Author Archive: Matt

More than 20 years in the IT industry. Blogging with a passion and thirst for new technology since 2005.

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By February 26, 2014 Read More →

Google Glass Banned?

Google-GlassGoogle Glass isn’t even on the shelves yet and it’s being banned from all sorts of places. It was reported towards the end of last year that the “wearable tech”, which incorporates a tiny screen and camera connected to the internet, was already unwelcome at some casinos in the USA. Is this a knee-jerk reaction to a genuinely exciting, even revolutionary new technology? Is it maybe a fantastic bit of PR?

 

Casino Bans

CasinoFor a piece of kit that only a tiny percentage of humanity has actually tried, a whole lot of people seem to have an opinion about it. Google Glass certainly does have implications for casinos and their patrons, both negative and positive, so if you manage to get your hands on a pair you might be better off testing those capabilities somewhere like Gaming Club online casino first.

In New Jersey, the ban is official. The state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement has ordered all 12 casinos under its jurisdiction to stop gamblers wearing Glass. Various other states have followed suit, including Nevada, meaning that casinos in Las Vegas (and Reno) won’t allow the device.

 

Posted in: Editorial, Science & Technology
By February 25, 2014 Read More →

Mail vs. Modern Newsletters

Email-v-mailToday, less and less people are using actual mail to send anything. This is especially true of getting the word out about something. The question is, is it more or less helpful?

 

Getting the Word Out

If you look at your inbox, you probably are receiving many emails per day from companies who want you to take some time to take a look at the product or service they are offering. At some point, the messages simply get deleted, or placed into the SPAM folder, never to be seen again, without even being opened. This can also be said for paper mail. Many people will open their postbox and find it filled with junk mail that will eventually end up in the bin. The most important element to getting a person to read your message is to do something that separates you from the competition. What will make your message special?

 

Subject Line

The potential customer will probably decide within five seconds if they are going to open your message or not. It is very important that the first thing a person sees grabs their attention and makes them want to read what you have to say. In an email, the subject line can be very important because it gives the organization the chance to say something in order to get that message open. For a physical mailing it would be best to create this transparency through something like translucent envelopes, which allow the person to see what is inside.

 

Posted in: Editorial
By February 24, 2014 Read More →

Samsung Galaxy S5 announced at MWC

SM-G900F_charcoal BLACK_03So here’s the news that everyone seems to have been waiting for, Samsung have just now officially announced the new Samsung Galaxy S5 at MWC in Barcelona.

Possibly to go down as one of the worst kept secrets of the year, the Samsung S5 specs read pretty much as per the rumours that have been circulating for quite some time. Among the headlines are the 4K capable 16MP camera, which Samsung claim will be the best in the business. There’s the 5.1″ Full HD screen, 2GB RAM and cutting edge 2.5GHz quad-core CPU. Following in the footsteps of the competing Sony Xperia devices, there’s also IP67 dust and water resistance rating.

The images, which you’ll see below, also look pretty awesome!

Samsung Galaxy S5 Specification:

  • Size: 142 x 72.5 x 8.1
  • Weight: 145g
  • 5.1-inch FHD Super AMOLED display (1920 x 1080 resolution)
  • 2.5GHz quad-core processor
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 16/32GB of memory
  • microSD support up to 64GB
  • 16-megapixel camera with UHD 4K video recording at 30fps and various software features
  • 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera
  • LTE Cat 4 (150/50Mbps) support
  • 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80 MIMO (2×2) Wi-Fi
  • Bluetooth 4.0 BLE/ANT_
  • USB 3.0
  • NFC
  • IR Remote
  • 2800mAh battery
  • IP67 Dust and Water Resistant
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Heart rate sensor
  • Android 4.4.2 KitKat with various software features on top including Ultra Power Saving Mode, Download Booster, S Health 3.0, Quick Connect, Private Mode, Kids Mode

Posted in: News, Phones
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By February 24, 2014 Read More →

HTC announce the HTC Desire 816 and HTC Desire 610

HTC Desire 816_selfieWhilst we’re all eagerly awaiting news of HTC new HTC M8 aka ‘The All New HTC One’, in a smaller scale announcement today at MWC in Barcelona, HTC have just revealed two new mid-tier smartphones in their Desire range.

The HTC Desire 816 and HTC Desire 610 form part of the 2014 smartphone portfolio and will see their launch in March and May respectively.

HTC has become aware that the latest users of smartphones are content creators, not curators, so these devices have been built to provide consumers the perfect selfie machine for all their SnapChat, WhatsApp and social networking needs.

Two powerful cameras make the HTC Desire 816 ideal for photography lovers. A 13MP rear-facing camera complete with HTC Zoe™ and automatic highlight videos, as well as a 5MP front-facing camera, make it the perfect device for capturing both portraits and stunning landscapes in amazing quality.

The HTC Desire 610 has also been created as a great value, compact entertainment hub. The handset comes packed with a host of features for an incredible mobile audio and visual experience.

Both the 610 and 810 are recognisable HTC phones with front facing BoomSound speakers, beautiful design and similar software features to the leading One range including Zoe, BlinkFeed and Video Highlights.

Full press releases follow…

 

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By February 24, 2014 Read More →

Sony announces Xperia Z2, Z2 Tablet, and M2

xperia_z2With Mobile World Congress underway in Barcelona, Sony have used the event to officially announce their latest flagship device, the Xperia Z2.

