Digital-Lifestyles pre-empted and reported thousands of articles on the then-coming impact that technology was to have on all forms of Media. Launched in 2001 as a research blog to aid its founder, Simon Perry, present at IBC 2002, it grew into a wide ranging, multi-author publication that was quoted in many publications globally including the BBC, was described by the Guardian as 'Informative' and also cited in a myriad of tech publications before closing in 2009
Rockers Nine Inch Nails have released three tracks from their new album, “Year Zero” via the controversial BitTorrent mega-site, The Pirate Bay.
Although the band has already acquired a reputation for dishing out the freebies – new Nine Inch Nails (NiN) content has been available for free both online and on their website for some time – it’s the first time that they’ve released material directly via the torrent protocol.
(more…)
In part one we covered the basics and followed up in part two with how to use this piece of kit.
In the third and final part we take a gander at flash, picture quality, movie mode.
Flash
Although none too powerful, the flash (situated to the top right of the camera) managed a working range of 0.5 – 4.0m at wide-angle and 0.5 – 2.0m at telephoto. Red eye was a bit of a problem, so users might want to consider investing in an external slave flash like the Metz Mecablitz 28 CS-2.
(more…)
The Nokia N95 promises so much. It’s got every gizmo and gadget you can imagine on it, but Richard Davis hasn’t found the dream to match the reality. After you read this, you’ll appreciate that he’s not a happy chappie.
Let me set the scene as to how I came about my Nokia N95. I fell out of love with Nokia after a rather clunky experience with the N73 a while back, followed by various other niggles which led me away.
(more…)
Yesterday we covered the basics of the Canon Ixus 850IS.
Today we look at how to use it.
Using the camera
Firing up the camera in automatic, the Ixus proved to be a nippy performer, starting up promptly and taking no time at all to lock onto focus. Low light focussing was slower but still impressive.
(more…)
Netlog, who claim to be “the first truly pan-European social networking site,” have had a couple of changes recently.
Firstly they’ve rebranded themselves from FaceBox (perhaps the fear of legal action from FaceBook or confusion between the two might have been behind it), to a more relevant Netlog.
(more…)
Hovering near the top of Canon’s popular Ixus range is the IXUS 850 IS, a 7.1 megapixel ultra-compact sporting a 3.8x optical zoom lens and a 2.5in monitor.
The lens offers a usefully wide 28-105 mm zoom range – great for group shots and landscapes – with Canon’s Optical Image Stabilisation system helping keep images sharp in low light.
With its rounded edges and compact dimensions (89.5 x 58.0 x 25.1mm) the Ixus is designed to be a carry-everywhere pocket snap shooter. It looks pretty to the eye too, with a stylish two-tone, semi-matt metallic colour scheme contrasting against the chrome details.
The all metal case looks pretty tough, with the smoothed and recessed controls ensuring that the camera doesn’t get snagged in your pockets.
All that metal means that it’s not the lightest camera around, and with its lardy 150g weight (without battery) you’re unlikely to forget it’s in your pocket.
The controls
The camera’s basic controls are pretty easy to get to grips with. The illuminated power on/off switch lies recessed on the top plate, which means it’s very hard to turn on accidentally, but, conversely, those with larger fingers may find it quite hard to operate.
Next to the power switch is the shutter control surrounded by a little lever for zooming in/out. Again, folk with sausage sized fingers (or simply wearing gloves) may have trouble getting to grips with it.
On the back, a circular shooting mode switch – orientated vertically – has a handy lip that conveniently doubles up as a thumb rest, making for a fairly sure camera grip.
A large and crisp 2.5″ 207k colour LCD screen dominates the back of the camera, with all the camera controls positioned to the right.
Most of the camera’s functionality is accessed through a circular 4-way control with a central OK/Function Set button, while two buttons below are used to set display preferences and call up the menu interface, with a third button accessing Print/Share controls.
All change on the look and feel of Digital-Lifestyles today.
Gone is the red-underlined template of the past four months or so, and in comes a new logo and cleaner layout.
As before, you’ll notice some changes as we intermittently make updates to the template in an effort to try and give you the best experience.
First time you use a comment form, you’ll have to enter a code at the bottom of the form. If you’re stuck for what it says, click the speaker icon to its right to have it read to you.
What do you think? An improvement? Any further suggestions? Feedback appreciated.
The Audioblob2 is a 2.1 stereo system i.e. two satellites and a big subwoofer which also contains the amplifier and external connections.
The subwoofer is chunky (about 11 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ by 11″), it has a single driver and opposite an exhaust port (that looks like a speaker) it’s quite a heavy unit. “Spikes” are supplied which should be screwed into its base and the whole thing sits on the floor.
The satellites are reasonably sized being 5 1/2″ by 4″ by 4 1/2″, but they feel a bit flimsy and topple over quite easily. They should sit on your desk.
Cables are supplied to connect everything together, but the satellite phono to bare wire cables look a bit cheap and the connectors aren’t anything special. There’s a standard mini-jack to phono to connect to an iPod dock or PC system.
