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gr fire vs ipad gadgets mac vs pc iphone vs samsung s 2 app olmpics the best of the best app s on the app store and soon to be android market issue #101 june 2012

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contents page 1 ipad vs kindle fire page 2 mac vs pc page 3 top 5 iphone accessories page 4 iphone vs samsung s 2 page 5 app olympics page 6 gardening gadgets page 7 fitness gadgets page 8 top 5 pc accessories page 9 competition the

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ipad vs kindle fire move over smart phones the tablets are going at it the competition in the tablet market is getting hotter and while many still prefer the ipad there seams to be a new player in the market that really brings the heat amazon s long-awaited tablet is finally here and they re calling it the kindle fire yup hot stuff right from the start is what they re claiming but can they take the heat in the kitchen when matched up with apple s latest tablet the ipad 2 read on to see what tablet should be on your tech wish list this holiday season he ipad weighs in at 1.33 lbs while the kindle fire is only .09125 lbs so the fire wins here but it s smaller with size specs that look like 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 the ipad measures in at 9.5 x 7.31 x 0.34 amazon s claim to fame here is that it s easy to hold in one hand so it s small enough to fit anywhere but so is an ipad really apple likes black and white so guess what those are the two colours available for the ipad 2 amazon kept it simple and left the kindle fire in only a black option but it did give it a sleek appearance that somewhat resembles the ipad 2 amazon didn t want to make the kindle fire too big so it opted for a pretty standard 7-inch 1,024 x 600 touch screen on the other hand apple s ipad 2 boasts a 9.7-inch screen that s almost about the same in terms of resolution coming in at 1,024 x 768 but amazon is claiming that its fire display is stateof-the-art and is chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 20 times harder than plastic making it very durable another feature worth mentioning is that the kindle fire and an ips display while the ipad is led backlit and ips this ips screen allows you to lay the fire down and still be able to look at it from the edge and see everything clearly since ips screens have a 178-degree viewing angle amazon s kindle fire is android-based running a customized version of the os but it s unknown just how customized it is it has a proprietary web page processing system that s part of the os though so everybody knows that apple s stuff runs off of the ios so knowing that fact puts the ipad 2 over the kindle since there are no surprises when it comes to the os also ios is a lot easier to navigate and is much more user friendly but amazon does have some cool web processing stuff going on with its new kindle fire thanks to its amazon silk it s claim is that it s a revolutionary cloud-accelerated browser that uses a a splitbrowser architecture which leverages the computing speed and power of amazon s web services cloud it also learn which sites you visit most and saves them 1

