Category Archives: Tech News

iOS 9.2 – Full details of the 40 changes

Apple, Tech News,

Apple released loads of updates last night for iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, Macs and the Apple Watch. iOS 9.2 was the firmware for iPads, iPhones and iPods. Below is a note of all the changes and fixes –

Apple Music improvements

–See which songs have been downloaded with the new download indicator next to each song in My Music and Playlists
–See works, composers, and performers while browsing Classical music in the Apple Music catalog
–You can now create a new playlist when adding a song to a playlist
–Your most recently changed playlist is now listed at the top when adding songs to playlists
–Download albums or playlists from your iCloud Music Library by tapping the iCloud download button

Apple News

– A new Top Stories section in News so you can stay up to date with the most important news of the day

Mail

– Mail Drop in Mail for sending large attachments

iBooks
– iBooks now supports 3D Touch to peek and pop pages from the table of contents, your notes and bookmarks, or from search results inside a book
– iBooks now supports listening to an audiobook while you browse your library, read other books, or explore the iBooks Store

iPhone

– iPhone support for the USB Camera Adapter to import photos and videos
– Improved stability of Safari
– Improved stability of Podcasts
– Fixing an issue that caused mail attachments to be inaccessible for some users with POP email accounts
– Resolving an issue for some users that caused attachments to overlap text in mail
– Fixing an issue where Live Photos could have turned off after restoring from a previous iCloud backup
– Addressing an issue that could cause search in Contacts to display no results
– Resolving an issue that could have prevented Calendar from displaying all seven days in week view
– Fixing an issue where Camera screen on iPad could be black when attempting to capture video
– Addressing an issue that could cause instability in the Activity app when viewing the day of Daylight Savings Time transition
– Fixing an issue that could prevent data from appearing in Health
– Fixing an issue that could prevent Wallet updates and Lock screen alerts from displaying
– Addressing an issue where updating iOS could prevent an alarm from going off
– Fixing an issue where some users were unable to login to Find my iPhone
– Fixing an issue that prevented some manual iCloud Backups from completing
– Addressing an issue where using the iPad keyboard could unintentionally trigger text selection mode
– Improved keyboard responsiveness when using Quick Reply
– Improved punctuation input on the 10-key Chinese (Pinyin & Stroke) keyboards with new expanded view of punctuation symbols and better predictions
– Fixing an issue on Cyrillic keyboards where caps lock would be enabled when typing in URL or email fields
– Siri support for Arabic (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates)

Accessibility

–Fixing issues with VoiceOver when using Camera face detection
–Adding support for VoiceOver to wake up the screen
–Adding support for VoiceOver to invoke app switcher with 3D Touch gesture
–Fixing an issue with Guided Access when trying to end phone calls
–Improved functionality for Switch Control users when using 3D Touch
–Fixing an issue with speech rate of Speak Screen

Official Apple iPhone 6S Battery Case – It’s a superb design masterpiece – with hidden tech – details!

Apple, Tech News

  

Seriously what is going on at Apple. They’ve just released this super sexy battery case and for a reasonable price. 

It’s so smooth and beautifully made I’ve rushed out and bought all the stock as I don’t want anyone to witness this design masterpiece for themselves. Call me selfish for buying all the stock but I don’t care 🙂

Joking aside its not that bad. How else can you hide an extra battery ? Unlike other battery cases, it uses a lightning cable not micro usb. The battery level reveals itself in the iPhone notification centre. And to ensure you don’t lose signal strength it has cell boosting built in. So actually it’s not so bad after all!

Of course a slightly thicker iPhone would be the proper solution!


Or has Apple lost the plot this year?

https://twitter.com/gilroyneil/status/674251180797796354

Sony MDR-1RNC ActiveNoise Cancelling Headphones – 3 Month Review

Audio, Reviews, Tech News,

IMG_1074

Welcome to my review of the Sony MDR-1RNC Active Noise Cancelling headphones which include Sony’s S-Master Digital Amplifier, DSEE (digital sound enhancing engine) and active noise cancellation. These headphones are Sony’s flagship prestige over the ear noise cancelling headphones that come with a RRP of £499. I have provided a link to Amazon at the end where you can buy these for under £200 at the moment.

To ensure this review was fair, I have used these for 3 months before scribbling my thoughts down on paper. Headphones benefit from a burn in period of around 20 to 100 hours.

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Sony don’t scrimp with the box contents. You get a lovely carry case, an iPhone cable or a straight cable, flight adapter, manuals, micro usb charging lead and a little pouch to put all the accessories into which in turn fits inside the carry case.

