Rubik’s Retro May 21, 2014 The Rubik’s Cube turned 40 this week and Google celebrated by creating an online version of the classic puzzle. Melissa York chooses the best brain-teasers, old and new, for your smartphone. Flow Join a series of coloured dots to their corresponding coloured dots without crossing over any of the other lines to create a “flow”. [...]
Five of the best: Rubiks’ Retro contemporaries that have been updated for touchscreens May 21, 2014 Tetris The colourful stacking game has been revamped for smartphones and tablets for its 30th birthday with multiple gaming modes. It can now be played lightning fast on a touchscreen device, and scores can be compared on Facebook. iOS/Android; 69p Pac-man The yellow sphere will have been chasing ghosts for 35 years in 2015. Now [...]
Beautiful tech-nique in Brazil May 14, 2014 The world’s best tournament will showcase some of the best new technology. Here’s our World Cup tech top six: Knit-wear It’s not just the teams that go head-to-head every four years. Just as competitive is the battle waged between Adidas and Nike over who can bring out the most eye-catching boots. This year both companies [...]
Five of the best: Apps to keep you updated and entertained during the 2014 World Cup May 14, 2014 World Cup Mastermind Know your Sturridge from your Sterling? Course you do. But what about your Pranjic from your Perisic? This world cup trivia app is the perfect way to warm up for heated World Cup discussions. iOS/Android; free ESPN football and World Cup As the official US broadcaster, ESPN is going all out for [...]
The super-duper Uber app April 30, 2014 Alex Dymoke on the minicab app that helped Londoners through the strikes THIS is my second day on Uber. I went for my test day and they said I was ready to start right away,” Omar my minicab driver tells me excitedly. He is polite and chatty, reminiscing about the days before sat-nav and waxing [...]
Five of the best | Stuck in London? Here are five apps to get you moving again April 30, 2014 Cycle Hire This app was made to accompany the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme – commonly known as Boris Bikes. It uses an in-app journey planner to help you devise cycle friendly routes, search for docking stations by postcode or a London venue, and manage your cycle hire account. iOS; 69p Citymapper Available for London, Paris, [...]
UK backs green energy projects April 23, 2014 EIGHT renewable energy projects have been approved for a new subsidy framework, the government said yesterday, which will support 8,500 jobs but also raise customers’ bills. Under the new Contracts for Difference scheme, the projects will receive a guaranteed price for the power they sell. The government claims that by 2020, the projects will provide [...]
Sunshine Gadgets April 16, 2014 Make summer a breeze with these clever warm-weather devices Biolite camp stove, £129.95 There’s no need to carry heavy gas canisters for this stove which generates its own power using twigs and biomass fuels. The generating unit also comes with a fan and its own battery supply. It heats the stove for outdoors cooking, recharges [...]
GIFted individuals April 9, 2014 The humble GIF has been in vogue for a while. Now the medium has its own art prize IN EARLY 2013 the New York Times hailed the return of the animated GIF, the stuttering, looping, lo-fi videos that hark back to a prehistoric internet of dial-tones, hotmail and endless buffering. As the first generation of [...]
Five of the best GIF maker programmes April 9, 2014 GIFBOOM With a range of filters and social media sharing options, this GIF-making mobile app is the Instagram of motion photography. Upload photos from your camera roll or record yourself before adding text and filters. iOS/Android; free Cinemagram This app from developer Factyle is designed to seamlessly blend video and image content, plus it has [...]