Category Archives: Tech News

I have sold my soul to Google

Android, Tech News

It all started last week with Dropbox alerting me of a drop in storage space due to an HTC Dropbox promotion expiring. This meant I was going to lose all the storage space I had thoughts was for a lifetime and enough to manage with.

So I decided to take some action. Using my Macbook Pro and the Chrome web browser I was able to copy files straight from Dropbox to Google Drive. I got carried away and ended up moving all my photos to Google Drive. I still have to double check to see if there any other files, photos and documents left that need copying, but I do not believe that there is much more to transfer.

I was initially only going to move enough files to be under the lower Dropbox limit, but once I could see how Google Drive functioned with a neat file structure, and decent sized photo thumbnails I was sold. At some point in 2014, I uploaded my entire music collection to Google Play music. And then it dawned on me.

Everything I have is on Google’s cloud. And it all works. I still have a few items on Dropbox for specific apps. Heck, I even have other cloud services like OneDrive from Microsoft.

But here is the icing on the cake for me. My MacBook Prop is dying. I cannot see the point of spending the amount of money I did 5 to 6 years ago on a replacement when I don’t use all its features and its very expensive.

I will simply get a Chromebook which will cost a fraction of a macbook. My investigations in to this type of device have come to the conclusion that a Chromebook is a simple efficient piece of hardware, Google biased but will still do everything I require.

And should I get another Apple iOS device in the future, all the Google apps are available on the iPhone or iPad.

And now with any new android phone, it takes just one login to have access to my world.

So what do you think?

Wondering why the Note 4 has not received lollipop update? Here’s why?

Android, Tech News

Editor in Chief at Sammobiles tweeted the following –

So the Gear VR is holding up the release of the Note 4 update. Seems odd to me , but feasible nonetheless.

Amazon Fire Phone – Review – Part 2

Amazon, Reviews, Tech News,

Today I am going to look more in depth at the custom skin and explain the gestures. You will notice on the front there are 4 cameras in each of the corners.

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These track your head movement and allow for dynamic perspective. This is where the screen can move and you tilt the phone to reveal extras. On the home screen you have a carousel look. The big icon explains the app and underneath common actions. The carousel places new apps and recent.

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I’ve shown a couple of examples. By tilting phone left to right or right to left reveals the side panels. Left is always as shown in main screen, but in an app reveals additional options or settings.

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Now tilting to reveal right side gives me notifications and weather.

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Swiping down reveals the quick settings and mayday button.  Mayday connects via video to a person at Amazon support. You can discuss issue and they can show you on the screen. I tried using this and it is the best support experience I’ve ever received.

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So what apps are included as standard. Below screen shot of app drawer. The apps from Met Office onwards are ones I’ve installed.

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The phone has a button on the left side to launch the camera. Long press activates Firefly.

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The camera has options for hdr, flash, best shot , lenticular and panorama modes. On screen the camera app tells you when it recommends hdr. Tap the on screen icon to turn on or off when it appears. Best shot takes 3 shots. One before you pressed the shutter , as you pressed the shutter and one after. You can then select the best photo. Neat.

In the maps application by tilting the phone you can reveal places of interest, restaurants and more.

As I mentioned yesterday, the headphone audio and Camera and strong aspects of this phone. I also like the hardware overall. Nimble and easy to hold. And at the price I paid of £99 a steal so long as you don’t mind using O2 for a year and aren’t tied into Google services too much.

HTC Desire Eye – 10 part review

Android, Reviews, Tech News,

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I have written many posts of the HTC Desire Eye. Below is links to all the content.

HTC Desire Eye – part 1 – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/26/htc-desire-eye-review/

HTC Desire Eye – part 2 – sound and more – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/27/htc-desire-eye-review-part-2/

HTC Desire Eye – part 3 – camera and more – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/28/htc-desire-eye-review-part-2-the-2-x-13mp-cameras/

HTC Desire Eye – part 4 – conclusion – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/29/htc-desire-eye-review-conclusion/

HTC Desire Eye – more camera shots – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/27/htc-desire-eye-more-camera-shots/

HTC Desire Eye – Zoe – Video – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/26/htc-desire-eye-zoe/

HTC Desire Eye – sample action shots – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/26/htc-desire-eye-sample-action-shots/

HTC Desire Eye – macro shot https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/01/22/htc-desire-eye-rear-camera-macro-shot/

My Flickr HTC Desire Eye Album – https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/sets/72157650368916456/

My twitter posts of action shots from the HTC Desire Eye –

Huawei post records results – 75 million phones sold in 2014 – details

Tech News,

“Huawei had an increase in revenue by 30 percent to $12.2 billion, making 2014 the first year for Huawei with revenues of over $10 billion. The Chinese manufacturer managed to sell over 75 million smartphones in 2014 — a year-on-year increase of 45 percent — and is looking to maintain its momentum in 2015 by focusing on the high-end segment and targeting 100 million sales.

Key contributors to Huawei’s growth were the Ascend P7, which sold four million units globally, and the Ascend Mate, with two million global sales. Huawei also saw a lot of sales in the mid-tier Honor line, which made its entry into European markets late last year. Devices like the Honor 3C and Honor 3X amassed a bulk of the sales in this category.

