Posts by konradwalsh-admin:

More Details And Pics Of The Dell Mini 5 Tablet – The Streak!

March 10th, 2010

Recently we looked a little at the pending release of the Dell mini 3. Here is its big brother the Mini 5 or possible release name of the Streak. Here is a little more detail from apparently “leaked” documents. Either way there are some pictures to get you motivated.

Current Specs We Know Of

• 5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen,
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash,
• capacitive touch front buttons,
• front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting)
• the 30-pin docking connector
• Colours to choose from
• launch with an Amazon content partnership



So if it does launch with all this loveliness and along with a built Amazon MP3 and eBook store then it is sure to fly. No price or date yet.

via Engadget



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Sub $200 7″ Tablet From Freescale – Made For My Kitchen Wall

March 10th, 2010

I saw over on Engadget this new tablet made by Freescale. It is capable of running Android, Chromium OS and Linux. This screenshot isn’t really a great example cause the colour is UGGGLY!!!



Specs

• 7 inch Screen
• Multi-OS compatibility
• ARM Processor
• $200

But the other colours are fine. I am so putting one of these on the kitchen wall. How cool is that? Anyway there is a geeky video for you to watch, to see it in action showing “not the most rehearsed” presentation, but still you’ll get the idea. The biggest concern is that in the video it demonstrates a resistive touch screen in stead of the normal Android friendly capacitive touch screen. This may mean the Android version may be more expensive.











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Cook Your Own Roms For Android – RelentlessAppz ROM Roaster Review

March 9th, 2010

I recently told you about RelentlessAppz and their fantastic software called Relentless Command Centre. Well shortly after that was released, Sean Marsh contacted me about his newest “invention”. I have been playing with it for a couple of weeks. Its called RelentlessAppz ROM Roaster. Cool name, huh?

The idea is really simple. If like me, you are constantly on the look out for a decent ROM for your Android handset. You will find that every ROM you try is almost right. Just not exactly how you like. For example, being in Ireland, it always annoys me that I have to re-enter my APNs to get my data connection going whilst most others have them preset. Or when I reflash, the most essential app for me is Titanium Backup. Some chefs add them, some don’t.

Well, if you relate to all that and feel like having a little fun, then this is for you.

Relentless Appz ROM Roaster

This is a review of the software. Later I will write, not so much a how to as its pretty simple, but more of a tips and tricks of the software. Whilst Sean doesn’t get a gold star for his Photoshop skills  , he does get bonus stars for making something that is usually out of the reach of the everyday user in to a simple click click affair.

Features

• Add your own APN list
• Add a custom boot screen and Launcher
• Add your own fonts
• Enable APPS2SD
• Choose where apps get installed
• Install specific keyboards
• Add Social networks, Music apps and File sharing apps
• Fine tune control over what apps get added at the beginning
• Add superuser app
• GREAT FUN!!!
• 32b Compatibility Mode -E.g Use a Hero ROM on a Dream/Magic

This is your control centre.




You need a base ROM to work with and load that into the interface. Then as you move along you add and remove features that not completely your liking. When you are done, you hit the turkey and flash your device.

If you need reminding on flashing devices just use the search button on this site.

PRICE: £4.99

Head over to Relentless Appz











































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Welcome To Our Latest Sponsor – Sunbelt Software

March 9th, 2010

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This is a quick to shout out to say thanks to Sunbelt Software who are advertising their anti-virus software called Vipre. Its thanks to these guys that make this blog happen and I’d like you guys(readers) to hit their link on the side to see what they are doing.

Also, later this week I will have a review article on the anti-virus software package they have and comparing it to Microsofts Security Essentials.

Vipre Antivirus

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New Feature – Ask A Tech Question, Get An Answer

March 9th, 2010

Ok, I am back on track today after a small set back between me and my dental surgeon. . I have not been writing much this past week but I have been finishing some features on the site.

I want to let you know about a new feature that is in development and will hopefully be finished today. Either way, it is now useable by you and I am just going to tidy up the page.

Ask A Techie

You’ll see on the top menu, there is an option for Ask A Techie. This is how it works. You add a comment on that page and we will respond with an answer either in the comments or in a full blown article or guide. Completely free and unlimited. So have some fun, ask those questions you were to embarrassed to ask your IT guy.

