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Archive for October, 2013

By Matt October 20, 2013 Read More →

Griffin PowerDock 5 unboxing video

These days we all have multiple mobile devices at home that need to be charged on a regular basis. Whether it’s an iPhone or Android Smartphone or a tablet of some kind I suspect that many households have an area somewhere that you’ll find multiple chargers and a tangle of cables.

That’s where the Griffin Powerdock 5 comes in. Capable of charging up to 5 devices at the same time it delivers up to 10 watts of charging power. 5 USB sockets line one side of the unit while a series of clear plastic dividers allow you to stand each device in its own slot.

Looking something like a 21st century toast-rack the PowerDock 5 can charge anything that has a USB cable and with the 5 spaces it should prevent the pamily arguments over who’s turn it is with the charger!

It doesn’t take up much room, about the same as a single iPad. But it gives you a place to store and charge 5 iOS devices at one time, from a single power source. We think it’s the perfect charging solution for small offices or work groups, or a family full of iPhone users.

PowerDock 5 gives each tablet its own charging port and its own frosted backrest, and each charging bay is roomy enough to accommodate your iPhone, iPod or iPad in their cases.

Here’s a quick video so that you can see the unit a bit more clearly.

Posted in: Gadgets, Laptops, Phones, Tablets, Videos/Unboxings
Tags: Griffin

By Matt October 19, 2013 Read More →

Apple recall MacBook Air

Apple has just issued a recall for some MacBook Air 2012/13 models due to issues with certain 64GB and 128GB flash drives.

Owners of MacBook Air’s sold between June 2012 and June 2013 should contact their local Apple retail store to see if their system is affected and, if so, to organise to have the flash storage drive replaced free of charge.

If you are unsure if your drive needs to be replaced you should download the MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1 which will carry out a test on your drive.

The most important thing you should do is back up all of your data regularly and certainly you will need to do this prior to the drive being replaced by apple.

It is understood that drives affected by this issue simple cease to function without any prior warning so it is important that you seek assistance from Apple asap.

Posted in: Laptops, News
Tags: Apple, MacBook, MacBook Air

By Matt October 19, 2013 Read More →

Apple: We have no intention of reading your iMessages

Apple is once again having to play the defensive game amid allegations that the company could all too easily intercept users iMessages sent through iOS or OS X.

This is a claim from security experts stating that as Apple hold all the encryption keys for the end-to-end service it would be a trivial process to be able to change these keys in order to read content or pass it to third parties such as government agencies that make a request.

Whilst the security experts, Quarkslab, do point out that Apple are not currently doing this at the moment they could do so if they wanted to.

These claims have caused a great deal of noise and concern amongst users a privacy groups, so much so that Apple have had to break the usual radio silence and respond.

“iMessage is not architected to allow Apple to read messages,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told AllThingsD. “The research discussed theoretical vulnerabilities that would require Apple to re-engineer the iMessage system to exploit it, and Apple has no plans or intentions to do so.”

This is not the first time that Apple have been on the back foot where iMessage security is concerned. Earlier this year the company was also forced to defend itself against allegations of its involvement in handing over data to the NSA.

Posted in: News, Phones
Tags: Apple, iMessage, security

By Matt October 19, 2013 Read More →

Netatmo Urban Weather Station video

Barometers and home weather stations have been arround for centuries but the people from Netatmo have brought this concept right up to date with their Netatmo Urban Weather Station which has been specifically designed for iOS and Android devices.

What you get is two environmental monitoring units, one for indoors and one for out. The indoor unit connects to the internet over WiFi and relays its readings, alond with those obtained wirelessly from the outdoor unit, to a central location accessible with either the iOS or Android app.

The units don’t just measure temperature though as air quality, humidity, CO2 and other polutant concentrations are also measured, graphed and monitored.

In the short video below I’ll show you what the units look like as well as some live example reading from my iPad.

Posted in: Gadgets, Videos/Unboxings
Tags: Netatmo, Weather

By Gareth October 18, 2013 Read More →

Kindle Fire HD Now Available in the UK

In addition to their announcement of the Kindle Fire HDX Amazon have launched a refresh of the Kindle HD. At a wallet friendly £119 this looks set to take on the Tesco Hudl in a battle to the death. that £119 will get you the 8gb model, whilst the 16gb will run you £139. The Kindle Fire HD has been redesigned to be thinner and lighter, with an HD display, dual speakers boasting Dolby Digital Plus technology and the latest version of the Fire OS, Mojito!

