Google has confirmed it is selling Motorola Mobility for $2.91 billion.
Google will be maintaining ownership of Motorola’s patents.
Category Archives: Android
Samsung NotePro 12.2 available for pre order – plus free GamePad
Samsung is offering the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 for pre order at £649 plus including a free gamepad.
Unveiled at CES 2014 this looks quite appealing although it’s weight might be an issue for some versus the lighter iPad Air.
It’s scheduled to ship on the 4th February 2014. So whose ordering one? Or tempted?
Updated – it’s £100 cheaper at Carphone Warehouse currently.
Gavin’s Gadgets updates
Over the weekend a few changes have been applied to my blog.
I’ve updated the design to a more modern style which is meant to look great on all devices including mobiles and tablets.
Check out the additional pages either tapping directly to the page or using the Menu system.
Reviews have been overhauled into separate pages.
Smartphone reviews, click here. Notice the reviews are now divided into operating system.
Accessory reviews, click here. This section has been also divided into many categories from cases, headphones, wearables, app enabled accessories and more.
The HTC One has its own page here. It’s still receiving so many views I have kept it’s own page for now.
Don’t forget the Shopping, Dartmoor Weather which is updated twice a day every day, and finally if you would like to know more about me click here .
And if you could manage a small donation, please paypal me using this email. Clicking the link will reveal paypal email. Thanks in advance.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions please let me know here or on twitter @gavinfabiani .
Reminder – Episode 7 Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast is live
As you know, I co-host a weekly podcast with David from UKMobileTech called Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast. It is a light hearted tech podcast broadcast bi-weekly. To subscribe click here for iTunes or copy and paste this link into your favourite podcast app.
Episode 7 is now live.
This is why Samsung need to treat customers with fairness and intelligence
All these phones claim to have 16gb memory. But as Which discovered and many of us techies will know the story is not quite that as each phone uses part of the memory for the firmware and bloatware. But what stands out is the Samsung S4 will just over half the memory only free!
A Patent for a Phone with No Buttons – Samsung secures it
The USPTO granted Samsung a new design patent which shows a smartphone with no buttons on the front. The patent comes after Samsung was recently granted another patent for a buttonless phone. The first patent may be related to the Samsung Galaxy S5 or the Galaxy Note 4.
The designs in the patent, No. D697,886 S, show a mysterious rectangle on the right side of the device.
The device is rumored to have a release date before MWC 2014, which is next month, or it could also possibly be released in March. Other rumors about the device include a Quad HD (1440 x 2560) display, a new Exynos processor, and at least 3GB of RAM.
Source – USPTO
Love is in the air – it’s the week of patent truces by Samsung
Samsung and Google sign a 10 year cross licensing patent deal to help with innovation.
Samsung and Ericsson agree a patent deal which involves Samsung paying for Ericsson’s licenses.
Now all we need if for some love between Samsung and Apple!
Sony has credit rated lowered to junk status
Finances just got tougher for Sony. Moody’s has just valued Sony as junk status.
It will now cost Sony alot more money to borrow and could leave to further complications.
Weather Fanatics – Read On
If you are running android, live wallpapers and widgets are all possible for your home screen setup. This is marvellous if you enjoy weather apps and forecasts. Below is my current home screen.
Below the Google Search widget is WeatherPro, my favourite weather app. The developers have several apps for iOS and android with in app purchases. The good news as I found out the other day, even though I bought a 12 month subscription for advanced weather data when I had my iPhone 5S, I was able to transfer this in app purchase to up to 5 devices across any platform. So my Note 3 now has the benefit of this data. The developers of WeatherPro also sell MeteoEarth.
MeteoEarth comes with a live wallpaper which displays live wind, precipitation or whatever options you select. I love the live aspect of the weather displayed as a wallpaper.
And below the WeatherPro widget is the Natatmo Urban Weather Station Weather widget. There are 4 options but I have it set just to provide hourly updates of the actual temperature from the outdoor module.
And finally folders and apps. The icon theme used for Nova Launcher is Tendere.
Of course, the cheaper way to check the weather is either a) look out the window or b) step outside, turn 360 degrees and deduce it’s rather nippy.
Of course, there are many other great weather apps and widgets out there. So what’s your favourites?
Brando Shopping – The GalaRing – A NFC ring – the next wearable gadget
Brando Shopping sell the NFC enabled GalaRing.
GalaRing G1 is the first smart product under the consumer electronic brand GalaGreat. You can use your NFC Ring to share WiFi information, links to websites, contact information or whatever you think is suitable to be passed securely to your friends, smartphones and tablets. Your NFC Ring can also be used to start apps with custom settings (parameters), making it a really easy way to personalize the app experience to match your ring.
It comes in 2 sizes, 17mm and 22mm. The 17mm is too small for me so I suggest opting for the larger size. As you can see from the photo below, it just comes in a box with no instructions other than a barcode for you to scan to download the app. The screen shots from the app are shown, but even after opening the app I still wasn’t sure as to how everything was going to work. In fact I found it difficult to grasp. Also the NFC was hit and miss with my Note 3. I think you really need to be very geeky to want this product and understand NFC in depth. It really could do with some proper instructions and explanations.
Key Features
G1 is the first product of GalaGreat smart electronics brand.
G1 smart ring is designed to contact human skin as well as numerous
possible environments, so high-qualitymaterials and workmanship are required.
The two core smart NFC chips of G1 are provided by world-class chip company NXP.
The waterproof level reached the top IP68 industrial level. It can resistup to 10 meters of free fall impact.
GalaRing has basic functions brought by the NFC chip.
It can also transmit information between the ring and the phone via the latest NFC technology, providing personal social information storage and exchange functions.
Android Apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galagreat.galaring
Size:
Small – 17mm
Large – 22mm
Compatible Models:
SAMSUNG: Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3, Galaxy S3 Mini, Galaxy S4, Google Nexus S, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 3
MOTOROLA: Moto X, Droid Maxx, Droid Razr M, Droid Razr HD
HTC: One, First, One X
LG: Google Nexus 4, optimus 4x HD, Optimus L5, Optimus L7
Sony: Xperia Z1, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z, Xperia T, Xperia P, Xperia S
Other: Mi 2A, Mi3, OPPO Find5, GEAK Eye, GEAK Mars, Machine with NFC function.
Available from Brando Shopping
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 