Zath! Archive for

December, 2010

Archos 32 Android Internet Tablet Review

Whilst in China they may be preparing to celebrate the year of the rabbit, in the tech industry we are all getting set for what is without question going to be the year of the tablet. Electronics manufacturers far and wide are on the verge of launching their own entrant into the tablet market, most likely at CES, but Archos has once again got stuck in early with no less than five Android tablets.

Though, when I say tablets, what I have here is the Archos 32 Internet Tablet, which as the name suggests is a 3.2″ touch screen device that will connect you to the internet. But, stop right there, because if you are looking at this as an internet browsing device, then you’re barking up the wrong tree, because as we will find out, the label ‘tablet’ is indeed a marketing façade, which to the untrained eye places it alongside the likes of the iPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. That’s not a good place to be.

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Samsung Preparing A 4-inch ‘Galaxy’ Media Player for CES 2011? (Rumour)

The success of Samsung’s Galaxy range of Android devices has been undoubtedly great. What’s equally indisputable is the part the Super AMOLED display played in making the Samsung Galaxy S one of the most acclaimed Android smartphones on the market so far. However, those that don’t feature the same super bright display, i.e the budget ones, such as the Galaxy Europa and the Galaxy Apollo haven’t had the same impact on the market.

Having said that, Apple only has a single range of phones, a single standard. So if we take the Galaxy S as the flagship device from Samsung, we can compare them directly, and it has to be said they represent two of the best devices on the market when it comes to smartphones, particularly here in the UK.

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Kindle 3 Is All-Time Best Selling Item On Amazon! Books Are Back On Top!

As the title suggests, Amazon has today released it’s annual sales figures, and perhaps it leads way to revisiting where it all began. Back in 1995, the relative dark ages of the technology world, Jeff Bezos founded Cadabra, inc. The name was changed to Amazon.com soon after for various marketing related reasons and in the beginning, all that was sold was books. Just books.

When you look now, it is hard to believe such humble beginnings are not a fairytale concocted by the very best PR guru’s, but no word of a lie, the gargantuan online department store, which annually records sales of over three times the second biggest seller, Staples, in the United States, was once a diffident online book retailer.

Since then, we have witnessed the rising of certain fads which have snatched sales records. SuBo, for example, was the fastest selling item on the site here in the UK, and Harry Potter blasted its way to stardom setting the precedent for sales figures on the site.

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Skype Video Calling Coming To iPhone 4 In 2011?

Skype has already announced that it will be revealing some new plans for video calls at CES next month, and there has been a fair amount of speculation as to exactly what it will be.

Of course, the natural assumption is that video calling will be arriving on the major smartphone platforms much like Skype 3G mobile VOIP calls are possible with the current apps, but up until now it has been nothing more than rumour.

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Nuance PDF Converter Professional 7 Review (Windows)

PDF is the mainstream standard for transferring documents between people online, and many programs such as Microsoft Office 2010 now have the ability to export documents and other files to PDF.

If you really wanted to get down and dirty with the format though, one of your only choices would be Adobe’s own Acrobat X. With a cost of over £500 direct from Adobe, I think we can agree that it may be out of the price range of most people.

Enter Nuance PDF Converter Professional 7. It’s priced at £50 – much more reasonable than Adobe’s pricing of Acrobat X – and packs a lot of the same features as its more expensive counterpart. How does it match up? Let’s find out.

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Guinness World Records iPad App Now Available – Will You Be A Record Breaker?

Everyone loves browsing the Guinness World Records book when given the chance; it’s full of the most obscure, cool and creepy facts you ever wanted to know. It seems a logical progression, therefore, for it to be available on the world’s most popular tablet device, the Apple iPad.

For just £2.99 from the UK App Store, you can take a look at the brand new Guinness World Records iPad App, which features interactive content that hasn’t been available in print versions of the book, and attempt to break some iPad-related world records for yourself, too.

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Are Solid State Storage Devices A Realistic Option? – Part 2: SSD As a Boot Drive

So we’ve looked at the feasability of a solid state drive as a full hard drive replacement, and came to the conclusion that essentially it’s only any use if you don’t want to stash a load of large media files locally.

