As mentioned in earlier posts on the Zenfone Zoom, the phone has 3 times optical zoom. The 2 shots below are using just over 2 x optical zoom. Except in the first shot the phone had photo optimisations set to Auto and the second I manually adjusted the settings.
Just to explain a bit further, the camera app settings has an option called optimisation. You can set it on auto, off or manual. By default it’s on auto.
Using manual, you can fine tune the levels of saturation, contrast, sharpness, noise reduction, backlight and detail enhancement.
First shot is in auto mode and auto photo optimisation. Both photos are tighter crops of the original which was using 2 x optical zoom of the pepper dispenser.
So now manual photo optimisation shot again in auto mode.
So which do you prefer ?
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Cultofmac is reporting that Apple Music is shutting down its ad-supported radio as of January 28, pushing Beats 1 as the premier free “broadcast” for Apple. Apple sent the news out in an email to subscribers and free listeners today.
You’ll still be able to listen to all the Apple Music radio as an Apple Music member, but not as a free listener.
Radio is a tab in iTunes under the Music section that had been supported by ads. Apple clearly is moving away from ads, along with ditching it failed iAds program.
Beats 1 will continue to be the free tier of Apple Music.
The simply solution here is to use a FM or DAB Radio or an app like Tunein. Much cheaper solutions too!
The snow arrived last night and through the early hours of the morning up in Princetown, Dartmoor.
So at the crack of dawn I went out and took a number of photos. I decided to use the new Asus Zenfone Zoom smartphone which has 3 x optical zoom, an Apple iPhone 6S Plus and a Sony RX100.
Before sunrise, the worst shots came from the RX100 as the white balance was wrong. The iPhone 6S Plus did a much better job and the Zenfone Zoom just took first place, albeit a very close first place.
Then sunrise started and once again I used all 3 devices. This time the Sony RX100 totally smashed out a corker of a shot. Both the iPhone 6S Plus and Asus Zenfone Zoom took superb photos but once again I preferred the post processed shots from the Zenfone Zoom. Anyway, below are the shots from the Zenfone Zoom at sunrise, with a quick edit in snapseed.
The photos may take a moment to load. Click on each photo to see the full size version.
Here we go. A quick camera comparison of the Apple iPhone 6S Plus versus the Asus Zenfone Zoom.
The photos below are the only shots I took. No second or third attempts and choosing the best one. The weather was turning fast (snow) so it was take the photos as fast as possible.
iPhone 6S Plus – Auto Mode – HDR not used
iPhone 6S Plus – Digital Zoom – Difficult to tell how many times zoom this was but I tried to estimate it to 3 times. Also as you can see it just started snowing again.
Asus Zenfone Zoom – Auto – these shots are after the massive firmware update received last night as as documented in my other post today. Unfortunately it was snowing for the first shot below.
Asus Zenfone Zoom – 3 x optical zoom – so much clearer this shot than the digital zoom from the iPhone. I have done many other optical zoom shots are the quality is much better than using digital zoom from the iPhone.
Asus Zenfone Zoom – Super Resolution mode – all the photos were handheld but I am certain super resolution photos would benefit from a tripod. File size was 12mb.
Asus Zenfone Zoom – HDR mode – One of the good points of the Zenfone Zoom is the Auto mode will suggest an alternative mode eg HDR or Low Light and bring up an icon on screen to allow you to switch immediately without going into the settings and selecting a different camera shooting mode. HDR was not suggested by the Zenfone Zoom. I just wanted to see how it turned out.
Anyone that’s all for today. I just wanted to share some first shots. And remember these were the only shots taken on each phone. One shot, one chance to get it right and all handheld!
So how many of you are starting the New Year with a resolution to lose a few calories.
Well this delicious slice of moist chocolate cake will only set you back 29 calories.
That means a quarter of the entire cake is 58 calories. It’s filling too.
On Twitter I had a lot of comments when I posted a photo of this cake slice and it’s calories that it wasn’t possible to be that low. My wife had baked the cake so I knew she wouldn’t be wrong but what I didn’t know was it was a cake recipe from Nigella Lawson.
Below are ingredients. All credit to Nigella Lawson. Happy baking 😀
– 150 ml regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)
– 50 grams good-quality cocoa powder (sifted)
– 125 ml boiling water
– 2 teaspoons best vanilla extract
– 150 grams ground almonds (or 125g plain flour / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour)
– ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
– 1 pinch of salt
– 200 grams caster sugar
– 3 large eggs
For more information on how to bake this gem, head over to Nigella Lawson.
UPDATE – seems my myfitnesspal has the calories incorrect. Based on my own calculations and thanks to Kev for highlighting as well, it’s more like 400 calories per slice.
The Asus Zenfone Zoom has arrived. This phone is special. It has a 3 x optical zoom lens which operates without any moving external parts. The whole mechanism is internal. See video below.
So what’s inside the box? The photos below show the contents of the box. I like the fact it comes with a lanyard that attaches securely to the phone. You also get a pair of headphones, quick start guide, UK adapter and micro USB cable.
