button below these. The base has USB ‘C’ for charging as well as the contacts for the supplied charging dock. The left side is clear and the top has 3.5mm socket for earbuds.
You are about to join a family of explorers on their quest to locate the City of Mists.
It all began with Great Grandfather who spun many tales of this strange island which, like the town of Brigadoon, would only become visible and accessible to mere mortals once every twenty years. On one of these infrequent occasions, Great Grandfather claimed he discovered that the island was home to a mysterious vault that contained treasures untold. As proof of this claim, Great Grandfather was happy to show off a mysterious charm required for access.
Here I am ensconced in self-isolation in order to avoid coronavirus, looking at a product from MenKind.
It has to be noticed that several years, actually a full decade, had passed since I last reviewed a MenKind product that went by the name of Dave the Monkey. Sad to say, I was unable to locate Dave the Monkey on the company's website. However I do have the company's 3in1 Smart Viewer to occupy my time during the period of self-isolation.
Web Cams until the recent CoronaVirus were something that sat in the top surround of a panel of your Notebook/Tablet, often people worried about being spied upon, recent panels I have seen now have no Web Cam. So hence the need for decent offerings like this one from Logitechh that can keep friends and family in touch.
I installed it on a not that recent Windows 10 system and that involved screwing the tripod base to the camera and plugging in the hard wired USB lead and saying yes a couple of times. So anyone can do it, this means a son or daughter can purchase this online and post to their parent so at least they can chat and see each other, thus keeping friends and family in touch during the current Pandemic.
A recent message from Trend Micro revealed how the company has been kept busy due to an increase in certain Internet activity.
It has to be noticed that several years, actually a full decade, had passed since I last reviewed a MenKind product that went by the name of Dave the Monkey. Sad to say, I was unable to locate Dave the Monkey on the company's website. However I do have the company's 3in1 Smart Viewer to occupy my time during the period of self-isolation.
Charles Dexter Ward returns to try and undo the mistakes he made in the past.
Fans of Gothic Horror will no doubt recognise the storyline on which this next game of "The Soul Keeper" is based. Drawing on a source of inspiration from a H. P. Lovecraft novel and forming part of the Dark Mysteries series, "The Soul Keeper" comes with the claim of being a supernatural Hidden Object game. I have been looking at the Platinum Edition of "Dark Mysteries: The Soul Keeper" which is developed by Cerucus Media.
Since these two devices were reviewed towards the end of 2019 I have been asked to tell you about changes made to them in order that should you purchase them now you have the actual updated information for instance the Pixel 4XL was one of the first to come with Android 10 as standard.
My first look was published in November and apart from the obvious change with it coming with Android 10 it has significant improvements to AI. Gestures were in the original release but now you can do much more without touching your phone. They say it can even tell if you have had an accident in a vehicle and if required it can even call the emergency services. Hopefully a feature you will use more often is to motion sense your music so going back, moving forward and pausing all by gestures.
Let me open with a question for those who were involved in the past with building their own computer or just upgrading their current system with a harder capacity hard drive.
Do you remember the price and capacity of the internal hard drive that was to be included in a new or upgraded system? In my case I can distinctly remember scouring through adverts in several computer magazines for a hard drive that would increase my computer's storing capacity. As my budget was around £200, my choice of possible drive was limited to those drives with a maximum capacity of 200MB (this is not a typing mistake as MB was the current standard at that time).
As a fan of the Anne McCaffrey series of novels based on the interaction between telepathic dragons and humans on the planet Pern, I am instinctively drawn towards games with "Dragon" in their titles such as "The Legend of Eratus - Dragonlord".
Developed by eFunsoft, "The Legend of Eratus - Dragonlord" is a Match-3 game that follows the recent trend of dividing its action into a series of chapters with each section featuring upgrades that need to be completed before you are allowed to progress to the next chapter and areas of the realm where this story is based. With this game, you are about to enter a land where King Haleth ruled over this peaceful land.
