Will Moore

Audyssey, the high-end audio technology specialists, have just introduced their latest consumer product, the Lower East Side Media Speakers. We raved over the SOM audio dock that the company released earlier this year and it will be interesting to see if they can achieve the levels of quality we now come to expect from Audyssey.

What makes these units really stand out from the crowd are the speaker’s connectivity features. Not only can you connect via standard analog audio, but you are also given the option of an optical input, meaning that you can hook these up to anything and everything, with the best possible sound quality.

The units feature two 3.5-inch woofers, two.75-inch silk dome tweeters and on 4-inch passive bass radiator. This in theory translates to an awesome sound for such a diminutive chassis.

We are aching to get ahold of these for a thorough test, and will post up a full review as soon as we know more.

The Audyssey Lower East Side Media Speakers will be available in the third quarter of this year for an RRP of $199

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As any fan-boy (myself included) will testify, Macs don’t get viruses – or rather, that’s what we used to say…

With the popularity of the Macintosh platform at the highest it’s ever been, we are no longer as immune to cyber attacks as we could once claim. Only last week the ill intentioned ‘Mac Defender’ virus raged chaos on Macs the world over. The question of Mac security has raised its head once again – and this time, we might actually need to pay attention…

In a timely culmination of development and marketing, internet security stalwart, F-Secure have brought their anti-virus protection to the Mac. The software offers full protection from a plethora of internet nasties, including viruses, worms, spyware and most other common forms of malware that set out to hurt your shiny Apple goodies.

At a mere $30 for a years worth of protection, it’s not going to break the bank; but $30 is still a decent amount of cash to invest in something that you might not need.

Well, I’m here to say this (and trust me, it’s a hard thing for me to admit) –  Mac users of the world – no longer are we able to sit in our towers, gloating and bragging about our invulnerability, and mocking the perceived ignorance of Windows OS users. The time has come for us to suck up our pride and install an anti-virus.

‘But, how will we win Mac Vs Pc debates?’ I hear you cry. While it is still true that Mac computers are A LOT more secure than our Windows counterparts, the moment the Mac Defender virus mutated, and became able to install without user authentication was the moment we lost.

Luckily, F-Secure has made virus management a breeze. Simply download the software from the company site, buy a subscription and you are away. Installation is a quick and painless process and the program takes up a mere 47 MB of storage.

F-Secure Anti-Virus has 2 areas of protection. Firstly it has a realtime protection system that stops malware getting into your Mac in the first place. Secondly you have the option to scan your hard drive to detect threats that may already be present.

The realtime scanner is great – it sits happily in them menu bar and doesn’t take up any CPU resource worth mentioning. The manual scanning however is a beast. For me, on a 128GB SSD (45GB in use) the scan took over 4 hours. In that time the program used up 80% of the CPU. This is a massive drain, so I would only advise using the manual scan when you are not using the computer.

Unsurprisingly, the manual scan revealed zero viruses. I am a fairly vigilant person, so I would have been shocked if anything had made it onto my system, but now that OS X is firmly on the radar for internet criminals and general troublemakers – having active protection is good peace of mind.

Good virus and malware protection is as much about common sense as it is good software. If you click a link in Google and it starts downloading a file – it’s pretty safe to say that’s a bad thing. Delete that SOB before it can get hold! Equally authenticating an unknown app will get you unstuck; but even the best of us mess up sometimes, and having a second line of defence is now a must.

I’m sure I will be slammed by the commenters for admitting fear in the face of virus adversity, but for me, I would rather be safe than sorry. Maybe it is all hype and we will all be fine, but I recommend getting some sort of anti-virus solution on your Mac and F-Secure are a trusted name that offer a great solution.

F-Secure Anti-Virus for Mac is available from the company website with subscriptions starting at $29 a year. Free trials are also available.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

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When I first got my Macbook Air, I fell in love with its diminutive profile, speedy boot times and incredible portability, but after living with it for a few months, one thing became glaringly apparent – 128GB was simply not enough room. Having convinced myself it would be at the time or purchase – I have recently found myself umbilically attached to a 500GB USB hard drive for music and photos.

Now, 6 months in, I was faced with two choices – stick the current MBA on eBay and stump up the extra cash for a larger capacity Air – or invest in a 3rd party storage solution. The first option is just stupid, so an upgrade was on the cards.

At the time of writing there is only one choice for upgrading your hard drive on the Air. Other World Computing offer a range of Air SSDs, ranging from a 180GB option, right the way up to a 480GB beast. OWC have been going since before the dawn of time and have always offered outstanding products for Mac, so I decided going with them was a pretty safe bet.

I purchased the 240GB SSD as it gives twice the room and comes in at a pricey but not wallet-breaking $579. (The theory was to stick my current SSD on eBay and get $200 or so back for it). The drive arrived a few days later and the install process was fairly straightforward. Using the supplied tools, unscrew the bottom cover from the MBA, remove the current SSD and swap it out with the new one.

So now that it’s all in place — data restored and a few months down the line — is it worth the upgrade?

The Good:

Im fairly techie minded, however the install process is so simple, it was a breath of fresh air (no pun intended). If you are able to use a screwdriver, then you will be able to swap the drive out.

The documentation that comes with the drive states that, as well as a storage upgrade you will also get a 68 percent speed boost too. I can’t vouch for a 68 percent increase (the factory SSD scored 2911 on Geekbench, whereas with the OWC drive added I got 2967), however there is a marked increase in everything from transfer speeds to application launch times.

Using Aperture, with my library stored on the SSD, rather than on the external drive was where the difference was most obvious. The app loads incredibly quickly, and editing images happens in lightning fast time. For a computer that, on paper resembles a netbook rather than a pro laptop, I found myself in awe of the experience. Obviously the MacBook Air is more than just a hard drive, but having the OWC SSD installed meant that I had room to maneuver.

Of course having the extra room is great – being able to dump the tethered USB drive has made the portability of the MBA really shine through.

The Bad:

To be honest, there is only one thing wrong with the Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD. The Price. Whichever way you look at it $579 is a lot of money. I do feel that the price could be a little lower, but considering the technology that goes into creating a flash drive of such minuscule proportions, OWC can be forgiven for charging a premium.

Verdict:

Only you can decide whether stumping up the cash for a larger hard drive is worth it, but in my circumstances, the Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD has been a lifesaver. Yes, maybe I should have bought the larger capacity MBA in the first place. But for all those — like me — who didn’t, OWC offers a welcome lifeline.

The Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD is available with same day shipping, directly from the OWC website

Rating: ★★★¾☆ 

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With Sonos announcing only yesterday that Airplay support was coming to the Sonos range, as well as updating their iPhone and iPad apps – we thought it was about time we took the Sonos for a spin.

Let me start this by saying the Sonos multi-room system is the best solution available for getting multiple sources of music playing throughout your home – period. It’s not necessarily the cheapest, but it is without doubt the most complete solution you will find – and we love it!

The Sonos comes as a suite of devices that each serves a slightly different purpose. The first is the Zp90, a device that plugs into your existing audio system or powered speakers via either analog phono or digital optical cabling. The second is the ZP120, a box that comes with its own built-in amplifier ready to be plugged directly into a set of standard speakers and the third is the recently released S5, a standalone speaker box with Sonos features built-in. Optionally, dependent on your home, you may also need the Zonebridge 100 – a network switch that links your router to the Sonos network.

For the purposes of this review we will be mainly focussing on the ZP90 and the S5.

Setup

As those who know me will testify, I am a long time Apple fan and have always been of the belief that no other company can offer an easier setup of device as the men (and women) from Cupertino. That opinion has been very much shaken with the discovery of the Sonos system.

We started our setup with the ZP90. Physically, it was a case of plugging the audio cable (optical in this case) into our AV receiver and the power lead and network lead into the back if the box. It is worth noting that if your router and hi-fi are in separate rooms you will need to purchase the aforementioned Zonebridge 100 to get the Sonos up and running.

