836454 Crazy Machines Golden GearDesigning Crazy Machines

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 18 Oct 2014
Using an assortment of bits and pieces, you are challenged to create some weird and wonderful machines with this next title.

836240 avanquest left in the darAn Abandoned Vessel

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 15 Oct 2014
It is time to pack your bags and take a trip to Portsmouth where the Mayor has an abandoned ship cluttering up the place.

835969 witch hunters full mooDefeating Witches

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 8 Oct 2014
It should not come as a surprise to hear that the latest offering in the Witch Hunters series of titles has a strong element of witches running through the action.
With Bluetooth speakers now a popular option, some manufacturers are adding extra features to their offerings to make it stand out from the competition.

836151 MIPOW PLAYBULB Bluetooth SpeakePlayBulb from Mipow

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 6 Oct 2014
On the face of it a slightly oversized screw threaded bulb that can be controlled from an App to increase or decrease the brightness seems a good idea, add the ability to play your Smart Phone music through the bulb seems a great idea, does theory work?

836147 iWALK Sound AngliWalk Sound Angle

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 3 Oct 2014
This is a stereo Bluetooth speaker unit built almost like a triangle – without coming to a point – meaning that the speakers have a larger surface area to height than would otherwise been possible in a unit of this size and shape.

835966 Samsung BD H6500 DVD PlayeSmart Blu-ray Device

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 2 Oct 2014
Sad to say the VHS era is now history as digital format takes over with devices such as the product forming the focus of this next review

835964 hidden expedition Smithsonian Hope DiamonThe Hope Diamond

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 1 Oct 2014
With an organisation known as H.E.L.P., you are set the task of solving the case of the Hope Diamond in a Hidden Object Adventure game.
Mystery, darkness and hope come together in a triple pack from Focus Multimedia. Originally published by Big Fish Games, the three offerings making up this pack are Hidden Object Adventure games. The three titles are Tesla’s Tower: The Wardenclyffe Mystery, Fantastic Creations: House of Brass and Dark Heritage: Guardians of Hope.

835769 Boompods Headpods Foldable Soft Touch HeadphoneBoomPods and HeadPods

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 22 Sep 2014
Here I am looking at two recent items from BoomBotics. Regular readers will remember their first UK offering last year a device for use on a bike among others. Here a Wireless (Bluetooth) Portable Speaker and a set of Headphones.
It was at a Christmas In July event in 2013 that I first saw one of these. As sometimes happens there was glitch and it was only at their Christmas In July event at 2014 that one was available, however my tests seem to prove it was worth the wait.
I had a few days of watching my own 32inch TV before I had at accommodate yet another 48inch TV from Samsung; this was not a curved screen offering so it was even a little bit larger than their recently reviewed item.

835601 rite of passage collectors editioLets Play Hide & Seek

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 17 Sep 2014
At some time in your life you will have played a game of hide and seek. I can remember one instance of playing the game in my grandparent’s pub. Unfortunately nobody realised I was playing the game and panic set in as they thought I had gone missing. Eventually I was discovered and everything returned to normal. Neither my version of the game or any that you have played would bear any resemblance to the Big Fish Hidden Object Adventure title of Rite of P

835770 Humax DTR T2000 500GB YouView Receiver with HHumax YouView

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 17 Sep 2014
All PVRs work in slightly different ways to achieve the same goal. This is not important providing you know how your machine works. Here however is a machine that works differently in that you can watch items from up to a week before which you forgot to record.

835516 focus fear of sale sunnyvalA Double Package

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 10 Sep 2014
Focus Multimedia has bundled together two titles from the Big Fish Games Fear for Sale series of Hidden Object Adventure offerings. The games forming this bundle are Sunnyvale Story and Nightmare Cinema with both titles being based on mysterious disappearances.

835762 Soul Transform Superior Active Performance On Ear HeadphoneSoul Transform

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 10 Sep 2014
A rather nice set of on ear headphones. Nothing fussy just a good quality sound without doing any more than removing from the box and plugging the lead into whatever you normally use to output your sound files from and relax.

