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Helping draw up a shopping list of toys is a top ten of offerings from Hamleys.
This is ideal for a first alarm clock for a child; it can also act as a night light. Dependent on the child’s age it can be powered by ‘AAA’ batteries or USB. It also has a built in sensor so you can even check the room’s temperature.
The Pokémon Lamp Alarm Clock has a rectangular base unit measuring 11x4x5cm with a rabbit – the light – on top that is 13cm tall to the tips of its ears; however the light is from its feet to its head just under 10cm. The display is around 6x2.5cm which means you get 2cm high digits for the clock; easily seen even the child has less than perfect sight. The clock shows hours and minutes in either twelve or twenty four hour format with the day of the week above the minutes.
With its carry and charging facilities, this next product might suit your ear bud needs.
As part of its range of branded headphones, Currys / PC World has released its Goji True product. This particular item provides the user with a set of wireless ear buds that come with their own carry case that doubles as a charging facility. Completing this package are a USB charging cable offering Standard-to-Micro connectivity and an instruction manual booklet. These ear buds, as already mentioned, are wireless devices.
While this was launched before the Cricket World Cup it did not arrive with me until the Cricket season was finished. Indeed anyone watching the main courts at Wimbledon would have seen the ‘oppo’ name on the show courts, great advert but how many will have known what the name referred to.
The Oppo Reno 10 Pro measures 16x7.5x.8cm and it weighs 216grams. The viewable screen is 15.5x7.2cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 6.6inches. This is a large phone with hybrid zoom. The selfie phone gives a wider capture angle as the lens is not in the screen but on a pop out above it. Start up is 13 seconds and shutdown only 1.2 seconds. Going around the outside has the on/off button on the right. The base has USB ‘C’, SIM entry point and speaker.
It is a Grim Tale of a burning school and missing children.
Grim Tale: The White Lady is a hidden object game that is available in Standard and Collector's Edition versions. I have been checking out the Collector's Edition of the Grim Tale The White Lady game. With this edition you get a number of bonus items with the main Hidden Object game.
This is clock but it has no numerals and no hands, so before you shout ‘who has nicked the hands’ it never had any. This is a magnetic clock and ideal for the executive desk as it’s a clever piece of kit and certainly something that requires good light either natural or powered as this just works day after day with no external connections.
It is round at 11cm and 4cm thick. Two metal rods screw into the wooden back to allow it to sit at 45 degrees on a flat surface. It is stated that it can also be wall mounted. The clock itself is a grey metal. The face is divided into twelve quadrants with small slashes at the hours. Move round the face till 3 O-Clock and there are three letters ‘h’ the outermost, then ‘m’ and finally ‘s’ they are about 1.5cm apart.
If you work on a laptop and suffer from back problems, this product may help to ease the strain
While perhaps not as popular or well-known as LOL, OMG, WTF, SUP, IMO or JK especially if you are a compulsive texter who regards abbreviations as their second language, MOFT might cause you a few moments of thought as you attempt to translate this abbreviation, I will excuse some grey matter exercise by explaining that MOFT stands for "Mobile Office for Travelers" and is the name of the company responsible for this product under review.
Adding to its original SmartCam device, Neos has increased its functionality.
Recently . the UK's first smart home insurance provider. Available from sources, such as the all-encompassing Amazon store, this SmartCam has adopted the name of its founder company and is known as the Neos camera. Since my original review, Neos has launched a SmartCam upgrade entitled Neos Boost which has been designed to enhance the original product's basic feature set. With the new Neos Boost upgrade, customer will be able to capture more key moment on their SmartCam.
This is a quiet small four ink printer that can also scan and copy. However for those who print large documents or lots of pictures not for you as the ink cartridges are not large, they do an XL option but still in the space for cartridges this cannot be for the heavy user. However for those who want to print a few top quality images its fine.
It is 36x29x16cm when closed. It’s not heavy at around 4.5kilos. With a stack of A4 paper in the back tray and the front outlet tray fully extended it’s around 50cm from back to front. Power enters back left. In the past I have had problems setting Epson printers up via Wi-Fi, here no difficult questions or having to attach a USB lead (none supplied) to complete the setup.
As its title should indicate,Witch Island 2, subtitled Legacy, is a follow-up offering that casts you in the role of a determined young woman who needs to use her wits and knowledge of magic to break a spell inflicted, by an evil witch, on the local inhabitants.
