As you know, I co-host a weekly podcast with David from UKMobileTech called Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast. It is a light hearted tech podcast broadcast bi-weekly. To subscribe click here for iTunes or copy and paste this link into your favourite podcast app.
Episode 20, is now live for your listening pleasure.
So a real test of any camera is action shots. For this I was out on Dartmoor early Saturday morning walking my dogs.
It may not be obvious but George, Fury and Tiggy were absolutely pelting along at some speed. The G3 was still in auto mode. I had brought back the options on the shutter button, so that I could push and hold for the burst mode.
Samsung has announced its own developer conference on 11-13th November at the Moscone West Center, San Francisco.
So should Google be worried by Samsung’s constant push towards its own app stores, tizen and other breakaway hardware? Does Samsung need Google or does Google need Samsung? What would happen if Samsung broke away totally from android? There are lots of possibilities and options and clearly Samsung is trying to keep all it’s options open.
The only reason for Samsung not unchaining itself from Google is its existing users have invested in apps bought from the Google Play store and other midday also bought from the Google Play Store. But if Samsung could find a way of assisting the loss on to its own platforms, the conflict ahead would be fascinating between these two superpowers of tech.
I’ve snapped a few more random photos with the LG G3. I haven’t gone out specifically to take these either. The G3 is just really super quick at taking photos in all conditions. I have taken some fabulous photos of my dogs and cats too.
Welcome back to part 5 of my LG G3 review.
My G3 is now running the latest firmware v10e. This improved power and heat management, fixed several bugs and updated many apps. Chromecast bugs were fixed as well. But something was changed by LG on the quiet. The colour saturation was turned down reducing ghosting and artefacts that were being reported by some people.
My boss got to see the G3 on Wednesday for the first time. He picked it up. Looked at the screen. And then said. “It’s a beast. This is a real beast” . I cannot disagree either. It’s an amazing phone.
One of the hardware functions of the LG G3 is an Infra Red blaster. This may sound like a useless specification but it does come in handy. When you are watching TV or a DVD, you never have the right remote control, but you always have your phone nearby! The G3 comes with a software package that is quick and easy to setup. It then enables an option to show the basic functions in the notification centre as shown above. I was really pleased that the DVD software options included an eject button. This eject button is omitted on the DVD remote itself and many other software IR programs. As my DVD eject button no longer functions properly this is a godsend.
Another feature of the G3 is smart cleaning. Simply, it makes management and removal of waste a simple affair.
The G3 also has a quiet mode option which you can schedule or leave on permanently. It is able to block the notification LED, alarms and incoming calls. You can select or deselect as required, and on the calls you can set up an auto reply message on blocked calls, allow repeated calls and set up an approved list of callers that can bypass quiet mode.
The G3 comes with smart screen, which will keep the screen on for longer if it detects your face looking at the screen. In terms of customisation, there is even an option for the type of screen off effect. Retro Tv is my favourite. Other options include black hole and fade out.
Other customisation options even include the swipe effect, as shown above. But the single best customisation feature is the on screen button controls. Before you select your button options, you can decide to have them transparent or not. Then you can go into the “hide buttons” option and select which apps to remove them completely. Ideal for many games or apps that display the on screen menu options. With the setting enabled they disappear after 3 seconds are are re enabled just by swiping up. So simple an idea and a superb solution too.
But lets look at the on screen menu options. Typically an android phone has 3 options. Running apps, go back, and home. With the G3 you can change the order of these 3 to suit your preference, and add up to another 2 options. The options are – QuickMemo, Notification Centre, QSlide and Dual Window. I love this option and wish all android phones included this.
LG have not forgotten about the lock screen. As you can see below there are plenty of options again.
And even the home screen has its fair share of options. Additional themes can be downloaded and installed from LG World. Icons can be changed individually too.
All in all, LG have really offered a very comprehensive package of software, software customisations and a fabulous piece of hardware.
On Monday, I will continue my review of the LG G3. Any questions, please ask.
LG announces a new game for those with the new LG G3 and the QuickCircle case.
“SEOUL, July 23, 2014 — Proving that QuickCircleTM can be as much about fun as function, LG Electronics (LG) today introduced the world’s first mobile game developed exclusively for its windowed LG G3 case. Now in addition to being able to check the time, place calls and take photos without opening the cover, LG G3 owners with the QuickCircleTM Case can now have a bit of fun on-the-go with a free game, Puppy Pop.
Puppy Pop is a match-three puzzle game developed by LG specifically for the G3 with QuickCircleTM Case to be played through the open window on the cover. Players accumulate points by drawing lines through three or more identical puppies, removing as many from the board before time runs out. Scores can then be shared on the player’s favorite social network site.”
All I need is the QuickCircle case to arrive in the post. I will then put this game through its paces.
