Category Archives: Tech News

Withings Activite Steel – Swiss Activity Tracker – First Impressions

Android, Apple, Tech News, Wearables, , ,

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Welcome to my first impressions of the Withings Activite Steel watch. The key features are –

– Automatic activity tracking – Steps, runs, swims (water resistant – 50m) and calories burned
– Sleep monitoring – Sleep cycle analysis (light and deep sleep) plus silent vibrating alarm
– Automatic synchronisation – Visualise trends and data on your smartphone with the free Health Mate app available on iOS and android
– Premium materials – Stainless steel, chrome hands, silicon sport strap
– No charging – Up to 8-month battery life

The Withings Activite Steel smartwatch arrived yesterday. Photo above shows watch on my wrist. Settings up is a breeze. You download the Health Mate app, and follow the simple instructions. I was all setup within 5 mins. Syncing is done periodically during the day using Bluetooth Low Energy. This is an analogue, swiss style watch. The watch strap is easily removable with a built in slide pin. Withings sell leather straps made from quality Barenia leather from Haas Tanneries, the supplier of the finest French Haute Couture houses. Choice of black or tawny brown colours. A single leather strap is £100. The silcone strap is also replaceable with other colour straps. Withings sell a 3 pack of coloured silicone straps for £25. The colours are orange, plum and teal.

The watch has a dial for the hands and minute hands. The other dial moves from 0 to 100% of step target. On the app you set how many steps is you goal. The Health Mate app displays a whole range of data, more of which I will cover off in my review.

The first thing I noticed is the comfort of the strap. Next the watch size is smaller than expected. I think changing the strap for orange or black leather would be a better choice. I cannot believe this doesn’t need charging and lasts 8 months. This takes all the pain out of charging a tracker. My main issue is the watch costs around £139 but just doesn’t look expensive enough.

However, seeing the analogue dial move round felt far less stressful than having an actual number of steps travelled on the screen. Opening the health app does reveal step count and more.

More soon.

More info & latest pricing on Amazon UK

Apple’s new Lightning EarPods for iPhone 7 purportedly shown in new photos

Apple, Tech News,

“As has been widely reported, it is all but confirmed that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack. This means buyers of the new iPhone will have to search for alternative types of headphones, whether that be via wireless Bluetooth or Apple’s Lightning cable. What’s apparently shown in these photos (via Weibo) is a new version of Apple’s EarPods that can connect to an iPhone via the 9-pin Lightning port.”

Whilst the removal of the headphone jack may seem annoying, the audio quality via the lightning connector is far superior. Now if Apple introduced wireless charging that would be the icing on the cake.

More at 9to5mac

Black Onyx Galaxy Note 7 leaks in all its glory

Android, Audio, Tech News, ,

 

“Black Onyx Galaxy Note 7 leaks in all its glory!

A new batch of photos has been leaked from China and it shows us the Galaxy Note 7 in Black Onyx. The handset is completely black, even the metal frame is black. Samsung has confirmed that it’s going to formally announce the Galaxy Note 7 at an event in New York City on August 2nd, pricing and availability information will be confirmed after the event. There is also a rumour that it will be available immediately to order.”

Not long now for the big reveal. I must admit I am excited to see what Samsung include with the new Note 7.

More at Sammobile

Amazon says Prime Day orders jump 60 percent over last year

Amazon, Tech News

Amazon says Prime Day orders jump 60 percent over last year

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc said customers placed 60 percent more orders worldwide on “Prime Day” shopping event on Tuesday, compared with a year earlier.

Only Amazon can create its own Shopping Day Event. Whilst a lot of old stock gets sold, I did find a large number of deals worth purchasing this year. What about you?

New leak shows ‘iPhone 7 Plus’ with Smart Connector, no mute switch

Apple, Tech News,

“New leak shows ‘iPhone 7 Plus’ with Smart Connector, no mute switch.

One day after a fairly clear photo purporting to show the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 emerged, new photos have leaked, showing what could be the larger 5.5-inch model, with a dual-lens camera, Smart Connector on the back, and the notable absence of a mute switch.”

All these iPhone 7 leaks but what nothing is guaranteed until Apple officially announce the new handset. However, I do hope all the camera improvements materialise.

More at iLounge

Asus’ Zenfone 3 Deluxe will be the first phone with the new Snapdragon 821

Android, Tech News,

“Asus’ Zenfone 3 Deluxe will be the first phone with the new Snapdragon 821.