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although apple computers appear more expensive on the surface experts say that when you look at comparable pc computers the difference isn t all that great harry mccracken who writes at technologizer.com puts it this way every time i do the math though i come to the conclusion that the cost of macs isn t out of whack with that of similar windows machines apple isn t selling $750 notebooks for $1,500 its portab les tend to use higher-end processors mostly have aluminium cases rather than plastic ones are typically thinner and lighter than garden-variety laptops and run longer on a battery charge than many of their windows brethren even so pcs definitely have the upper hand when it comes to selection the cheapest mac laptop starts at $1,000 and there are lots of pc laptops that cost much less apple has long been touted as a more innovative brand than similar pc manufac turers but that stereotype may be starting to erode take the new apple imacs for example although they ve been updated with the latest processors and graphics cards the desktops have most of the same features and look identical to those that came out several years ago as a result experts say some pc makers are adding more innovative features to their all-inone desktops including touch screens and numerous entertainment features that s one reason why the imac lost out on the pcmag.com editors choice award to an all-in-one desktop from hp when it comes to security most experts agree that pcs are more vulnerable to viruses and malware although macs are by no means immune to these attacks as evidenced by the proliferation of the mac defender malware in 2011 in 2010 cnet interviewed 32 computer security experts and asked them to weigh in on the mac vs pc security debate most experts agreed that hackers and cyber criminals focus on pcs because there are more pcs out there as cambridge university professor ross anderson tells cnet they would far rather attack windows pcs as there are lots more of them so you are much less likely to be bothered by malware if you use a mac or run linux on your pc in the end many of the experts interviewed say that the user matters far more than the operating system if you click on questionable links or download unsafe files you re likely to encounter problems regardless of whether you re on a mac or a pc still the unique qualities of the macintosh operating system makes value hard to quantify some people need macs the mac os is superior to windows for several types of uses including graphic design desktop publishing because macs have flawless wysiwyg what-you-see-is-what-you-get printing capability music production and certain sciences some programs such as adobe photoshop run better under the mac os on the flip side most reviewers don t recommend apple computers for serious gamers because there is a greater selection of games available for windows pcs and a wide variety of dedicated pc gaming rigs to choose from however the steam online gaming service has been released for mac computers which brings a greater selection of titles to apple computers steam allows you to purchase and download games right to your computer if you are considering using a mac as a windows computer it will be much more expensive you need to buy a full edition of windows 7 software est $100 and up depending on version in addition to the cost of the computer apple does not offer windows as a pre-installed option but dealers might of course running windows on an apple computer is cheaper than buying two computers with a laptop it can be more convenient too if you re torn between a mac and its seamless hardware/software integration and the universality of windows you can have your cake and eat it too albeit at a steep price review tests indicate that windows can run just as fast on a mac as on a comparable pc apple mac vs windows pc 2

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top 5 iphone accessories 1 juicer the most annoying part apart from some bad sms features in iphone is its battery life you can do so many things in iphone but exactly you don t have much to do if you run a low battery and you need to change then and after a long search i finally found something that is significance keeping mstation s mophie $99.99 juice pack battery extender comes pre-charged with an extra 250 hours of standby time 8 hours of speak time 6 hours of internet use 7 hours of video playback and 24 hours of audio playback battery manufacturers never ever say the truth be careful it s ready to go directly out of the package housing its rechargeable lithium polymer battery within an ergonomic soft non-slip casing the juice pack also integrates a 4 led charge status indicator and its own 30-pin dock connector so it may come in very handy when you really need it you may already be recognizable with dlo s jacket for ipod a silicone case that lets you neatly wrap your ear bud cords behind the case well now you can do the same thing with your iphone.dlo s jacket for iphone is a grip able silicon case that is lint-resistant and allows full access to the iphone 2.dlo jacket 3.bluetooth headphones 4 microphone to headphone adaptor with the isonitalk there s no fumbling with difficult controls or searching for the correct button because there s only one when you get an incoming call simply press it to pause your music and take the call when you re done press it again to hang up and resume your music the isonitalk can also be used to pause and play music even when you don t have an incoming call so its suitable for a quick conversation or time out when you need to take a break from your music take iphone calls and listen to music with any headphones compatible with virtually all headphones so you can have better iphone audio quality specifically designed to be compatible with iphone recessed headphone jack easy one-button control lets you take calls and pause and play music 24k gold mini-plug for optimal signal transfer and decay resistance sitting next to the apple iphone at the apple store will be the jawbone bluetooth headset what s so special about such an expensive headset jawbone s perforated protect curves to match the outline of your face while the inside surface is made from medical grade plastic to give a soft and smooth experience on the skin it can be worn on either ear and has a rated talk time of about 6 when its about iphone you can expect good sound to fill your ears but what about others if you are in a mood to distribute and have a party at your home then there is no better dock than this one you can dial and receive calls while the iphone is docked and playing music though you do have to pick the phone up to talk a built-in speakerphone would have been nice 5 speakers 3

