New gadgets price, review and tips

IOMEGA SUPERHERO

Iomega’s SuperHero is an iPhone dock with a built in backup function. This is for people who never sync their device with iTunes, but only charge it from a wall plug. The dock works with a free app that you download from the app store and a 4GB SD card in the package. It charges and automatically backs up contacts and photos. The card is upgradeable if you need more capacity. In case your phone is lost or stolen, you can dock a new phone in and restore contacts and photos from it. The only downside is that it does not backup music, videos or calendar entries. However, it works with the iPhone 4, 3G, 3GS, and the latest iPod Touch as well (4th Gen). Price:4,499

OLYMPUS XZ-1

It looks suspiciously like any other point-and-shoot camera, but closer inspection will reveal a host of high-end features in the Olympus XZ-1. It has many features that appeal to even professional photographers; a fast lens from the acclaimed manufacturer Zuiko with a wide maximum aperture of 1.8, a much larger sensor than a regular compact camera, a fast image processor that helps with noise reduction, a 3-inch OLED LCD for framing and the ability to add any flash unit via a hot shoe.It also includes RAW shooting, a lens control dial with manual exposure control and 720p HD movie recording with HDMI output. It is priced at US$499.


REVIEW


SPLICE FOR iOS

Unlike Apple’s own iMovie which costs $4.99, Splice is a free (ad-supported) video editor app. If you like, you can purchase the ad-free version for $2. Like iMovie, it has an easy-to-use and intuitive interface to quickly edit and put together videos that you shoot on the device itself. But it also offers some features that iMovie does not, such as the ability to add audio and video effects (apart from the ones included, you can add more effects using an in-app purchase). Another advantage is that iMovie only works on newer devices (iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4th Gen) while Splice works on older devices like the iPhone 3GS.

TIP

HOW TO THWART INTERNET BLOCKS

In case of an Egypt-style, nation-wide internet block, there is still something you can do to get online — good ‘ol dial up internet.The internet gets blocked because the internet service providers have been given an order by the govt. to stop services, but phones normally still stay in operation. Right now, French ISP FDN is currently offering free dial-up internet for users in Egypt.All they have to do is use a dialup modem and dial the number +33172890150 (username and password are both ‘toto’). Sure, you still have to pay international call rates, but it’ll work.