All posts by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

About Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

President, CEO & Editor of https://gavinsgadgets.com Reviews & News of Technology View all posts by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond →

Hello HTC One M8 – daily blog and review part 1

March 28, 2014Android, Reviews, Tech NewsHTC One M8 camera samples, HTC One M8 daily blog, ReviewsGavin Fabiani-Laymond

I know I said I wasn’t going to get one but I did. I must point out I was led astray by the HTC One M8. So as a warning, do not enter a store where they can let you hold and feel this phone in your hand. It is just incredible to behold. Yes, I’m on the honeymoon period but nonetheless there is not a single phone built currently that looks so good, especially in gun metal.

Anyway, below are some quick camera samples. No staging just very quick snaps.

When I get some time over the weekend, I will upload these to Flickr and provide the links as probably these might be a little compressed. On my PC screen these all look good.

So what do you think ?

Twitter goes more social

March 27, 2014Android, Apple, Tech Newstwitter updateGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Twitter has just updated its iOS, Android and website.

So from now on you will be able to tag up to 10 people in the photos you upload without it counting against your 140 character count. In addition you’ll soon be able to attach up to four photos to each tweet. When you upload multiple pictures a thumbnail collage will automatically be created and you can tap on it to swipe through the images in full size. That update is hitting iOS devices first and coming soon to both Android and the website.

Looks like a good update.

Not sure about the new HTC One M8 camera – check these photos out

March 27, 2014Android, Tech Newshtc one m8 colby brown reviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Colby Brown once again reviews the HTC One. He previously reviewed the M7, but now he puts the HTC One M8 to the test along with a large selection of photos.

“As for the camera, I am hard pressed to not be happy that they have improved both the camera application itself and the picture taking quality of the phone when compared to last years model. I found more details in my images, better focusing in low light and overall a more enjoyable experience. A near full manual mode was a nice touch.”

BT has split from Vodafone and moved to EE – share prices dip

March 27, 2014Tech NewsBT dumps Vodafone moves to EEGavin Fabiani-Laymond

BT has announced that it has given up on Vodafone and will replace its mobile virtual network provider with EE. Following the announcement, shares of Vodafone crept up slightly while those of BT fell down by more than one per cent.

Bizarre change in share prices.

More at Techradar

First Google slashes its storage prices – now Amazon

March 27, 2014Tech Newsamazon reduce cloud storage pricesGavin Fabiani-Laymond

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc will drop prices on most of its cloud computing services starting April 1, the largest U.S. online retailer said on Wednesday, a day after rival Google Inc outlined a major price cut of its own.

The price cuts range from 10 percent to 65 percent, Andrew Jassy, senior vice president of Amazon Web Services, told a conference for Amazon web developers in San Francisco.

Now lets see if Dropbox respond.

HTC One (M8) launched and available to buy

March 26, 2014Android, Tech Newshtc one m8Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

HTC have launched the new HTC One. The link takes you directly to HTC’s website where you can learn all about the duo cameras, camera effects, refined metal casing, software and hardware enhancements. And it is a powerhouse of refinement.

But for me I’m not so sure I will now be adding this to my collection. I owned the old HTC One, but the new version is only available with 16gb internal memory in the UK at the moment. The inclusion of the memory card slot doesn’t solve every scenario. And then there is the rear camera. Not only does it have the same 4mp lens but due to the second lens optical image stabilisation was removed. 4mp is fine for social network sharing but as soon as you take a landscape or decided to print a shot the lack of detail at 4mp will be noticeable. And I take tons of landscape shots, 4mp is not enough for me.

Otherwise the phone looked gorgeous and had design focus on its features. Except, HTC ruined what would have been a class leading phone with too low a resolution for the rear camera!

What did you think ?

Nokia and Microsoft send out invitations for new event

March 26, 2014Tech News, Windowsnokia launch event 2nd aprilGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Nokia and Microsoft have sent out invitations for a new Lumia handsets launch on 2nd April.

I wonder whether they will release phones where their cameras are the stars. And a HDR mode would be handy too.

In-Ear Headphones at a cost of £999 – Impossible unless Astell & Kern AKR02

March 26, 2014Tech Newsastell & kern akr02Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

I hear you say £999 for the above Astell & Kern AKR02 in ear headphones. Surely not. But I am afraid that is the correct price. And this is just one of a growing band of expensive high end headphones that are emerging.

The AKR02 headphones have been produced in collaboration with Final Audio Design, and use the company’s Balanced Air Movement (BAM) driver technology, which sport a balanced armature design.

There’s a removeable oxygen-free copper cable, while precision-made air holes in the earphones allow airflow in an effort to improve bass levels. The AKR02 earphones are finished in a polished, stainless steel housing, and each pair comes with an Italian leather case complete with a unique serial number.

More at What Hi-Fi.

Netflix Shares Fall – due to new rumours on the new Apple TV

March 25, 2014Apple, Tech NewsNetflix shares fallGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Reuters reported that Netflix shares slumped more than 7 percent on Monday after a report about a new television streaming product that Comcast and Apple were working on together.

Netflix shares fell $31.49 or 7.78 percent to $374.67. The drop came a day after a story that first appeared in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal said Comcast and Apple were in talks about teaming up for a new TV product that stores programming in the cloud and would replace clunky cable boxes in people’s homes.

Apple and Comcast have declined to comment on the report but a source familiar with the matter told Reuters the discussions were at an early stage and there are a lot of hurdles to be crossed before any agreement is reached.

Apple also wants the TV service’s Internet traffic to be separate from public Internet traffic and would be looking for special treatment from Comcast’s cable pipe to give customers a better experience, the newspaper said.

Arris Group Inc, a company that makes set-top boxes for the cable industry and paid Google $2.35 billion for Motorola’s cable box unit last April, also saw its shares fall 6 percent on fears that an Apple-Comcast partnership could hurt sales of traditional set-top boxes.

I think Netflix has a strong brand already. Maybe Apple should just buy Netflix. It is already an app on the Apple TV, so would make a good fit.

Smartphones versus DSLRs versus film: A look at how far we’ve come

March 25, 2014Android, Apple, Tech News, Windowsdlsr versus smartphone camerasGavin Fabiani-Laymond

In tech-speak, the iPhone 5S gets the same depth in focus as a full-frame DSLR at f/18. With a phone, you can freeze everyone along the length of a candlelit Christmas dinner table, and keep them all in focus. None of these DSLRs can do that, as f/18 and short shutter speeds don’t mix in candlelight.

Digital Photo Review have a brilliant article and I highly recommend heading over to read the rest.

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