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Using Google Latitude to find your friends

Posted by Admin on March 21st, 2010 No Comments

Google Latitude is a tool that lets you see the location of your friends on your computer or Mobile phone using the Latitude App.

Google offers Latitude tools for several mobile phones but we have been testing the Google Latitude Widget on Android.

The Android Widget runs on one of your phones home screens and uses the most up to date location data available, eg GPS, or Mobile Mast location, to automatically update the Latitude service with your where abouts.

Your friends can then see your location on their device or by using the iGoogle widget on their computer.

The app works great although you will notice an extra drain on your mobile phone battery, this is a perfect tool for finding your friends


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Posted in Technology

Google Street View goes Nationwide in the UK

Posted by Admin on March 14th, 2010 No Comments

Google Street View is a utility provided by Google, and linked to Google Maps where you can see a first person view of streets and roads.

Up until recently only a small percentage of the UK was covered, including for some strange reason Scunthorpe, however on the 11th of March 99% of the UK was brought online.

Just about every street in every town and village is now available to view.



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Posted in Technology

Tivo to Launch Tivo Premiere in the US

Posted by Admin on March 3rd, 2010 No Comments

Tivo have announced the Launch of Tivo Premier and Premier XL at a press event in New York.

The popular PVR has been updated with a new Flash based user interface and optional Qwerty Remote control.

The HD ready box will come in 2 sizes, the Tivo Premier which will  be able to record upto 45 hours of HD video or up to 400 hours of standard definition programming, and the Tivo Premier XL which holds up to 150 hours of high-definition or up to 1350 hours of standard definition programming.

The Tivo Premiere includes new functionailty to assist the user including’ an on-screen disk space meter that shows how much room is left to record and a new video window that lets you watch your favorite show while navigating the TiVo menus.

As well as the traditional integration with Cable TV stations the Tivo Premier is integrated with Internet Video services and also customers will be able to listen to their personalized Pandora radio stations on the best speakers in the house.

A new relationship with FrameChannel brings the best of the web directly to the TV offering users access to nearly 1,000 content widgets of personal and commercial content, ranging from Tweets, photos and status updates to news, weather, sports scores and stock quotes.

Official TiVo Premiere Box Specifications:
TiVo Series4™ architecture
Supports digital cable, high-definition digital cable, antenna (ATSC) and Verizon FiOS
Outputs: HDMI, Component video, Composite video, Optical audio, Analog audio
Video output modes include: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Inputs: CableCARD™ support, Cable coax, Antenna coax, Ethernet
Ethernet connection, USB 2.0 ports (2), E-SATA support for external storage
TiVo Wireless N and G Network Adapter support
ENERGY STAR® certified
320 Gigabytes
Records up to 45 hours of HD programming or up to 400 hours of standard-definition

TiVo Premiere XL Box Specifications (all specs not listed are the same as above unless noted)
One Terabyte storage
Records up to 150 hours of HD programming or up to 1350 hours of standard-definition
Backlit, programmable, and learning remote
THX®certified, ensuring optimal audio and video reproduction and enables seamless integration with other THX components.



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Posted in Technology

DropBox Providing off site storage free of charge

Posted by Admin on March 1st, 2010 No Comments


Dropbox is an Internet based file storage system that allows the user to sync and share files across several computers.

DropBox appears as a new Drive on you computer and when you copy to a file to it, it automatically syncs with a cloud based storage facility. If you don’t have net access then the synchronization will occur when you connect.

There are DropBox clients available for Windows, Mac, Linux and even iPhone, and you can always access your files through a web interface this means that you no longer have to worry about carrying a usb data stick with you  as you can access your data and files from any Internet enabled PC.

You get 2Gb of storage for free of charge, put you can pay up to $19.99 a month for 100 Gb, at this point DropBox becomes a serious option as a proper off site storage system, providing a safe and secure backup solution for your files.

To join DropBox click here


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Posted in Technology

The Nokia X6 launched on 3

Posted by Admin on February 26th, 2010 No Comments

3 are once again increasing their range of high end smartphones available for their network with the Launch of the Nokia X6.

The 3 network is considered to be one of the highest available 3g Networks in the UK, and this compliments Internet Integrated Smartphones, and makes social networking easy and enjoyable.

The Nokia X6 comes complete with a high quality 5MP camera, so high quality photo’s shouldn’t be a problem, and will look great on the 3.2″ touch screen

The phone runs the Symbian Operating system, so finding an app for any occasion or to meet any requirement, and a free turn-by-turn Sat Nav Application is included.

As you would expect from a Nokia Smartphone Multimedia isn’t a problem and Video and Audio capabilities (including access to 3′s Spotify Service) are impressive, and as with all phones on 3 you will have unlimited access Skype and Windows Live Messenger for free.

The Nokia X6 is available online, in 3 Stores and telesales from today.

PhoneArena have reviewed the Nokia X6  and their review can be seen below.



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Posted in Technology

A Trainz creation project

Posted by Admin on February 25th, 2010 No Comments

Trainz is a popular train simulator produced by Auran Games. It allows users to drive trains on popular routes.

