I haven’t really done many accessory reviews, more app enabled gadgets like the Sphero ball.
But in a few weeks time, I will cover off a few accessories for the iPhone and Samsung phones that I think are worth a mention.
Twitter 25 device limit – no more notifications thereafter – updated
Yesterday I wrote the following –
“If you have 25 devices/apps or more with granted permission to interact with twitter, once you go to add a new interaction notifications will not be allowed.
At the moment I cannot activate push notifications on twitter for android on my Note 3.
I just wonder if this is a method whereby twitter charge dependant on needs. Or maybe they will allow free up to a certain amount of connections?”
After an exchange on twitter, my friend @misterleoni suggested Robird for android. This is a lovely app with inline photo previews and notifications that actually get delivered without streaming turned on.
In addition @jhoneyball chirped in saying he had the same issue, and it was only by raising a support ticket with twitter that actually solved this problem.
Twitter need to reset the cache on their servers to fully fix this problem. Also note 25 devices is really 25 apps or services using twitter. This is easily reached. Every time you use an app or service to share something to twitter this adds to the count. So if like me you review phones on all platforms, use twitter on a computer or mobile web that is 5 strikes one for each option. Then allow for other twitter apps you may use or have tried. Suddenly you are at 25 strikes. Then add all the sharing sites and apps and login verifications sites that use twitter. Suddenly, you are over 50 plus like me 🙂
Photo samples from the Samsung Note 3
Below are 2 photos taken yesterday. Believe or not the difference between the photos is a 15 min drive and an altitude of 1,500ft. It was difficult taking both these photos as it was extremely windy.
The successor to the HTC One – the HTC One+ – specifications
Let’s hope these specs on the rumoured replacement for the HTC One turn out to be correct. If so HTC have a killer phone in the making more than the original.
HTC One+ (HTC M8)
-5-inch full HD 1080p display with Gorilla Glass 3
-Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, 2GB LPDDR3
-6MP or 8MP “UltraPixel” camera with possible dual-lens with 2.1MP front facing camera -OIS unknown
-2,900mAh battery
– No capacitive buttons (software)
– Android KitKat with HTC Sense 6.0
– Micro-SIM
– NFC
– SD card slot – country dependant
Pebble Smartwatch ready to make a big announcement at CES next week
The Pebble Smartwatch has been around for around a year, so it should come as no surprise that version 2 is likely to be appearing soon, and whilst no details were revealed by Pebble, they did announce they would be making a big splash at CES.
This could also include more details of the Pebble App Store as well.
Starbucks loves iOS 7 and iPhones
Starbucks, this week, updated their Pick of the Week promotion to take advantage of iOS 7′s ability to use the device’s camera to redeem iTunes gift cards.
Before that you had to manually type the code into the iTunes Store. Earlier this year, Starbucks began offering the promotion via an App Store app. The pick of the week promotion allows customers pickup cards from participating Starbucks locations and download an app or other piece of iTunes media for free.
Handy is you like Starbucks coffee and own an iPhone.
Samsung Note 3 – 3 months later review – day 3
They say anything can happen in 24 hours. Well, my Samsung Note 3 has gone from a thing of frustration to a golden entity.
From a software point of view the Note 3 needs a few tweaks to prevent the constant reboots when powering on the phone. Also Google need to update their Google Play Music app so it works with the phone. I am sure both these will happen at some point in the future.
However, a trip over to XDA Developers (link provided in comments on part 2 published yesterday) revealed this was a common problem and solved by unticking the box in wifi advanced settings “allow scanning” as shown below.
With this box unticked it is safe to reset or switch off and on phone. After phone is back on you can retick the box. I have installed Nova Launcher and now have 2 home screens as below and app drawer all organised.
Despite missing out on free albums and other apps, I have found that I am still eligible for a free years subscription to the weekly magazine “Business Week”, free app MarketWatch and 3 articles free for the New York Times. There was also a magazine and photo printing app to peruse.
My other observations are that the loudspeaker doesn’t go loud enough as I would have liked, but it is crystal clear, the output volume via headphones could be louder but at least you won’t go deaf in a day, the headphone quality using the supplied in ear headphones is rubbish but using a number of decent in ear and over ear headphones provided high quality audio playback. Battery. Finally a phone that can last a day. It has at least 60% more juice than the iPhone 5S. The screen is gorgeous. Whether it’s watching a movie, looking at photos or indeed anything it’s really amazing. Gaming takes on a new level which such a vast screen. Clip the Note 3 into my Moga Pro game controller and it’s game on. The camera is much better than I thought. Low light photos aren’t brilliant but passable at best. The iPhone 5S and Lumia 1020 trounce it but as soon as the light increases the Note 3 is providing some stunning shots.
I finally have found an acceptable way to sync between my mac and the Note 3. iTunes music and movies (non drm) are handled wonderfully by an app called iSyncr. I realised I had photo uploads going to Google, Dropbox, Skydrive and Flickr yesterday. And still I got through a whole day in one battery charge. I have selected Dropbox for the time being as it integrates better into the mac folder structure. However, I have 80gb storage on my Google account so need to investigate options for using this more, as I enjoy the auto awesome features. Then there is the infra red remote control, ideal for controlling the TV.
How would I compare the Note 3 to the iPhone 5S? You can’t. They are totally different devices. The iPhone is a one handed masterpiece. All your apps and information as the flick of a thumb or finger. I think the notification centre in iOS is better as there are normally choices of how the notification is delivered, badges and more. The Note 3 uses the status bar instead for handling notifications. The one huge score for iOS is using twitter. I haven’t come across any twitter app on android that provides proper streaming and instant notifications as they appear. On iOS the official twitter app is better than any other twitter app on android, even the official android twitter app. The iPhone is technology made easy. iTunes syncing and backup is legendary. But then the Note 3 steps in.
The Note 3 provides over and above the iPhone, a 5.7 inch screen that enhances media engagement, 4K video recording, camera settings and options to fuel a nuclear reactor, in fact that applies to the whole device. Everything is adjustable. Options include intelligent S-View Premium cases, wireless charging, blocking mode, enough motion controls to make you sea sick, smart stay x 100, a decent hands free mode great when driving , S-Pen, air gestures galore, USB 3, USB OTG, and the list just keeps going on and on. The more you learn about the Note 3, the more you realise if you only could have one device, this could be it.
So at the end of day 3, I’m absolutely loving the Note 3. The iPhone 5S still has not been powered back on. My wife reckons I will be back with the iPhone in about a month. I don’t think so whatsoever!
But then again………
Twitter – no more notifications once you have reached 25 devices and or apps
If you have 25 devices/apps or more with granted permission to interact with twitter, once you go to add a new interaction notifications will not be allowed.
At the moment I cannot activate push notifications on twitter for android on my Note 3.
I just wonder if this is a method whereby twitter charge dependant on needs. Or maybe they will allow free up to a certain amount of connections?
Think the iPhone 5S is expensive – think again as the LG G Flex
EE has already announced that it will be the first U.K. carrier to begin selling the LG G Flex starting next month.
If you want one without a contract, you can now pre-order one from Expansys. You will need ÂŁ700 ($1,151).
WebOS is coming back – CES 2014
LG’s long-awaited webOS TV has been hitting headlines ahead of CES 2014.
Outing the picture over on Twitter user @evleaks tweeted the image with “webOS TV, by LG, 2014”.
On the display of the TV we can see apps including a web browser, Skype, Facebook and YouTube.
The photo shows that LG has tinkered with the card-based interface of webOS that it bought from HP earlier this year, but it looks like multitasking is very much at its heart.
It would be interesting to see if LG uses WebOS for any other hardware.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 