Introducing Your Baby to New Fruits and Vegetables

When your baby has mastered the very fine purees and simple flavors most often introduced as the first solid foods, it's time to start incorporating new flavors into your baby's diet. When your baby starts to enjoy more variety, it's time to think outside of the box. Get beyond the typical apples and bananas and offer your baby some different and often overlooked fruits and vegetables that offer up tons of nutrition and plenty of flavor.

Avocados. Avocados are an excellent early food for babies. They have a silky, smooth texture that only requires fork mashing, rather than real pureeing. The mild flavor is very often a hit with babies, and avocados are loaded with the good fat that babies need.

Kiwi. Kiwi also has a naturally soft texture so it is easy to mash to the correct consistency for your baby. While kiwis may be a little sour for your baby at first, they are a wonderful source of vitamin C.

Melons. Melons such as cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon are great fruits for your baby to try. Again, they have a naturally soft texture so they are easy to chew. Cantaloupe is packed with vitamins A and C. Honeydew is also a great source of vitamin C and watermelon has lycopene, vitamin C, and vitamin A.

Cherries. Bing cherries, chopped into tiny pieces, are another great fruit for your baby to try. Cherries provide vitamin C and potassium.

Broccoli. Because of the naturally firm texture of broccoli, it is sometimes overlooked as a baby food. Removing the florets and chopping them finely, however, makes broccoli a great vegetable to mix in with another puree such as carrots. Broccoli is a nutritional powerhouse providing vitamin C, fiber, iron, calcium, potassium, and folate. The gassiness that broccoli often gives adults, typically does not translate to babies.

Spinach. Spinach can be pureed alone or mixed with other purees. Because it has a rather strong flavor, your baby may like it better when mixed with something else. Spinach is packed with nutrients including Vitamin A, C, magnesium, folate, and iron.

Summer Squash. Your baby probably already likes butternut or acorn squash, but what about yellow summer squash? This vegetable provides vitamin C and has a mild flavor that many babies love. Just make sure you leave the skin on and chop it very finely.

Corn. Corn too is often overlooked as a vegetable because it is sometimes considered to be a grain. But with vitamin C and fiber, and a naturally sweet taste, corn can be a nice addition to your baby's diet. Be sure your baby is accustomed to chewing before trying smashed corn kernels.

Tomatoes. Tomatoes are acidic so make sure your baby is a little older (8 or 9 months) before incorporating tomatoes into his diet. Chopped tomato makes a great finger food. Tomatoes are full of lycopene, vitamins A and C, and potassium.

When feeding your baby make sure you consider all that your grocery store produce section has to offer, not just the same old fruits and vegetables. Introducing your baby to plenty of new flavors from a young age will help her to be open to new foods for a lifetime, and will give her the ultimate in good nutrition.

McAfee All Access 2012 review

Internet Security (IS) suites are designed to protect your or from malware, hackers and identity theft. Normally they only do this for a PC, leaving other computers, and unguarded. McAfee All Access 2012 covers , , and and . It doesn't currently cover iOS devices, although McAfee has WaveSecure available for those, through Apple's App Store. 

The main PC part of McAfee All Access 2012 is McAfee Total Protection, its conventional IS offering, which includes protection against viruses, spyware, phishing and spam. There's encryption, in the form of a password-protected vault, and anti-bot protection, designed to prevent your computer from being subscribed to a bot-net.

The McAfee All Access 2012 interface is surprisingly mundane, with few buttons, graphs or other graphic furniture. Most options are simple hyperlinks within descriptive text and most status displays are simple counters. It could all look very businesslike, but actually looks a bit amateur.

Local backup has been removed from McAfee All Access 2012, though there is online backup for 'important files', specifically the most important 2GB from each machine covered by your licence, as that's the storage space you get. This should be enough for most people's Documents folders, but not for a system backup.

McAfee QuickClean is not so much a PC tune up as a redundant file remover, which concentrates on temporary files, shortcuts and lost file fragments. It's good to keep you PC running lean, but how much effect this has on system performance or security is debatable.

We scanned our 50GB basket of mixed executables, zips and datafiles and the scanner took one hour 40 minutes to complete the scan, which is pretty quick. The program identified 8,927 files to scan.
Copying a 1GB file between partitions with McAfee Total Protection running in the background took 49 seconds, as opposed to 16 seconds on a bare Windows installation and 1 minute 7 seconds with a McAfee scan running alongside. The software does hit the performance of a PC, but not by as much as some rival suites.