You will notice the headphone pads from the photo above. These are the most comfortable to wear headphones I have ever worn. You will also notice the headphones fold flat to fit inside their carry case.

Before I carry on let’s take a look at the full specifications –

– Type – Closed
– Diaphragm – Liquid Crystal Polymer Film Diaphragm
– Driver Unit – 50mm
– Frequency Response – 5-24,000Hz
– Impedance – Power ON 51 ohm, OFF 19 ohm (at 1kHz)
– Sensitivities – Power ON 103 dB/mW, OFF 100 dB/mW
– Cord Type – PCOCC 1.2m
– Capacity – 100mW
– Magnet – Neodymium
– Weight – 330g
– Usage – 22 hours

IMG_1077

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Sony describe the MDR-1RNC headphones as noise-cancelling headphones with Dual Noise Sensor and Digital Sound Enhancement Engine that eliminate 99.7% of all sounds. What actually happens is that when you turn on the noise cancellation the microphones quickly access your environment and automatically adapt the level and type of noise cancellation accordingly. So for example, when I was on a plane its adjusted the noise cancellation for aeroplane engine noise. If you had screeching cars, barking dogs and train noise this all would be removed/reduced. All rather clever stuff.

On this particular flight I was next to the editor of Oxygadgets who had the top of the range Bose noise cancellation headphones. So the obvious thing to do was to compare which headphone a) sounded better and b) removed the most engine noise. We both agreed the Sony did a better job on both accounts, although on just noise cancellation it was fairly close.

Music is about the whole experience brought together in its purest, most natural form and these headphones have been created by music-lovers, then tuned by musicians to give you that in-the-club, at-the-concert feeling and natural sound. They come with liquid crystal polymer film diaphragms and a specially engineered, ultra wideband HD driver which helps deliver precise mid to high range sound and powerful lows. Beat Response Control is included. This features an enlarged air vent,boosts bass while pressure-relieving cushions fit snugly around the ears, sealing in sound.

Finally the S-Master amplifier and Digital Sound Enhancer provides a natural sound with a spacious feel by restoring high frequencies and low amplitude audio lost through compression. So plug these into your iPhone or other mobile device and experience really impressive sound without the disturbance of background noise.

The headphones come with two types of headphone cable, one with iPhone controls and the other without. The iPhone cable has controls for music and taking calls, all of which work really well and calls sounded clear on both ends.

As I said in the beginning I have had these for three months and over time the sound quality has improved more and more. The frequency range is impressive, but more importantly these are a musical and enjoyable headphone to use and directly from your mobile phone. Their comfort is legendary so I found myself wearing these for hours and hours at a time. In terms of bass, if the music has bass, the MDR-1RNC deliver it. Vocals and mids are good too. I do think the S-Master amp and DSEE technology work really well with MP3 or downloadable music which is heavily compressed.

All in all these are might impressive and a highly recommended choose for people that travel and want to remove background noise.

Sony MDR1RNC Noise Cancelling Prestige Headphones – Black on special offer at Amazon UK

What happens when you leave your wallet at home ? Apple Pay? Mobile Apps?

Apple, Tech News,

Yesterday started like normal except about one hour into to the morning I realised that my wallet was not in my pocket. 

Two swear words later and I realised I had left it at home. A year ago based on the day ahead I would have had to have driven home to pick up my wallet. 

But with the ability to use Apple Pay on my iPhone and along with other mobile and banking apps I was decided to see if I could manage to survive the day without my wallet?

During the day I went to specific places that had contactless credit card machines, which meant I could use Apple Pay accordingly. Whilst Apple Pay is accepted in a number of places it is not widespread enough yet but it is getting better. For example I bought some groceries in Tesco’s which accepted Apple Pay. However, some other Tesco stores I have visited do not accept Apple Pay.

I think once Samsung and Android Pay arrive in the UK, the adoption by retailer for contactless payment will accelerate, so I do hope we see these services asap.

I was not sure everywhere I was travelling too would accept Apple Pay, so for a backup I used my banking app at a cash machine, and withdrew some cash. You can’t beat hard cold cash!

Fortunately, I had enough credit on my Starbucks app to purchase an expresso and a piece of cake.

So throughout the day I managed quite well with just my phone and mobile apps. Then came the low fuel warning on the car so off to the nearest petrol station. Before I fuelled up I went and asked the cashier if they accepted contactless payments.

They didn’t.

So this was the time I had to use the cash I had withdrawn using my mobile banking app.

