YuuWaa is a rather unique way of providing cloud storage backup and a cheaper alternative to PogoPlug.

The basic idea is that you install YuuWaa software on a USB key and this will automatically sync the contents with an online account. They suggest this would be useful, say, for copying files from your various devices – phones, cameras, etc – onto this single USB key which will then automatically back itself up.

You have a certain amount of online storage – at the moment you can get 2GB free, but can purchase higher amounts. This is shared between backups of the USB key and any other storage that you wish to use it for. When you visit your online account is connects to the current PC and shows the various folders and files. You can move files between here and your online account. Equally, they show your USB key contents and this can be moved about too.

Another USP of this product is that you can buy YuuWaa branded USB keys which come with the required software on them already PLUS a certain amount of online storage. Play.com, for instance, sell a 4GB key with 8GB online storage for £10.99 and an 8GB key with 16GB online storage for £29.95. If you wish to use your own USB key and simply want to buy further online storage then the charges are per year and start at €9.99 (approx. £8.70) for 10GB.

A screenshot of the YuuWaa online file management

What wasn’t clear from online retailers is how long the storage that comes with the USB key lasts for – with nothing specified, I wondered if it wasn’t time limited. However, I contacted YuuWaa and was informed that it is for 6 months.

Sharing YuuWaa content is done via the website interface and then can only be done a file at-a-time (i.e. there is no option to share an entire folder). And, then, you can only share content with a specified email address – there’s no option to share a file publicly, for instance.

I found the documentation to be quite complete but I struggled to work out how to use the basically functionality – a case of quantity over quality. Support wise, they were quite quick at responding to my sales query. They have a Twitter account but it’s not updated very often and it’s for sales rather than support.

Where I think YuuWaa is going to struggle, is how it’s currently promoting its service…

Do you find yourself having to use more and more digital devices?

Is it sometimes difficult for you to find certain files because you do not remember where these were saved?

Do you need more and more space to store your ever increasing digital memories?

You have a lot of great songs and you do not know where to safely store them?

The thing is, yes, we often have phones, cameras, etc, all with files stored on them. But why would I want to move them to a relatively small USB key rather than my PC – isn’t the latter going to be more accessable to me? And why is it any easier to transfer all the files to my PC rather than to USB? To answer the first question, YuuWaa refer to their USB key as..

A flash drive with no memory limitation, thanks to the online storage access.

Except it is limited, as you have to purchase an amount of storage. And, if you have only an 8GB USB key, that’s all you can fit onto it – the rest may be backed up online, but how do you then play that music back? It’s a useful device, but I think they’re trying to answer the wrong question.

Summary of YuuWaa

Yes, it’s comparable to Pogoplug but, at the same time, they are different beasts. Both provide expandable ways to provide cloud storage – YuuWaa has the lowest cost but Pogoplug is a lot more expandable. Indeed, Pogoplug doesn’t backup your drive contents, but merely allows access to it wherever you like.

Having said all that, Pogoplug is far more versatile, polished and easy to use – if you have the money I’d go for that instead. At the moment YuuWaa seems to me to be more a case of “work in progress”.

Reviewed by David Artiss on 1st November 2010.

Screenshot of DVD Ripper in progress

iToolSoft produce a wide range of ripping and conversion software. And, at the moment, they are giving away their popular DVD Ripper software – it’s 100% clean of viruses, etc, and is restriction free.

It’s a 15.5 MB download and 60.9 MB once installed.

It’s quick to start and uses it’s own GUI, rather than the Windows “standard”. It’s not too different, so isn’t too bothersome (I hate it when software operates totally different to everything else – Apple software is a good example of this). One thing I wasn’t keen on was that the fonts used were not smoothed by ClearType, obviously showing that the GUI was “doing it’s own thing” rather than being handled by Windows (and I’m sure if it was, the download and install sizes would be smaller!).

It’s let down a little by some spelling and grammar mistakes, but its very easy to use. Simple choose the DVD drive that you wish to rip and then either select a profile or create your own. There are profiles for all sorts of devices in different categories, and selecting one of these chooses suitable conversion formats, including resolutions, file types, etc. There’s lots for Apple devices, but when it comes to mobile phones it gets a bit more general, so in my case I’d have to set up my own for my Android phone. Obviously, there are a lot of phones on the market, but catering for some of the more popular, other than Apple, would have been nice.

There’s a preview window, from which you can take screenshots, and a few user-changeable options. But not many. You can also edit video – this is a very simply editor which simply allows you to “clip” parts from it where needed. There are no instructions as part of the installation and the website has some sketchy help, but it’s not a great deal – you’re going to have to work out most of it for yourself.

