Phandroid.com put the Samsung Galaxy S6 up against their iPhone 6 to test up the camera’s stabilisation prowess.
In case you’re wondering when I had my iPhone 6 Plus and pitted it against my Note 4, the Note 4 stabilisation was far superior to that on the iPhone 6 Plus. The 6 Plus video was all jerky but the Note 4 was smooth. Both phones were on a tripod and a mezzanine floor that was being impacted by vibrations from the go karting below.
Honor held its launch event yesterday evening at MWC, and launched not one but two new phones.
I recently reviewed the Honor Holly and Honor 6 and was really impressed at the quality and value of these handsets. Now we have the Honor 4X and Honor 6+.
Let’s look at the Honor 4X.
The Honor 4X is a 5.5 inch 720p display, 64-bit 1.2 GHz Octa-core processor that provides 40% better performance than other 32-bit handsets, a 13MP primary camera with a f/2.0 5 piece lens, wide angle, HDR, a 5MP front camera, dual-SIM technology, a 3000maH battery that allows for two days of continuous use and superfast, uncompromising wireless connectivity with 4G compatibility for those that demand a faster connection. 1050 LTE/EPC patents guarantee seamless communication on the go. Storage is 8gb, 2gb ram. Dual silicon microphone design and noise reduction technology ensures unparalleled call quality even in the most demanding of environments. The 4X boasts a 72 hour battery and 7 days in Ultra Power saving mode. Android 4.4 with a confirmed upgrade to Android Lollipop too. Interesting the loudspeaker is on the side.
I mentioned the 13mp camera, but how about these features – “Ultra snapshot”, off-screen photo mode, all-focus mode, map view and a camera that can take photos in 0.6 seconds. That is not launch the camera app in 0.6 seconds but actually have taken a photo in 0.6 seconds.
The Honor 6+ was the other phone launched by Honor and the phone I personally want as my next smartphone.
So what makes this phone so special. It is based on the Honor 6 which I reviewed and throughly enjoyed. The Honor 6+ is for the digital photographer who wants more creativity. Capture unparalleled selfies on the 5.5-inch screen using the 8MP front facing camera. Unlike some phones, the Honor 6+ has an incredible 3,600 mAh battery which provides 2 days normal usage and that is without using the power saving modes. Now the rear cameras offer something extra. Featuring a parallel dual-camera, that’s two x 8mp rear lenses, blurry-night time photos are a thing of the past with the Honor 6+. The dual-lens camera means that the Honor 6+ captures double the amount of light. Coupled with a focus time of just 0.1 seconds, you’ll be able to capture beautiful night-time scenes that offer a level of clarity never seen before on a smartphone. Other features of the camera include a night mode with up to 32 second exposure. You can refocus the shot after taking and adjust the f stop from f/0.95 to f/16The display is a 5.5inch 1080p JDI Nega-LC FHD screen. Enjoy deep blacks and rich colour thanks to a stunning 1500:1 ultra high contrast ratio. A Kirin 925 octa-core processor powers everything with 3GB RAM, 32gb storage AND micro SD card support up to 128gb.
More info at – http://www.hihonor.com/en/pages/home and expect reviews on these phones as soon as possible.
For a detailed view of the Honor 6+ view this video. It is in Chinese but with English subtitles. Well worth a look.
Pebble announced yesterday the Pebble Time Steel. This is the stainless steel version of the Pebble Time, with the same interface and software, but in a machined metal case that comes in silver, gold and black finishes. Pebble have also increased the battery life by another 3 days to 10 days in total.
Also the new watches will have ‘Smartstraps,’ which allows third-party developers to build smart straps as add-ons to both the standard and Steel watches. The watch has a port on the back, which will allow hardware makers to access and communicate with the Pebble Time. The smart strap would add extra sensors and electronics, batteries perhaps, heart rate monitor, gps chip and more.
The Pebble Time Kickstarter has raised over $12 million so with over 54,500 backers having pre-ordered around 65,700 smartwatches. The new Pebble Time Steel will retail for $299 and will be available to early Kickstarter backers for $249. Existing backers can choose to upgrade to the Pebble Time Steel without losing their spot in the queue. However, Pebble Time Steel starts shipping in July, instead of May for the first crop of standard Pebble Time devices, and June for the current backer group.
A bold move and lets hope it works for Pebble. And that gold finish Pebble Time Steel looks fairly similar to the Apple Watch in rose gold!
Source – techradar.com
BlackBerry Leap Highlights –
– Security to Keep Private Matters Private – like all BlackBerry 10 devices, it is equipped with support for encryption, plus built-in anti-malware protection and back-up, wipe and restore.
