Wednesday, August 30, 2006
GlobalSat BT-359 Bluetooth GPS Receiver
After using my trusty old BT-308 receiver for a driving holiday and finding some difficult terrain to maintain a valid GPS fix (read very large hills and dense foliage) I decided it was time to look at the latest GPS receivers. After reading a couple of reviews of the latest GlobalSat products and being happy with their products in general, I finally opted for the BT-359 which utilises the SiRF StarIII chipset.
Right from the start I knew I was going to be happy with this receiver as it offers incredibly fast fix times and is highly sensitive to consistently provide a much higher number of tracking satellites than before. What has amazed me so far though is after reading reports of people using such devices in their glove compartments, I decided to try the same and found I still managed to maintain a fix with a high number of satellites. Who says you need to have line of sight for GPS navigation? This little device is very impressive and the fact that it is in such a small but smartly designed package just adds to the desirability factor. Add in the 15 hour runtime on a single charge and there really are no obvious caveats to this product. If you are on the lookout for a GPS receiver then I can highly recommend the BT-359 range.
Right from the start I knew I was going to be happy with this receiver as it offers incredibly fast fix times and is highly sensitive to consistently provide a much higher number of tracking satellites than before. What has amazed me so far though is after reading reports of people using such devices in their glove compartments, I decided to try the same and found I still managed to maintain a fix with a high number of satellites. Who says you need to have line of sight for GPS navigation? This little device is very impressive and the fact that it is in such a small but smartly designed package just adds to the desirability factor. Add in the 15 hour runtime on a single charge and there really are no obvious caveats to this product. If you are on the lookout for a GPS receiver then I can highly recommend the BT-359 range.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Thanks for the memory...
Proporta offer up a range of flash memory accessories for the mobile user. Perhaps the most outstanding product is the brand new Proporta SD Card with Built-in USB. The same size as a standard SD Card (so it will fit into your PDA, SD Music Player, camera etc.), this card includes a USB extension. So you can now connect directly from the card to your PC, Mac or laptop, without adapters, cables or wireless. Quick and simple, this product is perfect for transferring data from your mobile device to your laptop or desktop.
Expand your handheld with a CompactFlash Elite Pro Memory Card for the perfect on-the-road backup solution. The Elite Pro CompactFlash offers a memory grade for professionals who require high write speeds and low power consumption, giving you better performance and speed in your flash based memory.
Storage… To keep your Proporta SD Card with Built-in USB, or any other standard SD/MMC or SIM card safe, why not try the Proporta Aluminium Memory/SIM Card Holder. This card holder is made out of smooth aluminium with a brushed finish, and has the same specifications as a normal credit card.It will slip easily into any wallet or purse and the conductors of the cards will be protected from harmful damage often caused during transportation.
In turn the card holder can be stored safely in the Proporta Leather Memory Wallet with SD/MMC and SIM Card Storage. Features:
Expand your handheld with a CompactFlash Elite Pro Memory Card for the perfect on-the-road backup solution. The Elite Pro CompactFlash offers a memory grade for professionals who require high write speeds and low power consumption, giving you better performance and speed in your flash based memory.
Storage… To keep your Proporta SD Card with Built-in USB, or any other standard SD/MMC or SIM card safe, why not try the Proporta Aluminium Memory/SIM Card Holder. This card holder is made out of smooth aluminium with a brushed finish, and has the same specifications as a normal credit card.It will slip easily into any wallet or purse and the conductors of the cards will be protected from harmful damage often caused during transportation.
In turn the card holder can be stored safely in the Proporta Leather Memory Wallet with SD/MMC and SIM Card Storage. Features:
- Easy-to-use bi-fold design – fits easily into a pocket
- Zip-close secure compartment – keep your receipts and foreign currency safely zipped and out of view
- Storage space for bank cards
- Hidden spaces for extra bank cards, travel cards and small documents
- Matches your Proporta Alu-Leather Case*
Friday, August 18, 2006
Astraware Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars mini review
Astraware very kindly sent me a copy of their latest release on the Windows Mobile platform to check out. I have never been an avid adventure gamer and have never played this game on the PC so I am looking at this title purely from the mobile perspective. This game sees you following George Stobbart in his quest to unravel the secrets of this murder / mystery adventure set in Paris.
The first thing of note is the large install; 110Mb might seem a lot by Pocket PC standards but with the low cost of high capacity storage cards, this should not cause an issue for the vast majority.
Starting up the game brings up a movie intro which is well rendered although appears to be scaled up to the VGA resolution of my Pocket PC. Going into the game proper however, I was very impressed that this title is rendered in a native VGA resolution which looks superb and adds to this type of game.
