The Browser - February 2013 by Sola Akinfie

Casting the net

Gaming Online

Surferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vote

February 2013

Space Age Shopping The new experience Blackberry z10 | Browser News | Appy Life

Editor’s Message This month we looked at interesting ways to make a bit of extra money or earn some vouchers online. We tried a few ourselves and report here on our findings. They won’t pay off the mortgage it seems, but they can be a fun way to spend cyber-time. In this issue we also reviewed the Blackberry Z10. It was actually with great effort we decided to return the handset after the review, we wait to see how it does on the market. As always, much thanks for sending us new things to discover online, we had a great time putting this issue together.

Sola Akinfie Managing Editor

Nicola Johannson

Lou Akin

News Editor

Features Writer

Gary Hammond

Tincuta Moscaliuc

Art Director

Graphic Designer

Joanna Nicholson

Natalie Chandler

Features Writer

Staff Writer

February issue • • • • • • • • • • • •

Browser News SomeEcards.com Online Earners Surfer’s Vote Cyber Monday / Black Friday App Reviews BlackBerry Z10 eBookshop Best 5 Gaming Online Crysis 3 Space Age Shopping

Commercial Services Mediaworks Group

Writers/Contributors

Dana Wades

Contributor

Zachary Saumanhalli Gaming Editor

Daniel Waite James Ellmann Thomas Hanson Helen Souza Jeyson Sutton

Natasha Spencer Contributor

Brandie Blackler

Browser Business

Reach Centrica Ltd London SE5 8QZ

www.thebrowsermagazine.com

The contents produced within this publication, and all others under the same trademark title are subject to copyright. Complete details are available from the publishers of Reach Centrica Ltd. All rights are reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or stored for retrieval without the prior consent of the publishers. The publishers do not accept responsibility for any views expressed in this publication.

Browser News by Sola Akinfie

Facebook finally nails Brazil It’s easy to assume that Facebook is the number one internet destination the world over, but it hasn’t been so in Latin American countries like Brazil, till now. Google’s Orkut has been the top social network for quite a while until now. For some reason Orkut has lost more than half its traffic to Facebook recently. It’s quite fascinating especially when there’s supposed to be a language barrier, many Brazilians struggle to pronounce Facebook, most just call it Faycee. It’s like Facebook only just went up in Brazil or a blockade had been lifted with a floodgate of new visitors going mad for it, the chaps at Facebook are also bewildered.

Android attack The main difference between the Android platform and its closest rival is its openness to developers and free gate way. This which has made the operating system popular with the tablet and smart phone market may now be suffering the repercussions of the lack of a gate keeper. Scammers and malware maniacs have leeched on in alarming numbers; they have been active in their attempts to steal your cash or personal data. Security has been beefed up by Google with the introduction of ‘Bouncer’ - a new tool that knocks off bad and suspicious Apps before they spread across the market. This may come a bit late as the likes of McAfree and Juniper Network report a 472% increase in malware attacks and other intrusive practices.

North Korean real COD North Korean propaganda department Uriminzokkiri, are completely fed up with their nation being cast as the villain in block buster games and movies such as Homefront or James Bond. To keep themselves busy, they’ve launched a bizarre video using Call Of Duty footage to depict an invasion of New York City. The video has been removed from YouTube for reasons of copyright violation from the publishers Activision. It’s not the first time the state run media have made a nuisance of themselves the last time, they misunderstood the sarcasm that came with the suggestion that their young leader Kim Jong-un was the sexiest leader in the present world.

Sleeping baby revives Gangnam Style Yes! We hear you moan “Not another Gangnam Style story!”. Well, as far as baby Amaya is concerned, Gangnam Style is still the hit of the day. The clip itself is a hit in its own right raking up to 346,551 views and climbing. It’s a cute and hilarious video done under a minute, causing bouts of uncontrollable laughter from the baby’s sister and parents. Baby Amaya starts flapping and wiggling away to the tunes of Gangnam Style straight from sleep, as if in a trance and doesn’t stop till the music is turned down. Gangnam Style is a phenomenon not just because of the original, but the hundreds of copy cat versions becoming hits themselves. That’s a record not likely to be beaten anytime soon.

There’s an App for this Apps are great; we can’t get over the numerous functions and genius uses for them. The phrase ‘there’s and App for that’ has proven to be a true fact of life. We now have Apps to detect lies from politicians, not that we particularly needed one. Still, The Washington Post felt compelled to develop the App to fact check political statements in real time. While it’s still in its proof of concept and prototype stage, you can test it out yourself and report on any inaccuracies so the developers can fine tune the algorithm and other complex elements that allow the App to diagnose speech and video. It’s received great acclaim so far.

Facebook Fatigue It was always going to happen, but it seems to have happened much sooner than predicted. Facebook is suffering from user fatigue. The traffic and engagement time is taking a hit. While most accounts are still open, people are not using them like it was their patriotic duty anymore. It’s simply not that cool anymore. In a phone call survey in the US involving over 1000 account holders, the average excuse was being too busy, not interested anymore, and the content not being relevant. Shareholders have been on Facebook’s case to introduce more revenue generating additions to the social network. The privacy issue still lingers and their PR position is in need of an overhaul. All it would take is an innovative new player on the block. That kind of sounds familiar, remember MySpace?

It’s gotta be a Samsung Sexiest leader alive - Kim Jong-un may have made a major mistake taking his smart phone to a state meeting. It’s caused a great debate as it’s a major crime to be caught making use of an arch enemy’s product. Is he an Android fan or an Apple fan? While analysts are hard at work on the images, speculation and banter from all over the world have revealed all sorts of theories. Chinese commentators claim the phone is definitely their own Huawei product “a superior product for a superior comrade.” The South Koreans believe it may be a Taiwanese HTC, the safer bet if it were true. The chaps at Samsung hold their breath taking the matter quite seriously. They’ve brought in analysts to find out what make the phone is, if it’s a Samsung it may prove to be a great PR triumph or it may go the other way and affect them by association.

Police tweet nuisance 999 calls Greater Manchester police posted tweets of 999 calls that were deemed as time wasting and a nuisance to the emergency service. In a bid to educate the not-too-bright members of the public, they released the audio and transcript files on Twitter. Some are bizarre while others are so daft they are very funny. We are not sure of their real intentions for posting the tweets, but it did get the deserved attention. Some are as silly as a desperate woman calling in looking for the police to sort out her lost password for her laptop. Another rings in to report McDonald’s staff ignoring him at the drive-through. One of the best though is a woman caller asking for help to sue the Benefits agency because her giro money didn’t get paid. The last time we checked, over 12,000 people were following the tweets.

The wonderful world of

someecards.com We picked some of our favourites posted on the website. You too can have a go creating witty lines under any topical category and share your own e-cards with friends. You can visit the shop and have your favourite e-cards printed on clothing, mugs, bags or even on your laptop.

Dating If finding a great online date was as simple as finding great online deals Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be married by now.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d temporarily deactivate my dating site profile for you.

Online Dating is like a video game.

The only way I could be lonelier today is if the Internet stopped working.

You never advance to the next level.

Work I would tell you to go to hell but I work there and don’t want to see you everyday.

I’m sorry my recent absence from work caused you to have to do your own work.

In an effort to improve my productivity, please send all inter-office memos directly to me via Facebook.

Keeping your job is the new raise.

Apologies You’d better apologize or else I’ll unfriend you, unfollow you, and block your text from my cell. How then I would get your apology I haven’t quite thought through.

Sorry that doing my best displeases you.

Oh really? Well, I am the supervisor... Ma’am, nobody cares, we all hate our jobs, and you’re a prime example as to why I hate mine...

I’m sorry you can’t spell! I can’t wait all day for you to use spell check! Inbox me Facebook gangster! I feel sorry for your best friend “webster“!

Do tell me how I can stretch myself further to meet your impossibly high standards.

Nice little earners by Daniel Booth

There are many different ways to make money online, some are bogus and shady schemes from the dark side of the net, while others can be a complete waste of time with sites claiming to offer 'get-rich-quick' schemes, we decided to try out a number of them ourselves.

nice little earners

Whipcar.com

Toluna.com

Keeping a private vehicle can cost you money even when it’s idling at home. Then there are the insurance costs and the draconian road tax you have to pay. You can now get your car listed for rental while it sits at home during the weekdays when you join others in the city commute. It’s a great concept to put people with cars together with those who would like to rent one at reasonably competitive rates compared to the traditional car hire centres. To get on there and start earning some cash, all you do is register the car, if it’s not a tatty old banger or less than 10 years old , then your in, just check by adding your vehicle reg and postcode.

Making some money through sharing your profiled opinion is nothing new online. The operators offer this service to retail businesses generally to provide statistical information, which they can learn from. It’s an extensive market research service that is quite popular these days as the costs are significantly lower to reach this information.

Set your desired rates, when the car is available and presto, you are instantly Hertz rental without the office. Drivers looking to hire, can view your profile and vehicle details before making a booking request based on your rates. The more bookings you accept, the higher up you move on the featured list .If you have a partner, you can add the other half’s car and even junior’s to make up your mini fleet of available cars.. Whip car automatically deducts a 15%+ VAT commission (or a minimum of £3) from the owner’s rental revenue for each booking and amendment. If you charge an hourly rate just below the industry average of £4.00 per hour, and go for a modest 12hrs a week, that’s about £40 in your pocket each week. Pretty neat!

