Is Windows Phone as we know it on a path to failure?

August 15, 2014Tech News, Windowsis Windows Phone doomedGavin Fabiani-Laymond

IDC’s latest report on global smartphone shipments noted that not only did Windows Phone’s market share shrink from Q2 2013 to Q2 2014, but its overall shipment numbers shrank as well.

That’s 7.4 million Windows Phones shipped in Q2 this year, a 9.4% decline from the 8.2 million Windows Phones that shipped during the same period last year.

So is this doom and gloom. Hardly, but it is a warning sign. First up Windows does have a decent operating system that is still installed on a vast number businesses and personal pc’s. Second, it is just going through a major restructuring following their Nokia acquisition and this will take a little while longer to start to bear some fruit.

Another factor in these figures, is that all smartphone companies like Apple and Samsung are seeing a slow down as the market is now saturated and there is still an economic downturn.

Microsoft still has an eco system but it does need to use it to its best advantage soon, otherwise, the competition will advance further forward. Even Amazon could end up with higher sales than Microsoft!

Source – IDC – http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25037214

Are we too obsessed with smartphone cameras? And what should be the prime objective?

August 15, 2014Android, Apple, Tech News, Windowsare we obsessed with smartphone camerasGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Below are some photos I’ve taken over the years with a number of different phones. I’ve tried to keep the subject matter similar where possible.

The shot above was taken using the iPhone 4. Yes iPhone 4!

So same church but this is using the crappy camera in the HTC Hero. However, still perfectly acceptable. Below is a shot from the iPhone 5.

The above shot was using the HTC HD2. An old classic but it still took great photos.

Now the above shot is at the same place, just in the middle of thick haunted fog. You could hardly see anything that day. But I really liked the shot from the ancient iPhone 3GS.

So let’s take a few current phones. The above is from the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom. The S5 would have taken a similar shot to that shown below from the LG G3.

I could continue with samples from so many different smartphone cameras but my point is this, regardless of how good or poor their camera sensors were they all captured the memory. If you want DSLR quality go and buy one so you can pixel peep to your hearts content.

If there was one prime objective when deciding on which phone to buy, make sure it’s the one that can take the shot easily and fast. A memory doesn’t exist if you did not take the photo in time. That’s why iPhones are great. Quick to open the camera app and quick to snap the shot. The HTC One M8 and LG G3 are equally as impressive. And in all honesty smartphone sensors are tiny so miracles won’t ever happen.

If you happen to expand your horizons down the DSLR or similar route you will be surprised at just what you can do with a proper camera. I recently acquired an ultra wide 10-20mm camera lens. It takes photos like I’ve never seen before! Sample shot below-

So have a good weekend everyone. And happy shooting 🙂

FIGHT – AKG K845 vs Philips M1BT vs Sennheiser Momentums Over The Ear Headphones

August 14, 2014Reviews, Tech Newsakg k845 vs philips m1bt vs sennheiser momentumsGavin Fabiani-Laymond

The AKG K845, Philips M1BT and Sennheiser Momentums are all £250 headphones. The Sennheiser are the only ones that do not have bluetooth. You have to connect using a wire. So below are my views on each 3 and hopefully a winner will be chosen at the end.

AKG K845 – reviewed a few days ago. Link https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/akg-k845-bluetooth-headphone-review/ From my review in terms of sound quality these are by far the winner. They are superior to both the Sennheiser Momentums and Philips M1BT. In terms of practicality and features, this is where the K845’s lose points and ends up in second place.

Philips M1BT – reviewed yesterday. Link https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/philips-m1bt-headphone-review/ In terms of sound quality they offer a fun, warm, punchy, forward and slightly coloured sound, but end up in 3rd place. In terms of practicality and features, the M1BT is the winner.

Sennheiser Momentums – warm, punchy sound, not as good as the AKG K845 but slightly ahead of the Philips M1BT. So second place on sound quality. But the difference between the M1BT is very marginal and nearly a draw, but I decided to give 2nd place to the Sennheisers. In terms of practicality and features, the Momentums do have a hard carry case but ultimately do not have all the freedom bluetooth provides so come in third place.

