All posts by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

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About Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

President, CEO & Editor of https://gavinsgadgets.com Reviews & News of Technology

Why I bought an iPhone instead of a Samsung Note 5/S6 Edge Plus

Android, Apple, Tech News,

There are many reasons for buying a phone. It could be you prefer iOS, android or windows phone. It could be a set of features or an app or a game. But one factor I really think that is more important to factor in is the commitment to software updates, especially when you are buying flagship devices that cost a lot of money.

Above is a statement from Samsung confirming it is not updating their top of the line tablet. Personally, I think that this is disgraceful. It is a worrying trend by Samsung too as it has left out features on the Galaxy S6/ Edge that it included with the S6 Edge Plus. Both of these devices are current flagships, but the S6 Edge Plus is slightly newer and for example has camera software that provides better manual options. These could easily be implemented into the S6 at the same time as the larger Plus version arrived, but alas Samsung has failed to deliver. Another worrying trend was the Note 5 not being sold by Samsung in Europe. Let me be clear on one fact before I continue, all of these flagship phones from Samsung are absolutely excellent phones.

However, if you are buying a flagship phone, you will have this for at least 2 years, unless you are lucky enough to be able to upgrade earlier. My worry was what support will Samsung be offering 2 years down the line when they are already cutting back on costs and chopping their workforce numbers. Whilst I am mentioning Samsung specifically, this could easily be any other company.

On the flip side is Apple, who generally provide 3 years worth of software updates. This in turn provided me with comfort that 3 years down the line, my iPhone 6S Plus will still have the latest version of iOS and be updated the same day along with all the other iOS devices. Hence my reasons for choosing Apple.

O2 and EE to block adverts – Editorial

Tech News,

“According to Businessinsider O2 is at advanced stages to actively implement using technology that can block mobile ads at a network-level before they even get served. In addition, the company is considering whether to offer customers easy access to ad blocking apps and browser extensions. O2 is also working with advertisers to improve the standard of mobile advertising.”

O2 is not alone. EE have stated they are looking to block adverts. Is this a good or bad thing?

The positives will be a faster web browsing experience and less battery drain caused by adverts. However, I have noticed that with some ad blockers web sites do not run properly. Personally, I do not use any ad blocker, except on two websites where they take the biscuit for over indulgent adverts.

If O2/EE block the adverts, how will good quality websites that rely totally on the advertising income survive? I can tell you know, people will not want to pay to access information. If O2/EE control the adverts, what right do the have to decide what we see and don’t see? Are they really doing this to act as the gatekeeper and charge advertisers a fee to pass through their filters?

This seems more about taking a cut of the advertising revenue than reducing bandwidth and or improving the customer experience.

What are your views?

iPad Pro – To Europe and Back – Another viewpoint

Apple, Reviews, Tech News,

TecnhnoBuffalo took up a challenge. One of their writers went on a week’s trip to Europe with just the iPad Pro and Apple Keyboard, instead of a laptop. I will share my opinions of their experience after the video.

Size matters. One of the difficulties of using the iPad whilst travelling was its size. On the plane it was so big it got in the way. Relaxing in bed it was too heavy to hold like you would the iPad Air or Mini. Both these situations affected me.

The flip side was the large screen is superb for media consumption along with the strong battery life. However, more work related stuff does get compromised.

I thought the criticism of the Apple Keyboard was unfair. I found it really fast and operations like going to the home screen can be achieved with simply command key operations. In fact, holding down the command key for a few seconds in every app reveals all the shortcuts. Tweetbot has loads of shortcuts!

As I have said before, the Apple Pro is an excellent piece of hardware, if it fits what you need it to do. One of my favourite iOS app, Reeder, just received a big update, most importantly it now supports the iPad Pro properly. However, this is only the 3rd app I have seen updated since the iPad Pro’s launch that I use that has been specifically updated for the iPad Pro.

One week later – Mike airs his current views on the iPad Pro

Apple, Reviews, Tech News,

Regular reader Mike Patterson added a detailed comment to my post yesterday “downsizing from the iPad Pro to the iPad Mini 4” airing his current views on his iPad Pro after just over a week. 

…………………………

“Well I have until 20th January 2016 to decide whether or not to keep the Pro. If you had asked me earlier I would have said “it’s a keeper”. However, what with the issues I am having:-

1. It continually dies after each full recharge ~ this is EVERY SINGLE BL**DY TIME.

2. I am STILL waiting for my online order of the iPencil to change from being Processed to Shipped ~ getting on for two weeks now and no point in walking into my nearest Apple Store….. All this yet in the US where they too have similar online issues Apple have been selling more accessories to Best Buy and Staples than what goes into their own stores.