Toluna.com does present this differently fro other survey - pay sites, you earn points that you can cash in or exchange for vouchers eventually. It’s operated in such a way to avoid monotony and boredom. They’ve taken the social network format to get you busy with various survey requests and you can invite friends if you are making a decent return for your efforts. When you sign up, you get quite a lot of survey invites coming to your email address, or if you are on the hunt you can drum up those points to boost the amount of rewards you earn. You can go directly on to the website and take part in posted survey requests, or product testing from music, video to digital downloads of all sorts. There’s a huge amount to choose from. You first answer a profile questionnaire before you get qualified for each survey, as there is a preferred profile that fits the demography of the business in question. The trouble here though, is the amount of rejections you may face; we tried with 12 and only qualified to complete 2. You do however earn small points for putting yourself forward, or you can be entered free for the monthly prize draw. You are usually told how long each particular survey should take you, the average being 15 -20 minutes. 1000 points is earned usually for each completed survey When you reach 60,000 points you can redeem this for cash payouts. If you feel like a gambler you can take out 500 points for an extra entry into the monthly prize draw of $2500. The good thing with Toluna.com is that it doesn’t feel like boring mindless work. It’s actually fun taking part in the polls, opinion slots and product testing. You are able to view or comment on other members opinion on a wide range of subject matters. The bad, is the amount of rejections for profile surveys. You may begin to feel unwanted after a number of profile rejections. 60,000 points gets you $20. That’s a lot of hours, but some surveys offer a great amount of points, it all depends on the company really.

nice little earners

Swagbucks.com

Waywithwords.info

Bang on the front page, Swagbucks.com boldly claim £22,511,607 has been earned in distributed rewards. It sounds tempting but remember it’s you and a multitude of other account holders in line to earn cash or product vouchers. Swagbucks.com allows you to earn from your online activity through posts made by their partners. These can be web retailers, services or any web related activity that requires researched web and page traffic behaviour or opinion.

If you have a good command of English and great typing speeds up to 50 words per minute, then you can get busy with the remote transcript to text service from Waywithwords.com, unlike the other ways to make money that we’ve tried and tested, this one is a bit more specialist. You need to have English language skills to be able to interpret the audio files into the required documents and your computer speakers need to be of decent quality so you can pick out various accents. It’s a service run by a US company, but they do take on transcribers, captionists and proofreaders from all over the world and prefer native English speakers. You would need to have MSN messenger and commit to transcribing one audio hour a day.

There are 6 main ways to earn cash or reward points: Search the web, take surveys, watch and comment on videos, play games or shop online. You initially earn what they call ‘swagbucks’ by getting some friends to sign up or download the tool bar. Complete a special offer and earn 5000 swag bucks, use the swag bucks tool to search for the best on the web and earn swagbucks, or complete the daily poll to earn instant points. It all seems neat with a number of options to suit how much time to devote to the scheme, but be warned, you may find yourself glued to the computer just to add the points up, or even be persuaded to go on a shopping spree just to rake in shopping points. We did like the option to sign up for tournament games against other swagbucks members with a chance to earn good points. You can also earn points just by playing some of the free online games. With the web search option, we used the swagbucks search engine to search for our own publisher details and earned 20 points. Average swag bucks for shopping is 7 points. It can really be fun especially with the swag stakes area where you can gamble your points for various goodies such as Amazon vouchers, game consoles or even more swag points. Redeeming your swagbucks can net you all sorts of returns with varied swag bucks values. For 2000 Swag points you can have £5 added to your PayPal account , 500 swag points for a £5 Barnes and Noble e- gift card, the list goes on. We liked the website for its fun element but you’d end up living on the website just to gather enough points for something substantial, but it does pay.

Expect to transcribe material from radio and TV shows, market research focus groups, legal and medical records, police interviews, board meetings, disciplinary hearings, conferences, and a variety of others. It’s quite interesting to come across some of the audio content which is real and relevant to the client. Though they try their best to suggest a fixed fee based on the volume of work, traditionally, transcription companies quote prices that are subject to change based on a number of factors such as sound, accents, estimated number of pages and the time to complete the jobs. It’s competitive to get approved, you’d need to submit a CV and do some tests. But it’s well worth it if you get in, as earnings can be as high as what you get in a full time job - independent contractors will be paid a starting rate of US$33 per audio hour, depending on your level, earn up to US$57 per audio hour transcribed. The rate will depend on individual availability, ability and performance.

nice little earners

Blablacar.com

Freecycle.org

This is another way to earn some cash with the use of your car. It must be said, you’re not expected to earn a lot of cash, so dreams of using this scheme to pay off the mortgage can be abandoned. It is designed for cost reduction rather than offering a main source of income.

A couple of years back when we got wind of this website, it sounded too good to be true. Imagine a website where you can locate fully functioning home gear for free. It’s a recycling scheme where members can get rid of their unwanted stuff for free, yes free! Instead of incurring the wrath of fly tipping council officials, decent folk find it worthwhile for others to come and pick up their stuff for free.

We are not sure how this scheme relates to the legal side of hire and reward, but you can be sure it would have been a consideration before the website was launched. If you have a car and fancy getting some cash back from your petrol costs, this is simple. Set your schedule itinerary and price per seat and post it on the website. Then, members can search for drivers like you going their way. For example, going on a trip from Newcastle to Brighton, or London to Blackpool, you can get one or two people picked up as your journey partners with the possibility of some company and some cash towards your petrol. This should get the environmentalists thumbs up as 63% of cars on the road carry no passengers, creating additional congestion & pollution. Car sharing makes driving more efficient and sustainable by filling empty seats. We tried it for a trip from London to Glasgow for the last week of January and got an approximate offer of £31 for a space for one person. Not bad at all, and that’s just for a one way route. Trust points build as your user reviews increase. It pays to be active even in smaller journeys. We liked this one for the simplicity of the idea and the way it has made full use of the internet. BlaBlaCar drivers transport over 500,000 passengers every month creating an entirely new, people powered, transport network. Get some cash for those miles you can cover.

It’s a straight-to-the-point type of website, they have no time for aesthetics and flashy presentations, register and enter into the UK region and find a group located near you. The Freecycle web covers a huge area world - wide and within the UK. When you register on Freecycle.co.uk be careful not to use an email address you use frequently, you may want to set up one on Yahoo or the like, as you may get inundated with notifications from all and sundry. Now, the way to make some good cash out of this would be to register for multiple locations, get yourself a van and your half way there. Over 3 weeks, we picked up a lawn mower, a 42 inch TV, a cool sofa, and a writing desk with one dodgy leg, and that’s not counting the offers we ignored. Get yourself a cheap lock up or find space in your home to store the items you have picked up for free. Next, get your items listed on Ebay or Amazon or even Google marketplace. The rest is simple; you can make money two ways, simply by selling off the items in good condition, and also offering to transport the larger items such as furniture for a fee that covers your petrol with extra cash for your trouble.

nice little earners

chinabuye.com

Hubpages.com

Ever heard of the term drop shipping? Well it’s an instant way to sell stock on the internet with no need to buy stock. It’s a cute way to make money even for those with little or no experience. If you are knowledgeable about a product or have a good eye for what has value, then it’s a great way to make money. The earning potential in drop shipping is limitless. On a casual basis spending a total of 2 hours each day, you can comfortably make up to anything from £20 to £100. Chinabuye.com compared to other drop shipping websites do this very well. The trouble with drop shipping however, is the number of bogus operators out to take money of a multitude of people. Chinabuye.com is however a real operator with a working business model.

It’s a portal where you as a complete amateur or professional writer can post a story, review, or publish pages on any subject matter and get paid from integrated ads around their written material. If you can put together really interesting material and dedicate some time to it, then you’re on your way to a passive but humble income.

To get started, simply visit the website and make a list of all the items that offer good value for money, this tends to be fashion items. We came across a ladies coat that looked attractive and had quality fabric to match. They offered a retail price of $32, about £20 and 3 % off to the drop shipper, not the best discount but it’s the mark up you set that counts. Most of the items on Chinabuye.com are significantly cheaper than UK prices. You can set your price at double the drop shipper’s price. Get an instant website done yourself for a pittance on Moonpig. com or other web builders or set up a shop on Ebay, Amazon and you can have an ecommerce presence in a matter of days. As and when you get an order purchase from wherever you have chosen to sell the product online, simply use your drop shipping account to then make the order. Chinabuye.com will send the product straight to your customer with your own packaging details. In effect, your buying customer wouldn’t know where the goods are actually coming from and that’s about it. They seem to deliver on time and are quite efficient with customer service compared to other so –called drop shippers. With Chinabuye.com you can start your own little or large shop in an instant. Chinabuye.com extends the list of items to gadgets and accessories as well, but we chose to look into fashion. To get a genuine trial going, you can always buy an item on the website as a retail sale yourself. See how long it takes to get to you and also check the quality of the product. The stylish futuristic watch we ordered is still a firm favourite, it looks great and is of a decent quality.

