Knomo
Mimobot RayD80 USB Drives

Archive for July, 2010

Lady Geek TV Episode #3 Featuring Maggie Philbin

Monday, July 26th, 2010
Are you perplexed by the London Underground? Fancy learning a new language with the panache and elan of a native? Want a way to find all the in-places before the in-crowd even know they are in?

Our brave presenter Debs finds herself answering all of these questions, and possibly more on an epic business trip to the beautiful and picturesque cultural centre that is Sidcup. We review apps which make a real difference to your life, including Maggie Philbin’s personal choice Tube Pro, the most complete electronic guide to the London Underground. We’ve also got a first-look at Qype for Ovi Maps which puts the database from Europe’s largest review site onto Nokia devices and LastMinute.com’s new mobile phrasebook.

This week, we are giving one lucky fan a Nokia C3.  All you need to do “Like” our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/LadyGeekTV and you could be this week’s lucky winner.  You can also get in touch via twitter www.twitter.com/ladygeektv or check out www.ladygeektv.com

Toy Story 3 (Wii)

Friday, July 16th, 2010

With just days to go till the latest installment of Toy Story hits the UK theatres, you may not be surprised to find that hot on the tail of the films release is the video game. Licensed titles are always approached with caution, many of them can be rather cheap tie in’s with by the numbersplatforming or just overall charmless gameplay. On top of that its a multformat title and (as most Wii owners will testify) when it comes to games with multiple releases normally the Wii version of such titles tends to be the most disappointing.  However this one turns out to be a pleasant surprise.

Now it should be stressed to anyone considering picking up this title on Friday before seeing the movie next week, the games hub sets itself after the events of the movie, and as such,  just playing the game is a giant spoiler in general for the movie. Basically this game is designed for play after you’ve seen the film – its worth holding off as the levels tie into the movie in an interesting way without being a tired retelling of what you already saw. This review will be spoiler-free however.

The game offers 3 playable characters thoughout the game: Woody, Jessie, and Buzz. For the most part the characters are the same, though they have a few unique abilities or special areas only they can reach in the game. For example, only Woody can use his pullstring to swing across using hooks, and only Jessie can make super-precision jumps on certain objects like pins in a wall. Some levels allow for choices between the 3 and others will exclusively use a single character due to the story or location. There’s 2 main modes to play though – the traditional story mode which is your standard platforming romp or “Toy Box” mode – a “sandbox” mode with various large areas that players are welcome to roam and customise.

The story mode is pretty much what you expect it to be in terms of platformers. With all the run and jump action and mini-game action thats usually part and parcel of such titles. Along with the platforming there’s also puzzles and challanges to complete – this ranges from the usual collecting of items to more unusual things like guiding parachuting army men to targets. Graphically, the game is a little rough-looking due to the graphics being a port stepdown from the HD console versions, but it’s a small price to pay as the game itself is pretty much like it’s HD console brothers. One thing you might notice is that some voice actors reprise their roles from the movie, yet some of the main characters have different voice actors. For those not a fan of the voices, the playable characters thankfully dont quip too much. Additionally most of the music is based off the original soundtrack so it fits in with the feeling of the movie as well.

A nice aspect of the levels is that there’s a number of objectives to complete, and a certain amount of variation in each level, so its not just simply a case of jumping over obstacles and beating up baddies, theres various things you have to do before you can advance. The most impressive example of this is a level set in a child’s room, in which the child starts telling a story in voice-over, and all the things that they make up actually changes the level as you advance. The level seamlessly transitions from filling the bedroom with hazardous coffee-lava, and into blasting the toys into space. In addition, there’s a co-op mode for a friend to jump into the story. The nice thing about it is that the game allows players to work together without having to worry about lives – they just respawn at the nearest checkpoint if they get knocked out or fall, and the other player can get farther ahead for them in some cases

The only problem is that this mode is short, its about seven levels long and while they are quite big levels it’s easy to complete the game in just one sitting (as I did). Though the game is clearly aimed at a younger audience, it’s still more fun than other licensed children’s games. Players can always go back to collect the trading cards and tokens hidden in the levels if they wish… or they can move onto the much-hyped attraction of the game, the “Toy Box” mode.

