"I Confess I'm a Geek!"

The local car park goes hi tech and messes up, setting up my elderly Aunts PC doesn’t goes well as planned, and a quick chat about my bulging postbag.

LENOVO B320 21″ All-in-One PC at cheap prices | Pcworld

HP Photosmart 5515 Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer at cheap prices | Pcworld

Sumvision Cyclone Micro Media Player: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off | The Verge

News in Maidenhead | Get The Latest Maidenhead Advertiser News | Council claims problems with Broadway car park now resolved

Episode 116 – It’s all go at Gadget Show Live!

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:05:50 +0000

A review of the Gadget Show Live! at the NEC, and I pick out 4 items that I found interesting, plus recommendations for a couple of apps/web sites, plus a couple of great emails!

The Gadget Show Live 2012

The Gadget Show – Geek News Central

LightwaveRF – Home Control made easy

TP Link TL-WR702N 150Mbps Wireless N Nano Router

Sumvision Cyclone Micro Media Player

RapMan 3.2 3D Printer Kit | Bits From Bytes

Microsoft Releases Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 2 – MacRumors.com

2011 – 2012 SAT NAV NAVIGATION DISCS CD/DVD £25

Is your music collection worth a fortune? Better insure it then. | BitterWallet

App Store – ON Voicefeed – a smarter voicemail

OCZ Technology 120GB Agility 3 SSD (525mb Read/500mb Write) 6Gb/s 2.5″ Solid State Drive – £95.98 Delivered (80p per GB) @ DABS – Hot UK Deals

Buy Manhattan Freesat HD Install Bundle from our Digital TV Receivers range – Tesco.com

iClarified – Apple News – Yellow Pages App Gets Free Turn-By-Turn Navigation

John Lewis (Yes, the Shop) Launches Broadband Packages | Gizmodo UK

iPhone & iPad Mobile App Remote Desktop Solution | LogMeIn Ignition

LENOVO B320 21″ All-in-One PC at cheap prices | Pcworld

HP Photosmart 5515 Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer at cheap prices | Pcworld

Episode 115 – Arrivederci Roma – Hullo Birmingham

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:11:43 +0000

Back from my hold in Sunny Italy! I rattle about the Ideal Home exhibition, and the upcoming Gadget Show Live!

Boingo

The Gadget Show Live 2012

eBay: BlackBerry PlayBook 16GB, Wi-Fi, 7in – Black

Facebook Plays Offense and Defense by Buying Instagram – NYTimes.com

Supreme Commander 2 touches down on the Mac | Macworld

Apple Flashback virus outbreak tackled – Telegraph

Titanic was high-tech marvel of its time – Computerworld

AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n – Apple Store (UK)

iPhone Skins, Laptop Skins, iPod Skins, DS Skins, iPod, Laptop and iPhone Covers-Cases | Create A Custom Skin With Wrappz UK for £5 discount use ACDE55

HulloMail™

Land Air Sea Warfare – Command and conquer gigantic mega units in this new real time strategy game.

Instacast for iPad – Enjoy your Podcasts – Vemedio

Episode 114 – UK in 2012? Expensive pasties and no petrol!

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:41:12 +0000

Back after a short break – I sort of explain why, I chat about my new iPad, ICS on the Galaxy S2, data bills on holiday and getting the best deal locally on eBay.

Cameron NOT eating a Pasty recently

Nest | The Learning Thermostat | Home

Great low-cost Mac software | Macworld

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/03/hands-on-with-the-only-raspberry-pi-left-in-london/

Old Maps Online

Grippy Pad – buy at Firebox.com

iPad Questions and Answers – Apple Store (U.S.)

All the iPad Apps Updated for the New iPad’s Retina Display | Gizmodo UK

Local eBay Deals Mapper

UK and Sweden may investigate ‘misleading’ iPad 4G advertisements | The Verge

BBC News – EU acts to end ‘rip off’ roaming charges

Episode 113 – I was on my way to the Wood Marylebone when…

admin — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:55:19 +0000

A tale of woe, but great customer service from 2 Companies save the day! I also ponder wether an upgrade to the new iPad makes sense (what do you think?)

Apple: A history of one of the world’s most valuable companies – The Washington Post

Apple – Apple Events – Apple Special Event March 2012

Staples : ql560+label+printer

Brother Label Printer and Microsoft Word

iClarified – Apple News – International iPads Won’t Work on LTE Networks in Europe But Will Work on AT&T

Turn an Old Computer into a Networked Backup, Streaming, or Torrenting Machine with FreeNAS

Smart Tools – Android Apps on Google Play

Episode 112 – iPad 3 – will it be an eyeful?

admin — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:54:45 +0000

A discussion on the making of the 3 Geek videos, plus listeners’ emails, and a quick prediction about the keynote on Wednesday March 7th.

Screencast-O-Matic – Free online screen recorder for instant screen capture video sharing.

Reflection App For Mac Launches: AirPlay Mirror From iOS To OS X, Seamlessly — AppAdvice

iFlashdrive

http://www.imwatch.it/uk-en/smartwatch/specs/

http://gradualpanic.com/

London Mac User Group

iOnRoad Turns Your Old Car into a High-Tech Safety Machine | TPN.tv

Apple TV stock shortages appear, sources say new model imminent | The Verge

Video 03 – 2 minutes on Organising Folders in iOS

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:58:53 +0000

A very short video this one on folders in iOS, also testing the capability of a new OSX app called reflections http://reflectionapp.com/

Cool isn’t it?

I also used a headset with this video, and the sound quality is sooo much better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E60xzsg_x94

Watch out for an audio podcast this weekend!

Video 02 – Cleaning up those dirty tracks!

admin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:58:30 +0000

Sort out your music collection for once and for all with the help of 2 programs for the Apple Mac.

Coverscout and Tune Up!

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmNKZdNyjU

Episode 111 – The sun has got his hat on!

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:18:57 +0000

After a beautiful day with the temperature soaring to 17 degrees here in Berkshire – welcome to another show from iconfessimageek.com!

Screencast-O-Matic – Free online screen recorder for instant screen capture video sharing.

http://edri.org/scarlet_sabam_win

http://edri.org/sabam_netlog_win

Boingo Hotspot Blog | The Official Blog For Boingo Wireless

The Mu | The Folding Plug

Britain Gets Screwed Again as Netflix Shows Just How Unbalanced It Really Is With More US Exclusives | Gizmodo UK

Join The Big Switch to help cut your energy bills | Which?

http://tapbots.com/software/pastebot/

Video 01 – Plex

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:44:05 +0000

A Video?

Yes, a video!

Don’t worry – this isn’t replacing the audio podcast – this is the first of an occasional series of Video training/Reviews.

I’ll publish this one to both YouTube and iTunes as a test.

I’m not using fancy equipment here folks! This is recorded in my front room using the iSight Camera and the internal mic, but still, any feedback would be welcome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZR0e8D-CAY

Episode 110 – Double length for your listening pleasure

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:14:28 +0000

After missing a show, I am back with a vengeance! This show covers a Samsung Galaxy S2 root, Apple TV jailbreak, Mountain Lion, and your internet freedom!

WordPress › Support » 500 Internal Server Error at wp-admin after install

xda-developers – View Single Post – Permanently Fix SGS2 Echo and Digital Noise Reduction/Cancellation Problems

Samsung Galaxy S2 Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Firmware Leaks (+Installation Steps)

Galaxy S II General – xda-developers

The Young Aussie Entrepeneur Who Aims to Crush the UK High Street With His Super-Cheap TVs, Tablets and Cameras | Gizmodo UK

The Best Daily Deals in National, UK – Logic3 plc – Logic3 PowerSleeve for iPhone 4

Time Machine – Troubleshooting

How to jailbreak Apple TV 4.4.4 using Seas0nPass – untethered (tutorial)

Home | FireCore

ThinkGeek announces 8-bitty wireless controller for iPad, iPhone | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

BBC News – Users warned as RnBXclusive.com shut down by police

BBC News – Patent wars: Stripping the iPhone bare

BBC News – Patents: Apple wins over Motorola in ‘slide-to-unlock’ ruling

Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion preview: Notification Center, iMessage, AirPlay and more | The Verge

JBL Spot 2.1 Speakers – White Currys £49.97 – Hot UK Deals

JBL Jembe 2.0 Computer Speaker System

Out Of Sight Bracket for the Apple TV

Episode 109 – Are there any British “Pawn Stars”?

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:11:20 +0000

You need to listen to this podcast before the title makes sense! Tonight I talk Apple, TV, and PDFs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN5jPQdJXYE

App Store – Sky Go

Sky announces new Internet TV service, available in first half of 2012 | The Verge

Pawn Stars — History.com TV Episodes, Schedule, & Video

American Pickers — History.com TV Episodes, Schedule, & Video

American Restoration — History.com TV Episodes, Schedule, & Video

About Storage Wars – aetv.com

Shipping Wars – Episodes, Video & Schedule – aetv.com

http://www.ibvpn.com/

olloclip(™)

iStopMotion for iPad Takes Best of Show and Editor’s Choice Awards at Macworld | iWorld 2012

Tripod Mount Holder Stand for iPhone Cell Phone Camera

Free Email PDF Converter to convert documents like word to PDF via email

Smile’s PDFpen for iPad Is A Powerful 1.0 Version

Save2PDF (for iPad) Review & Rating | PCMag.com

How-To: Set up a home file server using FreeNAS — Engadget

Episode 108 – Keep Calm and Use Absinthe

admin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:13:01 +0000

Ever jailbroken your iPhone/iPad? I talk about what happened when I tried Absinthe (not the drink the app!)

Eastman Kodak Files for Bankruptcy – NYTimes.com

Kodak to Compensate Instant Camera Owners – New York Times

Kodak Instamatic X-35 camera with GE Magicube Flash Cubes | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

Mr. Martin’s Web Page – Camera Museum – 126 Cameras

Kodak Picture Kiosk – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 4S and iPad 2 via Absinthe A5 | PCWorld

Top Jailbreak iPad Apps | Best iPad Apps, Cases and Development

SOPA, PIPA, Online Piracy Lead Week’s Security News – Security – News & Reviews – eWeek.com

OnLive Desktop | Gradual Panic!

Slow internet speeds during peak times. Virgin sta… – Help & Support Forum

App Store – Keep Calm…

I made an appearance on the BagelTechNetwork on Thursday…

THE BAGEL TECH NETWORK – » Pragmatic Piracy

Episode 107 – If I put CES in the title will I get more listeners?

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:36:24 +0000

A review of CES (well a mini review!). A quick ramble about Netflix’s launch in the UK, and I excited about my new toy!

The Netflix Versus LoveFilm SmackDown: Which One is Worth Your Money? | Gizmodo UK

D-Link’s All In One Mobile Companion is gonna lighten the load of your checked baggage — Engadget

Samsung’s WiFi-enabled cameras hands-on — Engadget

Roku coming to UK and Ireland at end of January | The Verge

Amazon Link to the Roku – preorder now!!

