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Having recently reviewed the best phone I have ever used and then one that any other company apart from Google would have consigned to the bin 18 months ago this was always going to be, shall we say, difficult. In the past I have reviewed several other Honor offerings, so to be as fair as possible I took a good bit longer before presenting my thoughts.
The Honor Magic 4 Lite measures 16.5x7.5x.8cm and weighs 192grams. The 6.8 inch display is 1080x1980. The right side has the volume rocker and recessed below this the on-off button. The base has the USB ‘C’ connector for charging and data transfer via an OTG device, also a microphone and SIM entry point. Both the left side and top are clear. The rear is dominated by a raised circular Matrix at the top end which contains its three cameras and LED flash.
Can you decipher the clues left by a killer and stop the reign of murder?
Developed by Grey Wizard Innovation, Deadly Puzzles: Toymaker pits you against a serial killer terrorising a quiet town by murdering women. You are cast in the role of a female detective assigned to solve the case and bring to justice a killer who enjoys setting puzzles in the form of clues. Allowing different people to play the game, this title supports the use of profiles to record the progress of those tackling the case.
A missing boy and a girl who will not wake up are just two of the problems facing you in this double pack.
This next product bundles together the first two titles in the popular PuppetShow series developed by ERS Game Studio. The two titles are PuppetShow - Mystery of Joyville and PuppetShow 2 - Souls of the Innocent. Both titles can be installed individually from the same front-end menu. The same package of options is available when setting up each of these titles. You can create profiles so that different players can play the game and have their individual progress recorded.
I do not sleep well so when I get a chance to review items that might improve my sleep I take them. This tool is speech and music and while I have managed to fall asleep in a boring presentation in the past this is something new to me.
The is round at 8cm and 6cm tall without its wooden lid in place, I used it with its built in speaker but if you need more volume then use its 3.5mm socket to connect to external offerings. There are eight subjects and eight different items on each subject, there is a male and a female voice and there should be 8 minute and 20 minute versions of each offering; however despite my best endeavours I was only able to access the 20 minute versions.
With all the current news featuring details of proposed rising prices, it makes a welcome change to report on some available deals that feature lower prices.
When performers go missing, you need to send for the detective with a nose for sniffing out clues.
Some may remember that Paprikan introduced us to Montgomery Fox who had abandoned his scavenger lifestyle and was not putting his skills to more advantage use by working as a detective. Fans of Montgomery may be wondering how he has spent his time since that initial outing. My research reveals that, after spending time sunny himself in my back garden, he has been busy disturbing my sleep with his mating calls.
Bringing together a white wolf, rampant plants and an unpaid debt, this next offering should provide plenty of Hidden Object game play.
I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of this game developed by Alawar's Go! Studio. Unlike other titles bearing the Collector's Edition branding, this offering takes a different approach to its bonus offerings. Rather than a bonus chapter, you are given two bonus Hidden Object games of Mountain Crime and Natural Threat. These games have their own setting options regarding the volume adjustment and full screen viewing.
With so much more video being produced out of studio one thing needed is lights even a well-lit room does not look top notch so this solution from Zhiyun could well help solve it. During lockdown a great deal of meetings moved to online from home where ordinary room lighting did not hack it. The doughnut ring light was popular but is there something better like this Fiveray offering to give you professional standard lighting from a single internal battery powered unit.
It is 50cm tall and 4cm wide and 3.5cm thick except at the handle where its 4cm. It weighs 900 grams. There is a tripod mount on the base. Just above the grip on the left side is a USB ‘C’ connector to charge its internal battery. The back of the grip is rubberised for ease of holding. The only other item to mention is the 7x3cm area on the face of the grip, this has a joystick ‘control centre’ and a small 2x1.
Pack your bags, have all the necessary injections as you prepare to visit various countries for missing members of your club.
There is a theory, supported by some, that the human evolutionary chain was somehow influenced by the presence of outside elements that were alien in concept. Whether that influence included Ancient Astronauts is a mute point but this next game might swing the argument one way or the other. As a member of the Unsolved Mystery Club, you can join the search for five fellow members who have gone missing when searching for evidence of whether Ancient Astronauts existed or not.
You shall have music where ever you go with a smartphone and a set of Cambridge Audio ear-buds.
Cambridge Audio has over 50 years experience in the designing and production of audio products including the three piece speaker system that has been providing the audio output from my computer system for well over a decade now without any problems. Recently the company has launched its new ear-bud product consisting of a pair of earbuds and a carry case.
In true Star Wars fashion, this next game explains how location for previous titles came to be.
With its title of "Academy of Magic - A New Beginning" might indicate that this is the first offering in a new series from that hotbed of Match 3 game play. In fact this is the latest episode in one of e-Funsoft's longest running series. This game should be regarded as a prequel as it explains the origins of the Academy of Magic. In a previous episode, those energetic students at the Academy of Magic had defeated the Great Dark Wizard.