This mode starts out with the Wild West town of Woody’s Round-up, and you’re asked to do tasks for various characters littered about the place. As you do these tasks, you get more characters and places in the Toy Box, and unlock more customizable options. You can change the look of the town or the outfits of the locals, you can collect items scattered all over the place, and you can even pick up and throw the townspeople just for fun (they won’t complain!). Theres plenty of challenges and missions to do and on top of that an achievements list for doing various things. Other areas are also accessible, like a Haunted Mansion or Enchanted Forest, and include a few bonus levels. While it’s not entirely customizable (buildings can only have paint schemes changed) it’s nice being able to run wild and do missions at will, and the noise the townsfolk make when thrown will put a smile on anyone’s face. Some of the fun things from the story mode are available too, like grinding rails and rideable Bullseye. There are only two major niggles for this section: there’s no co-op available for it (which is a shame, as story mode’s co-op is a lot of fun), and the costume-change missions can be troublesome if you get extra outfits early on, as you’ll have a massive amount of outfits you have to sort through to pick the right one

Overall, Toy Story 3 is a fairly fun family game with low thrills. It won’t win any awards for originality (though the Toy Box is a neat use of large gaming environments), and it’s not as long as the 60+ hour epics some gamers have come to expect, but what it lacks the game makes up for with buckets of charm that’ll leave most people with a warm fuzzy feeling without outstaying its welcome.

‘Jam with the Band’ for Nintendo DS

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Have you played Guitar Hero and Rhythm Paradise to death on all possible platforms, and aching for some more musical action? Jam with the Band might just be your next gaming purchase.

Hugely anticipated since 2006, it never found its way out of Japan with its original title Daigasso!, Band Brothers (we wonder why!), but it’s finally on our shores to deliver budding rockers a jam session on the go.

Loaded with an impressive 50 tracks, Jam with the Band for DS caters for a wide audience, boasting the likes of Queen, Deep Purple, Police, Boy George, Madonna, Madness, and to tickle your nostalgia, Super Mario and Zelda themes amongst others. You can add another 50 tracks via wi-fi, but with no options to delete or exchange songs, and a limit of 100 tunes on your cartridge, you will be called to make final choices, so no “Let’s check out this fan version of ‘Baby one more time’ allowed.

Unlike Guitar Hero and Rock Bank models, Jam with the Band doesn’t come with a career mode; you can choose between Sing, Play and Studio, all accessible from a virtual music store.
On Play you choose your song, then take your pick between up to eight instruments to jam with, although with the exception of the guitar, which you strum with your DS stylus, all the other instruments will be played by pressing buttons when prompted by a bar across the screen, which makes for quite a challenge as soon as you get rid of Beginner mode. Apparently the Master mode (if you’re good enough to get there, and as you guessed, I’m not!) uses a staggering 10 buttons, and even L and R buttons can be pressed for changing octaves: as much as I love a gaming challenge, the amount of notes to cram in became too tough after Amateur level: I blame the tiny controls.

After you’re done sweating over Play mode, have a laugh with Sing, where you’ll just use the DS microphone and your voice. The training mode is particularly interesting: the DS will actually point out your mistakes and help you ease in a style suitable for your voice tone. The downside is that, unless you have a few glasses of Chardonnay in you, playing in Sing mode anywhere but in your house is not going to happen.
Unique but I’m afraid already overlooked by early adopters of the game is the Studio mode, where budding composers can try their hand at creating tunes. Start with the basic studio, equipped with a virtual keyboard or, should you have had enough of your DS controls by now, a recorder for humming that little tune you can’t get out of your head. Hum in the mic, and the DS will recreate the melody with the instrument you are then prompted to choose.