So if we score the headphones with first place offering 3 points in each category, 2nd 2 points and 1 point for coming last, below is the final scoring.

AKG K845 – 4 points
Philips M1BT – 4 points
Sennheiser Momemtums – 3 points

So there we have it, a tie between the AKG K845 vs Philips M1BT. It is worth noting that all 3 headphones are 5 star award winners and whilst the official retail pricing is £250 for each, the pricing does vary from time to time, with discounts of £80 or more available.

So have you used or owned any of the above headphones? If so what are your views?

The Big Problem with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha

August 14, 2014Android, Tech Newssamsung galaxy alpha big problemGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Samsung officially took the wraps off the Galaxy Alpha. It’s a 720p screened android device. It’s got a mix of high and mid end specs but with a design and finish that is meant to look cool.

From a personal point of view I don’t dislike the Alpha. It is one of a few android phones that will be able to be used one handed that comes with some decent specs. However it faces a big problem.

Samsung clearly released this to combat the iPhone. The problem is there is only one new iPhone a year. Only Apple manufacture an iOS phone. So if you want an iPhone there is only one place to buy it from. That strengthens the Apple brand. This creates a little exclusivity.

However, if you want a phone powered by android your choice is endless. Samsung not only is doing battle with Apple but with android manufacturers from both the low, mid and high end. So on paper when we look at the specs of the Alpha we all can list at least 10 phones that come with better specifications. Question is do the specs make it a better offering than the Alpha? And will Samsung’s relentless marketing be strong and effective to quash competition?

Only time will tell, but I don’t think the Alpha will be a dead duck, quite the opposite in fact selling more than anticipated. Why? It’s a strong well known and trusted brand by the average person, it’s not too excessive in size and it looks good.

However, iPhone fans will respond by saying that the year old 5S can still out gun the new Alpha. And they would be right. And we must not forget that Sony will be launching their Sony Xperia Z3 Compact as another iPhone competitor. Samsung won’t have an easy ride. And let’s not forget the new iPhone is not even announced yet!

So do you agree?

Blackberry Store – 30% off all phones – Z10 now £139

August 13, 2014RIM, Tech Newsblackberry offering 30% off its phonesGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Blackberry has 30% off most of it’s phones via its own store.

So a white or black Z10 is now only £139.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha – It’s Official – Video and Specs

August 13, 2014Android, Tech NewsGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Samsung has officially launched the Galaxy Alpha. Below is the first video from Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha has a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED display, Exynos octacore processor with 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, LTE-A support, 1860mAh battery, fingerprint sensor, 12 megapixel rear camera, 2.1 megapixel front camera. All its standard Touchwiz features are present along with Android 4.4.4.

This is a metal build phone from Samsung. The Galaxy Alpha is just 6.7mm thick and it weighs 115g.

The Galaxy Alpha will be released in five colours, black, white, gold, silver and blue. Samsung says that the new device will be released sequentially in more than 150 countries starting September 2014.

This is the phone Samsung has produced to take on Apple’s new iPhone. So what do you think?

OnePlus pulls another marketing stunt – this time it’s sexist

August 13, 2014Android, Tech Newsoneplus sexist stuntGavin Fabiani-Laymond

From OnePlus, the smartphone maker that does sell phones unless by invitation.

“As we close in on the 200K mark for the number of registered forum users, OnePlus wants to give a shout out to the few but beautiful female fans in our community with our Ladies First contest.

In true gentlemen fashion and because chivalry is not dead, we are giving the lovely ladies of OnePlus a chance to skip the invite line and introduce themselves to us.

Ladies (and only ladies, sorry guys, ladies first), the rules are simple:
Draw the OnePlus logo on a piece of paper or on your hand/face/wherever (so we know it’s really you)
Take a photo of yourself with the OnePlus logo clearly visible
Post the photo in this thread
The 50 most well-liked ladies will receive an invite and a Never Settle t-shirt. Additionally, we will be giving out another 100 invites at random to any lady who participates in the contest. The contest begins today and ends on Friday. We will announce the winners on Monday.

