Category Archives: Tech News

HTC One – Camera Shot of the Week

Android, Tech News

If there is one reason to buy the HTC One, it is for the camera. It is designed to make sure you never miss a moment. I was taking a photo of Kingsbridge Quay in Devon, when I saw 2 seagulls approaching. To switch from taking a photo of the Quay, to taking 20 burst photos of these seagulls I did nothing other than hold the shutter button down. All 20 photos of the seagulls were in focus capturing them mid flight. None of the photos below have been altered or edited. First up the Quay.

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Now a few of the seagulls in flight.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 First Impressions

Android, Reviews, Tech News

So the S4 has landed. Below are my first impressions of the new phone. I’ve used it in white and black and without a doubt the black mist looked in my opinion a lot better. It also looks very professional and business like. Even though the changes between the S3 may appear minimal the end result is different. The use of plastic has been argued already. It doesn’t matter being honest, since the fit and finish is top class.  However if neither offends or pleases. But it doesn’t look like cheap plastic in the black.  

The screen is crisp and clear and looks lovely.  Who cares whether it’s amoled or something else. It just works. The phone comes with loads of features which I have yet to explore. The camera is excellent but the different modes need to be selected before you take the shot unlike the HTC One which allows you to take the shot first and edit after. The video highlights on the HTC One are not present on the S4. This is a feature I would miss if I had the S4.

The S4 doesn’t have an fm radio despite all the other stuff it includes. 

I also managed to crash the Samsung email app just trying to set it up. That wasn’t clever. 

It’s early days but so far the plastic finish hasn’t offended me. The screen is superb and then there’s is the manual of features to learn. 

Pantech Vega Iron Details

Android, Tech News

Pantech has launched a 5-inch 1080p 720p phone official, under the film blockbuster name of the Vega Iron. The bezels are small, just 2.4mm across on each side, which is roughly half the width on an iPhone 5. This results in a viewable-to-total area ratio of 75.5 percent, which Pantech claims is a world beater. Other specs include a quad-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, in-cell LCD display and Gigabit WiFi.

So here we have another decent android device, with a cracking name, but no cracking USP other than thin bezels.

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The Power Matters Alliance Wireless Charging Creates a United Force

Tech News

The Power Matters Alliance along with AT&T has announced that it will integrate wireless charging within select smartphones by 2014. Those TBA handsets may be manufactured by BlackBerry, ZTE, or any of the organization’s latest members: HTC, Huawei, LG and Samsung. Notably absent is Apple, which creates its own standards.

A PMA membership doesn’t represent a commitment from manufacturers to release products that support the technology, but Duracell Powermat President Daniel Schreiber seems confident that all of the smartphone makers now on board will have releases of their own in the near future.

Question is do we need this technology. Surely it is just as easy to plug a cable into a device? What do you think?

Evernote has ambitious plans for its own hardware

Tech News

Evernote is known for its flexible suite of note taking cloud software, but now the company is looking to hardware as its next evolution. CEO Phil Libin told IDG that his company won’t create hardware internally at first, but with partners.

Evernote partnered with Moleskin earlier this year to create the “Smart Notebook,” so the California-based company’s certainly no stranger to working with other companies.

My only concern is do we need a separate piece of hardware just to take notes, when we have Samsung producing tablets and phablets with S-Pen and Evernote? Then we also have all the Evernote apps on ipad and iPhones and all other tech equipment. Seems shortsighted too me, but I could be wrong.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has arrived – read on

Android, Tech News

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has been launched, and here are the full specifications. First Impressions will be posted soon.

– 5 inch Full HD Super, 441 ppi, AMOLED (1920 x 1080) display

– 13 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag.New features include: ‘Dual Camera’: so you can take simultaneous photos and videos using both the rear and front cameras, then blend the pictures together

– Samsung Smart Pause means you can control the screen using your eyes. When you are watching a video, the video pauses when you look away, then it starts right up again when you are back.