Asus introduced its new Zenfone 3 Deluxe at Computex earlier this year. It disclosed that the phone would come with a 5.7-inch 1080p display, a 23-megapixel front-facing camera, 3,000mAh battery, USB-C 3.0, and up to 6GB of RAM. We also knew it would have a Snapdragon 820 series processor, but now we have confirmation that it’ll be the first phone to feature the Snapdragon 821. Qualcomm only introduced the chip yesterday. Asus didn’t wait long to share its news. The 821 follows the 820, which was included in most every top-end Android phone this past year, including the Galaxy S7, the HTC 10, and Xiaomi’s Mi 5. The new chip comes with a 10 percent increase in performance”.

The new Asus Zenfone 3 range is full to the brim with value, and the Deluxe model takes this one step further.

More at the Verge

NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet meets Android 6.0 Professional Audio requirements following Software Upgrade 4.2

Android, Tech News

“NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet meets Android 6.0 Professional Audio requirements following Software Upgrade 4.2

The NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet provides one of the best Android gaming experiences you can currently have, and right now an update is rolling out to the device. Following this latest release, the slate now meets Android 6.0 Professional Audio requirements. This means low latency audio, MIDI support over USB and Bluetooth, 24-bit@192kHz Stereo and 7.1 HDMI output, and other audio improvements. In-game audio should sound more responsive, and the same is true when listening to music or watching video.”

The Nvidia Shield Tablet is one of the best android tablet available. This update makes it even better. From a gaming perspective, the games specifically designed to work with this tablet are way better than the typical games found on other phones.

More at Android Police

How much mobile data does Pokémon Go use?

Tech News,

How much mobile data does Pokémon Go use?

“Unfortunately the Pokémon Go app itself can’t really limit data usage much. Due to the free-roaming nature of the game and everything you can do with it, it’s hard to put a specific number on the amount of data Pokémon Go is going to use when you play.

How often you’re hitting PokéStops, going to gyms and battling will make a difference in your data usage. Walking around for about an hour actively playing Pokémon Go, we saw less than 20MB of mobile data usage. Tips for saving data when playing Pokémon Go Though the Pokémon Go app isn’t really using all that much data, there are a few things you can keep in mind to both potentially reduce the app’s data usage and also cut down on your overall data usage when you’re out playing. Keep your Wi-Fi on This one’s pretty basic, but is worth remembering if you’re in a city with lots of open Wi-Fi access points: leave your Wi-Fi on and hop on open networks to save some data while you’re out. If you’re going to be stationary for a few minutes, there’s little reason not to hop on that nearby Starbucks or McDonald’s free Wi-Fi. It’ll take a minute, but you’ll save a few megabytes”

At 20mb an hour, the data usage is fairly low from playing Pokemon Go. But if you become addicted to the game which many people are, playing for 2 hours per day, 7 days a week equates to 280mb. This in turn over a month becomes over 1gb. Just something to be wary of if your life gets possessed by Pokemon Go.

More at Android Central

Pokemon Go expected to launch in UK and Europe in ‘a few days’ as Nintendo stock soars 25%

Android, Apple, Tech News,

“Pokemon Go expected to launch in UK and Europe in ‘a few days’ as Nintendo stock soars 25%.

Pokemon Go has become a huge hit rallying hundreds of millions of players in just a few short days. Widespread media coverage of the game (and its consequences) has made the Nintendo freemium title somewhat of a phenomenon, continuing to top App Store charts. This success — likely propelled by pent-up demand for a ‘real’ Pokemon game available on iOS — comes despite the game only launching three regions; the United States, New Zealand Australia. A new report from the Wall Street Journal indicates fans from other countries will not have to wait long for an official launch of Pokemon Go in the UK, Europe and more.”

Just shows if you have a social media hit, you can add $6 billion on to your share price overnight. Incredible success.

More at 9to5mac

A curved Galaxy Note 7 gets leaked again in photos

Tech News,

“A curved Galaxy Note 7 gets leaked again in photos”.

“The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is clearly just around the corner. The last few weeks have flooded the feed with news and rumours with a new leak shown above of the phone.”

The Samsung Note 7 is likely to cost a bomb at launch. Will you be prepared to pay such a premium, when you can have cheaper phones like the OnePlus 3?

More at Pocketnow