Ladies and gentlemen, in the blue corner the world famous iPhone, iconic symbol of democracy and the new millennium. And in the red corner, China. Yep, 1.3 billion souls beavering away in factories to destroy civilisation as we know it and trash our treasured way of life. OK, enough already. So I thought it would be interesting to check out a sample of five iPhone clones to see whether they are worth your time, money and pocket space. The results were unsurprising in…
Read MoreAuthor Archives: Nigel
Info: Nigel is the managing editor of the Red Ferret, as well as a freelance columnist for the Sunday Times newspaper in London. Loves tech and fancies himself as a bit of a futurist, but then don't we all?
DoubleTwist – cool way to share, convert and sync your multimedia between devices and the web
DoubleTwist. Heh, DVD Jon is back, and he’s carrying more gifts. This new service is a neat freeware desktop application which you can use to convert, share and manage all of your disparate digital media stuff. You do have disparate digital media stuff, right? Ah good. OK, so the clever thing is the sync between an online storage space of your own, and the desktop app which is the control panel. There’s also a cool conversion system in the background…
Read MoreBuzzShed – get paid to watch videos
BuzzShed. Oh yes, here we go again. Sign up for this doozy and get paid 30c to watch various videos. And to make it feel more at home, there’s a nice Digg-like voting scheme in place to push videos up or down the rankings. Ah well, it sure beats working for a living. Well actually it doesn’t, but that’s another story, eh? And now for the twist! BuzzShed is more than just social bookmarking for videos. Some BuzzShed members are in fact advertisers that pay…
Read MoreFakeBuddy – we will remember your birthday
FakeBuddy. Free fake friend will send you emails containing lots of fun things to keep you amused. For a $5.95 fee you get to choose your buddy from the list of available souls and they’ll personalise your emails to make it even more ‘intimate’. Wow. You’d probably do as well to check out the free Global Penfriends site, if you’re in the market for company. Get a Fake Buddy for free! Your fake buddy will send you emails* filled with fun, tips, and occasional random thoughts throughout…
Read MoreFloppy Disk Drive with 7-in-1 Card Reader – retro fit that combo memory tech, boy
Floppy Disk Drive with 7–in-1 Card Reader. Weird combination of old and new. A 3.5 inch plug-in floppy disk drive unit complete with a memory card reader installed. So..ah..you can transfer all your ancient floppy borne banking details to your digital camera SD card in a snap. Or something. Um…didn’t they make floppy disks illegal a few years back? Out of sheer embarrassment? £19.99. • Read and Write major flash memory cards and floppy discs from one 3.5 inch bay! •…
Read MoreWebasto Thermo Top E Parking Heater – warm up your parked car via cell phone and stay cosy
Webasto Thermo Top E Parking Heater. It’s one of those ideas which seems obvious enough, but rarer than rocking horse droppings. A car heater which runs off a tiny amount of fuel and which heats up the car before you get in it. No it doesn’t start up the engine like the BMW pre-heat system, it’s actually a fully self-contained unit which can be switched on remotely via voice, SMS or timer. We’re talking 4.2 kW and max 60 minute heat…
Read MoreWoosim 3 inch Waterproof Mobile Printer – splash happy printouts at last?
This Woosim 3 Inch Waterproof Printer currently doesn’t appear to have a name, price or even purpose in life. But it leaves us with many questions, does it not children? Like, why waterproof? Why a small LCD screen and not a big colour DVD compatible lushout? And why orange and not pink polka dots? These and more questions will, no doubt, be answered soon. Although judging by the two chaps doing some sort of…ahem…dodgy deal in the car, probably too…
Read MoreCalibrize – cool freeware helps you calibrate your monitor in three easy steps
Calibrize. Nice new piece of freeware lets you calibrate your computer screen for colour and brightness and gamma and stuff. Dead easy to use, 3 minutes tops, and it certainly seems to have improved my viewing pleasure. Hey, it’s free too (advertising supported) so how cool is that? Download and enjoy. Calibrize is free software that helps you to calibrate the colors of your monitor in three simple steps. Just download the software and follow the procedure to generate a reliable color…
Read MoreConcert TV – classic live concert music moves online
Concert TV. Classic live music tracks delivered in a rather small window, but some good stuff on there nonetheless. K.D.Lang, Joss Stone, The Allman Brothers, something for everyone. Fun stuff! Tags: concert+tv, live+music
Read MoreUnyverse – the mobile wiki platform
Unyverse. Billed as a mobile wiki platform. What this means is you can export and manage all sorts of data using your mobile phone and the clever downloadable Java software. I haven’t yet quite worked out if the wiki bit is really relevant or if it’s just a trendy label to differentiate the service from all the other community type mobile data portals. Lots of cut and paste, lots of handset compatibility. One to watch, maybe. Unyverse was founded in…
Read MoreThe problem with Yahoo! – or how have the mighty fallen…
If ever you want proof of why Yahoo! is a shadow of its former self, you only have to look at Mybloglog.com, which Yahoo! bought a while back. I used to really like mybloglog, I liked Eric who founded the company too, and we spent a good time emailing back and forth about new features and bugs and stuff. The service was great back then, it worked and offered real value and the tech support was ace. Then Yahoo! bought…
Read MoreReadius emerging – cell phone e-book device looks cooler by the minute…
More information about the new Readius e-book mobile phone is emerging, and it looks like this could be a really serious competitor for the Kindle and beyond. The video shows the great roll-up screen in action, and the interface looks to be great as well. And you can fit it in your pocket? Awesome. Readius is looking more and more like the Kindle killer. A lucky few get to paw this HSDPA and Bluetooth-enabled e-Book reader at the Mobile World…
Read MorePolar Outdoor Watch – the physical fitness timepiece
Polar Outdoor Watch. You can tell it’s for outdoors because it comes with a heart rate monitor. And a calorie usage calculator. And a fitness tester. And a timer, altimeter, temperature, slope counter, barometer, compass and a 2 week logbook to track your sessions. Now you don’t need all that stuff if you’re just gonna sit around indoors drinking Mountain Dew, do ya? $416.20. Measures your fitness level in 5 minutes. A fitness test that measures your aerobic/cardiovascular fitness at…
Read MoreBioLogic ZorinPump – the bicycle pump in your saddle post
The BioLogic ZorinPump takes bicycle flat tyres to a whole new place. Well, actually under your bottom, which is where the pump is discreetly hidden. Just unlatch the seat from the bike, unfold the foot catch and pump away. Perfect if you’re one of those people who keep forgetting to take the pump with you. $45.00. The Biologic ZorinPump is an ingenious combination of a seat-post and powerful floor-pump. The pump is always at hand, hidden from the elements and…
Read MorePicture Placer – genius product revolutionises the chore of hanging your pictures
Picture Placer. What an absolute gem of a product. Hook this super simple gizmo onto the picture wire on your frame, push to mark the spot on the wall, bang the nail in and bingo, a perfect position every time. Even when hanging multiple frames in alignment. It’s a stupid job that always takes far longer than it should, which makes this thing just perfect. Watch the video. It’s not going to get rid of Uncertain Uma or Dithering Dave, but nevertheless…
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