– Samsung Smart Scroll allows you to scroll the browser or emails up and down without touching the screen. It detects your eyes and recognises the movement of your wrist, and then scroll the pages up or down accordingly

– The Galaxy S 4 supports HSPA+42 Mbps and 4G LTE which means wherever you are in the world, you can rely on perfect connectivity. The LTE version supports up to 6 different band sets which allows it to function in most LTE coverage areas as well as enabling global LTE roaming

– Air View allows you to hover with your fingers to preview the content of an email, S Planner, image gallery or video without having to open it. You can even see a magnified view on the internet browser, or a phone number saved in the speed dial on the keypad. With ‘Air Gesture’, you can change a music track, scroll up and down a web page, or accept a call with a wave of your hand

– Dual Camera – See both sides of the story. Two cameras, one extraordinary photo. Capture ‘I was there’ moments of your life by simultaneously shooting with the Front and Rear cameras. Get the shot you want with more varieties and styles to choose from. With Dual Video Call or Dual Video, friends and family can experience everything with you, no matter how far they may be.

– Sound & Shot – Listen to your photos.Every picture you take on the Samsung GALAXY S4 can come with sound. So now you can remember what was said, played, and heard, not just what it looked like. It adds another layer of excitement to help you relive and share every moment of each picture much more vividly.

– Drama Shot- Capture every action in one photo.Get a sequence of photos in one frame to create a collage that tells the story better than a single photo could. Drama Shot lets you take a series of pictures of any moving subject and puts them together – so you can see the detailed action that’s seamlessly merged into one very dynamic photo.

– Group Play – Share the enjoyment with friends. Get your friends together and let them enjoy your music simultaneously. Wirelessly connect multiple Samsung GALAXY S4 phones to play games and share photos and documents. Get all Samsung GALAXY S4 phones together and create a powerful sound system that enhances the sound quality and keeps the party going.

– Story Album – An album for every occasion. Have the Samsung GALAXY S4 organize your photos and create albums based on specific events or customize them the way you want. You can even apply themes and choose various layouts. Then print the photos and hold the memories in your hand.

– Samsung Hub – One stop shop for any content you want. With the Samsung GALAXY S4 you can browse and shop through any content available from every Samsung Hub in one place. Videos, games, music, learning – it’s all in one Integrated Store. It has what you’re looking for in an easy to use and stylish magazine layout.

– S Translator. No more language barriers Say or text what you need translated into your new Samsung GALAXY S4 and it’ll read or text back the translation. The Samsung GALAXY S4 is a handy companion while traveling abroad, allowing you to easily communicate with locals, discover exotic foreign dishes, and explore hidden hangouts around the world.

– S Health. Achieve more for your health Stay active and fit with the Samsung GALAXY S4 phone. It will track your workouts, daily intake, and weight levels. Know current status of your surroundings for your activities with the Samsung GALAXY S4’s Comfort level. It shows your comfort level based on temperature and humidity. Monitor your progress with both Health board and various charts. Together with Samsung GALAXY S4, being motivated for better health has never been so easy.

– Adapt Display. Optimized display settings that fit you Give your eyes a rest and let the Samsung GALAXY S4 adjust your view. With 7 automatic modes and 4 manual modes, the Samsung GALAXY S4 provides the optimal viewing experience. See your favorite videos, games, books and emails displayed with amazing color quality. Get the perfect and optimized view with the Samsung GALAXY S4.

– Samsung Adapt Sound. Sound, the way it was meant to be heard Hear everything with the right balance and perfect volume customized for you. The Samsung GALAXY S4 dials music up and down and balances left and right audio based on your hearing, the sound source and your preferences. The Samsung GALAXY S4 provides an optimal sound experience tailored to you.