Never Get Dust Or Bubbles Under Your Screen Protector Again With The PureTek Roll-On [CES 2012] | Cult of Mac

Sony SmartWatch hands-on (video) — Engadget

Sony Ericsson reveals SmartWatch and other Xperia goodies for Android accessorizing — Engadget

ThinkGeek :: iCADE – iPad Arcade Cabinet

iCade – Amazon link

imame4all – MAME for ALL iOS and Android Devices. – Google Project Hosting

How to Use Skype On a Plain Old HDMI-Equipped TV | Gizmodo UK

12 Reasons Why I Love My ReadyNAS Duo Network Attached Storage Device

Starbucks launches ‘pay by app’ for iPhone users – Telegraph

Episode 106 – Happy New Year!

admin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:01:30 +0000

Back after a short break – a catch up on all the geek news in my life.

Video below is Todd Cochrane of the TPN talking about his impending trip to CES.

TPN.tv

Comet sued by Microsoft after chain sold 94,000 ‘counterfeit’ Windows recovery discs to customers | Mail Online

App Store – iFixit: Repair Manual

iPhone 4 Teardown & Screen Replacement Video Directions by DirectFix.com – YouTube

How to upgrade tracks to iTunes Match, fast | Macworld

Apple clarifies iTunes Match with new setup guide, walkthrough video, FAQs | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence

Lock Screen Weather for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Generate a Random Name – Fake Name Generator

Retrode, a USB game cartridge adapter – Boing Boing

iPhone 4S Users Consume Double the Data of iPhone 4 Users

Find My Car Smarter by FMC Smart — Kickstarter

Find My Car Smarter uses Bluetooth Smart to locate your car | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Griffin GC23126 Powerdock Dual Charger for iPad, iPod and iPhone

Episode 105 – iTunes Match, will it set the World on fire?

admin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:03:54 +0000

Two tales of woe, one has a happy ending. A review of iTunes Match, Sygic GPS software and CamerAlert (it alerts you of speed cameras, believe it or not!)

Happy Xmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzzxZRXJPQg

iTunes Match: What you need to know | Macworld

TuneUp | Fix Mislabeled Song Info, Add Album Art & More

Mac software for finding, applying, editing and printing album covers

The Always Up-To-Date Guide to Rooting Any Android Phone

SIM only | SIM only contracts | SIM only deals from Tesco mobile

App Store – CamerAlert

Sygic | Sygic GPS Navigation for Android

CamerAlert : iPhone, iPad, iPod and Android Speed Camera Warning System

CamerAlert – Apps on Android Market

App Store – MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition

Episode 104 – I have a rant and go Orange!

admin — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:48:35 +0000

Even in the midst of a recession, a major telecoms company tries to scam it’s loyal customers with an unethical price rise. I cal so chat about online, the new Xbox Dashboard update with Sky included.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrsoluSjuKc

Xbox 360 Dashboard update review (fall 2011) — Engadget

Run Windows applications on a Mac with WinOnX | Techgoondu

OnLive – Android Market

OnLive Announces New iOS App That Offers Console-Quality Gaming On The Go | Cult of Mac

Tesco rolls out more free WiFi to stores | BitterWallet

The Orange price rise saga – is complaining getting us anywhere? | Which? Conversation

How to Check Your App Data Usage in iOS 5

App Store – Data Usage

iTunes – 12 Days of Christmas by [?] – Download iTunes – 12 Days of Christmas in the iTunes App Store

Advent Calendar 2011

Jawbone Up owners eligible for full refund, can keep the troubled band | The Verge

Renault debuts R-Link, an in-dash Android system with app market — Engadget

The Tracktor – Amazon Price Tracker

Online shopping in UK. Where to buy the most watched and most popular items for sale on eBay from Rikimbo

THE BAGEL TECH NETWORK – » Flushing a Billion

Logitech Harmony® One Advanced Universal Remote – (EU Plug) only £62.10 delivered @ Logitech – HotUKDeals

Episode 103 – Probably The Best Xmas Tree Stand in the World!

admin — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:36:40 +0000

An attempt at putting together a Geek Diary for a Saturday before Xmas – talking about Quidco, Xmas presents, cheap TVs, and Xmas tree stands!

F&H FH1902 19in LED Ultra Thin Eco TV/Monitor.. | Ebuyer.com

Griffin Slap – Arm pack for digital player – silicone – blue – iPod nano (6G)

Online Satellite/TV/FM/DAB Cable, Leads and Connectors sales.

Oregon Scientific Wireless Indoor and Outdoor Thermometer

Krinner Vario Christmas Tree Stand (the best in the World!)

Quidco – earn money while you spend!

Halolite 20-60VA Low Voltage Electronic Transformer 240V | Screwfix.com

Episode 102 – Black Friday post Thanksgiving pre Xmas Gadget Gift Guide Special

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:44:59 +0000

A new smartphone appears in the Geek household! A fantastic podcast manager recommendation from Steve for iOS , and a profile setter for Android phones, PLUS the Xmas TOP TEN Gadget Guide!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m9OCkoCV3I

BBC iPlayer – Stephen Fry on the Phone: Creating the Network

App Store – Downcast

Androinica » 9 Ways to Make Android automatic with Tasker

Setting Profiles Full – Android Market

10gb free storage

Top 10 Gadgets

10. UP by Jawbone | Make Healthy Living Fun & Social

9. Bose® SoundDock® digital music system: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

8. Parrot AR.Drone Wi-Fi Quadricopter for iPhone / iPod / iPad

7. iWatchz Q Collection Wrist Strap for iPod Nano 6G: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

6. Clingo Phone and Media Stand: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

5. Juice Pack Air Case and Rechargable Battery for iPhone: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

4. Kindle e-Reader with Wi-Fi, 6″ Display

3. CableJive xlSync Extra Long 2M Dock Cable for Apple Devices – Black

2. OnLive Game System

1. TeckNet® Dual-Port iEP380 5000mAh 1.5Amp Output: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Episode 101 – Are You Being Served?

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:20:44 +0000

A couple of listener rants on poor customer service. This podcast is being produced on a 7 year old Powerbook G4 – what do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSz3lU2w5N0

IconSettings for iPhone: Like Having the Best Jailbreak App on Your iPhone Without Jailbreaking | Gizmodo UK

iTunes Match goes live: sync up your entire music collection for $24.99 a year — Engadget

Wired GamePad for Mac

How To Use an Xbox 360 Wireless Controller With Your Mac | Mac|Life

BBC News – Why is Google in love with Bletchley Park?

Minecraft Pocket Edition for iPad and iPhone Goes Live Worldwide Tonight – Mac Rumors

iOS 5.0.2 Is Coming Next Week To Solve Your iPhone 4S Battery Problems, While iOS 5.1 Will Make Siri Even Smarter [Rumor] | Cult of Mac

MSN Onpoint: How She Does It

Apple iPhone Micro USB Adapter – Apple Store (UK)

SCOtutor for Lion – Video Tutorial

HTC Sensation XE vs Samsung Galaxy SII Mobile Comparison | Android Advices

Episode 100 – My Maiden Century

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:05:24 +0000

Back from holiday – and what a contrast – from hot sunny days, to cold, dark nights!

I share my experiences with a new laptop purchase – and it may come as a surprise!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHuWNNsPWXo

Plex releases new mobile and desktop clients, gets Flash and Silverlight support to go with a fancy new UI — Engadget

How not to buy an iPhone overseas | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Google easter eggs: 15 best hidden jokes – Telegraph

Jolicloud

iPhone 4S battery issue reminiscent of ‘antennagate’ | Apple Talk – CNET News

Peter Cochrane’s Blog: Poor wi-fi? Cook up a better signal with a baking tray - silicon.com

RetroMacCast – Where great old Macs live again!

PowerBook G4 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Always Up-to-Date Guide to Building a Hackintosh [OS X 10.7.2 UniBeast]

ITV to team up with Netflix? | BitterWallet

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – £24.99 (After £10 cashback) if bought via the SimplyTap App @ App Store / Android Marketplace – Expired – HotUKDeals

Forza Motorsport

Music by Zahara!

Episode 99 – Cape of Good Hope

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:16:59 +0000

2nd week of my holiday, and my 2nd podcast from South Africa, albeit this time from one of my favourite cities, Cape Town.

A pretty short podcast, as bandwidth down here is pretty limiting.

I discuss iPhone 4s battery life, the updates to Plex and Runkeeper, and a brief summary of the gps app for South Africa called NavFree.

Episode 98 – Podcasting by the Pool

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:54:40 +0000

I’m on holiday, but I’m attempting to publish a couple of podcasts using just the iPad and a couple of Apps!

I talk about how I’m recording this, the gadgets I’ve taken with me on holiday, the New Steve Jobs Book, Plex, and Netflix.

Edit: Having some problems with bandwidth uploading the show. The Audio Memos app seems to only get 90% of the way. Maybe the shows are too big? Trying again this morning (Wednesday). That’s why this show is Geek98b! After compression a little quality was lost. Please let me know what you think?

Top of the Pops!

admin — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:40:08 +0000

Just a quick post to say thank you to all my listeners, after noticing that the “I Confess I’m a Geek!” podcast is the 12th most popular Gadget Podcast in the UK!

I’d really appreciate a review on iTunes to keep the ranking as high as possible.

Thanks

David

Episode 97 – Siri, I haven’t a clue!

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:04:48 +0000

An honest review of the iPhone 4S., with a couple of iOS5 tips. plus 3 iOS game recommendations (recommended by my 7 year old!), for the upcoming half term holiday!

iCloud deleted Outlook calendar: Apple Support Communities

App Store – Where’s My Water?

App Store – SPY mouse

iPad’s Big Screen Makes Brilliant Scribblenauts Shine | GameLife | Wired.com

Episode 96 – It’s iCloud and iOS5 overload!

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:28:44 +0000

It’s all gone crazy tonight with the release of iCloud and iOS5. Will Apple’s servers last?? Plus extending your WiFi, the Parallels app, PDFpen, and how to save £50 off an iPod at Amazon.

TP-Link TL-WA730RE 150MBPS Wireless Lite N Range Extender, Atheros, 1T1R, 2.4GHz

Om.Is.Me » iPod Nano watch madness

iWatchz — Wear your iPod nano like a watch. | Welcome

Amazon.co.uk: How to Save £50 off the price of your device with Audible.co.uk

iPod Nano at Amazon

Apple releases AirPort Utility for iOS – iPad/iPhone – Macworld UK

PDFpen: PDF Editing Software for Mac OS X

App Store – Parallels Mobile

Apple releases iOS 5 and iCloud – Telegraph

Appearance on Bagel Tech Big Show

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 10:51:29 +0000

Thanks to Ewen for inviting me on last week’s show.

The Bagel Tech Big Show 6th October 2011

Direct Link to Bagel Tech Website

Episode 95 – Beer, Curry and an iPhone 4s

admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:52:03 +0000

iMikey, Ewan Rankin, and Don Mcallister

Tonight after a night of free flowing beer, and spicy curry, I reflect on yesterday’s keynote from Apple. I also discuss a great way to save money on Parallels 7!

The Bagel Tech Podcast from the night

Om.Is.Me » iPod Nano watch madness

Apple (United Kingdom) – iPhone 4S – The most amazing iPhone yet.

The iPhone 4S in depth: More than just a vestigial ‘S’ • The Register

BuyDig.com – iGo Pico Multi Media Pocket Projector

Double the Speed for Half the Price - The Parallels 7 link!

BundleBox Referral Link – please use if you want to sign up!

Navigon 70 plus 20th Anniversary Edition Sat Nav Review

admin — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:58:36 +0000

The nice people at Navigon, sent me a review unit of their 20th Anniversary Edition Plus 70 GPS unit last week. This was great timing, as we were due to drive up to Shropshire for a few days. Great test conditions!