Ladies, no nudity please”

In today’s politically correct society, this type of marketing is 100% sexist and is tasteless.

However, for a new startup, it’s certain to gather print and online print. And there is no such thing as bad publicity and therefore achieves its intended purpose whether or not you agree with it, is a different matter.

Update – all threads relating to this despicable stunt have been pulled. I so wonder if OnePlus ever intended to run this competition and merely used it for the attention. I will say, when my invite arrived last week to buy the OnePlus One phone I so despised the company with all it’s tacky tactics that I decided never to buy a phone from them!

Philips M1BT Headphone review

August 13, 2014Reviews, Tech Newsphilips m1bt bluetooth hradphone reviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Yesterday, I reviewed the AKG K845 bluetooth headphones. Link https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/akg-k845-bluetooth-headphone-review/ The K845’s do not have the latest bluetooth codecs or even APT-X. But these award winning Philips M1BT have all the mod cons and specs from Bluetooth v4.0 and APT-X. They also at launch cost the same as the K845’s at around £250. And the M1BT are 5 star Award Winners from What HiFi.

First up let’s cover off the official specs –

– TYPE – Over-ear (Closed)
– FREQUENCY RESPONSE 15 Hz -24hz
– NOISE ISOLATION
– Micro USB, 3.5mm stereo,
– Wireless INLINE CONTROLS
– Impedance 16 ohms
– Sensitivity107 dB
– Total harmonic distortion 0.1%
– In the box, pouch, headphones, audio cable and usb cable
– Minimum 10 hours of music time or talk time
– Minimum 350 hours of standby time
– Normal time for a full charge: 3 hours
– Bluetooth 4.0, Bluetooth mono support Headset Profile – HSP, Hands-Free Profile – HFP, Bluetooth stereo supported(Advanced Audio Distribution Profile A2DP; Audio Video Remote Control Profile – AVRCP)
– Operating range: Up to 15 meters (50 feet)
– Digital echo & noise reduction
– Supports SBC, AAC and aptX® audio
– Auto power off

The M1BT are very different from the AKG’s in every way possible. First the sit on your ears and are comfortable even for long listening periods. They also offer every option possible in terms of control. So from the headphones, you can increase or decrease volume, skip or forward music tracks, accept or reject calls, switch caller during a call, mute the call and power off. And the controls on the headphones are so easy to use as the controls are easily identifiable by touch alone as they are contoured differently. Also you get a battery level indicator on your smartphone status bar.

The M1BT’s being more compact are easier to travel with plus you don’t look like you have a battleship on your head. Also, when the battery dies, you can connect the audio cable and continue to listen to your music.

So what do the M1BT’s sound like. These headphones are not studio quality but warm with bass everywhere. They are not the finest word is accuracy but nonetheless do a good job. They are also provide a forward sound, quite fun at times and are able to go loud quickly. Vocals were clear with some added bass. I played a number of genres through these headphones and they coped really well. From classical, jazz, blues, dance, rock and pop. I will be honest, at first I did not like what I was hearing as the sound was somewhat coloured and slightly heavier on the bass. But after a while, I really began to enjoy listening to these headphones. Plus the ease of changing tracks, good call quality made up for some of its shortcomings.

But if I can leave you with one takeaway on these headphones. Despite the warm, bassy and slightly coloured sound, on my first extended listen I fell asleep on the sofa listening to my tunes. No other headphone has achieved that!

AKG K845 Bluetooth Headphone review

August 12, 2014Reviews, Tech Newsakg k845bt bluetooth headphone reviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Above is a photo of the AKG K845 bluetooth headphones. These are full size over the ears. Just in the photo you can see the Philips M1BT bluetooth headphones as a size comparison. The review will be live tomorrow for these, plus on Thursday my thoughts on which one is best. To give some perspective, both of these headphones went on sale at £250 and both are What HiFi 5 star award winners.

