Category Archives: Android

Tablets, Smartphones and TV’s for under £99 – surely not!

Android, Tech News, Windows

I mentioned in my latest podcast, Gav & Dave’s Podcast available in iTunes, that Asda had Black Friday limited offers on about 8 items.

Now while a number of these items would not be the type of product I would normally buy, I do think it does show how cheaply goods can be manufactured, sold and then distributed.

For example an android tablet was £49, a 32 inch TV at £99, Samsung S3 Mini locked to Vodafone at £99 and a LG 42 inch plasma TV at £259. So last Friday, you could have bought a phone, tablet and TV for £247. That’s less than half the price of both the iPhone 5C and 5S. What is amazing about these prices is it gives more people the ability to own modern tech. It may not have the best screen or the best speakers or it may be last years tech but it’s still useable. And low cost and affordable.

Now you could say this is just once a year pricing. But it’s not.

Both Nokia, Motorola and other companies sell smartphones for £99 or even less. Instead of the S3 Mini, the Nokia Lumia 520 or Motorola Moto G are better options by miles but cost the same or in the case of the 520 even less dependant on network.

The same goes for tablets and TVs.

It’s truly remarkable at what prices products can be sold for nowadays and really puts pressure on high end products to justify and differentiate their offerings even more.

Google Glass Privacy Issues

Android, Tech News

Google Glass is the latest tech now becoming more readily available for the general public so long as you have a whopping $1,500 spare.

It is a clever piece of tech allowing control of the glasses via voice control or head movements. You can quickly take photographs with its inbuilt camera capturing priceless moments. No need to wait while you pull your phone out of your pocket!

But it is this ability to take photographs with such ease that is causing a bit of concern in terms of privacy. Restaurants and public places are starting to ask people to remove their Google Glasses.

So if you were out somewhere, and you somebody was wearing these glasses how would you feel?

Google Maps vs Apple Maps – Apple fights back

Android, Apple, Tech News, Windows, ,

Without any shadow of doubt Google Maps is the best overall free mapping service. But Apple is fighting back from its disastrous launch of its own mapping service, Apple Maps. In fact, Apple Maps Worldview is better currently than Google Maps.

In addition, because Apple Maps is installed by default in iPhones, iPads and Macs the majority of people are using this instead of downloading the Google Maps app that used to be installed by default. In fact, latest figures suggest Google has suffered a 60% downward hit in usage stats on iOS/Mavericks.

It will be interesting to see how these stats and services change over the next year or so. And whilst these two companies battle it out, Nokia Here maps on Windows Phone continues to grow from strength to strength, and offers the ability to download any map of your country instead of streaming the data live.

Episode 3 – Gav & Dave’s Podcast – the aftermath of Black Friday and other tech news

Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Windows,

It’s alive! Episode 3’of Gav & Dave’s podcast which I co-host with David from UKMobileTech .

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.

This podcast is recorded in ultra high digital audio quality this time.

Eric Schmidt’s unbiased guide from for moving from an iPhone to android in full

Android, Apple, Tech News

Eric Schmidt from Google wrote a detailed article on how to move from an iPhone to android.

“Eric’s Guide: Converting to Android from iPhone

Many of my iPhone friends are converting to Android. The latest high-end phones from Samsung (Galaxy S4), Motorola (Verizon Droid Ultra) and the Nexus 5 (for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) have better screens, are faster, and have a much more intuitive interface. They are a great Christmas present to an iPhone user!

Here are the steps I recommend to make this switch. Like the people who moved from PCs to Macs and never switched back, you will switch from iPhone to Android and never switch back as everything will be in the cloud, backed up, and there are so many choices for you. 80% of the world, in the latest surveys, agrees on Android.

1. Set up the Android phone
a) Power on, connect to WiFi, login with your personal Gmail account, and download in the Google Play Store all the applications you normally use (for example, Instagram).
b) Make sure the software on the Android phone is updated to the latest version (i.e. 4.3 or 4.4). You should get a notification if there are software updates.
c) If you are using AT&T, download the Visual Voicemail app from the Play Store.
d) You can add additional Gmail accounts now or later.

At this point, you should see all your Gmail, and be able to use any apps and they should work well. Be sure to verify this.

2. Update your iPhone or iPad
a) Power on, connect to WiFi, make sure your Gmail is logged in, and upgrade all of the iPhone software to the latest iPhone software release (typically iOS 7+).
b) Check that you are using iCloud to back up contacts. Go to iCloud (in Settings) and enable that for contacts (“on”). If not using iCloud, go ahead and sign up for it. (The latest Mavericks requires the use of iCloud for Mac users if you want to transfer contacts.)
c) For your personal Gmail account, in Settings/Mail, turn on sync for contacts. In the latest iOS, this should sync your Gmail contacts and iPhone contacts.
d) In Settings/Messages, turn “off” iMessage, as that messenger is an iPhone-to-iPhone messenger and if its on your iPhone friends texts won’t make it to Android. Your iPhone will still use SMS messaging to reach your friends if you use the iPhone after this change.
e) Make sure your iPhone is fully synced to the Mac iTunes. Your photos and music should all be backed up on your Mac when this is done. Go ahead and verify that on the Mac and the iPhone.

