Category Archives: Tech News

Why Amazon made a Tablet before a Phone

Android, Tech News

It is no secret that Amazon are looking to rule the information technology space. A company that started as an online shopping experience, has moved into the cloud for itself and other customers, streaming music, films and TV shows and providing sales of books, music, films, and more either as a physical product or electronic download. Amazon even have their own AppStore for their tablets.

Next year there are strong rumours they will release their first smartphone. But why did they release a tablet first. Well lets think about this carefully. First up they had already an established ebook reader called the Kindle, so any new tablet would need to extend to using the Kindle name. Second, it is all about sales and making more money. People that had the original Kindle ebook readers, would use them to buy book and newspapers. They would spend money! So make a full blown tablet and call it a Kindle, and Amazon immediately would have two types of customers – existing ebook readers and new ones that would feel confident buying into the Amazon Kindle experience. Customers with a tablet are able to browse Amazon’s online stores and spend more money easier with a tablet. It’s a virtual shop in the palm of your hand. The other aspect of a tablet, it is more likely to be shared amongst other members of the family in the same household, so each piece of Kindle tablet hardware could end up having more users, which in turns equates to more sales per device.

This in turns means making more money with their tablets. If you look at a smartphones, these generally are used by one person and are not shared. However, Amazon will want to cover off all hardware options, to make sure as many people as possible can access their services and spend money, hence why next year will be the release of a smartphone. In the meantime, Amazon will knock out improved tablets to make accessing and using their full shopping and media experience easier and easier.

iPhone 5 “No Service” fault update

Apple, Tech News

As you all know I was at the Apple store yesterday with an appointment with a Genius.

My iPhone 5 has suffered constant No Service issues whereby once it lost the signal it never reappeared.

Well after a period of 10 mins I walked out of the Apple store with a replacement iPhone 5. Over 24 hours later I can report not having suffered any No Service problems.

So it seems I had a faulty handset. The difference now is so much better. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed.

The iPod Classic – R.I.P. not quite

Apple, Reviews, Tech News

We live in the age of mp3 downloads and the Cloud. Google, Amazon and Apple all have music cloud solutions. And you can buy your music from any of the above, and never download a song. All you need to do is stream your collection over the Internet.

Sounds amazing doesn’t it. No need to use a bookcase or a cabinet to display or store your CDs. No need to rip and then sync across to your devices. So surely the iPod Classic reign is over.

Well, it may be in a few years, but it’s actually a hidden gem. With a storage of 160gb it has a huge capacity for holding your music. I have my entire music collection stored on it. It also sits in the cloud via Google Music by the way. With the Classic you don’t need to pay for unlimited Internet or increase your broadband capacity. You have a small pocketable device that you can plug and play. Simple. If you Cloud service goes offline you are screwed. Not with the Classic. But that’s the only start of what you can do with it. You can use it as your home music system by connecting to a dock, and because it still uses the old 30 pin connector, you have portable audio solutions. Using the 30 pin connector, you can bypass the iPod’s built in headphone amplifier and connect it to a dedicated headphone amp as shown in the photo below.

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This enables a better audio experience. Mind you the iPod Classic is known to possess a decent default sound signature.

So with all the usefulness of the iPod Classic, it’s huge hard drive and its always available without the Internet, it still has a number of years left.

Three UK Sim Only Deals – How to Get an Even Better Deal

Tech News

Today, I was in Exeter sorting out my iPhone 5 issue with the Apple Store.

Afterwards, I went to the 3 store to look at renewing my 12 month sim only deal. In fact, both my wife and I needed new deals. Originally we have been on a £10 per month deal, whereby we both got 1gb of data, 2000 3 to 3 calls, 300 voice mins and several thousand texts, which we hardly ever used due to iMessage.

During the course of this year, we discovered that my wife didn’t need 1gb of data, 500mb was more than ample, and I needed more than 1gb of data. 3 have 2 plans that seemed ideal for us. The Essential Sim 200 – 12 month – this is £6.90 per month, 500mb of data, 200 mins, 5000 texts which would suite my wife. I opted for the Ultimate Sim 600 – 12 month which is £15.90 per month, 600 voice minutes, 5000 texts and All You Can Eat Data.