It’s infuriating, you go into an Apple Store and the answer is “Nope, none in”, yet go into Best Buy or Staples and walk out with one under your arm. Online orders… what a joke. Whatever happened to get up early, place your order and you are now at the top of the delivery system.

What has happened to Apple? I remember when they used to be customer first where other companies were envious of the way they managed to get hardware out on day one to everyone……. Now all they have become is another second rate shipper.

3. Apple should have looked at iOS on the Pro ~ All that wasted space on the Home screens. It needs a rework.

4. Lack of Apps that fully utilise the Pro ~ This I am laying the blame firmly at Apple. For Apps to take full and complete advantage of the pro (not just the screen size but the extra RAM, Processor Speed, etc. etc) requires developers to place a lot of time and effort. Problem is these Apps can not be treated like your normal iOS App. They work similar to OS X and as such would warrant OS X prices. But there’s the rub, users of the Pro are in a mindset this is just another tablet and basically it isn’t. So even before developers start there is a problem.

To counteract this developers would like to offer free trials so that you can test the software before making a huge in iOS terms payment commitment……. But no, Apple will simply not allow software to be released in this manner. They are stopping the development of these type of Apps.

It’s not too bad if you are a big company like Adobe where you can afford to place a team of highly paid developers to build your Pro software. They can run at a big loss and charge a high price at the end……. But for your average one man developer, he/she doesn’t stand a chance.

4. There’s bound to be a number four and a five and a six…… but I just can not be bothered to stay here and write them down.
Apple you enticed me in, you made me fall in love with your whole expensive system of design, management, delivery and performance.

Now you leave us frustrated, short changed and angry.

So many areas of errors and anomalies yet nothing in return of apologies or reasons. And let’s not mention iCloud failures.”

Podcast Guest Appearances – Phones Show Chat & One More Thing Audio Podcasts

Tech News, , ,

I was a guest on a couple of podcasts over the weekend.

The Phones Show Chat Episode 318 starred Steve Litchfield and Ted Salmon, along with myself and Stephen Quinn as guests. This recording was really good with Ted highlighting his thoughts on the OnePlus X and tons more from everyone.

In addition, I was also a guest on One More Thing Audio Episode 10. David Rich and I discussed my views on the iPad Pro (like the good old days!) and then Jason and David continue with their Apple banter.

Downsizing from the iPad Pro to iPad Mini 4

Apple, Reviews, Tech News

Boom. It’s all change. 

The iPad Pro was neatly packaged up yesterday and returned to Apple along with the accessories and instead, I now have an iPad Mini 4. 
In the end it was a simple decision to make whether I kept the iPad Pro, and it boiled down to the fact that the iPad Pro was just too large and heavy for my armchair browsing and gaming. The iPad Pro is a marvellous piece of kit but more at home on a table than anywhere else. 

But why the Mini 4 instead of the Air 2. I have an iPad Air which work provide so I am familiar with the benefits of the processor and screen canvas. The Mini 4 appealed to me as even with a Smart Cover and smart case attached, it is very light and slim. 

In fact I am on my sofa typing this on the Mini 4 in portrait mode using the split keyboard layout with two thumbs and my typing speed is just fine. 

Setting up the iPad I decided to restore from an iCloud backup but at first this was not possible. The iPad had to have a software update to iOS 9.1. Then I had to hard reset and start the setup process again. Setting up a new iPad even using an iCloud backup is quite a lengthy and complex process. No wonder they have in store setup counters. After the iCloud backup had done the first part of the restore it reboots once. And that was as far as I got for 4 hours. I hadn’t waited to restore fully but Apple staff did mention it might go into a reboot loop and if this happened I would need to put the iPad into recovery mode and connect to iTunes and reinstall the firmware. So it just works !!

So 4 hours later I figured the apple logo was going to go away. So I did a warm reset and fortunately the iCloud restore continued. All my apps and  games downloaded and then it was time to add my photos and music. I then entered all my user names and passwords across all my apps. This caused another issue. Several apps (about 30%) refused to load and quit straight away. This was only resolved by deleting and reinstalling it.  Since then I have discovered that when playing a game for the first time, it is telling me my cloud (iCloud) backup file is corrupt. The recommended course is to delete it and lose all my game play and start again.

I am not alone with iCloud issues. When I got my iPhone 6S Plus I had terrible issues uploading photos and music to iCloud. I put part of these issues down to my slow internet upload speed. However, I am aware of several people with quite severe iCloud issues. I do wonder if Apple has suffered some huge failure of the iCloud, maybe a hack attack and is desperately on the quiet trying to repair or fix it. All I can definitely state, it most certainly does not work properly for me. I am tempted to reinstall every app over time, just to make sure everything works in the longer term.