Belonging to the Hidden Object genre of game play, Witch Island 2 allows you to create profiles for individual players so that the game can be played by other family members. These profiles can contain the volume levels for features such as music, sound effects and the spoken dialogue delivered by voice actors playing the parts of in-game characters. You can also decide whether the game should be played in full screen mode or not.
This is an aluminium alloy mouse mat (Mousepad) but apart from controlling your mouse it lets you get extra USB ports via lead supplied as well as a Gigabit Ethernet port and both SD and Micro SD ports. So your notebook – even USB ‘C’ only now has standard USB3 and more on tap. I am told it also works with MacBooks.
The 21cm square mouse mat has a 6cm angled up extension at the back that has all the ports at the rear, the metal will not scratch the surface it is placed on as it has a grippy leather style base that also stops the pad moving. Two short leads of 15cm long each are supplied the first USB3 to USB3, second USB3 to USB ‘C’ so it does not matter if the port from the PC/Notebook/Tablet is full sized USB or USB ‘C’. My unit was silver but it is also available in grey.
Turn your child into a dinosaur loving music fan.
DNo doubt you have heard of the Big Red London Bus concept. This applies when you do not see an item for a period of time, then several do appear in close proximity. While I will admit that just two products do not count as several, I do feel that the arrival within a couple of days of each other, as happened with two sets of headphones, designed specifically for use by a child, does qualify as a Big Red London Bus moment.
No longer do Nero do a standard version but now you can get a Nero 365 Platinum that expires in a year or Nero Platinum that will keep working – without the addition of any new features – for ever, either way the contents of the package is Nero Platinum.
This is a new departure for Nero partially following that of others like Microsoft that were I think the first to produce a 365 version with Office. Here I am looking at the Platinum version which is Nero 2020 in all but name. To be clear you will still be able to download any bug fixes but not any totally new parts. Nero started – a long time ago – as a product to burn CD’s and DVD’s then it gradually added features.
Join Alice and Sam as they try to restore the Hobbit Village.
Forming part of the Enthralling Realms series of game, is the Curse of Darkness. This offering belongs to the Match-3 genre of game playing. Other titles in this particular series include An Alchemist Tale, The Witch and the Elven Princess, plus the Blacksmith's Revenge.
Originally only available for those taking out insurance from this company, it is now available for all. I looked at the early offering in February. Now it comes with packaging more fitment options and the chance to get far longer video clips.
Since my first review nine months ago the camera will now work with Alexa and you have the option via a subscription to get far longer video clips, the basic is twelve seconds and this increases with the extra subscription to sixty seconds, either way your videos are stored for 14 days. The camera itself is a five centimetre cube but the height can increase by another three centimetres by the base lifting on itself in a three way movement to let you get it pointing in exactly the correct place.
The Epson WF7715DWF is a versatile A3+ multi-function inkjet that will meet the needs of the majority of small offices
Although A4 is the basic office norm there are occasions when being able to handle A3 would prove to be useful. For example one could work with larger spreadsheets as well as printing two A4 pages onto each A3 sheet and then fold to make a booklet which is much more business-like that separate A4 pages. Being A3+ with an automatic document feeder (ADF) it can be appreciated that this machine, while suitable for the smaller office, may not fit into the smallest one.
As part of the Strange Case Files series, this next title involves the secrets of Grey Mist Lake.
With a title that could not be described as snappy. "Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove Sacred Grove Collector's Edition" is classified as belonging to the Hidden Object Adventure genre.
While most think of Adidas for trainers they do other items, here something you might use while you have your trainers on and even during a workout as the earpieces are sweat resistant, yes these are a small set of Bluetooth headphones.
At their smallest they are 18cm from the lower tip of the earpieces and 14cm across at the same point when the earpieces are parallel; there is 4cm of expansion on each side. Their total weight is 213 grams. The material of the earpieces and headband are sweat resistant and removable to wash. The earpieces are round at 7cm and have a good amount of padding.
Continuing its drive towards product development, Xiaomi has made a number of wireless charging announcements.
Since being founded in 2010 Xiaomi has been busy developing smartphones and other smart hardware items that are connected by the Internet of Things (IoT) platform in order to push the boundaries of what is available from such devices.
When considering the purchase of a set of ear buds, Currys/PC World can offer a product with its own neck band.
Headphones come in a variety of styles. shapes and sizes. In the case of the Goji PRO Wireless Headphones, this personal listening audio piece of equipment is of the in-ear variety. These headphones combine a necklace support facility with wireless Bluetooth connectivity with fast battery charging facility giving up to 12 hours of power to produce its personal audio functionality.
