Easy ways to make a Connected Home

The Internet of things and the Connected Home are definitely some of the top trending phrases in the world of technology, apps and smartphones this year. Luckily the smart home is not an ephemeral and elusive idea confined to the likes of Bill Gates and other technocrats, it is solidly within every bodies reach and there are some very simple, yet effective, ideas going around to make this so.

Switched on Products' Light Switch Timer recently came to our attention at a fortuitous time, here at Gametrender we were just bandying  around some ideas for simple home automation and the easily installed Light switch timer came across our desk.

Luckily for us with bright ideas, but little mechanical aptitude Switched on Products' device doesn't require much skill to operate whatsoever, and is a very simple concept. Just slot the cradle over any 1,2 or 3 gang switch and set the timer to operate. The only effort you'll need to make is using a screwdriver to loosen the light switch cover, then slide on the cradle and you're good to go. The device itself fits into the cradle and provides a very lengthy time of use on standard pen light batteries.

On these cold and dark winter months this simple light switch timer can not only save money (and if you love in Britain you certainly want to avoid excess electricity charges!) but also allow you a little bit more peace of mind when going on holiday. A light coming on at random times (random,pre-programmed and manual settings are available) could just be enough to convince a would be burglar that the house has not been left alone. Indeed the fact that the light switch timer is about to gain endorsement from the police services is more than enough testament to this fact.

Whether you're a gadget geek wanting your taste of home automation or are security conscious the nice and simple, yet effective, Light Switch Timer is a must have for your home.

Fitbit Force and other Android app linked fitness trackers

I'm about a month into using my Fitbit Flex fitness tracker which I have linked to both the IPad and Android phone (Xperia Z in this case). The Fitbit has a lot of great features and I particularly love the sleep tracking that it does. What I don't love is the fact that the Android App is fundamentally broken and thus I have to rely on the IPad app.

With this new wave of biometric time clocks fitness trackers (still waiting for the Fitbit Force to hit Uk shores by the way) you'd expect better support for the worlds biggest Smartphone OS. Some Android owners will enjoy a hassle free Fitbit app, but that is mostly limited to a few top tier phones like the Galaxy S4 and I believe HTC One.
With Fitbit being debatedly the premier Fitness Tracker you'd expect more in the way of Android support. 

Clash of Clans Trap Upgrade: how do you upgrade traps

The November Clash of Clans update has brought with it upgradeable traps and the ability to rearm those traps. If the C of C new trap abilities have left you with more questions than answers and you just want to blow stuff up, spring trap dozens of giants at once(no spring trap upgrade though..sob) and send those pesky minions back to the dark elixir from whence they came then here's how to use those new traps to do it!


Guide  to Clash of Clans  new trap system ( November update)


Upgrades facts:

✔ All explosive traps will have upgrade levels.

✔ Upgrading is available as soon as a new trap is bought from the shop.

✔ Traps are upgraded using Builders.

✔ Upgrade times and costs are relatively short if compared to building upgrades.

✔ Different trap types have different upgrades: Damage, radius…

✔ Traps cannot be sold anymore.

✔ Traps under upgrade are visible to enemies, remember to replace them 

✔ Attacker can deploy troops on top of traps also when traps are under upgrade.


Using new traps:

✔ After a trap is triggered, it stays right where it was, but its status is “Triggered”.

✔ After a trap has been triggered, it needs to be re-armed.

✔ You don’t need an available Builder to re-arm the traps.

✔ Upgrade levels don’t disappear when traps are triggered.

✔ Re-arming traps cost gold. Re-arm cost increases when the trap is upgraded.

✔ You can re-arm all traps with one button OR re-arm traps one-by-one.


Plan your trap upgrades and protect your village?

Clash of Clans November Update

The Clash of Clans November update is rolling out now as we speak. You've probably heard rumours of more powerful goblins and rearming traps. But what are all the updates we can expect in this Novembers Clash of Clans update?

Reworked traps


✔ Sick of puny bombs? Upgrade all of your explosive traps to blow up your foes big time!

✔ Even sicker of constantly replacing your traps? Traps now stay put after use, and can be fully re-armed with a single button!

✔ Level 1 Giant Bomb is now much cheaper, though with a slightly decreased damage radius that can be upgraded

✔ Bomb and Giant Bomb explode faster after being triggered

✔ Seeking Air Mine and Air Bomb trigger radius has been decreased

✔ Seeking Air Mines now cost Gold instead of Dark Elixir



Tier 1 terror in Town Hall 10
✔ Level 12 Archer Towers: stylish, deadly and oh so sharp

✔ Level 6 Goblins: never forget your wallet again, nor anyone else's



Unquenchable spells
✔ Get your spells in a snap! Spell factory boosting is now only 20 gems for 4 hours of boosting

✔ Spells are now created with Elixir instead of Gold



Clan and Interface improvements
✔ Players who are kicked out of or rejected from clans are automatically banned from that clan for 24 hours

✔ Tapping the active tab in the Inbox, Chat, Clan, Leaderboard, League or Search view will automatically scroll it to the top



Balance tweaks
✔ Slightly increased hitpoints for level 4 Dragon

✔ Slightly increased hitpoints and damage for level 6 Giant and level 4 P.E.K.K.A

✔ Slightly decreased hitpoints for Hog Riders

✔ Upgrade time reduced for most Archer Tower and Wizard Tower levels



Lots more bug fixes, tweaks and performance improvements!

What IPad games have controller support

If you're an IPad (or iPhone gamer) and have the latest IOS 7 download you'll be frothing at the mouth to get a hold of an IOS enabled controller and let rip.
But what games have iOS 7 controller support?

• Critter Panic 
• Dead Trigger 2 
• Into the Dead 
• Lili 
• Muffin Knight 
• Ravensword: Shadowlands 
• Silverfish 
• Silverfish Max 
• Spiral: Episode 1 
• Superstar Chefs
• Limbo 
• Trouserheart 
• Tennis in the Face 
• King Oddball 
• Air Wings Intergalactic 
• Asphalt 8: Airborne 
• Chasing Yello
• Phoenix HD 
• Cro-Mag Rally 
• AVP: Evolution 
• The Walking Dead: The Game 
• Bastion 
• Nimble Quest 

List of IPad games with controller support current as of November 2013. Now that the list of controller playable IPad games is expanding we really want to see where Apple and third parties go with this. Especially with the A7 chip in the 'thinner,newer,better " version we really think music games ala guitar Hero and others need to start enjoying peripheral support. Who knows when we look beyond the games we might even find exciting projects to make apps that rely on actual instruments. Now that would be a fun and high tech way to learn send petitions to  lanikai lu-21 at musicians friend if you want to see an IPad connected ukulele in the future.