It also provides the facility to allow users to build their own worlds and tracks, and the creation tools are that powerful that it’s possible to create near perfect simulations of rail routes.

A great example of how the tool kit can be used for a serious project, is the East Coast Main Line Trainz Project.

5 years in the making and 1000s of man hours building a virtual railway that captures the essence of the last years of the Deltic’s engines running from London to York and on to Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line.

The project has created a world based around the year of 1975 just before the introduction of the High Speed Train and the removal of the famous Deltics from the top ranking London – Edinburgh services.

During this time period:

  • The 3rd tunnel at Kings Cross was abandoned as was the underground service to Moorgate.
  • The first electric services on the new route from Moorgate, Finsbury Park and Royston started as did massive the engineering work on upgrading the whole route of the ECML.

The East Coast Main Line Trainz team is a small group whose aim is to build the 393 mile ECML from Edinburgh to London, Kings Cross and the surrounding routes.

Many famous locomotives over the years have enhanced the ECML from the old days of the Stirling Single to the modern steam locomotives of Mallard and Flying Scotsman. The group mainly grew up with the most famous British diesel locomotive ever built. The 2 stroke opposed piston Deltic’s that operated from 1960 – 1982.

The ECML Trainz team supports the continuing restoration and operation of these locomotives by helping the Deltic Preservation Society with the Deltic simulator cab, and more recently the Koyli group, whose locomotive 55002 The Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry is owned by the National Railway Museum which requires external help.

To see an example of the finished results of the project watch the video below.


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Posted in Games, Technology

Telegraph news Android App – get the latest news straight to your mobile

Posted by Admin on February 21st, 2010 No Comments

With so many apps now available for most mobile devices it’s hard to spot the good apps from the not so good apps, so if it helps, as we find a useful app we will share it with you here.

Today’s app is the Telegraph App available free of charge from the Android Market

There’s currently an uproar from the printed press about the BBC’s plans to launch a free app which will provide news feeds to users, but the functionality is already available, free of charge through the fantastic Telegraph App.

Delivering all the top news from the Telegraph.co.uk website,  over either Wifi or Mobile data,  straight to your Android Mobile Phone (eg the HTC Desire, Google G1 etc) , this fantastic app becomes a virtual newspaper and  is the only tool you will ever need to keep you in the loop.

You will certainly never need to buy a news paper again.

The video below shows the Telegraph application in action.



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Posted in Technology

Free Music with Spotify

Posted by Admin on February 20th, 2010 No Comments

Spotify has an online library of millions of songs which you can listen to, through a windows application.
The best bit is that you can listen to all these songs free of charge, as long as you don’t mind an occasional advert, or you can pay £10 a month for an advert free service.

It works really well if you just want to listen to your favourite songs or discover new music, however, where for me Itunes is a better solution is you can save your music, copy to your Ipod and you own it.

Spotify is a nice product and you can’t go wrong with free music.


Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/netbookjohn

Posted in Music, Technology, streaming media

The HTC Desire available soon in the UK

Posted by Admin on February 18th, 2010 No Comments

The HTC Desire Smartphone will soon be available in the UK through the 3 network.

The handset runs the ever improving Android Operating System and features an incredible 3.7-inch AMOLED display, so images, videos and web pages will look crisp and vibrant.

The Android operating system has always been incredibly user friendly and easy to use, although it can sometimes be a little sluggish on early handsets, but the Desire features a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, like that found in the Google Nexus One, so there is plenty of processing power available to allow fast multi-tasking of applications.

Android is designed to allow the use of Widgets, of which there are now many, which deliver information straight to your phones desktop, so you will never be without those sports results or weather updates again.

The Android Operating System is designed to be integrated with the Internet, in practice this proves to be a great asset and turns Android phones into true multi-purpose communication devices, emails, Facebook updates, tweets and the like can be sent straight to the handset in real time, so that you are never out of the loop with friends or work.

The integrated 5 megapixel camera in the Desire in significantly improved over early Android models and features, Face detection, Auto focus and flash, Widescreen photo capture and Geotagging.

As standard the HTC Desire HTC Desire will feature Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Email on 3 and Twitter alongside an integrated Facebook application.

The HTC Desire is an incredibly desirable handset so keep an eye on the 3 Website for a formal release date

The video below shows the HTC Desire in action.



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Posted in Technology

SeeSaw VOD launches in the UK

Posted by Admin on February 17th, 2010 No Comments

Arqiva have launched SeaSaw VOD TV in the UK.

Using technology originally developed for Project Kangaroo, the service provides video content from BBC World, Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITV.

Project Kangaroo was originally developed by BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and ITV plc,but was blocked before release by the Competition Commission in 2009. The technology was later bought by Arqiva for about 8 million pounds.

SeeSaw is aiming to have around 3,500 hours of TV content available, including a mix of free advertising-supported content and paid-for programming.

To watch SeeSaw point your browser at http://www.seesaw.com/


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Posted in Technology, streaming media
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