Aiming to build upon the successes of the Xperia Z1, the Z2 will come with a 5.2″ Display, just 0.2in larger than the existing Xperia Z1 but in a thinner and lighter package. At just 8.2mm thick, Sony has now chosen to follow HTC in using an  aluminium frame construction.

There had been much speculation about the Z2, particularly with regards the screen and many expected that it would be among the first phones to launch with a 2K display. However, the Z2 sticks with a 1920×1080 Full HD screen bust also includes the X-reality picture engine and Triluminos display technology, rather than a straight focus on pixel count.

The Xperia Z2 maintains the IP55 and IP58 dust and waterproofing that we’ve now come to expect from Sony but perhaps one of the best boast-worthy features of the Z2 is that 4K video capable 20.7 megapixel camera which has a 1/2.3-type Exmor RS for mobile CMOS image sensor and a Sony G Lens.

The full press release follows…

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By February 20, 2014 Read More →

LG G2 Mini announced

g2-miniThe LG Nexus 5 and LG G2 have proven to be a great success for LG and today the Korean company has just announced a smaller followup for the G2; the LG G2 Mini.

This is LG’s first foray in to the ‘mini version’ market and, based upon the specification sheet you can see below, promises to be another popular device for them.

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By February 18, 2014 Read More →

Shiny – HTC M8 Mini pictured

m8-miniMore leaked pictures of HTC’s new flagship devices have surfaced and have been shared by Google+ user M. Helal. The user claims that the images are of the anticipated HTC M8 but most believe it to be, most likely, the HTC M8 Mini as the proportions seem to be inconsistent with the M8, particularly if you use the camera for scale.

So we believe that the image does indeed reveal a very shiny and sexy looking HTC M8 Mini and further reveals that intriguing dual rear-facing camera that we heard about last week.

Previous info suggest that the M8 Mini will have a 4.5-inch display with buttons on-screen, rather than capacitive buttons as on the 4.3-inch existing HTC One Mini.

The flagship HTC M8 is currently tipped for a late-March unveiling in New York, according to EvLeaks and we’d expect to see the HTC One Mini launched, most likely, a little after that and hopes that an HTC M8 Max would also be revealed at some point.

HTC M8 mini quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, expandable microSD card memory, Bluetooth 4.0, KitKat Android 4.4.2, and Sense 6.0 software.

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By February 17, 2014 Read More →

Nokia Lumia 1520 unboxing video

lumia-1520Nokia have managed to produce an extremely popular range of Windows Phone devices with the Lumia brand and the Lumia 1020 certainly drew a lot of attention last year when that launched with its whopping 40MP camera.

Eager to break in to that interesting “phablet” market, Nokia announced the Lumia 1520 late in 2013. Since then the 1520 has turned out to be pretty popular for those wishing to combine the size of a tablet with the functionality of a phone while not wanting to carry two devices.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a glorious 6-inch full HD IPS LCD screen that really does look the business. Couple that with the 2.2GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB RAM and 16GB of on-board storage, the specification starts to add up and throwing in a 20MP camera doesn’t hurt either!

As always, I’m kicking off with the unboxing and hands-on video before we crack on with the review.

Special thanks to Clove Technology for our review unit.

 

Posted in: Phones, Videos/Unboxings
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By February 12, 2014 Read More →

iPhone 6 going bezel-less?

iphone 6There are plenty of rumours about the forthcoming iPhone 6 out there at the moment, some of which also contradict others. However, there does seem to be a growing consensus that the iPhone 6 may have a larger, bezel-less screen.

Certainly there have been suggestions that the iPhone 6 could come in 4.7″ and 5.7″ variants which also seems to be becoming more credible.

The latest rumour to suggests two versions of the iPhone 6 comes from the South China Morning Post who claims an Apple insider has revealed details and that the new iPhone 6 will go on sale in September, later than many industry analysts believe.

It has also been suggested that Apple may ditch the existing Gorilla Glass screens in favour of Sapphire screens which are claimed to be virtually “indestructible”.

The last rumour, for today at least, relates to the iPhone 6 cameras. Claims from the news site Nikkei, say that Apple and Sony are in negotiations at the moment and that Sony may in fact be the supplier of the front and rear facing camera components for the iPhone 6. There have been further claims that the rear camera could be a 13 megapixel shooter and have a built in optical image stabilizer.

 
Posted in: News, Phones, Rumours
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By February 11, 2014 Read More →

HTC M8 to have 2 Cameras

HTC-One-2-M8New images of the HTC M8 leaked by nowhereelse.fr yesterday reveal not one, but two rear facing cameras. Initial thoughts were that one of the sensors would actually be a fingerprint reader but, despite the blurry nature of the shots from nowhereelse.fr it’s quite clear to see that both have lens elements in them. One appears to be the same as the Ultrapixel sensor on the HTC One while the other looks to be quite different. There’s also a dual LED flash evident that looks to be very similar to the two-tone version we have on the iPhone 5s

So why two cameras?

There are lots of theories at the moment including being able to take 3D photos. Personally I think we’re looking at a 4MP Ultrapixel camera that’s the same as the HTC One which will be ideal for low-light and fast action photos. And then I suspect that the other camera will have a much higher pixel count but have a smaller pixel size, so less light sensitivity. The cameras seem way too close together to give much of a 3D image separation.

Another theory is that the two cameras will work simultaneously and may or may not have the same pixel count but that together they will offer better IQ and light sensitivity, both images captured on each being combined with some clever interpolation software to push the boundaries and offer a best of both worlds solution.

Whatever they are we look set to find out in a few weeks time!

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