Category Archives: Tech News

Samsung Galaxy S5, Gear 2 and Gear Fit – all announced – views

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So Samsung just finished their launch of the next big hit the Samsung Galaxy S5, their new Smartwatch the Gear 2 and the fitness band the Gear Fit.

S5 – well it now has a marginally larger screen at 5.1 inches, and improved camera, heart rate sensor, finger print scanner, health and fitness software and ultra fast connectivity. It comes in 4 colours – black, white, copper gold and glam blue. The back cover is perforated and changeable as is the 2,800mah battery. It also has micro sd card expansion. Other specs include a1080p Super AMOLED panel as in the GS4; it’s just slightly larger, at 5.1 inches. It’s also IP67-certified, which adds a water and dust resistance. The micro-USB 3.0 port at the bottom is protected by a tab that keeps water from getting inside. The processor is a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM, an IR remote, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE/ANT+, Cat 4 LTE (up to 150Mbps down/50Mbps up) and your choice of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. Only 2gb of ram though. The Note 3 has 3gb as does the Sony Xperia Z2. The Z2 also has a better snapdragon 801 processor.

So being honest it doesn’t look that much of a change from the outgoing S4, but it does have a number of improvements. The Health suite with heart rate monitor, finger print scanner, dust and water resistance, an upgraded Samsung software experience, ultra power saving mode, and a massively enhanced camera. The problem is justifying these improvements is very difficult. The proof will be in how well all these new tweaks actually function in every day life. Is the camera really amazing now. That could make a huge difference. Is it as quick and easy as the iPhone 5S? If you had the Gear Fit or Gear 2 with the built in heart rate monitor coupled with the S5 well that might be a better combination. Samsung also mentioned loads of accessories for the phone including changeable backs, wireless charging back covers, headphones and more. Another unknown is the prices. Also, will the 32gb model be available globally as well as the 16gb. Will the 16gb have half the memory eaten by the operating system? So many unanswered questions. I thought the S5 would outshine the Note 3 but it hasn’t. The Note 3 rear back cover looks much better than the S5!

The tech media and a number of my tech friends were mocking the phone as it’s features got announced. But it is likely to still sell by the bucket load. My wife was doing her own commentary which was hilarious. At one point the President of Samsung, called the S5 “shit”. He meant chic.

Gear 2 smartwatch – I’ve already covered the specs on this on Sunday. But it seems Samsung has learnt from the first generation and now the strap is replaceable as it’s a standard size. It also doesn’t have the dreadful screws on the front fascia. It now includes more software customisations, IR controller and a heart rate monitor.

Gear Fit Band – for me this was the highlight. A curved piece of glass in a changeable band. Also featuring a heart rate monitor too. Plus some additional functionality for working with the Galaxy phones.

HTC has yet to reveal its cards for its new HTC One, but I would say the door is wide opened for HTC to steal Samsung’s thunder. And of course, Apple has yet to reveal it hand this year!

Sony Xperia Z2 – details and views

Android, Tech News

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Sony announced its updated flagship the Z2. Its has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor – a 2.3GHz quad-core Krait CPU – as well as 4G LTE connectivity, NFC, 3GB of RAM and a 3200mAh battery. The 5.2-inch display is a full HD screen. It’s thinner at 8.2mm and lighter than the Z1. Kitkat is installed too.

In addition Sony has improved the software tweaks along with 4K video recording and included digital noise cancelling.

The one question I want to know and the one that really matters is have the fixed the noisy photos of the Z1 and the superior auto mode which was poor on the Z1.

Nokia at MWC – a summary of the new phones

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Today at Mobile World Congress, Nokia underscored its commitment to connecting the next billion to the Internet by releasing five new affordable handsets, including Nokia X, a family of smartphones that run Android™ apps, Microsoft services and signature Nokia experiences.

• The Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are priced to capture the fast-growing affordable smartphone market and provide an on-ramp to Lumia and Microsoft services like Skype, OneDrive and outlook.com.
• The Nokia Asha 230 is Nokia’s most affordable full-touch Asha device to date, priced at EUR 45.
• The Nokia 220 is an Internet-ready mobile phone with social apps, priced at only EUR 29.

– Nokia X range – All devices come with Fastlane, a screen which lets people switch between their favorite apps more smoothly. People can access curated, quality-tested apps from Nokia Store, more than a dozen third-party app stores and by sideloading. Out of the box, they can enjoy signature Nokia experiences including free* HERE Maps, with true offline maps and integrated turn-by-turn navigation, and Nokia MixRadio for free* music streaming and downloadable playlists. All devices are also pre-loaded with a variety of third-party apps and games.

The Nokia X family is also an affordable introduction to popular Microsoft services, including free* cloud storage using OneDrive. With the purchase of any Nokia X family smartphone in select markets, people will get one month of Skype’s Unlimited World Subscription for a limited time, ideal to make international calls to landlines in more than 60 countries and to mobile phones in 8 countries.