Here’s what you get for £119:

High-definition display with 1280×800 resolution and 216 pixels per inch, making films, TV shows, books and games vivid and detailed. 66% more pixels than the previous generation

Kindle Fire HD features:

Powerful, dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, 60% faster than the previous generation Kindle Fire.
Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio — the standard in high-end audio.
All-new slim design that matches the look and feel of the new Kindle Fire HDX.
Fast downloads and web browsing with built-in dual-band Wi-Fi.
Powered by the latest version of Fire OS — Fire OS 3.0 “Mojito”— with hundreds of new and upgraded features, platform updates and Amazon-exclusive services. New features include expanded X-Ray for films and TV, Quiet Time, Quick Switch, and more.
Kindle FreeTime extends parental controls to give parents a simple, engaging way to manage
the way children use Kindle Fire — parents select content and set time limits by content type.

Coming later this year.

Stay connected and productive with all-new e-mail, calendar and Silk web browser.
Free, unlimited Cloud storage of all of your Amazon content, for downloading anytime, anywhere.
Vast selection of content, including millions of films, TV shows, songs, apps, games, books, audiobooks and magazines.

Posted in: News, Tablets
Tags: Amazon, Fire OS, kindle HD, mojito

By Gareth October 18, 2013 Read More →

Kindle Fire HDX Available in UK

Recently Amazon announced it would be launching the Kindle Fire HDX in the UK. Available in a couple of different flavours, 16/32/64GB and either WiFi or 4G at different price points Amazon hope to capture the market with low cost and high specs. Check out the Press Release below:

Powerhouse Tablets Built for Work and Play All-new Kindle Fire HDX — stunning new 7” or 8.9” HDX display, quad-core 2.2 GHz processor with 3x the processing power, 2x more memory, 11 hours of battery life, and dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio.

New HDX display goes beyond HD — exceptional pixel density, perfect 100% sRGB colour accuracy, reduced glare, dynamic image contrast and improved brightness for the best viewing experience, indoors or out Powerful quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor running at 2.2 GHz delivers over 3x the processing power for fast and fluid performance — the only tablets with a processor over 2 GHz. Both HDX 7” and 8.9” available with 3G and 4G LTE connectivity from Vodafone

Lightest large-screen tablet — Kindle Fire HDX 8.9” is astonishingly light at 374 grams.

Introducing the Mayday button — revolutionary on-device tech support — free, 24/7, 365 days a year.

Stay connected and productive with updated e-mail, calendar and Silk browser, plus seamless integration with Facebook and Twitter; enterprise-ready with support for encryption, Kerberos Intranet, secure Wi-Fi connections and VPN integration

Kindle FreeTime gives parents a simple, engaging way to manage the way children use Kindle Fire — parents select content and set time limits by content type — coming soon.

Luxembourg—16 October 2013—Today, Amazon announced that the all-new Kindle Fire HDX is now available for customers in the UK. The Kindle Fire HDX tablets combine groundbreaking hardware, the latest version of Fire OS and new features and services such as Kindle FreeTime, expanded X-Ray for films and TV, and the revolutionary new Mayday button. Learn more about the new Kindle Fire HDX family at www.amazon.co.uk/hdx.

The new Kindle Fire HDX family features:

Stunning exclusive HDX display — beyond HD with exceptional pixel density (323 ppi for 7”, 339 ppi for 8.9”), perfect 100% sRGB colour accuracy, reduced glare, dynamic image contrast and improved brightness for better viewing under any lighting conditions.
Powerful quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor running at 2.2 GHz provides over 3x the processing power compared with the previous generation, plus the latest graphics engine and 2x more memory for fast and fluid performance. These are the only tablets with a processor over 2 GHz.
Astonishingly light design — at just 374 grams, the 8.9” Kindle Fire HDX is the lightest large-
screen tablet, 34% lighter than the previous generation.
Powered by the latest version of Fire OS — Fire OS 3.0 “Mojito” — with hundreds of new and upgraded features, platform updates and Amazon-exclusive services.
New Mayday button delivers revolutionary, live tech support — one tap connects you to an Amazon expert who can guide you remotely through any feature — 24/7, 365 days a year, and free of charge. 15 seconds or less is the Mayday response time goal.
Kindle FreeTime extends parental controls to give parents a simple, engaging way to manage the way children use Kindle Fire — parents select content and set time limits by content type.
Watch thousands of films and TV shows with LOVEFiLM, Europe’s leading film subscription service. Expanded X-Ray for films and TV, adding trivia, character backstories and soundtrack information.
All-day battery life — up to 11 hours of mixed use and 17 hours of reading.
Updated e-mail, calendar and Silk browser to stay connected and productive.
New enterprise features including hardware and software encryption, Kerberos Intranet, secure
Wi-Fi connections, VPN integration and wireless printing.
Both HDX 7” and 8.9” are available with 3G and ultra-fast 4G LTE, available from Vodafone. Kindle Fire HDX offers you an optional promotional bundle for just £25. This includes 5 GB of data, 20 GB of Amazon Cloud storage and £5 credit for the Amazon Appstore.
Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio and virtual 5.1 multi-channel surround sound — the standard in high-end audio.
Front-facing HD camera makes it easy to stay in touch with Skype, plus a new 8 megapixel wide-aperture rear-facing camera on the 8.9” Fire HDX offers crisp photos and 1080p HD video.
Full integration with the world’s best content ecosystem — over 27 million films, TV shows, songs, apps, games, books, audiobooks and magazines.
New Origami covers feature an innovative design that allows you to position Fire HDX in both portrait and landscape mode.