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iphone vs samsung galaxy s 2 what the highest the human eye can detect at this screen-size verdict we have to say that its a draw in the display stakes because it really comes down to whether you value the larger amoled screen on the sii or the more portable higher resolution iphone 4s retina display verdict the camera quality is the same but the iphone 4s wins this category due to better software software apple iphone 4s ios 5 v samsung galaxy sii android 2.3 it s quite difficult to appraise which operating system is the best overall but with the addition of siri we really feel the ios operating system eclipses android gingerbread the cloud-based storage of the ios operating things get a bit more complicated system is also a huge benefit and its just though because the iphone 4s s graphics chip is significantly better than basically a newer operating system overall if we thought we needed to clear-up the galaxy s2 s meaning that it should we were comparing ios 5 with ice cream sandwich it would be a totally different which is the best smartphone the deliver better gaming and video proposition but currently the galaxy sii runs on samsung galaxy sii or the apple streaming verdict we re gonna have to give this android 2.3 iphone 4s both mobiles have proven hugely popular with the one to apple because overall the iphone verdict a clear win for the iphone 4s at least iphone 4s achieving record sales 4s is a newer smartphone with better until the galaxy sii is updated to ice cream technology especially the graphics chip sandwich and the galaxy sii being voted which is more important than the ram onboard memory apple iphone 4s european smartphone of the phone design/form factor apple iphone 16gb/32gb/64gb v samsung galaxy sii year 16gb/32gb 4s 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm 140g v in the following article 3g will the apple iphone 4s is available in a 64gb compare the two devices in all the samsung galaxy sii 125.3 x 66.1 x version which the galaxy sii lacks however major categories before declaring 8.49mm 117g the samsung galaxy sii is both thinner you can use microsd cards on the galaxy sii the winner which brings the potential storage up to the and lighter than the iphone 4s but display apple iphone 4s 3.7 because of the large screen size is both same level inch retina display 640900 verdict we d have to call it a draw because pixels v samsung galaxy sii 4.3 wider and longer even though the iphone 4s comes with the however we much prefer the build inch super amoled 480800 option of more on-board memory you can quality of the iphone 4s which feels pixels before we choose the best display solid and sturdy while the galaxy sii upgrade the galaxy sii to the same storage it should be pointed out that both feels like cheap plastic however this is capacity of them are absolutely fantastic balanced against the fact that the galaxy price apple iphone 4s 16gb £499 v samsung and if you bought either mobile s2 is much more comfortable in your galaxy sii £400 pocket you wouldn t be disappointed verdict we have to give the verdict to the galaxy sii s touch-screen screen is larger than the iphone apple s iphone 4s because of the build quality but this is quite a subjective 4s which might be seen as a area bonus to some people or a hindrance for those who like to camera apple iphone 4s 8 mega-pixel watch movies and play games it s rear facing and 2 mega-pixel fronta definite strength but for those facing v samsung galaxy sii 8 megapixel rear facing and 2 mega-pixel looking for portability it does front-facing make the phone a bit larger the iphone 4s screen runs at a the cameras on the iphone 4s and samsung galaxy sii have identical higher resolution meaning the overall picture quality is higher specifications but we think that apple has the better camera software on the with apple claiming its above iphone 4s 4