The independent testing lab, AV-Test, gave McAfee All Access 2012, the PC part of the suite, an overall score of 10.0, and didn't certify the program. This was mainly due to the low 'Repair' score of 2.0/6.0; Repair shows how well the software can remove existing malware, including rootkits, from a system.

The security software available on phones and tablets is a subset of the PC suite. For example, on an Android phone it comprises data and privacy protection and parental web filtering. We tried it on a Samsung Galaxy Mini and successfully installed and scanned the phone for malware. The Android version also offered online personal data backup, a secure lock down and a remote data wipe. You must assign between one and nine 'buddies', who will be informed if the phone is stolen and a new SIM fitted.

The single-PC licence, at £75, looks expensive, although it can be used on any combination of PCs, tablets, notebooks and smartphones up to 15 devices. But even if you have both a phone and tablet to cover, in addition to your PC you'd have to utilise the product on multiple devices before it starts making financial sense when compared against other products.

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Dataviz Docs To Go - Office Suite review

Docs To Go will be familiar to users as the office suite found on and the . RIM now owns the company behind it, and has started rolling out versions for other platforms including and .

The suite is the closest thing we’ve found to a complete office productivity package. On the version you need to log in to your Google Docs account once Docs To Go is installed and can then view and edit items stored there or in your email. These are listed alphabetically by default, by it’s a singleclick to change this to view by most recently edited. The spreadsheet we tried opened fine with formatting preserved (which we can’t say of our ). Clicking on a cell followed by the options menu at the bottom brought up options for insert function, rows, autosum or a cell comment.  

New documents can also be composed, though composition options here are limited and saving is only to Office 2004 versions. It’s easy enough to select a specific cell to enter data in Sheet To Go, but you then need to manually bring up the menu list and choose an option before the onscreen first appears.

You can also open documents stored on an SD card inserted into the tablet. Documents are saved to either SD card or Google Docs. Both Google Docs and Docs To Go were caught out by our having attached more than one document to an email we sent to our Gmail account, though.

We were also surprised to find that nothing appeared in our recently viewed folder even after we’d viewed, composed and edited several items. Viewing text documents is a plain vanilla experience, with text filling the full width of the screen and displayed rather small by default. You can pinch to zoom in, but the copy doesn’t reflow.

The version costs £6.99 for the Docs To Go Office Suite, while a Premium version costs £11.99. Both open, view and let you edit Word and Excel documents or other third-party word processing and spreadsheet documents  (under the guise of Sheet To Go and Word To Go) and offer an accompanying desktop app with which it synchronises. The Premium version adds Slideshow To Go and Cloud synchronisation.

• See Best iPhone apps
• See Best Android apps

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How to transfer photos from computer to iPhone the easy way: use iCloud Control Panel and My Photo Stream

It's possible to upload photos from your PC to your iPhone or iPad - or iPod touch - and the easiest way to do this is to use iCloud. Here we'll explain how to do it.

The typical way to use iCloud is to let it automatically sync photos from your or iPad to your computer, using what Apple calls Photo Stream. Photo Stream holds the last 1,000 photos, but once photos are in the Photo Stream folder within My Pictures on your PC or laptop they aren't deleted, so it's a great way to automatically back up photos from your iOS device without connecting it via a cable to your computer.

However, you can also use the Photo Stream folder along with iCloud Control Panel to send photos from your PC to your iOS device.

In order to use iCloud on Windows, you'll need a piece of software from Apple. Here's

Confusingly, there are two different versions of iCloud Control Panel. If you're running Windows Vista with Service Pack 2, download. If you have Windows 7 or 8, you need the .

When set up, every time you take a photo on your iPhone or iPad, it will be saved to your Photo Stream and uploaded to iCloud, then downloaded to your computer the next time you turn it on.

How to upload photos from your PC to your iPhone

There are  but here we're going to do it using iCloud Control Panel and the Uploads folder within the Photo Stream folder.

Note that if you merely want to import photos from your digital camera without using a computer, you can buy Apple's Camera Connection Kit if your device has the older 30-pin connector, or the Lightning to SD Camera Reader if it has the new dock connector.

(This tutorial assumes you've already installed and configured iCloud Control Panel for Windows as mentioned above)

Step 1. On your computer, open an Explorer window and navigate to the folder in which the pictures you want are stored. Select those you want, right-click on them and choose Copy.

Step 2. Navigate to the Pictures folder (My Pictures in Windows Vista). Find the Photo Stream folder which is created when you install the iCloud Control Panel, and double-click to view its contents. (Don't click on the Photo Stream shortcut in the Windows Explorer Favourites list as you can't get to the Uploads folder this way.)

