The gift of WiSound

This neatly-styled soundbase speaker reckons it can eliminate the sweet spot. Adrian Justins puts that claim to the test

The country that gave us democracy, philosophy and, er, ouzo may be in an economic jam but Greece isn’t finished yet. Native brand Crystal Acoustics has what it hopes is a major contribution to home cinema in the form of WiSound. Developed in conjunction with boffins at the University of Patras, this tech claims to up the ante for audio from a single-box product.

Crystal Acoustics is now selling direct to UK consumers the Teevy 6 soundbase, one of its new Reference Wireless Series of speakers that uses WiSound. Its inventors claim WiSound can create an ‘incredibly dispersive, dynamic and consistent audio delivery throughout every part of a room.’ Let’s hope it’s not a Trojan Horse.

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is an expanded version of Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate, which was an expanded version of Dead or Alive 5... I'm starting to think that Team Ninja don't really have much else going for them.

There is not much to say on DoA5: Last Round that I didn't already say about Ultimate.

Dead or Alive has always been in another class of fighters compared to Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. They have always been more fluid and faster, requiring more skill. Watching someone who is genuinely talented at DoA is far more entertaining than Mortal Kombat, there is just something very impressive about it.

Razer Naga Epic Chroma

Peripherals are something we all get excited about. I've seen people spend hundreds on subpar products, and 20 dollar products take the cake. Razer have made a name for themselves in the peripheral market and at this point I've used most of the products in their peripheral range. Gamepads, Keyboards, Mice, Headsets, you name it. Over Christmas I was ecstatic to look over some of the new Razer Chroma gear, the Blackwidow keyboard and the Deathadder mouse. I was pretty impressed with what I saw, so when I was offered a chance to test out the other gaming mouse in Razer's Chroma arsenal, I was jumping for joy. The Epic Naga Chroma is an interesting product, for a few reasons. The Naga series is one that over the years, many people have criticised for having TOO many features. I've had a good play with a few Nagas over the years, but the Chroma certainly has a few features that bump it from being a good mouse, to a great mouse.

A Druid's Duel

A Druid’s Duel is another lovely success story thanks to Kickstarter. The game is indie developers Thoughtshelter Games take on turn based strategy. The crowd funding campaign was launched on the 11th of March, 201 A, raising $7,780 for further development and production, with a final product hitting Mac, Windows, iOS and Linux as of the 25th of February, 2015 It definitely looked like a super advanced version of chess, but plays out quite differently with a lovely professionally composed and recorded soundtrack and simple yet elegant artistic style. I expect this game to keep players engaged for hours on end.

Oscura: Lost Light

As picturesque and idyllic as nature can be, there are certain wild and untamed lands that teem with terror - especially long after the sun has gone down, Oscura: Lost Light revisits our most haunting camping memories with the swampy, eerie surrounds of the Driftlands. This is a place fraught with danger as cloven hoofed beasts and sharp-taloned creatures of the sky lurk around every corner, awaiting the arrival of our unlikely hero Oscura.

Taking place before the previous two titles in the franchise, the young apprentice lighthouse keeper has been ordered to seek out the lost shards of the destroyed Aurora Stone. Whilst his defenceless nature would usually prove to be a disadvantage, the dramatic destruction of the Stone resulted in Oscura being gifted the ability to wield certain powers. And so our scrawny little klutz must brave the belly of the dark forest, commanding the powers of Construction, Destruction, Gravity and Time to ensure his mission is successful.

Dell XPS 13 (2015)

Has Windows finally got its MacBook Air killer?

The second laptop we're reviewing this month isn't quite as revolutionary as the Toshiba unit at left, but it's arguably a better-focused product that knows what it wants to do — and aims to do it well.

Dell's new XPS 13 ultrabook has been widely described as a 'MacBook Air killer' in overseas media, but it's actually different enough from Apple's design to have its own sort of appeal. It’s both smaller and lighter than the Air, for starters, with the narrow bezel around the top and sides of the screen (just a few mm wide) helping shave down its overall footprint and weight, which is a tiny 1.18kg. Combined with an amply-sized trackpad, solid keyboard (with nice firm and tall keys) and a richly coloured, clean and sharp 13.3-inch display (even on the 1080p entry-level model we tested), this is an attractive little tool.

Toshiba Portege Z20t

The Windows tablet/laptop hybrid to beat

You can appreciate the irony: right when tablet sales are flagging, along comes what's possibly the best Windows tablet we've ever seen. As good as Microsoft's flagship Surface 3 tablet is, it's still a bit of a compromise — it's a bit too thick and heavy for a tablet and not as happy to sit on your lap as a genuine laptop. The Portdge Z20t, on the other hand, works a little better as a tablet and is a little more sturdy as a laptop — though the trade off is that it's not quite as portable as a whole.