Author Archive: Gareth

Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.

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By October 16, 2013 Read More →

How Can We Keep up with Technology?

Whether it is a laptop tablet hybrid or a smartphone with voice recognition technology, there is always a new addition to the technology market that means consumers have a frantic need to own the latest device with technology that will be life changing. Does technology evolve too fast? Are we ever able to actually keep up and own the devices that appeal to us? As soon as we purchase one gadget another is released in its place and it makes it hard to keep up with the items that have some of the best features and that are claimed to be far superior to its predecessor.

Keep Up With Technology 1The Past…

In the early days of technology, the rate of development was manageable and consumers were able to get to grips with new items, purchase them and have a considerable amount of time with that device before a new update was released.

The Present…

The rate at which new technology is released is faster than anyone ever anticipated that it would be. There are constant new releases of items and updates every few months and consumers are unable to keep up with the number of products that are released every year. The consumer places a great deal of pressure on itself to indulge in the most recent items that will allow them to participate in the technological culture that has long since been an important part of life.

The Future…

Technology will quite possibly continue to evolve at much the same rate as it is now. People will continue with their frantic need to keep up with technology and possess the items that make a great deal of promises regarding the way people are able to carry out everyday tasks.

Keep Up With Technology 2Smartphones are one area that result in a high number of technological advancements and see people scrabbling for the latest in phone technology. The smartphone market really took off 6 years ago with the release of the first iPhone, and since then mobile phone makers have transformed their handsets and the technology they use to fill the latest desires of the consumer. The smartphone and tablet markets tend to go hand in hand as many mobile makers are indulging in the tablet market as a way of securing the popularity of the consumer and its place in the industry. 20 million people a month use a tablet, which is up by 39% from 2012.

Society has quickly become dependant on technology and the benefits that it brings, gadgets and devices are must have items and shape the way we carry out even the simplest of tasks.

As soon as we get used to one format and one way of doing things, it quickly changes to cater for the latest advancements and the changes it brings to everyday life. People are often judged or considered to be ‘out of the loop’ if they do not embrace the latest in technology releases and embrace items such as smartphones and tablets but there is a real concern that one day we will all lose touch with technology as it grows at a rate faster than we can keep up with…. Are technology manufacturers hurting themselves and their consumer? Competition is the backbone of the succession of new releases although there seems to be little consideration for the main focus of the business… the consumer.

Posted in: Editorial, Phones
By October 16, 2013 Read More →

LG are back in the tablet game with LG G PAD 8.3

LG G Pad Looks like LG are back in with a new and exciting tablet. Having made only a small dent with a number of unmemorable tablets in the past LG look to be pushing aggressively with their G Pad 8.3. With the specs quoted and a nice price point this looks like a very serious contender for your Christmas gifting list.

LG RE-ENTERS THE UK TABLET MARKET WITH THE LG G PAD 8.3

Hotly anticipated tablet launches in the UK

UK, 15 October 2013—LG Mobile today announced that its highly-awaited LG G Pad 8.3 tablet will be rolled out across the UK and Ireland in the run-up to Christmas. The impressive tablet is the first of its size to offer Full HD display and is the latest ground-breaking addition to LG’s G Series line-up of premium mobile devices.  This follows the successful launch of the G2 smartphone in October.

The LG G Pad 8.3 will be available in the UK market via an exclusive partnership between LG and IT distributor Micro P, at an SRP of £259.99. Harvey Norman will also exclusively offer the device in the Irish market from the end of October through its retail and online stores. This forms part of the global roll-out of the G Pad 8.3, which will also go on sale in over 30 other key markets by the end of 2013.

“The introduction of the LG G Pad 8.3 is another great step in design and technology from LG and shows that the G Series is going from strength to strength,” said Andy Coughlin, Head of Mobile for LG UK. “Just like the LG G2, the G Pad 8.3 delivers cutting-edge technology in a slim and sleek form, and is just the product for our re-entry into the UK tablet market.”

Powerful yet portable

The LG G Pad 8.3 was unveiled at the IFA 2013 trade show in Berlin in September where it received praise for its intelligent design and industry leading technology. Despite its large display and powerful 4600mAh battery, the G Pad 8.3 is comfortable to hold in one hand and as light as a newspaper at just 338g.

First full HD display tablet in 8-inch class

The LG G Pad 8.3 is the first 8-inch class tablet to offer a Full HD display, just like its G Series cousins the G Pro and G2 smartphones. The G Pad 8.3 is equipped with a 1920 x 1200 WUXGA (Widescreen Ultra Extended Graphics Array) display capable of delivering picture quality with even higher resolution than a standard Full HD display. The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 600 Processor with 1.7GHz Quad-Core CPU enhances the viewing experience with powerful performance as users will be able to enjoy Full HD content without any compromise.

The G Pad 8.3 meets the challenge of the convergence age by improving connectivity between multiple devices. The unique QPair app allows users to receive smartphone calls and messages through their G Pad and to send simple replies.

Key Specifications:

  • Processor: 1.7GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 600 Processor
  • Display: 8.3-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels / 273 ppi)
  • Memory: 16GB eMMC
  • RAM: 2GB LPDDR2
  • Camera: Rear 5.0MP / Front 1.3MP
  • Battery: 4,600mAh
  • Operating System: Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2
  • Size: 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm
  • Weight: 338g
  • Colours: Black / White
Posted in: News, Tablets
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By October 15, 2013 Read More →

Which Chromebook is right for you?

