Facebook has just gone live with free calls for iPhone users in the US.
All you have to do is go to messenger and start a conversation. Then hit “i”.
First search and now voice. Some big steps forward by Facebook over the last few days.
Category Archives: Jan 2013
HTC’s New Flagship – The M7
I leaked photo has appeared on the upcoming new flagship from HTC called the M7. It’s a 1.7ghz quad core 4.7 inch device. The power button has an infra red sensor so the phone can act as a remote control.
This looks stunning. What do you think?
More BB10 info
As we get nearer to the official BB10 launch event, leaks are appearing everywhere. Below is a screenshot from the sales literature of Rogers. The new BB10 looks promising and claims to have over 70,000 apps at launch and a class leading web browser.
Other specs include a Snapdragon S4 processor, a 1,800mAh battery and a 356 pixel density along with a 4.2-inch 720p screen.
Fiio E12 Mont Blanc Portable Headphone Amp – Review
The Fiio E12 Mont Blanc is the latest amp from Fiio. Fiio is a specialist audio company that make superb audio accessories, and are well known in audio circles for making great value products with incredible sound.
The E12 Mont Blanc is a high performance portable headphone amplifier, which has a high quality built-in processor and power amplifier in a super slim body. The specifications are as follows –
Power Supply – DC5V, 2A , Frequency Response 20hz-20hz, SNR > 110db, Crosstalk Attenuation >65db, Gain >16db high or 0db low, Max Output Power 600mW at 16 ohms, 880mW at 32 ohms, 160mW at 300 ohms.
Battery Charge time approx 1.7 hours , with a 12 hour runtime
Suitable for headphones 16-300 ohms. Dimensions 123mm x 65mm x 14mm. Weight 158g
So what does this headphone amp do? In simple terms it takes the sound from your portable device or smartphone and amplifies it. More on that later.
In the box you get the warranty card, instructions, micro USB cable to charge from your computer, 2 Fiio bands for holding the amp and portable device/phone together, some soft feet, and a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable for transferring sound from the headphone socket into the amp.
If you have an Apple device like an iPhone or iPod you can get iPod line out cables as shown. If you have a lightning connector, your will need a 30 pin adapter or adapter cable. Taking the sound via the line out produces a much better quality.
So what makes this amp special. Firstly it looks fantastic, even better than the photos. Secondly and more importantly it has a lot of oomph and energy to make your headphones perform like you wouldn’t believe possible from a portable amplifier. You will also hear lots more detail and information in your songs that you didn’t realise were there. And the E12 does this effortlessly. Being such a powerful portable amp allows you to plug larger more demanding headphones in from 16 ohms up to 300 ohms. In addition to the extra level of information your music will come alive as your headphones are being provided with so much emery and oomph. Far more than the tiny amp in your phone or iPod. Another benefit is the volume. The E12 Mont Blanc can go much louder than your phone or iPod.
I tried using the amp with an iPod Classic and an iPhone 5. Both produced impressive results. I tried a range of music from Andrea Bocelli – Concerto One Night in Central Park, Muse – 2nd Law, Wycliffe Gordon – Dreams of New Orleans , Michael Buble – Fever, Nicola Benedetti – Silver Violin and some dance music. Vocals, instruments, speed and attack, depth and soundstage were amazing. And the amp never rang out of steam. Headphones used for sampling the amp were a pair of Sennheiser HD568.
The E12 Mont Blanc features a bass boost which is very discreet and doesn’t distort the music. There is also a crosstalk and gain control should you need them. I have included some photos below.
In summary, I would really recommend this beautify portable amplifier. Very impressive.
Update – more impressions click here
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Trident Kraken iPhone 5 case review
Today I received a Trident Kraken iPhone 5 case. I was looking forward to this case but was somewhat disappointed in the end. I already have two Trident Aegis cases, one in blue and the other in black. These I love. They provide a good 2 stage protection of silicone and outer plastic, with all the ports protected with flaps.
The Trident Aegis pictured below has a large enough opening for all my headphones. It uses comes with a good screen protector as well.