If you want to step up your game, run along to the expert studio, where you can spend hours dragging and dropping notes, tweaking, listening, and actually creating music that you can share with the Nintendo community, add to your list to play with on your own or with your friends.
Unlike many DS games, Jam with the Band lets you play with your DS buddies via wi-fi without them owning the game themselves: a band session will support up to 8 DS armed band-mates.
An interesting product all-around, it will keep you entertained for hours on end if music is your boyfriend.

The Scores:
Concept – 7.5
Graphics – 6.5
Sound – 9.0
Gameplay – 7
Longevity – 6.5

The iPhone case review …

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

When it comes to handbags and accessories, us girls are pretty spoilt for choice. So why should we ask for less when it comes to our gadgets … Luckily, we have some iPhone cases to glam our GnG mobiles phones with.

First on my desk is from QDOS, a French company based in Paris (daaaarling) and they specialise in making accessories for our most prised of possession, our iPhones. We’ve got our hands on their its designs for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The above case is called ‘The Quilted Slip’ and snuggles the device in a protective slim case that fits in our pocket with minimal bulk. I think that is about the best thing i can say about it … ‘minimal bulk’ that is… I’m a huge fan of the form factor of the sleek and curvaceous iPhone design and cases usually disrupt this beauty. However, i have also seen the disastrous effect of a dropped non-cased iPhone, its not pretty. For that reason I am keen to keep my device protected.

The described ‘patent leather finish’ however doesn’t leave much to be desired and I have to admit that it is ‘patently’ obvious that the finish actually makes the product very tacky. Its finish in fact, looks like something you are more likely to find in a 6 year olds fancy dress box. I do however like the pull-tab system that I have admired from other cases, making it quick and easy to access the device from the case…

Another thing I don’t like about the case is the lack of access to the phone, a big no no in my books. At most you can plug in your headphones, the rest is engulfed by the plasticky case.

My verdict 2/10….I prefer my iPhone like a lot of things, naked!

The next case is made specifically for the iPhone 3G and 3GS and adds a much needed injection of fun and creativity to an otherwise mundane job of protecting the iPhone. The case is designed by Incipio (myincipio.com) whose cases I have drooled over many a time. Its not just the iPhone the company has on it’s books, but also iPad, BlackBerry and other smartphones. These cases are for once designed on fun and functionality.

The Incipio case is called the Dottie, aptly named due to the silicon discs that slot into the back of the case … these colourful cases come in a range of colours including purple, black, navy, red, charcoal and the one I have, white…with a variety of coloured discs to play around with. The iPhone slots snugly into the case and makes me feel secure that a drop or knock would not have me yelping in fear of a cracked iPhone.

As well as doing a very good job of protecting the phone within it’s rubber mould, you can also customise the way that the back of the case looks via rubber discs that pop out. With the 15 multi coloured discs you can create patterns or just keep it simple with the all the same colour. You could even play Connect Four ;-)

It seems it is not only me that has gone potty for the Dottie, the case won an award for Best of Show 2010 iLounge … aww, like a little puppy at Crufts! (minus the crazed owners, well apart from me). All in all I would give this case an 8 out of 10 for the sheer fun and I would proudly bring it out on a night out.

Why choose Blu-ray?

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Blu-ray Disc

When I was younger, I had every Disney title on VHS. Really. I remember shoving a tape into the VCR and throwing a fit when I realized that I had to rewind it. I had some good times laying on the floor too close to the television watching Beauty and the Beast, but those times have changed — I’ve learned to sit farther away.

Though our film tastes may or may not change through the years, the way we soak in our entertainment definitely does.

DVDs grew to be the popular media format in the late 90s, but a format war was on the horizon. The HD DVD and Blu-ray formats were developed around the same time, but Blu-ray was crowned the top dog in early 2008. The tech isn’t exactly new, but Blu-ray has finally gained traction in the mainstream market, with HDTVs becoming more affordable.