But what if you do and you don’t want to be missing out on all those sweet benefits of a SSD? Well, the popular resolution for this sort of dilemma is to keep your large capacity hard drive, but pair it with a smaller, faster drive to hold your system files and applications. It’s easily done for desktop computer, but in most laptops it’s a lot tougher and will require the sacrifice of an optical drive.

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Imagin Colour Screen eBook Reader – Who Needs An iPad?

The market for eBook readers is becoming an increasingly difficult one to stand out in. The devices are all intended for the same purpose at their heart and aesthetically it is difficult to differentiate. So, it all comes down to whether you prefer the minimalist reading device such as an Amazon Kindle, or something which offers just that little bit more. A few more frills. Enter the Imagin Colour Screen eBook Reader!

When the Kindle 3 came to market, people were astonished at the low, low price of just £109, and that’s no surprise as it was a hugely aggressive price point for such a device, completely undercutting Amazon’s rivals at Sony and the likes. So, setting you back just £99.99, the Imagin eBook Reader becomes a little bit more interesting and cheaper than getting an iPad just for colour eBooks!

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CopyTrans TuneSwift Review – Get iTunes Library Transfer Software Free With Zath!

You remember CopyTrans, don’t you? We’ve taken a look at a few of their products in the past, including their iTunes music and photo alternatives as well as their iPod backup utility. Now they’re back with the latest addition to their line-up: CopyTrans TuneSwift.

TuneSwift has been created to help you transfer your iTunes library to a new computer, and is capable of preparing a PC to PC transfer as well as a PC to Mac transfer. The whole process is so simple, anyone can do it without a hitch, so let’s take a closer look!

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iPad Bluetooth Keyboard Leather Case Released For $50

There are a number of iPad peripherals available on the market, some of them are more expensive than others, and some of them are more functional than others. This particular accessory which merges an iPad leather case and bluetooth keyboard, however, seems to hit a decent price point whilst maintaining a good level of functionality.

The case allows for the Apple iPad to be slid in to the ‘screen’ section, and the keyboard attached to the bottom side. When folded upwards, the iPad can be held in a similar fashion to a laptop so that you can type on a physical keyboard without a problem.

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TrainLine Android App Review (Train Times & Ticket Buying)

The TrainLine website is one of the best train ticket services in the UK, allowing you to purchase tickets ahead of time and save money on future journeys. You can get to the station on the day that you’re travelling, pick up your ticket from one of the machines and be on your way.

It couldn’t get much simpler, but it’s just got a bit more convenient with the introduction of the TrainLine Android App – it’s also currently available for iPhone, Blackberry and Nokia.

Being a frequent user of thetrainline.com on the internet, I have been looking forward to the launch of this Android mobile phone application for a long time, ever since we compiled our best android apps list and grabbed it at the first opportunity I had.

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Updated Android App Market Review

The Android Market was recently updated, with a view to providing a fresh interface for all the Android tablet devices that are going to be arriving in their droves next year, and offering new features for existing devices. Not only does it provide a fresh coat of paint, but it also adds some new features that you may not like so much. Let’s take a closer look!

As soon as you open the new Android Market app, you will notice that the theme has been entirely changed. It can be viewed either vertically or horizontally so that it looks better on the device that you’re using, whether it’s a smartphone with a large screen such as the HTC Desire HD or a 10 inch tablet. On the top – or left depending on which way you use it – of the screen is a carousel-style cycle of all the featured applications containing links to their product pages.

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Are Solid State Storage Devices A Realistic Option? – Part 1: SSD As A Hard Drive Replacement

Not a lot is ever really certain in the technology industry, however one thing that might just be right now, is that solid state storage will be the future, in the relatively short term at least, of digital data storage.

To put it simply, your hard disk drive, which for the younger generation may be all they’ve ever known when it comes to the innards of their computers, are going to become, to a certain degree, redundant. But, if you have looked into solid state storage already, you will know that the price is really the single biggest deterrent of switching your hard drive out for a solid state drive (SSD).

