Category Archives: Windows

My Views on Moto G, Moto X and Moto 360

Android, Tech News, Windows, , ,

So early morning Motorola went public with the updated Moto G and X and also announced the Moto 360 watch.

I will cover off my thoughts first on Motorola. The Moto G is a well priced, competent android phone. Stereo speakers, better camera than last year all in a larger screen. So the overall profile is larger. In fact the display PPI has dropped due to the larger sized screen. It is a shame it has got bigger and I personally thought the first version was the perfect size for most people.

The Moto X. A customisable delight. Much better camera, infra red sensors to detect motion which in turn activates the screen and or off and more. I like the optional leather backs but £410. Seems like it should start with £300 ish.

Moto 360. This watch has lived up to its expectations. Except its battery life is shocking. Max of 24 hours. That maximum of 24 hours. Typical is less. So for me this watch is dead in the water.

Overall, everything announced was reasonable. Nothing set my world alight. What did you think?

Microsoft announces the Lumia 730, 735, 830, DT-903, HD-10 & Lumia Denim update

Tech News, Windows, ,

Microsoft Corp. announced the arrival of three new devices, the Lumia 830, Lumia 735 and Lumia 730 Dual SIM, alongside two new accessories, the Wireless Charging Plate DT-903 and the Microsoft Screen-Sharing for Lumia Phones HD-10, and the latest Lumia update – Lumia Denim.

The Lumia 830 – the affordable flagship with a 10-megapixel PureView camera to capture high-quality images and videos plus integrated wireless charging for around 330 euros, rolling out globally this month.

The Lumia 735 and 730 Dual SIM – these attractive polycarbonate devices come with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera great for selfies and Skype video calls. The Lumia 735 4G/LTE variant will be priced around 219 euros and the Lumia 730 Dual SIM variant will be priced around 199 euros, rolling out globally this month.

Wireless Charging Plate DT-903 – intelligent wireless charging with glowing alerts for notifications and low battery alerts.

Microsoft Screen-Sharing for Lumia Phones HD-10 – share any content easily with HDMI-enabled screens.

Lumia Denim – exclusive experiences for the Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 Lumia family as well as unique Lumia Camera innovations for the Lumia 930, Lumia Icon, Lumia 1520 and Lumia 830.

So did any of these new Windows Phone grab your attention.

Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast – podcast update

Amazon, Android, Apple, Reviews, RIM, Wearables, Windows,

The next episode of Gav & Dave’s Tech podcast is due out this Sunday.

However, due to the Apple Keynote speech a few days later on the Tuesday, Dave and I have decided to postpone the podcast for a week.

This means we will have all the latest gossip on all the new hotness that has been announced in the last few weeks. And there is a lot of new stuff to cover.

20 Smartphone Camera Shootout / 20 Phones Reviewed / 50 Accessories Reviewed incl Wearables – The MASTER POST – Pls RT

Amazon, Android, Apple, Firefox, Historical Reviews, Reviews, RIM, Tech News, Wearables, Windows

Gavin’s Gadgets is just over 18 months old. And therefore I thought it would be appropriate to highlight all the content written within my blog. In fact there is over 2,500 posts.

1) First up over 20 smartphones have been reviewed, from all the current flagships of 2014, 2013 and budget offerings. Also some oddball phones like the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom. Link below –

https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/review-links/

2) Next up is the Accessories / Wearables reviews. This covers smart watches, Gear Fit, camera smartphone accessories, app enabled accessories, headphones, cases, power and so much more. Probably around 50 reviews or so. Link below –

https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/reviews-accessories/

3) We all like the cameras on our phones. But even it you’re not fussed have a look at this 20 phone camera shootout. It includes all the flagships from 2014 across 3 different operating systems. Link below –

https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/wow-20-smartphone-camera-shootout-iphone-5s-lg-g3-htc-one-m8-samsung-s5-k-zoom-note-3-sony-nokia-nexus-huawei/

I have one favour to ask you all. As you will have noticed there is no advertising so I take the full burden of the costs involved in running and producing the content and receive no income in return.

So please could you help me by recommending my blog to your friends. And if you want to throw a bucket of ice water over your head when you have done so, that is entirely optional.

A few of you have sent a small donation which was incredible and appreciated. If you wish to make a donation to my paypal, please use gavinfabl at gmail dot com. Just think of all the coffee I need at 3am whilst writing the next day’s posts 🙂

And finally, have a great day whatever you are planning and keep smiling.