What now though? You might be on the fence about moving on to Blu-ray, but we’re here to help you.

“Why should I upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray?”

  • Viewing experience – It’s all about HD. The incredibly sharp picture — with about five times more detail than standard definition — and vibrant colors will sell you. Blu-ray is one of the very few ways to watch full 1080p high-definition media. Not only is the view stunning, but Blu-ray offers high quality audio to boot. Blu-ray is even jumping into the 3D viewing game — with a compatible system you can really get into your movies.
  • Extra storage capacity – With a storage capacity of up to 25GB on a single-layer Blu-ray disc, and 50GB on a dual-layer disc, the possibilities are far more than with DVDs — plenty of room for additional content and special features. This extra space brings your menus, graphics and special features to a whole new level. For example, you could bring up a menu without even pausing what you’re watching.
  • Interactivity – With an Internet connection, it’s possible to access great features, like downloading new extras, watching recent movie trailers, web browsing, and more. You can even manage your copies of Blu-ray movies and transfer them over your home network.

Here’s a quick overview of the technical specs:

Blu-ray vs DVD

Your concerns…

“But Blu-ray is expensive!”

Initially, new technologies lean toward the expensive range — and Blu-ray was a pricey format conversion from the DVD. Note, I say was! Blu-ray players and discs have become extremely affordable, and your favorite titles are even priced competitively against their DVD counterparts — and some even cheaper!

For example, in the U.S., you can find Blu-ray players for about $100 more than DVD players and tons of movies in the $15-$24.99 range (and lower!), with one of my personal classic favorites Dune at only $16.24 on Blu-ray versus $24.99 on DVD. But I digress.

I compared prices for new releases, and in general, DVD and Blu-ray prices are really neck-in-neck. There are so many different sales depending on the retailer, so it’s difficult to pinpoint. Just shop around! If you spot an expensive Blu-ray title that’s just not worth it to you, then simply don’t buy it — your Blu-ray player will still play your old DVDs.

If you live in a house with gamers, then moving to Blu-ray may make even more sense. Sony’s Playstation 3 console is already equipped with a Blu-ray player, so you can enjoy a night of Assassin’s Creed II and Star Trek in HD glory. And this technology is getting cheaper as time goes on.

“But I own a regular TV!”

Even if you have a regular TV, you can still enjoy both DVD and Blu-ray titles on a Blu-ray player. When it comes time to upgrade your TV to something HD-ready, then you’ll be ready to enjoy the full Blu-ray viewing experience.

“I already own an HD-ready TV… But I have a huge DVD collection.”

Why don’t you have a Blu-ray player already? Just because you have a DVD collection shouldn’t stop you! Most Blu-ray players will upscale your viewing experience with DVDs anyway, so you can build your Blu-ray collection gradually.

The viewing experience with Blu-ray is top notch, especially if you have a great sound system. You’ll notice the difference when you watch that Blu-ray title — imagine the first time you watched a DVD over VHS.

“But what about a new format in the future?”

This is just the nature of technology. If you never upgrade due to this logic, then you’d be stuck watching a black and white television. Your old formats don’t become useless either — people still listen to their old records today. And hey, you can still watch your DVDs on a Blu-ray player.

What are you waiting for?

The format war has been over for a while now, so what are you waiting for? You can switch over and start building your Blu-ray collection today without breaking the bank — check out Blu-ray players, listings and deals to get started.

[Chart via Blu-ray.com Thanks to the guys at blu-raydisc-reporter.com for providing us with some great kit]

Girl Geek Dinners turns 5 (Guest post by Judith Lewis)

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Have you ever heard of London Girl Geek Dinners?  What started as an organisation of a few passionate women has blossomed into a worldwide network of “dinners” from New Zealand through to Toronto and now the home of that movement is turning 5 years old!

