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

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5S

With a week to go the rumours coming out about the S4 are huge. Leaked renders and specifications and Samsung new campaign which I like a lot.

But what is also noticeable is the number of new “credible” iPhone 5S leaks around the same time as the S4 launch.

So in case you’re wondering what the 5S will feature, it will have a faster A7 SoC chip, a smart flash that uses white or yellow LEDs to ensure high quality photos, and a fingerprint security chip. It won’t look any different from the 5. The battery will be increased slightly. A cheaper plastic iPhone will also be available. Samsung do you hear – plastic is cheap.

So hopefully if you are waiting for the next best phone, this may help guide you. Of course, why wait, buy the S4 now and the 5S when it comes out. And then perhaps the Note 3. That’s crazy I hear you say. No it’s too much choice.

Google Chrome On iOS gets updated but crashes on JB devices – Fix is

Google has released an update to its Chrome browser for iOS devices. Chrome has 2 big features: the ability to quickly recall browsing history by tapping and holding the back button, and the option to share webpages natively with the Messages app.

However, if you have a jailbreak device it will crash constantly. The fix is to delete and reinstall. Then when you first open the app, tick very quickly the box to send data and accept and continue. At present there is no workaround to prevent data being sent to Google with a jail broken phone.

The Cheap iPhone – Apple is going to invent plastic

The papers are all hot with a new iPhone that is going to be made of a new substance called plastic that nobody has heard of. It’s going to cost half the price and be sold to emerging markets.

If there is such a new handset it will simply be the old 3GS in plastic running iOS 6.1 with an upgraded internal electronics. More likely the iPhone 4 will be redesigned in cheaper plastic and sold at a lower price, and the iPhone 5 will become the 5S with a better camera and processor.

Apple never does anything dramatic.

Now Amazon has wiped all the competitors is this the future ?

The other day I went to buy a CD. Call me old fashioned but I like the look of a physical CD sitting on a bookshelf. I can see my music. I own it. It always worried me that Amazon slowly but surely was destroying high street shops.

On the music front HMV was the last big high street chain to suffer. So with no competition and still not paying any UK corporation tax at the level it should, Amazon is the only place to buy music.

So I went to buy a Robbie Williams album on CD. Below is the staggeringly high price.

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So if you go to the mp3 download of the same album it is a fraction of the CD cost. See below.

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So now Amazon has no competition it can clearly force people towards the low quality mp3 download route. And if you think this is just an isolated case, its not as several other CDs I had on my wish list have all risen in price.

What do you all think about this? Can we do anything to change this situation ?

Why I won’t be buying the Samsung S4?

The Samsung Galaxy S4 isn’t even announced but a clearer picture has emerged of the new phone from Samsung. Clear enough that I am certain I won’t be buying it. Why ?

Some of you may think I’m tied into Apple and its Eco system. And yes I am. But I also posses a catalogue of over 500 android apps and use some of Google services. So switching isn’t too difficult.

The one simple reason why I won’t consider the S4 is its construction- Plastic. I would rather give the Sony Xperia Z or more likely the HTC One and its aluminium chassis a try.

I just think its not acceptable to produce a phone in 2013 at the premium end of the market and manufacture it from plastic.

I’m sure the phone will otherwise will be amazing.

The Downside of Jail Breaking

Apple warns you in one of its knowledge articles how terrible and unsafe it is to jail break. Security and instability issues.

The question you are probably asking is do they really happen, is it just a myth to scare people off. Well for a week nothing went wrong. I tried and bought a number of tweaks and themes, but then just realised having a few simple tweaks was all that is needed to make a big impact.

However, I have had the iPhone 5 suddenly go into safe mode during the night. And then my folders were slightly messed up. The iPad Mini had issues with moving apps on to a different page. After analysing the issue, it boils down to springtomise 2 tweak having a conflict somewhere. Problem is you really need this tweak. So for the time being I am going to keep the jail break as the pros seriously outshine the cons.

Just be aware you can get some odd issues with stability.

Update. Some apps aren’t working correctly with the jail break, so I am deciding whether to go back to a factory standard iPhone. Just working out the pros and cons.

HTC admits in 2013 – we only use

HTC has admitted the following –

Most people don’t differentiate between apps and widgets.
Widgets aren’t widely used – weather, clock and music are the most used and after that, fewer than 10% of customers use any other widgets.
Most of you don’t modify your home screens much. In fact, after the first month of use, approximately 80% of you don’t change your home screens any more.

So. do you fall into that category. Are widgets needed?

I personally think some widgets offer usefulness like calendar and the rest are just cosmetic. Still sometimes it’s nice to play around with the look. Do you agree?