Ok here’s a bit of Friday fun. This is a retailer with an inspiring tech display, one for Samsung and the other for Amazon, but which tech store is it?
Answers in comments.
Category Archives: Jan 2013
The 4.7 inch Apple iPhone
Ok, I present you the 4.7 inch iPhone. It’s ultra thin, running iOS 7, the worlds most advanced operating system, available in 128gb memory, 20mp iSight camera and its absolutely beautiful.
So once again Apple would be late to the market with a large screened device, but what would you do. Would you ditch whatever you have and buy one. Would you stick to your 4 inch iPhone 5 or similar sized android phone, ditch those crappy windows phones, give up your Samsung Phablets and hail the large iPhone as the best and only device. Anyone on Symbian, please see me for counselling.
You see iOS 7 will feature better sharing and changing of default apps, and the notification centre will get improved, and the home screens will feature dynamically changing icons.
Tempted?
Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus
Meanwhile instead of 8 cores phones Samsung is doing an Apple and recycling the older S2, with hardly any change other than newer software. I quite liked the S2 design so it’s good to see it given some longevity.
The GALAXY S II Plus features :-
– Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 plus latest touch wiz
– Direct Call enabling users to automatically dial a call by taking the device to the ear.
– Smart Stay recognizes whether the user is looking at the screen to dim the screen accordingly.
– Smart Alert lets users know about missed events or status updates just by picking up the phone.
– Popup Video allows a video to play anywhere on the screen in a resizable pop-up window
– S Voice lets users control the phone using their voice; and Voice Unlock lets users unlock the phone using their own voice.
– 4.3” WVGA Super AMOLED Plus display, 1gb RAM, 8gb memory, 1.2ghz dual core chip
– 8MP camera features a zero-lag shutter speed, Buddy photo share, Group Facetag and Face Zoom
– AllShare Play, Samsung Hubs, including the latest versions of Readers Hub, Video Hub, Game Hub and Music Hub.
Amazon evades AppStore
Amazon MP3 Store Now Optimized for iPhone and iPod touch: Amazon’s 22-Million Song Catalog Available to iPhone and iPod touch Users for the First Time
Buy once and enjoy everywhere!-All MP3s purchased from Amazon are stored for free in customers’ Cloud Player accounts and can be enjoyed on iPhones, iPads, iPods, Kindle Fire, Android phones tablets, Sonos, Roku, or any web browser
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 17, 2013– (NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced the launch of the Amazon MP3 store optimized specifically for iPhone and iPod touch. For the first time ever, iPhone and iPod touch users can discover and buy digital music from Amazon’s 22-million song catalog using the Safari browser. Customers also have access to favorite Amazon features like personalized recommendations, best-seller lists andAmazon customer ratings. Music purchases are automatically saved to customers’ Cloud Player libraries and can be downloaded or played instantly from any iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Kindle Fire, Android phone or tablet, Roku, Sonos home entertainment system, or any web browser, giving customers the freedom to enjoy more music, from more devices than any other major cloud music service.
“Since the launch of the Amazon Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch, a top request from customers has been the ability to buy music from Amazon right from their devices. For the first time ever, iOS users have a way do that – now they can access Amazon’s huge catalog of music, features like personalized recommendations, deals like albums for $5, songs for $0.69, and they can buy their music once and use it everywhere,” said Steve Boom, Vice President of Amazon Music.
Features of the Amazon MP3 store on the mobile web browser include:
The Amazon MP3 mobile website for iPhone and iPod touches is built on HTML5, which means customers can make purchases directly from the Amazon MP3 mobile website at http://www.amazon.com/mp3 on their iPhones and iPod touches
Selection of over 22 million songs and over two million albums at everyday low prices
Access to everyday deals like $5 albums, $0.69 songs, and free songs from artists on the rise
Individualized recommendations based on purchase history
Immediate availability and seamless playback of purchases in the Amazon Cloud Player app
Free storage of all Amazon MP3 purchases in Amazon Cloud Player
Customers can begin shopping the Amazon MP3 store from their iPhone and iPod touch web browsers today athttp://www.amazon.com/mp3.