These are the latest set of earbuds from Creative to land on my desk. They are just a little bigger than most buds of a similar type and when I weighed them this was confirmed. However they still sit comfortably in your ear. So what is new to make you shell out to purchase another set of earbuds apart from them being from Creative to tempt you.
Each bud weighs 7 grams and in their charge box the total weight is 87 grams. 15 hours use before you have to recharge and a total of 60 hours before you need to search for a USB port for more charge. Both these figures are 25% more than most other sets of buds that only offer 12 hours. They have a total of six microphones so you should be heard more clearly by others.
When earthquakes occur, who do you send for? It has to be Glass and Ink.
Entitled "Clockwork Tales of Glass and Ink" this is a game which takes you on a voyage into a Steam Punk world ruled by machines and gadgets. Developed by Artifex Mundi, the game is a Hidden Object offering with my review copy being of the Collector's Edition variety.
Not everyone wants the latest or biggest phone that can take fantastic photos in near darkness. What they do want is something that can make and receive calls and take the odd photo or three and browse the Internet while out and about for things like when will that bus or train arrive and possibly will it ever rain again in my lifetime. So perhaps a solid reliable phone like this Google Pixel 4A, while this is well over two years old it still gets updated to the latest version of Android.
The Google Pixel 4a measures 14x6.7x.7cm and weighs only 144 grams; its viewable screen is close to 6 inches, the screen is 1080x2340. Going around the outside has the on/off button and volume rocker on the right side. The base has speakers, and USB ‘C’ for charging, or data transfer and microphone. The left side is free and the top has 3.5mm socket for earbuds or headphones. The back has its camera and LED flash top left in a 1.7cm square raised area.
When two people are separated by a shipwreck, how do their stories develop?
This next product bundles together Twisted Lands - Shadow Town and Twisted Lands - Insomniac in Collector's Edition versions. Both titles, being in the Hidden Object Adventure genre, have been developed by Alawar's Stargaze team. When it comes to installing these two titles, you have no choice but to copy them both to your computer's hard disk thus relinquishing 1.4GB of space. The games can then be launched and played individually from the same opening menu.
Even ghosts can have worries and your job will be to ease these issues within an Amityville dwelling.
Let us take a trip back in time to the year 1947. This is not the 1947 recorded in our history books and in the memories of those of us old enough to remember that year. Our journey will take us to the 1947 year of an alternative universe. This is a world where paranormal activity is commonplace with ghosts from the past appearing everywhere.
This is a 27inch UHD multi view flat panel from Philips. Up to 144Hz refresh rate is possible and all in a small footprint. It has a good amount of rear tilt and a little forward movement so ideal for those who play games or even for business users. It has decent speakers for those needing to present and as with most recent panels a wide viewing angle.
The Phillips 27inch Momentum 5000 is just more than 61cm wide and only 34cm tall and at its edges only 2cm thick. It has a four sided open ‘M’ shaped base 16.5x15.5cm, 34cm wide base that raises it by between 9.5cm and 19.5cm from your desk; you can also pivot it to view in landscape mode. For those into serious gaming this panels 1ms refresh rate could save your life in so many games. 4K (UHD) 3840x2160 display is ultra-clear.
A family curse returns to haunt the next two stories in the Shadow Wolf series.
Bundled together in a single package are two titles from the Shadow Wolf Mysteries series. The two titles are the standard versions of Bane of the Family and Cursed Wedding. Developed by ERS Game Studios, both titles can be installed individually from the same front end and come with their own desktop icon. Both titles support the use of profiles to record the progress of different players.
As a famous healer you are called in to solve the mystery of why the Queen is ill.
Based on the classic tale of "The Six Swans", Grim Legends 2 - Song of the Dark Swan is a Hidden Object Adventure game developed by Artifex Mundi. I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of the game which features a number of bonus items. These items include more mini games, Hidden Object scenes, an additional story told from two different perspectives, wallpaper, soundtracks, concept art and cut-scenes.
Who was responsible for the death of a painter several years ago?
Death at Fairing Point: A Dana Knightstone Novel is a Hidden Object Adventure game. I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of this Boom Zap developed offering that requires you to solve a 19th Century murder. Unlike other Collector's Edition titles which tend to bundle various extra items, Death at Fairing Point limits its extra items to just a bonus chapter and a Strategy Guide.
As with most recent SmartPhones it is all about the cameras. Here one of its four cameras is an amazing 108MP. However with 5G those who download a lot to their phone are also able to do this with minimal delay. So what has this latest offering got to make you choose it apart from of course the extremely powerful camera that it has?