Posted in: News, Tablets
Tags: amazone, kindle fire hdx, uk

By Matt October 18, 2013 Read More →

Google Nexus 5 leaked by… Google

Seems that everyone is in a hurry for more information about the forthcoming Google Nexus 5 and the anticipation is certainly building for what is expected to be the fastest, most powerful Android Smartphone to date.

So when it comes to leaked information about the Nexus 5 it is, perhaps, quite surprising to see that it has been accidentally ousted on Google’s own Play store earlier today.

For a short time the Nexus 4 could be found on the Play Store alongside the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 device and full details of the Nexus 5 Specification could also be found there.

Much of the rumoured specification has been confirmed; The five-inch display will be an IPS full HD, a Quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 takes care of business with 2GB of RAM and either 16 or 32GB of on-board storage. This will also be the first Smartphone to be powered by Android 4.4 KitKat.

The price has also been revealed to be $349 for the 16GB model but there’s no UK price available at this time but $349 comes out to a little over £220, factoring in VAT we should be looking at around £275 – £300 here.

It’s perhaps a little surprising that the Nexus 5 will have ‘only’ 2GB of RAM whereas the Note 3 has 3GB and an otherwise similar specification.

The Nexus 5 has since been removed from the Play Store but this mini leak possibly points to the device’s launch being imminent.

Posted in: News, Phones
Tags: Android, google, kitkat, Nexus 5

By Matt October 18, 2013 Read More →

HTC One Max vs Galaxy Note 3: Benchmark

HTC announced the HTC One Max earlier this week and folowing some unboxing and demo videos that we posted, we’ve had a lot of questions and feedback about the new device.

One of the recurring requests has been to compare the new HTC One Max to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Both the One Max and Note 3 are of a similar size and spec and occupy the same place in the market.

One of the things that we thought we could do to compare the two devices is to have them both run a benchmark test and see which one comes out on top.

Obviously we’re expecting the Note 3 to come out on top in this test, it has a 2.3GHz quad-core CPU vs 1.7GHz on the One Max but just how big is the difference? Check out the video below to see the numbers!

	HTC One Max	Samsung Galaxy Note 3
CPU	Quad-core 1.7 GHz	Quad-core 2.3 GHz
Chipset	Snapdragon 600	Snapdragon 800
RAM	2GB	3GB
ROM	16/32 GB	16/32/64 GB
Screen Size	5.9 inches	5.7 inches
Resolution	1080 x 1920 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels
Dimensions	164.5 x 82.5 x 10.3 mm	151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm
Weight	217g	168g
Primary Camera	4 MP (Ultrapixel)	13 MP
Secondary Camera	2.1 MP	2 MP

Posted in: News, Phones, Videos/Unboxings
Tags: Benchmark, Featured, galaxy, HTC One Max, Note 3

By Gareth October 17, 2013 Read More →

Android on your helmet

There is a new device on the block and it’s called the “Skully P1” and it’s actually an Android-powered motorcycle helmet which can let you see what’s behind you with an Augmented Reality overlay. This innovative device actually has a rear-camera built-in and displays a 180-degree AR view of what’s behind the rider.

That’s not the only cool thing about this high-tech armour. It also includes a Skully Synapse HUD integrated into the helmet visor. This makes it appear the HUD is floating about 20 feet in front of the riders vision. This HUD includes two different views. One incorporates the rear view display as previously mentioned, but the other offers detailed turn-by-turn navigation. This HUD uses a lithium-ion battery which will hold a charge for nine hours of use

As mentioned, the helm uses Android for its OS, and will integrate with other smartphones from Androids to iPhones. The OS also includes voice controls for playing music, getting directions, and more. The manufacturer will launch an SDK for app developers later in 2013. No details on pricing have been shared just yet.