On Hubpages.com a large number of writers post their material for the sheer sake of sharing their knowledge on any subject, but there are also the serious Hubbers who do this to earn extra money, or those that use it to seriously supplement part-time wages. You make money from the affiliate sources associated with HubPages. com, the affiliate partners being Amazon, Ebay, and Google AdSense. To link to any or all of the affiliate partners you’ll first need to sign up with a HubPages.com Earning Account. Once this is done you can then set up with Amazon, Ebay and Google AdSense. Adverts are served around your content, and you get a revenue share from the various advert links that are clicked by your readers. Your written material gets a lot of chance for revenue traffic, as new hubs are posted in the forum, so your hubs are guaranteed views. It’s up to you to make your hub maintain a loyal following, so choose your topics around something you know you can weave into an interesting read. Writing niche topics can be great if you dislike joining the crowd or getting topic competitive. Understand what people want to read about and don’t just post material around a topic that’s been done to death unless your angle is unique. How much you earn really depends on how good your writing is, or how much work you put into linking and a bit of strategic traffic mining. There are claims that a few master Hubbers are earning up to £2000 per month, but the average Hubber who won’t give up their day job, you are more likely to make about £100 a month, and it still takes quite a while to reach that stage. Still, it’s a nice little earner on the side.

The Surferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vote Gettingpersonal.co.uk

What is it?

Is it any good?

Finding the right present for the right person can often be quite tricky and an expensive mistake. Indeed, buying your mother chocolates each year can get a bit boring and lazy. This is where Gettingpersonal.co.uk comes in, offering thousands of items which you can engrave yourself and personalise to make your gift immediately special and thoughtful. Gettingpersonal.co.uk is not just limited to the generic engraved items, personal favourites we found included personalised scratch maps where you can rub off the places visited and personalised pocket mirrors.

We recommend Gettingpersonal.co.uk with a strong reputation for the goods provided and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great for offering something a bit different for your friends and family. Customer service is great, despatching time is within 24 hours and with many reviews for each product, it makes choosing presents all the more easier and actually more fun. This is however at the expense of slightly higher prices you would traditionally find, so whilst the website is great itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to be enjoyed by those wanting to really send a deserving gift.

How does it work?

Items are sorted by price, type, interests, occasion and the recipient, from there you can narrow it further to search the bestsellers and find exactly what you want. The website is easy to navigate, attractively designed and each item features a thumbnail image for you to browse the thousands of gifts you can buy, although the great multitude of gifts can be a little daunting at first. When it comes to personalising, you can enter the exact words you want on your item and upload images where necessary, just make sure there are no spelling mistakes.

cowbird.com

What is it?

Is it any good?

There is a sense that Cowbird.com aims to be something more than a simple social networking site; it actually seems to be in its own little world. With an odd FAQ, strange catchphrases and animal noises, it’s clear this website wants to be something different. But there’s something more to this site, and this oddness pays off. The website is community driven, designed for customers to convey cultures through stories and images. It’s an unusual way to share your world to everyone else, but it’s strangely addictive. We found ourselves endlessly scrolling down the page in search of more, from a first love to the importance of family.

In all its oddness, Cowbird.com is unique and meaningful, offering an insight into cultures across the globe. There are however, strict guidelines to what can be posted and it doesn’t accept certain material - so don’t go uploading your favourite pop song or a YouTube you think is funny. If you have some time to spend and are seeking something a bit different, then why not become a part of this world, it’s incredibly addictive to the cultured mind.

How does it work? On one hand, you post stories about anything you like, through the ‘powers of photo, text and sound’ and share your lifestyle to the world, on the other; you gain an insight into the cultural stories of others submitted across the globe. A round blue tool called ‘Connections’ allows you to see how the stories fit and how it relates to the ecosystem of narratives, it’s like sharing stories round the dinner table, with stories ranging from the humorous mistakes of some, to the to the heart-warming tales of a struggling family. The search tool is titled ‘DNA Search’, another known as ‘Serendipity’ takes you right to popular stories, saving you time if you want a quick taste. Should you love a story, clicking the heart icon expresses your appreciation to the author which will increase its popularity.

my.visualdna.com

What is it?

Is it any good?

We like My.visualdna.com for its simplicity, ease of use and the fact that its philosophy offers something a bit different. At first we were a little sceptical about the website, claiming to help you control your life management by discovering who you are and building a personal life planner online.

The more we dug into this website, the more engaging it seemed, rather than telling you, it speaks to you and VisualDNA appear to genuinely care about their customers. They have an aim to change not just the way we use the internet, but the way the internet uses us. Although it’s just an interactive quiz for now, they promise much more. We hope to stay in touch with this one and if you don’t mind cookies we recommend checking it out.

The idea is pure genius if you are truthful in your personality answers. It’s even got a personality meter and tools to help you see more about yourself. It’s self therapy done in a very appealing way. The visuals are spot on. These guys know how to keep you from hopping off their website to somewhere else.

How does it work? VisualDNA is a way to tell the internet what you want, rather than the other way round. It involves completing a simple interactive personality quiz, beginning with ‘What animal would you like to be?’, although sadly there was no option to choose a monkey. The rest of the quiz is very visual and clever, we won’t spoil it for you but once completed it gives you a profile of different areas of your life based on the pictures you chose. This includes what you think about money, relationships, your attitudes and what you could do better to control your life. It ends in a tidy book - 100 things about you. We think that was a genius piece of content.

Studentbeans.com

What is it?

Is it any good?

With the increase in tuition fees, high accommodation, living and partying expenses, most students are in dire need of money. Studentbeans.com is another company offering deals and vouchers off various websites but with a unique selling point, it’s directly targeted at students. With a reported reach of over 500,000 UK students every month, over 300,000 new users each year and 6 million visits, Studentbeans.com has a strong grip on the student market.

If you don’t mind getting the emails, you could save quite a bit as a student. The size of Studentbeans.com means it has great bargaining power with companies looking to attract such a mass of students and that’s why the offers are pretty good. However, the website does pretty much force you to sign up in order to access these deals, so if you are uninterested in getting weekly emails then we’d advise giving this one a miss. However the weekly newsletter does round up some of the best deals, at the moment deals include ‘Up to 70% off at ASOS”, free vouchers as well as hundreds of deals for specific shops, so there’s certainly quite a bit of money that could be saved.

How does it work? In a sense there are three parts to Studentbeans.com, the main function of the site is the ‘offers’ a list of top discount deals. Then there is the ‘fun stuff’ including an entertaining student blog, a particular area that caught our eye was the alternative university league tables, of which categories included the top drinking university based on units of alcohol drunk by an average student and the ‘posh university league’. The next part is the ‘easy money’ section offering ways to save money as a student, a light humour runs throughout the articles including the ‘cheapest way to make mulled wine’ and various other trivial money savers. Finally, in a craigslist-esque style, there is a jobs section connecting companies to students seeking available jobs locally or across different locations. These jobs are specifically suited to the student. Studentbeans. com have done well to get businesses to post more vacancies, its a growing list with a wide range of job categories for students to choose from.

free-ebooks.net

What is it?

Is it any good?

Free-ebooks.net is the ultimate dream for an avid reader, and whilst many books may be distinctly average, since any self -appointed author can publish an eBook, it would be hard to find something not to like just out of the sheer number that’s out there. An almost unlimited number of eBooks are available to immediately download on any device without having to pay anything and it’s ready to read on your computer, mobile or reading device. This is what Free-ebooks.net puts together.

Free-ebooks.net stands out for its accessibility, its vast range of content and its strong customer base. There are a significant number of eBooks to read, and although it can take time drifting through what is available, the review system is a good guide to finding the perfect book. Moreover, it’s free, so it’s difficult to find a reason not to try it out and should you be a budding writer, there are a great range of facilities offered to promote your eBook, for a small price!

How does it work? The website is user driven; customers can review eBooks, find download statistics and ‘like’ a book in a Facebook sharing format. Featured articles and latest arrivals are displayed on the homepage including a ‘Top 10’ list of the most downloaded eBooks in each category. Each eBook features a short blurb, a description of the author and recommendations of similar titles. The top tens are really top ten. Normally you would have to ‘upgrade’ to VIP access and pay to be able to download the eBooks on an E-reader, but if you’ve heard of the nifty conversion software known as Calibre, you can get by just fine with the free content. Users can simply download eBooks as a PDF (for free) and use the free software from Calibre.com to convert for use on an eReader - saving you from paying anything! Should you wish to sign up, we’ve found a discount of 10% off any VIP membership, which is available upon entering the voucher code 10VIP10; this is valid as of the time of publication.

FrontLine (pbs.org)

What is it? Americans find PBS the nation’s most trusted institution, according to the GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media poll. Whether we Brits agree is another matter, but PBS Frontline certainly seems to be doing well, founded in 1983 and serving as a broadcaster of detailed documentaries, it has now produced over 500 films. Its website showcases a vast proportion of these documentaries online with a vibrant homepage, detailing recent programmes, headlining documentaries, articles and topics ranging from criminal justice to the controversial War on Terror. According to their profile, Frontline ‘has never shied away from tough, controversial issues or complex stories’, so if you’re looking for the real insider into some delicate issues, Frontline may be worth checking out.

buy the documentaries, although why you would do that when they are available online is unclear. Popular documentaries include “Money, Power and Wall Street”, that is if you are able to handle the almost four hour length and ‘WikiSecrets’, an inside story into Julian Assange. Often the documentaries coincide with articles written underneath providing you with a contextual understanding of what exactly is going on.