You can ask anything from how do I turn on the the stupid computer? to how do I install a network?

This feature came from the amount of email Tech N Life gets with very specific questions, which we will always encourage.



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Use Your Speakers/Mic For Sonar Controlled PC’s

March 4th, 2010

Windows/Linux: Sleeping your computer is a useful way to save energy, but free utility SonarPM takes power management an awesome step further: It puts your computer to sleep automatically when you walk away from your desk—using sonar.

Almost any computer with speakers and a microphone can take advantage of this software, so most laptops are good to go. It works by emitting an inaudible frequency from your speakers, and detecting echoes with your microphone, determining whether you are sitting at your desk or not. If you get up, your computer will see that you have done so and automatically put your computer to sleep. Sure, you could always just use a hotkey, but this requires literally no energy on your part—and it’s sure to be a heck of a conversation starter.




The program is open source, so if you’ve got some tinkering skills, you can make it do all sorts of things when you walk away (as described in the video above by Tinkernut). If you just want the sleep functionality, you can still download and install the package and use it as-is (if you’re a Windows user, that is—Linux users need to compile from source—check the instructions on the site if you need help doing this). It doesn’t necessarily work with every microphone and speaker equipped computer, so test it out to see if it does with yours—you may need to calibrate it a few times before it works well (it took me a few tries and a little bit of waiting afterward before it started working in Windows on my MacBook Pro).

Sonar Power Manager is a free download for Windows and Linux systems. Sleeping your computer whenever you walk away seems a little heavy handed (do I really want to put my computer to sleep when I’m going to get a glass of water?), but the possibilities are endless, and if you are interested in bending it to your will, Tinkernut’s guide is an excellent place to start.

Sonar Power Manager [via Tinkernut] [via Lifehacker]




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Photostage – Simple Photo Slide Shows For The Novice

March 2nd, 2010

Photostage Slideshow Software Create your own photo slideshow movies for free. Creating a slideshow from your digital photos has never been easier. Photostage brings your pictures, images and video to life and lets you share your favorite memories with family and friends in an interesting and portable way. The brief – make a slideshow program so easy to use that your Grandma could do it. The result – Photostage. With incredibly powerful features at your fingertips, Photostage lets you set your photos to a soundtrack, record your own narrations and overlay text captions. PhotoStage is completely free. Designed to be very easy and intuitive to use, Photostage will have you up and running within minutes. Simply download now and install. We make this software free in the hope you will like it so much you will try our other related software. Completely Free Slideshow Creator Full of effects! Includes zoom, crop and fade effects Cool panning and zooming effects brings your photos to life. Easy to share! Burn and present on TV, PSP, Mobile Phone and more… Burn your slideshow to DVD for playback on TV, or as a standalone video file for enjoying on web and portable devices. Enhance your photos! Easy to use photo enhancements Touch up or enhance your photos and videos with ease. Vista compatible! Add up to 1000 photos Create up to 1000 photos in a slideshow, and it is fully compatible with Windows 2000 / XP / Vista

Slideshow Features

Stunning Transition Effects Panning and zooming effects let you bring your photos to life. Fade transition effect gives your slideshow that professional touch. Preview the effects in real time. Customize the duration of the effect.
Complete Photo Optimization Fine tune brightness, saturation and color for photos and video. Add your favorite photos with a click of a button. Crop, rotate and flip photos easily and preview the changes in real time. Add text captions to individual slides. Add video clips for a complete slideshow presentation.
Amazing Audio Tools Add music tracks to your slideshow. Record narrations with the click of a button. Import pre-recorded narrations Mix multiple music tracks together using our powerful MixPad Audio File Mixer
Share With Your Family and Friends Burn to DVD and watch in your living room on TV. Show off your latest pics and clips on PSP, iPod, iPhone, 3GP mobile phone or Pocket PC. Explore the most advanced way to burn HD DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. Output video files and share your creation with more friends on computer or through Internet.




Supports Many Media Formats

• Input Formats:

  
  

  • Image: bmp, gif, jpg, jif, jiff, jpeg, exif, png, tif, tiff, psd, tga, pcx, jp2, wmf, ico
  • Audio: wav, mp3, mp2, mpga, m4a, ogg, avi, mid, flac, aac, wma, dct, au, aiff, ogg, raw, msv, dvf, vox, cda, atrac, gsm, dss, sri, shn, dss, msv, wmv and many more.
  • Video: avi, mpeg, wmv, divX, Xvid, mpeg1, mpeg2, mpeg4, mp4, mov, asf, vob, ogm, .3gp, H.264, RM and many more.