From this point you have a couple of options to get everything moving. You can either use the supplied Sonos software on your Mac or Pc, or the controller software for iPhone or iPad.

After installation, to get the software to see the ZP90, you simply press the mute and volume up buttons on the box and it will appear on your computer or iDevice.

Once this first connection has been made, you have a vast array of options available to you. You can add iTunes libraries from local computers, set up streaming music sources and set favorite Internet radio stations. We will cover more on where you can get your music from later in the review.

So, we have one box setup now – but it’s not a multi room until we have another, and this is where the simplicity gets even simpler.

Using either your computer, iPad or iPhone, tap add new device, press the mute and volume up button on your second box, (the S5 in our case) and hey presto – you now have two zones. This process can be repeated for up to 32 Sonos units. It is a beautiful process, well thought out and perfectly implemented.

Music Sources

The choice of where you get your music with Sonos is expansive. When the units first launched, you were limited to streaming your own mp3′s from a computer or network-attached storage. Don’t get me wrong this was great, with multiple formats supported (full list here), but we have been spoiled over the years and this is no longer enough to truly satisfy.

Out of the box you have instant free access to thousands of internet radio stations from around the world. You can also connect to Deezer Radio as well as the highly popular Pandora Radio, totally free of charge. There is a veritable plethora of further choices available dependent on your location and wallet. The full list of services available in you country can be found here.

I am Europe based, so sadly couldn’t enjoy the use of Pandora, but I did get to test out the fantastic Spotify. If you haven’t heard of it, Spotify is a music streaming service, with access to over 10 million tracks at the time of writing. It has an ad-supported free model which allows you to listen to music on your computer, or a £10 ($17) a month for uninterrupted 320kbps streaming, as well as offline and mobile playback. You need the premium subscription to use Spotify with your Sonos. The service only out in a few countries at present, but with a US launch promised in the next 3-6 months, you have a lot to look forward to.

With the new software update, which adds Airplay support via Airport Express into your Sonos, we were able to stream tunes directly from our iPhone to every room in the home. With this being a brand spanking new feature – we won’t know exactly how effective it will be until further testing, but suffice it to say – so far it looks good. It’s a great feature for when you have friends over who want to play their tunes on your home stereo, and has a million other permutations too – we just haven’ thought of them yet!

Control

You are spoilt for choice when it comes to how you would like to control your Sonos as well. There is of course the standalone hardware controller – but more importantly there is a controller for iPod/iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC, and as of yesterday (19/4/2011) – Android devices too.

The interface is simple and intuitive – giving you access to music playback, EQ settings and more for every zone in your home.

“It just works” is obviously a mantra the Sonos team have drummed into them everyday as the software opens perfectly every time and we have yet to see it crash over months of use.

Our only gripe with the iPhone app, was that the graphical assets are low resolution, so the app looks a little muddy on an iPhone 4 and latest iPod Touch. I’m sure it won’t be long until we see an update to address these faults.

Quality/reliability

The Sonos multiroom system is a beautifully made system. Everything from the matte white plastic of the ZP90 to the perfectly formed metal grille on the S5 is high quality and you can tell that visual design is as much of a priority as the sound itself.

Speaking of sound – and we can only judge the S5, as all the other units require their own speakers, it really is awesome. The S5 fills the room with beautiful noise. Bass is low and thumpy, highs are high and the detail levels are superb. We could go so far as to say that the Sonos S5 is the best sounding standalone speaker we have seen.

From a reliability perspective, we can’t claim to have had a smooth ride all the way. About a month into our testing, there was an update to our Airport Extreme Router. For some reason this totally wiped out all settings relating to the Sonos, and no number of resets or reconfiguration seemed to fix it.

Where Sonos really shone was in their amazing customer service. After bringing up a web chat window on the Sonos website and explaining our situation, the representative skillfully and expertly guided us through the steps to rectify the issue, even taking control of our Mac at one point to sort the issue himself.

While no-one likes it when gadgets go wrong, knowing that a knowledgable and friendly team are on hand to help really gives you peace of mind.

Price

The one sticking point we have encountered whenever Sonos is mentioned is the price. With units retailing for somewhere between $350 and $400 a piece, kitting out a 5 room home quickly adds up.

This reviewer has always been of the belief that you get what you pay for, (heck, that’s why we all have Apple gear in the first place, right?), and this is true in the case of the Sonos as well.

Yes, there are cheaper systems that will enable you to have music in every room of your house, but there are none that do it with as much style and grace as the Sonos. Everything works perfectly and looks fantastic. Compare this to a custom installed, wired multi room system and the Sonos suddenly becomes very cheap – typical professional quality installs can easily cost thousands of dollars.

Overall

You will be able to tell from the tone of this review, that we are totally in love with the Sonos system. Having used it for a few months I can assure it is worth every penny and has actually changed the way we listen to music.

With the addition of something like Spotify/Pandora, we have discovered more music than ever before possible, and all in high quality – all over our home. Once you try Sonos, you will never go back.

The Sonos multiroom system is available direct from Sonos.com or through Apple.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

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Audyssey have already built a strong reputation in the field of high-end audio calibration. This is their first self released product. In a world of crappy plastic housings and terrible sound quality, finding a good quality iPhone/iPod dock is a rare occurrence. Audyssey’s South of the Market dock is a breath of fresh air in this over saturated, low quality arena.

Though not perfect, this dock is hands down the best I have reviewed and outdoes similar offerings on both build quality and sound by far. Read on to find out why.

Build Quality

The South of the Market dock is a very well made speaker. It is crafted from high quality aluminium and thick matt black plastic. It has a weight to it that inspires confidence, yet is not ridiculously heavy. This weight acts to create a better sound quality, and it works well. The dock connector is Apple approved and worked with any iDevice I threw at it including the iPad. Though not officially supported, the platform that carries the device is rigid and wide enough to hold your iPad with no issues.

The dock is fronted by a silver Audyssey logo, which also acts as a volume switch. This is one of the few areas of the dock where the quality is lacking. On my test unit it was slightly wonky and was fairly unresponsive unless pressed really hard. It’s this sort of detailing that should be perfect for a dock at this level. In fairness, I checked out another test unit and it was totally fine, however make sure you check it when you get yours!

Features, Connections &  Accessories

Features wise, this thing is packing. The Audyssey SOM has built-in bluetooth to allow for hands free calls via the speaker, as well as wireless music streaming. This works well and calls are clear and easy to understand. Unusually for a hands free unit, those on the other end reported no distortion or echo when getting a call made with the hands free on.

The music streaming worked perfectly throughout the house with no drops in playback. Quality was OK, not the best but very passable.

Other features include Sync and Charge – allowing you to use the SOM as a computer dock for iPhone and using the included 3.5mm cable, it doubles up as a very good desktop speaker for your Mac.

In the box you get the dock (duh!), power leads, 3.5mm audio leads and a remote. Not a spectacular array of items, but all of which very well made, I once read about a man who spent $3k on a power lead, just to improve the sound quality – I don’t think this comes close, but as cables go, these are pretty good. The remote is simple but well made; a favourite feature is that it has a little magnet in the back allowing it to sit nicely on the fridge. (The test dock is in the kitchen).

The dock also has a companion iPhone app, allowing for custom EQ settings and a few other cool features such as dynamic volume control and levels. It’s a simple app that does one thing well.

Sound

Now to the most important aspect of a speaker; the sound. As I mentioned at the start of this article, Audyssey have been harnessing sound for years and all that experience is evident in this product. For such a small speaker it fills the room with sound. Often the diminutive size of speaker docks results in less than impressive sound with tinny bass and unimpressive highs.

Using their award-winning technologies such as BassXT, Dynamic EQ and tilt management, the SOM delivers superb quality across all genres of music. The Smiths sound deep and depressing as they should, while Matisyahu’s latest offering is tight and punchy. When compared to the sound of something like B&W’s Zeppelin, the Audyssey holds its own and in my opinion beats the sound quality produced by the Zeppelin.

