Sony is holding a press conference in a few days time to announce all its new products. One of those is the new Sony Xperia Z5.
Well in true leaked style, here comes a video purporting to be the new Sony Xperia Z5.
Source – phonearena.com
Category Archives: Android
Apple closing in on Fitbit – details
According to Reuters, Apple is rapidly catching Fitbit up in terms of sales.
Apple Inc, which launched the Apple Watch in June, is within striking distance of leader Fitbit Inc in the wearable devices market, market research firm IDC said. Apple shipped 3.6 million Apple Watches in the second quarter of 2015, just behind Fitbit’s 4.4 million wearable fitness and health trackers, IDC said. The Apple Watch, which sports many health-related features and apps, is seen as the biggest rival to Fitbit’s trackers.
Apple is likely to sell more Apple Watches over Xmas, as people potentially buy one of these as a gift. FitBit currently does not integrate with Apple Health so clearly there is no love lost between these companies. However, a Fitbit Charge HR is a great device for fitness and a much lower cost of ownership than an Apple Watch. But I do wonder if there is room for both companies to survive at current sales levels?
Source – http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/27/us-apple-fitbit-wearables-idUSKCN0QW1OA20150827
Honor announces the Honor 7 flagship phone costing £249
Last night Honor announced the new Honor 7 for the UK. Retailing at £249 but available now for a few days until 31st August 2015 for £209 via https://www.vmall.eu/uk/honor-7-grey-281214/ .
If you want to buy via Amazon UK it is now available Honor 7 Amazon UK deal
I have watched all the hands on videos and reviews and really like what I see. Some of the highlights include –
– Fast Fingerprint indicator, Smart Voice WakeUp, personalised “Smart Key”
– 20 MP rear and 8 MP front camera
– 5.2 inch FHD display, metallic body, ceramic blasting
– Long lasting 3100 mAh battery, Smart Power 3.0, Reverse Charging, Quick Charging
– Kirin 935, 64 bit OctaCore CPU with up to 2.2 GHz, revolutionary heat dissipation design
– Dual sim or sim plus micro SD card
– Boost the volume by up to 2dB with Voice+ or eliminate all noise for up to three metres with the super hands-free calling 3.0 mode.
– Storage: 16 GB / RAM: 3 GB / User Available Memory: approx. 9 GB / External: microSD card (up to 128 GB)
– 3G: YES / 4G: YES / Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1 / A2DP stereo / Bluetooth BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) / Wi-Fi: 802.11ac/a/b/g/n, 2.4G Hz /5G Hz
– NFC included
So if you pre-ordered before the 31st August 2015, you could pick up this phone for £209. That seems like a lot of phone for your money. See what Btekt and Gadgette thought of the Honor 7 in an open review type discussion of the phone. I think its amazing what you can buy for a few hundred pounds nowadays!!
So what do you think?
Sony’s new flagship to receive a new camera – details
For many years now the Sony Xperia Z flagships have all had Sony 20.7mp G Sensor. Despite this huge sensor and all the manual options, it hasn’t beaten the best of the best, especially in auto mode. This is rather bizarre as all the best phones with cameras use a Sony sensor including the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6.
But now that looks like it is all about to change with a new 23mp sensor in the new Xperia Z5 flagship. I just hope the pixels and included Sony software can now integrate tightly to create great photos in full auto mode. Also the addition of optical image stabilisation would be a much needed addition too.
Sources – xperiablog.net / pocketnow.com
Android Wear update v1.3 is a disaster – details
I was very excited to receive the new firmware on my LG Watch Urbane a few days ago. New features included interactive faces and more.
Except another new feature or should I say disaster was massive battery drain. How bad is this battery drain. Off charge at 7am and dead flat at 2pm. That’s 5 hours usage. It’s not happened everyday, but it’s happened twice now.
So a quick google revealed its affecting every brand of android wear smartwatch. Just how on earth did Goolge allow this update to get released in this condition is beyond me!
I now have a useless watch too
Source – https://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/android-wear/SulEHMS1ETk
Speed Test – iPhone 6 vs Samsung Note 5 – Less is More
This video shows off one of the iPhone 6 at its best and highlights how Apple optimise their phones so tightly. One aspect that is clearly unbalanced is the screen resolution and the huge amount more pixels the Note 5 has to push. Regardless, the iPhone 6 wins with ease in this speed test.
Watch how Leo Laporte inserted the S-Pen into his Samsung Note 5
Below is the video showing Leo Laporte playing with the Samsung Note 5 stylus and his reaction after he realises it does get stuck and damage the phone.
It’s real – it’s S-Pen gate – its caught out even the best! – details
Samsung is in the news for all the wrong reasons regarding the Note 5. The latest is over its design implementation of the stylus (S-Pen) for the Note 5.
Basically, if you insert the stylus the wrong way, it gets stuck and stops the pen detection working again.
Leo Laporte from the TWIT network was live last night trying to disprove that it was even an issue, except before he knew it, his S-Pen got stuck!
https://twitter.com/reneritchie/status/636255239469858816
The story has been published on the BBC News too – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34051994 and other top tech websites.
For comparison purposes, it was not possible to make this error/mistake on the Note, Note 2, Note 3 or Note 4!
This is the Samsung Gear S2 – My views
Samsung has released a teaser photo of its upcoming Gear S2 smartwatch. What we can see from this photo is a good looking watch which clearly has a number of smart functions. If Samsung follows tradition, this will continue to run Tizen and work only with a handful of Samsung phones.
When I owned the Samsung Note 4, I also had the Gear S which also ran Tizen. However, despite the lack of apps, it was a pretty decent smartwatch and fitness device, albeit tied to the Samsung eco system.
With the next iteration, the Gear S2 looks like a lovely piece of jewellery and not a prison tag. I do hope though that Samsung opens up its S Health application so it becomes far more useful and is accessible via a web browser.
Source – http://www.androidcentral.com
LG G4 – How to add Qi Wireless Charging in less than 2 mins
Before I start to describe how to add Qi Wireless charging to the LG G4, please remember that if you use the method I used with the original back cover that came with your phone, you will void your warranty.
So I decided to add the Qi Wireless charging to my beautiful orange leather back. The first decision I had to make was which brand of Qi Wireless Sticker to choose. I read lots of reviews and looked at the various installations required and decided to buy the G4 SlimPWRpatch Qi Receiver for LG G4 by Fonesalesman
The process is so simple. Use the pick to ease of the current NFC sticker from inside the battery back cover. Next, lay Qi wireless card over the battery and use the small stickers to hold in position over the metal pins. Put back cover on and test to make sure you have aligned card. If ok, peel off 3m sticker, replace back cover. Leave a few minutes. Take off back cover, remove small round stickers used to position. Job done. The printed instructions are probably simpler to understand than my explanation, or you can view the video produced by Fonesalesman.
I cannot stress how simple the installation using the Fonesalesman product. There is no guesswork involved in alignment and you align prior to fixing.
So does it work? Yes and that’s despite its curved back. I use it on my Samsung Note 4 Qi Wireless pad and my 2 x Nokia Qi Wireless puck. The NFC chip is also included in this product too.
Link to Amazon UK for – the G4 SlimPWRpatch Qi Receiver for LG G4 by Fonesalesman
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 