Tag Archives: details

Apple goes on record to apologise for the calendar spam – here’s how to stop the spam!

Apple, Tech News, ,

Apple has officially acknowledged and apologised for the calendar spam that is affecting iCloud calendars. This problem has affected my wife and many of my friends.

Apple has stated “We are sorry that some of our users are receiving spam calendar invitations. We are actively working to address this issue by identifying and blocking suspicious senders and spam in the invites being sent.” This came via Rene Ritchie of iMore.com. Tweet below.

If you receive a calendar spam entry, there are two methods needed to remove the problem. First if you decline, accept, or choose maybe on an incoming iCloud invite this lets the hackers know that your iCloud email address is valid.

Firstly, log in to iCloud via a web browser. This means going to http://www.icloud.com. Select the Calendar. the calendar settings. This is the cog bottom left. Go to Preferences, then choose Advanced. Choose to receive all event invitations as email. Emails can be more easily ignored and deleted.

Second, on your iPhone or iPad. Open the calendar app. Tap calendars. Now you can create a new Calendar, name it “Spam”. Tap on the offending spam calendar invite and move it to the “Spam” calendar. Once you have moved all the offending entries, you then delete the Spam Calendar entirely. This method does not tip off the spammers and removes the problem until Apple fixes it.

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The Huawei Mate 9 and Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Edition – Details, Videos and Views

Android, Tech News, , , ,

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Huawei launched yesterday the Huawai Mate 9 and a special version designed by Porsche, the Mate 9 Porsche Edition shown below.

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The Mate 9 costs 699 euros and the special Porsche version 1,349 euros. The standard version comes with a 5.9 inch 1080p screen, 4gb ram and 64gb storage and micro SD card support. The flash version has a smaller 5.5 inch QHD display, 6gb ram, 256gb storage and no micro SD card support, the fingerprint sensor on the front, capacitive menu buttons and a curved edge screen. It also has Porsche Design branding. Both phones come with the new dual camera setup co engineered with Leica, a 20mp monochrome sensor and a 12mp RGB colour sensor. OIS is present too but only for the 12mp lens. Both lenses are f/2.2. Both feature a 4,000 mAH battery and Huawei’s super fast charging system that fully charges the battery in 90 mins. Out of the box the phones come with Android 7.0 and Huawei new EMUI v5. The processor is the latest in house Kirin 960.

On paper the Mate 9 plays it safe with a familiar design. However, the phone does come with many of the key aspects to make a good phone but in today’s world a 5.9 inch screen really should be QHD. At 1080p, this means you are only looking at 373 PPI. On the other hand the Porsche Edition has a smaller 5.5 inch display and a QHD screen, yet costs twice as much as the standard Mate 9. This is crazy pricing and out of order when curved display phones from other companies are available for around £650 or less.

I will be interested to see how the camera performs and I am sure the creative options with the new dual lens layout will be excellent. However, I do not think it is acceptable for a flagship phone not to have HDR as an automatic option. With the Mate 9 you need to select it in the camera mode option menu. This is where the powerful processing done by the Google Pixel makes it so good and from a quick camera comparison I have seen between the 2 phones, the Pixel was the clear champion on photo quality.

However, it is early days and I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these phones and test it properly. What do you think?

Now enjoy the videos on the new devices.

The Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Edition –

The Huawei Mate 9 –

LG V20 – The Latest Info – Plus it will be the first Android OEM Phone with Android 7.0 Nougat

Android, Tech News, , ,

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According to LG Korea, the LG V20 is being released next month and will be the first Android OEM phone to have Android 7.0. Talk about timing with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 being announced tomorrow. LG is sure trying to steal Samsung’s thunder. The LG V20 is the successor to the amazing LG V10 which I reviewed Click HERE.

LG Korea also confirmed the following –

– close collaboration with Google, the first new Android 7.0 smartphone application
– LG Electronics CEO MC Business Division jojunho president stressed that “V20 will be a new standard for premium phones more enhanced multimedia capabilities.”

Source _ LG Korea

DJI launches new Zenmuse Z3 drone camera with built-in optical zoom

Photography, Tech News,


“DJI launches new Zenmuse Z3 drone camera with built-in optical zoom.

Drone maker DJI has launched a new aerial camera for its range of UAVs — the first from the company to offer a built-in optical zoom. The Zenmuse Z3 costs $899, weighs 262 grams, and has the same Sony-built 1/2.3-inch camera sensor found in DJI’s Inspire 1 and Phantom 4. It can shoot video at 4K at up to 30 frames per second and captures images at a resolution of 12-megapixels. And, of course, there’s that zoom. The Z3 has up to 7x zoom, combining a 3.5x optical zoom and a 2x digital zoom. DJI is positioning the Z3 primarily as a tool for “industrial applications.” If you use a drone for surveillance or surveying, then normally the only way to get a closer look is to physically fly closer.”

