www.tp-link.com

The Archer C7 is very impressive as it is 3 times faster than wireless N speeds and comes with the next generation Wi-Fi standard- 802.11ac.

The total available bandwidth on this router is 1.75Gbps with 1.3Gbps over the clear 5 Ghz channel and 450mbps over the 2.4GHz channel.

The Archer C7’s Gigabit wireless speeds allows all your home’s devices, such as gaming consoles, tablets, laptops or televisions to have more reliable connections at extremely faster speeds.

The Archer C7 features 6 antennas, 3 external and 3 internal. These provide maximum Omni-directional wireless coverage and reliability, in testing this proved very true, as I could see more wifi bars on wireless devices compared to my old router.

It also comes with 2 USB ports that allow you to share movies, music or printers in your home network or even across the internet.

A Guest Network Access is also available that provides secure Wi-Fi access for guests sharing your home or office network.

The router is very easy to set up and included in the resource CD, TP-LINK’s optimized configuration utility can help you complete the entire software installation and wireless network settings in just a few minutes. This was the case with BT fibre broadband when trying it at a friend’s house. However with Sky fibre broadband, it was a bit more complex. Unfortunately due to Sky’s terms and conditions you cannot use a different router, so whilst facing disappointment after seeing what the router was capable of on BT fibre, and after a lot of googling I discovered a workaround. By connecting the Archer C7 network port to a port on the Sky router it allows a type of passthrough connection meaning I could use all the benefits whilst on Sky without breaching their terms and conditions. Now this is the only router I use and have turned off the wifi functionality of the Sky router.

The features at a glance:
– Supports 802.11ac – The next generation of Wi-Fi
– Dual band – for combined wireless speeds of up to 1.75Gbps at 2.4GHz and 5GHz band concurrently
– 3*5dBi external antennas and 3 internal antennas provide maximum Omni-directional wireless coverage and reliability
– Full gigabit ports ensure ultra fast data transfer speeds
– Dual USB Ports – easily share printers, files or media with your friends or family locally or over the Internet
– Guest Network Access provides secure Wi-Fi access for guests sharing your home or office network
– IPv6 supported, meeting the demands for the next generation of Internet
– IP-based Bandwidth Control makes it easier for you to manage the bandwidth of devices connected to the router
– Wi-Fi On/Off Button allows users to turn their wireless radio on or off
– Easy one-touch WPA wireless security encryption with the WPS button
– WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK encryptions provide user networks with active defense against security threats
– Easy Setup Assistant with multi-language support provides a quick & hassle free installation process
– Compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac products

This is a feature packed next generation wi-fi router and at the price mark a very worthwhile purchase. The Archer C7 is available from www.tp-link.com and the RRP is £100.

http://uk.tp-link.com

When I got the opportunity to test the TP-LINK AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter TL-PA551KIT I was very excited. Being a lover of all things ‘tech’ and having a home that is completely wireless, I was very interested in seeing how the Gigabit Powerline adaptor compared.

The AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter is described as being able to turn your existing electrical circuitry into a high-speed network with no need for new wires or drilling. It did do exactly this.

The AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter set consisted of two adaptors (one to connect to a modem and one to place into another area around the home), 2 network cables, a resource CD and an installation guide.

One of the first things I noticed about the AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter was how easy it is to set up. The first adapter is connected to a plug socket with a network wire connected from the adapter to a router/switch. The second adapter is than placed into another plug socket near the laptop/computer you want to connect to the internet with a network cable connecting the adapter to the device. Once both adapters are plugged in and powered up, they need to be paired up. This is very easy to do. All I had to do was press the pairing buttons underneath the two adapters and they were paired up. It was as simple as that and just worked. There was nothing else to fiddle with or configure.

Once the adapters were paired and working I could test their speed. I connected my laptop to the internet using my wireless at home and then connected it using the AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter. My initial thoughts were that it would be slightly faster than the wireless on the computer. After testing I was very impressed by the speed of the adapters, which was over three times faster than my wireless connection. The wireless on my laptop gives me a constant 2Mb connection as it is wireless G, whereas using the powerline adapters the speed went up to 6.5-7Mb, pretty much as fast as if the laptop was connected directly to the router (This was tested using Sky fibre broadband).