Having told you about a far larger Google offering the 3XL in February as summer turns to autumn a smaller more compact offering crosses my desk this may suit those who have slightly smaller hands or pockets both cost and size.
It is 15x7x.7cm and weighs 144grams. The viewable screen is 12.7x6.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 5.6inches. The display is 2220x1080. The pixel per inch ratio is rather good at 441. It has 64GB storage. Firstly Google Stadia will be coming to the Pixel 3a later this year so those into gaming will be able to stream to this device. This is a mid range phone that has pretentions to be like its bigger and more expensive cousins.
The Zyxel Multy WiFi system has been designed to provide enhanced wireless coverage over an area of up to 4,500 sq. ft.
Consisting of a Zyxel Multy X node and a Multy Mini to act as a satellite it provides wireless mesh coverage at both 2.4 and 5GHz with separate 5GHz channels being used to provide wireless “backhaul” communication between the two units. The node is roughly 9 x 7 x 2 inches thick and has all its connections on one of the long sides. It is white in colour so won’t look out of place in any home when it is sitting flat on a desk or hung on the wall.
Continuing the Lost Land saga, FIVE-BN mixes a wandering Harpy with gold tainted by a curse.
Categorised as a Hidden Object Adventure game, the FIVE BN Games developed "The Golden Curse" forms part of the "Lost Lands" series of offerings set in a world inhabited by strange characters featuring more than its fair share of magical influences. I have been looking at the Collector's edition of the game which is supplied with a number of bonus items that add to the appeal of the game.
Those old enough to remember manual typewriters will know that you had a good rake on the keys so your hands were always in the right position to type. Desktop computer keyboards less so but if you used the fold out keyboard support correctly there was still some rake, now sadly notebooks have flat keyboards, here is one solution.
This is a single flat sheet that is already partially cut through and pressed out to form a shape – well three shapes actually – that can either sit flat onto the back of your notebook increasing its thickness by less than .2 cm and raising it by zero degrees or by 15 degrees which can give a 5cm rake, finally it can raise the unit by 25 degrees which is around 8cm all this depends on the size of the notebook you attach it to. It fits any notebook from 11.6 to 15.6 inches.
Offering to look after YOUR money, criminals continue to increase their activities.
Over the years I have reviewed a couple of earlier – and smaller – versions of this item. When I saw this at the recent Philips demonstration day ‘Xmas In July’ the claim was made that it could cook a whole chicken in a small amount of time so never one to turn down a challenge I accepted.
As stated this is somewhat larger than previous versions but is still small enough to sit on the average kitchen worktop it is 43cm from back to front, 30cm from side to side and 29cm tall. Unlike other Air Fryers the whole fryer can be extracted on runners so if you wish you can baste the item being cooked without having to hold the cooking basket in on hand or perhaps harder finding somewhere to put it down that can withstand heat.
I am sure that at some time or other you must have encountered a situation where your mobile device emits a warning to reduce the volume output level. This next product could help in this respect.
While being aimed specifically, though not entirely. at the younger generation, the latest product to come from Puro Sound Labs is the PuroQuiet offering. This combines Active Noise Reduction with Bluetooth connectivity and volume limiting features within a set of headphones. The headphones are available in a choice of Blue/Black or Pink/White.
A good sized panel capable of showing up to 4K as well as a range of screen sizes upwards from HD. Its stand means that the amount of desk space it takes is less than most of a similar screen size and the ability to lower or raise the panel is just another good point that can make this something that can fulfil so many demands without costing a fortune.
It is 61x36.5x1.5cm and it sits on a 20cm circular stand that’s arm raises from the rear so the screen itself sits within the stand. The stand raises the panel by between 4 and 16.5cm from your desk. There is a good amount of back tilt as well as a little forward tilt. The viewable dimensions are 59.5x34cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 27 inches.
The Allroundo from German company Vonmählen is a USB charging cable kit that is pocketable and offers a useful way of connecting one’s Apple or Android phone or tablet to an appropriate power source.
Available in a range of colours it is 65mm in diameter and 19mm thick with curved edges so that it is shaped rather like my grandfather’s pocket watch and weighs just 46g. It has an elasticated belt loop on it which rather increases that similarity. Opening the hinged lid allows access to the curly cable and the associated adapters. The cable is black in colour and neatly fits around the inside of the shell. One end has a USB-A plug and the other micro-USB.
There are some strange goings-on in Kronville. Can you help?
Mixing together elements of a mysterious fire, a missing school bus with its passengers plus ideas gathered from child-centric stories, is a Hidden Object Adventure game entitled Kronville: Stolen Dreams.
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