The HitcasePro – is this the ultimate case for the iPhone 5/5S?

Apple, Tech News

The Hitcase Pro is badged as the ultimate tough case.

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And at £129 it should be.

The case is waterproof, shock proof and has a patented seal system that still allows you to send and receive phone calls. It also can be mounted to a rail system. It is worth clicking the link above to learn more about this product.

Nexus 5 camera modification

Android, Tech News

A developer by the name of Jishnu Sir over on XDA created a flashable .zip file in hopes to improve the quality of the Nexus 5 camera. It’s a whole new camera app that replaces the stock one, which will require you to unlock your bootloader and have some sort of custom recovery (i.e. ClockworkMod or TWRP). Here’s a full list of what the new camera app do/improve upon:

1) Sound Recording now in Stereo with the secondary Mic.
2) Faster Focusing for the camera.
3) Front Camera also records 720P Videos@ 20 Mb/s.
4) Front camera Audio Bitrate@ 192000 Kb/s.
5) AntiBanding default set to 50Hz
6) Focus Range Adjusted.
7) Enhanced Smooth Zoom.
8) Turned Edge Enhancement ON.

For more info head over to XDA Devs.

Feedly changing sign in methods – following YouTube

Android, Apple, Tech News

It surely was no surprise to everyone that Google made it mandatory to sign in using Google+ with YouTube. Likewise with the gradual shift towards Google+ sign-in across Google sites, Feedly is following suit and introducing G+ sign-in. The transition will take place this week on the web and later this month through the Feedly Android and iOS apps.

The move to Google+ sign in, Feedly says, allows for easier sign-in on mobile devices and opens up more sharing possibilities. Feedly is also testing Twitter, Facebook and WordPress login options, with the aim of rolling them out over the next seven weeks.

Phones Show Chat Audio Podcast

Tech News

The Phones Show Chat podcast gets recorded later tonight, and their guest is none other than myself.

Steve Litchfield and Ted Salmon do a stellar job with their weekly podcast and I am grateful to be asked on as a guest.

And don’t forget I co-host a bi-weekly podcast with David from UKMobileTech called Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast. It is a light hearted tech podcast broadcast bi-weekly. To subscribe click here for iTunes or copy and paste this link into your favourite podcast app. The next episode will be recorded on Sunday so fingers crossed you will enjoy it as much as we do.

How will Apple release the iWatch that is so thin it’s magical?

Android, Tech News

There are a few smart watches in existence. Samsung, Sony and Pebble to name a few. My main view is all of these devices are too bulky or non stylish.

Apple has just patented a revision of the Bluetooth LE protocol. (Low Energy). What Apple has designed is a protocol whereby the connection is intermittent thereby reducing battery size and requirements and in turn creating a thin watch. In terms of iWatch functionality, Pebble has led the way as to what is possible with its new v2.0 SDK. All iOS 7 notifications appear on the Pebble.

My only concern with any watch no matter how slick or smart is who actually wears a watch nowadays? Do you? I don’t ?

Nokia Lumia 1020 coming up

Windows

Now that Windows Phone has had GDR3 and all the extras updates from Nokia, I thought it was a good time to spend time with the 41mp smartphone from Nokia.

I must admit to being excited to use another Windows Phone. The Lumia 620 and especially the 925 were a joy to use. As to parts that were important to me, the camera and sound quality via headphones were both excellent. So the Lumia 1020 and it’s 41mp shooter potentially could be a match made in heaven.

We shall see.