This 24inch panel from Philips displays in 1920x1080 like the majority, but here the refresh rate is up to 75Hz instead of the standard 60Hz. Another of the plus features is USB ‘C’ and the ability to charge and transfer data from your notebook or Tablet via a single supplied cable. It also has pivot ability so can be used in portrait mode as well.
It is 53.5x32.5x1.5cm; the viewable screen is 52.5x29.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of just under 24inches. The bezel at the sides and top is .5cm and at the base is 3cm, the six control touch buttons are at the right end of this with only a white LED visible. The total weight with stand is just over 5 kilos. There is 30 degrees of back tilt and 5 degrees of forward tilt.
Adding to the ever-growing range of smartphones, Xiaomi has developed its Mi10 family of products.
Meeting up with Alexa certainly opened several doors to ways of doing things.
Having recently told you about a couple of Emporia phones that are designed with Android Go and an Interface for those who need assistance here I am looking at a phone that has Standard Android (version 9) and then a possible skin to suit those with sight or hearing problems designed by Emporia but this can equally well work without it.
Providing the means to position a smartphone in a vehicle is a device from Groov-e.
I am sure we all have a number of USB Sticks often they have information from vendors of course these may contains ‘cookies’ or much worse but we squirrel away information and data and hope it’s not corrupted when we need it.
Most come as a single solid stick and if we stick in our pockets or bags the contacts are exposed and may pick up dirt, they could rip clothes and maybe worst of all get damaged. Here is a drive that retracts at the push of a button on the side so it’s a flat surface with no contacts exposed, push the grey end and it clicks out ready for use. This unit also has a hole cut in the grey end to allow it to be attached to a key ring.
Can you solve the mystery of missing children as your detective agency sends you to Arbourshire.
No doubt you have heard the story of the travelling entertainer who went from town to town playing his music and telling stories. The entertainer was probably referred to as the Pied Piper with special reference to the location known as Hamlyn. But this time the entertainer is a totally different character who takes on the central role in "Fairy Tale Mysteries - The Puppet Thief", a Hidden Object adventure game developed by Gogii.
Mixing Match-3 game play with Hidden Object and Spot the Difference action is the approach used by Heart of Moon.
While "Heart of Moon - The Mask of Seasons" has been classified as belonging to the Match-3 genre, this offering, developed by UNIKGAME, features Hidden Object scenes, Spot the Difference game play, building restoration and battles to the death. Cast in the role of Clara Edison, your participation in the game starts as you receive a note from your "father" regarding new discoveries about the location of the Mask of Seasons.
A light and full function 1080P notebook that has touch built in so Windows 10 works well, as when it was designed touch was the way it was designed to be used. This notebook is bang up to date and has plenty of memory for you to use.
The Acer Swift 5 measures 31.5x21x1.5cm and weighs 936grams. The viewable screen is 31x17.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 14 inches. It is 1920x1080 (full HD) and while the scale and layout setting comes defaulting to 150% I was perfectly happy at 125% which shows considerably more of any web page. Going around the outside has on the left side, power input, HDMI out, USB3 and USB ‘C’. The right side has 3.
News of agreement between EE and Amazon
Delving into the gaming past reveals a title based on the rescue of a princess integrated into a ship.
With the removal of a zero to avoid any possible confusion with the original series of stories, Alawar has published "1001 - The Adventures of Sinbad". Developed by Mange, this title casts you in the role of Sinbad as you set sail to experience the heroics of this adventure encompassing Hidden Object quests to lift the curse of Princess Chalida. Allowing different players to take part in this game, profiles can be created to store each person's progress.
The latest vacuum cleaner from VAX also handles hard floors. The previous one that I saw was the Blade 2 and there are a number of changes not least is the fact that the battery is removable and can fit all of the latest range of VAX products.
