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A few weeks ago I told you about a couple of games/puzzles from Coiledspring games, here I am looking at two further offerings from the same company. Read the other review they are made of wood and are quality.
Katamino This is a game for one or two players and it can be easy or hard dependant on the number of pieces you use. Described as suitable for age 3+ in this case I can see at the basic levels that children of that age could compete. You have a wooden board 30x14x1.5cm a divider bar placed at various points along the board (according to difficulty) and twenty different sized coloured shaped bricks.
OK, so we know they all want an iPOD, the Wii and a Nintendo DS Lite - that's obvious. But what else could you put under the Christmas tree. Here at Gadgetspeak we've personally road tested some great products with real kids (big and small) and here is our list of Top 10 ideas. Your can see a full review of each by clicking on the titles.
1. - by Braingym (UK) Ltd, from £14.95 - Gadgetspeak 5*5 Award Kaleidoscope A fascinating game with a myriad of
possibilities for kids and adults. With eighteen pieces which cover
64 squares to make up a chequerboard, this game is part strategy and
part puzzle.
While hardly operatic, Sony Ericsson chose the Kings Cross Scala as the venue for its latest product announcements.
Sony Ericsson W890 The guys from Sony Ericsson were back in town earlier this week with news of some new offerings made up of mobile phones; a mobile Broadband modem; and an entertainment download service. Let's take a look first at the new phones coming our way. All these new models will not be available in the UK until early next year, so really this is just to whet our appetites for the post-Christmas period.
It's National Indoor Allergy Week 19th - 23rd November, so we're reviewing the Bionaire Air Purifier BAP412. Air purifiers are known to help those with allergic reactions and asthma.
In the UK a shocking 5.2 million adults
and 1.1 million children receive treatment for Asthma and someone is
admitted to hospital in England once every 8 minutes because of the
condition. Asthma is on the increase and is potentially life
threatening. At very least it can make life uncomfortable and many
activities difficult to take part in.
One of the better names for a DAB radio as especially if you are listening to cool music you would often come near to laying back for exactly its name.
It is black in colour, 17x14x5cm although those the maximum dimensions with only the centre rear being 14cm as it curves quite sharply each side. There are twelve silvered buttons on the top with the speaker mounted behind them. Should you prefer to listen via earbuds there is a 3.5mm socket on the top. The front has a 6x2.5cm three line display. The top line being twice the size of the other two.
The iM207 is a small stand-alone speaker for those on the move, intended to be plugged into various sound sources - an MP3 player, iPod, your mobile phone or computer for example.
Having recently reviewed the I was interested to see how Altec Lansing served the lower end of the market. Where the iM600 is a top of the range stereo speaker system specifically aimed at the iPod - this time we're looking at a small circular speaker with built in amplifier. To look at the 'Orbit' is fairly simple. From above it's circular with the Altec Lansing logo embedded in the silver speaker grill while from the side it's a squat cone.
Put together a scanner, printer and copy facilities with a make-over and you have a new multifunction device from Brother.
Brother has recently redesigned its range of colour inkjet machines. Comprising of ten multi-function models, these machines provide a range of features aimed at different sections of the marketplace. Acting in the role of the entry level model is the DCP-135C unit which has been priced at £49.99 with replacement cartridges cost £12.91 for black and £7.63 each for cyan, magenta and yellow.
Featuring in the top 12 list of creative toys for Christmas is a kit that supports recycling and encourages a childs artistic ability
In all forms of play children have a remarkable aptitude for being creative whether this involves inventing characters; adapting everyday items for game play; or developing scenarios in which they can escape into a fantasy world of their own making. So why not encourage this creativity with a product such as Cordz.
Autumn must be here as the round of 08 releases start to rear their heads, the first this year goes to Britannica, certainly one up on Encarta that as yet I have not even heard whispers about.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008 edition is available on CD or DVD, I got the latter and went for the complete install which means that you never need to insert the DVD to complete a search or project.
Another fabulous board game to take us into the Christmas season, equally amusing to 8 year olds and adults alike. A game of challenge and giggles.
There are some great board games out there this Christmas, and we just love this one. Like many family board games there are
players, question cards and a dice. But be prepared to get physical,
in Chalenj! there is also a mega mobility mat (think Twister) and a
Target Mat (think huge darts board on the floor) with discs to throw
instead of darts and a ball for doing various circus like tricks.
A childhood recollection and a computer offering come together with a new game from Popcap.
Growing up near a seaside holiday resort meant I spent some of my formative years trawling around various slot machine arcades spending my meagre pocket money. I have a clear memory of one particular machine where you could direct a coin to avoid pins and obstacles so that it fell into a column containing other coins that, once filled, would reward you with its content.
