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I worked for many years in the networking industry, seeing first the widespread use of big
thick COAX cable to network computers, then thinner twisted pair wiring into centralised
switching rooms. Wired technology was never widely adopted in the home for obvious reasons,
but the idea of making use of the existing mains power cabling was often anticipated.
Despite the ready availability of power cables to every point of every house, running
data over an environment that was designed to carry high voltage and high power was
never going to be easy.
After my recent review of the excellent Analogue TV from Polaroid I took little persuading to look at their brand new digital offering.
The Polaroid Definia is totally black not only the screen surround but also the speakers mounted below the screen. First the dimensions, it is 83x58cm and the rectangular stand (23x51cm) raises it 7cm above the base. It is a maximum of 10cm thick and the actual screen is 69x39cm giving the notional 32inch diagonal measurement, (actually 31.
At the time of writing several large retailers had special offers on certain MB games so look around and you may even beat the prices I can find. Here I am looking at an International version of Subbuteo and Operation Rapid Response.
Subbuteo Dream Team Stadium It was certainly a long time ago when I played Subbuteo - I seem to rember that my older brother always thrashed me - but that was the prerogative of an older brother. While the green playing surface is the same not much else is. The players used to be cardboard now they are high quality plastic (three to a card) and with the 'Dream Team' they come from different teams.
Photographs, like memories, can fade or become lost over time. Protections from Polaroid is at hand.
Past generations would store their precious photographic memories in albums or, in some cases, old shoe boxes and the like. Every so often they would be brought out to bring memories flooding back to those viewing the images. Nowadays we rely more on the digital format, rather than the paper variety, of these images that are links to past events and earlier versions of ourselves.
With so many Bluetooth headsets on the market our guide will help you choose the one for you.
Bluetooth headsets Does anyone know why the roads are so busy at this time of year? Is it the special Christmas road works or all you lovely consumers ordering presents on-line which eventually have to be delivered out to your door? Sitting in a traffic jam the other day I was counting the number of people using their
This is something that I first saw just over a year ago, a version was available but a new version was only a couple of weeks away. I gave up after six months of requests and then a few weeks ago I am told its available.
First this is an almost white rabbit that seems to have only ears, face and part of it's upper body. It is a maximum of 24cm tall to the tips of it's upraised ears and a maximum of 40cm round. Looking at my notes of a year ago I see that it has 17 different colours of lights not only displayable in it's belly but also it's face and ears.
I was more than a little skeptical when a toothbrush priced at over £130 arrived
here for review. At first I thought there must be some mistake in the pricing - but no. This is
the most advanced toothbrush in the Oral-B range.
I've been a fan of electric toothbrushes for a number of years now, but have been generally let down by the quality of the product, which often fails after a few months. Although not expensive in money terms - the sheer waste gets to me. Each of those (and I won't mention names) probably cost between £10 and £20 - often on special offer. The Orab-B Triumph is in a different class.
As water covers the greater part of this worlds surface, it makes sense to use this element for various purposes such as providing power.
Combining the current drive towards energy conservation with the extreme weather conditions we have had to endure during the summer months and a product available from Gizoo.com seems entirely appropriate. That product is a clock with alarm, timer, and the ability to display the current temperature in either Centigrade or Fahrenheit. However none of these functions have anything to do with the previously mentioned appropriateness.
Taking its inspiration from a comic book series, this title features a betting scam, bone characters and a great cow race.
For the benefit of the uninitiated, of which I was a member until very recently, Bone is a classic comic book series drawn and written by Jeff Smith. Independently published, the Bone series consisted of 55 issues, which were released over a period from 1991 and 2004, and featured the adventures of bone characters and others.
Samsung have had two sets of digital cameras launched this year, here I am looking at the S85 the first I have seem from the most recent launch in August.
Even though it is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand it feels very solid and weights in at 215grams. It is 9.5x6.5x2cm but the last measurement the thickness increases by 3cm when you are switched on and at full zoom. This has a 5x optical zoom (just that little bit better than the norm of 3x) and can take images up to 8.