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app olympics temple run the challenge over here is to collect as many coins as possible and by using the coins unlock levels and advanced boost options to enhance the run after having unlocked the special powers these cross fingers modeled after the chinese tangram meaning a dissection puzzle include invisibility during which the demons nor the ditch can harm you there you must manipulate several are a wide variety of power-ups to be unlocked including one that turns the smaller shapes into character invisible and another than works like a magnet pulling coins toward one larger image the character as he runs by them what s more the entire time gamers are encouraged to complete objectives while they play which adds another layer of the pieces cannot overlap and in the challenge to the game cost-another interesting thing is the increase in the speed of the character as case of this game your score increases which increases the difficulty and makes the game all the cannot occupy the same physical more interesting space ­so you we didn t really find a downside to the game other than that there isn t any specific change to the whole scene throughout the game a bit of change in the must move pieces out of the way in scenery wouldn t have harmed anyone but well then given that it s a run in a temple there really can t be a change of scene or scenario but well a change order to slide others past this would have made it more interesting task is made more all in all most probably the best free ios game available in the market difficult with the addition of special red pieces that don t stay where you put them this means you often need two hands in order to hold them in place while you move others completing puzzles earns you free stars which allows you to unlock additional levels if you are impatient or want a sneak peak on what levels labeled as `insane might look like you can purchase stars in-app as well and forth and it got old quick luckily the game controls are very intuitive and smooth this is there is a helpful quest arrow that obviously a hugely simplified guides you on your way from objective to objective one huge mistake order version of wow with fewer chaos makes is not including some attacks and less general information conveyed to the kind of teleport-to-town item like wow s player but it works nicely the hearthstone comparisons to warcraft aside this graphics are great and in game is pretty great all around it some cases are actually totally feels like the classic mmo and superior to that other game where order chaos lacks can give you that quick mmo fix on the go it s definitely on the more expensive however is in the technical side as far as apps go but they throw side of things people are having lots of issues all across in the first three months of the board connection issues subscription for free to sweeten the account related errors quests deal some of the most important aspects of an mmo have always been bugging out and becoming impossible to finish etc i also the community support updates and had issues with the amount of endgame content and this game just items you are allowed to carry hasn t been around long enough for me it has always been a part of to tell you about those but from my initial experience i d definitely say mmorpgs to plan your check it out questing so you can unload your gathered spoils of war to make room for more but here i constantly had to run back order and chaos where s my water revolves around our here you have a whole range hero in the loosest of different environmental sense of the word conditions to deal with there swampy the are currently seven chapters alligator swampy each chapter comprised of 20 wants to take a levels but progression isn t shower but simply a case of completing someone has been those levels you ll need to messing with his make sure you get those water supply we re ducks along the way sure you can guess otherwise the next chapter how the game won t be unlocked.there are unfolds after that plenty of puzzle games of this of course the aim type that are free but where s of the game is to my water is well worth the get the water 69p asking price on your running out of iphone if you happen to be an swampy s shower android user it s a whole 5p so the dirty gator cheaper can give himself a good scrub but this isn t just a pipe game like toobz where s my water 5

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the kusamono lamp gardening gadgets if you re an apartment dweller or are short on backyard space start gardening indoors with the kusamono lamp by florient coirer this minimalist lamp responds to the needs of both people and plants by providing a stylish source of ambient illumination each kusamono has been fashioned with an energy efficient horticultural bulb and a long metal reflector and units are available in a variety of sizes and heights making it easy to support the growth of your favourite potted plant for the experienced gardener and novice alike this guide contains everything you need to grow your own cornucopia of vegetables you don t have to flip through hundreds of pages to get to the cream of of the crop this handy guide displays simple step-by-step instructions numerous illustrations bulleted lists hyper-linked information and even a glossary of terms vegetable gardening guide app for smart phones rapitest electronic soil tester a plant s health is directly tied to the soil it s been placed in and the light that surrounds it this multipurpose electronic soil tester by rapitest allows you to monitor the conditions of soil ph soil moisture light intensity and total combined nitrogen phosphorus and potash levels all you have to do is insert the electronic soil tester into your sample and simply slide the selector switch to the test being performed this multifunctional tool will tell you which plants will work best in each area of your yard or garden whether you re watering enough or too much or if you need to improve the condition of your soil britta riley s windowfarms are an attractive design that can add a bit of flavor literally to any window these modular vertical drip-hydroponic systems repurpose landfill-bound 1.5 liter bottles to provide a low-cost solution to year-round indoor food production you can set up this system with little maintenance and with a little effort you ll find yourself able to grow almost any fruit or vegetable plant year-round and if you don t have enough sunlight permeating your windows no worries these windorfarms also take advantage of fullspectrum cfl bulbs for supplemental lighting hydroponic window farms forget about store-bought fertilizer if you want to see those heirloom tomatoes turn a bold red then one of the best things you can feed your fruit and veggie plants is the organic kitchen waste that piles up day in and day out naturemill s clever composter is a quiet indoor system that uses an odorless natural culture to transform all your leftover food scraps into a load of nutrient-rich compost every two weeks just the thing to feed your hungry plants naturemill automatic compost bin 6