Is it any good? It’s a shame that some documentaries are unavailable to UK users; otherwise PBS Frontline would be pretty much flawless as a broadcasting website. The video quality could be a little better but other than that, PBS Frontline is a great way to sink your time to learn about some topical issues. It is certainly immersive and worth your surfing time.

How does it work? PBS is a non-profit organisation, which distinguishes it from the biased, sentimental or commercialized broadcasters. This helps it delve into documentaries in depth, considers the bigger picture, and for once, actually allows investigative journalism to breathe. The website is easy to navigate, with hundreds of documentaries available right off the bat, average lengths are about an hour long. Sadly some videos we’ve found are unavailable or restricted for UK users; it’s just a matter of finding which. There’s an online schedule which allows you to check out upcoming documentaries and even a shop to

triond.com

What is it?

Is it any good?

According to their homepage Triond is like blogging, only awesome. It’s a system designed to earn cash online, whereby you send in content - be it articles or videos - and are paid based on the number of views your articles get. These articles are then published on various websites related to the niche you wrote about, so the domain creation and hosting are all done for you, free of charge.

Triond’s a great way to earn a little money on the side, especially if you’re new to content writing or lack the time to constantly manage the site. However, whilst earning money seems very easy on the surface, it’s generally hard to gain a high view count unless you’re lucky, or your writing is exceptional. We couldn’t help appreciating that the time would be better spent learning how to blog for yourself and finding ways to monetise it, you could certainly earn a lot more money this way.

How does it work? It’s free to sign up, so all you have to do is begin writing, as long as you make the content original. Once approved, these are published on a website best suiting the topic and target audience, from business to sports to health and fitness. You don’t back-end side of things, which is great if you just want to get your written material taken care of. Technically you can simply wait for the earnings to roll in, and just continue writing, but to really begin earning money, users need traffic (views) for these articles in order to increase earnings – this is the tricky part. We’d recommend taking the time to write quality content as Google seems to rank this well, as well as back linking, for example posting links on forums to get people to visit your blog would be a good idea. Statistics are available under your specific Triond account, particularly the view count and earnings for each article written. You are then paid at the 15th of each month, once you’ve reached the threshold; simply withdraw it to your bank account or via PayPal.

thestudentroom.co.uk

What is it? Who could have known such a simple idea could have grown to be such a popular forum? Boasting 36 million posts from topical current affairs issues to career help, to relationship advice, the iconic feature of this forum is you can ask the stupidest, most controversial, irrelevant questions and still get advice from hundreds of users.

How does it work? The website is recognised as a central point for student support. Lot’s of shared experiences and of course the fun forum which can be useful or silly fun depending on what floats your boat.

some cosmetic perks such as a bigger avatar, coloured username and no personal messaging restrictions - but it’s great that there’s no real need to sign up, unless of course you want to assert your authority with your big avatar. A reputation incentivises helpful and funny posts, where users can rank a post if they agree with it.

Is it any good? Okay it’s only advice and there are many pointless threads on Thestudentroom.co.uk, but it’s a great way to seek academic or career related help on one hand, or amuse yourself with the various unimportant problems students seem to be having. It’s the ultimate timewaster.

It’s a forum and so the process doesn’t need much explanation, simply sign up and post, or browse through the thousands of very important and urgent questions, at the moment a quick look found popular thread titles include ‘Where do you sit in a taxi?’ to ‘Got rejected from uni and don’t know what to do besides hate self and eat ice cream.’ Okay it’s not all high-brow stuff, but this is where the site’s strength lies, it allows you to vent your anger, argue or express your first world problems. Should you need more serious help, there are very knowledgeable people on the forum, from the likes of Oxbridge applicants to lawyers and internet gurus. Should you need some help about an issue, you’re almost guaranteed to get some posted advice, whether it’s of any use is an entire different question of course, but it’s a great way to get opinions on any subject matter. Subscribing is completely optional, giving you

SALES FRENZY ON THE NET By Natasha Spencer

In 1955, Victor Labow, a well-respected economist and retail analyst, was quoted as saying:

“Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life. That we convert the buying of goods into rituals, that we seek spiritual satisfaction, ego satisfaction, in consumption... we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate”. Picture the scene... It is estimated that last year alone, the UK spent an eye-watering £200 million on Black Friday. With the entirety of the UK facing redundancy, tuition fees of the increase and housing benefits slashed, we are all tightening our budgets and willing to shop around that little bit more in order to save our hard earned pounds. Black Friday is without a doubt a shopper’s paradise and the item dispatcher’s nightmare. On this one long, drawn out day of the year, these oxymoronic sectors of society join hands in bringing the consumer world to a standstill.

The great American tradition of dramatically reducing the prices of retail goods officially arrived in the UK in 2010, when Amazon announced their ‘mega deals’. Ever since that day, Amazon has retained the title of the ‘Biggest Black Friday Retailer’, by last year announcing the lowering of up to 75% off hundreds of products, calling them ‘lightning deals’. Amazon however is not the only rampage-inducing retailer to have cottoned onto the power of Black Friday. Mention the word Apple and connotations of expense, high quality and power emerge, yet this notorious premium brand cashed in on the most profitable day of the year for retailers. Their reductions were far from miniscule; last year knocking off a whopping £81 from their much loved MacBook Air costing shoppers £768 and a £31 discount chopped off one of their best sellers, the iPad usually priced at £368. Surfing the web to pick up those thrifty purchases is not as time-consuming or as painfully frustrating (unless of course your

computer decides to crash during the exact point of purchase!), the high street on the other hand is a different matter entirely. It is simply naive to underestimate Black Friday as a relaxed, coffee-fuelled perusal around sweetly decorated window displays. Quite the contrary, Black Friday is a fiercely competitive free-for-all where the inner voice of shoppers cries ‘trust no one,’ and bargain-hunters camp outside for days on end, willing their gift to still be in stock. As those glass doors swing open at the strike of 9am, you would be forgiven to think that you had just been met with

People are researching more and more online before visiting the shop... logistics used to be the oily bit, but it is now sexy”. In 2012 Argos. co.uk, a clever observer of consumerism and competitor’s action, were also one of the big winners of Cyber Monday. Argos gave 50% off all pop up Christmas trees, a £5 off voucher when you spend £50 or more and a £10 off voucher for spending £100 or more. Consumer habits have changed and retailers understand this. In a society where we now work longer hours than ever before, where our leisure time is being sucked into any remaining minutes we have and our disposable income dropping, the beauty of the internet solves all of these problems. Gone are the days where we need to spend a whole day traipsing around the shops with disapproving other halves, excessive crowds and lengthy queues. Surely this all sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, for those of you like-minded cynics, it can be. Although there are some tremendous savings to be made on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, beware! Forward-planning is vital to prevent over-spending. We have all done it; we go shopping to buy one thing, and get distracted by bright, shiny sale signs, resulting in a boot full of goodies. When you are entering a shop or website over the busiest money-making weekend for retailers of the year ask yourself two vital questions: Do I need this? Is the saving on this item worth the expenditure overall? After all, if you buy several items at half price, exceeding the full price cost of the only thing you honestly needed, you have been well and truly manipulated by the power of retail. You have not bought bargains, but rather things you don’t need and may not even want; lining the pockets of companies and emptying your own! That said, with such doom and gloom, the economy and businesses seem to be making their consumers happy with high quality products at heavily discounted and affordable prices. Long may it continue!

a starving pack of hyenas yearning to rip pieces of meat off a decaying carcass. Despite the crowds, the chaos and extreme consumerism that ensue, far from being a day of negativity, it gets the name of Black Friday, as it is often thought to be the first day of the whole year that companies make a profit and finally enter into the black after endless months of being in the red. Once the hustle and bustle of Black Friday has diminished, as the employees of the high street breathe a sigh of relief, online giants brace themselves for the online equivalent, Cyber Monday. With only the weekend to prepare, empty shelves and cashed in retailers swiftly turn to rely on savvy web-users to boost their profits into astronomical figures.

Our shopping dilemmas are solved by the click of a button.

As Black Friday falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US, Cyber Monday in the UK and US usually falls on the same day. Whilst social media sites Facebook and Twitter were catastrophically making their presence felt around the globe, companies began to witness the sheer velocity of the web and their potential for growth. Cyber Monday was first launched in the US on the 26th November 2005, as a direct response to the new innovation of online shopping. Marketed by Shop. org in a press release stating ‘Cyber Monday’ Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year”, figures subsequently released revealed that 77% of online retailers saw a considerable increase to their profits on the first ever Cyber Monday. After observing the quick pace and soaring popularity and presence Cyber Monday attracted, the UK was inspired. Us competitive Brits wanted to achieve the same profit increases, at a time where the economy was heavily suffering. The UK first introduced the power of Cyber Monday to its consumers in 2010 and was quickly hailed by The Guardian as the “biggest shopping day of the year”. Yet again leading the way was online retailing magnate Amazon, who in 2011 received orders for more than 3 million items on Cyber Monday - a whopping 35 items ever single second of the day. High street stores themselves have sporadically followed suit, in order to keep up with the likes of Amazon, who operate solely online. Managing Director, Robin Terrell of department store giant John Lewis, knows this only too well, “The website now represents the brand.