If you need an ultra-portable super-flexible mouse for your laptop, look no further
Mogo X54 Mouse from Newton Peripherals I had an original Bluetooth PC Card Mouse from Mogo that worked fantastically every time with my laptop - a great neat piece of technology. Then I upgraded my computer and ended up with a PC express slot and rued the day I couldn't use my super-slim, ultra-portable mouse. The launch of the new Mogo 54 is a godsend to all those of us out in the PC card wasteland who hate using touch pads.
Ive used a set of Yamaha speakers for many years on various computers and was keen to check out the companys latest portable speaker system.
Whether your music is stored on a notebook or MP3 player, there will always come a time when the audio output quality could become an issue. While a good set of headphones might suffice in some circumstances, this will not always be the case especially when there is a need to share with others. In such a situation, an external speaker system might be more appropriate. One possible candidate is the Yamaha NX-U10.
Certainly a lot more than another bedroom TV, this has the ability to view HD, it is of course widescreen and at 19inches is far more watchable and just for good measure it has a built in DVD player.
First the measurements it is 47x35x6cm when on the stand that is 24x17cm and raises it up by 4cm. The screen is 41x26cm and this gives the 19inch diagonal measurement. There is a 52 page A4 manual and it is filled with lots of illustrations that are useful if only because this is not just a TV but so many devices. The only assembly required is to slot the base into the TV, no screws or twist and it's a good fit.
Until recently DAB (Digital Auto Broadcast) radio has been something of a niche technology. Dab radios
have offered little advantage over their analogue forebears other than limited battery life,
often poor reception and higher prices. A lot has changed in the last year with DAB radio
going mainstream.
Pure Chronos II
The government want us ultimately to use digital radio services. Why? Well as with most things
government it really comes down to money. If they can persuade us to 'go digital' they
can sell off the frequencies traditionally used for radio services to the highest bidder.
Two very different toys but both suitable for kids of roughly the same age. Marvins Magic teaches the child to use his hands to deceive and Electronic Scrapheap Welder to build or rebuild.
Marvin's Magic Freaky Body Illusions This is a set of illusions with the required props to make them work. Unless you are lot more adept than myself you will also need a DVD player to watch how the illusions are achieved. It mentions the DVD in several places on the box but no where does it actually say it's required. However I doubt you would get very far without it.
Putting away my paper-based maps, it was time to check out another SatNav device.
As part of its range of DigiWalker SatNav devices, Mio has released its C220 model. Although at the more budget end of its product line up, the C220 packs an impressive amount of functionality into a unit that measures 108 x 81 x 24mm (H x W x D) and weighs in at 100g. Opening the box reveals the SatNav device; a three-part connection kit for in-car use; USB lead; software CD; and various items of documentation. The C220 SatNav unit is dominated by the 3.
December 2006 saw the legalisation of low-power FM transmitters for personal use in the UK. As so often happens these
days outdated law was simply catching up with commercial reality. Already on the market were several
FM transmitters explicitly aimed for personal use to beam music from MP3 players into the cars hi-fi system.
Since the change in law the number of products in this space has blossomed. Here we take a look at a very small transmitter from Belkin called 'TuneFM for iPod'. The package it comes in is completely out of proportion to the product itself. Open the package you find a cardboard mock up of an iPod and right down the bottom the FM transmitter which attaches to the iPod dock connector. The body of the transmitter is around 60x25x11mm in size.
Do you have somewhere that you want Ethernet connectivity but running a cable is difficult or not desirable, does it area have mains electricity? If so this offering could be the answer.
The ZyXEL Homeplug PLA400 comes in a pack of two (other numbers are available) and what looks like a small router is at the end of standard 13amp power lead. Plug one of these into your router and the 13amp lead into a wall socket.
A flexible personal GPS navigation system that can also provide a range of
other in-car services.
At heart the n
Sony Ericsson has taken a bold decision with its W950i model by omitting a feature many would regard as being compulsory.
Taking over the role of the flagship Walkman phone is the Sony Ericsson W950i. With this particular model Sony Ericsson has taken the decision which may come as somewhat of a surprise. Unlike all the other mobile phones I've look at, whether from Sony Ericsson or many other manufacturers, this is the first model that does NOT include any photographic features. So it is a mobile phone that does not feature a camera.
Runes, magical artefacts and hairy characters are all waiting for those who venture into an Emerald Tale.
