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Posted by admin on Oct 30, 2010 in news
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The Seven Tablets that are making waves right now
Love it or loathe it, you can’t deny that Tablets have become very big news lately. The question about whether you actually need one still remains- and many iPad owners have found their pretty toys relegated to mere coffee table coasters in recent days. However, as many brands are starting to become aware of what Tablets have to offer, we’re going to see more tablet specific content become available, and brands such as The Times and Vogue are creating ways for you to view their creations tablet style. As time progresses we’re going to see more development in the world of tablets, and potentially discover a use for these over sized iPhone’s/ netbook style creations.
Here are the tablets that you’ll want to pay attention too, and I’m going to give you the hard stats on what each model has to offer, from ease of use, accessibility to storage expansion and weight.
The Apple iPad
This tablet is the most well known on the market, and anyone who has an iPhone will find the controls a doddle, as they’ve simply been supersized for this device. The iPad is the priciest tablet on the market, currently coming in at £429 for the most basic model. For this you get a glossy looking 9.7 inch screen, which weighs in at 1.5 (or 1.6 model dependant/ 0.68 kg) pounds and is 13.4 mm thick. It comes in Wi-Fi and 3G versions and has a built in hard drive of 16, 32 or 64GB which is not expandable. You can connect to it via the Apple connector, but there’s also a microSim card holder (for 3G access) and a 3.5 mm jack for your headphone (non proprietary).
Downsides are that it’s lacking a USB connector, has no camera (so, no video calling) and just forget about a SD card reader. On the plus side, multi touch functionality makes it a joy to use though, as you can swoosh easily across pages, expanding at will with a mere wiggle of the fingers. The iPad also plays video in 720 , will work with Windows as well as Macs, and, the killer reason- is very, very pretty. They say you can have 10 hours of use, using Wi-Fi and the processor is a 1GHz Apple A4 chip, which is super fast. The plus point of the iPad is that you have access to the huge and varied Apple store, and buying and downloading apps is very easy. As Apple has created such a high profile for itself in the tablet market, it’s likely that any apps to be released will be created with the iPad in mind, so you’ll probably get them before other platforms do.
The BlackBerry Playbook
I’m very intrigued by this recent addition to the Tablet world, as it could mean a new way of using tablets for everyone. Blackberry is known for their business and office skills, so extending their handset range into the tablet arena can only mean that they’re considering it featuring in an office environment, miles apart from the iPad’s ethos of fun. The Playbook features a 7 inch display which weighs in at 0.4kg and is 10mm thick.
It features a multitouch capacitive screen and has two cameras, a 3 MP forward facing one, and a 5 MP rear camera. They’ve got a lot of info on video conferencing bundles, which is another step on them pushing it as a business device. Input wise, you get a HDMI port for connecting it to HDTV’s or a hi-def projector, a USB port and 1080p You also get all the usual Blackberry resources bundle in, from the calendar to BBM, which I’m guessing will all sync up nicely with your phone. It uses a 1GHz dual core processor and has 1GB of RAM, and is able to work with Adobe Flash as well (a major plus point for web browsing). Where it loses a little ground is in the app department, as that’s nothing to write home about, but the BlackBerry App store is continually growing. We don’t have a price for this yet, but Blackberry say, ‘ it will fall in the lower range of prices for consumer tablets already in the suddenly congested market.’ OK, then, we’ll wait to 2011 ( when it’s out) and see for ourselves.
One issue though- as they’re trying so hard to make this a business tablet, why not call it the WorkBook rather than the PlayBook? See what I’m saying, yeah? Read more…
Karaoke File Sharing site for Gleekaholics: Karaoke-World!
There are many, many filesharing sites out there, from the infamous Pirate Bay to the smaller but equally popular BTJunkie and Isohunt. They provide users with a great many options, but sometimes the sheer amount of files they have can be a little overwhelming. This is where Karaoke-World comes in, a dedicated filesharing site that ONLY features Karaoke torrents!
You may wonder whether there is a need for this service, and that is debatable, but considering the continued popularity of games like SingStar on gaming consoles, and public karaoke bars such as Lucky Voice and K-Box, I do think the demand is growing. Shows like Glee and X-Factor put the idea of Karaoke style singing right onto the front page of the newspapers, and if you enjoy this activity you’ll probably want to know more about the recently launched Karaoke-World. Read more…
Chatroulette gets medical with Healcam
Posted by admin on Jul 22, 2010 in news, technology
The premise behind ChatRoulette was fiendishly simple. Utilise the webcam that’s built into most people’s computers and add an element of sex to it. Rather than create a paid for service, Andrey Ternovskiy decided to create a live version of the popular hot or not game, where users log on to flirt with each other and ‘next’ anyone they don’t find attractive or interesting. Annoyingly, the site is pretty much useless for anyone who doesn’t want to watch masturbation, as a quick play around reveals that 90% (a completely made up statistic) of users seem to be men.