– HomeSync. Enjoy your personal cloud Samsung HomeSync is the optimum personal cloud device for family entertainment. With 1TB of storage capacity, Samsung HomeSync stores tons of pictures and videos once it’s taken wherever you and your family members are. Bring Android games, movies, TV shows and streaming content direct into your living room on a large and vivid TV. Mirror Mouse, the specialized navigating feature of Samsung Samsung GALAXY S4’s, is a much simpler and easier way to enjoy all the features of Samsung HomeSync!

2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
4G Network LTE
SIM Micro-SIM
Dimensions 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm
Weight 130 g (4.59 oz)
DISPLAY Type Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
Protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3
SOUND Alert types Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 64 GB
Internal 16/32/64 GB storage, 2 GB RAM, 16gb has 8.9gb available to the user
DATA GPRS Yes
EDGE Yes
Speed HSDPA, 42.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, LE
NFC Yes
Infrared port Yes
USB Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL 2), USB On-the-go, USB Host
CAMERA Primary 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality
Features Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR
Video Yes, 1080p@30fps, dual-video rec., check quality
Secondary Yes, 2 MP,1080p@30fps, dual video call
FEATURES OS Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
Sensors Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture
Messaging SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
Browser HTML5, Adobe Flash
FM Radio No
GPS Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
Java Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
Colors White Frost, Black Mist
– Wireless charging (market dependent)
– S-Voice natural language commands and dictation
– Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll
– Air gestures
– Dropbox (50 GB storage)
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– TV-out (via MHL 2 A/V link)
– SNS integration
– MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
– MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
– Organizer
– Image/video editor
– Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
– Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa
– Voice memo/dial/commands
– Predictive text input (Swype)
BATTERY Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery
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Blackberry 10.1 OS New Features include

RIM, Tech News

Blackberry 10.1 OS will include a HDR camera mode, PIN-to-PIN messaging within the BlackBerry Hub and an improved text selector. Other smaller tweaks include the ability to paste phone numbers into the dialer, the option to disable alerts for specific applications and the ability to check for app updates more easily.

Numerous bug fixes will be addressed too. Lets hope this platform can continue to be successful.

The Amazon Threat

Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Windows

I have strongly believed that the biggest threat to the mobile space won’t be Apple vs Google or vs Samsung but Amazon vs The Rest. Why?

Well it already has one of the best media libraries and credit card details for millions of customers. It already has the logistics and customer service setup to deal with mass selling of hardware. And Amazon has already sold some top budget android based tablets.

It just announced that its own Appstore on Android, will include expansion to “nearly 200 countries,” after rolling out in Europe and Japan, but wisely it’s asking for developers to get on board first. It already has Game Circle, similar to Apple’s Game Center.

So all that is left is for Amazon to launch a killer phone at a really low cost. The only issues might be the ability to manufacture so many devices versus available resources which probably have been taken up by Samsung and Apple.

One thing that is certain, is that Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Blackberry, Samsung, Sony, HTC and Apple aren’t just going to let Amazon walk all over them. Also shareholders might get twitchy with Amazon still not making a profit! The other certainty is we the consumers are going to have a tough time choosing from some top notch devices.

Apple’s falling stock market price

Apple, Tech News

Apple’s stock price hit new this week, setting 52-week records and hitting the lowest points seen since late 2011. The price has traded beneath the $400, with AAPL having not traded that low.

Today’s slide follows a lower-than-expected revenue forecast for Cirrus Logic, a major supplier for chips used in the iPhone and iPad. Traders believe the lower forecast indicates weak Apple sales over the next several quarters.

Now my take on this nonsense, is a cash rich company, making more profits than most companies in the world, with more cash in the bank than most countries. So what is going on?

Stock market analysts manipulating the markets to make money for themselves. If you have noticed, Apple has not released any new products for months. Apple has clearly altered its product cycle and probably has a few surprises up its sleeves.

I expect Apple’s share price to shoot up again, when it launches a sleuth of new gear, and hopefully some surprises too.

Updated – following Q2 earnings call the stock price has risen. Next quarter is predicted to be flat but last quarter and next year should help Apple rebound with new products.

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