  
  

• Output Formats:

  
  

  • Disc export: DVD, CD, Blu-ray Discs, HD-DVD
  • Video export: avi, wmv, asf, mpg, 3gp, mp4, mov, iPod, iPhone, PSP, Mobile Phone, Pocket PC

System Requirements

• Works on Windows 7 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008

Download Photostage Slideshow Creator Download Photostage Slideshow Software – exe file Download Photostage Slideshow Software – zip file Once download is complete run the file “pstagesetup.exe” to install Photostage. When the file has installed, please select Help to view (or print) the complete manual.






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Are Cheaper Mobile Internet Bills On The Way? EU Says So!

March 2nd, 2010

EU moves to prevent ’shock’ mobile internet bills

Brussels wants people to more happy to access the internet when abroad

A new Europe-wide rule to prevent mobile phone users from building up large bills for surfing the internet via their handset has come into force.

Customers can now require their phone firm to cut them off when their bill reaches a certain level after accessing the internet in other European nations.

If users do not put in place a limit by 1 July, it will automatically be set at 50 euros ($65; £45).

The phone firms will have to warn users when their bill hits 80% of the limit.

Accessing the internet via your mobile phone while abroad is called “data roaming”.

European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, said: “Protection against data roaming bill shocks is a useful step towards building customers’ confidence to use mobile networks to surf the internet when travelling around Europe.

“Such confidence is essential if people and businesses are to use the internet to its full potential.”

The Commission added that if service providers did not honour people’s set spending limits, national regulators would deal with complaints and impose any necessary sanctions.

Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said the move was likely to reduce the cost of data roaming across Europe.

“This measure is likely to bring down the cost of data roaming, because if people stick to their own cash limits and find they don’t get much access to the internet for their money, the tendency will be to bring down prices so you get more surfing for your money,” he said.















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Google Rolls Out New Gmail Features Today

March 2nd, 2010

One of the lesser-known features of Gmail is its ability to help with multitasking. Frequently, I find that I need to find an old message while I’m composing an email. When this happens, I click on the “new window” icon to pop my compose area into its own window:


There’s only one problem — it’s been slow! Today, we’re rolling out a change that will fix this (reload your account to make sure you get this change). Now, popping out a window is much, much faster. No more “Loading…” progress bar.

There are a number of places you can pop up new windows in Gmail.

• In chat, there’s the little upward arrow in the title bar:
  
  


• When writing a message, hold the “Shift” key while you click on the Compose Mail, Reply, Reply All or Forward links and you’ll get a new window for your new message. (Holding the “Shift” key while typing the keyboard shortcut — in other words typing “C” “R” or “F” — has the same effect.)


• When you’re reading your mail, hold the “Shift” key while you click on a message to open the conversation in a new window. (Same holds true for the “Shift” key and the “o” or “Enter” shortcuts.)


• If you’re reading an email and want to save it for later, you can click the “New window” link in the upper-right hand corner of the conversation view:
  
  


Keep in mind that the popped out window does not outlive the closing of the original Gmail window, although we’re working on a way to make that better. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make this work in Internet Explorer, so to see the speed-up, you’ll need to be using Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, or Google Chrome.



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Its Not You, Its Us – Playstation Network Down

March 1st, 2010

Sony PlayStation Network Outage Could Last 24 Hours



It may be some time until Sony PlayStation 3 owners can resume their usual online activities, according to a new blog post from Sony revealing it could take 24 hours to fix the glitch, which hit numerous users yesterday.

Sony has gone so far as to advise PS3 owners “do not use [their] PS3 system” until a fix has been issued.

News of the problem — which only affects owners of older PS3s — started to emerge yesterday. PlayStation has been keeping users updated via its Twitter feed.

“We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system,” explains Sony in the blog post.

As we’ve reported, the problems are related to the PlayStation Network, Sony’s online gaming service and store. As well as changing the PS3’s date, the bug signs users out of the PSN service, fails to display trophy data and also affects video playback.

“We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience cause,” says Sony. We will keep you updated with news on the fix.





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