So, here we’re going to look at just how viable it is to do a complete changeover and use a SSD as the solitary method of storage in your machine, assuming you’ve got a regular laptop and not the new MacBook Air which uses solid state flash storage as standard.

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Beamer iPhone Case – iPhone 3GS/3G Gets Flash & Torch Features!

Are you jealous of all those flash-bearing iPhone 4 users out there? No, not that kind of Flash (we know Steve doesn’t like that), but the type of Flash that emits light and makes taking photos in dark conditions easier with your iPhone 3GS or 3G!

Well worry no longer! Some ‘bright spark’ heard your sighs and the solution is ready and waiting to be bought right now in the form of the Beamer iPhone Case.

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Gelaskins – iPhone ‘Skin Decal’ Designs Make Your Favourite Smartphone Even More Stylish!

There are a lot of iPhone loving people on this earth, and with millions of users worldwide the device has taken off big time since its initial launch. The only problem for iPhone users, though, is that they look the same as the next iPhone user.

Admittedly, the iPhone is arguably the most good looking phone on the market, but where do you turn when you want to stand out from the crowd? Your first port of call should probably be these insanely cool iPhone Gelaskins over at Firebox!

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5 Best eBook Readers For Winter 2010/2011

eBooks are becoming increasingly popular, in fact Amazon are selling more eBooks than physical Hardback books, clearly being able to carry all your book collection around on a small, portable device is a welcome and convenient option to many people these days.

So with that in mind, which are your best options for an eBook reader? Well to determine a list of the very best e-readers, it is imperative to understand exactly what factors contribute to the overall experience of using an e-reading device.

There are of course the obvious, such as size, weight and ergonomics, however it is important to consider other aspects too, such as the screen contrast, reflectiveness and any additional software features a device may have.

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Retro Arcade Machine Money Box – Play As You Save!

Saving money and arcade games are not two ideas that often come together. I wince every time I think of how much money I’ve thrown down the drain playing on arcade games in the past, so I think it’s about time we made up for that by saving some of dosh, don’t you?

The Retro Arcade Machine Money Box is a mini arcade game that will allow you to play each time it swallows up one of your coins. The only difference is those coins are going straight back in to your pocket and not the casino’s!

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Devolo 200 AV Wireless N Powerline Home Networking Starter Kit Review

Powerline network adapters are something which we have seen a bit of here at Zath and products along the same lines are becoming increasingly common with the likes of the D-Link DHP-307AV/B 200Mbps Powerline Homeplug Network and TP-Link TL-PA201 200Mbps Powerline Ethernet Adapter starter kits.

They all pretty much serve the same purpose via the same means, however when I received a review unit of the Devolo 200 AV Wireless N Powerline Home Networking Starter Kit I was actually pretty intrigued.

Not only did this promise a high-speed wired network, it also claimed to provide an equally speedy wireless N access point. This is something I’ve not seen before in this type of product, so, naturally, I did the old unboxing and followed the instructions.

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Google Nexus S SIM-Free Price Dropped To £429.99 At Carphone Warehouse

Are you looking at the possibility of getting a Samsung/Google Nexus S from Carphone Warehouse when it’s released in the UK next week?

If you are, then today may just be your lucky day, as the price of the Google Nexus S has now dropped to £429.99 SIM free, and free on contract from £30 a month.

Partnering with a physical store in the UK such as Carphone Warehouse shows how Google’s strategy has changed since the online-only launch of the Nexus One back in January.

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Opera 11 Web Browser Now Available For Download, But Is It Really A Viable Alternative?

When it comes to web browsers, probably more than half of us just think of Internet Explorer, but those who are a bit more clued in may have visions of a flaming fox or a compass.

Of course, an increasing number of us are using Google’s Chrome browser, but one competitor which doesn’t quite get the recognition it arguably deserves is Opera.

I reviewed Opera 10 last year and actually found it pretty functional and it delivered over and above my expectations. Maybe because it was my first experience with Opera and my assumptions were blackened by the lack of press coverage.

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