Tech Feed Weekly : Episode 3 - Big Screen Entertainment

Tech Feed Weekly - Episode 3 - Big Screen Entertainment ... in this episode I take a look at two different media streamers to get movies, music, photos & other content onto your television.


Useful Links
Supplied by http://www.acme.eu/
Supplied by http://www.roku.co.uk/

Tech Feed Weekly : Episode 2 - Tokyo Flash & Western Digital

Tech Feed Weekly - Episode 2 ... in this episode I check out the latest Tokyo Flash watches & two products from Western Digital.


Buy your My Book Live here http://amzn.to/WDMBL
Buy your WD TV Live here http://amzn.to/WDTVLv

Useful Links
Supplied by http://www.wdc.com/
Supplied by http://www.tokyoflash.com/

Geek Gifts Guide 2011

I love Christmas, the snow is on the ground (almost), tree is up adorned with tinsel and lights. The morning brings with it the excitement of the children, followed by the gorgeous smells of that lovely home-cooked roast dinner. But wait… who am I kidding? It is all about ripping my gifts open like the big kid that I am. What follows are my wishes for Christmas, here's hoping all you Geekanoids Geeks have an awesome Christmas too.

 

Money is No Object
I am not all that fussed about 3D, but I do like to watch a good movie and the bigger the better! The Sony VPL-VW90ES (£5,299 or $7,500) delivers full HD at up to 300-inches of glorious jaw dropping movies in my own home, yes please. It just happens to do 3D too, so I might give that a try in the New Year. Oh and since this in the my 'Money is No Object' category, best buy me a Beamax 10505 A-Velvet projector screen to go with it please, it's only an extra grand.

 

Gifts Under £2,000
For him and her, whether you are in the Mac or Windows camp, either of these beauties is sure to put a smile on your face…

 

MacBook Air (£1,349 or $1,599)
For me it would be the top end 13-inch MacBook Air, with it peppy dual-core i5 processor and superb display. The elegance, power and simplicity of the Mac OSX operating system means that even a beginner can open up this beauty and start enjoying it. Give the recipient of this gift five minutes and they will be surfing the net, sending emails and exploring the included iLife suite of software. Not to mention its gorgeous design aesthetics. It is so super thin, I might just carve this years Turkey with it ;)
Buy the MacBook Air here. 

 

Asus ZenBook UX-31E (£999 or $1,449)
And for those into getting their Windows thing on, you don't have to put up with heavy slabs of plastic on your lap any more. Thanks to the uber-talented designers from Asus, we have the ZenBook UX-31E. Not only does it look super sexy, it pack a punch too with either an Intel i5 or i7 processor cooking away inside. The latest WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 will keep you connected. Plus the battery life will see you through almost two weeks of standby. Almost matching the Air's minuscule measurements, the ZenBook is just 3mm at the front, so should make a good job on that turkey too.
Buy the Asus ZenBook here. 

 

 

Under £500
Everyone loves to take photos and what better time than when all the family is together at this time of year. The latest compact from Canon, the PowerShot S100 (£382 or $429) offers up superb quality in a very small package. Not only do you get 12.1 megapixel snaps, but also full HD video for capturing all those magic moments. The lens is superb too, very good in low light situations, one of the better compact cameras for sure. It's size also manes you can take it everywhere you go. Let's just hope it hits the shops in time for the 25th.

 

Under £250
Again, this might not make it to the UK quite in time, but the Kindle Fire (£199 or $199) brings colour to your world of books and magazines. This Android based tablet offers up web browsing too, plus free cloud storage for your Amazon content. Early reviews have been pretty good, revealing the ease with which you can install other launchers to take your out of the Amazonified user interface. Take into account that this is a dual core tablet with a capacitive touch screen, capable of playing games as well as delivering you movies & music. It certainly sounds like a bit of a bargain, coming it at under £200 you could also stuff a £50 Amazon voucher for some books in my stocking too.

 

I think I can get away with saying this one is educational and for the kids. Don't tell the wife, but I have always wanted a Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (£189 or $250). I love lego so so much, but being able to build a robot, alligator, or even a beach buggy complete with camera is amazing. "I will let you into a little secret… I have wanted one of these for years, but could never justify the price. Maybe one year Santa will pop one down the chimney for me". Note to Santa… this will keep me entertained for weeks.
Buy your Lego Mindstorms here. 