Anyway, today is all about the AKG K845’s. so let’s cover off the specs-

-Driver 50 mm
-Frequency Response 20-20 kHz
-Maximum Input Power 50 mW
-Input Impedance 32 ohms
-Sensitivity 102 dB SPL/V
-Cable 1.20 m
-Connector 3.5mm jack
-Weight 288 g
-Colour Black
-Battery Playback – 8 hours
-Bluetooth v3.0
-Basic inline controls for volume, calls, music play or pause

The first thing you will notice when you take the K845’s out of the box, is how large they are. But they do have 50mm drivers and protein leather ear cushions which in my listeners test are very comfortable regardless as to how long you use them. Apart from Bluetooth, NFC is present to help pair them, although I never once used this feature. It was simply easier to pair the old fashioned way. The headphones do fold flat to help with portability, but they do not compact down any further. The headphones are a closed back design with an emphasis on bass. Note these are not bass heavy sounding cans, more studio like sounding with that sudden rumble when the music includes the bass. I will come back to the sound in a minute.

If you cannot work out which side is left or right AKG have you covered as shown above. A simple idea that works. The AKG K845’s can be used via bluetooth but once the battery goes flat you can connect the included 3.5mm audio cable. In the box the only other item included is a usb cable for charging. There is no pouch or protective case. If you buy the Sennheiser Momentums these come is a hard case, ideal if you travel a lot.

So lets get the key stuff out of the way first. These headphones do not have the high quality codec APT-X. For some people this will mean excluding these from any short list. Let me say this just once. DON’T. The AKG K845’s do not have APT-X yet will wipe the floor with every headphone I have listened to so far that does have the APT-X codec, at lower, same and high price points. The AKG’s wiped the floor with the Sennheiser Momentums in terms of sound quality. The Momentums are far more stylish and practical as more compact and come with a hard travel case.

In terms of bluetooth functionality, the K845’s only come with v3. That means no bluetooth battery icon on your phone’s status bar. Another disappointment is the lack of bluetooth controls. You only have volume up/down and music play/pause. There is no previous or next track options. You can obviously take a call on these headphones, and the voice aspect is satisfactory.

I mentioned at the start that the sound is gear towards a studio quality with a slight bass slant. And that is exactly how I would describe them. High quality sound, precise, non coloured with some oomph as the track requires. The bass is discreet. These don’t pump bass out but when the bass is present it is a joy. It is authoritative, precise and accurate and a joy. I have owned the K551 which are bass neutral. I so much prefer the K845 sound. And here is the stickler. Amazon had the Sennheiser Momentums Over the Ears on offer, so I bought a pair of these wired cans expecting them to white wash the AKG’s but to my surprise this did not happen. The K845’s in bluetooth or wired mode just obliterated the Sennheisers.

The K845’s can rock out at high volumes. Classical, jazz, rock, blues, pop and dance all sound amazing. For a pair of closed headphones, the soundstage is wide. The mid and treble are precise and inspiring at times.
The detail these headphones can produce is fantastic. Truly a surprise. And they have speed, so rock tracks excel.

So in summary, they are comfortable, massive (so you might look odd walking on the streets with these), lack all the whizz bang bluetooth specs but sound excellent. A studio quality sound, precise, detailed, wide soundstage and with some enhanced bass, often at the sub level, but never in your face.

If you want to check out some of my other headphone reviews click here https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/reviews-accessories/ . If you have any questions, please ask. I have used a vast number of cans.

Apple Maps apparently dominating over Google Maps in the UK

August 12, 2014Tech NewsApple Maps ahead of Google Maps in the UKGavin Fabiani-Laymond

EE, the U.K. mobile network operator that is the merging of Orange and T-Mobile, released a new report on its 4G mobile networks today that shows Apple Maps is quickly outpacing Google Maps on mobile, despite only beginning to capture marketshare at the end of 2012.

“Traffic on the new Apple Maps now represents 70% of mapping traffic on the 4G network, from 60% in the second half of 2013, taking market share from Google maps, which is down 7ppts. This difference is even more marked over 3G where Apple Maps is up 19ppts and Google Maps is down 15ppts.”

My only observation is that EE is the last network I would personally use for data due to the cost and limited allowances. Maybe we need to see the same but for the other networks especially Three UK to get some form of balance.

Gavin's Gadgets & Photography

Tech Reviews & Photography