Today’s Top 12 IFA 2014 & Apple News, Announcements and Rumours

Amazon, Android, Apple, Reviews, RIM, Tech News, Wearables, Windows, , , , , , , , ,

Here we go again. It’s been a busy few days and is likely to explode soon.

1) Sony are teasing with the below video. But look carefully there are lots of clues. 3 new devices. Z3 Compact tablet, Z3 and Z3 Compact phones.

2) Dyson, yes Dyson has a big launch on 4th September. This new product has taken 16 years to develop, 200 engineers and a £28m investment. Maybe a robotic Hoover controlled via your smartphone? Below is the video teaser from Dyson.

3) iPhone news – via Wired.com – the next iPhone will have a payments solution that will incorporate NFC technology.

4) Nokia are about to launch HERE Maps for Samsung Gear smart watches. The official announcement will be later today.

5) Huawei Ascend Mate 7 – leaked photo below.
mate
This is a 6 inch phone, with thin bezels and a 13mp camera. Source Weibo via GSM Arena.

6) The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is available for pre order now in the UK ahead of the smartphone’s expected launch of September 10th. The Carphone Warehouse joins EE, Phones 4u and Clove by kicking off the ability to pre-order the new smartphone. Clove link http://www.clove.co.uk/samsung-galaxy-alpha

7) Apple goes official with the 9th. If you look closely at the invite below there are several clues hidden away. The event will take place at 10:00 AM Pacific Time at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of De Anza College in Cupertino. Expect the new iPhone 6 and wearables from Apple to be announced. However, the latest rumour suggests there is no 5.5 inch iPhone.

IMG_2376.JPG

8) Continuing the Apple Event, it has been noted that a large 3 storey building is being built at the Flint Center. Should be a lot of new hardware inside!

9) LG’s new round smartwatch will cost 299 euros.

10) Food for Thought. Samsung Gear S smart watch has identical specs to an iPhone 4S except the storage. The Gear S only has 4gb storage, whereas the 4S has 8gb. Just shows you what a feat of engineering Samsung has achieved, unless of course Apple show the world what really can be done.

11) Apple updates iOS 8 terms and conditions. Disallows developers to sell health kit data.

12) Google releases info on Project Wing.
wing
Google has built and tested autonomous aerial vehicles, which it believes could be used for goods deliveries.The project is being developed at Google X, the company’s clandestine tech research arm, which is also responsible for its self-driving car.Project Wing has been running for two years, but was a secret until now.Google said that its long-term goal was to develop drones that could be used for disaster relief by delivering aid to isolated areas. More info at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28964260

Top 15 IFA 2014 announcements from the Tech World and news on the iPhone 6 & iWatch

Amazon, Android, Apple, Reviews, Tech News, Wearables, Windows, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update from yesterday’s post.

1) LG announces full details on their new upcoming round smart watch. The model number is LG-W110. This won’t be available until October. It sure looks hot. Specs include a 1.2ghz Snapdragon 400, 1.3 inch P-OLED 320 x 320 screen (plastic organic LED), 4gb storage, 512 ram, 410maH battery, 9 Axis for the sensors (Gyro/ Accelerometer/ Compass), Barometer, PPG, IP67, heart rate monitor and running android wear. The strap is leather. The P-OLED display is important as it covers 100% of the display. The Moto 360 doesn’t. The display also works perfectly under bright sunlight according to LG.And being IP67 means it can be submerged underwater at to a metre in depth for 30 minutes. So far this is the watch to get out of all that have been announced. And it features a stainless steel frame and will be offered with an interchangeable 22mm calf skin leather strap.

lg-g-watch-r-main

2) ARCHOS announces the 40 Cesium Smartphone – Windows Phone 8.1 budget phones, ultra-clear 4-inch screen. Available in September for only £79, the ARCHOS 40 Cesium is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 Quad Core processor and comes with three coloured back cases – yellow, blue and black. Only good point is a LED notification.
archosWP

3) The iPhone 6 will have a new rounded true tone flash.

4) DropBox slashes its prices to remain competitive along with new features. Dropbox Pro now costs $9.99 a month for 1 terabyte of storage. You also have the ability to share links with password protection, to share links that expire on a certain date, and to share some files in “read-only” mode. Pro users also get the ability to remotely wipe a lost or missing device.