Temple Run 2 on iOS released
The Sony Xperia Z tablet
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z, is Sony’s campaign of bringing the same level of style and unity as its new Z smartphone.
The tablet is identical to the phone, except for the 10.1 inch screen. It’s got the same 1080p resolution screen, quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, and the waterproof and dust proof specifications. It’s also packing LTE, NFC, Android 4.1, and a 6,000 mAh battery, all in a 6.9 mm shell.
Looks like Sony is back with a bang.
ZTE Nubia Z7
ZTE is rumoured to have the Nubia Z7 in the wings for the latter part of 2013. This a 6.3 inch phablet of monstrous capabilities.
The 6.3 inch display should have a huge resolution of 2560 x 1440, an 8-core 1.4GHz processor, Mali T658 GPU, LTE connectivity, Android 5.0, 4000 mAh battery, 16 megapixel rear-facing camera and 128GB of internal Memory.
Whilst this sounds far fetched, based on current technology advances, I’m certain all this is possible. But do we need such power and screen size.
Olloclip 3-in-1 Lenses for iPhone 5 Review
Olloclip produce a snap on/off 3-in-1 lens solution for the iPhone 4/4S and now the iPhone 5. I bought one for my iPhone 5 and really have been very impressed by this little accessory. The results can be really artistic and fun, and incredible too. Basically you place on the camera corner of the iPhone 5. One side does the fisheye, switching over does wide angled. Unscrewing the wide angled lens reveals the macro lens. So below is a normal shot from the iPhone 5 camera.
And now the same shot with the fisheye lens.
And now using the wide angled lens.
But now let’s look at the macro lens. This is a close up shot taken on the iPhone 5.
And now using the Olloclip macro.
The level of detail and close up is really impressive.
You can also use the Olloclip for video. The Olloclip only works on a naked iPhone 5, so make sure when you attach the lens there is no dirt on your phone or inside the slot of the Olloclip.
I really love this attachment.
Will Google+ Succeed
I was thinking about Twitter and Google+ and wondering if Google+ will ever become the next twitter.
Twitter has the traction and is far more popular. But like all social media, services eventually stop being as popular over time, and the newbie becomes the next big thing.
Whilst I don’t really use Google+ that much, it is more a case of not being as integrated into my iPhone as twitter. It is also another case of only have 20 plus people on Google+ versus 150 on twitter. And that 20 or mainly there due to my gmail account.
But Google+ does have some neat tricks up its sleeve. You have different circles, so you can decide who sees what. It also has auto camera photo upload, hangouts, communities and messenger all integrated. And events. So it’s has a lot more options that twitter.
Twitter is taking back the control of its platform and culling third party twitter apps, despite the fact those twitter apps helped make it so successful. Adverts in the official twitter app now appear and who knows what is coming next. This has upset a small percentage of people.
I wonder where we will be in a years time. I reckon Google+ will be even more popular, especially due to the android operating system appearing on so many smartphones.
Olloclip Case & Lenses
Olloclip make a superb snap on camera lens for the iPhone 4 to 5. I have the Olloclip for the iphone 5 and will be writing a full review shortly. Olloclip at CES have produced a case with a slide-open corner for use with the Olloclip.
The corner of the case unclips and swings over the top of the case and once flipped it’s edge rests on the volume button of the iPhone 5, converting what was a useless piece of plastic into a big, easy-to-press shutter button. Very clever. Neat, right?
Also clever is the dock part of the case, which slides onto the bottom half when needed and adds a tripod mount and a cold-shoe accessory mount.
The case, which has yet to be named, will be out soon around $50.
Also of interest is that future Olloclips will ship with an adapter for the latest iPod touch in the box. Olloclip is bringing out a new app which will offer a special mode for each of the fisheye, wideangle and macro lenses, as well as optical correction for all of them.
Also in prototype stage is a telephoto lens.
But ask yourself of you are this keen on photography why don’t you just get yourself a proper camera.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 