Category Archives: Wearables

This is the Companion App that will control the Apple Watch – details

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9to5mac.com has managed to get exclusive details on the new Apple Companion app that will control the upcoming Apple Watch.

Clock Functions:

A new clock face feature called Monogram has been added as a complication (a background detail you can choose to enable or disable). Like a real monogram, this feature will allow users to include a virtual, embedded stamp of 1-4 letters – typically your initials – directly on the clock face. This is an interesting customization, giving you the chance to make your watch look more individually designed.
Users will also be able to enable a subtle red dot that appears atop the Apple Watch’s clock face whenever a new notification is received on your iPhone.
You can choose a stock to track via a watch face complication, seeing either its current price, point change, percentage change, or market cap. The same stock will appear in Glances, as well.

Messages:

Lacking a keyboard, the Apple Watch will allow users to respond to messages via voice. As Apple has previously detailed, users can respond via either transcribed dictation or actual audio messages. The app can switch between Dictation or Audio Replies as the default mechanism for replying to text messages. You can also choose to use either form of reply at the time of the individual message.
Users will be able enable or disable Read Receipts, just like on the Mac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
Users will also be able to set up and manage default text replies for incoming text messages.
Users will also be able to choose to not receive text message alerts or just to receive them from people in their contacts list. Like on the iPhone, you can also choose how many alerts you get per individual incoming message.
Maps:

Users will be able to enable or disable Taptic Engine tapping of the user’s wrist when it is time to turn for turn-by-turn directions.

Activity, Motion & Fitness:

The Companion app will let you activate granular fitness features such as stand reminders when you’ve been sitting, activity progress every 4/6/8 hours, completion of move/exercise/stand goals, achievements, and Monday summaries of movement.
You can separately activate or deactivate heart rate tracking to automatically calculate calories burned, as well as tracking of your body movements to determine step counts and fitness level.

If you want to read more and see all the screen shots from this app I really do suggest heading over to 9to5mac.com – http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/13/apple-watch-iphone-companion-app-revealed-with-new-watch-features-monograms/

Apple releases iOS 8.2 beta 4 – Apple Watch referenced clearly – details

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Apple has released iOS 8.2 beta 4 and this time it makes the clearest display that the Apple Watch is close to being released in a month or so. March is the probable time line for this smart watch.

So hands up if you are looking to acquire one of these?

Source – http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/12/the-apple-watch-shows-up-in-the-ios-8-2-beta-bluetooth-menu/?ncid=rss

Garmin’s $600 Fenix 3 Sapphire Smart Watch – will this watch steal Apple’s crown ?

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Garmin have just launched the Fenix 3 Sapphire sport watch at CES and boldly stated they do not fear the upcoming Apple Watch.

The watch is a multi sport fitness watch with trackers, gps, displays notifications,  water resistant to 100 metres, includes sensors for altimeter , barometer, and a compass. It also has functions for alarms, stopwatch and similar actions. Battery life varies from 16 hours if using the gps to 50 hours.

Personally I like this type of watch. Limited functionality but stylish. But will it sell. That is a different story.

Source Cult of Mac

What’s this new LG Smart Watch that got photographed?

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The Verge managed to photograph a yet unannounced LG smart watch that really looks the business. What do you think?

It turns out this is an Android Wear watch with a special skin on top. LG and Audi worked together to develop this watch to match the design of the Prologue car, but also included extra hardware to communicate with the car.

NFC is included to help establish a secure connection between the car and the watch, which then allows you to unlock the doors. Since NFC can work without the battery, the driver should still be able to unlock or lock the doors even when the watch battery is dead.

Then there are biometric sensors that could feed information such as the driver’s body temperature and heart rate to the car’s onboard computer. This could be used to automatically control the air conditioning or heat in the car.

Sources Photos – http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/6/7504199/a-new-lg-smartwatch-was-just-teased-at-audis-ces-press-conference, http://www.talkandroid.com

How to use and setup the Samsung Gear S with any phone including iPhone 6 (Samsung phone not needed)

Many people believe it is not possible to use the Samsung Gear S without first needing to use a compatible Samsung handset to enable the initial setup process. Well it is possible and rather simple too. In fact, the Gear S can work with any phone including an iPhone or any Android.

See this great video on how to set up the Gear S.

Lenovo’s Vibe Band VB10 Fitness Band and the Vibe X2 Pro Smartphone – details

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Lenovo announced a fitness band featuring a curved E Ink screen. The main body is wrapped in metal either black, gold or white along with a rubberized strap. The band weighs just 30 grams. E-Ink means 30 days battery. The device continuously monitors your steps, calories, travel distance, sleep quality and you also get notifications from your phone using Bluetooth LE.

What is interesting with this band is another wearable that doesn’t use Android Wear operating system being announced at CES 2015.

Lenovo also announced several phones. Of interest, was the Vibe X2 Pro Smartphone.

VIBE smartphones gets bigger and faster with X2 Pro
Sporting the same eye-catching, award-winning layered design of the Lenovo X2, the Lenovo VIBE X2 Pro limited edition smartphone brings craftsmanship, power and style to the next level with its sleek, lightweight full-metal body. The VIBE X2 Pro packs a 5.3-inch FHD display with stunning visuals and a 64-bit Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Octa-Core processor that delivers jaw-dropping performance and long-lasting battery life.

For greater ease of use, the Lenovo X2 Pro incorporates the intuitively designed VIBE 2.0 user interface, featuring personalized lock screen, Instant On camera, elegant transparent icons and more. The smartphone also utilizes dual 13 megapixel auto-focus cameras (front and rear) with LED flash, gesture controls and beautification features, which combines with the new VIBE Xtension™ Selfie Flash to capture flawless selfies.

