We look at how custom firmware can give your old gadgets a whole new lease of life When hardware reaches a certain point in its life, it’s normal for a company to declare it deprecated or unsupported. This means that it stops issuing updates and fixes for its software, and consumers are expected to move … Read more

    A portable hydrogen fuel cell for your mobile devices     The Upp is unlike any portable USB power bank we’ve seen before. Most have a battery, similar to the one in your smartphone or tablet, that’s charged from a wall socket. The Upp is a hydrogen fuel cell, which uses a technology … Read more

A 10in Android tablet with a quirky design Many tablets are designed to resemble the iPad, but the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 takes a different approach. Not to be confused with the 8in Yogas and those versions running Windows 8, this Android tablet has a cylinder on its bottom edge (in landscape mode) that houses … Read more

If your PC is bogged down with file clutter and registry problems, clean it up and optimise it with this toolkit Windows runs fine for a time, but sooner or later it begins to slow down because of the build up of junk files, unnecessary registry entries and errors, log files, invalid shortcuts, startup programs … Read more

Michael experiments with wireless streaming to Android devices The PNY Wireless Media Reader is a playing cardsized device that allows you to share media content to various mobile devices. This functionality is achieved by the PNY product creating its own wi-fi network. Mobile devices joining this network will first need to have downloaded the PNY … Read more

Now that’s some solid advice… Escape Dead Island is a terrible excuse for a videogame. Relying heavily on good will brought about by the first two titles in the series, this iteration arrives hoping to win over the same audience on name value alone. In short, don’t be fooled. Loosely fitting in to the plot … Read more

    David Briddock examines the history of data compression algorithms     Any efficient communication system relies on some form of data compression. Even morse code, invented for telegraphy in 1838, used shorter codewords for common letters, such as ‘e’ and’t’ in English. Most communication relies on a lossless solution, where the compressed data … Read more

Everything you need to know about game streaming and what it means for the PC. By Marco Chiappetta Game streaming is huge. It accounts for epic amounts of web traffic and is even an integral part of some companies’ survival strategies. Look no further than Nvidia’s GRID and GameStream technologies, plus the meteoric rise of Twitch.tv’s … Read more

Toshiba blends a 1TB hard drive with a wireless access point Both Seagate and Western Digital have released wireless external drives in the past year, and now it’s Toshiba’s turn with the Canvio AeroCast. This sticks firmly to the same model we’ve seen previously, where you need an installed app to access any contents from … Read more

The Helm of Darkness is surprisingly comfortable Before we begin, Kuven, in case you’re wondering, was the name for the helmet of Hades, also known as the Helm of Darkness. It apparently renders the wearer invisible to all, even the eyes of the gods, and it was forged for Hades by the cyclopes during the … Read more

A tiny keyboard that packs a big punch With the launch of the M.O.J.O., Mad Catz is making a name for itself as the undisputed king of the Android-powered micro console. Because of the nature of Android, though, and the fact that the M.O.J.O. is really just a tablet on your TV, there comes the … Read more

Traditional ads are on their way out. We explores how tech is enabling brands to get more personal Advertising has long been a dirty word. It’s all too often an unwelcome invasion into our lives – whether breaking up our favourite TV shows, splashing all over the website we’re trying to read or assaulting our … Read more