5) The new Nexus X (not Nexus 6) details have been revealed. a 5.2 inch screen, massive Snapdragon 805, 13mp camera, processor running at 2.7ghz, running android v5.0. The 64gb version retail price is around £360. Makes a mockery of the iPhone pricing! Source – http://lowdown.carphonewarehouse.com/just-in/motorola-nexus-x-price-and-specs-leak/

6) WSJ reports investors willing to pay $10 billion for Snapchat. No wonder Snapchat turned down Google’s $3 billion offer.

7) Amazon’s new purchase Twitch is suffering an online attack by a group called Lizard Squad.

8) Seagate announces world first 8 TB hard drive. Only for commercial customers which is a shame. I would kill for an 8 TB drive!

9) BlackBerry Khan – this is the code name for the new high end BlackBerry Porsche phone. Likely to cost $2,000. New specs reveal it should have 3GB RAM, a Dual-core 1.7GHz CPU, 64GB of storage and a 3.5 inch touchscreen. Clearly there is a market for this high end BlackBerry.

10) Kobo announces its new Aura H20 ereader, which is certified to be able to spend up to 30 minutes in one meter of water, making it ideal to use at the beach or in the bath or more. The device has 265 dpi e-ink technology, the highest resolution currently available in an e-reader, a 6.8 inch anti-glare touchscreen and the price will be £140 in the UK

11) Sennheiser have announced the CX 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 and 5.00. The new CX buds come with red, white or black cables and sport the Sennheiser logo on the exterior. Clearly taking on Beats Audio with the colour scheme. The CX 3.00 are likely to cost around £45. They do look good. The CX 5.00 adds a 3 button remote with mic.
Sennheiser_RED_CX_3_red_set-470-75

12) According to John Paczkowski at re/code, Apple’s reported September 9 event for the new iPhone will also see the launch of Apple’s first wearable. Apparently, Apple will reinvent the smart watch.

13) Pandora has been given approval for use on Google Glass

14) Sony’s new Z3 Compact Tablet will be an IPS Panel. No more shatter protectors.

15) View your twitter stats – head over to analytics.twitter.com . The dashboard should now be open to every account that has been open for at least 14 days, isn’t restricted/protected/suspended, and (curiously) that primarily tweets in English, French, Japanese, or Spanish.

16) Samsung announces the Gear S Smartwatch (see dedicated post) and Samsung Gear Circle. The Circle is a dedicated bluetooth headset.
Samsung_Circle_White_1

17) Jabra has announced new wireless in-ear fitness headphones that aim to give you a full training solution with Dolby Digital Plus sound, in-ear heart rate monitor and Sport Life App. The Jabra Sport Pulse uses standard Bluetooth connectivity and NFC, connecting to your smartphone for music and phone calls, but also to its Sport Life App.The app, which Jabra says can be integrated with existing fitness apps, can track your fitness level, consumed calories, distance, speed, pace, heart rate, heart rate zone and work-out times. The app also includes activity-based training, pre-defined training programs, interval training, zone training and target pace training.

Top 25 Latest Rumours, News and Announcements for Wednesday 27th August 2014

Amazon, Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Wearables, Windows, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Below are details of rumours and announcements since yesterday.

1) HTC teases a 64 bit, 8 core phone for China. And then HTC announced the LTE-equipped Desire 510 for a worldwide launch. The 510 is a 4.7-inch device with a fresh plastic design in either white or navy blue.
The Desire 510 pulls design notes from both the Desire 816 and 610, but has much lower-end specs with a 4.7-inch display of 480 x 854 (FWVGA), Snapdragon 410 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage (SDcard expandable) and a simple 5MP camera, Android 4.4 and Sense 6.
HTC_Desire_510_PerRight_White

2) Samsung opens registration for its Developer Conference 11-13 November at the Moscone West Centre in San Francisco. And it costs $499.

3) California law is now changed – every cellphone sold in California will now have to include a remote disabling option that lets you render a stolen device unusable. More importantly, this antitheft security measure will have to come enabled by default.

4) Moto Luge leaked by TKTechnews. Looks like a rebranded Moto R from a few years ago.
luge

5) Windows Phones dealt a blow by Huawei. Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Yu, the head of Huawei’s consumer business group, that although his company would be interested in building handsets based on another OS, it just makes no sense to do so right now because it’s found that consumers don’t want to buy Windows Phones.