 

Under £50
Shop around or feel a little more generous and you might just be able to pick up a Logitech Tablet Keyboard for the iPad or iPad 2 (£49.95 John Lewis or $75) within this smaller budget. There are lots of this type of device around, but the Logitech took my fancy due to its sturdy design and tactile feedback. It is really nifty too, the keyboard case converts into a nice stand for your iPad or iPad 2, how cool is that! Logitech make some stunning products, so I would just love this to appear under my tree.

 

Give me a game and I will be a happy bunny. If your loved one has not yet got his/her frag on with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (£39 or $50), then you will be in their good books forever for buying this. Endless fun and a surefire way of improving one's sniping skills. Remember though, rated 18, this is not one that grandma will approve of… unless she has a keen sniping eye that is !!!
Buy COD MW3 here. 

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV Review

A couple of days ago I brought you my written review of the Seagate portable hard drives in the GoFlex range. It seems many of you liked my writing style, so thanks for the positive feedback. I also mentioned in that review that Seagate had developed this new GoFlex system which allows their devices to work together. The GoFlex TV is just one of those devices that I was lucky enough to test.

If you are familiar with myself and what I love, you will know I am an Apple fanboy. Owning the likes of an iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac Pro and Apple TV speaks for itself. That last mention there, of the Apple TV, is exactly what the GoFlex TV aims itself at, directly! Opening up the unit presents you with a very nice looking box of tricks, all the cables you need and good instructions. The unit feels very well made and sports composite, component and HDMI outputs. As you can guess, I went with the highest quality HDMI straight to my TV. You can run the audio through an optical output or indeed through the HDMI along the same cable as the picture.

There is also an ethernet network connection for streaming content. I was up and running with that one in a few minutes. Plus you will find a USB connection for flash drives and external hard drives. The last type of connection is a door that opens, into which you can slide the GoFlex Ultra-portable hard drive (that I reviewed a couple of days back). From the hard drive or flash drive you connect it is possible to play back a whole host of formats (listed below) in up to 1080P HD resolution.

Formats Supported
MPEG–1, MPEG–2 (VOB/ISO), MPEG–4 (Xvid), DivX Plus™ HD, Xvid HD, AVI, MOV, MKV, RMVB Real Media, AVC HD, H.264, WMV9, VC–1, M2TS, TS/TP/M2T

Picture quality is very good indeed, very detailed and smooth. Sound is equally impressive, so nowt to disappoint there either. I suppose my only disappointment was that the menu, although pretty, is still quite sluggish. I have experienced this with other media players (not the Apple TV) and I think that many manufacturers neglect the performance to combat manufacturing costs. It is not abysmal, but could just be a bit more responsive.

The icing on the cake is online services… you get Netflix (US only), YouTube, Paramount, Mediafly and Flickr to name just a few. They all work well and serve up added value to an already keenly priced piece of kit.

Would I buy one? At the asking price yes, if I didn't already have internet in my TV and streaming to my PS3. Even though I have what I personally need in terms of streaming content, the GoFlex TV certainly is a very neat solution and is well worth checking out.

Product: Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV
Supplied by: Seagate
Price: Expect to pay around £70

Beats by Dr Dre Studio Headphones Boston Red Sox Special Edition Unboxing

I am loving these Beats by Dr Dre Studio Headphones. My excitement was tremendous on this one, as these are the special Boston Red Sox edition. In this video I unbox these babies and give you a product tour. Full review coming soon :)


Supplied by: Monster Cable Products
Available at: Beats by Dre Online Store

Note: These headphones were supplied free by Monster Cable Products Inc. for the purposes of this video.

Heartbeats by Lady Gaga Earphones Unboxing & Product Tour

The Heartbeats by Lady Gaga are some super stylish earphones from Monster Cable. In this video I show you an unboxing & product tour. Check out the review on my channel 28th October 2010.

 

Useful Links
Supplied by: Monster Cable Products
Available at: Beats by Dre
Note: These headphones were supplied free by Monster Cable Products Inc. for the purposes of this video.