Conclusion

At $399 the South of Market dock is not cheap, but compared to B&W’s Zeppelin at $599, it is cheap-er. Though I have not done a side by side review of both products, I have used each individually, and I honestly believe that the Audyssey beats the Zeppelin on almost every level – build quality, sound and features. For me it is a winner and if it wasn’t for a slightly problematic volume button, this reviewer would give it 100%.

Audyssey South of the Market Edition dock is available from Apple or Amazon for $399 plus shipping.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

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You may remember seeing the iGlo LED set from my review a couple of weeks ago.  Bruce Seymour, one of MEA’s directors has posted a video showing us how to use the lighting set on your Christmas tree. It’s a fun video and well worth checking out!

I was dubious about using it on a tree, but as you can see it works really well and just goes to confirm that this is a fun product for the holidays. while its probably too late to get one for this Christmas, you may still be able to get one for your new years bash!

The iGlo iPhone controlled LED set is available direct from MEA Mobile for $299 with flat rate worldwide shipping

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

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With the holidays now only days away, we are all starting to think about the true meaning of the holidays – food and drink, and copious amounts of the stuff! Whether you are in charge of the full roast on Christmas day, or just the cranberries, having a helping hand is always appreciated.

Being the lovely people we are, we have put together a list of the best apps and accessories for both iPhone and iPad that can help your holiday season be as full flavoured and stress free as possible!

The Apps

1. Grocery IQ - iPhone/iPad – FREE

To cook award-winning holiday meals, you first need to build a good bank of ingredients. Grocery IQ from coupons.com serves as your one stop grocery list app. It has a slick interface that allows you to create custom shopping lists. You can specify separate lists for individual stores, sort lists by aisle and even scan items by barcode instead of entering manually. The app has a database of thousands of items to help you along the way and as it’s from coupons.com, it also lists any available coupons for your region. It’s a free app that delivers well on what it promises.

2. CookIt – iPhone – $0.99

One of the hardest aspects of cooking any meal is timing, this is even more the case when it comes to the Christmas dinner! If you are someone who struggles to remember when something finishes cooking or when you need to put the next item on, then CookIt is for you. CookIt is a cooking countdown application which allows a user to time a cooked meal to perfection.

You start by entering each of the items you wish to cook, along with their cooking time. The application will then work out when each item is due to be started. A timer and notification system makes sure you are keeping track with the schedule.

At $0.99 this app really is worth its weight in gold and might just save you from eating charcoal on Christmas day!

3. Epicurious – iPad/iPhone – FREE

Epicurious is the go-to name in iPhone and iPad recipe apps. It has been about for a couple of years now and has won numerous awards including ‘Best Mobile Application 2009′ as voted by American Society of Magazine Editors. Opening the app you can really see why. The app has a clear and bright interface, clearly laid out menus and is a lot of fun to use. You can browse thousands of recipes, view seasonal menu ideas as well as create easy shopping lists from your ingredients. As it’s free, it’s a bit of a no brainer – get this app now!

4. Gourmet Live - iPad – FREE

Gourmet Live is made by Conde Nast; the same people behind the aforementioned Epicurious. With such a great track record they are building a strong name for themselves in the world of culinary apps. Where Epicurious is a recipe app to aid you with your cooking, Gourmet Live is a beautiful magazine to offer inspiration and new ideas. It is presented well, offering fast loading – high-resolution imagery, well written copy and mouth-watering recipes. You can save recipes for later use, and over time you can build up your own iPad base recipe book. It’s free, so well worth a look!

5. Intelligentsia Coffee - iPhone FREE

After eating the 3-ton turkey and the millionth roast potato, there is nothing better than a good coffee to finish the meal. Intelligentsia Coffee acts as your guide through the vast world of coffees. It offers information on flavor, growing conditions and more. The app also offers advice on brewing best practice – it even includes a brew timer! If coffee is your thing, then check it out!

Wall Mounting your iPad

I have mentioned before my love of iPad wall mounting when reviewing the Wallee earlier this year. Having your iPad just there when you are working makes the experience feel more whole. Having it on the wall also keeps it our of harms reach from splashes etc. Since my previous article, a multitude of iPad mounting solutions have come onto the market. Here’s our top 3:

1. The Wallee (Pictured) – If you like having a case on your iPad permanently, then the Wallee makes the perfect mounting solution. There are two parts to the solution: a well-fitting hard case that has a cross-shaped hole in the back and then a complimentary x shaped dock that the iPad slides onto. Once installed the Wallee works perfectly, just slide the iPad (with case) onto the bracket, turn and you are done. It works in both portrait and landscape modes.

The Wallee is available direct from the manufacturer for $49 with free worldwide shipping.

2. The PadTab – A solution comprising a thin plastic bracket that fits snugly on the back of the iPad and a companion plastic block that goes on your wall/fridge/cupboard door. A key benefit over the Wallee is that it requires no drilling and no external case. The PadTab is fairly unobtrusive and would work very well with a home audio/video setup as well as for the occasional kitchen recipe.

The PadTab is available direct from the manufacturer for $29.99 with free worldwide shipping on orders of $49 until Christmas

3. Pad Bracket – The Pad Bracket is a solution that differs from the previous two. It requires nothing to be attached to the iPad itself, only a small bracket drilled into the wall. This is a massive win in my book as it means that the 90% of the time my iPad is not on the wall it can be as John Ive intended. Another winning feature is that it will hold your iPhone too – something that none of the others can offer

The Pad Bracket is available direct from the manufacturer for $19.99 with special offers on multiple purchases.

Cooking Outside with iGrill

Here in the UK, temperatures over the holiday season are rarely above freezing, but if you are lucky enough to be somewhere warmer, your cooking routine on Christmas day might be slightly different – If you would rather barbecue than baste, then iGrill is the solution for you. It is a temperature monitor that connects to your iPhone over bluetooth and allows you to monitor how your turkey is doing without leaving your guests. IGrill also offers cooking time suggestions as well as barbecue recipe ideas. It’s a really great use of the iPhone and a clever and innovative product.

Keeping your iDevice safe when cooking

The 1-gallon Ziploc bag!

This last one isn’t really an app or standard accessory, but as our friends over at TUAW recently pointed out, the 1-gallon Ziploc makes the perfect iPad partner when cooking. Your device will fit snugly inside, protecting it from splashes, all the while still giving you control. The iPad’s capacitive touchscreen is still usable even with the bag over it.

If you are the messy or nervous type, this simple and cheap solution could save you from an expensive accident come Christmas day!

Wrap Up

Personally speaking, the iPad and iPhone have changed the way I cook. Gone are the cookery books and reams of paper. The have been replaced by something much better, the iPad and iPhone have bought my cooking into the 21 century and when matched with great apps and accessories, they become true Christmas cooking companions.

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With Christmas just around the corner, most of us are setting up our homes ready for the festive season. If you are looking to add some geekery to your festive decorations this year, MEA Mobile’s latest product, the iGlo iPhone controlled LED set could be just what you are after.

The set consists of 120 LED’s on a water-resistant 5 meter strip that plugs into a WiFi controller unit. There is a companion app that is available free from the app store that allows for easy control directly from your iPhone.

Setup

Setup is a relatively easy process, all you need to do is plug-in controller to the lights, and then hook it up to the power. Placement of your lights is totally up to you but bear in mind that the strip isn’t the most attractive thing when it’s turned off, so I wouldn’t go wrapping it around your Christmas tree. We found it worked best when tucked away along a shelf edge, hiding the strip but letting the lights shine through.

The process to get the controller up and running is a little clunky – you have to go into settings and switch wireless network so you are on the same loop as the LED Lights, then open the app and off you go.  As I said, it’s a bit clunky but not unusable.

Now the fun can start!

Whats good?