The screen itself is a 16:9 format thats 4.3 inches in size, so thats a nice widescreen format. It has a power button on top, and a micro USB port and charging light on the bottom. Other kit included was a car charger, mains charger, a great hard case, plus of course the windscreen mount.

With all their years of making SatNav units you would think Navigon know how to make the windscreen mount. They do! It’s one of the best mounts I’ve seen, with a nice click mount that makes popping on the car screen simplicity itself.

After charging the unit, it was time to attach it to the mount and see how the software matched up!

After entering our destination – a 7 digit postcode (there are still lots of in car systems that still don’t accept these), a choice of three routes were given, with all the journey lengths and estimated journey times. This was good to see, as we were in no hurry to get there, so I chose the scenic route.

For a change, it wasn’t me driving, it was my wife, so I though I would let her follow directions and give me her opinion!

She loved the clear sound of the units. the male voice was clear and easy to listen to. It calculated the routes really quickly, and corrected any errors made without breaking into sweat. The Text to Speech function also meant that street names and road numbers were used giving the route directions. Nice touch!

Something I hadn’t seen before in a GPS unit was the “tourist” option. If you past near a historical or some other site/location worthy of note, the voice would give you a quick summary of it’s significance.

During the journey the display was very good at indicating lane changes, using a Navigon technology called Active Lane Assistant. This is basically a pictorial representation of the road (motorway usually)’ including the lane change and all the appropriate signage. This made taking the wrong route nearly impossible.

For all those out there with a few points on their licence, you will be relieved to hear that the full safety camera database is loaded, although I did notice a couple were incorrect. These can be updated though for free in the first 3 months of ownership. Another feature that attracted attention on our journey were the speed warnings. This caused great mirth, as it kept telling off my wife for driving too fast! Quite right too ( saved me a job!)

When approaching you final destination, it was very easy to tap the screen and ask for the nearest car park.

All in all a very neat piece of kit. Along with the fact that there are maps of 23 European countries included, the price of £159.99 makes this look like great value. But there’s more…

This price also includes a further 8 free map updates, the home charger with £34.99, and the travel pouch.

Available from here

Episode 94 – My SqueezeBox is Top of the Pops

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:42:28 +0000

It seems like its been a long week, but it’s only Monday! I take the new Onlive games service for a spin, chat about the Logitech Squeezebox, and a very quick road test of the Roadhawk blackbox for your car!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VlPkLtfKT8

Welcome to OnLive

Logitech Squeezebox

DC-1 in car camera black box recorder – RoadHawk Driver Safety Camera

App Store – Ployd Black Box

TripIt – Travel Itinerary – Trip Planner

Episode 93 – Windows 8 off the mark?

admin — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:28:22 +0000

Three reviews this week you lucky people!

HP Touchpad talked about, Navigon 70 plus satnav reviwed, and an honest opinion of the beginnings of Windows 8.

Hands On with CyanogenMod 7 for Android | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Navigon 70 PLUS GPS

How to Download and Install Windows 8 Into a Virtual Machine | PCWorld

iWatchz — Wear your iPod nano like a watch. | Q Collection – Black

MadPad

App Store – KLEXi HD

TV Set Top Boxes – Google Docs

MacUpdate Promo Fall Bundle – 10 Mac apps bundled for only $49.99

Mac App Store – Screeny

Turn Screen Captures into Tutorials and Software Documentation

Episode 92 – Podcast Pops and Mr Popper’s Penguins

admin — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:02:24 +0000

A few seconds of poor sound quality tonight – sorry about that!

Some app recommendations, an update on the whole HP Amazon Touchpad partial refund debacle – and some general chit chat.

Speedtrap warning app for Android

Import POI-Factory camera CVS files for use with Google Navigator and others! | POI Factory

Speed Trap Sharing System – Trapster

TP-Link TL-PA211KIT 200Mbps Mini Powerline Ethernet Adapter – Twin Pack

Official RWC 2011 Site

Star Trek PADD for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Episode 91 – Off the Grid

admin — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 20:31:21 +0000

No internet, a falling out with Amazon. and a broken Android phone. It’s all go here!

Billion BiPAC 7800N Dual WAN ADSL2+/Broadband Wireless-N Gigabit Firewall Modem Router

Amazon.co.uk: Customer Discussions: NEW Touchpad Refund Thread

Amazon refuses Touchpad refunds after price slash frenzy • The Register

Got a slow HP TouchPad? Here are 3 easy ways to speed it up | HP Touchpad | Scoop.it

Mobiles.co.uk – HTC Desire S, £30pm /12 months – 3 months free + £30 Quidco!

How to S-Off and Root the HTC Desire S [HD] – A step-by-step tutorial – YouTube

HTC Desire S – xda-developers

Parrot Asteroid to drive music, Android from your dash this October (video) — Engadget

This $25 Tiny Thumb PC Can Actually Run Quake III

Are iOS and a radar detector a good pair? A look at Cobra iRadar | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Using Apple OS X Lion Server as a Home Server (Part 1) | We Got Served

This Is What Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Looks Like

Bicycle Tutor – Bike Repair Video Tutorials

Bluetooth Headset Hack

AndyPad.co.uk – Tomorrow’s Generation of Tablets, Today.

Amazon UK and the case of the missing Customer Care

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:38:03 +0000

It’s been a frustrating week for many would be TouchPad owners.

When HP announced that they were discontinuing their tablet sales, most people were aware that there would be some sort of promotional activity to clear the million unsold units sitting in warehouses all round the world.

So, last Monday HP announced a reduction to $99 of it’s 16gb model. I tried like many others to buy a unit from US online retailers. I though I had succeeded with Barnes and Noble, but they rejected the card and then emailed me with an out of stock apology.

Things then started to move with UK retailers.

Dixons, Currys, and PC World were the first to move, then Carphone Warehouse, then Best Buy. At every turn I was foiled, I either got there too late, or the websites collapsed under the strain and my basket emptied. At about 10pm the only major retailers left who had not reduced prices were Argos, play.com, and Amazon. John Lewis had sold their units earlier, but stocks were very low. One online retailer, MISCO, mysteriously lost 200 units of stock at the full price, which then miraculously reappeared on eBay under a pseudonym.

It was now 11pm, and I then made the conscious decision to buy a Touchpad from Amazon at full price, with the option of returning it within 30 days if no refund was forthcoming. After I had gone to bed, in fact 5 minutes after, at midnight, Amazon reduced all their prices. Dozens of lucky, tired shoppers managed to add one to their basket at the special £89 price.

By next morning all retailers had reduced their prices. Play ran out very quickly, and the bricks and mortar stores were inundated with plucky shoppers. One of my fellow tweeters had his sons queuing up at 6am, strategically placed outside 2 Carphone Warehouses. Unfortunately all the stock had gone before they opened? The Internet became awash with stories of reserved items disappearing, some stock not being reduced, and tales of some unscrupulous customers walking away with multiple units for resale on eBay.

eBay kicked off with units fetching well over £200. That was the only option left to many shoppers.

By Tuesdays close, something strange happened at Amazon. Remember all those successful purchases. Many were cancelled. No explanation, no apology. Then one, by one, all the retailers started to email customers that had purchased Touchpads at full price, with an offer of a partial refund to cover the price drop. This was on the back of an announcement by HP that they would be rebating all retailers with the reduction, those retailers, most of them small, who didn’t want to do this, could return all their stock to HP.

So, well done to Dixons, PC World, Currys, Tesco, Dabs, and even Play.com ( after a bit of customer pressure). The one retailer who hasn’t complied yet at time of writing is Amazon UK. This is despite the US parent, offering to do this from nearly the beginning. So one full week later, my touchpad has arrived, but is sitting all forlorn on a cupboard, unopened, ready to be returned.

This could be my last ever purchase from Amazon. Sorry Amazon, but before this, I truly though you were one of the best online retailers on the planet. Perhaps I am being too harsh, but I’ve never known a retailer of this size to be completely out of step with everybody else.

I am waiting now to an email that I sent to the managingdirector@amazon.co.uk , a Christopher North. I suggest that you do the same, if you had your Touchpad cancelled, or you are waiting for a partial refund.

I’ll let you know what happens!

Edit: it’s now Thursday 1st September and Amazon STILL haven’t made a decision!

Episode 90 – The Great Touchpad Hunt!

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:40:19 +0000

Wasted hours trying to get a £99 Touchpad today. Wether I’ve succeeded, we’ll have to wait and see!

Sponsor: Carbonite.com 15 Day Free Trial. Get yours today at Carbonite.com!

HP will ‘discontinue operations for webOS devices’, may spin off Personal Systems Group - Engadget

Dell Swarm UK or Dell Coupon Codes Re-Invented

Dell Swarm UK – Swarm, Share and Save in UK!

OpenDNS – What is OpenDNS and Why You Absolutely Need It ?

A Faster Web–for Free – NYTimes.com

JollysFastVNC

SRS Labs :: SRS iWOW Adaptor for iPod $59.99

Bracketless tablet computer mounts. iPad mount with vacuum mounts from SeaSucker

Logitech.com – Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 for Mac®

How to Factory Reset your Android and Prep it for Sale – YouTube

Coca-Cola Future Flames | Olympic Torch Relay Nominations and CokeZone Rewards

Acer Liquid Metal review | from TechRadar UK’s expert reviews of Mobile phones

Clingo – Universal Mobile Device Accessories

Episode 89 – A Bit Short of News

admin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:34:05 +0000

All in the title really. There’s not much to talk about, except a wet weekend in Berkshire and me new magic track pad.

Magic Tackpad

Sponsor: Carbonite.com 15 Day Free Trial. Get yours today at Carbonite.com!

Dell kills off the Streak 5 mini tablet range – Digital Lifestyle – Macworld UK

How to learn to use gestures in Lion | Operating Systems | Working Mac | Macworld

http://theappwhisperer.com/2011/04/21/new-call-of-duty-in-mac-app-store/

HP TouchPad | Tablet PC | HP® Official Site

Mobile Applications – Bloomberg

MONOPOLY for iPad for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Orange | a new film from iTunes, every Thursday, on us

ITV Player

Episode 88 – I Predict a Riot!

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:17:48 +0000

A Riot of chatter about tech that is!

Carbonite:Sponsor

Plex for Samsung [licensed for non-commercial use only] / How-To install Plex Widget

OS X Lion wants you to never press ‘Save’ again; here’s how it works – MacDailyNews – Welcome Home

The Gadget Show Live 2011 – Welcome to the Gadget Show Live

SD card reader not working on iMac: Apple Support Communities

Apple quietly launches new $999 educational iMac | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Orange to give away free films with iTunes | BitterWallet

LightwaveRF – Home Control made easy

LightwaveRF Wifi-Link

Tiny Tower for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Audible for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Audible for Android – Android app on AppBrain

Episode 87 – Geek hacks his own phone – shock!

admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:06:08 +0000

I tread dangerous territory and nearly brick my android phone! Skype comes to iPad!