For more information on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, please visit the websites below: www.cybermonday.co.uk amzn.to/aJjv6y

STANDOUT

APPS Savings Apps

Voucher cloud

This App is great for aggregating voucher deals, so you don’t have to. When you see an online discount you want to claim, just click the green button and you’ll be taken directly to the retailer’s website where you can apply your discount. Browsing for other digital vouchers in a number of categories is a doddle and they list tons of deals up for grabs. You get everyday spotlights on featured deals available to you when you sign up. The Amazon deals, film and theatre are particularly good. Price: Free

Courtesy: LifeOfAndroid

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Topcashback

The daddy of all discount voucher deals based on its sheer size and regular updates. The App also has a very practical approach to access. On the go, you can navigate by clicking on the shop logos through the map facility. It makes a good attempt to mix the digital world and the physical, by the additional store view locator; you can see what deals are available before you walk in. Locate your item and show the code in your phone to staff at the counter. You are also able to share this with friends. As you would on the website, you can monitor how much you’ve earned in cashback. It’s the App for the largest voucher deals website in the UK. Most of the deals come from large brand retailers. Price: Free Courtesy: topcashbackonline

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Facebook places deals

Courtesy: AllenGerritsen

Facebook’s attempt to get some of the voucher code business comes in the form of the Places deals App. It’s new and it works. While the name for the App is unnecessarily long it works seamlessly using the Facebook Places application to geo-map your position showing you what deals are available nearby. Of course you’d have to check in just like Foursquare. Planning a trip around the mall or any other shopping vicinity? The App can help you locate them before you set off. This can be handy in planning your day, or your wallet for that matter. It’s great for impulse shopping and works with pin-point accuracy. The deals are populated on the Facebook App by the merchants and not Facebook themselves. Friend and loyalty deals are of decent quantity here. We like it because it encourages you to get off the couch and explore the real world. Price: Free IOS

Blip a deal

“Blip A Deal” may be the most comprehensive site for group buying deals. It includes the popular favourites - KGB deals, living Social and Groupon to name a few. There are half a million deals up for grabs, and that’s updated regularly. It’s a very busy App taking the deal hunt global. It has bundle deals from 12 countries including The UK, US, Canada, Australasia and even India. It’s also got the friend share facility with an option to buy straight from your handset. Newsfeeds on trending, favourite or closing deals are at your fingertips so you don’t miss anything. User interface is neat and easy to understand too. Price: Free Courtesy: blipadeal

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Gaming Apps

RhinoBall

Lots of tilting action in this game from the developers Avatar labs. Rhino Ball is a promo game for the Walt Disney movie Bolt. You have to get your hamster character trapped in a glass ball to a location safely by rolling the ball around busy traffic. You pick up points and added help to get you rolling at lightning speed avoiding obstacles and the usual city hazards. It’s fast paced fun with great graphics and clips from the animated movie. Price: Free

Courtesy: Kenny Ackerson

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Forever Lost Episode 1

An intelligent and creepy adventure game riddled with mystery clues and puzzling scenarios. This Point and click adventure game does a lot for its genre. The graphics are solid and the scenes are well thought out. The HD version is quite a spectacle to be seen. Though it’s an animated game, it feels really life-like as you venture through each room in a dream like fashion. It’s a story split over multiple episodes. You are expected to explore everything you see as the story unfolds, notice clues and photograph them as you try to unravel what brought the character into a state of mystery and delirium. Price: £2.00 Courtesy: Appyshka

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Subway surfers

Hoverboard your way down narrow rail tracks avoiding trains and the evil inspector and his dog. The game is fast, simple, and great fun. Its easily one of the most popular games across the smart phone platforms. You pick up coin credits as you dodge, jump or get squashed by trains. The more you play the more coins you get. The more coins you get the more cool power ups and characters you can unlock. You don’t have to spend any real cash to enjoy the game to a large extent. You can however pay to get double coins and enjoy the game entirely. Users all love the game but it does suffer from annoying glitches and lag, sometimes starting you all over again with zero coins collected. Price: Free with priced add-ons Courtesy: TheGameTrail

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Modern combat 4

It’s a FPS modern warfare game developed by Gameloft known for their fast paced narrative; you can choose which side you wish to play on. The world is facing complete disaster with the kidnap of the world leaders and they are in need of rescue by a few elite soldiers. It’s rich in graphical detail with different fighting tasks in various locations around the world. It’s got the usual immersive experience and profile upgrades you’d find in other shooter games of its kind. As you move your character higher in ranking. You get to go through a huge arsenal of load out weapons. The multiplayer mode is quite engaging with a multitude of players ready to gun the inexperienced down in a matter of minutes or seconds. It’s definitely worth the price tag. Price: £4.50 Courtesy: howtomen

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Where’s my water?

The App is quite popular in the game category with up to 400 levels of interactivity. You get a free demo to tempt you into buying the full package. User reviews suggest its well worth it. The cartoon graphics and crisp artwork makes it a delight to experience. There’s a lot of clever humour and interesting scenarios to get into. Do be careful though as it has been known to loss your progressive stages when you switch devices as they may not be synchronised. Swampy the alligator is your character that lives in the city sewers, other creatures have damaged his plumbing and it’s up to you to sort this out. Swipe, slosh, and splash in fresh or dirty water, and ooze through increasingly challenging levels. Price: 69p Courtesy: TheGameTrail

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Weird and Wonderful Apps

Witch hunt

These App developers are certainly a suspicious bunch. Claiming we have witches all around us, from strangers to our own family. They’ve built this witch hunt application which claims to be able to help you identify who is a witch around you. You are advised to snap pictures where you may be suspicious, send it to the developers and they would id the witches for you by adding a ball of fire above the head areas. How they know who is a witch is anyone’s guess. It’s actually supposed to be a promo App for the Nicholas Cage movie, Witch Hunt. The user reviews aren’t kind, still, it’s entertainment in itself to try it out on your boss or the mother in-law, you never know! Price: Free windows 7

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Honey It’s Me!

For some weird reason it’s a hit in South Korea. This App is nothing short of strange and worrying desperation. Never mind getting out there looking for a real girlfriend, you can get busy with one fantasy girlfriend without the hassle of forking out for dates even though you still get the weekend rows. A living South Korean minx will be your phone girlfriend sending you messages and waking you up with a sort of video call. It’s based on the same principles as a virtual pet, only you’re the pet. Never mind the App being weird, the strange thing is that it attracted over 75,000 downloads a day on the initial free launch. Now it charges a confident £1.26 per day just to have Mina share herself with you and thousands of other weirdos. The developers Nabix say they are aiming at the growing number of lonely people all over the world. Price £1.26 per day Courtesy: cherriipoptheshow

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Ordain thyself

Ever wanted to see yourself as a religious or mad cult leader? Now there’s an App for that. Choose your religion, upload your photo and - hey presto! - you can see yourself in the appropriate garments complete with the appropriate head gear right on your smart phone. The developer is actually an ordained minister with a weird sense of humour. His intent is to show that religious leaders still had a sense of humour; a strong will to lighten the mood is the objective. You can also get to know a bit more about other religions as you play fantasy priest or joking imam. Users report that the great fun of sharing their pictures on Facebook provokes some humorous comments. Price: 99p on Apple, free elsewhere Courtesy: tjwalker

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IAmAMan

When they say there’s an App for almost anything, that’s no exaggeration. Surprisingly it some how wormed its way into being approved on the Apple Store, this App allows the user to track the menstrual cycle of the other half, on a calendar. The sleazy thing about it is the function that enables the user to maintain a chart the other girlfriends without any of them finding out. It comes with a protection option which requires a different password for each girl. Even if your girl friend opens up the App, she only comes across her own. Cheating men say it’s great as you can plan when to see whom, depending on who should be on the period warning list. Girlfriend has a terrible mood? A quick check on your App and you have your answer, you can set up a warning alarm as the dates for next cycle is reached.

Price: £1.49

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Holocaust Glossary

This App is dark and morbid in its portrayal of the Holocaust. It covers a lot of gory aspects of the historical events in shocking detail. It has a Holocaust glossary to help you understand the terms. The portrayal of these events seems to be a concerted effort to educate and inform with shock and a sprinkling of horror.

