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LG InTouch Max (GW620) Review
March 6, 2010
The LG InTouch Max (GW620) is LG’s first attempt at an Android smartphone. Serving the budget end of the market, the GW620 is available from free on a £20 a month contract with T-Mobile in the UK. This is the same headset that Zath got to have a hands-on test with a few months ago when we attended the LG Mobile Event (November 2009), we liked the look of it and wrote up our own LG GW620 (Android) preview about the handset, so be sure to take a look at that first – it would appear our hope for a better name has in fact happened with LG playing up the social networking possibilities of this handset by calling it the LG InTouch Max!
Hardware
The LG InTouch Max (GW620) is the first Android device I’ve used with a hardware keyboard, which naturally makes the device thicker than others available on the market, although it doesn’t feel unnatural when holding it without the keyboard slid out. On the front of the device there are 2 soft touch buttons for home and back, and a physical button in the centre, allowing you to access settings of each app open.
Continue reading »Logitech Touch Mouse iPhone App Review
February 18, 2010
Not long ago i reviewed the iTap Touchpad iPhone app which acted as a multitouch trackpad for any PC or Mac. I discovered the app was feature filled, responsive and overall pretty good. But then i stumbled across the new Logitech equivalent which I must say, threw all of that iTap hype right out of the window, across the street, and straight into the nearest bin. It’s hard to imagine that these apps differ much at all, but the few subtle differences there are, trust me make a big difference.
The setting up of the Logitech Touch Mouse iPhone App is simple. It is available for free from the iPhone app store and you must also download ‘iTouch Server’ from the official Logitech website on your PC or Mac. This is so it can communicate solely to that machine, otherwise you could end up with all sorts of confusion if your home consists of more than one machine. Once you have downloaded both apps, you will notice upon launching the iPhone app, the name of your PC will be listed and connection via Wi-Fi should be simple enough. If not, you can always manually enter the IP address of the desired machine.
Continue reading »iTap Touchpad iPhone App Review
January 31, 2010
After using one of the latest Macbook Pro’s one of the standout features of the machines for me is the multitouch trackpad. I know that Apple have now incorporated the same gesture based technology into their new ‘Magic Mouse‘, clearly it’s popular throughout the Mac community, but once again, Windows users are left wanting.
iTap Touchpad App is a brilliant little iPhone application which transforms your iPhone or iPod Touch into your very own multitouch pointing device.
The application connects to your Windows or OS X computer using a wi-fi connection and allows you to control the cursor on your PC from anywhere within the range of the signal.
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 »Essential Software for Mac OS X
January 9, 2010
More people today are using Mac’s than ever before – OS X market share has been climbing steadily since the release of Mac OS X, but third party software is just as important as the OS it’s running on, so what do you need to put on your Mac?
Web Browsers
Every new Mac comes with Snow Leopard pre-installed, which gives you Safari 4 out of the box. If you’re on an older Mac or just don’t like Safari, there are a host of alternatives available. I have three browsers installed on my Mac, but often use Safari. If you want to customise your browser then I recommend Mozilla Firefox, my PC and Linux browser of choice. As well as offering plugins and add-ons that allow you to make the browsing experience more personal, it’s open source too. You could also try Google’s Chrome browser for OS X. It’s been unofficially available for quite some time now, but the official Google Chrome Beta was released a few weeks ago and it’s very speedy and takes up less system resources than Safari.
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.
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