Next I was confused why text messages were not arriving on my iPad from my iPhone. A quick google and back into settings, messages, text forwarding and hit the toggle on button. I don’t understand why Apple hide this setting and don’t ask if text forwarding is required during the initial setup. 

I have connected my Bluetooth Plantronics Backbeat Pro headphones to the Mini 4 and they sound divine with the iPad. 

When the first Mini arrived I had one but the difference from the original iPad Mini to the retina Mini 4 is huge. Text is really crisp and typing in portrait mode using the on screen keyboard is so easy, even whilst relaxing on the sofa. 

Anyway, I’m much happier with this size of iPad. I prefer it over the Air size. 

Amazon’s Black Friday Week of Deals – Today’s Top Picks – Details

Amazon

Amazon has a week of deals leading up to Black Friday and then Cyber Monday. If its anything like last year, the best deals appeared before Black Friday itself and it sure is looking like the same early deals have started again. This post will get updated regularly so do pop back.

Anyway here are the best deals I have found for today so far –

ASUS Transformer Book 10.1-inch Convertible Laptop Intel Z3735 1.33GHz, 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC, Windows 8.1 with Free Windows 10 Upgrade 49% OFF Deal of the Day NOW £149.99

Withings Activité Pop Smart Watch and Activity Tracker 37% off NOW £74.99 various colours

Motorola Moto X Play UK SIM-Free Smartphone – Black – DEAL OF THE DAY – 27% off – NOW JUST £199.99

Fire HDX 8.9, 8.9″ HDX Display, Wi-Fi and 4G, 32 GB – Includes Special Offers – 41% off NOW £259.99

MASSIVE Sennheiser Headphones discounts across the entire RANGE – Click Here

What makes the iPad Pro special? Is it really class leading? And worth £1,000? YES!

Apple, Reviews, Tech News, ,

 

I have written several posts discussing some of my concerns regarding the iPad Pro but today I am going to tell you why it’s a bargain at £1,000.   

The iPad Pro comes with a really large canvas screen with iOS 9 multitasking options that do work really well. The Apple Keyboard shown in the above photos with the Apple Pencil is fantastic. It is so slim, fast and light that you can leave it attached all the time. 

And then comes the Apple Pencil that is getting around 12 hours battery usage from one charge. And in a clever Apple way, if you run short while drawing, just stick it into the iPad Pro for a quick 10 min charge. It may look cumbersome back actually its clever.  
 
The iPad Pro is the only iPad that allows for proper on screen drawing using the Apple Pencil and it is by far the best pencil/stylus available. The options are endless and only hindered by your own creativity. As a quick mockup, I used Adobe Sketch to import a photo and add some triangles, use the pen to add notes and the pencil too. But there are plenty other third party apps and Apple’s own Notes app that all use the Apple Pencil. And the options are endless with the Apple Pencil from drawings, sketches and one of the best note taking tools. 

So when you add everything together, with an astonishing solid 10 hours battery life from the iPad Pro, excellent loudspeakers which negate the need for a bluetooth speaker and all and all you have one powerful productivity and media consumption device that actually represents a new class of category of device. 

The issue becomes that at its price point it is invading other categories so one has to be very clear if this iPad is for you. For me personally, it is both marvellous and at time frustrating over little annoyances. It is too big in my opinion for browsing and playing games on the sofa, which is also compounded by its heavier weight. But listening to podcasts or watching films is epic. I also have the Steelstratus Nimbus MFI game controller and with the iPad Pro on a table playing games turns it into a new experience aided by the larger screen and 4 loudspeakers.  The full size Apple Keyboard cover works so well, and this whole post was typed on it. But I am left with a painful decision whether the iPad Pro stays or goes. At the moment, it is on death’s door, but then I spent Sunday using the Apple Pencil and realised I don’t have a single device that could repeat the drawing and note taking functionality. If I made a switch to an iPad Mini 4, I could play games and browse the internet from the comfort of my sofa, and without undertaking a weight training session at the same time! But then I would lose the fast keyboard entry, super large screen canvas, pencil and loudspeakers. Ultimately even using the iPad Pro without a smart cover or keyboard, its overall weight is uncomfortable after an hour or so and this might be the single factor why it goes. For its price point, I do believe its a gem of a device, just not for everyone. 

If you’re buying anything on Amazon UK, you can help Gavin’s Gadgets using special link – Pls RT

Amazon

Can you help Gavin’s Gadgets? Actually you can. If you decide to buy anything on Amazon, please use the special link below to visit Amazon UK. By using this link, you will help support Gavin’s Gadgets with all the running costs and more, and yet it won’t cost you anything when you shop on Amazon UK. That’s right the price you pay at Amazon is the same whether you use the link below or not. Just think of when you use Amazon for Christmas presents or similar, you can shop and help Gavin’s Gadgets at the same time

GavGadgets@Amazon