Price: Free

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Student apps

Evernote

It’s the cream of note-taking, a good student App for the smart phone. Evernote synchronises text, PDFs, pictures, and web pages so that students can view them on their phone or computer. It’s great as a storage system for copying images, lecture notes and lists and is easily transferred to any computer or digital device. A free account allows you to save important images or information in the cloud. Price: Free

Courtesy: Joshua Hawk

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NUS Extra

The App makes access to student savings and discounts a doddle while you are on the move. It’s free to download and holds up to 120 discounts connected to your NUS card. Regular updates and new deals are added instantly. NUS deals can be located while you move about through the use of icons on a map. It’s quick and detailed. It’s available on all Apple devices as well as Android. Price: Free

Courtesy: SolentSU

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Chegg

This App helps with the costs of textbooks for students. Chegg allows you to rent e textbooks by listing subject or course titles. It’s well connected and there is a multitude of rental choices. You want to buy the physical text book? No problem, using your phone camera you can scan the barcode and compare prices through the phones live database. Students like its easy user interface and it’s great on tablets too. Price: Free

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UCAS CONNECT

It’s a condensed version of the UCAS website with all the information you need about University applications and enrolment requirements. You can also manage your own application accounts from the App as well as access notifications. The FAQ section also houses a list of applicable question and answer details. UCAS reports that it receives over 18,000 visitors from about 100 countries. In addition to all the latest UCAS news, it links to the admission service’s own social network, YouGoFurther. Price: Free

Courtesy: UniGirlUK

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TeuxDeux

It’s a great App for your busy student life. The App helps you organize your life just the way it suits you. A robust to-do list that is designed for easy quick access and application. Notifications and alerts work well with easy navigation display and the ability to have your schedules planned out just the way it works for the individual user. It’s a God send for timetables and schedules. Price: £1.99

Courtesy: tekaddikt105

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Camera Apps

Clone camera

The Clone Camera does exactly what it says on the tin - a simple and easy way to replicate great shots in one frame. You take multiple pictures, synthesis by swiping the images, apply a variety of filters and let the App do it’s magic. Capture images by point and click or use the timer mode that allows you to set different capture shots. It also has a nifty stabilizer to assist the shaky hand. You can be as creative as you like with the App and you can share your work on the connected social networks. Should look great on Instagram or Pinterest. Price £1.10

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Toon camera

Courtesy: LaszloLo

There a number of Apps out there, but this one delivers some really neat images. Turn your snaps or even video into some arty effects. Looks great with high resolution shots. It recently ranked as number 8 for photo Apps on the Apple Store which says a lot about its function and finished work. The App is easy to use and self explanatory; you have a choice of various effects to apply. Line drawing or painting effect can be used to liven up your pictures. It does however have a down side, adding already existing photos to the App can be a bit confusing, but when the pictures are safely within the App it’s easy to let your imagination loose with the various effects. It also has a Twitter and Youtube sharing interface so you can show off your creativity to friends. Price: 69p IOS

Action movie FX

It’s an engaging action image and video App from Bad Robot Interactive. If you fancy being a Hollywood film maker it’s pretty close to the real thing. There are templates available from Call of Duty, Dragon Fire Drones and EMP amongst others. You simply select a Scene, film a target and Action Movie FX adds an explosive action sequence with bangs and explosions to grace your movie. Its got fast automated video tracking to help you put the action together much easier, you don’t have to be a pro at video editing to get busy with the App. Direct a missile attack at your local McDonald’s or aim precision missiles at a group of traffic wardens in your area. It’s a true fantasy film-fest that can get addictive. Price: Free Courtesy: Chadisms

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Mirrorgram

Courtesy: Mirrorgramapp

This photo editing App lets you make stunning mirrored images. You can use the impressive in-camera mode to snap away and produce new mirrored effects, or just apply existing pictures to the App and share with friends through the social network connections. The App allows users to create mirror images of a photo by splitting it in half on the vertical, horizontal or diagonal axis, then reflecting it upon itself using a simple drag interface. It also comes with stability assistance and image rotation, making it easier to create some eye catching effects. You do however get only one processing filter for just one penny shy of a pound. It gets a nod for the creative results from simple everyday images from your image library’s ability to help you create some stunning tricks of photography. Price: Free (kind of) IOS

Comic book

Apple named it best photo App for 2011. It’s still popular come 2013. If you are a fan of pop art or traditional comic book art with speech bubbles and dot marked illustrations you should have a lot of fun with this App. The edit feature that transforms your photos into comic book images works very well, attach speech bubble starts and put in your text and you become an instant Stan Lee. We feel the App warrants a solid 5 stars because of its ease of use and robust functionality. You can show off your finished product in the community of comic book App users on Comicbookuser.com, or just plonk them on Facebook and get them tagged. If you really want to print a comic page, the App allows for high resolution printing formats. So, go wild using the licensed comic fonts and huge choice of surfaces and backgrounds.

Courtesy: 3DTOPO

Price: £1.10

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Tech Review By Andy Hargreaves

BlackBerry Z10

Sink or Swim

Blackberry is fashionably late with its latest smartphone. It has had its delays, but in bated breath the Canadian company finally bit the bullet and released the device they hope would save the farm and put them back in the game. We took a look at what’s different. It’s here in the UK before the yanks get a hold of it, that’s the first plus. Expect to fork out £36 per month for a 24 month contract. Considering the multitude of features smartphones are expected to have and do these days, they’ve taken a page out of the successful Samsung Galaxy book of design, a bigger screen is now a must. In the looks department, it actually resembles the Sony Experia T Black and it’s competent with a sleek interface but nothing really new; it’s just a design that brings the BlackBerry into the skyscraper style, a good thing for those that like the brand but not the ancient round-edged traditional

shape of old. Blackberry have aimed their new phone at the fans of the new Galaxies and of the iPhones, by merging two physical attributes, solid but rounded edges, and the availability of the white version. It does look like a larger iPhone. The handset offers a 4.2-inch HD display with a 1280 x 768p image resolution, further fortified by an ambitious 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a hearty 1,800mAh battery, enough to feed the power hungry applications crammed into the phone.

The new look and feel

Camera and video

The BlackBerry 10 attempts to make the user interface slick and fast by merging home screens with the Apps, widgets and tools and a fused inbox into one. It gives you that dreamy touch when you finger flick through various pages, they fade away and reveal new pages quite pleasantly. ‘The Flow’ is one of the unique features they’ve been harping on about. Designed for the ultra lazy phone user, you can use gestures to switch between functions simply depending on what direction you swipe. You get to compose text by swiping over letters; it’s new and intuitive but does take some getting used to.

It’s got a competent 8 megapixel rear facing camera with 5x digital zoom and 1080p Full HD video. The front facing camera comes with 2x zoom and 720p HD video. The Time Shift function is something BlackBerry is proud of; it’s an image editor that can be used to achieve better facial shots right after taking a picture. The ‘roll back’ feature automatically searches for faces which you can edit with the image being applied to the whole photo; you get the option to choose the facial shots with the best smile for instance. It’s a first and a strong selling point indeed. The phone also comes with the expected photo and video editing tools.

Apps Out side of the gigantic App reserves you get with Apple and Android, BlackBerry 10 has launched its biggest catalogue of Apps in the tune of 70,000 plus, there’s a huge amount of stuff on BlackBerry world to explore. BlackBerry fans should be pleased to find that they can now get popular and useful Apps such as Skype, Kindle and WhatsApp, which was a serious omission in past handsets under the BlackBerry brand. ‘BlackBerry world’ serves as a one stop destination for music and movies to go with the Apps at your disposal.

Messenger and media transfer BBM is undoubtedly the king of messaging. They’ve upgraded with significant features. The messenger will now offer video calling to other BlackBerry hand sets. The clever screen share is pretty groundbreaking too, you get to share exactly what’s on your screen with another user, it all feels like voodoo magic with its fast transfer. Photo and file sharing will never be the same.

The Low BlackBerry, in their infinite wisdom, have dropped the back button returning back to your previous task or screen, which is now done another way. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, we believe. The Z10′s plastics and loose back panel cheapen a valiant effort at creating a classy phone. It also pops out too easily. The navigation and user process needs getting used to, we aren’t sure it’s an improvement on what we’ve been used to with the older models. BlackBerry World is not all universal as suggested. It still has major App players yet to join in; this can be a bit of a doubting issue as we can’t predict the future rate of participation.

The Hub To make the user experience much easier and quicker, the BlackBerry Z10 has added a feature known as The Hub which is an inbox that can hold all your communication such as emails, texts, social updates and more. The system allows you to position data in order of importance, making it easier to manage your data in one place.

via YouTube

Comments Amazing! They just took the 2-3 years to innovate their product, good luck with that Wagner

1 week ago

I’m an Android person myself but wish bb all the luck! I much rather see another openecosystem than another walled garden Longstreet

2 weeks ago

Lol I'm watching the video review on an iPhone 5

can't live without my BB, I get emails from 5 different email accounts & twitter accounts flawlessly while my IOS friends are still waiting for the email confirmation. Ha-ha

McCleary

NixEffect

2 weeks ago

2 days ago

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Grandmaster and Edgar award-winning author Lawrence Block has brought together 71 of his best stories featuring his most popular series characters. From Matt Scudder in ‘The Merciful Angel of Death’ to Bernie Rhodenbarr in ‘Like a Thief in the Night’ and Keller’s ‘Answers to Soldier’.

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Paige Galbraithe has always wondered if the dark, cool and mysterious Abram Mustafa is hiding a wicked side... a side that will allow her to explore the kind of pleasure she has only dreamed of. But Abram faces the greatest test of his life when his terrorist father kidnaps Paige.

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Spanning three centuries and two countries, Ladies of the Shire weaves together the lives of eight individuals on their unforgettable, epic journey from the hay-meadows of Leicestershire, England to the mud and bloody artistry of 1914-18 France. From these trenches rises a retribution that will claim all they hold precious, demanding a sacrifice none ever thought would be asked of them....

Blue blood

Thanks for nothing

Fatherland

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Danish author Sarah Blaedel’s number 1 best selling book is set in an idyllic neighbourhood of Copenhagen. A young woman, Susanne Hansson, is discovered in her apartment bound and gagged, the victim of an extraordinarily brutal rape attack. Detective Inspector Louise Rick investigates.

In this hilariously frank account of his life, Jack Dee finally reveals what turned a once optimistic young man into this grumpy middle-aged git. It’s a journey that takes him from a first gig as a ventriloquist’s dummy, to working in an artificial leg factory and delivering incontinence pads for the NHS, before he finally ends up on stage at the Comedy Store.