The Honor 6 — which offers a 5-inch full-HD screen, octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 920 CPU, 16/32GB internal memory, 3GB RAM, 13 MP camera, 5 MP front shooter, LTE and 3,100 mAh battery for $300 — has also generated a lot of interest, particularly in markets like India. Globally, e-commerce sales amounted to 41 percent of Huawei’s overall sales.”

With such strong sales, there was only one thing left to do, and that was review the Honor 6 which counted for 41 percent of overall sales. So starting Monday will be my review of the Honor 6.

If you have any questions for this review please let me know.

The Battle for Cloud Storage

Tech News, , , ,

Yesterday evening I received a notification and an email from DropBox that my HTC 23gb free allowance was due to expire.

The fact that I thought this was a lifetime offer and not 2 years is another matter. The fact that had I known this, I would have created a new Dropbox account with a different email, signed in to my Note 4 with a brand new account and got 50gb free for 2 years. I could have done this with my Note 3 and Samsung S5 and Note Edge. But I didn’t as I thought I had enough space and keeping the same user name was less messy. But alas that was not to be.

So now it was time to throw all my toys out of the pram. It was time to abandon Dropbox forever. Except I couldn’t. Some of my critical apps needed to use Dropbox. So no matter what I decided to do next I could not give it the 2 fingers.

So after knocking back a bottle of whiskey to place me in a better frame of mind (joke) I decided to look at the options available. First option was to pay Dropbox for a Pro account. If you pay upfront for a year this costs £79 for 1 TB of storage. Google also charge the same amount for the same storage space. They also have a 100gb plan for $1.99 a month. About £15 a year and plenty space for me.

And then Donald (@crimsonsky76) emerged with the fact that Microsoft offer 1 TB storage for $99 (same price as the others) but this includes a family subscription to Office365. But that deal can be made better. You can buy a Windows 8.1 Tablet for £79 and get 1 TB data and Office365 included in the price. Add to the fact that OneDrive now have snazzy photo integration and its a superb deal. So with Microsoft I can get a free tablet if I wanted 1 TB data.

So what have I done. Well, as I mentioned I still need Dropbox, so I am in the process of moving files post 2013 to Google Drive including photos. Pre 2013 files can stay with Dropbox as this keeps me under my revised lower storage limit. I have 175gb of free storage with Google which will expire in 12 months approx. At that time, I will reconsider my options.

I omitted Apple Cloud in the above options. One because I don’t have an iPhone currently and secondly because we all know it is the most expensive and not as open as the others.

Flickr was another option banded around. You get 1 TB of free photo storage. I use Flickr but only to upload my favourite photos that I don’t mind sharing. I do not upload my private snaps. If Flickr allowed you to mass download your photos then I might have considered this as a solution.

So what would you have done?

Amazon Fire Phone – First Impressions

Amazon, Reviews, Tech News, ,

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On Wednesday, Amazon reduced the Fire Phone right down to £99. Across twitter and many forums many opinions raged as to whether it was worth it or not. Well, here are all the orders Amazon received. So clearly a lot of people thought it was worth of shot.

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My first chance to use the Amazon Fire Phone was last night. I opened the box and realised that the phone needed a charge as the battery was at 36%. Once it reached 100%, I turned it on and was presented with a video that explained clearly all its main features and how to use the gestures, along with practising them too. Simple idea but genius.

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The phone’s hardware feels good in the hand and comfy to hold. But it does seem to pick up fingerprints. The screen is excellent. So a short while later I realised a software update was waiting. This was date 26th August 2014. So this got installed and from there I started to explore the phone further.

The next step afte the video was logging in to twitter and facebook, this is not mandatory. Then I setup my Google account for email, contacts and calendar. Then I explored further. I had heard the headphone audio was outstanding and I can confirm that the sound output via the headphone jack is possibly the best I have ever heard from any smartphone. However, I can not find any sound equaliser. Camera. I have done some limited testing but it appears the camera takes good shots but its operation is both excellent and then at times weird. Again I need more time to explore this feature.

Now I know some of you are screaming “it does not have Google apps or the Google Play store” . Well, I can shout back just as loudly. So what! For most people the world does not evolve around Google. So long as the apps you need are available on the Amazon app store then all is fine. If you are heavily invested in to the Google Play store then this phone is not necessarily for you, but those starting fairly new to the world, or perhaps are invested in the Kindle Tablet eco system, then on paper all should be ok. However, I need more time to assess everything.

Fire OS. Now my thoughts on the Fire OS and its skin and for another day. I will add that I am pleased I bought this phone. Whilst I can see potential areas where it is not perfect, I think I can see what Amazon might have been trying to do. Anyway, more soon when I have had a week or so with it.

One thing I did want to test was the Mayday help button. Video support call worked just fine with on screen guidance. This really was the ultimate support call and shows up so many other companies who provide a poor after sales service.

And don’t forget to “fire” off any questions.

And here are some photos from the Fire Phone. What I have found is that it is able to capture a wider field of view than several other smartphones.

Church of St Michael & All Angels, Princetown #Dartmoor #AmazonFirePhone

Church of St Michael & All Angels, Princetown #Dartmoor #AmazonFirePhone