The Trident Kraken shown below, is slightly different. It is a 3 piece case. Silicone and 2 pieces of plastic, one for the back, the other on the front. It also features a flip out stand, which clips on to the modular connection on the rear. With this modular system you can attach a variety of add ons from bicycle mount to a windscreen mount and more. Weirdly, the belt clip fastens over the front of the screen. Bad design as to use the phone you have to remove the belt clip. The other poor design is the headphone flap. It’s too small to fit most headphones so you have to use the supplied adapter tool. However when I used this adapter with a number of headphones the sound only came out of one side. The other positive aspect of this case is the built in screen protector. There were no issues with this at all. Just one small point, the case weighs 78g without the belt clip. So the combined weight with the iPhone 5 is 199g.
In summary, if the Kraken had a larger headphone flap, this would be a keeper. But it doesn’t so I can only recommend this case if you don’t listen to music. The Aegis is superb.
32 core Smartphones
We have just had CES and already word on the street is the next phase of smartphone for the second half of this year we leap from quad cord chips to 8 core chips. Other aspirations include making the smartphones even thinner than they are already.
I wonder if we are moving towards credit card slimness smartphones with processors inside them to rival any PC or Mac. The setup would work by taking the credit card sized phone and inserting it into your TV or other screen, and transforming that into your home PC system.
I just wonder in my lifetime, how small and how large we will get. Large as in screen sizes that are acceptable to carry around and small as in what’s in that package.
Anyone like to take a guess at what we will be using in 10 years ?
Why Do You Upgrade?
This year there are going to be some really hot phones released. Starting with the Sony Xperia Z, Samsung S4 & Note 3, iPhones, and other Chinese manufacturers.
Now, hold your current phone in your hand, and ask yourself, what can it not do that a newer phone can? Of course, if your current phone is slightly busted or has a broken screen I can understand why you might a newer one.
Fundamentally the new phones coming up this year will be in 2 segments. 4 core and 8 core chips, 13mp cameras and then 16mp cameras and higher, thin and large, and then Apple does what it wants regardless of anything else. A newer phone might feature a larger screen size but again with larger screen sizes you lose one handed use but gain better media and Internet experiences. The newer phones might have features like NFC that you haven’t got on your old phone. Well NFC is not really that essential yet. Newer phones might feature the latest software but there are ways of making your old handset still run newer software, eg HTC HD2 is running a multiple of different software from android to windows 8. But do we need 8 cores to send a message, make a phone call and browse the Internet. No we don’t.
If I look at my iPhone 5 it does so much so amazingly well, even better than the S3, which IMO is an incredible device. With the iPhone 5 I can take stunning photos that even at my local camera club surprised them. Especially macro using the olloclip which is reviewed tomorrow. But why do I want to upgrade? Gadget lust is my illness.
So why do you want to upgrade?
Beolab 15 & 16 – Stunning
The Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 15 is a speaker system built into your walls. It features 2 front speakers and a subwoofer.
The front speaker, the Beolab 15, houses treble, midrange and a motorised tilt mechanism which activates when your music starts to play. The Amplifier 1 driving the BeoLab 15 & 16 consists of a digital sound engine with six separate amplifiers. A temperature controlled fan keeps the electronics cool, even in the hottest environments.
A separate subwoofer with four 4-inch speaker units mounted in two closed box cabinets, applying the Acoustic Balance Principle designed to prevent any unwanted vibrations.
What’s clever about the concept is the speakers tilt meaning the height and positioning no longer need to be at ear level. Of course, this design and technology is expensive and so will be the cost of implanting the system in your walls or ceiling.
iPhone 5 Demand – Cuts Not True
So after the worlds media went bashing Apple’s door with the story of massive cuts in components due to poor demand of the iPhone 5, the true story is emerging.
Components are being cut as yield rates have improved. Make sense now doesn’t it.
Well if we have any doubts in a few weeks we will know for sure when Apple releases its figures.
FaceBook Graph Search & Bing
Facebook has just announced its own internal search engine mining 1 billion people and 1 trillion connections. They are calling it Graph Search. For results outside of FaceBook, Bing is being used in conjunction with a new partnership with Microsoft. It will also pull results from Yelp.
Apparently you can search on all Facebook data held that is not marked private and then receive information from Bing.
This is clearly just the beginning of their search software. I wonder if this is the start of a full frontal march on Google Search? With Bing & Yelp integration this seems very likely.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 