Apple announces it’s earnings for the last quarter. The key takeaways were –
Revenue: $37.43bn v $38bn expected
EPS: $1.28 v $1.23 expected
iPhone sales: 35.2m v 35.3m expected – down 18 percent from the prior quarter, but consistent with sales in the months before an anticipated refresh of Apple’s product line.
iPad sales: 13.3m 14-15m expected – Investors are also watching tablet sales, which slumped 16 percent from the prior quarter. That’s also at the low end of wall street’s estimates. In Brazil, Russia, India and China, growth was very high. However, in the US the market is weaker. Apple has now sold 225m iPads.
September quarter revenue: $37-$40bn v $40.4bn expected
September quarter gross margin: 37-38pc v 37.5pc expected
Apple also sold 4.4m Macs and 2.9m iPods in the period. iTunes accounted for $4.5bn of revenue, down from $4.6bn in the last quarter, while accessories sales were $1.2bn, down from $1.4bn.
China – 26% growth above Apple’s own forecasts
Developers have now earned over $20bn through sales of their software on the App Store. Cumulative app downloads have now topped 75bn.
iPhone 5C – Tim Cook revealed on Tuesday that year-over-year growth rates comparing the iPhone 5c to last year’s performance of the iPhone 4S show the greatest growth. That means that the share gains seen by the iPhone 5c outpaced those of the 2014 iPhone 5s vs. 2013 iPhone 5, and also bested the 2014 low-end iPhone 4s vs. 2013 iPhone 4. So the iPhone 5C is a secret slow burning success.
More than 20 million people watched the WWDC keynote in 2014
Earnings per share up 20% y/y, the highest growth rate in 7 quarters
iPhone sales up 55% y/y in Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
Apple has completed 29 acquisitions since the end of FY 2013, 5 since the end of Q2 2014
iTunes billings grew 22% year over year to reach an all-time high
Clearly, Apple’s future success depends on how great it’s upcoming product line is for the key September quarter. With fever pitch starting on the new iPhone and Apple Wearables it could be exciting times ahead.
Sammobile (www.sammobile.com) have obtained exclusive photos of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. This is Samsung’s metallic framed phone, produced to take on the new 4.7 iPhone head to head. The Alpha is also 4.7 inched screened phone. So it really is game on. The Alpha will feature a nano sim card , the same as the iPhone. It will also take it design language from the Samsung Galaxy S5. It will come with 32gb storage but no memory card slot.
I still think people will buy an iPhone. The Apple brand is more desirable as Apple only produce one new phone (or two) a year whereas Samsung produce a multitude.
Welcome back to Part 4 of my review of the LG G3. To read the previous parts, just scroll back a few days.
In Part 4 I am covering off the running apps options and multi-window. Tapping the bottom right running app on screen button (its bottom right in my case, but you can adjust it in to any position).
By pinching in or out you can change the view. This feature is not documented in the manual. By default you get the small app previews as show above.
But you can pinch outwards using two fingers to achieve large app previews. These can be swiped away as necessary, or hit the close all option to close all running apps. You can also have an alternative size.
Another feature of the LG G3 is Qslide apps. The choice is rather limited but you can have your chosen apps float above whatever you are working on. These can be resized too.
There is also an option to make them full size, close them and even using the slider as shown in the screen shot, fade them out as required.
Finally you can activate LG’s multiwindow. It has a smaller selection of apps compared to something like the Samsung Note 3, but being a bit simpler is easier to use. You simply select which apps you want on the top or bottom. You can swap positions once on screen, drag one part smaller or larger, or close or expand one half.
You even have the option for multi screen to enable and open when clicking on email links. I quite like this feature.
Tomorrow I will cover off more of the LG G3 smart features.
Once again, any questions, please ask.
Currently the craze with phone manufacturers is to out do each other with bigger and bigger screened phones. Except Apple, which produces the iPhone 5S with a 4 inch screen. This may all change come September with the new iPhone 6 with a 4.7 inch and possible 5.5 inch iPhone.
Anyway, my son was reaching his 18th, so I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. No surprises when he said a new phone. So I showed him a number of the current crop of phones from the LG G3, HTC One M8, Sony Xperia Z2, Samsung Galaxy K Zoom and then the Moto E and G.
His response was simple. They are all too big. Far too big. An iPhone 5S was more realistic. Why an iPhone I asked. Because it’s made by Apple and was more pocketable. And the best response came when I started to discuss the different smartphone cameras. My son just turned round and said, “if I want to take a decent photo, I will use a DSLR!”
Part of me wonders whether the high pricing of an iPhone makes it more desirable even though a Moto E or Moto G can do a similar job for a fraction of the cost. My son knows that if he wants a phone of flagship colour he will have to save up and buy it himself, but he seems dedicated in this quest. It was also interesting that he had no desire for an oversized screen and that he recognised how poor phone cameras are versus a DSLR. I imagine this knowledge arrives from the fact that at 18, he uses Adobe Photoshop for editing!
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 