CyanogenMod 7

Carbonite:Sponsor

Guide: How to S-Off, Root and install CWM. On a Wildfire running Froyo 2.2.1 – Android Forums

http://www.appbrain.com/app/weather-toggle-widget/com.androidapps.widget.weather2

CyanogenMod | Android Community Rom based on Gingerbread

Xcom Global’s Euro SIM solves your European data conundrum: $13 per day, works in 40 countries — Engadget

Opinion: Can an iPad replace a PC? – Digital Lifestyle – Macworld UK

BBC News – BT ordered to block links to Newzbin 2 website

Björk Wants Pirates To Crack And Convert Apple Apps | TorrentFreak

Infographic: The Evolution of the Geek | Geek.com

Skype Brings Video Chat, Instant Messaging, and SMS to the iPad

Report: Apple iCloud Pricing Revealed | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Dual Sim

http://www.rain-alarm.com/

Episode 86 – Google+ is all of a twitter!

admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:50:23 +0000

Actual Cup of Tea as used in Episode 86

Back from my holidays in rainy/sunny Cornwall (depending on what time it was). I talk about the new Lion OS, Google+, and some news snippets. I also invest in an EyeTV USB tuner for the MacMini – I was surprised how good it was!

Jetpack

Sponsor: Carbonite.com 15 Day Free Trial. Get yours today at Carbonite.com!

Their First Tweets: Famous Tweeters First Words

Windows Phone 7 Connector now puts your Home Server in your hand — Engadget

Orange UK offers daily 30MB for £3 roaming option for fee weary travelers — Engadget

Five ways Apple can improve the Mac App Store | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

How Do I Make the Most of Google+?

Create A Bootable Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Flash Drive – SubRosaSoft.com Inc.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: the Ars Technica review

All the Lion reviews fit to publish | One FPS

The OS X Lion Survival Guide

Mac OS X Lion: This Is Not the Future We Were Hoping For

iPhone/iPad app news: Sky Go arrives on the App Store | T3 magazine

Watch 30 Years of the Space Shuttle In One Single Launch

EyeTV DTT Mac

Wet and Windy

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:08:31 +0000

So here I am on holiday at last in wet and windy Cornwall. The weather could be worse I suppose, but not much!

So we are dependent on making sure that our indoors entertainment is up to the mark. We are lucky that the house where we are staying has a great plasma tv with freeview.

Luckily I have the HDMI dock connector for iPhone/iPad – we have had great fun playing Real Racing 2 HD on the large screen. The quality of the graphics and gameplay nearly matches the Xbox experience. We also managed to watch a couple of movies that I had converted using iFlicks. I converted them to 720dpi and the reproduction on the 50 inch screen was impressive.

The next challenge was getting a decent wifi connection. None in the house unbelievably in this day and age. So I had to whip out the MiFi unit (huawei e585) and my collection of data sim cards.

No 3 signal, no Vodafone signal, very weak Orange 3G connection, but O2 saved the day. Really strong signal, in fact, stronger than at home. The problem was getting it activated, as it was an iPad microsim. So, all I did was pop it into the iPad, purchase a 2gb package, copy the settings and pop it into the MiFi dongle using a microsim adaptor. I realized though that you can’t have multiple settings on this unit, so had to delete all but the O2 settings for it to work.

After set up then, and using speedtest.net to check I am getting download speeds of nearly 3mb per second. Plenty enough for a decent Internet experience. What’s great as well though is that up to 5 devices can share the connection. Just got to watch the bandwidth !

I’m on holiday! (nearly)

admin — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:35:57 +0000

Just 2 days left at work, and then I’m on holiday!

I’ll just be taking the iPad, so no podcast on Monday. Saying that though, I will try and go back to the old days of dropping in the odd blog post with comments and updates on tech news as it happens.

Still no sign of Lion OS. Sods law it will appear while I am away!

Had to uninstall the iOS beta from the iPad as a couple of my favourite apps stopped working. One of them was the calendar. Bit of a deal breaker really.

Packing all the things I need for the holiday. Two battery packs, loads of leads, Bluetooth speakers, the iPad mains charger, USB headphones ( I might record something), and the hdmi connector for the iPhone/iPad . Tested this yesterday, and the playback of movies stored on my. Phone on the large screen tv was more than adequate. Handy for entertainment if the weather is not great. ( forecast looking poor)

Episode 85 – The News of the World Souvenir Edition

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:49:19 +0000

HMRC targeting eBay and entrepreneurs

HMRC stay silent over eBay stings | BitterWallet

BT Comtrend Powerline HD Ethernet Female Kit (055866) – dabs.com

Apple ‘orders 15m iPhone 5s for September’ – Telegraph

Skype comes to Facebook, and Facebook comes to Skype (update: available now!) — Engadget

Ofcom Maps – Broadband speeds map

Create A Bootable Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Flash Drive – SubRosaSoft.com Inc.

User Manuals – Product Manuals, Owners Manual, PDF Download, Tips, Support & more – Retrevo Manuals

Wuala – Download – Secure Online Storage – Backup. Sync. Share. Access Everywhere.

Windows Live Mesh 2011

Acronis backup software and recovery services in UK. Backup and restore system software and PC system utilities for Windows and Linux OSs

Adding more than two comtrend powerline adapters – AVForums.com

Jabbakam | The IP camera community network

Mobile DropCopy for iPhone & iPod Touch | 10base-t interactive

DropCopy for Macintosh | 10base-t interactive

The Good Garage Scheme. Car service, car repairs and car servicing from the Good Garage Scheme.

greenMeter: iPhone/iPod Eco-driving App

YouTube – ‪Steve Jobs impersonator sells Tea in Taiwan‬‏

BBC News – US frequent flyer reaches 10 million miles

Extra Long Sync Cable for iPad, iPhone & iPod

Audience Survey

Episode 84 – It’s a Hard Drives Night!

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 20:44:54 +0000

It’s mostly about storage tonight, as I gloss over the biggest news story of the week, blab on about an article about Roundabouts, save you money on your phone bills, and discuss hard drives (some are quite big) on tonight’s show!

Google+ Hangouts Is the Best Free Group Video Chat We’ve Seen

Logitech Harmony One All in One Remote – £63.24 @Logitech store (with codes) – Expired – HotUKDeals

Buy.com UK: Weekly Deals

BBC News – Is the British roundabout conquering the US?

How Can I Breathe New Life Into My Old iPhone (or iPod touch)?

How Many Left?

Saving Money on International Calling | The Infographics Showcase

foxsatdisk – Simple HDD swap

Samsung Spin Point F4EG EcoGreen SATAII 2TB 32MB Cache Hard Drive <8.9ms 5400rpm – OEM

My Humax Blog » WD15EADS

Deals on Washing Machines, Dishwashers, Laptops, TVs | Comet Auctions

Bumblebee Auctions

0870 for iPhone and Android | Simon Maddox – Mobile Developer

Skycom – 0800 Wizard

Skycom – 118Wizard

macfuse – The Easiest and Fastest Way to Create File Systems for Mac OS X – Google Project Hosting

Episode 83 – In the Heat of the Night

admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:05:17 +0000

I’m hot and bothered! But I take time to talk through the new Road Angel app, Microsoft Kinect, and Time Capsule (the Apple back up solution that is, not something I buried at the bottom of my garden last night at 2 in the morning)

Road Angel App – For iPhone

Crown Kinect Sensor Camera TV Mount (Xbox360)

KinectHacks.net

KinectNUI enables Minority Report style interaction in Windows sans gloves (video) — Engadget

250 GB Xbox 360 hard drive on eBay (end time 15-Jul-11 16:34:22 BST)

Dropbox – Simplify your life

Join DROPBOX for free!

NETGEAR ReadyNAS • View topic – AFP Out Of Date In OS X Lion

QNAP NAS Community Forum • View topic – Time Machine backup not working with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion DP4

Pick One of These Smart People-Approved Networked Storage Alternatives

Mac Accessories – Apple Store (UK) – Time Capsule refurbs!

Fantastical adds better Alfred support | Gothick.org.uk

CeX (UK) Buy & Sell Games, Phones, DVDs, Blu-ray, Electronics, Computing, Vision & CDs

O2 | iPhone Unlocking | Find out about unlocking your iPhone

iOS 5 beta 2 adds WiFi sync, OTA updates | ZDNet

Duke Nukem Forever coming to the Mac in August | Games | MacUser | Macworld

How to Build a Hackintosh Mini for a Less Expensive, Faster Mac

Admiral BoomChair PC Gaming chair £99.99 @ Boys Stuff – Expired – HotUKDeals

Carbon Copy Cloner – Home

Many Tricks – Moom app

Episode 82 – Head in the iClouds!

admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:40:21 +0000

A rant, a ramble and a couple of recommendations. A typical podcast really! Its with our head in the clouds I ponder the best apps and websites for plane travel!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmxQLVE0cPk&feature=player_embedded

Nintendo Wii U controller, first hands-on! (video) — Engadget

How to build your own AirPlay audio system | Home & Car Players | Playlist | Macworld

News: Kinect PC support officially out – ComputerAndVideoGames.com

Xbox News: Forza 4 info blowout: Kinect, Top Gear, Career mode, Gameplay – ComputerAndVideoGames.com

Why The iPad Made Me Ditch My iPhone For A Nokia Dumbphone [Opinion] | Cult of Mac

GateGuru

Airline Seating Charts – Best Airplane Seats – SeatGuru

TripIt – Travel Itinerary – Trip Planner

British Airways – The iPhone app

iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Travel Apps

pinkfroot – Home of Plane Finder, Ship Finder and more

5 Things You Shouldn’t Do in an Airport – The Planet D: Around the World Adventure Couple

Overhead Bin – Coffee, tea or tablet? Devices may soon trump seat-back entertainment

BONUS CONTENT!!

The Craziest Low Pass Flyby I’ve Ever Seen (Updated)

Episode 81 – Carry on Camping!

admin — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 22:16:16 +0000

Now that we seem to have some decent weather, I thought I would talk about some camping gadgets and apps. Also a shout out to a London Mac Group who are getting together on Monday!

Apple to unveil iCloud, iOS 5 on Monday, June 6 — Engadget

London Mac User Group |

http://www.woodnw1.com/

Hidden – The most advanced theft tracking software for your Mac.

Macbook gets stolen – thief gets caught

Affordable new Sonos system on the way | News | TechRadar UK

The alarm clock that believes that time is money | BitterWallet

Garmin in talks to buy Navigon? — Engadget

BBC News – Sony restores PlayStation network

http://www.parrot.com/asteroid

:: the whippit inn – carry on camping locations ::

Lighten up: camping gadgets | Travel | The Guardian

Carry on camping as Britons shun breaks abroad | Money | guardian.co.uk

Festivals

TentFinder for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Campers List for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

AA Caravan & Camping Guide 2011 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

https://chrome.google.com/webstore?hl=en-GB

Episode 80 – Britain’s Got Retro Talent!

admin — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:42:25 +0000

A blast from the past tonight with a bit of retro stuff!

NatWest Mobile banking for iPhone

first direct Mobile App – Overview

TomTom GPS app offers good maps, terrible interface

Fantastical improves the Mac desktop calendar experience

MCS Good Beach Guide

AirStash wireless flash drive (and iOS app) review — Engadget

www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2701211.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=tsid:11527|cc:|prd:2701211|cat:gifts+and+hobbies+%2F+branded+gifts+%2F+science+museum+%2F

Quidco iPhone app offers cashback for check-ins | BitterWallet

Kings Quest 1, 2, & 3 are Free to Download for Mac – Blast from the Past!

Boxer: The DOS game emulator that’s fit for your Mac.

