Sony’s long-awaited response to the Nintedo Wii remote has finally arrived in New Zealand, after many long months of waiting.

The Sony PlayStation Move can be used to play games that involve sports and other movements. It’s expected that up to 30 games will offer support for the Move by this time next year.

The devices uses accelerometers, gyrometers and magnetometers to track the user’s movement. The coloured bulb on the end of the Move also works with the PlayStation Eye to further refine accuracy and responsiveness.

The colour of the bulb can be customised by game developers and the shade can even change to better communicate with the PlayStation Eye - for example, if you’re playing in a room with blue furnishings, the shade will change to something different. Up to four Move controllers can be used with the Sony PlayStation 3 at one time.

As well as motion control, Sony has also equipped the Move with the typical physical buttons for gameplay as well as a trigger button on the bottom plus the PS Home button. Physically, it’s comfortable to hold and play with - something of a must if you’re given to gaming for long stretches of time.

Also excellent is the Move’s motion control capabilities, which are arguably better than that of its Nintendo rival. Unfortunately, the package is let down by the small selection of game titles available on launch, although as mentioned above, this is expected to increase in the coming months.

I’m a big fan when it comes to browsing overseas fashion sites! That’s not to say I don’t love the New Zealand fashion and the talented designers we are lucky to have, but it is great to be able to purchase something from ASOS or My Catwalk and know that you probably won’t run into someone wearing the same dress or outfit that you are wearing.

There are a lot of fashion sites that I get frustrated with, knowing that they don’t ship to New Zealand, especially when I find something that I absolutely love. GAP is one of those sites, so you can imagine my excitement when I found out they have just launched international shipping to NZ.

I adore GAP, I think they have some great casual clothes, as well as work attire, and some pretty dresses and for two days only they have 25% off their collection, so make sure you have a look at their online range, and remember they now ship to NZ. Try and place a bulk order with some girl friends to ease the shipping costs, and you will have a new wardrobe that no one else will have!

http://www.gap.com/

Wow, do we have a competition for you!  With Christmas just around the corner, Lasoo is giving you the chance to win a $10,000 shopping spree for you and a friend.

To win, all you have to do is sign up to the Lasoo weekly newsletters, or if you are already a member refer a friend, and you both go in the draw to win.

Not only that, but we will be giving away weekly spot prizes to all new members, and those existing members that have referred us on to their friends.

You can start planning what you will spend your $10,000 on now by creating your very own Christmas wishlist on Lasoo.  To do this click here.

So what are you waiting for, get referring those friends and you and your friend could have $10,000 to spend on yourselves or your loved ones this Christmas.

A little while ago I made the move from a PC Laptop to the new 13” MacBook Pro. I had decided a Mac would be better suited to what I required out of a computer so I bravely made the jump. Much to the (very vocal) dismay of my staunchly loyal to PC friends and family.

I have always used PC so it took a little while to get familiar with the new shortcuts, applications, placement and the old favourite, the right click option on my mouse. The trackpad is easy to use with a good reaction speed and being that the whole pad is your clicker it makes moving around quick and effortless. There are numerous clever shortcuts available to enable or set up using the trackpad to make moving around your MacBook easy.

I am away from home a lot and needing my computer with me for a large portion of my life I was pleased with my MacBook Pro being light in weight with an impressive battery life — up to 10 hours — without adding an ounce to the slim MacBook Pro.

And it is quiet. No creaking as it struggles to run programs or load up a DVD, no noisy fans whirring.

I was and still am impressed with my MacBook Pro’s speed and reaction time to commands. I tell it to do something and it does it, no thinking time.

My reasoning for the switch was I believed the graphics were better suited to my hobby of photography and web design and I have not been disappointed. The 13-inch MacBook Pro features the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics processor with 48 processing cores — three times as many as before. The result? The fastest integrated graphics on the market and a performance boost of up to 80 percent over the previous generation. And everything is a pleasure to look at on my MacBook’s screen. Everything is bright, crisp and detailed. The only downside with this is my photos tend to look a little duller on any other computer screen which can be frustrating when I am sharing them with friends online as I want them to be able to see them how I can.

Once you get your head around the small changes to moving your way around the system and the extra ‘Command’ button I’m sure you, as I have, will find it a delight to use and manoeuvre. I am still finding new things that impress me and I don’t doubt I will continue to find more as I get to know my 13” MacBook Pro.

Find cheap MacBook Pro’s in New Zealand

To spend or to save? That is the almighty question!

Arghhhhhhh it seems to be that time of year where sales are popping up everywhere, a great thing for those that love to shop, a not so great thing for those who love to shop, but are trying to save!

When I say to myself at the start of the week, ok so I am not purchasing any item of clothing for the next month with the aim of saving hard, of course I have to receive an email informing me of a huge mid season sale starting at Country Road this coming Thursday, with up to 50% off selected items.

How can I refuse an offer like that? Well I am going to try very hard, but I do love the clothes Country Road always has to offer, I struggle to turn down a purchase there when their clothes are full price, so I hate to think what I will be like when I see sale signs lighting up my eyes.

The Country Road mid-season sale starts at 8am this Thursday 26th September, so make sure you get in quick to grab a bargain before everyone else joins the rush. Hopefully you won’t see me there!

There are several types of printers available on the market and it can be confusing to determine which one is best for your needs. Our printer buying guide is here to explain the different types.

Laser printers
Laser is one of the oldest computer printer technologies and is still popular with many segments of the market - laser printers tend to offer fast print speeds and good value-for-money. Most laser printers are black-and-white only, so are best for printing large amounts of text only. Colour laser printers are available but they tend to be very expensive.
Laser printers are best for anyone who wants to print out large amounts of simple text and doesn’t require colour printouts or photos. For example someone working from home could get by with a personal laser printer, while small offices often use workgroup laser printers.