The lights themselves are some of the best quality we have seen – with bright whites and vibrant colours that run across the whole spectrum. The app allows you to select any number of over a hundred preset programs that can satisfy your every LED related need! If you do need something a little more bespoke, the app offers you a veritable plethora of control options. You can either start from scratch and create your very own light sequence, manipulate some of the readily available patterns and even control the lights in realtime using an accelerometer controlled system.

As I have previously mentioned, the light strip is very well made, with a high quality PVC coating to protect from the odd spilt drink over the holiday season! It’s only water-resistant, but it does give you some peace of mind.

The wireless control unit is a compact, functional object. It works well and only rarely dropped the connection between the iPhone and the LED strip.

Once you get the initial setup done and out the way, the whole system works really well. You can even extend your system to give you nearly 50 feet of lights!

Whats bad?

Truthfully, the iPhone control app is the only thing that lets this system down. It works, and 99% of the time it works well. Sadly the 1% of the time it doesn’t can be a real drag. I have had numerous crashes, freezes and even the occasional non-connect. This issue only seems to affect the iPhone 4 though, I tested the app on my wife’s iPod touch as well as my iPad and these issues never came up.

Speaking with MEA’s MD, Bruce Seymour, he assures me that an update is in the works that will fix all these issues. You can expect to see this update at some point in the new year.

Conclusion

The iGlo iPhone controlled LED set is one of the most fun and innovative uses of the iPhone as a controller I have come across. Yes it has a few bugs that need working out, but it is tremendous fun! The price of $299 is going to deter some, but if you are looking for a near professional system for your Christmas lights and beyond, the iGlo iPhone controlled LED set is a strong offering.

If you want to see a few demo’s of how the lighting set can be used check out this link

The iGlo iPhone controlled LED set is available direct from MEA Mobile for $299 with flat rate worldwide shipping

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

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Finding a decent set of headphones or earbuds that doesn’t cost the earth has always been a challenge. You either have to sacrifice on quality to fit your budget, or re-mortgage your house to find that ‘perfect’ sound.

With a maximum budget of $300, I set out to see how much sound you can get for your money at this mid- to high-level.

I picked 3 units for the review, the Shure SRH750DJ over ear monitors, Beats Solo HD on ear by Monster and Shure’s SE315 in-ear buds. They are priced at $220, $229 and $300 respectively. Before I start, I know a lot of you will be saying that you don’t need to spend anywhere near this for a decent set of cans, and I agree to a certain extent.

For everyday use you can spend $100 on headphones and be perfectly happy; but I don’t want happy, I want ecstatic. I want to feel as if I am sitting in front of the artist as they are recording, feeling every beat, hearing every subtle nuance in the sound.

With my high standards set, can any of these units deliver the sound I am after? I have assessed each product on four points; design, comfort, sound and value.

Shure SRH750DJ Over Ear Monitors – $220

Design

The SRH750DJ is an over ear model, meaning that you get a nice tight sound lock, the headphones are constructed completely from plastic and though they are the cheapest model in this review, I would still like to have seen a hint of chrome or aluminium. The cord is detachable which makes for easy transport and the cans themselves fold in for compact storage. The pads are made of a leatherette material as is the head band cushion. Overall the design is a little disappointing, it serves a purpose, but that is all.

Comfort

95% of the time the music in my office is not to my taste so I often find myself wearing headphones for 5-6 hours a day. Having a comfortable pair is almost as important as having a great sound. The 750′s perform fairly well in this department. They are snug around the ears, adjustable to fit even the longest head and they are light for a set of this size.

I do find after wearing them for an hour or so, you begin to get slight neck ache. I believe this is due mainly to an imbalance in the weight distribution. Because of their predominantly plastic design, they can get a bit creaky too.

Sound

So now onto the main point, sound quality. The 750′s are a closed back design with 50mm drivers and a frequency range of 5Hz -30kHz. In testing, I found they gave a fairly good sound overall, being particularly punchy in the low-end. The high’s are crisp and clear and the overall immersion effect was fairly good. They do not have active noise cancelling, but due to their over ear nature, do a fair job at stopping any unwanted noise getting in. Overall A decent performance.

Value

At $220 these are not cheap headphones and as such you expect certain levels of quality. The plastic design and weird balance were enough to put me off. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good points. The sound is great and the inclusion of extra pads and adaptable gold-plated jack is a nice touch. I just think there are better headphones out there for the money. They are good but at this price point you can do better.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Monster Beats Solo HD on ear Headphones - $229

Design

If this review was based solely on looks, the Beats Solo’s would win hands down. They are a really lovely product. From the well-made, thick red cable, to the brushed aluminium logo – a lot of care and attention has been put into the style of these headphones. They have the perfect ratio of plastic to metal. You get the choice of two cables: one with Control Talk (iPhone controls); and one without. The cord is detachable and the whole ensemble folds up nicely in a little neoprene case. A good job well done.

Comfort

The Beat’s are a very comfortable pair of headphones. They are on ear, so literally just rest on your ears instead of around them (think original Walkman headphones). You barely notice the headband when you are wearing them and they are light as a feather, whilst retaining a quality feel. The pads are faux leather and feel like pillows on your ears.

Sound

So far the Solo’s have delivered extremely well on both design and comfort, and they are not let down by the sound quality either. Let me quantify that statement. If I was in the studio looking for the most accurate representation of sound, then the Beats would not be the headphones I would choose. However, in the office, on the train or walking about town, these headphones deliver the perfect balance of bass and detail I was looking for. The top end is a little muddy if I’m honest – but on the whole I was impressed.

Value

At $229 the Beats Solo’s are not an impulse buy, but if you are going to spend this sort of money on headphones then you could do a lot worse than Monster’s offering.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Shure SE315 in-ear buds – $300

Design

As the saying goes – good things come in small packages. This is certainly true for the SE315′s. The drive units are encased in transparent moulded plastic, allowing you to see in great detail the quality of work that has gone into creating these little guys.

Every thought has gone into the small details of the design of the SE315′s. The buds detach from the cables, which is great as the most common damage to earphones is in the cord. It means that a break won’t cost you the earth as you just replace the cable. The cord is one of the nicest I’ve seen in any product. It is solid but still flexible and has a woven exterior which should protect from any fraying or tears.

Due to their size, the design features of the 315′s are not as readily apparent as Monster’s unit, but it is this understated style that really sets them apart in a market saturated with low quality materials.

Comfort

I should preface this section of the review by saying that I really don’t get on well with in-ear headphones. I don’t think I have particularly freakish ears, but I have always struggled to find a well-fitting in ear product. Until now that is…

The SE315′s do take some getting used to. They have an over-ear design, so rather than just popping them in your ears you have to get into a routine of looping them and getting it just right. I was infuriated by this for the first couple of days and my initial try took about 15 minutes. However this seemed to be down to user error rather than bad product design. Shure provides a plethora of ear buds to suit every ear shape and personal preference. The ones I found worked the best were the rubber moulded ones shown in the picture above.

In-ear headphones aren’t for everyone, but if you are looking for buds rather than over earphones – these are some of the best-fitting I have found.

Sound

As I have previously said, sound is the most important choice in any set of headphones. The SE315′s are superb. They pack a frequency range of 22Hz – 18.5kHz. The sound is the best I have heard from any sound device. The bass is deep and the top end rings out. You really do feel as if you are sitting next to the performer. I tested the units on a selection of tracks and they performed well in all genres. The second trick to these little gems is their noise-cancelling ability. Due to their in-ear nature, when playing music you hear only that. At one point I had two phones ringing on my desk and didn’t hear a thing — except the track I was listening to.

From a sound perspective these earphones win every time. I really can’t rate them highly enough.

Value

The Shure SE315′s are the priciest of the headphones I reviewed, coming in at $300. If quality sound is what you are looking for, then these are the headphones for you. There is something beautiful about listening to them, almost like hearing a track live for the first time. That said $300 is a lot of money for a lump of plastic and metal on a string. Though I haven’t tested all the headphones out there – I would stick my neck on the line to say that these are the best quality you can find in this price bracket.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Wrap Up

All the headphones I have reviewed here deliver a great performance. Some deliver better on sound while others win on the design and comfort stakes. It is a very hard decision to pick a favourite out of these three, so I won’t. Instead I would say this – If you want over ear headphones for every day use, the Beats Solo HD are brilliant. If you want pro level sound and have the extra $70, get the SE315′s.