Apple to unveil iCloud, iOS 5 on Monday, June 6 — Engadget

Old MS-DOS Games | Free Game Empire – Abandonware, Oldies, DOSBox Games Online, play or download

YouTube – Atari’s Greatest Hits for iPad and iPhone Review

iPhone 3GS specific ZX Spectrum emulator released on App Store | ZXGamer news | Pocket Gamer

Ion iCade Arcade Cabinet review — Engadget

Casey’s Contraptions™

Episode 79 – Rapture is also an Album by Blondie

admin — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:15:58 +0000

Very oblique reference to the “End of the World” in the title! A little chat about tablets, Google maps, and the other regular tech stuff!

BBC iPlayer – Secrets of the Superbrands: Technology

BBC News – Mobile wallet offered to UK shoppers

BBC News – Fake security software catches out Apple owners

BBC News – Footballer obtains Twitter disclosure order

Google Maps Just Got a Lot Better in Android and iOS Browsers

CultureLab: Can science fiction still predict the future?

BlackBerry PlayBook review — Engadget

Episode 78 – The Boy is Back in Town!

admin — Sun, 15 May 2011 20:56:15 +0000

I know, I know, it’s been two weeks since my last confession.Life at work though has ben very hectic, and I’m afraid it’s the job that pays the bills, so the podcast had to fall to one side for a week or so. But I’m now back, to news that Microsoft has bought Skype, Sony has been hacked, and everyone is sending their music to the cloud.

BBC News – Royal wedding: Spot yourself in our hi-def crowd picture

Newspaper thinktank predicted the iPad in 1994

HandBrake Batch – OSOMac OSOMac

Motivator: Create your own motivational posters!

Run everything in your house from your iPad | ZDNet

Synology DiskStation DS411j Peripheral review – Trusted Reviews

Microsoft’s $8bn Skype deal shocks analysts | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Sony is hacked again: Another 25m customers’ details stolen | Mail Online

About Music Beta by Google

Leaked: iPhone 5 Case Shows Edge-to-Edge Screen, Displaced Camera Flash

Logic 3 i-Station Base

Episode 77 – It’s a right Royal wedding!!

admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:57:48 +0000

No rants this week, but a celebration of THE wedding, a chat about bike apps, NAS and RIP John Sullivan.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kav0FEhtLug&feature=player_embedded

Crackle – Movies & TV for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

iPad arcade cabinet on sale, sold out | Accessories | Macworld

Synology NAS system

Finally, A Smart Cover Knockoff! (video) » M.I.C. Gadget

Joshua Topolsky

Gradual Panic!

Bike apps for the iPhone

Bike Mount for iPhone 4

BBC News – John Sullivan phrases: 10 of the best

The LlewBlog – Electric Cars – Zero Carbon Leaf drive

Sommer and Universal garage door remote controls for sale

BBC – Desert Island Discs – Find a castaway

Time Travel Explorer – Royal Westminster HD for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Channel 4 launch free catch-up app for iPad | BitterWallet

Episode 76 – Keep Calm and Carry On

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:58:23 +0000

Four rants to begin with this week! Then a bit of a ramble as usual, around news stories that “tickled my fancy”

The iPhone Killed the Flip Video Camera

Bloggers take legal action over Huffington Post sale | Media | guardian.co.uk

Arianna Huffington scorns ‘painful’ blogger lawsuit – Telegraph

LEGO.com MINDSTORMS : Home

Websites now offering hack-free iPhone unlocking

MagicPlan app magically creates interactive floor plans

Avatron Software: Air Display

12 Months of Mobile Internet on T-Mobile for £15 – Any Good? – HotUKDeals

Say Hello and .WAV Goodbye

Apple Care Plan for iMac (MC257ZM/A) – dabs.com

iPad Resellers Now Camp Overnight at Apple Stores – NYTimes.com

Add-in Update: WHS Phone for Android v1.3 Beta | We Got Served

How-To: Configure Time Machine with Windows Home Server 2011

so that new “Fahrenheit” weather app is no good? – MacRumors Forums

Episode 75 – Bing in the USA

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:45:54 +0000

Quite a short show tonight (I’m outside enjoying the weather!). A great iPad 2 stck finder, free eBooks, free Wallpaper for OS X, and a handy way of mounting your iPad on a wall!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhzOqTZzgYc

iPad Stock Checker

YouTube – voBack iPhone 4 back panel replacement

Bing 2.0 brings better Facebook integration and the impressive Streetside to iPhone (video) — Engadget

Create A Free US iTunes Account From Any Country

Hitpad for iPad

TV Shows – Series, Episodes, Seasons – SideReel

Free EPUB eBooks for your iPad, Android, Kobo, Nook and Sony eReaders | Unleash Your Books

Wallpaper Wizard – Desktop Wallpaper Changer for Mac

30 Mac Screensavers to Inspire & Inform | Mac.AppStorm

Sonos – Wireless Multi-Room Music System

Pad Bracket

Amazon Cloud Drive is secure and reliable cloud storage… | CloudTweaks.com

ChuckChat Freestyle » DropVox Demo

Leather Protective Sleeve Case Pouch for the Apple iPad 2

Episode 74 – Take all your old stuff back to John Lewis!

admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:13:14 +0000

A chat about the launch of two new products from Amazon, John Lewis’s new refund policy, Tesla vs Top gear, and some random musings from a cranky old geek!

Amazon.com: Appstore for Android

Amazon Cloud Drive: Learn More

John Lewis launches never-ending refunds

The LlewBlog – Electric Cars – Tesla V Top Gear

Sonic State – News (Video Item) App Review: GarageBand For iPad, Lets see what Apple can do

Leaked Forza 4 video confirms Kinect support, has head tracking

iClarified – Apple News – Transfer Files From Your iPhone, iPod And iPad

MacX iPhone Mounter – Transfer Data Between iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mac

BQ-UMUOYQYT-BSSBET

Commodore USA

The DV Show: $4.99 Editing Apps for the iPhone? BAH! This is FREE:

London Underground mobile network scrapped | BitterWallet

Podcaster iPhone App for downloading and listening to podcasts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d6T9lIv2SA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Episode 72 – Can I have a P please Bob?

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:03:38 +0000

The planning has started for iPad 2 day on Friday. What will I need ? What will I eat? What if I need a wee?

The Last Time I queued at an Apple Store - the launch of the 3GS

Apple Blacklists iPad 2 Buyers | It’s All Tech

iPad 2 UK Thread – MacRumors Forums

Apple’s Jonathan Ive: How did a British polytechnic graduate become its design genius? | Mail Online

BundleBox – The smarter way to buy from the USA

TyreSafe for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Live Traffic

Home – www.photosync-app.com

THE BAGEL TECH NETWORK » Bagel Tech Mac

Episode 71 – Apple 1 Me Nil

admin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:02:28 +0000

After a failed attempt to import 2 iPad 2′s into dear old Blighty, I have a bit of a moan, and outline my plans for a camping expedition outside an Apple store, PLUS save money on your 3g mobile broadband bill!

Garageband for the iPad

iPad & Tablet PCs – John Lewis

iClarified – Apple News – Apple Store Manager in Tokyo Details Apple’s Response to the Earthquake

Store News on the Mac App Store (US Only!)

iPod’s mission accomplished: Zune is declared dead

Online news overtakes paper, and nearly half of it is mobile — Engadget

YouTube – fullychargedshow’s Channel

Model S | Tesla Motors

Virtual City PC Version

Virtual City iPhone Version

Virtual City iPad Version

Mac Store Version

Cheap Mobile Broadband (less than £3 per month!)

Episode 70 – This podcast may contain iPad 2 news (55% of it anyway)

admin — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:14:06 +0000

Yes, I’m sorry, the iPad 2 will dominate this podcast – wether it’s about its specs, or where to buy it from for the cheapest price. To balance it though I will talking about making a NAS box using Linux – courtesy of one of our intrepid (and very geeky) listeners!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPnehDhGa14

Apple – iPad – View the technical specifications for iPad.

iPad owners rush to dump old tablets for new model – iPod/iPhone – Macworld UK

Gadget Glamour – iPhone Skins, iPad Skins and Decals for Gadgets — Union Jack iPad Skin

Apple iPad Tablet | Buy 16gb, 32gb or 64gb Wi-Fi model at PC World

iPad 2 Coming to T-Mobile and Orange UK

iPad 2 UK Thread – MacRumors Forums

Shocker! UK regulator finds average broadband speeds are ‘less than half’ those advertised — Engadget

25 Years of Windows Upgrades, Caught in One Video

BBC – Electric Dreams – Home Page

Amazon.co.uk: Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store

http://www.techpodcasts.com/loutrekshow/

Maximum PC | How To: Build A NAS Box

Extract from Steve’s Emails

I often wonder why people go for the Windows Home Server product when the are much more flexible alternatives around, here’s what I use.

It’s a home built NAS based on a Gigabyte Atom motherboard. Currently it contains three 1TB hard drives, two drives have a 20GB RAID 1 mirror for the OS, three of the drives have a 980GB partition configured as a RAID 5 array. So it’s nice and resilient. All the RAID arrays are built using Linux software RAID.

So it’s a NAS but in addition to that I’m using it for the following:

CCTV system with five cameras that record and motion (Zoneminder)

A Cacti server so I can get graphical information about any device on my local network, for instance I’m monitoring CPU, disk space, disk temperature, outside temperature, network usage

It’s a timemachine server so my daughters Macbook is backed up to it

Given it’s a NAS and my data is important I’m running the SpierOak client which copies (incrementally) online the moment anything is added or changed

I’ve added a second ethernet interface so it’s also running the NTOP network analyzer so I can see who’s doing what, with a history too!

SABnzbd usenet downloader

It’s also running MON & MONIT which are *nix process monitors that generate alerts on certain events

It’s running FreeNX that provides a Citrix style remote access solution so I can always access a virtual desktop

Various cron jobs that email me monthly status updates on the RAID arrays, disk S.M.A.R.T data, disk space etc

The Windows devices I have run professional so I’m using the built in back up utility and backup to the NAS

It’s a brilliant system which costs very little due to the fact it uses Linux. It takes about 10 minutes longer to install using software RAID.

I’ve attached a couple of screen captures that show you an example NTOP page, Cacti graph and the CCTV system.

Oh and here’s a brilliant (free) tag editor too, I was using Tag and Rename but now find TagScanner much more usable. Here’s a link to the site http://www.xdlab.ru/en/

And…

It’s an old mini-itx case I already had, the motherboard a GigabyteGA-D510UD. I bought this specific board as it has four SATA ports, obviously very important if you want to run RAID 5.

I’m running with three samsung 1TB HDD’s.

As for the OS I’m running ubuntu 10.04 as that’s a long term support version. But any flavour of Linux will work. Perhaps the best choice would be Debian as there are fewer updates.

TimeMachine was a five minute job, I simply followed the instructions someone else had written. Here’s the site http://notepad.bobkmertz.com/2010/01/apple-time-machine-backups-to-ubuntu.html

I’m using an analogue PCI capture card which has three nightvision cameras attached, two of them are this model from maplin (http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=104962). The forth camera is a logitech webcam! That’s the one pointing at the back of the car, there’s no night vision on that one so it will be replaced at some point. The PCI capture card is a BTTV chipset model the cost me £6 on eBay.

Episode 69 – iPad 2 on March 2?