It is 16x7.5x1cm the figure at the top left of the back where the cameras are, it weighs 207 grams. It comes with Android 11 and MIUI 13 which sits on top of the Android operating system and while I was testing it loaded the Android security update for July ’22. It comes with 128GB of storage and around 32 GB is used. There is 8GB of RAM. It has an Octa Core Media Tek Dimensity 920 Processor. The display is 6.67 inches and has a 120Hz refresh rate to the 2400x1800 display, 395PPI.
Can you put your Hidden Object skills to the test by reversing the procedure and replacing rather than finding objects?
If you find that Bluetooth does not always perform reliably then this little gizmo from Creative may made your Bluetooth stronger and most of all reliable. As I live in a home with solid walls I have long found that Bluetooth soon drops off under the stated distance you should be able to achieve. So can I roam that little further away before dropouts happen?
Your headphones or earbuds must support aptX. This is Smart Bluetooth 5.2 Audio Transmitter with aptX Adaptive. Assuming you are using USB ‘C’ it is just over 2cm long, 1.5cm wide and .5cm thick once inserted in a port. If however it’s USB then the adapter makes its protrusion 4cm. Should you need to extend length for your calls then a 3.5mm socket will have a 2cm protrusion.
Creating a guest list for an event needs care to ensure you do not miss out somebody important.
Uninvited guests can cause a problem. This is especially true when that guest is a large bear and the occasion is a wedding. Matters certainly do not improve when the bear, ignoring normal circumstances, decides to carry off the bride. This is the situation facing you at the start of Artifex Mundi's Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride. I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of this game which comes with a number of bonus items.
When the crime scene is a Cathedral, do you gave the gravitas and skill to complete the investigation?
Notre Dame - Secrets of Paris is a Hidden Object Adventure game. I have been looking at the Deluxe Edition of this particular title. Unlike the numerous Collector's Edition titles, which tend to come with additional items based on the main story, this Deluxe Edition has been paired with a separate bonus Hidden Object game entitled Lost Secrets Bermuda Triangle. Developed by Gunnar Games, this title is based on a robbery conducted on the premises of the Notre Dame.
I still get requests to review Desktop systems and this latest offering from Acer is much smaller than most, in fact not only smaller but also a great deal lighter. In fact I placed it on top of my own normal sized Desktop system and this amplifies the smallness. It also comes with small cordless Keyboard and mouse that take just one USB port to connect both.
It is 29.5cm tall, 9.5cm wide and 32cm deep add another 5cm to the last figure for cables into the back of the unit. The mouse is 10.5x6x3.5cm at most and weighs 81 grams with battery inserted. The keyboard is 41x11x2cm the last figure is at the back; at the front it is hardly 1cm. The keyboard has 112 keys with the numeric and alpha keys being full-size.
Can you pull the right strings to solve the mystery of a missing child?
We have ERS Game Studios to thank for the third episode of the PuppetShow series. This third episode of the Hidden Object Adventure game is subtitled Lost Town and is available in Collector's Edition format with various bonus items bundled with the main game. Apart from the built-in Strategy Guide, access to the various bonus items with their extra content, including an additional chapter, wallpaper, screen saver and concept art, require the main game to be completed first.
Game playing can sometimes have a dream-like feel to it especially when the game involves taking part in dreams.
Imagine being placed on an orphanage doorstep shortly after birth, you then spend the next 25 years wondering who you are and why your existence began in such a manner. But then you receive an invitation to meet your biological mother and, at the same time, take a trip of an underwater dream facility that is normally reserved for the rich and elite. By accepting the invitation, so begins the GOGII developed game of The Emerald Maiden - Symphony of Dreams.
As fans of the series will appreciate, you do not mess with Catherine when her mind is set. Not even a giant octopus can stop her.
Now up to episode three, the Catherine Ragnor story continues with the Cursed Island. This e-Funsoft title is a Match 3 game that is spread over five chapters of achieving targets and building upgrades as the genre's favourite female sea captain one again takes centre stage. The usual set-up options are available for Catherine's latest adventure. Profiles can be created so that different players can tackle the game and have their progress recorded.
While I am sure we all enjoy good Coffee Shop coffee, sad to say even those with far deeper pockets than mine are starting to see where savings can be made. Sadly one of these is the coffee shop, while some instant offering are tolerable what if you could have coffee grounded and brewed in your home of office, you can with this latest offering from Melitta the Purista Series 300 Jubilee Edition.
Perhaps the first step is to find out what coffee you favourite coffee shop uses and where they get it from. There are plenty of online places that roast beans and despatch them the same day. If you have beans then what you do not want is them to be ground and not used immediately as fresh ground is even more important than how long ago – within reason – they were roasted. Now all you need is a machine to grind and prepare your coffee.
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