This new drone from DJI looks fantastic. And with optical zoom recorded footage will look even better !
More at the Verge

Bluetooth version 5 gets announced – Big Improvements – Details

Tech News,

Bluetooth 5 has been officially announced.

Kirkland, Washington – June 16, 2016 – The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced that its next release, coming late 2016 to early 2017, will be called Bluetooth 5 and will include significantly increased range, speed, and broadcast messaging capacity. Extending range will deliver robust, reliable Internet of Things (IoT) connections that make full-home and building and outdoor use cases a reality. Higher speeds will send data faster and optimize responsiveness. Increasing broadcast capacity will propel the next generation of “connectionless” services like beacons and location-relevant information and navigation. These Bluetooth advancements open up more possibilities and enable SIG companies – now at an all-time high of 30,000 member companies – to build an accessible, interoperable IoT.

“Bluetooth 5 will transform the way people experience the IoT by making it something that happens simply and seamlessly around them,” said Mark Powell, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Increasing operation range will enable connections to IoT devices that extend far beyond the walls of a typical home, while increasing speed supports faster data transfers and software updates for devices. And now with the ability to broadcast a much richer set of information, Bluetooth 5 will make beacons, location awareness, and other connectionless services an even more relevant part of an effortless and seamless IoT experience”

Bluetooth 5, projected for release in late 2016 to early 2017, will quadruple range and double speed of low energy connections while increasing the capacity of connectionless data broadcasts by 800 percent. It achieves all this alongside its industry-leading power performance. With the major boost in broadcast messaging capacity, the data being transferred will be richer, more intelligent. This will redefine the way Bluetooth devices transmit information, moving away from the app-paired-to-device model to a connectionless IoT where there is less need to download an app or connect the app to a device.

More than 371 million Bluetooth enabled beacons are projected to ship by 2020, according to Patrick Connolly, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. With eight times the broadcast messaging capacity, Bluetooth 5 will further propel the adoption and deployment of beacons and location-based services in the home automation, enterprise, and industrial markets. In scenarios where contextual awareness like navigation and pin-point location are crucial – such as hassle-free airport navigation experiences, asset tracking of warehouse inventory, emergency response, even smart city infrastructure that helps the visually impaired be more mobile – Bluetooth 5 will send custom information people actually find useful in that moment without connection and application barriers.

Bluetooth 5 will also help accelerate the death of the 3.5mm headphone jack, as the added speed and bandwidth will allow hi-res audio via bluetooth to become less the norm.

Android Pay comes to the UK – details and how to install

Android, Tech News, ,

Google has announced that Android users in the UK will be able to safely and securely pay from their devices using the operating system’s tap and pay functionality.

MasterCard and Visa debit and credit cards will be supported from a variety of banks including, but not limited to, the Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA, and Nationwide Building Society.

Natwest have stated that they are not supporting Android Pay yet, but an announcement is imminent.

Now just as Google made the announcement that Android Pay was live in the UK, Google changed their mind. So don’t panic. Natwest have already told me their announcement was imminent and its the start of Google I/O. So expect to see some action over the next day or so!

To install Android Pay, click Google Play Store Link to Android Pay and install the app.

How to Win in America – Chinese Company LeEco opens for business in the USA in style

Tech News,

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on Thursday in San Jose, LeEco established a new 80,000 square foot facility that will serve as the company’s North American headquarters. The new facility will be capable of supporting up to 800 employees and will also serve as the home, dubbed the LeFuture AI Institute, for LeEco’s move into the autonomous vehicle market.

LeEco issued a press release –

“Silicon Valley is critically important to our global growth strategy,” said LeEco Chairman and CEO Yueting Jia. “Silicon Valley is known for its unique talent and culture of innovation and inspiration, which aligns perfectly with LeEco’s mission to bring extraordinary experiences to people everywhere. We’re looking forward to sharing our vision of one connected ecosystem with U.S. consumers – where users can create a seamless, premium connected experience across all of our lifestyle products.”

LeEco is certainly trying to make a bold statement here. Not only will it be offering its wide range of products from phones and TV and more, but it will be also able to state how it uses America labour to design its products. Smart move in my book.

Source

Apple opens up Apple Music even further – details

Apple, Tech News,

Apple has provided more detailed information for developers on how to take advantage of the new Apple Music API introduced in iOS 9.3.

In a document titled Apple Music Best Practices for App Developers, Apple summarizes how third-party iOS apps can integrate with Apple Music, including some of its functionality in their apps.

Specifically, the Apple Music API will allow develoePrs to directly control Apple Music playback as well as determining if a user is currently a member, determine which country the user’s account is based in, queueing up songs for playback, and reading playlists already in a user’s music library and creating new playlists with a title and description.

Developers can also participate in the Apple Music Affiliate Program, earning a one-time commission if a user signs up for a paid Apple Music account using their app.

Is Apple becoming the new Google? As revenue drops, will Apple look at new ways to open up and gain new users?

Source / More Info