Helen Lynch

Here are all the Zath articles written by Helen Lynch...

Sony Walkman NWZ-W252 Sports MP3 Player Preview

The Sony NWZ-W252 Walkman MP3 Player is designed specifically for runners and joggers who want to take their music with them but very little else. It’s compact, sturdy and easy to use and the new version is even water resistant so you can clean it after you’ve worked up a real sweat!

I’m not a particularly sporty person but these caught my eye after I witnessed a Sony rep literally drop a pair in a bowl of water and they emerged totally unscathed! Although Sony wouldn’t recommend you try that yourselves he hastened to add; this Sony Walkman MP3 player is water resistant not fully waterproof so please don’t try going swimming in them!

So, first impressions: They come in a choice of black, white, pink or green (also, if you can find them, a Metal Gear Solid special edition) and are boxed with everything you’d expect – charger/docking base, spare headphone covers, reams of papers in various languages and a clear plastic travel case for keeping them in your bag/locker.

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Vonage iPhone & Android App Brings Free VoIP Phone Calls To Facebook Users

Vonage have just launched a new application for Facebook which allows users to make free mobile calls to friends who have the app, directly from their friends list.
Vonage Mobile for Facebook is available for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices via a free app on Android Market or the iTunes Store.

Working on a similar model to Skype and Vonage’s existing VoIP offerings, ‘calls’ are processed as data across Wi-Fi and 3G / 4G mobile networks, rather than the usual phone systems, thereby making the service free to use for anyone with an unlimited data plan.

While mobile VoIP is not new, in fact the Vonage app shares a lot of functionality with Skype’s iPhone app, Vonage’s move into a Facebook-specific service is a clever one.

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Sony Reader Team Up With Google Books & The Dylan Thomas Prize

Last week Sony UK announced a literary double whammy by not only unveiling their own category in this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize – the Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers, but also launching a new public domain ebooks collaboration with Google, with access to over 500,000 free titles.

The Dylan Thomas Prize is an annual international award for published fiction writers under 30 and the new Sony Reader award aims to acknowledge unpublished authors of the same age group. Submissions are requested in ebook format and the winner’s book will be published on the Sony Reader platform. There is also a £5,000 cash prize.

Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers submissions close on 31st August and the winner will be announced at the Dylan Thomas Prize Award Ceremony in December.

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New Blackberry 6 OS Preview Video

Research In Motion (otherwise known as RIM) are really starting to drive buzz around their new Blackberry operating system product, Blackberry 6. Following on from a stylistic ‘sneak peek’ video screened at WES 2010, they have now launched a second preview video detailing more of the new features available.

The video was recently posted to the official BlackBerry blog and demonstrates the new interface, described as being “with a mobile experience that is fun and approachable, yet extremely powerful.”

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Parrot AR.Drone Quadricopter – iPhone/iPad Remote Control Helicopter!

This week members of the UK press had the privilege to attend the official launch event for the AR.Drone, a remote control ‘quadricopter’– a coup for Britain, launching ahead of Parrot’s mother country, France.

Following the buzz from E3 2010 we eagerly awaited the presentation and – more importantly – our own chance to play with one!

Five years in the making, the Parrot AR Drone team are very proud of their latest creation and rightly so. By utilising on-board Wi-Fi the drones are controlled through networked iPhone and iPod Touch devices. What’s more, the drones are also capable of interacting with each other to allow multiplayer action.

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