The first device, the Nokia X, comes with a 4” IPS capacitive display and 3MP camera. The Nokia X+ is optimised for multimedia enthusiasts, who can enjoy even more games, music, photos and video thanks to more memory and storage. Both the Nokia X and Nokia X+ will be available in bright green, bright red, cyan, yellow, black and white**. The third family member, the Nokia XL, boasts a 5” display with 2MP front-facing camera – ideal for Skype video calls – and a 5MP rear-facing, autofocus camera with flash. The Nokia XL will be available in bright green, orange, cyan, yellow, black and white. The entire Nokia X family is powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ dual core processor and supports Dual SIM, letting people switch SIM cards to get better tariffs.

The Nokia X will go on sale immediately, starting at EUR 89*** and rolling-out in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are expected to roll out in these markets starting early second quarter, priced at EUR 99 and EUR 109, respectively.

The Nokia Asha 230 includes all the benefits of the Nokia Asha Software Platform, including Fastlane and access to popular social apps like Line, WeChat and WhatsApp. One swipe up from the lockscreen activates the Nokia Asha 230’s camera, and one touch enables people to share images to their favourite social network. With a forthcoming software update, the Nokia Asha 230 will introduce 7GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive, and the option to automatically back up photos to the cloud.

Nokia also introduced its lowest-priced, data-enabled phone: the beautifully designed Nokia 220, which makes mobile Internet accessible to more people around the world. With its 2.4” colour screen, dust- and splash-proof keypad, the Nokia 220 is a well-crafted choice for people experiencing mobility and the Internet for the first time, with Facebook and Twitter pre-loaded and Bing as the default search engine in the pre-loaded Nokia Xpress browser. Retail prices for the Nokia 220 start at EUR 29. It will be available for sale immediately in single and Dual SIM variants and rolling-out in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Nokia also announced it is still selling the 105 and at a rate of 1 million a week.

So, is this a new strategy to create the next fork in android just like Amazon has achieved with a link to Microsoft’s services instead of Google?

Huawei TalkBand B1 – details

Android, Apple, Tech News

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Huawei has unveiled the TalkBand B1 over at MWC 2014 – a wristband with a 1.4-inch flexible OLED display.

Its main focus is fitness, and it promises to track sleep patterns as well as steps taken, calories burned and so on.

As well as the wrist-based business, the TalkBand B1 comes with a detachable Bluetooth earpiece that you can use for taking calls.

The device supports Android 2.3 and up, and iOS 5.0 and up.

It should hit shop shelves in parts of Europe, China, Russia, the Middle East, Japan and Latin America from March 2014.

At first glance I wasn’t too keen on the style but it is growing on me. Also it’s simplicity is admirable.

Just how powerful is the WiFi at Mobile World Congress 2014?

Tech News

Fira de Barcelona deploys one of the world’s biggest Wi-Fi networks for the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2014.

In order to enable the connection and communication of thousands of mobiles, tablets, computers and gadgets that will be active during the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC), Fira de Barcelona has deployed, in the Gran Via venue with an exhibition floor space of over 240,000 m2 (gross), 1,200 Wi-Fi access points, one of the world’s most powerful networks installed in an exhibition centre. This will give cover to over 75,000 delegates expected to visit the event between February 24th and 27th.

In an international event, in which mobile phones and high technology are the main attraction, cover and Wi-Fi connection are fundamental. Edition after edition, Fira de Barcelona has improved connectivity of its exhibition centre in order to cover the high Internet demand required, achieving for this congress one of the best in the world in a trade fair facility. With over 1,200 access points, 14 kilometres of fibre optics and 52 kilometres of internet cable, all 240,000 m2 of exhibition floor space in the Gran Via venue will be covered. This massive cable and Wi-Fi network will have a capacity of 10,000 Mbps (5,000 upload and 5,000 download).

In this way, MWC 2014 will not only have the biggest Wi-Fi cover installed in this event, but also one of the biggest in an exhibition centre. Fira’s installation surpasses other large facilities, such as international airports, large sports stadia and leading global convention centres, among others. 

Maybe BT will upgrade my home broadband speed to 10,000 Mbps.

Netflix and Comcast agree terms – details

Tech News

Netflix and Comcast have reached an agreement aimed at smoothing the streaming of Netflix content to the cable company’s customers, ending a dispute that throttled traffic at peak times.

The video-rental company has agreed to pay Comcast for direct access to its broadband network, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The agreement was revealed in a joint announcement that did not disclose the terms of the deal”

Comcast and Netflix today announced a mutually beneficial interconnection agreement that will provide Comcast’s U.S. broadband customers with a high-quality Netflix video experience for years to come. Working collaboratively over many months, the companies have established a more direct connection between Netflix and Comcast, similar to other networks, that’s already delivering an even better user experience to consumers, while also allowing for future growth in Netflix traffic. Netflix receives no preferential network treatment under the multi-year agreement, terms of which are not being disclosed.

Under the so-called “paid peering” deal, Netflix will be allowed to connect directly to Comcast’s network instead of going through intermediaries, as it formerly did.

This is an interesting scenario and could pave the way for more deals to ensure decent internet speeds.