Nonetheless, there’s something about this level of instant interaction that’s appealing, and if used correctly could be really positive. Healcam is a brand new service (barely been launched a month) which aims to take the premise of instant video chat to a new level, by putting people with various illnesses in touch with each other. Sure, if you have Diabetes or Cancer you already have a ton of support groups and forums, but that doesn’t mean you get to chat face to face with someone whenever you feel like it. Counselling sessions need to be scheduled, appointments made- sometimes you just want a one on one with someone who understand your issues.
It’s completely free to use the site, you simply go to the Healcam website, select your sex, say whether you’d like to talk to a male, female or ‘anyone’ and then choose your condition. At present there are 5 to choose from: Back &Neck, Diabetes, Cancer, Pregnancy and Childbirth, and Heart Disease. There’s a button saying sub topic next to them, but only the Diabetes one expands into the options of Type 1 and Type 2 (guessing this will expand as their user base grows). Their blog does mention that they will have health channels that will include ‘Weight Loss & Dieting’ and ‘Depression’, but at present they’re not on the site yet.
The concept is fantastic, and I’m hoping that the people who use the site will respect that, and that we will find those willing to share information and advice about their conditions to those who need it.
The Healcam creators say, ‘We envision the site as a large meeting place, where people can exchange information, get or give moral support, and learn from others’. It’s a resource I can imagine using, so I’m hoping others will feel that way.
The next step is working out whether the site will be able to keep afloat from advertising. Considering the topics involved, monetizing it once it gets popular should be fairly simple, as I’m sure many charities and organizations would want to get behind this.
The main problem will be assessing the potential of abuse that could happen if people give others bad advice, as that could prove dangerous to people with medical conditions. As long as the site is used therapeutically and not as a replacement for a doctor I see no reason why this shouldn’t do very well.
At present there are very few users, but as this gains popularity I’m hoping a huge community will spring up.
The future of 3D is all about the glasses
As a journalist I get asked all too frequently what I think of this ’3D rubbish’. The statement is then normally qualified with ‘well, I know it takes a lot in the box office,’ and then I’m looked at expectantly like I’m suddenly going to drop some amazing secret or share my wisdom on what the next big thing to replace the ’3D phenomena’ is.
I got rather sick of trying to explain that 3D probably wasn’t going anywhere and that the main reason people get frustrated by 3D was the WAY they had to view it, as both anaglyph and active shutter glasses require -you got it, glasses. Then there are the EXTREMELY PRICEY TV’s that require no specs, but hey, you can only view them from a really small field of vision, so that’s not too helpful now.
Having given this topic a rather huge amount of thought, I’ve now come up with what I feel is a reasonable, if vaguely Matrixy conclusion.
It’s the glasses folks. It’s not about replacing them, it’s about creating some which become so essential to everyday life that they’re part of the shower and shave routine- wake, teeth, glasses, breakfast.
The Fallacy of Football Widows
Every summer it happens. With minimum warning and fanfare, TV suddenly becomes a ‘blokes only zone’, matches are played with pomp and honour, and silence must reign in case one was to miss an all important stumble or kick. Of course, this tends to only apply to the non football fan, as it is fine for the fan themselves to groan, grasp and burp their way through unseasonabley long games. There are banners in every pub, glowing footballs in the supermarkets and dubious songs on the radio.
People speak in hushed tones about ‘football widows’ those poor aimless creatures who are left on the shelf and have to retire from any partner based activity till the season is over. A widow refers to anyone partnered with fan, so it can equally go the other way (and yes, I agree that’s a sexist term, but that’s not the point I’m making now).
These poor pathetic football widows must spend the football time crawling through ASOS online and trying to find outfits that will entice their no good halves away from the screen, for just a short while.
Really? Like, really? I understand that if you’re ACTUALLY A PLAYER then yes, your partner will get short shrift in the season, but as for all the fans, uh uh. If you’re into the game enough to forgo any sort of fun with your partner, then what the hell are you doing with them? You shouldn’t absolve yourself of all priorities when you get in a relationship, but putting TV over them, c’mon? Read more…
Five of the strangest new fitness trends
Summer is looming ominously/excitingly near, and many people are wondering how their pasty flabby skin will cope with all the extra scrutiny. Exercise is key in making sure you feel confident stripping off, and I’ve rounded up a selection of weird and wonderful ways to get fit and have fun. I really enjoy novelty in my exercise regime (why else would I have a pole in my living room?) so I’m excited to share with you a variety of *very* different ways to get into shape this year.
Shock Tactics
Gymbox, one of my all time favorite gyms has just released news of their latest class. Remember, these are the people who have previously brought the fitness world the WAG workout (you wear sunglasses and bend it like Beckham’s behind you) the Rave workout (performed to hard dance on mini trampolines whilst waving glow sticks) and Cheerleading, so you know a new class from them is going to be something special. This one has a couple of shocks up its sleeve.. literally. It’s a new take on circuit training as it utilises electrified balls, which you carry with you as you perform a circuit class. Read more…
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