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:50:57 +0000

Woo Hoo! Is iPad 2 nearly here? Well we find out on March 2nd. 2 itunes housekeeping programs recommended, 1 for windows, 1 for mac.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TTFYnLn_qNo

Apple Event Live Blog Wednesday 10am PST – Save the Date! (March 2, 2011) – iSmashPhone iPhone Blog

Apple’s iPad 2 Event Rumor Round-Up: What Can We Expect? | Fast Company

What the iPad 2 Needs to Steal From Android and WebOS

UK Carriers Slash iPad Prices Ahead of Expected Refresh – Mac Rumors

Orange iPad 3G | Orange shop

Mac OS X Lion hands-on preview — Engadget

Drive Bender – news

iClarified – Apple News – Stream Audio To Your iPhone

Lego iMac

LENSPEN is The superior Camera lens cleaning system for all fine optics, rifle scopes, camcorder and camera viewer screens, binoculars

YouTube – LensPenNews’s Channel

Mp3 tag editor Tag&Rename – edit tag in mp3, wma, mp4 files

Tagalicious – Clean up your music library – The Little App Factory

iPhone 4 iOS 4.2.1 update Error Code 1013 Fixed

Episode 68 – The Daily Mail, Staples and BestBuy

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:18:04 +0000

A song about the Daily Mail, GREAT customer service in Staples, and pretty crap service in BestBuy. Along with a quick round up of the news, and a couple of great Apps!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Huawei offers to build out London Underground cellular coverage for free — Engadget

Volvo releases more details on 124MPG V60 plug-in, shows off iPhone app (video) — Engadget

StreetBank – Lending, Giving Away, Skills,

Philips Announces New Dictation Recorder Application for iPhone and iPad

Xenta White Mac Style Keyboard – USB UK Layout | Ebuyer.com

BBC – BBC Internet Blog: BBC iPlayer: find programmes from other on demand services

Confessions of an Apple Store Employee – Apple Store Tips – Popular Mechanics

Disgruntled Apple Employee Rants On Hilarious Anti-Apple Blog | Geeky Gadgets

Twonky Digital Home Forum • View topic – Twonky Mobile FAQ for iPhone

Top10.com » Compare Best Broadband Deals, Mobile Phone Deals & More – Compare & Share at Top10.com

Puppet Pals and Toontastic – digital storytelling on the iPad | The Whiteboard Blog

Speedometer for iPhone on the iTunes App Store

Atoll Ordenadores.com – ASMART HUD

Episode 67 – Get yourself some Top Gear!

admin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:21:24 +0000

An update on the purchase of my Windows Home server, plus I chat about the news, especially the Nokia and Microsoft partnership. Also an Homage to Top Gear!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcA9mpHxkVA

O2 home broadband price increase, and what to do about it | BitterWallet

Bloomberg: Apple working on ‘cheaper, smaller’ and dual-mode iPhones, trying to kill SIMs along the way — Engadget

HP’s Touch to Share eyes-on, starring the TouchPad and HP Pre 3 (video) — Engadget

Nokia and Microsoft enter strategic alliance on Windows Phone, Bing, Xbox Live and more — Engadget

Home Server Hacks: Add “Wow!” Performance to your HP EX470 with a Processor Upgrade

Get iPlayer Automator

Downloading Spins..

Video: Richard Hammond launches internet-only TV series – Telegraph

Jeremy Clarkson – Home

LOL! James May throws super tantrum on plane | heatworld.com

Information Technology Clear Limited The ITC Group Store

THE BAGEL TECH NETWORK

Episode 66 – Microsoft’s Vail is a #FAIL

admin — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:28:53 +0000

After missing last week’s show because of flu, I croak and splutter through this week’s episode. I moan about Microsoft and their support of Windows Home Server.

Windows Home Server 2011 Fails To Deliver Consumer Friendly Storage — MediaSmartServer.net

Setting Up My MediaSmart EX495 (part 1 of 2) From “The HP MediaSmart EX495 Experience with Lou Jacob: MediaSmart Home

Basic Strategy for Beginners – CivFanatics

Civilization on the app Store

2D Boy: Games

O2 plans free and open WiFi network across the UK, Sky picks up The Cloud — Engadget

BBC NEWS | UK | Crime maps delivered on internet

SuperSync Demo Movie

Switchers: Get “Learn the Switch to Mac” for a buck in the Mac App Store

Episode 65 – “Allo, Allo!”

admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:13:59 +0000

A bit of typical British humour, with Allo, Allo, briefly discussed, along with Burn’s night and “Air” with everything!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eTaxXkH0_I

AirView for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Index of /ftp/AirPlay

Cobra Electronics Corporation: Cobra PhoneTag™

iModZone Downloads: iOS 4.3

Download Squad – Gadgets, Gizmos, Reviews and Downloads

English mom wins $10,000 iTunes card App Store prize | iPodNN

Home – skobbler – smart apps and more based on the OpenStreetMap – OSM

Robert Burns’ Complete Works Released On I-Phone App

Mac Month: Bundle 3 of 4: That’s Entertainment! for $19 ($165 value)

CyanogenMod 7 is testing in the wild, bringing Gingerbread to 14 more Android devices

Android 2.3 Gingerbread running on iPhone 3G (video)

Western Digital 1TB USB 2.0 MyBook Studio External Hard Drive with FireWire 800: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Episode 64 – “When I’m 64!”

admin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:13:46 +0000

A bit of Beatles at the beginning of tonights show, with some news in the middle, and I finish with a Stellar App.

BBC News – Mini adventure: how far can an electric car go?

addPod – JuicePhone

Family Tree Maker For Mac – Everyone has a family. Every family has a story. Family Tree Maker® For Mac can help you find yours!

Check your iTunes account, it could have been sold in China | BitterWallet

T-Mobile data cap angers smartphone users (updated) | Technology | guardian.co.uk

How to Get Tomorrow’s iOS Features Today

ashens.com

Studio Neat: The Glif

Thieves damage South African traffic lights, reach for the juicy SIM card innards — Engadget

Bluetooth v1.4 ELM327 Diagnostic interface OBD2 CAN BT on eBay

TuneIn Radio

Movie Triangles for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Solar Walk – 3D Solar System Model

Episode 63 – Rapidweaver fails to make the grade in the Mac App Store

admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:59:42 +0000

Some exploits of a PC to Mac switcher discussed, a few bits of news from CES. Have you tried the new Mac App store yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKiBxquODyI

RapidWeaver giving users trouble, fix has been submitted

Create a Service to attach files to a new Outlook for Mac mail message | OfficeforMacHelp.com

Mac App Store hands-on — Engadget

CarTrip will connect your iOS device and your automobile

Cobra iRadar | The Most Advanced Radar Detection System in the World

Tablets That Will Give the iPad 2 a Tough Fight > Tablets > Techtree,com

BBC News – BT Content Connect service faces ‘two-tier net’ claims

CompareDownload.com – Home – Compare Music Download Prices and MP3 Prices

Rogue Amoeba | Radioshift: Easy Internet Radio Playback And Recording, Only For Mac OS X

Episode 62 – Apple TV 2, this time it’s really good!

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:20:18 +0000

I hope you all had a great Xmas and New Year!! A review of the new Apple TV, plus I recommend a great new music site MFLOW, plus a round up of some news items.

The NEW Apple TV

Amazon enables Kindle e-book lending — Engadget

Skype video calling for iPhone is official, available now (update: hands-on) — Engadget

mflow — music worth talking about

Edit your own satnav maps with TomTom for iPhone

Double-Click Apps in iTunes to Show Their Location on Your iOS Home Screen

Download MetaX for Mac – Metadata tagger for mp4 files. MacUpdate.com

Episode 61 -We need more GRIT not Determination!

admin — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:03:51 +0000

A nightmare weekend for a lot of Brits with the weather blocking roads, closing airports, and stopping trains. A very short show tonight, talking briefly about a couple of car apps, Apple TV, and Xmas telly!

When will the runway reopen?

Apple – Apple TV – MC572B/A – Best Buy UK

Western Digital TV Live HD Media Player: Amazon.co.uk

The Back of my TV (note hinged HDMI leads)

Duronic R1011A/2 High Speed 2 Metre HDMI Cable – Flexi

Windowshop for iPad on the iTunes App Store

iTunes 12 Days of Christmas for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Angry Britain – Beef

Free Print-and-Fold Guide Offers 10 Tips for First-Time Android Owners

TomTom’s Map Share update brings crowdsourced navigation to iPhone GPS app — Engadget

NAVIGON releases MobileNavigator 1.7, free help2park app | TiPb

Road Trip App

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

Call Of Duty: Black Ops

Bloodstone

Starcraft 2

Episode 60 – There’s nothing like a bit of Brasso!

admin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:55:45 +0000

Stop Press: I now have a working iPhone! plus reviews on Brasso gadgetcare cleaner, and a way to get cheap data on your iPad or USB dongle/mifi.

3 Broadband Ready To Go 1GB SIM Card: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Brasso GadgetCare 50 ml (Pack of 3): Amazon.co.uk

Acer Aspire Revo R3610 Desktop PC – Desktops | Ebuyer.com

Easily transform Ubuntu into mac os x with macbuntu – now better than ever!

Initial Chrome OS Cr-48 Hardware Impressions

Google’s News: E-Books and Android and Chrome, Oh My (GOOG)

Episode 59 – Baby, It’s cold outside!

admin — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:24:41 +0000

After a week of below freezing temperatures, I give a mini review on my TV and Blu Ray player, an update of my iPhone 4 calamity, and I choose 2 gadgets that would make great Xmas gifts!

Buy Samsung UE32C6530U LED HD 1080p Digital Television, 32 Inch with Built-in Freeview HD online at JohnLewis.com

Buy Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-ray Disc Player online at JohnLewis.com

Using Server Recovery and Factory Reset HP LX195 MediaSmart Server

Tesco begins selling iPad in the UK

iOS 4.3 May Roll Out Mid-December, Will Bring In-App Subscriptions!

UK telecoms Three, Orange and T-Mobile launch subsidized iPad plans

Manage your Video Collection with iTunes | iFlicks

NewLink 5 port Switch

Comtrend Powerline Ethernet Adapters

Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera

ION USBPowered Turntable Vinyl to PC : PC Audio Recording : Maplin

Episode 58 – Volvo and the iPhone iOs4.2 fiasco

admin — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 21:36:40 +0000

Not the catchiest title of a podcast I know, but I rant in this weeks show about the new iPhone update breaking my in car connectivity. I also chat about a mysterious problem with my iPhone 4 and its Orange sim card. Success, a new TV is bought, taken home, and NOT returned to the shop!

Orange UK prices 3G iPad at £199 on two-year contract, taking pre-orders today — Engadget

iOS 4.2 Update for iTouch – Volvo Owners Club Forum

Apple – Support – Discussions – No connection to Volvo car stereo by …

HotUKDeals – Apple iPad Wi-Fi 16GB for £399.41 (£370.78 Quidco/TopCashBack) Other models with £54-£89 saving with 5% Discount and 8% Quidco/TopCashBack + FREE Delivery + FREE biscuits! @ Viking Direct

Is MobileMe Finally Going Free?

Episode 57 – I’m Big in Japan!

admin — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:40:09 +0000

The hunt for a TV continues (unfortunately), I chat about my favourite recycling website, and a couple of news items!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0OX49tdZt4

Panasonic G20 review – FlatpanelsHD

Lakes Tv

Printopia – Share Your Mac’s Printers to iPhone and iPad – Print from iPhone – Ecamm Network

Expedition Titanic | Return to the Deep

Freegle: Don’t throw it away – give it away!