The Vax ONEPWR Blade 4 measures 114cm from the cleaning foot to the top of the handle when stood upright. Unlike the Blade 2 where the power adapter fitted into the top of the handle to charge the fixed battery here in the Blade 4 the battery fits into the unit near the head and clicks out for recharging into an ‘L’ shaped holder for recharge. If you have another of the ONE PWR units from VAX then the batteries are interchangeable so while one is charging another can be in use.
Once again you are called upon to recue those who have fallen under a witch's spell and taken on a different shape.
Developed by Orneon, "Echoes of the Past - The Kingdom of Despair" is a Hidden Object game with a sprinkling of mini game action. The game casts with the task of freeing different characters, who have been trapped by a witch's curse, and locating missing amulets. By completing these tasks you will be rewarded by being presented with a path home. I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of this game which comes with a number of bonus items found under an Extras section.
In an effort to combat the cold weather, you can deal with the fire-bearing monsters attacking Northpearl.
"Dark Realm - Queen of Flames" is a Hidden Object Adventure game. Developed by Mad Head Games, this offering casts you in the role of Valera, the daughter of the village's Blacksmith. You are set the task of discovering who is in charge of the mysterious floating figures who are attacking and setting fire to the village of Northpearl.
This phone looks like a normal Android Smart Phone but also offers help like extra volume, brighter contrast and larger text all things that help when our bodies start to say that is too hard and best of all a easy to use User Manual that explains everything, perhaps better still all of it is in a single language.
There is a second twelve page guide to WhatsApp something all the kids know about, those in their early working life use all the time, and most retirees shy away from, this can get you into the 2020’s. The phone is 11x5.5x1.8cm when closed, when open it is 21cm, it weighs 111grams. The viewable screen is 7x4cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial screen measurement of 3.2inches.
While there are a number of music streaming services. The two most will have heard of are Spotify and Deezer. Both offer a £9.99 monthly service that enables you to get advert free listening. Both have a very large library of recordings.
So at the £9.99 price point both offer you all the music you want at the touch of a button on your phone, PC, Tablet of even Alexa or Google voice controlled speaker devices. Deezer also have a Hi-Fi mode far higher quality ideal for those audiophiles with good quality speakers or quality headphones this mode is best for those listening on Wi-Fi in your home as the amount of data is far larger. Good quality MP3 the £9.
Instead of wishing on a star, you might prefer to climb a tower for a wish-granting exercise.
By looking carefully in a certain direction, you might, if you were very lucky, see what is referred to as the Tower of God. According to legend, this structure will grant a single wish to whosoever has the skill, ability and desire to climb to the very top of the tower. Ironcode Gaming has taken this belief and turned it into a computer game for those ready to accept the challenge of tackling Match-3 game play in order to have a wish granted.
Pack your bags, you are off to Pompeii to locate a time travelling artefact.
Taking some inspiration from Steven Spielberg's series of cinematic adventures featuring the archaeologist, Indiana Jones, Alawar has published Alabama Smith - Escape from Pompeii. This Hidden Object Adventure title has been developed by Stargaze. Before joining Smith on his adventures that take on the possibility of time travel, you can create profiles to record the progress of individual players and make adjustments to the game playing environment.
This is a small and light notebook from Acer that will easily fit into a bag or backpack for those times when you need to be mobile. However it has a full size keyboard and the screen is 1920x1080 so everything should appear exactly as in the office.
It is 32.5x23.5x1cm the last figure increases to close to 2cm at the back. It weights 1524grams. The viewable screen is 31x17.5cm which gives the notional imperial diagonal screen measurement of 14inches. While Windows sets the default display at 150% I found 125% was still perfectly usable and the amount displayed on the screen was far more, especially useful when showing web pages. The processor is an Intel i5 running at 1.6GHz. There is 8GB of RAM (7.84GB available).
For those times where a third hand would be useful, well normally that is not possible but with a Popsocket you can keep you phone stabilised and still do those extra things without that third hand, the Popsocket sticks on the back of your phone so one hand may be all you need.
As traditional hard disk drives have grown in size and reduced in price, so SSD products have followed a similar trend
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