– Best-in-Class BlackBerry Keyboard – Type faster and more accurately on a touchscreen keyboard that learns how you write. With superior error correction, multi-language support, customised adaption, and flow, refuse to be bound by the mistakes and missteps that can hold you back.
– Master Your Messages in the BlackBerry Hub – See more of what matters and experience inbox Zen with the BlackBerry Hub on a brilliant 5” HD display. Messages from across your multiple personal and professional roles, like BBM messages, texts, emails, and social media, all appear in one easy-to-manage view.
– Battery that Powers Through a Full Day – You don’t work 9 to 5 – you’re the all-day, all-night type. With up to 25 hours of heavy use, the BlackBerry Leap will help you power through even your most demanding days. With an impressive 2800 mAh battery and the energy-saving optimisations in the BlackBerry 10 OS, BlackBerry Leap delivers battery life that will outlast even you.
– More Ways To Access Apps – Discover and purchase great business and productivity apps through BlackBerry World and the latest Android apps and games through the Amazon Appstore. And access modern mobile web apps via the industry-leading BlackBerry Browser*.
– The Power Of BlackBerry On Your Computer & Tablet – BlackBerry Blend seamlessly brings messaging and content on your BlackBerry to your PC and tablet to make you more productive instantly. Access your work and personal messages, notifications, documents, calendar, contacts and media in real time on whatever device you are on, powered by your BlackBerry. No saving to a cloud, no wires, no backing up.
Just one question, why is printing documents, emails and photos not included with the operating system? This is a failure not just of this phone but others like the BlackBerry Passport.
BlackBerry Leap Specifications
– 5″ HD touch display
– 8MP Rear camera
– 16GB Internal storage
– 25HRS battery life
– 1280 x 720 HD resolution, 294 PPI
– BlackBerry® 10 operating system
– 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps
– MicroSD card support up to 128GB
Source – blackberry.com
Sony has announced its new 10.1 inch tablet with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It now has a 2K screen with the resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. This translates into 299 pixels per inch. It is also insanely thin at 6.1 mm. It is as slim as an iPad Air 2. It’s weighs hardly anything at 392g.
In addition, front-facing stereo speakers, 5.1 and 8 MP cameras on the front and rear, respectively. Sony will offer an LTE variant of the slate alongside a standard Wi-Fi-only model.
The device runs on a 64-bit, 2 GHz Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor paired with 3 GB of RAM and up to 32 GB of storage. There’s a microSD card reader included, and the tablet packs the latest 5.0 Lollipop A 6,000 mAh battery is provided with Sony quoting 17 hours of video playback on a single charge.
Source – http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/tablets/xperia-z4-tablet/
As you know, I co-host a monthly podcast with David from UKMobileTech called Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast. It is a light hearted tech podcast broadcast.
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Episode 32, “MWC Special” is now live for your listening pleasure.
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Bradley Horowitz from Google confirmed the following today – “Just wanted to confirm that the rumors are true — I’m excited to be running Google’s Photos and Streams products! It’s important to me that these changes are properly understood to be positive improvements to both our products and how they reach users”
Via Forbes, “But Pichai said that two important parts of Google+, Photos and Hangouts, may soon be separated from the main product. “I think increasingly you’ll see us focus on communications, photos and the Google+ Stream as three important areas, rather than being thought of as one area,” he said.”
This may really impact some online communities on Google+, but I suppose we will just have to see how everything pans out.
The HTC One M9 has more tricks up its sleeve than first thought. Below is just a few extra items of information that might make you change your mind –
– Instead of optical image stabilisation, HTC use electronic image stabilisation which conserves component space
– HD Video is supported at 30fps, 4K at 30fps and slow motion at 120fps.
– The One M9 is IPx3 certified – that is rain and mist proof.
– It comes with a standard 1.5A charger with the option to buy HTC Rapid Charger as the One M9 supports Quick Charging.
– The LCD panel circuitry is under the black bar
– HTC have confirmed the software is not final and most of the focus is on camera optimisations
Samsung has made big claims with its new Galaxy S6 especially concerning it’s new front and rear cameras. As they say the proof is in the pudding. So I’ve uploaded a few shots Samsung has captured, the first is from the front lens and the rest using the rear camera.
So what do you think of these shots?
Just a few days ago on the eve of MWC, IKEA announced it would start offering bedside tables, lamps and desks with Qi wireless charging capabilities built in. Those products will be available starting next month in Europe and in North America then globally afterward. Clearly the knew Samsung would be launching the new Galaxy S6 with wireless charging built in.
Maybe this will be the start of a wireless charging revolution and the end of the cable?
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