Carrier Threats Lead Apple to Abandon Integrated iPhone SIM Plan

Is MobileMe Finally Going Free?

Episode 56 – The Great LCD TV Hunt

admin — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 22:26:11 +0000

I’m on the look out for a new TV! I talk about my plan to get a new TV for the best possible price (legally) A review of a Scosche iPad case, and a potpourri of gadget news.

BBC News – Kinect hacked days after release

Amazon.com: Scosche Carbon Fiber Strap Case for iPad: Electronics: Reviews, Prices & more

‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops’ Shatters Sales Record — InformationWeek

Elgato EyeTV Netstream Sat brings satellite TV streaming to your iPad — Engadget

Htc announces android 2.2 updates for legend and wildfire handsets – The Inquirer

Dixons vs. John Lewis – Which brand is really never knowingly undersold? « John Lyle’s new brand thinking

Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Episode 55 – There’s no fireworks tonight! Hurrah!

admin — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 20:39:19 +0000

Because of the lack of fireworks tonight, i am able to record the latest podcast! A bit different tonight, with a detailed review of Plex, a quick review of 4,2 for the iPad, and a review that I did for Surfbits about a Mac app called USHER.

Apple quietly cuts Mac mini prices in non-US markets — Engadget

iOS 4.2 brings car compatibility to iPad – iPAD.BLORGE

Find Parking, Car Parks, Street Parking, Private Garages – Book Parking

[GUIDE] One Click How to Root the Wildfire with Unrevoked 3.21 – xda-developers

CyanogenMod | Android Community Rom based on FroYo.

Plex – A Complete Media Solution

Plex iPad/iPhone App

Usher · Many Tricks

Episode 54 – It’s a Monster Mash Potato

admin — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:01:15 +0000

Recording this on Halloween with constant interruptions from little Ghosts and Demons. What joy!

I talk about TeamView and various other bits of news!

Lower price now New Apple iPod touch 8GB (4th Generation) £164 @ Amazon

Panasonic TX-P42S20B 42-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 600Hz Plasma TV with Freeview HD £449.50 @ Amazon

TotalFinder brings tabs to your native Finder and more!

Plex – A Complete Media Solution

MacBook Air review (late 2010) — Engadget

Xbox Live mandatory update coming November 1st, all hands on board — Engadget

AppMakr Helps You Create Your Own iPhone App for Free, No Coding Necessary

BBC News – Campaign builds to construct Babbage Analytical Engine

Campaign launched to build Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine – Telegraph

http://www.teamviewer.com/

Episode 53 – My Holiday Diary

admin — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:08:02 +0000

Just come back from a week’s break – and made a very short diary entry everyday on the iPad. So, this podcast is a little different. Enjoy!

Apple – FaceTime for Mac

What to Expect in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Connectify – Turn your Windows 7 laptop into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Apple – AirPort Express

Scare up some fun with Angry Birds Halloween

Episode 52 – Zombies on my Lawn

admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:00:29 +0000

A plethora of news articles for your personal delight! Ranging from iPhone Glass to Zombies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkdqKyRqbdg

[nggallery id=1]

Connectify – Turn your Windows 7 laptop into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Apple “Back to the Mac” Event Oct. 20: New OS X and MacBook Air?

Sonic 4 Episode 1: It’s SONIC on Your IPHONE

Seven Thoughts on Windows Phone 7 1. Microsoft deserves a lot of credit for… – gdgt

I Hate Ryanair

HotUKDeals – 12V / 24V Car Cigar Lighter Socket to USB Adapter £1.49 delivered @ 7dayshop

JustGiving for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

What “Free Public WiFi” Is and Why You Should Avoid It

iTunes “Top 25 Most Played” Playlist – HELP – Mac Forums

Episode 51 – What a Carry On!!

admin — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 22:44:19 +0000

Lots of news this weekend. I ramble a lot – but I actually talk about a new ZX Spectrum emulator for the iPhone, Brasso, and David Cameron. (diverse or what?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtZSose8Ehs

8-Bit ZX Spectrum Gaming Emulator Arrives on the iPhone

Elite Systems – Public Home

Google Goggles Arrives On the iPhone Today

Oprah’s Favorite iPad Apps

BBC – dot.Rory: A cut-price tablet computer? Whatever Next..

HotUKDeals – Monopoly, Tetris, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit (Iphone) on sale for 59p each @ Itunes

Brasso Gadget Care polish review — Engadget

Phone Product Detail – Palm Pixi Plus

Angry Birds developer claims Microsoft jumped the gun, Rovio ‘not committed’ to Windows Phone 7 — Engadget

Episode 50 – The Daily Mail in a tailspin over plane spotter app!

admin — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:40:20 +0000

Will it ever stop raining? As I do the podcast tonight Europe are leading the USA in the Ryder Cup, and the Commonwealth Games kick off in New Dehli. A quick news run down, incorporating a review on an iPad app sure to get the hacks at the Daily Mail all upset.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjkEHfNv_A

Phone app that tracks planes ‘is aid to terrorists armed with missiles’ | Mail Online

Plane Finder AR for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 on the iTunes App Store

planefinder.net – Real Time Air Traffic Flight Radar

Plane Finder HD – pinkfroot

RIM introduces PlayBook — the BlackBerry tablet — Engadget

iClarified – Apple News – Edit Google, SkyDrive and S3 Docs with iPad

Apple Remote app 2.0 adds support for new Apple TV, iPad — Engadget

AirPort Express Base Station w/ AirTunes

Mac tips – Turn off your Mac’s startup sound | Hack the Day

Automatic Downloads New Torrents… Automatically

Navmii Latest Satellite Navigation Software for Windows Mobile and Nokia S60 devices

Episode 49 – Yesterday on Tomorrow’s World

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:45:17 +0000

The nights are drawing in, and I get a whiff of nostalgia discussing CDs and Sky+ on Tomorrow’s world. Also a review of an LED projector – the Samsung H03, and the iLuv screen protector for the iPad. Also a review on fictfact.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxkr6b8FjKw

Fact deathgrip spoils Mail on Sunday iPhone scam story | Technology | News & Comment | The First Post

Ping Now Works With Your Actual iTunes Library. This Is A Thousand Times Better

Apple Opens Up: Subtle iTunes 10.0.1 Update Makes Ping Immensely More Useful

11 Astounding Sci-Fi Predictions That Came True

FictFact – Track Your Fiction Book Series

HD Wallpapers

Samsung H03 LED Projector

iLuv Screen Protector for iPad

Episode 48 – Klipsch Headphones and iPod 4 review!

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:10:02 +0000

2 reviews in this podcast mixed in with a bit of news and a recommendation for a POSTCARD app!

YouView

Parallels’ Windows virtualization goes mobile with iOS app — Engadget

Gangs harass genuine UK iPhone customers reports claim – iPod/iPhone – Macworld UK

Klipsch Image S4i Headphones -with built-in mic (iPhone Compatible)

New Apple iPod touch 8GB (4th Generation)

Postcards app for iphone and android

Episode 47 – We want our Apple TV (with Netflix)

admin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 09:21:03 +0000

Back from hols with a podcast where I extol the virtues of the iPad as a travel companion. I also discuss the recent Apple announcements, and find 2 ways to save you money against the price of a new one!

A poor man’s iMac

YouTube adds movies on demand – Telegraph

Apple TV vs. the competition — how does it stack up? — Engadget

HotUKDeals – 10% off any new ipod (Except Shuffle) when recycling ANY old ipod!. Find more deals, discounts & voucher codes at Hot UK Deals.

Amazon.co.uk: How to Save £50 off the price of your device with Audible.co.uk

iClarified – Apple News – Plex Announces Deal to Bring Its Media Center to LG TVs

Todo for iPad and iPhone | Remarkable iPhone Applications

Free fonts for both commercial and noncommercial use | FontPark.net

Anyone going to buy Apple’s new stuff?

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:00:50 +0000

Now that the dust has settled on yesterday’s announcements – has anyone clicked the BUY button on the Apple Store?

Let’s take the new releases one at a time:

Apple TV – it’s smaller, cheaper, and in black?
Now at only £99 it’s a real bargain for anyone looking for a way of streaming content to your HDTV. Consumers in the UK are at a disadvantage though because one of the biggest selling points in the States is the fact you can view Netflix movies and TV. Unless love film or blockbuster do the same here, we are going to miss out.
Did I order one? NO – my Mac mini does the job extremely well, especially now that I am using PLEX as a media interface.

IPod Shuffle
The return of buttons and new colours. I have no need for this product, so no order placed!

iPod Nano
Now with a square colour screen and multitouch – it loses video. No compelling need for this product, so NO order placed.

iPod touch 4g
Introduction of two cameras, high res screen, better speaker, and a mic. Also now using the faster iPhone 4 CPU. The camera unfortunately is of a very poor quality, and only good for casual snaps. As we already have an iPod touch (for my 6 year old), it looks like a great upgrade. So I reckon on a £70 upgrade price after selling on eBay. ORDER PLACED!

In addition to the hardware announcements we had the launch of iTunes 10, PING a social network tool, and upgrades to IOS which brings us printing to the iPad, and a fix for minor bugs, including that darn proximity sensor fail. (4 out of every 10 calls are cut off by inadvertent pressing of mute or another key on the soft keypad)

Comments welcome from anyone else. Did anyone else buy anything?

iPad: the perfect device for a week away

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:57:25 +0000

Yes, I can honestly say after a few days away, the iPad has been an absolute godsend. Especially after I had worked out how best to feed it with a data connection (mine’s only a wifi model you see)

It has been a babysitter on the long car trip – Angry Birds a firm favourite
The TV guide for the tv in the holiday home
Google maps proving route planning for the week ahead, and a great browsing experience for finding out more about local attractions.
A great WordPress editor for keeping the blog up to date.
A brilliant way to get the morning papers delivered, using Pressreader – $29.99 a month for as many papers as you want.
Ocado for sorting out a grocery delivery for our homecoming.
Bump for sending photos from iPhone to iPad.
Photoshop express for editing them.
iBooks for your great holiday reads and not having to take half a tonne of paperbacks.
A great email client for not missing out on those important messages.
Using a webcam app for checking out the cameras at home ( a great new upgrade from y-cam)
Watching my favourite movies and listening to corny eighties music on the beach.

The iphone picked up the slack when checking for train times and finding the best route through some of the narrow streets back to the station.

What happens when your data runs out?

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:51:29 +0000

2 days in to my holiday in Cornwall, and I was presented with a data dilemma. I had my wifi with me and in it there was a sim card with my Orange broadband contract. This only gave me 500mb a month though. I knew with heavy usage in the coming days, I would be in excess of that. I was under the misapprehension before I spoke to the customer service team that my cost for overstepping my limited data barrier would be a max of 60p per day.

I was wrong.

This was only for smartphone usage, for mobile broadband dongles (although I had it installed in my 3 mobile MiFi) there was an excess charge of 5p per mb!

Ooops!

After a swift request for help, I was advised by orange to upgrade my package for £15 a month for 5gb of data. After a couple of hours nothing had changed on my account, so I checked back, and found that this bundle was incompatible with my account. So customer service said they will “look after me” and waiver any data charges in excess of £15 at the end of the month.

