Archive for the ‘Product reviews’ Category

Telegraph tests out new Wii Fit

Monday, April 7th, 2008

Wondering if Wii Fit, the new exercise package for the Nintendo Wii, is for you? This review for The Telegraph by Glenda Cooper may help you make up your mind.

On the one hand, we thought gaming was supposed to be all about fun, not hard labour. On the other, what better way to expand the demographic? Anyway, here’s what Glenda thought, and if you have an opinion after trying it out, leave a comment, we’d love to hear from you.

Getting a Wii bit fitter?

I am unbalanced. It’s official. This is not news to my family or, indeed, to any neutral observer, given that I have impersonated a tree, headed imaginary footballs and run round my sofa for the last 30 minutes. But this is the first time I’ve had such a verdict delivered via my television screen.

I’m being insulted in my own home, courtesy of the latest idea to combat couch potato-dom. The success of the Wii video game console over the last year (last Christmas, Amazon sold 1,400 in a 10-minute period alone) has led its makers to develop a new “exergaming” (exercise combined with computer games) product called the Wii Fit, which is to be launched this month.

Exergaming has been around since the 1980s, when exercise bikes were hooked up to video games allowing the user to cycle through a virtual landscape. But the Wii, launched in 2006, was a breakthrough in that it was fun: players hold a wireless remote to mimic real-life sports - swinging it like a tennis racket, or punching the air to simulate boxing - while watching a computer-generated character of themselves (inevitably called a Mii) compete on screen with an opponent.

Read full article here…

The Wii Fit is due to be released on April 25. Pre-order it from Woolworths here >>

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Take your desktop wherever you go

Friday, December 7th, 2007

Have you ever wondered about those applications that promise to let you use your very own computer desktop remotely, no matter what machine you’re actually on?

Sounds like a wonderful idea, doesn’t it? But surely it can’t be as simple as all that…

Well, Dustin M Wax, at the extremely useful Lifehack.org, has been taking a look at the various ‘web-top’ applications on offer.

His conclusions:

In theory, this means that wherever you went, you’d be able to access your work through a common interface and set of tools. All with a single login, too.

In practice, it’s not quite so simple. Even making allowances for the varying states of development web desktops are in at the moment, none of them offer a compelling experience for web-based workers. I have looked at and played with almost two dozen of these applications, and so far haven’t found any that I could integrate very well into my daily routine.

But there’s promise. Some of these apps are well worth watching, especially as they begin to interconnect with other services like Zoho Writer and Google Docs for document editing, Box.net’s OpenBox service for file storage, and other third-party services and plugins. I’ve highlighted three of the most promising webtop services below, followed by all the rest.

Read the full article, and see which ones he liked best, here >>

Amazon Kindle: to buy or not to buy?

Monday, November 26th, 2007

The most talked-about gadget of the moment: the Amazon Kindle. This e-book reader offers you all the convenience of loading your books onto a hand-held gizmo - but at a price.

As well as the costs you incur using it, the material you buy is subject to DRM (digital rights management) software which restricts what you can do with it. For instance, swapping and lending is out, activities you’d think nothing of doing with a regular book.

At the moment it’s US-only so British gadget fans might have to wait a while before they can even contemplate getting their hands on the thing. (So what’s new already? And it’s just as boring as usual.)

So, in the meantime, here are two views on the thing. John Naughton, writing in The Guardian quite liked it (but with typical British understatement didn’t really see what all the fuss is about).

Over at BoingBoing Gadgets they thought it was promising, but clunky and expensive - and also worryingly laid down with DRM technology.

If anyone’s had a chance to get their hands on one, we’d love to hear your comments.