Category Archives: Tech News

Motorola Moto G – receiving Android Kit Kat – full details

Android, Reviews, Tech News,

If you have the Moto G, Motorola is pushing the Android KitKat update.

Android 4.4, KitKat: Android 4.4.2, KitKat, is the latest release of the Android platform.

KitKat includes graphical enhancements e.g. new style status and navigation bars, a new full-screen mode, colour emoji support, improved closed captioning support, stronger security, smarter power use, and more tools and capabilities for better app development.

Phone dialer: Improved the phone app with the ability to look up contacts directly from the dial pad, see and tap frequent contacts, and search your corporate directory easily.

Camera – Focus and exposure: Enhanced the “touch to focus” option with a new circular, on screen control that can be dragged by your finger around the viewfinder to adjust a photo’s focus and exposure.

Gallery – Photo editing: Added new photo editing options to the Gallery app including new filter effects, draw on your photos, advanced cropping, and adjustments to color, exposure, contrast and more.

Printing documents and pictures: Added support for printing photos, Google Docs, GMail messages, and other content via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and hosted services like Google Cloud Print and HP ePrinters.

Hangouts – SMS/MMS support: Incorporated a new version of Google Hangouts that supports integrated SMS/MMS messaging. Hangouts can be set as the default SMS app under Settings > Wireless > Default SMS app.

Accessory: support Added support for Square credit card reader.

The update is for both the U.S. and global versions of the Moto G. I haven’t received it yet for my Moto G. If you have a Moto G, have you received the update yet?

Sony QX10 and QX100 are getting some serious love from Sony

Android, Apple, Reviews, Tech News, ,

I’ve already reviewed both of the above devices. Click <a href="http://Sony QX10/QX100 lens review “>here to recap.

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In January 2014, both the QX10 and QX100 lens cameras will receive firmware upgrades that bump their maximum light sensitivity settings to ISO 3,200 and 12,800 respectively making dark scenes even better. They will also support widescreen 1080p video recording, and the QX100 is getting a shutter priority mode (finally) for action shots and long exposures.

Sony’s mobile shooting app, PlayMemories Mobile, just got updated to Version 4.0 for Android and iOS will introduce a quick photo browser that should make it much easier to review recent shots. For iOS users Sony claims that the app should connect to WiFi cameras twice as quickly as before.

Target hit by massive credit card breach so severe the Secret Service are involved

Tech News

Reuters reported that payment card data was stolen from an unknown number of Target Corp customers starting on the busy Black Friday weekend in a major breach at the U.S. retailer.

The attack was so severe The Secret Service is investigating. Investigators believe the data was obtained via software installed on machines that customers use to swipe magnetic strips on their cards when paying for merchandise at Target stores.

Krebs on Security, a closely watched security industry blog that broke the news, said the breach involved nearly all of Target’s 1,797 stores in the United States, citing sources at two credit card issuers. The report said that “track data” from at least 1 million payment cards was thought to have been stolen before Target uncovered the operation, but that the number could be significantly higher.

These attacks seems to become more common and maybe one day the cheque book might return.

Just how popular are tablets?

Tech News

The Telegraph reported that Britain’s rush to buy tablet computers has sparked a surge in sales for Dixons Retail, the owner of Currys and PC World.

The retailer said that UK like-for-like sales rose by 9pc in the six months to the end of October, despite consumers remaining under pressure.

The growth in sales means that Dixons posted underlying pre-tax profits in the first-half of its financial year for the first time in six years.

And that’s how badly UK consumers want their tablet fix. Enough to turn around a company’s fortunes.

Motorola Moto G – review part 2

Android, Apple, Reviews, Tech News

Today I will look at the camera samples from the Moto G.

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The camera samples are ok. Not brilliant and neither terrible. The colouring and pixel accuracy is just average. The shot on the moors was taken as the fog came down. The light was fading but the iPhone 5S took a much better shot which was so much better. See sample below.

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The camera app is a simple affair. If you swipe from left edge across to the right this pulls out the settings wheel. Here you have settings for HDR including auto HDR, flash, control focus and exposure spot setting, slo mo video, panoramic (sweep mode) geo tagging, aspect ratio (16:9 or 4:3) and shutter sound on or off. Swiping from the opposite edge reveals the photo library. Swiping up or down activates digital zoom. As you continue to swipe up or down you can increase digital zoom to 4x. The built in photos app has basic editing (crop, rotate) and a choice of 9 filters and frames. If you use Google’s Gallery app instead you get far more editing options (crop, straighten , rotate, mirror, auto colour, exposure, and tons more options.