It is April 1964 and one week before Hitler’s 75th birthday. Xavier March, a detective of the Kriminalpolizei, is called out to investigate the discovery of a dead body in a lake near Berlin’s most prestigious suburb. As March discovers the identity of the body, he uncovers signs of a conspiracy that could go to the very top of the German Reich.

Devoured

These wonderful rumours!

Alfred Nobel

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London in 1856 is gripped by a frightening obsession. D.E. Meredith’s measured prose and eye for exquisite detail moves seamlessly from the filthy docks on the Isle of Dogs to the jungles of Borneo and the drawing rooms of London’s upper class. Her slow-burning mystery builds to a shocking conclusion, consuming Victorian London and victims as it goes.

These Wonderful Rumours! gives a unique and surprising insight into life on the Home Front. Through May Smith’s observant, witty and sometimes acerbic diary, we gain a new understanding of how the people of Britain coped with the uncertainty, the heartbreak and the black comedy of life during wartime.

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This is the most complete and only full-length biography available of the legendary inventor of dynamite and founder of the prizes that bear his name, Alfred Nobel. Nobel’s story - which the New York Review of Books described as “extraordinary” reads better than most commercial fiction.

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5 Holidays

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North Cyprus Week-Long Holiday

Caribbean: 7-Night Tobago Escape with Flights

Rome & Venice Twin City Break with Flights & Train

Red Sea: 5-Star All-Inc Holiday with Upgrade

Luxury 5-Night Europe Cruise with Cunard

Stay at the 4-star Hotel Pia Bella in Kyrenia, with a free upgrade to a Superior Room and half board. Includes free room and board upgrades, meals, plus a range of peak-season departure dates.

Direct return flights with Monarch from London Gatwick; Seven nights at the 4-star Coco Reef Resort & Spa; Accommodation in a Superior Garden View Room.

Flights from London Stansted to Rome and Venice to London. Two nights at the 4-star Ars Hotel in Rome. Train travel through the Tuscan countryside between Italy’s greatest cities.

The offer includes seven nights at the 5-star InterContinental Taba Heights, with all meals, snacks and drinks.

Take to the seas on Cunard’s 5-star Queen Victoria experience. Includes a 5-night luxury sailing to France and Germany plus all meals, snacks and port taxes.

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Gadgets & Audio Books 5 best value for money

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Gadgets

4D Cityscape Jigsaw London

Airfix Combustion Engine

The set includes a poster guide to erect iconic buildings, going back from 1078 - 2014. The changing skyline is visible as you build towards to the later years.

Featuring light and sound, this fantastic engine is a marvellous and fun way to learn all about how an internal combustion engine works.

Sport Monocular 10 x 25 Acuter

New Scotland Yard Forensics Kit

Eye Scope for iPhone 4

This handy sized rubber armoured monocular features fully coated optics and is supplied with a neck cord and case. Its convenient pocket size makes it ideal for general purpose viewing.

Become a spook for the day with this comprehensive forensic kit. Examine evidence from four interconnected crime scenes using fingerprinting, ink testing, hair, fibre and substance tests.

A neat little add-on device that increases the iPhone’s reach to a solid 8x optical zoom, allowing you to get closer than ever before. Compatible with iPhone 4 and 4S.

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Audio Books

The Casual Vacancy

A Clockwork Orange

The Kingdom of the Cults

The Podfather Trilogy

Mindfulness

A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

If we had the power of absolute criminal reform, what, the novel asks, would this mean for our ideals of freedom and society? This edition reinstates the final chapter missing from Kubrick’s film.

The authoritative reference work on major cult systems for more than 40 years. It will equip readers from every walk of life to use biblical truth to counter the efforts of cults to masquerade as mainstream Christianity.

Here are three special episodes of The Ricky Gervais Show, featuring those doyens of the medium, the eponymous Ricky Gervais, Steve Merchant and the round-headed idiot savant, Karl Pilkington.

Professor Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman have teamed up to give us scientifically grounded techniques we can apply in the midst of our everyday challenges and catastrophes.

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women’s wear 5 best value for money

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5 dresses

Romantic Round Neckline Long Sleeve Dress

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Online Gaming By Jeyson Sutton

Free Realms offers a casual take on the free to play, massive multiplayer online genre. Filled with mini games, a colourful world and varied activities from postman to Pokemon-like card duelling, it caters well for female gamers also seeking to enter the world of gaming. It’s nothing revolutionary, but there is enough content to keep players satisfied for a long time, and the casual take on the genre is welcomed, with activities including pet keeping and adventuring. Grouping can be fun, with a range of dungeons available to explore, although the game doesn’t compel you to group, to some this is a plus, but to others it can make for a lonesome game contrary to the massive multiplayer genre. The mini games however are an exciting addition, there is a great variety, Strangely enough we particularly liked the cooking challenge, if you’ve played games such as Cooking Mama, you’ll feel right at home here. Objectives must be completed to level up this skill - from finding new recipes to pouring the accurate volume of ingredients. We also thought pet training was cute, it takes Free

Realms into a completely different light; players are responsible for their welfare - from grooming their pets to teaching them gestures and tricks. Although we do wish there were more activities available, as it can get boring quickly. Levelling up is based on earning stardust for completing jobs and this rewards players with a higher skill level and improved equipment. Improving the cosmetics of a character is a great incentive to level, however players can only reach level 20 in any one job. Competitive player versus player action is in fact voluntary and so takes a minor role in the game, but allowing casual players to dual should they need to satisfy their thirst for some blood. One of the problems with Free Realms as with other free to play MMOs is the need to pay to unlock more features. Whilst players don’t have to subscribe, you’d feel left out not unlocking useful things to enhance your gaming experience, however this is not necessarily a bad thing, and Free Realms offer relatively cheap membership packages. If you’re just looking for a casual and colourful game we recommend Free Realms, but should you be looking for something a little deeper, we’d advise looking elsewhere.

www.freerealms.com

www.thebrowsermagazine.com

Online Gaming

By Jeyson Sutton

Months before its release, Guild Wars 2 garnered some of the biggest hype known to the massive multiplayer online platform, titled the ‘World of Warcraft killer’, it claimed to reinvent the repetitive ‘grinding’ present in so many games on the market today and revolutionise the gaming experience in the fantasy genre. Did it work? Oh yes it did. Now retaining 400,000 players with over 3 million copies sold since its release late last year, it hasn’t disappointed. So what are the so called changes? Events are the primary form of quests, simply travel across the world and interact with the environment around you. You protect villages, slay enemies and rebuild with others to gain experience and you can go wild with looting if that gets you excited. Experience is awarded for almost anything, from crafting to fighting; the game is built around cooperation. There are no classes, you choose the way you play and adjust your skills to

fit the style you wish. This combat is dynamic; you must avoid projectiles should you wish to not get hit. Visually, the graphics are vibrant and easily one of the best looking massive multiplayer online games out there, from the underwater world to the snowy peaks, Guild Wars 2 rewards exploration. You can trigger events simply by reaching unexplored parts of the world, or travelling to the depths of the dungeons. You can choose your path and your personal story, one that is not generic, but personalised, or focused teamwork. Some may find the changes disappointing; indeed we would call it evolutionary but not revolutionary. It retains the high fantasy, role playing environment and there is a strong sense of familiarity to other games in its category. To appreciate the detail of the environment, it does require a high end PC and it does suffer from bugs and connectivity issues. Aside from this, the lack of subscription fees on this triple A MMO means you owe it to yourself to check it out.

www.guildwars2.com

Casting the net

Console Gaming By Jeyson Sutton

We had a chance to explore the game before its commercial release. It seems Crysis 3 does evolve the genre, at least on a graphical level, once more. The game has a lot to live up to but it seems to have delivered with awesome graphics and heart thumping gameplay. increase armour, speed or strength when traversing New York City. New lethal weapons are a welcome addition, the Compound Bow is however the star, adding versatility as players attack while cloaked. You get to equip multiple arrows from the explosive to the electrically charged. It blends well with the Nanosuit and when combined with the characterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s abilities, you as Prophet become the ultimate killing machine.

Multiplayer Story

Players return 24 years after Crysis 2 to New York as Prophet, the squad leader in the original game, and Psycho, famous for his British profanity and the star of Warhead, as a companion. New York City has changed; a dome has been erected by the C.E.L.L. Corporation trapping its inhabitants inside. On the surface, its purpose is to protect against the technologically advanced aliens known as Ceph and to keep humans out. Yet underlying this is the corporation's corrupt venture for world domination. The Nanodome is divided into seven distinct sections and players must fight in each environment as a resistance force against the C.E.L.L. Corporation and remaining Ceph. Beneath the violent killings and the alien slayings, lies a more fleshed out story to Crysis 3. Character development has also improved; fans of the previous games will notice a change in Psycho, a sense of his vulnerability, a veteran fighting a never-ending war. The focus on extreme visual quality goes hand in hand with the open world, making the world as photorealistic as possible, whether you're fighting in urban swamps, grasslands or rainforests, the visuals are incredible. Unfortunately this does require a very high end graphics card to play, and console users will be unable to share the visual quality of the PC.