In our continuing series reviewing the world of home coffee machines we're taking a look
at a stylish espresso machine from Illycaffè.
We've now covered a wide range of coffee machines - now is the turn of the FransisFrancis X6 Trio - designed by Italian architect Luca Trazzi for illy. This machine makes use of standard ESE coffee PODS. ESE standards for 'Easy Server Espresso'. Each pod is very similar to a tea-bag - except hard. Each pod contains compressed coffee between tow pieces of filter paper. Each pod is suitable for a single cup and are available from a number of companies.
Why you may ask did I not put the name in the title, simple reason its just too long. Its a CD MP3 DAB Micro System with iPod dock. It also has FM and SD card support.
This is a rather smart gun metal grey box 21x28x16cm. It comes with two speakers 16x22x23cm these are also grey with a different grey mesh grill. The speaker leads are the fashionable bare leads but the claw grab fittings lock onto the leads. Fifteen pages of the manual are a must read as it does a lot of things differently to other units I have used. Some appear - to me anyway - to be illogical.
No not a keyboard and a hub but two separate items both at a good price with this firm charging only a flat low shipping charge for any order, something other Internet vendors might like to investigate.
Illuminated Keyboard According to the blurb they do several colours and I just happened to get the pink one. I have used it for some time and while the colour would perhaps suit a lady I am not keen on it however the things it does I do find interesting. First a button on the top right of the 109 key keyboard lets you turn the illumination on/off.
Putting on my directors hat, it is time to check out a new CD & DVD creation suite from Avanquest.
Digital content, whether still images, video or audio based, continues to grow and take over our hard disks. While you could opt to delete less popular items to ease the storage pressure and release space for newer content, there is another alternative that could be considered. This would involve transferring data to optical media using software such as that available with MediaNow CD & DVD Burning Suite.
For those that like DAB radio and looking for something more comparable in size to a classic portable analogue FM radio may like
to take a look at this product from Intempo.
The Intempo TRS-01 is available in five colours : black, violet, claret, grey and blue - in a compact 205x38x105 mm (WxDxH) package weighing only 40g (excluding batteries). The unit is delivered with a mains 6V 800mA rats-lead power supply and can also be powered by battery. All the controls except volume are provided on the front surface - which also includes an illuminated LCD display. Reception is via a 60cm, six element telescopic aerial.
A camera that surveys its surroundings if it detects movement a text message can be sent to your mobile phone. You can then view whatever movement the camera detected.
This should have been something that had me jumping up and down, instead it did not work like that. I had numerous conversations with the lady at 3rdi and eventually it did work. The camera costs £199 and it charges from the mains but can then run for around six hours even without connection. So even if the intruder realises he/she is being filmed it's too late as the images are sent back to the server at 3rdi.
Continuing our series reviewing the array of coffee machines available, this time
we take a look at a well made espresso machine from Kenwood.
The Kenwood Retro is available in three finishes : red, silver and cream. Unlike many
of the machines we've looked at, the Retro takes a very manual approach to preparing your
coffee. Other machines we've reviewed attempt to correctly measure a perfect espresso. This then
leads to complicated 'programming' options to allow you to alter that amount of water used.
With the Kenwood Retro, you get none of this.
While protecting your computer is optional, it is a task that you should seriously consider as a top priority.
The Internet is a veritable cornucopia of information and source material whatever your interests. However it can also be an extremely dangerous place to venture unprotected, as well as being the portal through which attacks can be launched against your computer and the personal data it holds. System Shield 3 Internet Security is a product from iolo technologies that is designed to help protect the user from such dangers.
While not suitable for walkies or even a game of fetch, this Tomy dog can amuse you with some tricks.
Sometimes it feels like I have walked into a menagerie or perhaps pet shop would be a better description. Recently my attention has been grabbed by a guinea pig (Gupi by name), a white cat and parrot (both belonging to the FurReal Friends family) plus, last but not least, a dragonfly of prehistoric proportions. Now it is the turn of the recently deposed " 's favourite pet" to take centre stage.
On the face of it this is a similar device to the recently reviewed Mio A501 but there are subtle differences. This is first a communications device and only then a device that has GPS capabilities indeed they do a model without the GPS.
Firstly the dimensions of the T-Mobile MDA Compact III, 10.5x6x1.5cm, the screen is 6x4.5cm. The weight is around 150 grams. It seems PDA manufacturers do not have the same restraints foisted on them that digital camera manufacturers do by the large retail chains as there is a pouch to protect the screen and indeed that of the 2 mega pixel camera.