Note the auto focus front and rear cameras and both 13mp.

Source – http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1880

Gavin’s Gadgets 2014 Annual Report

This morning I had an email from WordPress which provided a link to Gavin’s Gadgets 2014 Annual Report.  Below are a few facts from that report.

– The busiest day of the year was 24th September. No surprises here. Lots of new tech and new iPhones.

– Day of the week in which more posts appear than any other day is a Thursday. No idea why Thursday is a more popular day. Do you?

– Most popular post for comments is “Alert – Free 50gb Dropbox Bonus – You’ll be lucky”. Just shows people feel cheated by the small print of the Samsung 50gb Dropbox offer.

– In 2014, Gavin’s Gadgets was viewed by 197 countries. That’s quite amazing really. Top 10 countries are UK, USA, India, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sinapore,  France, Malaysia and Sweden.

– Top 5 commenters were Jah, Mike Patterson, Richard Kelsey, Graham and Jon Love. Many thanks guys. And thanks to everyone else too who took the time to comment. My thanks goes to all the other commenters who voiced their opinions on twitter and Google Plus.

– Viewing stats are off the wall. I started the blog mid December 2012 and achieved a meagre 1,131 views by the end of the year. 2013 exploded exponentially and I honestly didn’t think it would get any better. Current stats for 2014 are just under 7 figures. And that is thanks to you all.

– Viewing stats continued. WordPress noted my posts have staying power. People are still reading posts from 2012 and more so from 2013. The reviews I’ve written covering mobile tech, wearables, Headphones and much much more are the key posts that keep getting read. And if you have missed any of my reviews just use the menu to find them all.

We are soon to reach 2015. 2015 will see more reviews, news and more podcast “recordings of Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast”. Gavin’s Gadgets is now http://www.gavinsgadgets.com and I hope you will follow my journey throughout next year and beyond.

Enjoy the remainder of 2014!

All the best.

Gavin ☺

Reviews Galore – Wearables, Weather Stations, Balls, Headphones, Cases, Gloves and More

Below are reviews on a range of accessories.  If you want to read some smartphone reviews click here.

Clothing

Touchscreen Gloves Review

Camera Lenses

Shoulderpod S1 smartphone rig review

Sony QX10 and QX100 – 13 Part master review

Olloclip 3 in 1 Lens review for iPhone 5

Glif+ for iPhone 5 review

Wearables

LG G Watch R – review

Samsung Gear S – 9 Part Review

LG G Watch – review – android wear

Samsung Gear Neo Impressions

Samsung Gear Fit review

Samsung Gear review

Pebble Smartwatch review

App Enabled Accessories

Mipow Playbulb review

Imperihome Pro review

Netatmo Urban Weather station – 5 Part review

Moga Ace, Moga Pro and Moga Pro Power Game Controller Reviews

Sphero Ball review

Brando Shopping Gala NFC Ring review

Headphones, Speakers and Amps/DACS

Philips Fidelio M1BT Headphone review

AKG K845 Bluetooth Headphone review

Sony SBH80 Bluetooth headphones review

Sony XBA-H1 Headphone Review

Logitech UE Headphones – 3 part Master review

Audio Technica ATH-AD900x Headphone review

Fiio E12 – master review

Cables, Power and Connectors

Samsung Wireless Charging Pad

Brando Shopping Momax Universal Power Plus Battery Charging Kit review

Brando Shopping Portable Power Supply review

Brando Shopping OTG Desktop Connection Kit for Samsung Galaxy S4, Note 2 and Note 3 review

Brando Shopping Short Lightning Cable review

Bluetooth iPad Mini case review

Cellz Ultra Thin Slide Out Bluetooth Keyboard for iPhone 5/5S review

Cellz Power Battery case iPhone 5/5S review

Screen Protection

Brando Shopping Screen Protection review

Cellz Tempered Glass for iPhone 5/5S

Cases

Brando Shopping iPhone Armband case review

Brando Shopping iPhone 5/5S Leather Back Case review

Brando Shopping iPhone 5 / 5S Aluminism Bumper review

Brando Shopping Momax Smart Coat Case for Note 3 review

Trident iPhone 5 case review

Cellz Leather Flip case review

Cellz Premium Metal Bumper for iPhone 5/5S review

Misc

Cellz Non Slip Mat review

USB Fridge Review

USB Rollup Drum Kit

Asus ZenWatch – now available to buy in the UK

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Probably the most attractive android wear based smart watch is now available in the UK to buy for £199. This is via PC World. Link – http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/ipad-tablets-and-ereaders/smart-watches/asus-zenwatch-silver-brown-10108710-pdt.html

Key Specifications –

– Android Wear
– Wearable-optimized versions of ASUS ZenUI apps: Whats Next, Do It Later & more Enhanced functionality with ASUS smartphones
– Display your smartphone camera viewfinder remotely
– Monitor steps taken, calories burned & heart rate
– Voice & touch control
– Respond to texts, instant messages & emails by voice
– Universal key: unlock your phone or tablet by touching the watch face
– Find My Phone

So who wants one?

It’s live – Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast – Xmas Special 2014 – Please RT

As you know, I co-host a monthly podcast with David from UKMobileTech called Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast. It is a light hearted tech podcast broadcast.

To subscribe click here for iTunes or copy and paste this link into your favourite podcast app.

Episode 29, Xmas Special 2014 is now live for your listening pleasure. Today we rate our top 3 phones in several categories.

If you have enjoyed the podcast, please leave a 5 star review in iTunes. It helps others find our podcast. Go now and leave a review !

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, please drop a line at feedback@gdtpodcast.com .