Step 3. Open the Uploads folder within Photo Stream, right-click and Paste your copied photos into this folder.

Step 4. Your photos will appear in your Photo Stream (within the Photos app) on your iPhone shortly. The Photo Stream is ordered by the date on which the photos were taken, so they may not be easy to find if you already have the maximum of 1,000 pictures in your stream. However, you may find that Windows gives the pasted files today's date, in which case the photos will be at the end of your Photo Stream.

The images below show iOS 6 on the left and iOS 7 on the right. In iOS 7, Photo Stream is called My Photo Stream and is within the Albums section at the bottom.

Photos you upload this way can be JPEG, TIFF, PNG and most RAW camera formats.

A common source of confusion is that Photo Stream does not support videos, so you can't upload videos to your iPhone or iPad this way. To add videos to your Camera Roll, use iTunes and sync them using the Photos tab (be sure to tick the Include videos box), or install an app which allows you to add files via File Sharing in iTunes.

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Motorola Moto G 2014 review: the benchmark budget smartphone gets a 5in screen but loses 4G

No sooner than Motorola , there’s another update: the Moto G. That’s right – a completely new with the same name. Confusing, much.

The second-generation Moto G, which we predicted would be called the Moto G2, is easier to find online by searching for its part code: XT1068. Visually, though, the 2014 model is easy to tell apart from the original (and revised 4G version) thanks to the prominent front-facing speakers and larger 5in screen.

UPDATE: The new Moto G will officially go on sale on 15th September, and you'll be able to buy it from various places SIM-free, including , where you can pre-order it now.

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: price

The new Moto G costs £149.99, and that's for the 8GB version, which is all you'll be able to buy in the UK. Motorola is now selling the smartphone directly, and it isn't much more expensive than the revised 4G Moto G, which you can pick up (in 8GB format) for £130. We're sure that discounts will be available soon from other retailers.

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: design and build

The new Moto G addresses feedback Motorola received from the original and has a bigger screen, better speakers and dual SIM card slots. Unfortunately, support for 4G has been dropped, so this phone is limited to 3G.

Design-wise, the new Moto G follows the original almost exactly. There’s no metal and no disguising the plastic finish: it feels cheap compared to the plastic . However, let’s not forget the massive chasm in price between the two smartphones.

Buttons and ports are in the same places, and the back is removable to reveal both SIM slots and the microSD slot (which will accept cards up to 32GB).

It’s bigger than its predecessor in width and height, but not in depth – it remains the same at roughly 11mm. Weight is practically the same, too, at a shade under 150g. The handset is well balanced and feels lighter than you’d expect.

There are two colours: black and white, and you can for £10.99 in the following colours: Chalk, Black, Violet, Spearmint, Raspberry, Royal Blue, Turquoise and Lemon Lime.

Flip shells have a magnetic front cover  which turns the Moto G on and off when you open and close it. These cost £22.49 and come in Chalk, Black, Royal Blue, Turquoise, Lemon Lime and Cherry.

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: screen

The smartphone isn’t much bigger overall, but the 5in IPS display feels like a nice upgrade over the 4.5in of the original. Even so, it’s a tiny bit disappointing that the resolution is still 1280x720, meaning a drop in density to 294ppi (compared to 329ppi).

It’s still a great screen, though, with vivid colours and great viewing angles. Brightness is decent enough, but not the brightest around.

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: hardware and performance

Oddly, there’s no upgrade in the processor department. The Snapdragon 400 quad-core chip runs at 1.2GHz and has the Adreno 305 graphics processor. That means performance is the same, which is to say it’s very good, especially at this low price.

In Geekbench 3, we saw an average score of 340 (single-core) and 1144 (multi-core). These are practically identical to the original Moto G's scores, which were 334 and 1168 respectively.

In GFXbench 3, the Moto G returned 11 frames per second in the T-rex test, exactly the same as the old model - no surprises there.

Web browsing performance is measured using Sunspider 1.0.2, in which the new Moto G managed an average of 1526ms, marginally slower than the original at 1504ms.

In the UK, the new Moto G will be available in 8GB and 16GB versions, and both will have dual SIM slots. The bad news is that 4G is not supported. If you need faster mobile internet, you'll have to either go for the the revised first-gen Moto G or look elsewhere entirely.

The handset has the basic specs you'd expect elsewhere: 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. Note that the Wi-Fi is at least dual-band, so will work with dual-band routers that support 5GHz as well as 2.4GHz.