We've had a big focus on kitchen gadgets in the last month, and here's a neat little idea from Tefal and Jamie Oliver. In such a very small box, roughly the size of just one medium casserole dish, we received a 6 piece set of aluminium non-stick pans. This is the Jamie Oliver Survival Kit, and it's a fabulous range of cookware for anyone with limited space perhaps those in their first studio flat, or students at uni.
Six pieces actually means 3 pans (wok, saucepan and frying pan), two lids and a handle which interchanges between the three pans. All the pieces slot nicely into like Russian dolls. Made by Tefal, they have a lovely non-stick surface and are very easy to use. Each pan has the Tefal thermostat red dot in the middle to tell you when they are hot enough to fry in.
Instead of phoning for directions you could use your phone to display the directions via SatNav.
Although it is not the first Nokia phone to be released with GPS facilities, the 6110 model is the first unit to have bestowed the category of "Navigator" as part of its title. The Nokia 6110 comes with Route 66 software in conjunction with Assisted GPS (A-GPS) for determining location faster. I will return to the GPS feature a little later. This black and silver slider phone measures 102 x 49 x 21mm (H x W x D) when in a closed state.
Continuing our series on up-market coffee machines, today we're reviewing the elegant 'Le Cube' from Krups.
Krups has a long history in the coffee business, being formed back in 1846 as (according to their web site) 'a brand dedicated to precision and technical perfection'. They moved into coffee in the 1960s, giving them over four decades in which to hone their craft. They should know a thing or two when it comes to coffee and in this case they have leant their name to this Nespresso machine.
This is a USB2 CD/DVD recorder/player. For anyone with only a CD or a DVD only player this is All Modes for recording and playback. should you not have suitable software it comes with a variety.
It is small and quite stylish and is automatically recognised so unless you need some of the software just plug it in. I found that the power drawn was low enough not to require a power supply however one of the extra USB leads that also draw power (takes two USB ports) is supplied if necessary. It has a 2MB cache and of course under run protection. It is 16.5x15.5x2cm, add 2cm to the first figure to insert the mini USB lead and that's it.
Two items for the older child the first a remote control helicopter with Auto-Stable technology and the second a toy of the year from the Science Museum Electro Mag. This is the first of my articles from this years Dream Toys event.
PicooZ Helicopter The Picooz Helicopter is 16x3.5x7cm constructed from plastic and expanded polystyrene so is amazingly light. Looking at the box it seems there are three different coloured models in the PicooZ range. The one I have white/red, there is also white/blue and white/yellow. Having recently got some digital scales I can tell you the exact weight 9 grams. So do not sneeze near it.
The future could be said to be a combination of an infinite number of possibilities as seen through the eyes of movers and shakers. One outcome could be...
Normally when a large company, especially one in the highly competitive IT industry, puts
on a show for the media and business partners, the focus of attention is aimed at a specific
product or products already rolling off the production lines or those in a well-advanced
state with an imminent arrival expected.
Heading towards Christmas Alcatel has launched a range of very reasonably priced Pay as You Go mobiles which look to be aimed at the mass market. Here I'm reviewing hte OT-C701 - a lovely looking mid-priced phone. And for good measure a few more of Alcatel's recent range are detailed below.
The OT-C701 is a Pay as You Go slim
clamshell. As with any decent mobile these days, the OT-C701 has all
the gubbins, music player, video, camera, directory, SMS, MMS, WAP,
calendar, alarm, etc. So here's a quick run down of the
differentiating features. The look of this phone is very nice -
a clamshell with a brushed metallic finish and smooth and light to
hold. The one I reviewed was a stylish grey-blue.
A colour laser printer is not necessarily a large offering, while it is course larger than an inkjet it will of course be a good deal heavier but full colour pages even one offs can take around 15 seconds.
First the all important dimensions. The Brother HL-4040CN is 48cm deep with power plug inserted, 41cm wide and 30cm tall. It is close to 30kilos when the toners are inserted. Some recent units state fast warm up or time to first page, no such luxury here it is at least 90 seconds before you get 'ready' from first switch on and then the first job will print quite slowly maybe only 6ppm but from then it is all systems go and colour or black/white is 20ppm.
We're now half way through energy saving week and are taking a look at a DAB radio with
extended battery life. For anyone that's tried running DAB radios on battery know exactly
how power hungry they can be - so any improvement is to be welcomed.
The is a stereo DAB and FM radio with an output power of 3W in total.
The FM portion benefits from RDS (Radio Data System) which will identify your FM station
for you rather than have to guess. Sound quality is very good as we've come to expect
from Roberts products. Unusually the unit comes with separate bass and treble controls,
which can enhance listenning is various surroundings.
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