Yesterday, I took hundreds of photos and a selection of 4K video footage.
Below is a selection of the results. What I noticed is that the photos are captured with an ISO 25 which is really impressive.
Category Archives: Tech News
Robots at IFA 2015
You’ve all seen robots that clean carpets? Well if you haven’t watch the video below.
But even more bizarre is robots cleaning windows. So watch on.
This was another crazy area of IFA 2015 where you get surprises at every corner.
Sony Premium Audio at IFA 2015
This is a portable system by Sony. It’s the most expensive setup Sony sells.
The headphones are around £700 and were connected using balanced cables to the Sony PHA-3 headphone DAC. The player was Sony’s best music DAP.
For around £2,500 you can have portable sound nirvana.
I spent ages having a good listen. Really impressive for a portable system, but oh so expensive.
Honor 7 – First Impressions
I have had the Honor 7 smartphone 48 hours now, but really only got to use it fully and exclusively all day yesterday. I have installed over 50 of my apps and about 5 games. This is a review device from Honor PR.
The Honor 7 runs Emotion UI which removes the android app drawer. This all your apps appear on the home screens and will require you to folders if you have many apps. Below are my 2 home screens.
I managed to snap a few more photographs yesterday, the first one using HDR due to the sun glare, and the second is a macro of pollination by a bee. I felt the photos were better than those I took yesterday.
The above shot is the historic Lloyds Bank building in Penzance, Cornwall. I really like the HDR effect produced by the Honor 7.
Acer gets angry and releases its Predators
Acer was showing its gaming Predators at IFA 2015
It had a dedicated area for its gaming tech. From Predator tablets to its new Predator Smartphone.
If you like gaming and audio then Acer had you covered.
Of course for more sensible people Acer had on display all its over range of computers and more.
Honor 7 – Just how good is the 20mp Sony Sensor? – Read on
So I have only just got the Honor 7, so snapped a few random shots in auto with the 20mp Sony Sensor.
See sample shots below –
Above, fog had arrived on Dartmoor. A difficult shot in terms of focusing, but the Honor 7 did an okay job.
This turned out better, with the orange colour popping.
Not so impressed here. A bit over exposed and looking washed out.
And now a macro of the flower.
Again, over exposed slightly, but a fair amount of detail. The Honor 7 does have optical image stabilisation which might have assisted here.
Reasonable shot this time.
Pebble launches the Pebble Time Round – video and views
So Pebble announced last night a round smartwatch. It is much thinner than previous watches of theirs but compromises on battery life by only last 2 days instead of 10 days. The over aspect is it only takes 15 mins charge to provide 24 hours usage. It will come in three finishes, black, silver or rose gold, with a choice of 14mm or 20mm leather or stainless steel bands. It is 7.5mm thick and weighs 28g, which is very light.
So what do you think? Is it a gamble at $249. And if you just received your Pebble Time, how do you feel about this new watch so soon?
Technics makes a comeback at IFA 2015
Technics was making a big comeback at IFA 2015 with lots of fancy gear.
In fact they were so serious about their audio, no expense was spared, and that included having sound insulated areas to hear and admire all of their new audio equipment.
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With the increasing popularity of vinyl, Technics are now remanufacturing their legendary direct drive turntable.
Also not to miss out on the headphone boom, Technics had on display their new premium headphones. I had a listen to these. Technics used a Chord Hugo connected to a Macbook Pro. No expense spared as I said before.
The whole Technics section was really impressive and had some fantastic gear.
LG G4 – 4 Month Review – The Ultimate Package and its last hurrah
This will be my last post, review, opinions on my LG G4. Why, because I am moving to an iPhone 6S Plus tomorrow. (However, since last night I have been using a Honor 7 which is a PR review unit)
I have had the G4 for 4 months as my main phone and that is a record breaking duration. My G4 package shown above is brilliant. Not shown in the photo is my slim port MHL adapter which connected the G4 via HDMI to my TV. This feature is not even included with the new Note 5! Over the duration of ownership I added to the range of rear covers. The G4 came with a black leather finish and a gold cover in the box. I added a ceramic white and orange leather cover.
Then I got the buzz to fit Qi wireless charging and added this to the orange leather cover. NFC was also included with the Qi sticker. Finally, I protected the screen with a tempered glass screen protector.
So from a hardware standpoint I found the G4 really flexible. It did everything I needed. Expandable memory via the micro SD card slot. I used my 128gb micro SD card. Whilst the G4 does have Quick Charge 2, nothing beats swapping the battery out for a fully charged one. 0% to 100% in less than a minute.
The camera IMO is the best out there currently. And by quite a margin over most other smartphones. The whole phone was kept in touch with a decent Snapdragon 808 which unlike the 810, did not overheat. In use the G4 was fluid and became a great workhorse. A flexible, powerful, adaptable phone. And now I have perfected the phone and its accessories it makes perfect sense in my world, to move on to the next challenge.
But that is the hardware, but what about the software. Well I used the LG launcher for at least 6 weeks and finally relented and installed Nova launcher with Material Cards icon set as shown below.
As some of you will also know, I was at IFA 2015 and got to see all the current and soon to be released phones. As I held each new phone, my natural instincts was to compare it to my G4, and without exception there was not one phone either current or soon to be released that offered anything better than the G4.
So as I bid farewell to my G4, I can honestly say that I will really miss it.
BUT I know what you are all thinking? Will the new iPhone 6S Plus take better photos than the G4? Weather permitting, I intend to undertake this challenge. At this point in time, I have no idea if the new 12mp camera from the 6S Plus will better the 16mp LG G4 camera. This should be interesting so stay tuned 🙂
Panasonic Cooking and Beauty at IFA 2015
Panasonic had a huge display covering all the usual audio and electronic equipment, but also a big area dedicated to Panasonic Cooking. Above the chefs were using Panasonic equipment to cook delicious food.
I was very close to the plated food, it was rude not to try some.
Panasonic then had another huge section just for their beauty gear. Mock up salons and more.
It was really fascinating to see all the different products manufactured by Panasonic.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 