London Girl Geek Dinners really does hope to change the world.  We’d like to inspire more girls to get into tech, more women to stay in tech and more not-currently-techie women to get involved.  We run events in high schools, in businesses and in pubs with inspirational women and men talking about technology in its varied forms.  Whether discussing using computerised techniques in creating manga or digital cows, London Girl Geek Dinners appeals to a wide range of people.

LGGD is free to join and we do welcome everyone.  Our main list is on Google but we are also on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.  Men are welcome to join our groups and events but we do ask that they are the guest of a girl geek.  Most of the time our events are free to attend as well but we do rely on sponsors like SciFi London, Norton Symantec, Regent St, Microsoft, Google, HMRC and others to help us put on events.  We’re working on getting Girl Geek Dinners charitable status as well!

So what’s happening as we turn 5?  Google is our main sponsor and they will be feeding us and giving us goodie bags.  The wine has been supplied by Dinastia Vivanco  and in the goodie bags we have lovely goodies from Green & Blacks, VitaminWater and Juniper Networks. We’ve also got raffle prizes including LGGD sweatshirts and all money from the raffle will go to helping us to gain charitable status.

Excited? Want to be a member? Just pop over to http://groups.google.com/group/london-girl-geek-dinners/ and sign up for free!

Want your company to be associated with this positive organisation? Please do get in touch with us on Londonggd –at- gmail dot com and we’d be happy to talk to you about the really inexpensive ways you can get involved in sponsoring a London Girl Geek Dinner event!

Lady Geek TV Launches (and it’s Brill!)

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Girls n Gadgets is proud to announce their partnership with Lady Geek TV.

Lady Geek TV put smartphones through their paces to deliver the very best in mobile app content from across the App Map, covering iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Nokia apps.

This week, comedian Kate Stevens is our guest presenter as we put 3 food and drink apps – Epicurious, Pair It! and Open Table – through their paces to solve real problems, such as, “I am starving! I need a good recipe fast!” or “Which wine is right?” and, “Oops. Burnt dinner. Let’s eat out.” This week, we are giving one lucky fan a Nokia E72. Here are the first two episodes:

Become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ladygeektv or follow them on twitter @ladygeektv.

T-Mobile join forces with Blockbuster

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Thousands of people lining the streets of London, singing pretty badly into their phones, hairbrushes and anything else they managed to pull from their bags – Who could be responsible for this ruckus? T-Mobile of course – and now they’re bringing the fun off the street, into the home!

For years, the carrier has continuiously offered great deals on mobile tarrifs, as well as offering attractive, sought after phones to go with them. Their flash mob advertising campaigns have gone viral and now they have joined forces with Blockbuster to bring you the ultimate gaming and movie nights in – 5 things for £5. For example, you could get a movie, a game, popcorn, drink and sweets – All for a fiver! You have to be T-Mobile and Blockbuster customers and all you have to do is text ‘NIGHT IN’ to 3000 for your voucher code.

Here at Girls n Gadgets we love a good party, and with an offer like that, we decided to throw a Super Street fighter IV Tournament. We made it fancy dress and it certainly didn’t disappoint! Here are just a few of the pics from that night – we had a blast:

From left to right: Blanka, Fei Long, Sagat & C.Viper


Mario Galaxy 2

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Those aware of the gaming world (and even some outsiders) will know of Mario, the Italian pumber who does a lot more jumping on turtles than unblocking toilets, from a long running series of successful titles for gaming giant Nintendo. He’s taken on a lot of things in his time (including a giant spiny shelled lizard that keeps stealing the local royalty and even a sun) and back in 2007 took on an entire galaxy’s worth of baddies in “Super Mario Galaxy” on the Wii. 3 years later Nintendo have shot him back into space to do some more galaxy-busting, is it better the second time around?