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fitness gadgets garmin approach s1 finis swimsense you don t have to be a competitive swimmer to appreciate the swimsense performance getting ready to hit the links this spring improve monitor designed to fit like your game with a golf coach that straps right to your a watch this can not only wrist the garmin approach s1 might look like your identify which type of stroke average sport watch but it s also a powerful gps tool you re doing butterfly pre-loaded with 15,000 golf courses across canada backstroke breaststroke or free and the u.s this handy gadget will let you know the style but can also track your distance per stroke distance from the front to the middle and the and how many calories you ve burned you can also back of the green you re on customize your settings according to pool size how far you ve trekked gender and weight the free online training log will around the course and even even let you track your swimming history so you how far your ball flew on that can set goals create custom workouts and monitor last shot but getting out of your progress watch out michael phelps that sand trap that s still up to you adidas micoach pacer we all have different running goals some of us run to de-stress others to lose weight some are training for a 10k and others just want to see where the path takes them but whatever your goal might be success is all in the way you pace yourself adidas micoach pacer offers an interactive training program that works with your mp3 player to give you feedback as you run the lightweight device will let you know when you need to push it and when you need to ease up so you re always within your target heart rate zone fitness video games are all the rage these days but the kinect for xbox 360 takes gaming to a whole new level while it might look like an amped-up web cam the kinect utilizes some impressive technology to make your body the controller for every game it doesn t get more interactive than this if you want your on-screen avatar to jump then you ll have to jump too no cheating allowed and with games such as zumba and your shape fitness evolved you ll be happy to get off the couch and start breaking a sweat right in your own living room kinect for xbox 360 7

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pc accessories cyborg rat 9 take the lead and lose the wire with the top-of-the-range r a t 9 the power and performance of the r a t 9 combine with next-generation wireless technology for an unsurpassed gaming experience featuring a twin eye laser sensor that reads each axis separately for pinpoint accuracy the r a t 9 tracks up to a stunning 6 meters per second pro gamers who favour low sensitivity with high movement speed preferences will always experience correct tracking and precision strong yet nimble the solid metal frame forms the core of the r a t 9 for enhanced rigidity cyborg v7 keyboard get the best gaming equipment there is the saitek cyborg keyboard features adjustable backlighting touch-sensitive control panel and programmable gaming keys taking gaming performance to new levels improving control heightening your senses and helping you realize your true potential tron mouse and mouse mat besides enjoying light effects triggered by your in-game actions on the interactive tron gaming mouse designed by razer you will experience a tracking glow trail as you swipe your mouse across the smooth hard surface of the tron gaming mouse mat designed by razer the gaming mouse and hard mat form the definite suite to immerse you deeply into the digital world of tron the gaming mouse mat is the perfect peripheral to complement your gaming mouse as its made for high sensitivity gaming mice and offers the highest tracking precision unique tron light and sound features see and hear the tron gaming mouse rez to life with unique light and sound effects straight from the movie let the mouse react to your actions on the game grid with authentic light alerts ambidextrous design designed to be equally comfortable for both right and left-handed use this gaming mouse is your perfectly balanced light cycle hurtling you through the grid hard mouse mat with tracking glow trail create a tron blue glow trail behind your tron gaming mouse with every swipe you make across the mat 8

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want to win a ton of gadgets if you do just answer the question below to be in with a chance of winning over 60 gadgets including xbox s ps3 s 3ds s the all new ps vita plus all the gadgets featured in this magazine and more which is the biggest selling franchise out of these a halo b call of duty c fifa winner will be announced next month so good luck and keep your fingers crossed 9

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£3.50

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