Frost Loves…Monster Powercard Ultra Thin Smartphone Charger

phone charger, tech, review, technology, monster, power card, smartphone charger

Running an online magazine is a full time job, so this good-looking yet convenient portable charger has been a lifesaver.

Why we love it:

  • Size does matter- far from being bulky, this ultra thin PowerCard is fully portable and weighs practically nothing. The ultimate in convenience. You can even put it in your purse or wallet.
  • Charge whatever you want. The PowerCard is universal and can power any device that requires USB or micro USB charging.
  • It gives 5+ hours of power – thanks to a Li-Polymer battery. Which is pretty impressive for a compact charger.

 

Monster Mobile PowerCard Portable Battery is available here.

 

 

Panoramic Pod | Christmas Gift Ideas

This amazing gadget is perfect for taking landscape pictures or group shots of you and your nearest and dearest. It allows you to take 240 degree panoramic shots with your smartphone. Perfect for budding photographers or just to take great family photos.

panaromicpod Panoramic Pod Panoramic Podphotography

The Panoramic Pod is a handy accessory that enables you to take 240 degree panoramic shots with your smartphone. It takes the shot over a 25 second timeframe, so it’s perfect for taking breathtaking landscape photos or fitting all your friends or family in huge group shots. The device comes with a tripod mount and is compatible with Apple and Android smartphones. – A.D.

£15.99 from iwantoneofthose.com

 

 

4 Ways Mad Men’s Don Draper Would Use a Smartphone

The technology of the ’60s was nothing compared to what we have today — I mean, they were just inventing the first answering machines — and Don Draper was not impressed. He called technology a glittering lure and hinted that they were mostly just for show.

Still, it’s interesting to see how Don Draper would use the technology of today for his life in the ’60s. Read on for the four ways in which Don Draper would use a smartphone’s convenience.

1. As a Normal Phone


Image via Flickr by Tim G. Photography

Okay, okay, I know this one isn’t groundbreaking. But let’s face it — Don Draper has never experienced the simple, taken-for-granted convenience of owning a cellular or portable phone. Just think, with a phone by his side, Draper could call a taxi instead of driving drunk. Countless lives could be saved.

2. As a Camera/Slideshow Viewer

Like in his carousel photo gallery presentation, Draper has to have an itch to go back, a yearning for the nostalgic, a longing to “travel the way a child travels.” He could store photos of his terrible parents for those moments where he wants to drink and forget, or he could keep stock in all the women in his life.

In between his multiple extramarital affairs, a smartphone would allow Draper to love his kids from afar. Just how he wants it.

3. As a Way to Work Without Going to Work


Image via Flickr by mezclaconfusa

Of course Don Draper loves his office — who wouldn’t? But he sometimes likes to venture out. He takes long breaks that have nothing to do with work and everything to do with mistresses, but maybe with a smartphone, he could stay focused and enjoy the flexibility he feels he deserves.

Working away from your office, or workshifting, is one of the great features of a series of newer smartphones. The new BlackBerry smartphones, for example, claim to reinvent the idea of enterprise mobility management. Draper could have the whole creative team from Sterling, Cooper & Partners working simultaneously.

Perhaps Draper can take advantage of this technology while sitting in a booth alone, sipping a lonely scotch, while getting some work done on his newest ad campaign.

4. As a Note/Idea Saver

The popular app, Evernote, is available on pretty much any platform of computer and smartphone. This app allows you to save ideas from most websites, as well as jot down notes of your own. After you save the notes, it’s extremely easy to access from any device, including smartphones. It’s all right there on the cloud.

With Evernote, Don would be able to capture those wild epiphanies he has in his everyday life — you know, the ones that usually result in a brilliant presentation that leaves the client (and the audience) in awe, thinking, “I want to be like that guy. Minus all the negative stuff.”

Don Draper could benefit from a smartphone, even if he would first try to resist the temptation. Just think of how much safer the roads would be after one of Draper’s many happy hours.

How To Find And Play Great Games Online

If you’re anything like me, then you’ll be pretty addicted to the Internet – from constantly checking your social media accounts, catching up on the latest current affairs, finding the latest deals on the latest fashions, and even, playing online games to help and cure your boredom on a rainy day.