Compared to the single rear-facing speaker of the original Moto G, the new front-facing speakers are superb. Just like HTC’s BoomSound, the second-generation Moto G’s sound is excellent. There’s no need to turn up the volume so much – and annoy people sitting opposite you – since the audio is directed straight at your ears.

They’re not great for music, but when playing games and watching videos on YouTube or iPlayer, you’ll really appreciate both the stereo separation and the decent quality.

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: cameras

The good news is that the mediocre cameras have been upgraded, with an 8Mp sensor at the rear, and 2Mp at the front. There’s an LED flash at the back, as before (the old Moto G is on the right with a red rear shell).

The bad news is that video is still shot at only 720p, which is strange as 8Mp is more than enough for 1080p.

You can check out the quality for yourself, but suffice to say, the photos are a lot better than the videos. One slight disappointment is that the images from our test Moto G weren't sharp to the edges of the frame. For the most part, you won't notice this, but when you zoom in on photos, it's easy to spot. We'll test a second phone to see if it's just our sample or not.

Instead of using Google’s own camera app, you get Motorola’s. It’s easy to use and includes panorama and HDR modes. You can tap to focus and tap and hold to take photos in burst mode

The HDR mode can be set to auto, on or off. It makes a huge difference in the right circumstances – it’s easy to see the improvement in the photo on the right below.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the app defaults to 16:9 photos, which crops the top and bottom and uses only 6Mp of the sensor's resolution. If you want the full 8Mp, switch to 4:3 mode which gives you those missing top and bottom sections. You can see the crop in action in the comparison below: you can see the spires on St Pancras in the full-resolution, uncropped photo.

This is 16:9:

And here's the full 8Mp, 4:3 image:

Video, as shown in the clip below, lacks detail even considering the 720p limit. It’s not as jerky as some smartphones we’ve tested recently, but there’s no optical stabilisation either.

Audio is recorded in stereo and is usable enough. If you want to have a bit of fun, there’s a slo-mo video mode which also records in 720p. It’s best to hold the phone still rather than moving it about in this mode, though, as you’ll get jerky footage otherwise.

Here's how the old and new Moto G compare. First the old version (click to enlarge)

And this is the new, second-generation Moto G (note the wider-angle lens as well)

Here's what the original Moto G photo looks like at 100 per cent:

And the new Moto G:

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: software

One of the benefits of buying a Motorola smartphone is that you essentially get plain Android. There’s already a guarantee of an upgrade to Android L when it launches, but it ships with KitKat 4.4.4.

Given the lack of any overlays or customisations, there isn’t too much to talk about. One point worth noting is that there are no hardware or touch-sensitive buttons - the usual Android trio are on screen and you have to swipe to display them in certain apps, such as when using the camera.

You do get Motorola’s useful app Migrate, which helps transfer all your stuff from an old Android smartphone, or an iPhone. Plus, you also get Motorola’s Assist app which can automatically detect when you’re driving and read out incoming text messages. Using Google Now you can even dictate a reply without touching the phone. Assist also has a sleep mode which silences the phone between 'quiet hours' that you set, a Meeting mode which uses your calendar to work out when to keep quiet and a 'Home' mode which will read out text messages so you don't have to pick up the phone. 

If you’re considering the new Moto G for its dual-SIM slots, bear in mind that the old model was also available with two slots – if you can find one.

The benefit of this new version is that it's very easy to switch between SIMs, and an Intelligent Calling feature will learn which numbers you call from each SIM and automatically switch to the appropriate SIM. You can manually select the SIM to use, but pop-ups will offer messages such as "You called this number on the other SIM last time. Do you want to switch?".

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: battery life

We've now had a few days to properly test out the Moto G's battery life. The good news is that it's pretty good. With light use, it lasted exactly two days before demanding a recharge. That light use involved around an hour of watching YouTube, an hour of web browsing, several phone calls and some emails.

Motorola Moto G (2014) review: bottom line

With a bigger screen, much better speakers and improved cameras, the new Moto G is a great . However, the lack of 4G, no processor upgrade nor a boost in screen resolution means it's arguably not as good value as the original Moto G was when it launched. That's also because the new Moto G has considerably tougher competition to deal with. There are cheaper options if your budget won't stretch this far, but if you're specifically looking for a budget dual-SIM Android phone, it's a good choice. If you absolutely need 4G, then the revised first-generation Moto G is still a worthy contender.

Also read:

Motorola Moto G (2014) | FindTheBest

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