Well done Claire and Derek at Orange.

Just in case though I installed an app on my iPhone called MyWi which tethers my iPhone to any wifi device. The app cost $19.99 on a jail broken phone, but then I will only pay 60p a day once my limit is reached.

Episode 46 – Polish up your Chrome

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:59:10 +0000

Installed Google’s chrome this weekend, so i thought I would share my experiences, thoughts, and tips. Also a couple of great apps and a website that should save you money.

How the Google Chrome Logo was designed

NOTE about NDrive mentioned in tonight’s show.

As of 18 June 2010, all NDrive applications has been pulled off from Apple AppStore, rendering it unaccessible for iOS device users.

NDrive support have explained this as follows:

“Unfortunately due to a technical error with our applications on Appstore [sic] you currently cannot purchase the NDrive software. We are resolving the situation with Apple so we ask you to wait a few more days.”

Print Central

Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free.

http://www.google.com/chrome

IE Tab – Google Chrome extension gallery

AdBlock – Google Chrome extension gallery

eBay Extension for Google Chrome (by eBay) – Google Chrome extension gallery

Xmarks Bookmarks and Password Sync – Google Chrome extension gallery

Awesome Screenshot: Capture & Annotate – Google Chrome extension gallery

1-ClickWeather for Chrome – Google Chrome extension gallery

Agile Blog : A 1Password alpha for Chromium is here

Bargains!

O2 | Home Phone | Broadband, Calls and Line Rental in Just one O2 Bill

HotUKDeals – Deals, Discounts & Voucher Codes

iPad Apps

Crosswords for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

WordMaster XL – Word Finder for iPad for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Tips for iPads

TV Guide for iPad for iPad on the iTunes App Store

12 Solitaire Games from Astraware for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Brodit Car Mount Solution for the HTC Wildfire

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:14:36 +0000

There isn’t a mount available yet from those nice people at Brodit. So, after a little bit of research discovered, that as long as you don’t need access to the micro USB port for charging it, the mount for a Google Nexus One works a treat!

And for me there’s a major bonus, the iPhone 4 also fits the mount!

ibVPN sets the standard for affordable VPN

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:42:59 +0000

Whoever you may be in the geek world, there’s always a time when you want to get access to content that strictly speaking you shouldn’t be allowed to get to.

By this I mean of course if you live in the UK, all the lovely TV that appears on ABC or Hulu, and if your stateside, all the goodness of good old Aunty Beeb. The way the internet is structured though, means that your geographical location is checked, and if your not living in the right country, you’re not allowed in!

Many people who don’t happen to live in the source country, may have a genuine right of access. They may be merely on holiday, or working abroad for a period of time.

Is there a solution?

In fact there are a couple. the first one I tried was something called an anonymous proxy served up by a programme called Hotspot Shield. This can work (sometimes), but is hampered by very poor bandwidth, and is plagued by pop up ads. One of the major flaws is that many content providers are wise to this method, and block its IP address.

The second method uses something called a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This is used in the main by corporate users who want to allow their employees access to their servers, but only by making them adhere to their policies and rules, and of course free from any external nasties.

This technology is now available for the good of the common geek to access their favourite TV shows! There are many commercial offerings, and a couple of free ones albeit with a very limited service. I think though after extensive research and a couple of weeks of use, I can recommend ibVPN.

There is NO setup fee. For $4.95 a month you get a choice of either US or UK access plus a free dutch one. For $7.95 you can have the lot! Setup is easy, although the Mac guide was out of date. I have published an updated setup guide below. The bonus for me was, that because there is no software to install, it works a treat on an iPhone and iPad. A guide for this is also below.

In terms of bandwidth, there seemed to be no issues. I watched several shows on Hulu though my Mac Mini, and from the iPad app for ABC with no stuttering or pauses whatsoever. If you are worried about the internet police catching up with you they guarantee anominity. The only caveat to this service is that you do not use P2P or torrent sites. I haven’t tried it, but I assume those ports are closed.

To get you all up and running I have put together 2 guides.

First the Mac.

Click system preferences. Then Network.

Click the PLUS sign just above the padlock. Select VPN from the dropdown, and make sure you select PPTP from the Type of VPN.

Next, you will need to enter the server name from the list that ibVPN provide. In this case us3.ibvpn.com.

Then your AccountName – usually email address.

Click authentication settings

Click apply – then connect – and you’re done!

It’s also a great idea to tick the status in menu bar box. This way you can connect and disconnect at will, by using the menu bar icon.

As for the iPhone (or iPad)

It’s even easier!

Go into Settings > Network > VPN

Then, select Add VPN Configuration

Enter the account settings:

SAVE it (top right)

And in the settings page just select the VPN as required!

I hope you found this guide useful.

If so please retweet, or drop me a line and let me know!

Episode 45 – Android or iPhone? My view

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:35:14 +0000

Another show from the Geek in Maidenhead! A rundown of loads of news stories and articles found on the net. Also a quick review of my new addition to my gadget family – an android phone – an HTC Wildfire.

Windows Phone 7 coming to Europe in October, US in November, according to Microsoft COO

Making a call on a mobile? Surely not – Telegraph

BBC News – Vodafone backs down in Android row

BBC News – Virus writers hit Google Android phones

Camera+ pulled from App Store for ‘volume button as camera shutter’ workaround

Twitter Takes Over The Tweet Button From TweetMeme

11 Essential WordPress Plugins To Get Your Blog In Motion | Social Media Examiner

BBC News – Online gaming takes it to the next level

TUAW Tips: 25 ways to check the hardware on your iPhone 4

World rejoices as Photoshop Express for iPad is fixed

The 30 Best iPhone Apps So Far This Year

Vlingo Home

PressDisplay.com – Newspapers From Around the World

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Episode 44 – Hands off my Blackberry!

admin — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:20:24 +0000

News from the Tech World includes an update on the RIM situation in the UAE. Also Apple opens it’s 300th store. I talk about the impending arrival of my Android phone and recommend a VPN service.

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BBC News – Saudi accord to prevent ban on Blackberry ‘in sight’

Official: iPhone 4 jailbreak hits from iPhone Dev Team (updated with video) — Engadget

JailbreakMe 2.0

16 Reasons to Jailbreak Your iPhone or iPod Touch NOW

Grand opening of Apple’s 300th retail store brings Covent Garden to a standstill – Digital Lifestyle – Macworld UK

Tour of the biggest Apple store in the world – Holy Kaw!

10 Entertaining eBay Facts You Might Not Know

Apple (United Kingdom) – Apple Battery Charger – The energy-efficient way to power your accessories.

HTC – Products – HTC Wildfire – Overview

Unlock Wildfire? – Android Forums

Amazon Discount Finder: Find hidden 75%-off deals & more…

Invisible Browsing VPN – free and premium US and UK VPN service

PC and Mac compatible game – Starcraft II – Free Delivery – Tesco Entertainment

Episode 43 – Moving on Up!!

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:49:25 +0000

Lots of news from Apple, and from Amazon on the new Kindle. Special feature on moving house, and a quick heads up on using a VPN to watch HULU.

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Amazon announces new Kindle, UK Kindle Store | Latest technology and web news | Web User

Apple Magic Trackpad: The Beginning of the End for Mac OS X

Apple Battery Charger – The energy-efficient way to power your accessories.

Pay as you go sim with data Wiki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snMvWGzJTxw

VPN Review coming soon!

iPad Application | Rightmove property-to-you

iPad Property Search Application from Primelocation.com | Primelocation

upmystreet.com

FixMyStreet

Episode 42 – Here is the News (on my gadget)

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:17:50 +0000

A podcast themed on getting and receiving news on your iPhone, iPad or PC. Inspired by the superb FlipBook for the iPad released just this week. Comments on the free case offer for your iPhone 4, and a quick

Free Case for your iPhone – as long as it’s black, and if you can wait over a month!

BBC News – India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer

BBC News – BBC News iPhone and iPad app launches in the UK

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Risk like Game – Dominion HD

Car Cigar Lighter Socket to USB Unit – Suitable use with Apple iPhone, iTouch, iPad and iPod

Kodak ZX1

Episode 41 – Its all Radio Gaga to Apple

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:08:39 +0000

A personal point of view about the Apple debacle. Some great recommendations for gadgets, apps, and web sites for your holiday. Some news about the new 3 MiFi E585.

Apple gives free bumpers to all iPhone 4 owners

Consumer Reports Electronics Blog: Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4

Fake Bidder Sentenced For eBay Scam – Yahoo! News UK

Toshiba reneges on promise of free laptops and TVs if Spain win World Cup — Engadget

BMW supports iOS 4′s most overlooked feature | The Car Tech blog – CNET Reviews

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vktqUM0VDtU

Holiday Feature

Waterproof MP3 player

The Guardian case from M-Edge is a life jacket for the Kindle

Handheld UV Monitor (EB612) :Wellbeing: Wellness: Oregon Scientific

National Rail Enquiries

Nextbase SDV47AM – Twin Screen 7″ Portable DVD Player System

Brodit.se

iPad apps entertain kids on the road – USATODAY.com

Ten Best Ten Dollar (More or Less) Apps for Summer | Retrevo

Late Rooms-Cheap Hotels, Discount Hotels & Last Minute Hotels Deals

Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals – TripAdvisor

5minutesaway

Bargain of the Week

LibriVox – FREE audiobooks

Sponsor: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free.

Episode 40 – Schools Out for Summer

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 23:14:19 +0000

As we draw close to the schools breaking up, I discuss some anticipated deliveries, more iPhone 4 woes, and some snippets of news!

iPad Camera Connection Kit and VGA Adaptor

iPhone in my Car

Amazon gets into food

Availability of iPhone 4

More iPhone bugs?

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15 Must Have Games for the iPad | The Loop

Find the Best Broadcast Channel for a Stronger Wi-Fi Connection

Unique Skins and Gelaskins upcoming review

New miFi (use Quidco for £12 cashback)

Zibri’s Blog: Huawei E585 Unlock download!

BBC News – BT and TalkTalk challenge Digital Economy Act

BBC News – Government spends thousands on iPhone apps

Episode 39 – Its a bad week to be a phone

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:20:07 +0000

Update on my router issues – now all sorted. iPhone 4 ownership over 10 days in – what do I think? A scan of the news, and an app of the week that doesn’t work = help me save you £5.99!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ixIHyEPO5g

News

BBC News – iPhone 4 signal fault leaves Apple ‘stunned’

Microsoft Kin is dead — Engadget

Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4

Over 50s Get Online In UK – Geek News Central

Wait, Me Too! I Am Also Secretly A Deep Cover Russian Spy

An iPhone Lover’s Take On The iPhone 4

BBC News – Times begins charges for online readers

Microsoft Invention Lets You Insert Batteries in Any Direction

App of The Week (don’t buy it!)

Air Display

Another App of the Week

Plex

Deal of the Week

Star Trek: Films 1-10 Remastered Special Edition Box Set [12 DVD Boxset] £23.77* deli – HotUKDeals Forum

Episode 38 – I Wish it could be Xmas Everyday!

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:14:44 +0000

After a hot few days, Xmas has arrived for some of us with the arrival of the iPhone 4. Not all good for some though, with cracked backs, yellow patches, and flash flare!

iPhone issues

iOS4

Steam

iPad Apps

Property – Right Move , Primelocation

Korg

Cheap XBox Games?