But, I often find that it’s enjoying the latter that often leaves me in a little bit of a predicament – I never know where to find the best games.  Whether I’m on my lunch break, or looking for a little bit of entertainment in the evenings or at weekends, I always have trouble finding a great game that leaves me captivated and enthralled. The Internet has so many capabilities these days that anyone can create games at the touch of a button, often meaning that gaming fanatics such as you and I are left to try and trawl through all of the spam just to find a fun new game.

Well, to help you on your quest to find great games online, here are a few tried and tested ways to help you wade through the spam sites, helping you to find – and play – those great games straight away.

1. Read Forums

If you’re looking for an amazing new game to try out and are open to new suggestions on what games to try, then gaming forums are a great place to start. Gaming forums are quite often filled with a plethora of gaming fanatics just like you, all eager to trying out the latest new games, express their thoughts to them, as well as give other users hints and tips to help them get the most out of a particular game – so you can see exactly what other people think about new games that are released, and from them you can determine whether or not the game is worth giving a go.

2. Check Out Reviews

Now, I bet if you own a smartphone and you happen to love games then there’s also a high chance that the app store on your mobile phone has become one of your best technological friends. Why? Because aside from letting you download games at your fingertips, it’s one of the best platforms for being able to quickly see what games have newly been released. And what’s more, with many app stores featuring their very own top charts, they also allow you to see what games are good, and which ones aren’t – thanks to their user review and rating system. Now, although I’m talking about using your mobile phone to find great games here, it’s a great way to make sure you’re not running into those pesky gaming spam websites – because other users will have done all that work for you. Simply download the top rated games from your app store’s charts and you’re guaranteed to have endless hours of fun! If your mobile phone’s display is just a little too small for you to fully enjoy your chosen game, then many apps nowadays allow you to connect online and download the app on your tablet, and even, on your laptop.

3. Subscribe To A Popular Gaming Blog

I love to find out all of the latest news when it comes to technology and gaming, and one of the best ways that helps me to do this is through gaming blogs. As well as regularly checking them online, many blogs allow you to physically subscribe to them. By simply entering your email address into the blogs system, the site will proceed to email you with any new blog posts, articles or news updates, so you can stay updated whenever you are. So, if a new blog post comes in about an amazing new game that’s been released, you’ll get notified straight away so you can download it as soon as you get home!

And, what’s more, subscribing to a popular online gaming blog will mean that the blog will also physically do all of the sifting of the spam sites from the good sites, for you too. For example, many gaming blogs will feature only the highest quality casinos, games and apps, so their readers can be rest assured that they’ll only ever receive updates of the highest quality entertainment and sites.

This article was contributed by Stuart Harrison, an experienced gaming and casino writer. You can find more about Stuart, here.

PlayStation Phone Confirmed – Xperia PLAY {Gadgets}

Sony has confirmed the worst kept secret in tech, the PlayStation licensed smart phone.  The Xperia PLAY will be the latest model in Sony Ericsson’s Xperia range of Android based smart phones.

Said to deliver the smartphone functionality that the most serious power users could need, teamed with the immersive gaming experience that any gamer would want. The features will also include a 5 megapixel camera, a 4” multi-touch screen and social networking features, so it rivals most existing smart phones in the usual areas.


Slide out the gaming control and users enter a new world of immersive mobile gaming. The slide out game pad reveals a digital D pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle. Qualcomm’s optimized Snapdragon processor with a 1Ghz CPU and embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor deliver 60fps play-back 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with minimal power consumption so Xperia PLAY users can enjoy long hours of battery life and game time. How long? Up to 5hrs 35mins of game play time.


Xperia PLAY will run on Gingerbread (version 2.3) and as the first PlayStation Certified device it will have access to PlayStation game content provided through the PlayStation Suite initiative, currently under development by Sony Computer Entertainment and due to launch later this calendar year. There’s only a hint as to the games to be available so far but they include The Sims 3, FIFA 10, Guitar Hero, Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell.



