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Zath’s Technology & Gadget Roundup (20/02/2010)
February 20, 2010
It’s the end of another week in the online world of hi-tech gadgets and technology blogging and as usual there’s been a lot happening out there, so here’s a quick roundup of some of the stuff that we’ve found particularly interesting this week, let us know what you think to them too!
Linux Training Week on Zath – I’m sure we’ve all heard of Linux, but for me personally it’s not something I’ve ever seriously looked at because I always assumed it wasn’t worth the hassle of installation for something that wasn’t that worthwhile, well clearly I was wrong on that one! As you can see from this useful series of articles about the Ubuntu distribution of Linux – it’s easy to setup Ubuntu, it’s an easy to use the Ubuntu interface and there’s lots of software available for Linux.
Heineken Beer-Serving Robot of the Future – oh yes that’s right, in the future we won’t need to get up from the comfort of the sofa, instead the robots will bring the beer to us! This particular robot makes for a great novelty, but it does make you wonder about the potential of robots in the future.
Buy Walkie Talkie Watches? – admittedly walkie talkies aren’t exactly hi-tech these days or even that wanted by people now we all have modern mobile phones such as the iPhone 3GS and Nexus One, but these particular ones can be strapped on your wrist and would make for great free-to-use communication devices if you like to be out in the great outdoors or perhaps having a multi-car roadtrip given they have a range of up to 5km. I just wish I had some of these back when I was a kid!
Continue reading »Daniusoft Media Converter Ultimate Review
January 22, 2010
Daniusoft Media Converter Ultimate is a program designed to do a host of things with your media files, from ripping and burning DVD’s to removing the DRM off iTunes downloads. You’ll definitely have a tough time finding more features in another media suite, but how does it hold up against other programs of its nature?
The feature of this media converter that intrigued me the most when I first saw it was the DRM removal tool. This especially piqued my interest as I download a lot of content from the iTunes store, including HDTV shows and podcasts. To me, being able to convert high definition content is a must in any such program, so I was naturally skeptical when adding my files to the conversion list.
Continue reading »VLC Remote iPhone App Review
January 16, 2010
I use VLC Media Player for all of my video playback, as it will play anything you throw at it with great support for many formats. When I heard that VLC had released an application on the iTunes AppStore to remotely control the VLC Media Player, I was very excited to see how it worked and despite some minor gripes I have with it, I wasn’t disappointed.
You’ll find two versions of the application available: a VLC Remote free version and a VLC Remote paid version for £1.79, or $2.99 in the US store. I’d recommend purchasing the full version, as it allows you to browse through your files on the selected computer, including any external drives (this is essential for me, as all my media is stored on my external hard drive) so you don’t have to leave your chair!
Continue reading »nuTsie Mobile App (Sync iTunes Playlists & Stream To Mobile Phones)
January 15, 2010
Android’s been in the news a lot so far this month, with the release of the Nexus One just before CES 2010 and with more devices on the way, there hasn’t been a better time to switch to Google’s open source mobile phone platform. The only thing putting me off the purchase of an Android device has been the inability to take my music with me. My iTunes library is over 32GB in size, and the Nexus One comes with a measly 4GB storage via MicroSD, which caps out at 32GB.
For me to be able to carry around my music with me is essential in my decision to purchase a new device, and it seemed that my only option was to sync only certain playlists at a time, which is inconvenient at best. Why Apple don’t have an iTunes streaming application for the iPhone is a mystery to me, but why Google themselves don’t is a major question, with Google being very cloud-centric in their future plans.
Continue reading »Evernote Review (How To Get Organised & Remember Everything!)
January 13, 2010
It was purely by accident that I came across Evernote. Probably a result of some well planned marketing on their part, but sufficed to say, I was drawn in and carried out a little investigation into the service. I was intrigued and decided to download the program.
In the end I wasn’t disappointed. It is a simple idea which has been utilised to its full potential in my opinion. Basically, Evernote allows you to stay on the ball and organised with reminders, notes and more. They call it your ‘notable world’ and in all honestly I couldn’t have put it better myself.
So, I guess you’re all wondering by this point what it actually does. Well firstly, it allows you take text notes which you manually type in and store them in a pre-determined folder. This can include things such as shopping lists, to do lists and all things similar that you need to remember.
Continue reading »Bump iPhone App Review
January 12, 2010
‘Bump’ is a free application available for both iPhone OS and Android that allows people to exchange contact information, or other files, by bumping hands while holding their device.
I tested the application with an iPhone and iPod Touch, which transferred data from one device to the other in seconds. Both users need to have Bump on their device, and when you want to transfer information, both users have to confirm the transfer.
When you launch Bump for the first time, you’ll be prompted to enter contact card information for yourself. When you ‘bump’ with someone, you can transfer just certain information such as your phone number, email or address.
Continue reading »Palm’s CES Press Event – Palm Pre & Pixi News (CES 2010)
January 7, 2010
Palm have just had their press event at CES 2010, and it comes with some rather exciting news, and quite a few new releases to watch out for, both hardware and software!
Software wise, there are three major announcements that have been made – two of these are for users of the Palm Pré only though. Although, coming to both the Pré and the Pixi with an update to WebOS in February is video recording capabilities!
No hard specs on how capable the video recording is yet, but it’s certainly a nice feature to have on both of Palm’s devices. Along with video recording capability also comes a trimming feature which appears strikingly similar to that of the iPhone, with two handles at either end of a timeline which the user drags into place to trim their clip. Recordings can also be directly uploaded to YouTube and Facebook and sent over e-Mail or MMS.
Continue reading »LG GW620 Preview – LG’s First Android Mobile Phone Handset
December 3, 2009
I recently attended an LG Mobile event in London in which LG showcased a number of their current and upcoming mobile phones, the main focus of my interest that evening was certainly the chance to get my hands on LG’s first Android-based mobile phone, the LG GW620.
First of all, the main mobile phone I currently use is an iPhone 3GS, but I’ve been interested in Google’s Android platform for mobile phones ever since it launched with the T-Mobile G1 late last year, but now we’re starting to see some real potential with it as Google continue to development it further as a platform that could truly rival Apple’s iPhone platform.
Continue reading »Blackberry Storm Review
August 30, 2009
The Blackberry Storm had been launched just under a year ago and it was welcomed with criticism from the start. Blackberry needed to come out with something that would stand as good competition against the Apple iPhone 3G, and though the Storm had a sleek look and a touch screen like their rival, it did not wow anyone.
Google Latitude – Locate Your Friends!
February 19, 2009
Google Maps have introduced another new feature to their popular mapping software/service called Google Latitude which utilises the GPS functionality of your mobile phone to display your current location to your friends on their mobile devices or on their computer.
On a technical level, I think this a really cool bit of technology that Google have built into their Google Maps software, but another part of me thinks it’s perhaps a little creepy – but given you have total control over whether people can see you or not, I suppose that does make up for it and puts your mind at rest on that point.
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