This title follows the point and click style of adventure where you interact by tapping on different items looking for information and to perform actions. Items nearby your character are highlighted however tapping the small gears icon in the bottom left corner toggles onscreen highlights to all items that can be interacted with by placing a small gears icon on top of them. This saves you from blindly tapping looking for direction and makes the chances of you missing something vital far less likely. Use of this of course is at the discretion of the player and while it does offer a helping hand, you still need to use the information wisely to make real progress. The small magnifying glass next to the gears icon allows you to then tap on an object to get more information on it without any physical involvement. Interacting with people brings you to well scripted scenes using the game engine with speech both articulate and of high production. This makes the whole gaming experience very seamless and engaging. As well as speech, sound effects are used well in different scenes and music will come into the fray at opportune moments keeping the senses alive.
Progress through the game is relatively linear and while you may get stuck at certain points while you work out what needs to be done, you are never in any real danger of getting lost as such. Some puzzles require interaction between different objects, some of which you may have collected at an earlier stage by tapping on them. These items are stored away in your inventory which can be viewed as required by accessing the icon in the top left.
Moving your character around the screen is as simple as tapping somewhere accessible on the ground which starts him walking to that destination in a fluid animation. The screen will also smoothly scroll to bring him back to the centre to provide a good view of your surroundings. As you open up different areas in the game, a map of Paris is presented that allows you to navigate your way between locations making returning to previous places a simple experience.
Options allow you to configure volume and language and a very handy option of enabling subtitles for the dialogue which keeps you in the loop should you have the audio muted. You can also change the brightness and orientation to get things set up exactly how you like them. Entering the menu from the bottom right icon allows you to save your progress in one of the available save slots or to restore from a previous save. You can also restart the game and exit from this menu. You can also exit the game at any point by using the cross in the top right which auto saves your progress and exits immediately making this an easy game to play for short periods at a time.
I must admit to being very impressed with Broken Sword thanks to its excellent visuals and scripting and the fact that it is simple to pick up and play whilst remaining very involving. This looks great at any resolution but especially crisp in native VGA and is well worth the sizeable install; the screens here can’t convey the impact the smooth animation has. I certainly don’t consider myself much of an adventure gamer but I do find this game to be very enjoyable and I imagine the majority of people out there will find something to like in this title. I certainly would recommend it highly as this is a great title for the Pocket PC platform.
For more details and purchasing, please visit the Astraware website and if you register on their site you can currently get a $10 discount.
The first thing of note is the large install; 110Mb might seem a lot by Pocket PC standards but with the low cost of high capacity storage cards, this should not cause an issue for the vast majority.
Starting up the game brings up a movie intro which is well rendered although appears to be scaled up to the VGA resolution of my Pocket PC. Going into the game proper however, I was very impressed that this title is rendered in a native VGA resolution which looks superb and adds to this type of game.
This title follows the point and click style of adventure where you interact by tapping on different items looking for information and to perform actions. Items nearby your character are highlighted however tapping the small gears icon in the bottom left corner toggles onscreen highlights to all items that can be interacted with by placing a small gears icon on top of them. This saves you from blindly tapping looking for direction and makes the chances of you missing something vital far less likely. Use of this of course is at the discretion of the player and while it does offer a helping hand, you still need to use the information wisely to make real progress. The small magnifying glass next to the gears icon allows you to then tap on an object to get more information on it without any physical involvement. Interacting with people brings you to well scripted scenes using the game engine with speech both articulate and of high production. This makes the whole gaming experience very seamless and engaging. As well as speech, sound effects are used well in different scenes and music will come into the fray at opportune moments keeping the senses alive.
Progress through the game is relatively linear and while you may get stuck at certain points while you work out what needs to be done, you are never in any real danger of getting lost as such. Some puzzles require interaction between different objects, some of which you may have collected at an earlier stage by tapping on them. These items are stored away in your inventory which can be viewed as required by accessing the icon in the top left.
Moving your character around the screen is as simple as tapping somewhere accessible on the ground which starts him walking to that destination in a fluid animation. The screen will also smoothly scroll to bring him back to the centre to provide a good view of your surroundings. As you open up different areas in the game, a map of Paris is presented that allows you to navigate your way between locations making returning to previous places a simple experience.
Options allow you to configure volume and language and a very handy option of enabling subtitles for the dialogue which keeps you in the loop should you have the audio muted. You can also change the brightness and orientation to get things set up exactly how you like them. Entering the menu from the bottom right icon allows you to save your progress in one of the available save slots or to restore from a previous save. You can also restart the game and exit from this menu. You can also exit the game at any point by using the cross in the top right which auto saves your progress and exits immediately making this an easy game to play for short periods at a time.
I must admit to being very impressed with Broken Sword thanks to its excellent visuals and scripting and the fact that it is simple to pick up and play whilst remaining very involving. This looks great at any resolution but especially crisp in native VGA and is well worth the sizeable install; the screens here can’t convey the impact the smooth animation has. I certainly don’t consider myself much of an adventure gamer but I do find this game to be very enjoyable and I imagine the majority of people out there will find something to like in this title. I certainly would recommend it highly as this is a great title for the Pocket PC platform.
For more details and purchasing, please visit the Astraware website and if you register on their site you can currently get a $10 discount.