Gameplay

The first Crysis redefined the genre with its sandbox game play opening endless possibilities to tackle a mission. Crysis 3 follows suit and avoids the linear pathways of the second game allowing players to choose how they want to defeat enemies, whether to take the fight at the frontline, stealth and flank enemies or simply roam the wilderness. It becomes a playground for the protagonist to experiment, and fans won't be disappointed to find the Nanosuit remains fundamental to the game play. Its functionality remains the same; players can opt to camouflage,

Crysis was never known for its multiplayer option, it is seen as out of place inclusion, which is evident from the untapped potential. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still an awesome experience, the beta we tried offered two game modes and two maps to try out. Crash Site is the traditional capture the control point mode, different teams battle for territory and teamwork is essential, as players must pull together to achieve objectives. Crytek spiced multiplayer up with the Hunter mode, two players take on the role of the Hunter and everyone else is a survivor. The Hunters must take out the survivors within a time limit, that part of the multiplayer mode works very well. The characters in multiplayer are customisable and improvements can be made through building experience points and levelling. We were a little disappointed with disconnections and lag at parts; this will hopefully be improved upon release. Crytek have definitely done things right this time and it feels like the first Crysis again. In order to enjoy the full graphic capacity, we'd recommend getting this game on the PC. Even running on low graphics quality on the computer, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vastly better than the console version. Crysis is very demanding and should you wish to play on maximum settings a dual GPU would almost certainly be necessary.

ADD TO CART! Photo courtesy: www.t-immersion.com

Space age shopping

By Leila Smart

Who would believe the way we shop online would become so advanced. Compared to the earlier days where a simple card transaction was done on the net only by the brave or curious, we now order just about anything, from pizza to an expert’s time by the hour.

hopping therapy has never had it so good, it’s actually a leisurely activity to go screen shopping as supposed to window shopping, especially with the new tools to make shop surfing a thing straight out of a futuristic movie. Just how much of a change the World Wide Web would make our lives in the 21st century could never have been envisaged; not even by its developer, Tim Berners-Lee. Over the last ten years, we’ve seen just how large a presence the internet has had on our day-to-day buying experience. One of the increasingly stressful and time-consuming chores has been shopping. E-commerce the world over has done well to make the process a fun and exploratory experience.

Like a game of treasure hunt, locating the better deal on a global scale can be quite a fun and interesting activity to share with friends. That’s why ideas such as Todayimwearing.com or the Pinterest style board seem to be quite popular in such a short space of time. Innovative shopping online is not confined to fashion only; it just seems to be an area of shopping that needs it more. E-tailers have found various ways to ply their trade using direct connectivity on the go. You have augmented reality or QR codes for instant text, image, or video media and virtual mirrors

to toy with. As consumers, we’ve become more impatient and budgetdriven than ever. We want to be able to get quality products cheaply and efficiently and at the same time, we demand the after sales service be as good as what we get with physical shopping. As the competition heats up in cyber-mall, it’s actually not too much to expect these days. E-tailers are bending over backwards just to keep us in their shops. Online shopping has made giant steps to integrate technology to our devices, be it smart phones, tablets or your desktop. Are you missing out on the new technological wizardry that’s now available to you online? We suggest you explore what’s out there. There is a drive to compete against physical shopping and the way ahead is to diminish all or at least most of the disadvantages with buying goods online and that is usually with the wait to actually get your items, or the issue of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). Come 2012 and we are half way there. Free deliveries and shorter dispatch time are the essentials that make online shopping much more of a regular practice.

The sales figures are yet to peak. We’ve had a further increase in online shopping by 20% within the last 3 years.

Maxing out my credit card is so much fun in 3D. Boohoo.com and Asos.com are among two of the most loved shopping E-tailers out there. Initially however, this was not the case, it was not easy to overcome the frequently consistent consumer issue that asked ‘why would we side step the high street and make frequent shopping with the click of a mouse. Well, there’s the significant savings and availability of products not available in the shops for starters. The result is pure genius. Boohoo and Asos are the first to use display videos with models strutting their stuff wearing the individual clothes that you have selected offering you a better idea of how the clothing may look on you. Consumers can now see firsthand the exact shape, colour and design of the item in greater detail. This advancement from the use of mere photographs to fashion video content enables you as the shopper to examine exactly how the fabric fits and flows on the model, this enables a better informed decision on whether to click and buy. We call it video shopping, they call it ‘view in catwalk’.

Socially endorsed Social Marketing is an incredible force not to be taken lightly. The power of video and image sharing has brought the online shopping to the masses. Word of mouth in brand reputation is as big an endorsement for any retailer or E-tailer for that matter, as huge advertising budgets are. Testimonials and reviews enable consumers to get a better view of the E-tailer’s product in regards to quality, durability, customer service and special deals. The consistent use of video reviews on E-tailer websites exists to endorse their brand and give you added reasons to buy.

Whoever thought of combining social media with shopping is the new Einstein of fashion! Websites such as Kaboodle, Zebo and Newsvine act as community shopping forums, where avid like-minded shoppers can peruse around gaining neutral and honest reviews of potential purchases before their hand delves into the plastic. The power of social media should never be underestimated and that is certainly so when it comes to the influence they have over online shopping. Not only does Facebook allow

Let’s make a suggestion: buy me!

There’s no escape, you will shop anywhere! you to ‘Like’ particular websites and shopping hubs, building up their reputation and familiarity to mass audiences, but various Facebook and Android Apps now notify the user when, where and who is offering that adored eight-letter word, ‘D-I-S-C-O-U-N-T-S!’ And not only that, but these are received in real time, as your on the go, so you can pick up the best bargains as you walk past the shop!

Shopping for all

The male market has not been left out either. We don’t think there is a woman on this planet that hasn’t seen the raging bull or despondent teenager act that is thrust upon men when they are made to shop! So wouldn’t it be great if men could achieve their shopping to-do list on the web in half the time? Yes, we hear you scream and that is now entirely possible thanks to the use of technology. Technology has travelled so far, that we are now able to take an accurate eye test over the web, choose our preferred style of frame and upload our picture to see if we are happy with those selected. If not, we can simply choose another pair and position them onto a real image of our face imposed within the webpage until we find the ones that we are satisfied with. This is done with the use of the virtual mirror widget trialled by Rayban and Specwave.

Touchy-feely

It would be fair to say that one of the biggest downfalls when we buy a product off web is the fact that as consumers we want to be able to see, touch and analyse what we are about to spend our wages on. If it weren’t for technology that allows us to do these things, we may be more likely to forsake the lower cost and visit the high street anyway. One product area facing this dilemma was the online bookstore for e-books. E-tailer giant Amazon overcame this disadvantage by allowing their potential consumers to click inside a book and flick between a number of pages, prior to purchase. The experience is now a lot more realistic and the consumer is encouraged to make a purchase having got a better idea and not just judging a book by its cover so to speak.

Beam me up, Scotty.

Become a stylist, it only costs a few quid.

Sell, sell, sell Various online retailers have heightened their level of appeal further. Here are some of the best that we’ve come across: Certain retailers such as Craigslist and CareToTrade allow users to make their own price suggestions by online haggling and bartering, with the help of a bartering meter online. Geomapping via your smartphone allows you to find where the best deals are locally in real time. Whether it’s supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury or medication from Boots or Lloyd’s Pharmacy you’re after, geomapping is an irreplaceable tool to use when looking to save money or just locating a particular item. It merges the physical shopping with what’s presented online. By downloading their Apps, Facebook Places and Topcashback use this to point you to great deals as you walk down your high street or shopping mall. Go into the shop, show your code and bag your discount deal. It’s all space age stuff and it works really well for the consumer as well as the retailer. If you go into some chain retailers and can’t find your size for an outfit you really like, or the exact gadget spec you are looking for, it’s no longer a problem, you can connect with the shops online portal and have the desired item sent there for you to pick up later. Now that’s 21st century.

Point and scan Have you ever shopped using a QR code or augmented reality tools? It’s quite an experience to use your smartphone to check out the full details of a product by sending the codes to a central portal and finding out what retailer has the best offer. We now live in a do-it-yourself type of world. In Paris and parts of central London, you are now able to use your phone camera to connect to tourist activities by scanning various artefacts or locations. Next thing is a prompt with delightful text bubbles complete with information about your location and what’s available to see, added to that, you can buy your ticket while dodging the lamp post in front of you. We liked the product scanners and smart

Too lazy to go to the opticians? No problem. selectors when buying groceries at Tesco online, the smart tools knows what your usual list is and points you to savings and great deals. It’s customer intelligent and uses your profile to make suggestions. Some would call it a bit too Big Brother or intrusive, just like the cookie issue when you hop from one website to the next, with E-tailers banner adverts following you everywhere else online. We believe there’s nothing wrong with such proactive marketing, the E-tailer suggestions can be useful for near future purchases. The same product you viewed online last week may go down in price the following week, shouldn’t you know about it? While this is such an exciting way to pass the time or get the essentials done, don’t get too hooked on internet shopping, it can be disastrous on your plastic and the amount of time you spend. Endless reports of you trying out different hairstyles at a digital hairdressing shop will not impress your head of department! Use online shopping as it was designed for, a convenient, efficient and enjoyable alternative to the high street.

Social shopping with augmented reality: Mylifescoop.com Motion sensor or shopping with Kinect: bit.ly/fJ1TgQ Star Trek shopping for the lazy: Ubergizmo.com Share style opinion and shopping locations: Todayimwearing.com

Does my body look bigger in this?