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The Wallee is both a hard case for iPad as well as a simple and efficient wall mounting solution. It allows you to use your iPad throughout your home. It’s one of the best solutions out there, and delivers both on style and functionality. The Wallee is a gadget that is so well-engineered that I often forget about it. It has just blended its way into my everyday life – just like the iPad itself.

When the iPad first launched, one of my first thoughts was how good it would be to have the iPad on the wall for recipes, TV and video whilst cooking. I am not alone in my thinking. Over the past few months numerous wall mounting solutions for the iPad have emerged.

From Jesse Rosten’s simplistic but beautiful use of Velcro shown in this video to more permanent solutions such as the Pad Tab and WallPort, Everyone is trying to get in on the wall mounted tablet game.

The Wallee is a near perfect solution for wall mounting your iPad. Its construction is of the highest quality, with parts manufactured from thick plastic and steel and a design that holds its own even when placed next to the iPad itself.

There are two parts to the Wallee: a well-fitting hard case that has a cross-shaped hole in the back and then a complimentary x shaped dock that the iPad slides onto.

Once installed the Wallee works perfectly, just slide the iPad (with case) onto the bracket, turn and you are done. The fixing is secure and at no point do you feel worried that your precious device will fall. It comes in a range of different colors, and even includes a clear version, allowing you to protect your device while still see the iPad itself.

Installation

I’ll be honest here, the installation of the Wallee is not a one minute process. The case itself just clips onto the iPad. Easy as pie. Where the difficulty starts is attaching the X dock to the wall.

As You will see in the above video, installation isn’t just a matter of sticking a pad on the wall and go. You need to line the metal bracket up, drill holes and affix screws. For some this may be enough to put them off buying; for me it made the product even better. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass having to get the toolbox out but i feel much happier about my iPad being affixed to the wall with screws and wall-plugs, then I would with a sticky membrane.

In my experience, no matter how good a glue claims to be, they will always fail eventually. On the plus side, getting out the drill is good for you, makes you feel like a real man! (or very talented woman)

One of the benefits of the Wallee over other wall mounts is that the X configuration allows for easy switching between landscape and portrait, all you need to do is twist. The case and dock have interlocking bumps that allow the device to stick where it should be until you move it.

Daily use

Once you have got the Wallee installed and working, you will be surprised how useful this little fellow becomes. I have had mine installed for a couple of weeks now and I use it daily. I watch BBC iPlayer whilst washing up, read while I’m cleaning and plenty more. My wife has even adopted it and on more than one occasion my iPad has gone missing so she can test some new recipe on Epicurious.

There are only a couple of negatives I could find with the product itself. One is that the X shape in the back of the case tends to let a bit of grit and dust in. The second is that aforementioned case does add a fair bulk to the iPad. Whether this is enough to put you off buying is down to personal opinion. The case comes off fairly easily so it’s not the end of the world. Maybe the Wallee #2 will fix these issues.

Conclusion

I have fallen in love with this little lump of plastic. Through very little effort, the Wallee has turned the iPad into the device I dreamed about whilst watching Star Trek as a kid. Captain Picard it is not, but the Wallee really does make a great device seem even greater.

Though the case is not perfect, the concept is. Having a little extra bulk is, in my opinion a small compromise to have such a stylish mounting solution.

My only advice would be this; get a couple of the docks when you order, I am already wishing I had two. My lounge is crying out for some iPad love!
The Wallee is available direct from the manufacturer for $49 with free worldwide shipping.

Rating: ★★★★¼ 

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The iPad is a beautiful device and a well-constructed case is a must have. The ‘Happy Cover’ from design house Atelier Kurth aims to meet our case needs, all the while delivering retro style that sets it apart from the masses.

What’s Good?: The case is clearly made by designers, using bold imagery and text that showcases a selection of gadgets and technological innovations from days past. The cases feature big, bold pictures of transistors, capacitors, floppy drives and serial ports. The artwork is really striking.

The Happy Cover is made from durable 100% cotton fabric and is lined with a second layer of the same material inside. A great deal of thought has gone into the look of the slip case, with a contrasting pattern lining the inside. It also has a nylon velcro flap to ensure the iPad doesn’t make an appearance without your consent.

What’s Bad?: This case is one of style rather than protection. It will do a sterling job of keeping your iPad free from dust and grime, but if you are looking for something that will help with a fall you will need to look elsewhere. The case has no padding to speak of and offers little to no protection from a drop. To be fair to the maker — their website does say that this case is primarily for secondary protection from scratches dust and dirt, whilst in another bag.

Conclusion

For me this case is a winner. I have a really nice bag that I carry my gadgets around in. It is a very well-padded bag and the Happy Cover does a perfect job of ensuring scratch free transport from one place to another. The designs are fantastic and will give a retro styling to your iPad that any hipster would be proud of. If you need drop protection, this isn’t the case for you, but for me it works — and it works well.

Happy Cover for iPad from Atelier Kurth

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Company: ATELIER KURTH

Compatibility: For iPad

List Price: $30

Buy Now: The HAPPY COVER is available direct from the supplier for $30

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Case and battery manufacturer Mophie has just launched the Juice Pack Powerstation — a one stop iOS charging station.

It’s 3,600mAh capacity  means it is more than capable of fully recharging either iPad or iPhone (including iPhone 4), which will bring the possibility of going days without touching a power point.

The Powerstation has a pair of USB ports, one used to charge your device and the other for charging the battery itself. At 2.86 x 4.31 x 0.65 inches, and weighing somewhere around a pound, it is not the most portable of devices. You would be hard pressed to find a pocket big enough to lug this around in, but that said it will comfortably fit in most bags.

The Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation for iOS devices is available now direct from the Mophie site for $99.95. Full review as soon as we get our hands on one.

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Raskin for Mac is an intuitive Finder replacement for Mac OS, and is the single best reason to go out and buy Apple’s new Magic Trackpad: it totally transforms the desktop experience.

Raskin for Mac uses a visual interface to present all your files on a single page, allowing you to view, arrange and open documents, applications, files and images without opening the Finder. It’s like a giant zoomable photo contact sheet, and makes navigating files and applications very easy and fast. It is inspired by the work of Jef Raskin — the legendary computer interface designer and father of the Mac computing experience.

What’s Good?: Paired with Apple’s new $69 Magic Trackpad, the application is really beautiful to use, easily navigating you to your desired area.

Once setup, everything is right there in front of you. You can browse to the artwork you are working on, skip to the last application you had open, or delve into a recent spreadsheet. A simple double tap will enlarge the file or open it depending on your preference. It really is a fun way to get around your Mac, and shows a refreshing user interface that Apple would do well to take note of. It also uses the pinch-to-zoom gesture more common to iOS devices.

What’s Bad?: Using the app with a Magic Trackpad is a joy — but the opposite could be said of using it with a mouse. Gone is the instinctive zooming, replaced by a combination of keystrokes and mouse gestures to achieve your desired action.

To be fair, from a user experience perspective, it’s not horrible with a mouse, but after using the trackpad it feels like going back to a piece of software from 2003. Even the Magic Mouse, with all its touchy goodness, struggles to make the experience a joy.

Conclusion: From a UX point of view, using iOS on my iPhone and iPad is a joy, but I have felt for a long time that the Mac OS interface is being left behind. Unless Apple starts bringing in features like those that Raskin add, OS X will be left for dust.

If you have a Magic Trackpad (or a recent Macbook with a gesture-enabled trackpad), then this choice is a no brainer – go and buy this app. It will change the way you use your Mac. In fact, if you don’t have a trackpad, go buy one and then get this app!