If you agree to auto upload your camera photos and videos to Google+ you also get the options of auto enhance and auto awesome. This is where Google’s software tries to automatically improve your photos and then notifies you once done. The auto awesome creates a gif of a sequence of photos.

If there was one weakness on the Moto G it is the camera. It is not as strong as more expensive contenders. But if you are sharing to social media and the like you won’t really notice the difference. Photographers best look the other way!

In a few days I will report back with more findings. But one of the Moto G’s strength is battery life. I just can’t get over how good it is.

Motorola Moto G – Review part 1

Android, Reviews, Tech News

Yesterday, I provided my first impressions. Today, I will start offering my further thoughts on this £99 marvel. To recap on my first views click here.

The official specs are –

-Operating system – Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) with guaranteed upgrade
-Processor -Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU
-Capacity, 8 GB standard, 16 GB version available
-Two years 50 GB storage free on Google Drive
-Dimensions and weight,Height 129.9 mm, Width 65.9 mm, Depth 6.0-11.6 mm (curve)
-Weight 143 grams
-Display 4.5 inches diagonal (11.3 cm) 1280 x 720 HD, 329 ppi
-Connectivity Micro USB
-3.5 mm headset jack
-Battery Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion, 2070 mAh
-Mixed usage up to 24 hours
-Rear camera 5 MP at 4:3 and 3.8 MP at 16:9 (user-configurable)
-LED flash 4X digital zoom
-Slow motion video,Burst mode,Auto HDR,Panorama,Tap to Focus
-Front camera 1.3 MP
-Video capture and playback 720p HD video (front and rear),Capture 30 fps (MPEG4, H.264)
-Playback 30 fps (MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VP8)
-Audio playback AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, PCM, FLAC, MIDI, QCELP, EVRC, OGG/Vorbis
-Networks Global GSM Model: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
US GSM Model:
GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps (850, 1700 (AWS), 1900 MHz)
CDMA Model: CDMA/EVDO Rev A (850, 1900 MHz)
-Both GSM models require a micro SIM card.
-Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
-Bluetooth® Technology
-Version 4.0
-Location services GPS, GLONASS
-In the box Moto G in black, USB cable,Quick start guide

The box for the Moto G is very spartan. Just the phone, a quick start leaflet and a usb micro cable.

So is the Moto G really a good deal. Well it sort of is, but if you compare it to the Samsung S4, Lumia 1020 or iPhone 5S it looks every greater value, or is it? Let’s try and compare the Moto G if it had a higher specification comparable to the iPhone or Samsung S4.

£99 gets you the 8gb version. Another 8gb costs £129. So a 32gb Moto G in theory would cost £229. Still at £229 that still is a good deal and half the price of an iPhone. But the iPhone has a much better camera, processor, motion processor, audio quality, includes some cool headphones and a mains adapter. The iPhone has significant improvement on build quality. That’s worth at another £130 approximately. So now the total is £359. Still sounds like a bargain? The Samsung S4 can be bought for £399 and the 32gb iPhone 5C for £549.

The difference now in the price of the S4 or iPhone is down to the extra layers and user experience Samsung and Apple provide. Apple is a fashionable brand and you do pay for the label. But Apple does offer the best user experience, the best retail experience and the best customer care during and after purchase. And that costs something. Samsung also provides it’s touchwiz and an array of “smart” functions.

So really, the Moto G is cheaply priced with a good spec sheet. It just depends what you want in a phone and what features or functions are important. Bear in mind with the Moto G you get an additional 50gb of cloud storage on Google Drive. Plus you can change the back for a colourful option. See link to Motorola site for more info. Click here.

I have been testing the camera out taking loads of photos. I will post samples of these tomorrow along with my critique.

I said yesterday I would report back on battery. Well the Moto G came off the charger at 7am yesterday after being charged overnight. By 6pm it was down to 83%. That’s incredible.

Anyway, more tomorrow.

EE displaying the LG G Flex – just one catch

Android, Tech News

EE will be showcasing LG’s G Flex smartphone in some of its stores starting this Friday, 20th December.

Just one catch. It’s not available to buy just to gawp at until it’s 2014 launch. The participating stores are –

· London – Westfield Shopping Centre, Stratford E20 1EH

· London – Westfield Shopping Centre, White City W12 7GG

· London – 155/157 Oxford Street, W1D 2JH

· Kent – Bluewater Shopping Centre, DA9 9ST

· Nottingham – 16 Clumber Street, NG1 3GA· Manchester – The Trafford Centre, M17 8AP

· Brighton – 209-210 Western Road, BN1 2BA

· Cambridge – 40-41 Lions Yard, CB2 3NA

· Merry Hill – The Merryhill Centre, DY5 1QX

· Sheffield – Meadowhall Centre, S9 1EN