The key specifications are –
The other specifications –
– Display – 5.5-inch 1080p Full HD, 403ppi, IPS LCD
– Corning Gorilla Glass 4
– Processor – 64-bit 2.5GHz Quad-core Intel Atom Z3590 CPU
– Graphics – PowerVR G6430 GPU
– RAM – 4GB LPDDR3
– Internal Storage – 64GB eMCC Flash or 128GB eMCP Flash
– External Storage – microSD (up to 128GB)
– Cameras – Rear – 13MP Panasonic SmartFSI sensor with a 10-element Hoya 3x optical zoom lens, aperture ranges from f/2.7 to f/4.8
– 5MP front-facing camera
– Software – Android 5.1 with ASUS ZenUI
– Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/b/ac
– Bluetooth 4.0+ EDR
– NFC
– micro-USB
– Battery – 3000mAh non-removable Li-Polymer – comes with a rapid charger
– Dimensions – 158.9 x 78.84 x 11.95mm
– Weight – 185g
– Build – aluminium body with a removable leather back cover for accessing the micro SD and Micro SIM slots
So you’re wondering what the picture quality is like. Below are the first shots of the camera. The below photo is taken in HDR mode. Edit – Curse! These were literally the very first shots below, and later on when back home I realised in the camera app settings the picture quality was set on medium, not high. The difference on the high setting is noticeably better.
Let’s zoom in optically 3 times. We now see this.
As the above shot is optically zoomed in it is still possible to crop the photo and still get a crispy crop.
There are a multitude of shooting modes including manual which allows for a 32 second shutter time.
Night mode takes a really dark scene and brightens it up a lot. This was pitch black practically. I have used the night mode on several shots last night and was impressed with the results.
Don’t worry my review will examine the camera in more depth. I will also be preparing a 3 way camera shootout with the iPhone 6S Plus and LG V10.
So starting up the Asus Zenfone Zoom for the first time takes you through a number of sign in pages including redeeming 100gb of Google Drive storage, free for 2 years. About 20 apps needed updating plus another 25 of Asus own apps/ZenUI apps. A 63mb firmware update was available which was for stability updates. After everything had updated I had 55gb free of the 64gb storage. The Asus Zenfone Zoom also has a micro SD card slot. This phone has plenty of space of saving video and photos.
The Asus skin appears to be incredibly customisable. Icons can be resized on the fly and more. I have downloaded and installed a more cleaner theme so far. I ran AnTuTu which produces a score of 59,160.
In terms of design, the Zenfone Zoom is well built and looks great. As a camera phone it has a dedicated 2 stage physical camera button, which also launches the camera. There is another physical button for recording just video. The volume keys act as zoom buttons.
I must admit there is a lot to learn on this phone as Asus provide plenty of extras. The camera app is extensive too with many modes including manual as mentioned above.
So my plan is to test this more throughly at the weekend and next week start posting more thoughts. This should work out quite nicely, as I should be receiving the LG V10 UK version around Tuesday or Wednesday.
LG has dropped its first teaser regarding the LG G5 launch at Mobile World Congress next month.
Really what we need to know, is when will this be available to purchase in the UK and will the UK get treated like poorly with an inferior specification version?
Whatever, the LG G5 is meant to come with an upgraded camera to the LG G4, an improved audio system, build quality and lots more.
Apple Pay made the first big splash into mobile payment acceptance as a mainstream option. Apple Pay offers a quick and easy way to use your compatible iPhone to make a purchase. When everything works, it is as simple as ABC. And it generally works every time.
It fails to work when the cashier hasn’t pressed a button on the till or the amount due is over £30. Lifting the limit for mobile payments over £30 really needs to happen immediately as its the biggest stumbling block for faster adoption. I don’t know the answer, but if you knew you were going to buy £50 in groceries, is it not possible to split the food into 2 transactions of £25 each, thereby getting around the £30 limit? If this is possible, why bother having the £30 limit in the first place.
The UK does not have Android or Samsung Pay yet. It is due to arrive this year and I am predicting for Samsung it will link up with the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S7. Samsung Pay is available in the USA, and in my opinion offers a better solution as the compatible Samsung phones can use both contactless and magnetic terminals, thereby being further accepted at more places instantly. Android Pay is also not available yet in the UK, but it is in the USA, and works similar to the concept used by Apple.
The world needs android pay to take off as most phones work with this operating system. This will push forward conversion across the industry regardless of platform.
So all seems rosy in the world of mobile payments? Not really. LG have thrown their hat in the ring saying they are going to launch their own payments system. Walmart too. Plus there are other large companies looking to provide mobile payment solutions. This is going to get messy as companies fight it out for market share and dominance. What we need is simplification. If its an iPhone you use only Apple Pay. If its an android phone then it should be just android pay and so on.
The problem at the moment is contactless payments like Apple Pay need transactions to include loyalty cards and vouchers. This is where it gets messy. Why should retailers share sensitive data with Apple or Google or Samsung? So what happens, retailers launch their own system so you could end up trying to remember which app you need in which store!
Another complication is that sometimes using for example Apple Pay is not the best solution. Take Wagamamas. MasterCard have an app that Wagamamas use that allows you to order food and drinks from your app. You can order more food during the meal too. And when finished eating, use the app to pay. It gets even better. Lets say you’re a party of 10. All 10 use the MasterCard app to pay for just the items ordered. The process of splitting the food/bill is a breeze. Of course the other benefit is the speed. No more waiting to order your food and drinks. And no more waiting for the bill to arrive. The benefit to the restaurant is a faster turnaround. The MasterCard app can be used by other places too. With its location settings on, it can alert you to a place nearby that accepts the app. There are other options too.
So at the moment, the options for mobile payments is just taking off and is looking like it is going to get messy before its gets refined!
What have been your experiences so far with contactless payments? Have you used another system or app that you would recommend?
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