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Blink Steps Outside with the XT

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Last year Tested Technology reviewed the low cost and very adaptable Blink wireless security camera system. Favourably, overall. The two cameras we set up around the house were there, however, for no longer than the review period. The family objected to being under constant surveillance and the system had to be dismantled. It was no good explaining to them that the Blink system allows the cameras to be scheduled only to switch on at certain… Now read on…

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Augmented Hearing: the NHS Teneo M+

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Hearing aids may seem like a specialist subject. But it’s one that perhaps should be engaging all of us. Not just because the world population as a whole is getting deafer younger. As the components and sensors in our phones become smaller and more numerous—and cheaper, many pundits believe these could eventually end up as an integral part of our bodies. Not necessarily surgically implanted—more likely temporarily housed in some body cavity. The ear canal… Now read on…

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Getting Up to Date with QNAP’s QTS part 2

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One of my very first confessions to you when I started this QNAP saga nearly three and a half years ago was that I knew I was biting off much more than I could chew. Specifically, I wrote: “this might be the toughest review I’ve ever tackled…” not just because of the far-reaching operational scope of the device, but also because “…the Taiwanese manufacturers behind the TS-451 haven’t been content to put this thing on… Now read on…

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Stand & Deliver: The Varidesk ProPlus 36

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Shortly before my 77th birthday, I treated the Tested Technology office (and therefore myself) to an electric recliner. But my dream of spending my declining years, er, reclining, was shattered by an email offer from the US company Varidesk Inc of one of their front-line products to install, test out and, if I so chose, retain for permanent use. Varidesk’s timing was uncanny. Within a few days of luxuriating in the pushbutton-controlled comfort of my… Now read on…

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Getting Up to Date with QNAP’s QTS part 1

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The classic view sees a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device as something that sits quietly in the background delivering files across the network as required. There will be occasional updates to maintain security. That’s not, however, how the Taiwanese manufacturer QNAP views the NAS. As regular readers will know, I’ve been living with the QNAP TS-451 for about three years now. Thanks to the generosity of QNAP and of Western Digital who supplied the four… Now read on…

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Excellent Price. But is the Honor 7x for you?

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Honor is the mid-range brand for Huawei, the world’s third-ranking smartphone maker. Huawei owns the largest share of its home market, China, which also happens to be the biggest smartphone market in the world. But China is now stuffed to the gunnels with phones. Growth has slumped. So Huawei is making a huge effort to sell into the outside world. And the odds are stacked against it. The United States government, suspicious of Chinese cyber-stealth,… Now read on…

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BE Free8s: The Darling Buds of Optoma

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On December 13th of 2016 Apple broke new ground in audio with the introduction of its wireless AirPods. A pair of Bluetooth earbuds that, uniquely, were not wired together, communicating wirelessly not only with the music source, but also with each other. A radical new idea? Not quite. It’s something standard NHS hearing aids have been doing for over a decade. And in at least one important respect Apple’s new AirPods were a step back… Now read on…

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Exploring the Asus Chromebook Flip C213

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Back in the day (was it really a decade ago) I was a loud evangelist for Netbooks. The Netbook, you may remember, was a lightweight, low-powered small laptop device with minimal internal storage. Unlike conventional personal computers that you work on and in, the Netbook was intended to be just a portal that you worked through—out onto the Internet. It was a Cloud machine. There are many reasons why it failed (despite my enthusiastic advocacy!).… Now read on…

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Getting Tough with the CF-33 Toughbook part 3

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 Part 3 brings us to what the Toughbook is like to work with on a daily basis. There are two snags with my testing I’d better acknowledge up front. Number one, the CF-33 is designed to be used not just in the field, but in the tundra, the desert, and in the icy wastes of the Antarctic. I’ve been testing it mostly in the comfort of my office. Number two, I have thirty years experience… Now read on…

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Getting Tough with the CF-33 Toughbook part 4

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  If this review has run to many more words than I originally anticipated, it’s because the CF-33 is much more than just another laptop. Even as I approach the finale, I’m left with the feeling that I can never give the device the full treatment that Panasonic’s attention to detail deserves.  There’s much that I haven’t covered here, either because—like the wireless WAN—it’s not fitted on the review model, or because, although present, it’s… Now read on…