Sound
There’s quite a punch, especially as there’s 28W pumped into the subwoofer and 12W to the satellites, overall the sound is better than your average PC speaker system with quite a warm sound to it all. However it’s all very dependent on where you place everything. If the
subwoofer is on old floor boards, your downstairs neighbours might get upset.
The subwoofer is finished in a very dark gloss, which means dust becomes very noticeable pretty quickly. It seems relatively resistant to scuffs.
Unfortunately, though the sound is better than your average PC/iPod speaker system, it’s not that special.
Tech Specs
The satellites have: –
Frequency Response: 80Hz – 56KHz
Power: 12W
Subwoofer: –
Frequency Response: 42Hz – 80Hz
Inputs: 1 phone (3.5mm jack to phone lead supplied)
Outputs (to sat): 2 x phone (phone to bare wire leads supplied)
Input Power: 230V AC, 50Hz, 100VA
The unit reviewed was black, though it also come in white.
Verdict
A better than average PC/iPod speaker system for around 100 quid.
Features: 61%,
Ease of Use: 79%
Value for Money: 70%
Overall: 60%
After our Numark CD1 Mixer developed a worrying penchant for spontaneous remixing (resulting in a sea of unimpressed glares from the dance floor), we feared that the machine may have been subjected to a Ramones song too many.
After testing at home, we realised that CDs that played perfectly well on other players were jumping all over t’shop on the Numark and that it had become more sensitive than usual to vibration.
If you’re a DJ playing out on a Saturday night, you’re likely to feel more vibrations than most with the dance floor bouncing to an air punchin’, all gyratin’ crowd (or an advancing angry mob demanding that the idiot behind the decks is removed tout de suite), so a sensitive CD deck is not good news.
We took the Numark into our testing labs (OK, the kitchen table) and gave it a good clean before resorting to the rather unscientific method of opening the CD trays and blowing like billy-o inside, all to no avail.
Testing the CD cleaner
In desperation – and with a DJ booking looming at a venue noted for its no-nonsense crowd – we thought we’d give the Lindy Multi-format CD/DVD Lens Cleaner a go.
Opening the packaging was a little disappointing. We were expecting hi-tech sprays, advanced lotions and cunning cleaning mechanisms, but all we found was a CD with a rather comical mini shaving brush sticking out in the middle.
The instructions were equally unfussy, with a simple exhortation to shove in the CD and play track 12.
Naturally, we were intrigued what lived on the other tracks, and discovered curious snippets of avant garde industrial
metal machine noise, before track 12 started up with a burst of jaunty Euro-pop.
Before we had chance to put on our pink leg warmers and get grooving, the track went silent while (we presume) the little brush does it head cleaning thing for about 20 seconds.
We ran the cleaner on our Numark CD1 a couple of times and are pleased to say that it seemed to do the business, with the decks working fine at the gig next day (although we’d also mounted the player on a mat of bubble wrap, just to be sure).
Of course, contrary to the famed Tomorrow’s World demonstration where it appeared that CDs were so tough, they’d probably outlive several direct nuclear hits, some CDs do fail no matter what.
We’ve had more than enough expensive CDs (as well as dodgier MP3 copies) fail miserably mid-gig, but if your CD player is in tip top shape there’s more chance you’ll be spared dancefloor disasters, so it’s worth giving the Lindy cleaner a spin.
Don’t expect miracles though, as we’ve seen more than enough CD players terminally self-destruct, but at just a fiver the CD cleaner looks to be worth a pop.
Our verdict
Features: 75%
Ease of Use: 80%
Value for Money: 65%
Overall: 70%
Commodore – a name sure to turn old skool gamers of a certain age all misty eyed and nostalgic – has released a range of high end gaming PCs.
The top spec’d Commodore GX and Commodore xx models will only be available from their online store, while the Commodore g and Commodore GS range will sold in retail outlets from May.
Sadly, the trusty old Amiga OS is nowhere to be seen, with all the machines running the Windows Vista operating system.
The top of the range XX model has a price tag sure to induce “Gordon Bennett!” exclamations, serving up a £2,900 baseline spec featuring an Intel Core2 Extreme Quad-Core processor QX6700: 2.66GHz 8MB Cache, ASUS P5N32-E NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI motherboard, 2x NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB SLI graphics cards, 2x 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Raid 0 hard drives and 2GB of 1066MHz RAM, running on Windows Vista Home Premium.
And that’s without a monitor, keyboard and mouse and just a two year service and parts warranty.
For those with extra voluminous pockets, machine requirements can be customised further online, with additional options like a BluRay writer, extra RAM and bigger drives pushing the price into the stratosphere.
Mad for it gamers might also warm to Commodore Gaming’s ‘C-kins’ designs which let users select one of a 100 flashy, scratch-proof, PC case paint jobs created using a patented dye process.
“We’re extremely excited and proud to offer our range of exceptional gaming machines and since PC gaming and online gaming is about instant entertainment, this is what we intend to deliver with machines that will satisfy everyone from the casual gamer to the professional,” piped Bala Keilman, CEO for Commodore Gaming.
Commodore says it plans to roll out a European store in mid May, accompanying retail outlets in UK, Germany, France and the Benelux.