Below are all the reviews written in 2013. I hope to have a few more in the next few months. The links also pick up any other posts written after the reviews were published as well.
Logitech UE 6000 Noise Cancellation Headphones review
Moga Ace Power iOS 7 Game Controller review
Netatmo Urban Weather Station Review
Audio Technica ATH-AD900x Headphone review
Olloclip 3 in 1 Lens review for iPhone 5
Gavin’s Gadgets celebrates it’s first birthday today.
In one year, I’ve written 1,700 articles and reviewed 23 phones/gadgets. Gavin’s Gadgets is viewed in 180 countries, and some that even I didn’t know existed. If you like podcasts, I also co-host a podcast with my friend Dave Rich from UKMobileTech. Details are on the about page, or search in iTunes or any podcast app for “Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast”.
Don’t forget, you can catch up on the reviews using the reviews index page.
In addition weather for Princetown, Dartmoor is updated daily using my basic weather equipment.
And remember there are no adverts to distract you. All the views are my personal views and opinions.
So from me to you, thank you for visiting, following my blog, adding your comments and returning. And thank you to everyone that helped me along this journey. Here’s to another year!
It is often difficult to find the reviews of devices and accessories I have written about, so below is a quick way to find all the articles for the key reviews. Or use the top right search box to search for anything on my blog.
Netatmo Urban Weather Station Review
Audio Technica ATH-AD900x Headphone review
Olloclip 3 in 1 Lens review for iPhone 5
If you were brave enough to buy the ZTE Open and keep it you might be pleased you did. It’s just got an update which will make it a lot better.
1)MMS support: you can send and receive pictures, audio and video files via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).
2) Push Notifications API: developers can make use of push to deliver timely notifications to apps and reduce overall battery consumption.
3) Adaptive app search is now front and center on the home screen, making it easier and faster to find the content you want.
4) Contact Management enhancements:
Gmail and Hotmail contact import: it’s now even easier to get your contacts onto a Firefox OS phone. We’ve now added the ability to import your existing contacts from either Gmail or Hotmail, in addition to the existing Facebook or SIM card import options.
5) Add to contacts: You can easily add any phone number or e-mail address to your contacts that is listed in your call log, SMS messages or e-mail. Simply long tap the relevant information to directly create a new contact or add information to existing contacts.
6) Dialer suggestions: Start entering phone numbers or names into the Dialer to quickly find a specific contact.
Performance improvements: Experience faster application load times and smoother scrolling.
7) Firefox browser downloads: Save images, audio and video from the browser with ease
8) Keyboard improvements: Auto correction fixes words that you accidentally misspell.
9) E-Mail enhancements:
Draft Mode: Automatically save in-progress e-mails offline so you can finish and send them later.
10) Download audio and video attachments: Save audio and video e-mail attachments in addition to image files to your gallery.
11) Sending image attachments: Attach and send Gallery images directly within the e-mail application.
12) Music Search: Finding a favorite song is easy with the new music search functionality, simply swipe down from the top of the Music app to reveal a search bar and find music by artist, album or song title.
13) Calendar enhancements:
Direct event creation: Just tap on the desired time slot to create a new calendar event.
14) Calendar event reminders: Set reminders to be notified of calendar events.
15) More than 15 languages supported.
Question really is how will this operating grow against the current crop?
Get ready for the start of silly season. Within the next 7 days, the amount of new smartphone announcements is going to explode. Expect every manufacturer to reveal their lineup for the last quarter of the year, and then on 10th September, Apple will reveal all its new iPhones. Later on in September, Nokia and Google will reveal their hands too with new phones. And don’t forget Amazon. New Kindle tablets, but will they launch their first smartphone this year!
What I will try to do is consolidate the new phones releases into concise readable chunks, with my view on each new phone. Who knows, I might even review a few of them too.
The ZTE Open was available on eBay. I posted details on Sunday, click here for the specifications and more.
So it arrived. Below are the unboxing photos.
Opening the box reveals the orange phone.
Under the phone is the accessories and guides.
And a quick look at the phone profile.
First impressions are this is such a basic phone but it works just. Setting up Google email was fine but it didn’t setup the calendar or contacts. The calendar app had an option for Google but it didn’t work. Contact app was manual add a contact, import from Facebook or sim card. Luckily, there was a free app on the market place that imported my contacts but there is no two way sync.
Apps. The market place is a poor currently. I’ve installed the twitter app. BUT. The phone doesn’t need apps. It’s Firefox OS.
Swipping left to right reveals loads of headings, each with all the key website shortcuts saved eg YouTube, amazon, eBay, WordPress, LinkedIn and loads more. Firefox OS is a Web based device.
The phone comes pre installed with Firefox Web browser, video, music, FM radio, camera, calculator, usage, Nokia Here Maps, accuweather, notes, Wikipedia and clock apps.
It read the music from my micro sd card with ease along with the album art. The loudspeaker is not loud but is clear. The notification pull down also provides access to settings toggles for wifi, data, bluetooth, aeroplane mode and all settings.
It takes a full size sim card, so I need to get an adapter before I can test it out as a phone.
It’s basic but quirky nonetheless.
Update. Rebooting phone, and Google Calendar was all setup. Interestingly, in the settings it checks for updates daily.
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