I also tested streaming a couple of HD movies via the powerlines, on the wireless 720p movies stream with few glitches, 1080p movies would not stream at all, at most they’d stream for a minute or two. Throught the powerplugs 720p and 1080p streamed with no issues at all which was very impressive.

The AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter is also very convenient for your home as it comes with an Integrated Power Socket. This integrated power socket allows an additional device to be connected to the adapter as though it were a normal wall socket. Therefore, you do not lose a plug socket when the AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter is in use.

In my opinion the AV500+ Gigabit Powerline Adapter is definitely worth having in the home. It gives the speed and stability of a cable connection but can be used anywhere around the home near a plug socket.

Highlights:
• Integrated power socket to allow additional devices access to power
• HomePlug AV standard compliant, high-speed data transfer rates of up to 500Mbps
• No new wires, Easy Plug and Play operation, No configuration required
• Patented Power-Saving Mode automatically reduces power consumption by up to 85%*
• Twin Pack design helps establish a basic powerline network

The RRP is £85.99

www.musicalfidelity.com

When I first opened the EB-50 box I was very impressed with the presentation of the headphones. The inner packaging was very stylish and had a lovely magnetic clasp. The headphones came with many accessories which were nicely presented in a black pouch and a black box.

The pouch contained a jack adapter that allows you to plug the headphones into your hi-fi. It also included silicone ear tips and an airline adapter that allows you to use the headphones on aeroplanes so you can watch their screens and listen to their music in comfort. The pouch is also useful to carry the headphones around. The accessories in the box were very nicely presented and I appreciated the great attention to detail.

The box contained more ear tips which was a pleasant surprise. I counted seven pairs of ear tips altogether, which is a very generous amount. The ear tips come in many different sizes including some that can go further into your ears which is very good for preventing sounds coming in from outside and is good for isolating sounds.

A polishing cloth is also included in the box, as well as ear hooks and a clip so you can clip the cable out of the way when in use. The audio quality of the headphones was very good, a lot better than expected. The audio quality on bass and mid- range and especially high frequencies, was very good. The earpieces were extremely comfortable and are nicely constructed. They are made from metal and are surprisingly light so are very comfortable in the ear.

Another great feature of the EB-50 headphones is that they can be plugged into a phone and used as a hands free kit.

I have used them numerous times in this way and outgoing quality from the ear pieces was excellent as was the incoming quality from the microphone. Overall I was very impressed with the audio quality and appearance of these headphones. If you are looking for a pair of high end headphones that are well engineered and produce excellent sound quality, the EB-50 are ideal.

Before you purchase something else, definitely check these out.

Musical Fidelity EB-50 are available from www.musicalfidelity.com

The RRP is £149.

http://www.parrot.com/zik/uk/

The Parrot Zik can be used wirelessly or wired (with the supplied 3.5mm cable). With built-in bluetooth and NFC, connecting a phone was as simple as touching the phone to the earpiece (with a NFC enabled phone).
The right earpiece has touch sensitive controls – swiping your finger across the earpiece will forward to the next track, tapping the earpiece will pause the track and by swiping up and down the volume can be adjusted. If you take the headphones off your head the Zik knows and will pause the current track and resume once you have put them back on. These headphones are full of technological gadgetry!

The Parrot Zik have a chic, slick design. The exterior of the headphone cups are made of a matte black plastic, the top of the headband is wrapped in supple black leather and the metal frame sports a matte steel finish. There’s also a discrete flash of orange – a telltale sign of a Starck design. There are no visible buttons apart from a small on/off touch button under the earphone.

Parrot have their very own free app for the Zik which is extremely useful. You can check the battery level, have full control of the Graphic Equalizer, activate Noise Cancellation, and control the “Parrot Concert Hall” audio effect. This allows you to simulate a virtual musical scene, controlling the dimensions of the “virtual” room and the orientation of the loudspeakers in the room. Using the graphic equaliser controls, the sound quality was very impressive, giving a solid performance with no distortion on deep base.

Another great feature of the Zik is the noise cancelling technology. To insulate you from external noise, Parrot has developed an ultra-high performance active noise cancellation system which eliminates up to 25dB of ambient noise. This is fully controlled by Zik’s own custom-made Parrot Audio Suite app.