Star Trek Generations - playback after rip with standard .MOV profile

To test it, I ripped a region 2 copy of Star Trek First Contact to .mov format. Obviously, depending on the various profile options selected, and the length of the film, conversion time will vary. In this case it took around 70 minutes – but this is certainly something you can leave and come back to later. You’ll probably struggle to use the computer at the same time, as it will attempt to use maximum CPU usage (across all cores). There is a “background” option, but this seems to simply send the program to the system tray, rather than reduce CPU use so that the computer can be used for other things (which is what I assumed it was for).

The rip results were very good and I had no complaints about the quality.

I then tried Star Trek Generations – specifically because I have this on Region 1. Windows Media Player refused to play it unless I change my region number (and you can only change this a number of times). However, DVD Ripper had no issues and played and copied it without a problem.

A couple of little foibles – it wasn’t unknown for the time remaining (of the rip) to go into the negative. Also, when you select the option to “check for updates” (assuming because there were no updates) no message was returned, so you wasn’t sure if it had done anything or not.

Please Note

This review was for the FREE version of the iToolSoft DVD Ripper. A commercial version is also available with the same name for approx $26, and includes additional options such as video editing facilities.

Summary of iToolSoft DVD Ripper

Good, solid DVD copier – lots of conversion options, although a few more that weren’t Apple themed would be nice. Lacks decent instructions but it does its job easily and with a minimum of fuss. And, best of all, it’s free.

Reviewed by David Artiss on 26th October 2010.

Sennheiser have long been favourites of mine – their earphones are my default when I’m work (I can’t use my Creative set due to their noise reduction as I can’t otherwise hear the phone!).

The PX 210 BT are a Bluetooth, cordless pair of on-ear headphones. They also use the apt-X codec technology as well to improve the Bluetooth sound quality – you have to have a matching apt-X transmitter for this to work, though. In this case, I have an iPod apt-X transmitter – Sennheiser also produce an apt-X transmitter that will plug into a standard headphone socket.

In the box, apart from the headphones, are a chargeable battery pack, power supply (including USB cable), audio cable, carry case, hefty “Quick Guide” paper manual (mainly hefty because of the large number of languages that it covers) and a CD (which includes a full instruction manual).

The headphones fold up to a certain extend, allowing them to slip into the supplied carry case. The head band is padded, as are the ear-cups but I found them uncomfortable when worn. Now, my head isn’t small but neither is it gigantic – none-the-less, I had to pull the band to its full length to get them to fit and then, only just.

On the right-hand side of the headphones is a set of controls, allowing you to adjust volume and even move between tracks. Like the Bluetooth light at the bottom, these glow blue when in use. In the centre of these controls is a “master” button that is used for power, pairing, etc. Bizarrely, the Quick Start guide doesn’t make mention of the buttons being used to move between tracks and you have to crack open the CD and read the full manual to find this out.

Pairing with another Bluetooth device is easy. Again, the manual left a lot to be desired when it came to finding out the use of the Bluetooth button on the underside – this flashes blue when Bluetooth is in use, but was obviously a button as it could be pressed in with a nice clicking action. However, its function is hidden away on one page of the CD manual – you can use this to deactivate the Bluetooth function (otherwise it comes on automatically when the headphones are powered on). It’s also one of a number of buttons that are required to perform a full reset of the headphones.

The Bluetooth range is up to 10 metres although the supplied audio cable allows you to connect your headphones if you’re unable to use the wireless option.

The battery can be replaced when required and is charged via a USB cable that connects to a power supply.

So, to the important bit – sound quality. As I’d expected from Sennheiser, they’re superb with good quality sound. And, with apt-X in use, the quality is even better. Music was well rounded, with good levels of bass (without being ridiculous) and audio podcasts were crisp and static free.

However, the comfortability of the headphones were seriously affecting my enjoyment and I really couldn’t settle down with them. And at over £100 (£119.99 was the best I found in stock at iHeadphones) I would have expected better. These are the cheapest of 3 models of Bluetooth headphones that Sennheiser produce – is it the Bluetooth or apt-X that add so much to the expense, as other companies charge similarly?

Summary of Sennheiser PX 210 BT

Great sounding but uncomfortable Bluetooth headphones. I’d recommend trying some first – if you find them comfortable then add an extra star to the rating – but one is lost for the price

Reviewed by David Artiss on 21st October 2010.

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