Raskin for Mac is available now direct from the developer website for $50 for a single user licence.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

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As an iPhone user I have always shied away from cases as I have never found one that enhances the design of the iPhone rather than devaluing it. But the latest version of Grove’s Bamboo case for iPhone 4 is a game changer. It is hands down the best case I have ever used or reviewed.

That is a bold statement I know, but here’s why:

What’s Good: The case is molded from a single piece of bamboo that is roughly machined, before being manually shaped to create the desired form. The case is then applied with four layers of natural oils and waxes to give it a protective coating. You can read a full breakdown of the process on Grove’s website, but suffice to say, this case is created by artisans rather than factory workers or machines.

Grove offer a choice of either plain bamboo or specially designed patterns, created by talented illustrators from across the globe.  The designs are then laser-etched onto the bamboo using some of the latest technologies. The finish is beautiful; the tiniest detail is viewable, and on the review case there were no visible errors. It is also lined with a felt-like fabric to minimize scratches.

The bamboo is finished with a metal bezel, available in either silver or black. Like everything on this case it is well-made and hugs the phone comfortably and securely.

The product comes in a simple but stylish bamboo box, clearly created from the left-over bamboo the case came from. The outer shipping case was also filled with bamboo chippings for protection, which was a nice touch.

What’s Bad: With so many positives there must come a few negatives, but these are more to do with iPhone cases in general rather than specific faults with Grove’s case.

The iPhone 4 is a beautifully designed device and the bamboo does add a fair bulk. One of the reasons I have avoided cases in the past is due to this fact but Grove’s case offers a distinctive look and feel to the iPhone in a way I have never experienced in a case before. Whether this bulk is enough to put you off is a personal opinion. My sizeable hands cope fine but my wife has voiced concern for those daintier among us!

The font bezel acts as a brilliant dust and lint collector too, but as previously stated this is a flaw with every case released to date.

Conclusion: As you can probably guess from my review, I am in love with this product. It is a thing of beauty that enhances the iPhone’s already arresting style. At $89 dollars it is not a cheap case, but in my opinion it is a worthwhile investment and will not only protect you precious iPhone, but will add character and personality to it in a way no other case can.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

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As an avid watcher of movies, I was thrilled by the prospect of watching the latest releases on my iPad. In practice however, I haven’t watched a single film all the way through and the reason is this – the iPad is simply too awkward to hold at the right angle for long periods of time. Even when placed on your lap, you end up getting leg ache after trying to stay in the right position.

MoviePeg from UK design house magneticNorth offers a solution to this problem by offering a versatile and compact stand solution, for a very reasonable $19.

What’s good about it: The design is simple and functional. The MoviePeg comes as two plastic blocks that slot together. This is great for portability as it fits in pretty much every bag and even your pocket. It’s made from a durable and flexible plastic, but has a heft and weight that gives a feeling of quality often missing from stands at this price range.

The makers of MoviePeg have really stripped back the frills of what a stand needs. The simple design is a refreshing take on a market saturated with tacky plastic items.

Performance: But what about the important part — how it works? I have mixed feelings on this if I am honest. Viewing a movie in landscape mode is great – the stand is easy to attach and performs well at multiple angles either on a desktop or on your lap.

Performance is also strong when using the iPad for note-taking in Pages or browsing the web. If the MoviePeg was sold as solely a landscape viewing stand it would get 100% from me. It is only when you change to portrait mode that the stand lets you down.

Trying to find a position where the iPad stays upright is all but impossible. After various attempts I finally found the ‘sweet spot’. It didn’t last long though. Shortly after the above shot was taken my iPad came crashing down.

At first I thought I was doing something wrong, but I have tried many different configurations and none of them have worked as a long-term solution. The iPad is just too heavy for the stand when in portrait.

Should you buy it? As you can see, there are good points and bad. That said, I actually recommend MoviePeg, but with a small caveat. This product should only be used in landscape mode, and the marketing should be amended to reflect that. It just doesn’t work as a portrait stand.

Luckily for MoviePeg its performance under landscape conditions more than makes up for its downfalls. If you are looking for a reasonably priced way to watch your movies on your iPad in comfort then MoviePeg is the product for you.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

MoviePeg is available now from movie-peg.com for $19.99/£12.99

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We all hate chores. Whether it’s taking out the trash, washing the dishes or any other number of horrifyingly dull tasks. Game developer Rexbox aims to inject some fun into these mundane tasks with the release of EpicWin for iPhone, which turns your to-do list into a game.

There was a lot of buzz around this app when the game was announced a month or so ago, and the trailer (below) did nothing but fuel that fire, with the promise of getting things done and taking on the role of an ‘Ent Mage of Paperwork Mountain’!

Whats it about?

The concept of the game is simple. You have a to-do list in which you enter your daily tasks. Each task is categorized as building either your strength, stamina, intellect, social or spirit. The task is awarded a level of Epicness, which equates to XP in conventional terms. For every task you complete you will gain experience points and then over time move up a level or two.

You can manage your profile, view loot that you have collected along the way as well as viewing your ongoing quests (tasks). If you have a task that happens every day or week then you can also set a recurring plan for that task.

Mixed Bag

EpicWin is a well-thought-out, well-built app (though it is notably lacking in Retina display support). The graphics are polished and you can see that a lot of time has been put into character development and user interaction on the RPG side. I do however worry for the task management side.

I am a long time user of Cultured Code’s Things, both for Mac as well as my iOS devices. In my opinion, Things is the best GTD app available. It includes Dropbox syncing across Macs, as well as local syncing over Wi-Fi for my iPhone and iPad. Things is an all-round task-management solution.

This area is where I feel EpicWin could be an epic fail. The addition of tasks is simple enough, but there are no grouping options, no reminders and no synchronisation with calendars or other devices. Because of this I don’t see how it will ever become a way to replace my to-do list, and I am not sure I have the time or inclination to manage two!

Having said that, I know I’m not your average Joe. My lists of the day verge on OCD at times and I have very high expectations when it comes to software too.

Should you buy it?

If you currently use a task management app and are happy with it, then I wouldn’t recommend this app for you. Though the RPG elements are fun for a while, they are not enough to change task management app for.

If however you don’t use a GTD app and are thinking about getting one, you could do a lot worse than EpicWin. As I have previously said, apps such as Things offer far more features but they are also four times the price. EpicWin offers a fun and innovative spin on task management.

EpicWin is available now from the App Store | Price $2.99

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Independent app developer Tim Sears has just released his latest creation for iPhone, and if you are a Foursquare user, this is one for you.

Future Checkin utilizes the new background location features available with iOS 4 and allows you to check-in to your favorite, recent or nearby venues without even getting your phone out of your pocket.

Many users of Foursquare (myself included) have been screaming for a feature such as this for the iPhone app, as getting your phone out every time you are at a new venue has become very tiresome.

How does it work?

Basically, it’s a one time setup that involves signing in with your Foursquare credentials. Once linked, you are presented with a list of nearby places, as well as places that you have been to recently. You choose your regularly visited venues and add them as favorites. That’s it. The app will now remember those favorites in the future and thanks to GPS, it will automatically check you in every time you are there.

The application’s preference pane allows you to control various options, including check-in settings, frequency of GPS updates, notifications and even has a kill switch for when you want to stay off the radar completely .

It’s worth noting that leaving the location function on all the time is a massive battery hog, so you will need to play around with the GPS update switch to find the balance that works for you. In my case, just under the halfway point is the sweet spot for me, but it is not often I am away from a charging point of some form.

So what is the future for Future Checkin?

Sear’s writes on his Twitter stream that Gowalla integration is coming as soon as he can get access to the API (hopefully this week). Adding multiple location services will really help with what has come to be known as “check-in fatigue” — the process of manually checking-in to multiple services.

The reviews on the app store are mixed. Some are say this is the best thing ever, while others are complaining of total failure. In my opinion, this feature should be included in Foursquare’s official app. But in the meantime, this is a solid alternative to manual check-ins.

Should you buy it?