6) Ralph Lauren is making a move in to the wearable devices market this week, as a number of ball boys and one player at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships are outfitted with new, iOS-connected nylon shirts that track health and fitness data.

7) Rumoured Phosphorus coprocessor for the iPhone 6 will be able to track information from various wearables and other built-in sensors that provide heart rate, cholesterol, blood sugar and calorie levels

8) iPhone 6S rumour – It will feature the new A9 chip that will be a 16 nanometer chipset

9) Huawei stops backing Tizen. Says it has no future.

10) Sony announces the M2 Aqua. The worlds most waterproof and dustproof phone. IP65, IP68. Other specs include a 4.8-inch qHD display (540 x 960 pixels), a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor, an Adreno 305 GPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel Exmor RS rear-facing camera, 8GB of expandable storage, 4G LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 2,330 mAh non-removable battery.12_Xperia_M2_Aqua-578-80

11) Google releases Slides for iOS to complete its Office editing apps for iOS.

12) Motorola to releases updated SKIP as a keychain fob.

13) Sony releases the DSC-KW1. A camera that looks like perfume bottle.
sony
KW1 comes with a 3.3-inch OLED display to go with a 19.2 MP camera. The camera is equipped with a 21mm f2.0 lens that can be rotated 180 degrees.

16) Google on track for releasing Android One next month. Android One is supposed to be capable of offering the most recent, powerful software experience to low-end specced phones. Specs go, expect 5 MP camera, 1700 mAh battery, 1 GB RAM, and a Snapdragon 400-ish processor. The price these devices will be sold at will span from $115 to $165.

17) Moto G2 specs revealed – screen 5 inch 720p, thinner bezels, 8mp camera, micro sd, front speakers, snapdragon 400, 1gb ram, changeable back covers – bargain phone
Moto-G2-teaser-580-90

18) Via Appleinsider – Apple has a new patent granted by the USPTO that describes various control mechanisms that could be used with flexible displays, to replace components such as physical buttons with more durable and resilient alternatives, and to create alternate means for detecting sound output, providing haptic feedback and even performing other tricks like making it easier to open a MacBook lid.

19) Huawei to launch the Ascend Mate 7 at IFA 2014 – a 6 inch phablet, with fingerprint recognition and car integration. Other specs include 8 GB internal memory with microSD card slot, 2 GB RAM, 13 MP camera at the front and a 5 MP rear shooter along with Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Huawei is also said to be launching a sapphire display version of the Ascend P7 at the IFA

20) Bloomberg reports – Apple to release massive 12.9 inch iPad in early 2015. Now would you buy this huge tablet? Certainly seems like Apple is not going to let Samsung take control of this larger tablet size too.

21) Amazon Fire Phone likely to only have sold 35,000 units. Source Engadget.

22) Archos launches ahead of IFA 2014 connected weather station, light bulbs and beanies. The weather station will monitor temp inside and outside, include plant sensors. The Weather station will track temperature, humidity, air quality, atmospheric pressure, and noise levels. The Archos Weather Station system is expected to be available in September for $149. Sounds similar to the Netatmo Weather station. The Archos Music Light is a combination LED bulb and Bluetooth speaker that screws into an standard Edison socket for both illumination and tunes for $49. Only the music can be controlled.

23) Archos has announced some budget phones.The 5-inch 50b Platinum smartphone available next month for £119. The smaller 45c Platinum will launch around the same time for £99, and the 101 Oxygen will be following up in October for £199. The Platinum will run Android KitKat, have a quad-core processor, dual SIM support, and an 8 megapixel primary camera. The 101 Oxygen will have a 1080p display, 1.5 GB of RAM, and run on a quad-core A17 ARM processor. More info at Archos http://www.archos.com/gb/products/smartphones/index.html?#idplatinum
archos_50bplatinum

September Gadget and Smartphone Madness Begins Today

Amazon, Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Wearables, Windows

There are going to be an outrageous amount of leaks, rumours and then a wave of new hardware being announced. Rather than clog up the news with individual posts over the next few weeks I am going to try an experiment and create a single concise post summarising all the tech snippets.

This single post will go live everyday at 6.30am UK time.

Obviously, if there is any new hardware worthy of an individual post then this be created.

In addition, there will be lots of new hardware device reviews in the months of September and October. So stay tuned.