However, the store have the option of including free 3 to 3 calls, which we both got.

But did you know it is possible to save even more money off those deals. I had the option of having a new number, and by doing the two deals together, the second sim gets a friends discount applied, reducing the £15.90 to £12.90, saving £36 a year.

That’s a good deal, don’t you think.

Apps in the Cloud – The Dangers

Android, Apple, Tech News

If we look at the two main operating systems Google and Apple, they operate a model whereby your apps are stored in the cloud for you.

Google is totally setup this way, meaning that it’s not possible to have a local copy on your pc. Apple uses iTunes to store a copy on your pc but also offers it stored in the cloud. With iPhones now you can select not to use a pc and just work using the cloud.

With my android and Apple devices I have encountered situations whereby the app I want to download doesn’t exist anymore. Fortunately with my iPhone I waa able still sync to iTunes on a pc so I was able to reinstall a particular app not available any more. I wasn’t so lucky with my android phone. I would have also been in trouble if I had just synced my iPhone in the cloud. As once the app disappears from the respective app stores, that’s it.

Maybe the cloud storage needs better backups. Also what happens if the cloud gets hacked and your music is deleted?

iPad Mini Real Life Experience

Apple, Tech News

Rather late in the day Apple released a smaller screened version of its iPad, probably in response to competition from Google, Samsung and Amazon.

If you want the official specs, go to Apple’s website . In this review I am going to look at real life usage, screen quality and comparisons to the full size iPad.

The full size iPad is the ultimate tablet. Powerful, large screened and does everything beautifully. Having used both, the real life differences are the retina screen and increased weight. The retina screen makes everything crispier but being honest after using the iPad Mini for a while it is forgotten. But what is not forgotten is the extra weight of the full size iPad. It feels heavier after a while, whereas the Mini is delightfully light and a joy to use for longer periods. In fact the Mini becomes more engaging for media activities like gaming, music and videos. Even reading in bed is easier. So does the full size iPad offer any advantages. It sure does. Web browsing on the Mini is lovely but go back to the full size iPad and the extra real estate provides an even better web cinema like browsing experience. Also the larger screen makes it superior for serious office type duties. Even so, I wouldn’t go back to the full size iPad. I find the Mini is just more portable, and better to carry around.

My real life thoughts of the iPad Mini is it a fun but useful tablet. It is also built to look incredible and at the same time to be strong and desirable. It simply blows other tablets out the water. And then there is the 275,000 iPad apps. No other platform gets anywhere near that.

The iPad Mini experience is enhanced by the iOS Eco system. Add an Apple TV and start playing around with AirPlay and mirroring. Again Apple provide a seamless experience here. You can safely backup the iPad Mini to your pc via iTunes or iCloud and then do a full restore anytime. No geek knowledge needed. And if you have other Apple devices the experience gets better. Buy an app, song or book on your iPhone and it pops up on your iPad. Take a photo on either device and you can view it on any Apple device via photostream including the Apple TV. There is more slick options available using iOS too.

Other aspects of the iPad Mini that are overlooked are the iSight camera. The Mini takes reasonable photos. And the Smart Cover is another neat accessory. Again if you have friends with Apple products you can use iMessage and FaceTime on the Mini. Apple really makes this easy.

There is rumours that the next Mini will have a retina screen. But will it be as light and as thin, and have the same running time on the battery?

The iPad Mini is a device you would buy and keep for a long time, and in the time use daily with considerable joy!

Huawei Ascend Mate 6.1 inch phone – Irony

Android, Tech News

Not to be outdone by the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Huawei are releasing the Ascend Mate, a 6.1 inch phone. What’s ironic is a Huawei executive briefly showed his and was illustrating how small it really is despite its size. The moment was caught on YouTube – try not to laugh at the film playing on the screen.

Seriously, this is not a phone or tablet or phablet. It’s ridiculous.