The game starts with the same premise just about every Mario game begins with, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and nicked the grand stars that power the ship of the adorable star shaped Lumas, who help Mario to get the stars and the princess back. The game isn’t exactly huge on plot (preferring to focus more on gameplay) and you don’t need to have played the first game to understand what’s going on, which makes it very accessible. Speaking of accessible, Nintendo have gone to large lengths this time to make sure everyone can get in on the act. This includes bundling a DVD with the game (in Japan and Europe) that explains the basics of playing the game along with some more advanced tips. It even brings back the Super Guide from New Super Mario Bros that’ll complete levels for you if you die too many times (though it gives you a fake star for doing this). The DVD feels like an excessive step to try and include new gamers, but latter sections do recall some neat tricks. The Super Guide can be useful for new and older players for dealing with tough sections or levels too.  The other nice thing about the guide is it’ll show up even at checkpoints, sparing you from watching the computer do the sections you already passed. This helpfulness even extends into the game itself, which hands out extra lives like candy at times.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

With all that in mind it’s understandable there is concern that maybe Galaxy 2 will be a watered down sequel for the masses. But in reality, the extra lives and help are handed out because you’re going to need it. The first world starts off pretty easy and serves as a means of easing players in along with a refresher for others, but Galaxy 2 gets into its stride quite quickly and starts throwing harder scenarios at players a lot sooner than the first game did. For example, Flip-Swap Galaxy is one of the first optional galaxies and features panels that switch when Mario spins. The level gets pretty fiendish as it goes along, adding moving electric fences between jumps and chain-chomps. The game really can require some smart thinking on the player’s part at times and while it provides plenty of lives and checkpoints to help, it still tries earnestly to show the player whose boss.

The game plays a lot like the original, Mario is pretty much the same as before and a lot of popular aspects from the first game return such as the star bits and the bee-suit power-up. However this time Mario’s trusty dinosaur steed, Yoshi, has now tagged along for the ride and his brother Luigi gets into the act much sooner. Yoshi is a welcome addition due to his speed and willingness to eat just about everything, this includes some new fruit power ups that give Yoshi a super-speed boost or transform him into a large deflating balloon. In addition Yoshi controls a lot better than his last appearance in “Super Mario Sunshine” with a less likely tendency to slip into things and use of the pointer to make eating easy without putting Yoshi directly in harm’s way. Luigi is also less slippery than before (though he still slips a little) and can jump further than Mario, once you find him he becomes an optional character that can replace Mario at the start of select levels.

The levels themselves all feel very fresh and new, while a lot do borrow concepts from the first game and usual Mario conventions, most levels have the same level of inventive thinking that the first had. Nothing beats that smug feeling of figuring out a puzzling or difficult section of a level.  The hub of the game is different to that of the first, the various sections are now travelled to on a map like in older Mario titles and the hub itself exists as a rest area to move the plot along or provide extra lives. The good thing about this is it cuts out the need to run and jump around to reach various sections and saves a lot of time. The hub also has a lot more added activity as the game progresses, adding various characters and areas over time. The game also adds “comet medals “, one for each Galaxy which when collected speed up the rate at which the comet challenges appear. These challenges range from slightly tricky to nail bitingly hard as they did before but more daring gamers can tackle these much sooner rather than waiting till much later in the game.

Overall, Mario Galaxy continues the innovative level and item use of the first and shows that clearly the first game just wasn’t enough to contain all the ideas Nintendo had the first time around. As a result it’s a very welcome return to space, even if it’s tough as nails at times. Older players will appreciate the inclusion of characters like Yoshi and ramped up difficulty while newer players benefit from an extended help system (though it remains to be seen if this does indeed ease new gamers into the world of Mario). Overall Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the first game again and then some, considering how good the first was, it’s great to be soaring through the Galaxies with Mario again.

Join in the Conversation

Winner - Computer Weekly Blog Awards 2009 - Best SME

Highly Commended - Cosmopolitan Blog Awards - Best Gadget Blog 2010