The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY will be available globally in selected markets from March 2011.
Here’s some specifications (and by ‘some’ I mean lots):

Xperia™ PLAY at a glance:

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ PLAY

Camera

  • 5.1 megapixel camera
  • Auto focus
  • Flash / Photo light
  • Geo tagging
  • Image stabiliser
  • Send to web
  • Touch focus
  • Video light
  • Video recording
  • Video blogging

Music

  • Album art
  • Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
  • Google™ Music Player
  • Music tones (MP3/AAC)
  • PlayNow™ service*
  • Sony Ericsson Music player
  • Stereo speakers
  • TrackID™ music recognition application

Internet

  • Android Market™*
  • Bookmarks
  • Google™ search*
  • Google™ Voice Search*
  • Pan & zoom
  • Web browser (Webkit)

Communication

  • Call list
  • Conference calls
  • Facebook™ application (from Android Market™)
  • Google™ Talk*
  • Noise Shield
  • Polyphonic ringtones
  • Speakerphone
  • Sony Ericsson Timescape™***
  • Twitter™ application (from Android Market™)
  • Vibrating alert

Messaging

  • Android Cloud to Device messaging (C2DM)
  • Conversations
  • Email
  • Google Mail™*
  • Instant messaging
  • Picture messaging (MMS)
  • Predictive text input
  • Sound recorder
  • Text messaging (SMS)

Design

  • Auto rotate
  • Keyboard (onscreen, 12 key)
  • Keyboard (onscreen, QWERTY)
  • Picture wallpaper
  • Touchscreen
  • Wallpaper animation

Entertainment

  • 3D games
  • Dedicated gaming keys
  • Flash Lite™
  • Gesture gaming
  • Motion gaming
  • Video streaming
  • YouTube™

Organiser

  • Alarm clock
  • Calculator
  • Calendar
  • Document editors
  • Document readers
  • E-Manual
  • Flight mode
  • Google Calendar™
  • Google Gallery 3D™
  • Infinite button
  • Phone book
  • Set-up Wizard
  • Widget manager

Connectivity

  • 3.5 mm audio jack
  • aGPS
  • Bluetooth™ technology
  • DLNA Certified
  • Google Latitude™
  • Google Location Service
  • Google Maps™ with Street View
  • Media Transfer Protocol support
  • Micro USB Connector
  • Modem
  • Synchronisation via Facebook™**
  • Synchronisation via Google Sync™
  • Synchronisation via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®
  • Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync
  • USB 2.0 high speed support
  • Wi-Fi™
  • Wi-Fi™ Hotspot functionality

* The service is not available in all markets.
** Requires Facebook™ application installed on the device.

Google™ services*

* These services may not be available in every market Android Market™ Client

  • Gmail™
  • Google Calendar™
  • Google Gallery 3D™
  • Google Latitude™
  • Google Maps™ with Street View
  • Google Media Uploader
  • Google Music Player™
  • Google Phone-top Search
  • Google Search widget
  • Google Sync™
  • Google Talk™
  • Google Voice Search
  • Set-up Wizard
  • YouTube™

Screen

  • 16,777,216 colour TFT
  • Capacitive multi-touch
  • 4 inches
  • 480 x 854 pixels (FWVGA)

In-Box:

  • Xperia™ PLAY
  • Battery
  • Stereo portable handsfree
  • 8GB microSD™ memory card
  • Charger
  • Micro USB cable for charging, synchronisation and file transfer
  • User documentation

Facts

  • Size: 119 x 62 x 16 mm
  • Weight: 175 grams
  • Phone memory: up to 400 MB
  • Memory card support: microSD™, up to 32 GB
  • Memory card included: 8GB microSD™
  • Operating system: Google™ Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
  • Processor: 1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7

Talk time and networks Networks

  • Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 8 hrs 25 min*
  • Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 425 hrs*
  • Talk time UMTS: Up to 6 hrs 25 min*
  • Standby time UMTS: Up to 413 hrs*
  • Talk time CDMA2000®: Up to 7 hrs 40 min*
  • Standby time CDMA2000®: Up to 405 hrs*
  • Game play time: Up to 5 hrs 35 min*
  • MP3 playback: Up to 30 hrs 35 min*

Networks

  • UMTS HSPA 800, 850, 1900, 2100
  • GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
  • UMTS HSPA 900, 2100
  • GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
  • CDMA2000®, cdmaOne, EVDO

Colour

  • Black
  • White