So by the time I got home, I had managed without my wallet. I reckon in another 12-18 months time carrying a wallet will not be necessary at all.

Fancy a Windows 10 Phone – Microsoft Lumia 550 up for order £89.99 – details/specs

Tech News, Windows, , ,

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The Microsoft Lumia 550 is now up for order at £89.99.

– A richer Office experience- The Lumia 550 comes with the latest version of the Office apps you love. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint have been optimised for mobile use. They function beautifully on a phone, and with rich editing tools built in, the new Outlook Mail app makes managing email on the go effortless.

– Work anywhere- With Windows 10 on your Lumia 550, you can access the same great Microsoft services and apps that you’re familiar with on your laptop. Free OneDrive storage helps keep your documents safe in the cloud and gives you the freedom to access and edit them on your phone.

– Your truly personal assistant- Start your day with a personalised snapshot of the information you want

– Cortana gives you traffic info, the weather forecast, and your schedule. Need to buy flowers? With Cortana for Windows 10, you can set a location-based reminder on a PC and it will arrive just in time on your Lumia. Get your own personal assistant and find out what it’s like to have help with everyday tasks.

– Faster and smoother- The Lumia 550 is designed for 4G LTE, so you’ll get a blazing fast data connection to let you get more done. Multitasking is super smooth across all of your open apps with a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor, while the beautiful 4.7″ HD display is great for viewing documents and pictures. All at a price that won’t put a dent in your wallet.

– Powerful performance- Look forward to your day without the worries of needing a power boost. With a powerful 2100 mAh battery, an ultra low power Glance Screen that gives you notifications without turning on your phone, and an effective Battery Saver mode, the Lumia 550 goes as long as your day calls for.

Key Specs

– Operating system Windows 10
– Display 4.7” HD
– Battery Removable 2100 mAh battery
– Processor Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 210 (MSM8909
– 1.1 GHz quad core processor
– Main camera 5 MP AF f/2.4, 720p @ 30 fps video
– Flash: single LED
– Front facing camera 2 MP
– Memory 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal mass memory + up to 200 GB Micro SD
– Dimensions 136.1 x 67.8 x 9.9 mm
– Weight 141.9 g

Snapdragon 210 processor. Hmmm call me cynical but will this phone be slow?

If you want to pre order one from Amazon UK, click link below

Microsoft Lumia 550, 4G, 4.7″ , Windows 10, 8Gb UK Sim Free (Black)

Dropbox bows to competition – closing down Carousel and Mailbox

Tech News

From Dropbox –

In 2013, we acquired Mailbox because we believed in the way it was making mobile email better. In 2014, we launched Carousel to create a new way to experience and share photos. With both, we aspired to extend the simplicity of Dropbox to other parts of our users’ lives.

Building new products is about learning as much as it’s about making. It’s also about tough choices. Over the past few months, we’ve increased our team’s focus on collaboration and simplifying the way people work together. In light of that, we’ve made the difficult decision to shut down Carousel and Mailbox.

The Carousel and Mailbox teams have built products that are loved by many people and their work will continue to have an impact. We’ll be taking key features from Carousel back to the place where your photos live—in the Dropbox app. We’ll also be using what we’ve learned from Mailbox to build new ways to communicate and collaborate on Dropbox (you can see early signs of this focus with Paper).

We’re committed to making the transitions from these products as painless as possible. We’ve posted more information on the Carousel blog and the Mailbox blog, and we’ll be communicating details directly to users of both apps in the coming days. Mailbox will be shut down on February 26th, 2016, and Carousel will be shut down on March 31st, 2016.

I never liked Carousel although I know some of you did enjoy using it but with completion from Google Photos and other players, it only makes sense to have one app that does it all. Mailbox was an odd one so its loss won’t be missed.

What about you?

Source Dropbox

So what was the cable? The Answer 

Audio, Reviews, Tech News

  

The answer to yesterday’s guess what this cable does is as follows – 
It is an iBasso burn in cable for their new Digital Audio Player (DAP) the iBasso DX80 which I will be reviewing once I have had more time with it. 

The cable is plugged into the headphone socket with the music playing. This allows the burn in process to take place. What does this mean ? The DX80 can reach its full sound quality potential by forming the capacitors and stabilising the electronic components used. 

Another way of burning in the DX80 is plugging normal headphones in with music playing. The cable allows for the process to be done as effectively as possible. 

Some of you were very close guessing it was a burn in cable but suggested it was for the DX90. I’ll allow that as a correct guess 🙂