A Humax Soundbar

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 9 Sep 2014
While entertainment devices generally have their own built-in audio output, it is not always of the highest quality. This next product offers to improve the audio output.

835360 focus azada hidden mysteries collectioDouble Azada Adventure

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 3 Sep 2014
This next Focus Multimedia offering bundles together two Big Fish titles that feature a magical world.

835498 Samsung Electronic SHAPE M7 Wireless Audio SpeakeSamsung M7 Speaker

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 29 Aug 2014
This can work as a single triangular speaker or via a hub form a multi room offering. It can work wired, wireless, Bluetooth or even via an Auxiliary cable. If this is not enough with the right sort of TV you can improve the TV sound with the M7.
Redemption Cemetery is a series of Hidden Object Adventure games, currently standing at five, published originally by Big Fish Games. Focus Multimedia has taken two of these titles and bundled then together in a single package which is priced at the company’s usual £10.20 level.

834969 HMDX HX P230RDA EU Jam Bluetooth Wireless Portable SpeakeA Bigger Jar of Jam

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 23 Aug 2014
This is not a case of “Jam tomorrow” as offered in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Did Next”. Instead it is, in fact, Jam today as HMDX adds another device to its series of Jam portable speakers. This is the Jam Plus which, as you might suppose from its title, is the slightly larger sibling of the company’s original Jam device that I reviewed last year.

835132 avanquest hidden files echos of JFHidden Files: Echoes of JFK

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 20 Aug 2014
With the various conspiracy theories, the assassination of J F Kennedy is an obvious target (no pun intended) on which the developers of games can base their work. One example of this is Hidden Files Echoes of JFK. Available from Avanquest GSP label, this game sets you the task of investigating more modern day events that are meant to have a connection with the assassination of JFK on the 22nd of November 1963.

835110 Samson MediaOne BT3 Active Studio MonitorMediaOne BT

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 20 Aug 2014
This pair of speakers are described as ‘Monitors’ which for those who do not know is a term used by musicians to have speakers facing themselves so they can hear what they are playing. Here there is a twist in that they can accept Bluetooth input.

834967 avanquest enigmatis mists ravenwooThe Mist of Ravenwood

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 16 Aug 2014
Enigmatis: The Mists of Ravenwood is the sequel to Enigmatis: The Ghost of Maple Creek, a game that I seemed to have missed for some reason.
Like the previous Avanquest 4 Play Collection I reviewed recently, this next collection brings together four titles under the banner of Mystery Places.
The central problem with projectors has always been the lamp. Power hungry and hot, a typical projector lamp will need a busy fan to keep it cool, further adding to the power consumption, and bringing distracting noise to the party. And lamps can be costly to replace – typically between £150 and £250. Low powered and cool running, LED illumination promises to put a stop to all that. And here's the Optoma ML1500 to show how it's done.

835106 roku 3500eu video streaminRoku Streaming Stick

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 8 Aug 2014
For those who have Wi-Fi but do not have a TV that accepts Wi-Fi input then assuming your TV has a spare HDMI port then this offering from Roku could be the answer. It is somewhat easier to install than the recent Chromecast was.
Nightmares from the Deep: The Siren’s Call is the sequel to Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart which was reviewed earlier on this site. Do not worry if you have not played the first title as, although your character is the same in both games, The Siren’s Call is a self-contained offering.

834714 Olympus LS 14 4GB Linear PCM RecordeOlympus LS-14

Published in Entertainment by paul_smart on 6 Aug 2014
Olympus is a name big in cameras and voice recorders. So here a slight deviation of the latter into music recording and indeed the microphones needed to impart full range audio recording required for such a complex task.

834531 game olympus griddlerAn Addictive Puzzle

Published in Entertainment by mfereday on 30 Jul 2014
The next game is one of those that is easy to play but can be extremely addictive.