I have been wandering the streets of my hometown and found it works a treat! I can wholly recommend this app if you are a moderate to heavy Foursquare user. Because of the background activity features, the app will only work on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 running iOS 4.

Future Checkin is in the app store now for the special 50% off price of $0.99/£0.59. Go get it!

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Popular multi-IM and voice-chat service Fring has just been updated to bring 2-way video calling on iPhone 4 over 3G (Apple’s FaceTime is Wi-Fi only), as well as voice and text chat.

We’ve tested it out; while it has a few minor issues, Fring has freed videochat from Wi-Fi. If you like to videochat on your new iPhone 4, it’s a must-have app.

Yes, I know that the iPhone 4 has Facetime now, but as cool as it is, Facetime is still lacking some major features, such as 3G video calls and multi-platform compatibility.

Fring introduced the ability to receive video calls on the iPhone 3GS last year, but due to the lack of a front-facing camera on the handset until now, it was a little-used feature.

This latest update brings full 2-way video functionality to iPhone 4 users. In testing I was able in initiate a video call over the 3G (UK O2) network to a Skype user on OS X. Though the call process wasn’t as intuitive or easy as FaceTime is, and there was noticeable lag at certain points on the conversation, having the ability to make video calls while out and about made all the small issues disappear.

Other features include iOS4 multitasking, new social integration features and an updated address book view.

Fring is available for free in the app store now.

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Yesterday saw the release of Google Earth for iPad, and I cannot put into words how awesome it is. Though there is no amazing new feature or killer new interface, using it on the iPad’s 10-inch, high-resolution screen is pure joy.

This app is one of the best uses for the iPad to date. I wholeheartedly encourage you to give it a try.

Google made the decision to make the app universal rather than building a standalone iPad app. That means if you already have it installed – you should fire up the app store and get updating!

Google Earth, as a program lends itself to the iPad, as it is after all a luxury app. Let me quantify that. When you want to find a store’s phone number – you simply open Google Maps and do a search. When you need directions, you open a GPS app such as CoPilot. Google Earth, as a mobile app, is purely for finding out more about our wonderful planet, taking tours of its incredible landmarks and flying over countries as if connected to a satellite.

The previous iPhone-only version left a lot to be desired. The interface was fairly slow and the screen was just too small to get any real use out of the app. Because of that flaw, it has sat on my iPhone home screen gathering dust for some time.

If you’ve used GE on the iPhone you will already know how to get around. There are standard menu buttons that allow you to search for specific countries, towns, landmarks and postcodes.The app allows you to feature multiple layers of information such as businesses, Wikipedia entries, roads and terrain.

This functionality in itself is nothing new and exciting, but the way the maps are displayed on the iPad screen is incredible.

As we all know the iPad uses Apple’s custom silicon, the A4 processor. This allows for blazingly fast load times. GE utilizes this speed very effectively. Animations are slick and fast and the menu system is very responsive. Pinch, zoom and rotate all perform brilliantly on the large screen. Using a moderate Wi-Fi connection (8 meg), maps load fast and update on user action almost instantaneously.

As I have the Wi-Fi only version of the iPad, I wasn’t able to test the GPS functionality to the full. Having said that on the many occasions I used the ‘locate me’ function of the app – it pinpointed me to within a few meters of where I was. A very pleasing result considering that was done using only Wi-Fi triangulation.

The only downside’s that I can see on the app are missing features from the desktop application. 3D buildings would be great as would landmark tours, the processor should be able to handle it. Maybe they will come in a future update. Small niggles aside, Google Earth gets full marks from me. Check it out now!

Google Earth is available free from the App Store

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What it is: We Rule is an addictive world-building iPhone game that blends Sim City with Facebook’s Farmville. Set in medieval times, you must build a prosperous kingdom by micromanaging the peasants and expanding trade with other online players.

Why it’s good: The game blends the best empire-building aspects of Sim City with the social aspects of Farmville.

As a teenager, I was totally addicted to games like Sid Meier’s Civilization, and Sim City. Even though they had terrible graphics and long load times on my old Pentium 1 PC, the sense of being a ‘god’ and having power over all those little guys made it a deep and immersive experience. Now Ngmoco has brought this gaming experience to the iPhone.

We Rule is like Zynga’s wildly-popular Farmville game (available on Facebook) but on steroids. Instead of just growing crops and building fences, you build a kingdom and rule over your subjects. At the moment is only one other similar app – Tap Farm, by Street View Labs. Ngmoco has a proven track record with titles like Rolando, Topple, Eliminate and Touch Pets, and We Rule doesn’t disappoint.

The game has a brilliant feel to it and is very quick to unlock enough items to keep you satisfied. The load times are quick and the menus clearly laid out.

Don’t expect an engrossing storyline in the game; it is very simple with a limited number of characters and little interaction. You plant crops to generate income. I actually like this aspect of it; often simple games like this can be lost to endless hours of cut scenes and mediocre quests for minimal gain.

What you see is what you get here. Plant seed, harvest crops, gain gold and XP, plant or grow again.

The game works in real time, so when you plant a crop or build something there is a wait time, which is different for every item in the game. Planting corn only takes 45 seconds, whereas onions need an hour to grow.

If you, like me, have to work for a living, you will unlikely be able to sit in front of the game 24/7. The developers make this work by using their servers to keep the game running even when you are not actually playing it.

In theory, you are then presented with a push notification telling you that your onions are ready to be harvested!

However, every time I have tried this system, the notification failed and I logged in on to find a pile of dead onions, which is no good to anyone. This can be infuriating as it takes time to build up gold, only then to waste it in one fell swoop.

I’m hoping this is an isolated instance and that the issue is sorted swiftly. If not, prepare for the baying mob!

The two currencies used in the game are gold – needed to buy seeds and buildings, etc. – and Mojo, which you use to speed up the buying process.

Every time you level up, you get Mojo and a little cash too, along with the standard experience point system that rewards you with XP, and the unlocking of items and activities when you reach a certain level. To advance quicker in the game, you can buy Mojo in-app, ranging in price from $1 to $50.

The great thing about We Rule is that you don’t need to buy Mojo to play the game but you can use it to hasten progression through the game. It’s your choice. Mojo is a shortcut through the game, so to speak.

The biggest letdown of the game is the social interaction. It promises a lot, but on the less popular +plus network, it struggles to deliver. The premise of the network is that you can expand your map by adding friends and trading goods between kingdoms.

All this is fine in theory, but in practice, out of the 300 or so contacts I have on my iPhone, only one was on the +plus network and he doesn’t play We Rule. A much better way to build this would be to link your Twitter or Facebook account to the game and search them for friends.

Apps such as Foursquare and Gowalla do this very well and I don’t see it as being a difficult thing to build into the software. Hopefully future updates will add this ability.

Overall, We Rule is a good game. It has a fun and innovative feature set and has the potential to be truly great, but until the social connectivity is sorted I think it will stay mediocre.

That said the game is available for free, and at that bargain price who are we to really complain?

Where to get it: We Rule is available for free from the App Store.

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Fruit Ninja is a super fun game from Australian developers Halfbrick Studios that is impossible to put down!

Fruit Ninja incorporates the speed and simplicity of games like Doodle Jump with an innovative control method that makes the game addictive. I love this game. The graphics look like crap but the game proves the old adage — gameplay is king!

Available for $0.99 from the App Store, Fruit Ninja is currently leading the way in many countries, appearing in the top five in USA, Cananda, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and UK.

The iPhone is a new platform for seasoned console developers Halfbrick, launching both Fruit Ninja and Blast Off in the same month.

Gameplay

The premise of Fruit Ninja is a simple one; slash your way through increasing amounts of fruit in decreasing amounts of time, all the while avoiding the spinning bombs.

When I first downloaded version one of the app back in April, I have to admit that there were many issues with the swipe/slash mechanism, with swipes not registering and consequently points being lost. This was infuriating and my opinions were mirrored by App Store reviewers all over the world. I won’t nag them too much about it though because as of v1.01 they have sorted any previous issues. Swipes now register perfectly every time and the problem is now a distant memory.