At this point you should see all your Gmail, have your apps, and have your contacts in the Android phone. If the contacts are not in the Android phone, manually download the contacts as follows on your Mac:
a) Go to apple.com/icloud, login with your Apple ID, and click on contacts
b) In the lower-left corner, click on the wheel, and “select all” the contacts and “export” the vCard into a vCard file (in Downloads).
c) In a browser, go to gmail.com, click on the Mail button and select “Contacts”. You should see a list of your Gmail contacts. Import the vCard file into Gmail/contacts using the “Import contacts” command and it should have manually added your contacts. Delete any duplicates or use the “More / Find & merge duplicates” function.

At this point you have your Gmail, apps and contacts on the new phone. Also verify this.

3. On your Mac, connect your music to Google:
Download Google Music Manager onto the Mac, and run it. Music Manager will upload your iTunes music to the cloud. The standard version is free and handles most iTunes libraries. You will need to sign up for Google Wallet and give your credit card information, but it’s free. Be sure the music is going to your personal Gmail account above. See https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/1075570

With the above complete, you should have your Gmail, apps, contacts, and music all moved over. Verify this on the Android phone 🙂

4. Take the SIM out of the iPhone and insert it into Android. You may need an adapter (from nano-SIM to micro-SIM), but then reboot the Android and you are all set ! For texting either use the Messenger app in earlier releases or the “Hangouts” app in Android 4.4.

Comments and additions welcome ! Eric

PS. Photos on your iPhone
If you have pictures on your iPhone, you will have to first copy them over to the Mac and then sync the iPhone with iTunes. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083

It’s probably easiest to backup your iPhone photos to the Mac, but not copy the old photos to the Android phone. New photos you take on the Android phone will automatically be backed up to your photos in the Gmail account (iAuto-Upload is normally enabled) so no action is required. If the old photos are important, send them to Gmail and download into the Android phone or upload them to Google+.

PPS. Some general advice

Be sure to use Chrome, not Safari; its safer and better in so many ways. And it’s free.
https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/

Be sure to use two-factor authentication for your Gmail and Google accounts. Makes it very hard for someone to break into your Gmail. Also free.
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/180744?hl=en”

Link to original article – https://plus.google.com/+EricSchmidt/posts/JcfVoJhW2Kw

When will android have an iMessage equivalent?

Android, Apple, Tech News

When Google announced the new version of android v4.4 kitkat, I was a little excited to learn that the Google Hangouts app had incorporated SMS. I thought Google had an iMessage equivalent.

Apple’s iMessage app sends a message to another iDevice and if there is no internet it changes it automatically to an SMS. It a simple solution and allows Apple users to send messages from their iPhones, iPods, iPads and Macs. And it all works without thinking.

Google’s solution is just to lump both options in one app. It doesn’t combine them to revert to a hangout message automatically. So whats the next option. Well Samsung is starting to roll out an updated version of its messaging app ChatOn that will include SMS too. I haven’t seen it working, so at the time of writing unsure as to how well it is integrated. Of course, there is the issue of how many people actually use ChatOn!

So sadly it looks like there isn’t currently an iMessage alternative on android. Maybe Google will update the hangouts app to combine these services?

Are you aware of an android equivalent?

Use an android phone, now you can use a 2G signal for data even if no internet

Android, Tech News

Be-Bound for Android is a new way to get your data and it works in more places and it costs less!

Be-Bound ensures that you get your data when you need it – without costing you a fortune on data and roaming charges. It gets your data in data dead zones!

Be-Bound is the first hybrid solution that allows you to stay connected to the Internet on your Smartphone even when there is limited or no data access.

It’s easy to:

– Add your Email and Twitter accounts
– Get your News, Weather, Sports
– Find local points of interest
– And access most of your favorite apps: real-time stock exchange, currency converter, translator, flight tracker, GPS navigation…all built in.

This is an ideal application for those that want data access in dead zones and hate spending big bucks on roaming charges while abroad. Using our proprietary compression technology, Be-Bound allows you to get your data while only paying text message charges (in many cases free) and inexpensive Be-Miles. We are offering you free Be-Miles to get you started.

Have you ever noticed that you can sometimes send a text when you appear to be out of cell data coverage? Be-Bound allows you to stay connected to the Internet when you have limited or no data access (3G, Wi-Fi, EDGE) at a very low cost.

As long as you can still give a call or send a text message, Be-Bound will switch to its proprietary data mode to send requests to our servers to get the information you need. Each request will cost you standard text message rates and Be-Miles (prepaid credits), which are inexpensive and controllable. You can view your Be-Miles current balance anytime.

Using Be-Bound in your data plan on 3G or Wi-Fi is free. Using Be-Bound on 2G networks internationally could generate international SMS costs. Check your plan for SMS and International SMS costs.
Purchasing Be-Miles will give you access to multiple Be-Bound services. The number of Be-Miles charged depends on the service. For example, consulting the weather or stock service will cost 1 Be-Mile but reading an email may cost several Be-Miles, depending on its size. Be-Bound is compatible with most Android handsets.

20131126-073935.jpg

Huawei Ascend P6 replacement to be called the Ascend P6S – specs

Android, Tech News

Huawei’s upcoming device for its Ascend line will be called the Ascend P6S.

This should have an octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 4.7-inch IPS 720p display, a brand new chipset that allows power consumption to be lowered while also improving performance by 80%, a front 5mp camera and the rear will be 8MP. Android 4.4 KitKat is expected to be installed.

I have reviewed the original P6, link in Review Menu above, and found that the main weakness is the excessive heat build up that caused the phone to overheat and stop charging. So let’s hope this new 8 core chip prevents this happening.