The Zik headphones have several built-in microphones to fully support making and recieving phone calls via bluetooth when paired with your phone. All the microphones work together to cancel out surrounding noise and focus on just your voice, with good results. However you do find yourself talking loudly as they do a very good job of blocking out all background noise.

Whilst the price may seem a little on the high side these headphones are beautifully designed, and oozing technological features. If you’re in the market for a decent pair of high end headphones these are definitely worth checking out.

http://www.parrot.com/uk/

Parrot, a global leader in wireless devices for mobile phones, has created an ultra-thin Bluetooth hands free kit, the MINIKIT Neo.

The MINIKIT Neo combines the best of technology in a compact and stylish design, which wraps around a car’s visor with a solid grip. Ideal placement for a Bluetooth as the unit is very near to your mouth and ear.

The Minikit Neo supports 2 phones at the same time and you can receive phone calls from either one, it can remember up to 10 phones paired, and can store up to 2000 contacts per phone, giving a total of 20,000 contacts stored.

A driver can make and receive calls without touching any buttons. By saying the magic word ‘MINIKIT’ at any time, the voice recognition is triggered, and then the driver needs to say the name of the contact that they wish to call. When receiving a call, a driver just needs to say ‘Accept’ or ‘Reject’. The kit will then recognise any voice without the need for any programming, matching or training. This actually works surprisingly well, but you have to get used to waiting for the beep before speaking or it will not catch what you are saying.

The MINIKIT Neo also has excellent sound quality. The Digital Signal Processing drastically reduces echo effectively and the large 3W NXT speaker provides very good voice output. The unit also supports stereo audio streaming profile A2DP allowing you to receive any sound output via the speaker, great when using a sat nav app on a phone.

The Neo has two integrated buttons. The green one is pressed to accept calls, dial from your phonebook and activate voice recognition. While the red button is used to hang up and exit menus. Both green and red buttons use a rotary knob which, when pressed, activates the Neo’s audible menu. We were inititally wondering how good the menu system would be without any form of screen, but this thought was very quickly forgotten as the menu system worked surprisingly well. The centre button activates the menu and works as a select button and the rotary knob navigates through the menu.

The pairing process is extremely simple to do and the MINIKIT Neo will vocally guide you through the entire pairing process. When the unit is first paired, it automatically syncs the phone book, so that all names and numbers can be recognised when they are said. The MINIKIT Neo picked up names very well without the need for any voice training.

Battery life was very good on our unit and up until the time of the review it was only charged once. Parrot state the MINIKT Neo gives you 10 hours of talking time. To check battery levels a quick slide of the power button results in the built-in voice telling you the remaining battery percentage. The unit also has a Ultra Low Power Mode, which Parrot states gives up to 6 months standby time. When in this “deep sleep” mode the unit wakes up on vibration, so as you open/close a car door the unit beeps as it wakes up.

Overall an excellent car bluetooth that is definitely recommended. The dual phone support was extremely useful in our tests allowing us to sync our work and personal phone at the same time. During usage we very rarely had to use any of the buttons, and the minikit magic word worked very well. If you are looking for a car bluetooth unit you can now stop searching, as the Parrot Minikit Neo will take care of all your needs.

http://www.mydeskpets.com/

Tankbot is for the child in all of us.  Very few products on the market today allow us to embrace the computer geek within us.  Tankbot is a new smart robot that is an enjoyable toy for all.  It comes in a choice of  different colours, each one with a different frequency. The colours included are  matt green, matt orange and matt white.  As each Tankbot has a different frquency you and your friends can have many robots racing, battling, and exploring.

The Tankbot is a trendy, current device that can be controlled with your Smartphone.  A feature that I think is one of the most exciting things about the Tankbot.  A free downloadable app and a SmartPhone adapter which is inculded, plugs into your iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch® or Android™ Device.  You can choose from three different play modes.  There is also a  remote-control provided which you plug into the earphone jack of your smartphone.

The Tankbot features LEDs to the front that act as the eyes which have several brightness levels. There are also two sensors for function and movement.