The game keeps increasing in speed and fruit quantity as the rounds go on. You have three chances to miss fruit before it’s game over. This combination of engaging competition and infuriating annoyance at losing, had me coming back again and again, Just to try and beat my best score.

Graphics

Let’s be honest here; if you are looking for an app that will blow you away with ground breaking 3D renders and photo realistic environments, Fruit Ninja is not the game for you. The fruit itself is great, brightly colored and nicely detailed, with pips and all appearing when you slice it open. It’s a similar story with the bombs.

Where the game is really let down is in the simple details. The wooden ‘dojo’ background is blocky and pixelated and the ‘Game Over’ text is such a low resolution – it had me wondering if I had something wrong with my iPhone! It may be a style choice, but in my mind it is a wrong one. Maybe it’s inexperience on the platform, I don’t know but hopefully a future update will address the problem.

All that said, I still love the game. Platforms such as the iPhone and Wii have brought true gameplay back to an industry that for years was obsessed with graphics only. Playing Fruit Ninja reminded me that gameplay is still king. Games like Sonic 2 look appalling by today’s standards but they still demanding a high position in the App Store charts.

OpenFeint

The game plugs into the Openfeint network allowing you to compare scores with millions of people all over the world. You can also connect with Facebook and Twitter to share your experiences and compete with friends.

This integration is a nice added touch, that opens up the game on a level that comparable games miss out on.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the games that have done best in the app store are the quick ‘pick up and play’ games such as Doodle Jump and Angry Birds. Fruit Ninja places itself smack bang in the middle of this already well covered genre. HalfBrick have succeeded in the app store where many have failed.

How come? Because they have innovated. If the game had just had a tap instead of a swipe, I personally don’t think it would have done half as well, but this new method of control reminds you of all the cool features that made you buy an iPhone in the first place.

Even with the aforementioned graphics sloppiness, Fruit Ninja still gets 4 out of 5 from me.

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Apple recently updated its Backup software to v3.2, improving its reliability and efficiency.

So now is a great time to show how to use it to make offsite backups of your most important files.

One of the best things about owning a Mac and using OS X is the amazing bundled backup software – Time Machine. Both my MacBook Pro and iMac happily backup every hour without my intervention. The only time I realize they are doing it is when my external hard drive spins up.

Time Machine is a fantastic way to protect your data from hard drive failure, but what if there is a fire or a break-in? All those hours of meticulous backups are gone along with your computers, photos, music and documents, and you are left with nothing.

There are many off site backup solutions available, such as Carbonite and Mozy, but they all require laying down your cash before being protected.

Apple’s own Backup app (now called MobileMe Backup), is available for free to all MobileMe subscribers. It can be downloaded here. Though you are limited by the 20GB of space that comes free with MobileMe, if you only use about 10% of the space (like me), then it’s a no-brainer to backup your machine to the remaining space. Plus, you can always buy extra iDisk storage.

Backup allows you to backup many different items, from all the music, photos and documents in your Home Folder, to all your personal data and settings.

For me, backing up my music and photos to iDisk isn’t going to happen. With a collection well over 100GB it just won’t fit; but for backing up settings and important document folders, this is exactly what’s needed.

First we will backup all your personal data (contacts, calendars, Safari settings and Keychains, etc.).

Start by putting a check in the box next to Personal Data & Settings.

Click Choose Plan.

As you can see your backup has now been created — and is scheduled for 24 hours from the original setup date.

If you want to backup now, just highlight the backup and press Back Up.

Now you can just stop there and you have a very good, easily executed backup that will incrementally update daily at the time specified.

However, Backup doesn’t stop there. Lets have a look at some more settings.

Click the gears icon and select Edit

You are then presented with various different options. These are broken down into two sections. ‘Backup Items’ and ‘Destination and Schedule’

Backup Items

This pane is the area where you can specify the elements that you would like to back up.  You can select everything from iCal settings to iDVD projects. To add new options click the plus icon and selects from the list.

You can also select items from the Finder or by using Spotlight search, but we will look at them in the Custom backups section.

Destination and Schedule

In this section you can update where you would like the backup to be stored, iDisk, local folder or DVD. You can also specify the times for your automatic backup schedule.

Within the main pane you can also view backup history and restore files. More on restoring files later.

Custom Backups

I keep a lot of my important current documents on my Desktop folder inside my Home Folder. To back these files up as well, click the Gears button and select Edit

To add a new custom backup click the plus button in the main window

Highlight the Custom panel and click Choose Plan

You are then presented with a familiar panel, but with the standard selections omitted. From this panel you can create a name for the backup, select the areas you would like to backup and where you would like the backup stored. To add these options simply click the plus button.

For my example, we will backup everything on the Desktop. First open the backup items with the plus icon. Then go to files and folders from the navigation bar at the top. This will open a finder window, which looks like this:

Make sure that the “Include this folder” radio button is highlighted. You will know it is by the green ticks next to the items you have specified to backup.

Next set the time and location you would like the backup to happen. I’ve selected an iDisk backup to occur everyday at 16:30.

As you can see, my backup pane has now been updated to include the new custom backup.

Restoring

Restoring your data is even simpler than backing up.

All you need to do is select the backup you would like to restore and press “Next.”

On the next screen you then select the item that you need to restore and press “Restore Selection,” and that’s it!

As you can see, Backup 3 offers a comprehensive backup suite, and if you are already a MobileMe user, it comes as a free perk.

There are many other options for backing up your documents online such as Google Docs or Dropbox. These come at little or no cost, but in my opinion, for simple one click backup of important files, Backup 3 does it best.

You can find an accompanying screencast here

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• How To Fix MobileMe Sync Problems [MacRx]

Yesterday I installed Adobe’s new preview of Flash 10.1 on a couple of my Macs, and even though Steve Jobs has just dinged his old partners for being slow to release good Mac software, this release rocks.

Here’s why you need to install it on your Mac right now.

I installed Adobe’s Gala preview on my late-2008 iMac and my late-2009 Macbook Pro. I have to say that I am very impressed.

The Flash preview taps into a new Apple API that allows low-level access to NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 320M and GT 330M H.264 graphics hardware.

The playback interface is much slicker and puts the YouTube player visually on a par with Vimeo once again. I have been testing video playback all day and so far, it has been flawless. Small clips (360p) buffer very quickly and full 1080p movies play seamlessly.

Though I have been unable to run full benchmark tests yet, a six-minute 1080p video only caused a three degree rise in temperature and no increase in fan speed. This will come as welcome news to anyone who has had their legs melted from watching YouTube for half an hour.

I also opened five separate 480p videos and left them playing in the background whilst browsing other sites. I am pleased to report that Firefox didn’t crash!

There is similar good news to report with rich-media banners and page-takeover adverts, all of which loaded without any noticeable page hang or delay.

The new release adds advanced hardware encoding features that allow the processing load to be spread across the GPU as well as the CPU.

To quote from the Adobe site:

Flash 10.1 Gala release introduces support for H.264 video hardware decoding on Mac OS X 10.6.3, the most recent release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Gala allows developers to preview Flash Player with hardware acceleration of H.264 video on supported Mac computers equipped with the following GPUs: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, GeForce 320M or GeForce GT 330M. The hardware acceleration functionality in the Gala preview release of Flash Player is expected to be included in an update following the release of Flash Player 10.1.

As you can see, you will only be able to give this a try if you are rocking an Intel Mac with OS 10.6.3 as a minimum.

Only time will tell who the ultimate victor will be between Flash and HTML5 video, but for now this update makes browsing video and graphics on a Mac far less of a pain then it was yesterday

You can grab the preview directly from Adobe’s servers here or to find out more view the specifications page here.

Normal advice applies. As it’s a developer release, proceed with caution.

• Adobe Flash And Other Third-Party Programs Will Now Be Able To Use GPU To Decode Video
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