Brother laser printers are some of the best on the New Zealand market.

Inkjet printers
Inkjet printers are generally the most versatile for home use and produce acceptable results for both text and colour photo prints. On the downside, inkjet printers are slower than laser printers and the colour cartridges can be costly to replace. You can also buy specialist photo inkjet printers.
Inkjet printers are best for general light-to-moderate home usage.

Canon Pixma printers are a preferred brand.

Photo printers
As the name suggests, photo printers are required for anyone who prints out a lot of photos from their digital camera - more than what the average inkjet can handle. Photo printers produce prints of near-professional quality and can often be directly connected to the digital camera to start printing.
Some dedicated photo printers use inkjet technology, but the vast majority use a process called dye-sublimation to produce these higher-quality results.
If you’re considering a dedicated photo printer, you should take a look at the HP PhotoSmart range.

Multifunction printers
Multifunction printers are known by nearly as many names as they have uses - you’ll also see them referred to as MFPs, multifunction devices (MFDs) and all-in-ones.
Once again, the name gives it away - all-in-one printer can often print, scan, photocopy and even fax. You can buy either a laser all-in-one or inkjet all-in-one, depending on how you plan to use it.

Because of their comprehensive functionality and cost efficiency, multifunction printers are favoured by people who work from home and can even be suitable for small businesses.
Once again, Brother, Canon and HP all make excellent multifunction printers.

Portable printers
Last but not least, portable printers are compact and designed for people who travel a lot - especially anyone who travels for work. Because these printers are small and light, you will be making sacrifices somewhat in terms of image quality.
Most portable printers are of the basic colour inkjet variety and tend to be expensive when you consider the quality of print on offer.

The Canon Pixma iP2700, as pictured here, is one portable printer you might like to consider.

Taking a cue from the iPhone, Samsung has launched its next Google Android phone, which has also been christened with the letter S.

The Samsung Galaxy S is the second Google Android phone in the manufacturer’s stable, and it’s an impressive contender.

It runs the latest 2.1 Android operating system, which in itself is a massive step up from the existing Samsung Android phone, the Galaxy Icon. It’s powered by a 1GHz processor, which will offer significant performance benefits, especially when it comes to speed.

Yet another tick for the Samsung Galaxy S comes in the form of the 4-inch Super AMOLED WVGA display, which is one of the most impressive on the market. Combine this with the 5-megapixel with HD recording (720p) and you have some impressive multimedia functionality.

Getting around the handset was a fairly simple affair with the Galaxy S boasting a better layout than its predecessor, with key functions displayed as icons that can be rearranged to suit the user.

Another feature is voice recognition for dialling out or activating Google search, neither of which was foolproof, but still fun to play around with.

The Samsung Galaxy S can be bought outright for $999.

After hours and hours of shopping in lingerie shops for a bra that would suit my new backless dress I was beginning to give up hope of ever wearing the dress, until a friend suggested the Abracadabra Light Self Adhesive Bra to me.

My initial thoughts were how could a backless, strapless bra possibly stay on for one thing and two; give me the support I need? Well let me tell you, it not only does both of these, but truly is a god send to all women searching for that perfect bra to go with any occasion.

The Abracadabra is a light self-adhesive bra, which uses skin-friendly gel to stick to you. It’s not overly padded so still looks natural on and feels like your wearing any normal bra. The only difference is it has no straps or back so it’s the perfect solution for those tops and dresses you never wear because you hate going bra-less!

At first glance, you think this bra won’t last long seeing as it needs to stick to your skin, but this product is completely washable and reusable. This wonder bra truly lives up to its label and was a saving grace from what could have been a near fatal fashion disaster.

The Abracadabra comes in nude, black and white and cup sizes A – D, with a recommended retail of $59.95. Head to your nearest Farmers or Bendon Lingerie Stores to pick one up, and visit http://www.abracadabra.co.nz/ for more information. Visit www.facebook.com/abracadabrastyle to win a piece from Abracadabra range.

Have you ever brought a bright shade of lipstick that you through was trendy at the time, but have never worn since, or realised you have brought the wrong shade of foundation after not bothering to try it on. Well, I have, and lucky for me the great people at Amcal have launched the 2010 Amcal and Unichem Make-up Amnesty after discovering that many people like me have made the same mistake.

It’s the perfect chance to trade in your old, unwanted, unfavourable, unfashionable or even expired cosmetics for some gorgeous new Revlon products at 20% off.

As part of this they also have a website set up that lets you ask make up experts for advise on all things make up, plus confess your makeup sins on the website and you could be in to win one of five $250 Revlon packs, this site is definitely worth checking out.

With all the hype surrounding the iPhone it’s easy to forget that Apple makes other products too.

But there was life before the iPhone - remember when the world fell in love with the iPod? And the latest generation Apple iPod Nano proves that the manufacturer can still wow us with its flagship MP3 player.

The most obvious difference comes in terms of appearance. The sixth-generation Nano is far more compact than its predecessors - in fact, on first sighting it, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s an iPod Shuffle. It weighs in at just over 20g and can clip onto your clothing, which is handy for when you’re exercising.

Despite the smaller size, Apple has fitted out the new Nano with a 1.54-inch TFT screen with 240×240 pixel resolution. You can change the screen orientation by using the multi-touch controls.

However when you shrink a product this much, something has to give, so Apple has removed the video camera from the fifth generation Nano. Thankfully, other features such as FM radio, voice over and pedometer are all still there.

The sixth-generation Apple iPod Nano sells for $249 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model.