When it comes to the development of 3-in-a-row games, Enkord has plenty of experience. Following on from titles such as Jewel of Atlantis, Jurassic Realm and Clayside, Enkord's latest 3-in-a-row puzzle offering is Emerald Tale. Set, not in as you might imagine from the title, but in a world of runes, magical artefacts, hairy creatures and an over-abundance of plant-life - hence, maybe, the emerald reference.
Not a name big in digital cameras but certainly the name for Instant prints as the Polaroid Instamatic was (and as far as I know still is) the name for instant pictures, here however a conventional digital camera.
It is two tone grey with a silvered ring around the lens. A seven mega pixel offering a year ago would have been a really powerful offering. It has the standard 3x optical but they - unfortunately - still use the optical x digital to produce a figure of 12x something that most companies have been shamed out of doing. The only real use for digital zoom on a camera is to zoom into part of a taken image on the display.
Zoom H2 Handy Recorder - A "musthave" for the chattering classes?
Zoom set up in 1990 to provide sound gear and effect processors to the music industry. The company offers a range of sound mixing desks with recording facilities and a number of recording units. Until recently, I had used a mini disk recorder for background sound and sound bites for use with my films and video. My MDR disappeared in my son's direction, never to be seen again, so I was in the market for a new recording device.
Keeping your personal data safe can often be neglected due to the effort required. However solutions, such as Secure Stick, are available.
How do you protect your personal digital data especially when on the move? You might rely on a system that includes encryption, passwords and backups. While there is nothing wrong with this type of approach, it does rely on the human element especially with regards to remembering those all-important passwords and the task to which each one relates.
For a while Nintendo looked like it was going to play underdog to the
behemouths of Microsoft with their XBox and Sony with the PlayStation. Many
had written of this company as an also run. That was then. Several years on
from those predictions and Nintendo is breathing new life into not
only itself, but also the games industry as a whole.
This review takes a look at the latest in the DS line of hand-held game consoles. The
Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) arguably saw the turn around in Nintendo's fortunes and
a continuation of the strategy that brought the DS to market led directly to
the new Wii phenomenon. Put bluntly - Nintendo had the foresight to put the user, rather than technology, first.
For an inkjet printer this is big, but in comparison to some so are its most expensive part its ink cartridges, hence the claim 25% cheaper to run than a laser printer.
First the all important dimensions for this Officejet printer it is 49x38x21cm and it weights in at 8.8kilos. There are only three buttons on the front edge, the only one you are likely to use is the on/off. There are four tiny LED's to tell you if any of the four cartridges need changing. The rear has the power input (it's a massive power brick) and the USB input.
A couple of years ago such a situation would have been hard to fathom - Palm virtually
single handedly created the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) market, only to be
challenged by the might of Microsoft. So - how is the fruit of this unlikely marriage?
We take a look at the Palm Treo 500v.
As an early adopter and fan of the Palm concept I owned one of the very early
Palm Pilot products from around 1998 (still in use by my Dad) and still have a
Palm V (circa-2000) in daily use.
Firstly a clock that can wake you to your favourite MP3 track and second a clock that runs on water and does so much more. Both these units are tiny and great for those who travel.
My Music Box MP3 Digital Player This is a 7cm black cube with a grey metal face that contains a 5x2cm LED display. Below this are seven buttons that control the clock and what MP3 track you play. The left and right sides have speaker grills while the back has the battery insertion point (four 'AA') a mini USB cable and slot for SD or MMC card. There is an instruction sheet.
Your personal data belongs to you so make sure others can not use this information for their own use.
Have you considered who might be sharing your computer's functionality? I do not mean sharing with members of your family or colleagues but those individuals with whom you are not acquainted. The presence of these unwanted visitors is a clear indication that your system has become infected by spyware that can include Trojans, keyloggers, adware, system monitors and cookies.
Here we review 3 brands of epilator units designed to produce smooth hair-free legs.
Boot's Compact Epilator
Epilators look a bit like shavers, but are actually lots of little tweezers
that pull the hair out at the roots. This should result in smoother hair than
shaving. The manufacturers tell us that with repeated use the hairs grow back
softer and finer - so you don't get the stubble effect of shaving. The smooth
result is said to last for some weeks.
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