The best thing about the Tankbot is its personality. It features a variety of different noises and sounds in reaction to various scenarios and situations.

The toy is charged by USB, with the USB port located to the rear of the toy. After approximately 40 minutes of charge the toy gives roughly 15/20 minutes of play.

Programmed in to the toy are 3 different modes, featuring an obstacle avoidance mode, personality mode and smartphone control.

The obstacle avoidance mode allows you to build mazes or put things in the Tankbot’s way and watch it move and swerve to get out of the way.

The toy is light and fairly compact, allowing you to take it with you or leave it in your drawer without taking up too much space.

A great interactive toy which will no doubt give you endless amusement.

https://www.themu.co.uk/

As soon as you see the Mu plug you can’t help but be wowed by the pure genius of its design. It only measures in at a slim 1cm and the design allows the two bottom live and neutral power pins to rotate by 90 degrees, thus halving the size of the plug’s body.

As all other gadgets have become thinner and lighter over the years, designer Min-Kyu Choi has now made sure the Mu plug also follows suit. The Mu folding plug’s compact and simplistic design, makes it portable for those that travel a lot or simply want something on hand during the day.

The size of the plug makes it convenient to carry and eliminates the risk of scratching devices with a plug’s pins. The Mu folding plus allows you to charge smart phones and USB devices by connecting the USB connector through the Mu plug, in to the wall. The Mu folding plug is compatible with iPhones, Blackberries, iPods, Kindles, Samsungs and more. Meaning that should you upgrade, change your phone or have a lot of devices, it is compatible with all of them!

To use the plug it is as easy as 123. Simply open the wings, which protect the plug prongs, twist the pivot to the correct angle and then plug straight in to the wall. It couldn’t be simpler! The fantastic design and concept has been noticed by others too, with the product winning 3 awards, including the International Design Excellence award, and being the finalist in 2 further awards.

http://store.karotz.com/

Karotz the smart rabbit is the perfect desk accessory, cute and quirky it would appeal to people all over. But what does it do?

Karotz is a Wifi connected technology that can do a variety of things, from read your RSS feeds to your Twitter or Facebook messages and tell you the weather. It’s not limited there either, there are so many more features and functions to the Karotz that the list would be near endless.

The Karotz website boasts a variety of applications that you can load on to your Karotz. This enables you to use it for even more fun and useful purposes.

Karotz is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux and has a 256MB flash memory. It offers integrated microphone and speakers, alongside volume control and a webcam.

Its ears can rotate 360 degrees and are removable, being attached by magnets, and it can operate in 4 languages: English, French, German and Spanish.

Karotz is the perfect office, lounge or bedroom accessory and is sure to be very useful to all.

http://www.knomobags.com

Named the “Henderson” this laptop briefcase is perfect for both A4 documents and tablets or laptops up to 15”. The slimline design means that it is light and easy to carry with you on your commute.

Beautiful designed and made using full-grain leather, this briefcase is both soft and luxurious. Using only the finest quality materials ensures that this briefcase will be long lasting.

The briefcase boasts, alongside its main compartment, a large front pocket that can hold newspapers or documents. There are also several smaller pockets for pens and your phone.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to be parted with this Knomo Bags best seller, so it comes with a unique ID number which will help reunite you with your briefcase and laptop should it become lost.

The main laptop compartment is fully padded, protecting your laptop from any knocks or scratches. The briefcase also comes with both shorter carry handles or an adjustable shoulder strap, the choice is yours.

http://www.breffo.com/

The purpose of this award winning product isnt immediately obvious; what is the Spiderpodium?

Well, this little thing is the answer to all of your problems. It holds and supports everything from your iPhone to your iPad. It’s even possible to use it in the car to hold your SatNav device whilst you drive.

Although it is strong enough to do all of the above, it is also lightweight and folds flat for travelling. The Spiderpodium is fully flexible and compatible with all hand held devices.

At full span it has a height of 210mm and a width of 190mm, proving just how large a device it can support for you.

The flexible nature of the product means you can move it in to just the right position for your device and sight.

Made from British steel underneath a soft rubber coat, the Spiderpodium is strong and robust, meaning it will last years to come.

The Spiderpodium comes in a variety of colours.