Which ChromebookThere has been a flurry of Chromebook’s over the last week and whilst they are largely the same, there are a few subtle differences to distinguish them. Here is a brief overview of the main contenders, there will be more, many more over the next year or so however you might need one right now and this little table may help:

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Acer C720

HP Chromebook 11

Samsung Chromebook

HP Chromebook 14

Screen

11.6″ 1366 x 768

11.6″ IPS display 1366 x 768

11.6″ 1366 x 768

14″ 1366 x 768

Ports

1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0

2 x USB 2.0

1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0

2 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0

Weight

1.27kg

1.04kg

1.08kg

1.9kg

CPU

1.4 GHz Intel Celeron (Haswell)

1.7 Exynos 5250

1.7 GHz Exynos 5000 Series

Intel Celeron 1.4 GHz

Memory

4GB

2GB

2GB

2GB

Storage

16GB SSD + 100 GB Google Drive

16GB SSD + 100 GB Google Drive

16GB SSD + 100 GB Google Drive

16GB SSD + 100 GB Google Drive

Battery life

8.5 hours

6 hours

6.5 hours

9.5 hours

Network

802.11a/b/g/n

802.11 a/b/g/n

802.11 a/b/g/n

802.11 a/b/g/n

Connections

1 x HDMI, Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.0, MicroUSB

Bluetooth 4.0, SD card slot.

Bluetooth 4.0, 1 x HDMI, SD card slot.

We’ll be going hands on sith several of these over the next week so be sure to came back to see unboxing videos and reviews soon! 🙂

Posted in: Editorial, Laptops
Tags: , , ,
By October 15, 2013 Read More →

An Introduction to the Amstrad CPC 664

Amstrad CPC 664Continuing his retrospective of the Amstrad range Gareth moves onto the second 8-bit computer produced by Amstrad, the CPC 664. This rare machine was produced for a very short period and now attains the status of a collector’s item. Luckily Gareth has one in his collection.

The Amstrad CPC 664 sold well in it’s day however was superseded by the CPC 6128 quite quickly as the 64kb of memory onboard did not deliver what people were looking for. The CPC 6128 became almost as iconic as the CPC 464 and the CPC 664 was ultimately forgotten. Until today!

Compared to the CPC464, the CPC664’s main unit has been significantly redesigned, not only to accommodate the floppy disk drive but also with a redesigned keyboard area. Touted “ergonomic” by Amstrad’s promotional material, the keyboard is noticeably tilted to the front with MSX-style cursor keys above the numeric keypad. Compared to the CPC464’s multicoloured keyboard, the CPC664’s keys are kept in a much quieter grey and pale blue colour scheme.

The back of the CPC664 main unit features the same connectors as the CPC464, with the exception of an additional 12V power lead. Unlike the CPC464’s cassette tape drive that could be powered off the main unit’s 5V voltage, the CPC664’s floppy disk drive requires an additional 12V voltage. This voltage had to be separately supplied by an updated version of the bundled green screen/colour monitor (GT-65 and CTM-644 respectively).

The CPC664 was only produced for approximately six months. In late 1985, when the CPC6128 was introduced in Europe, Amstrad decided not to keep three models in the line-up, and production of the CPC664 was discontinued.

By October 14, 2013 Read More →

Another Chromebook arriving soon from Acer

Acer ChromebookThis appears to be of week the Chromebook. Acer has announced new C720 Chromebook alongside the HP’s Chromebook 11 at the even lower price of $249.99. Sticking with Intel’s x86 chips rather than the ARM-based processor in HP’s machine, the Acer C720 introduces the Haswell-generation Celeron 2955U for better performance and battery life. Also boasting the promise of up to 8.5hrs of runtime despite being 30-percent thinner in your bag.

Acer have chosen to remove the hard-drive seen in their previous Chromebook and replace it with an SSD with options starting at 16GB and 4GB of memory. Connectivity includes WiFi a/b/g/n, an HDMI output, a USB 3.0, and USB 2.0. Unlike the HP you get an SD card reader. The screen has an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 display.

Altogether this looks to be a tidier package than the HP 11 however it does not seem to possess the good looks of the HP.

Posted in: Laptops, News
Tags: , , ,
By October 13, 2013 Read More →

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 – Video Test

Galaxy Note 3 video testOne of the best ways to test a video camera is to take it out at dusk. At dusk the light levels vary greatly as you have light sunlight, car headlights, shadowed areas and, for the most part, ideal lighting conditions. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is taken for a drive in to see just how well the video deals with many of the different elements that the phone will have to deal in it’s lifetime. Check below for the video.

The drive gives the anti shake mechanism a workout, auto focus is constantly being pushed thanks to a bit of dirt on the windscreen and the microphone isn’t terribly distorted by the mighty 3.0ltr engine. For the most part the video camera performs rather well.

By October 12, 2013 Read More →

Motorola Xplay on the way

moto_xplay_2.pngIn Phablet news a 6.3-inch device called the Xplay from Motorola is actually prepping their own large-sized phablet device, which will be called the Xplay. Supposedly it will be sporting a 6.3-inch display at a full HD 1080p and will launch in 2014. That’s not all we have though. It has been indicated that Motorola is also already working on the next progeny of the Droid Ultra. This one will be called the Droid Quantum and is scheduled for sometime in 2014 as well.

Not a single other relevant piece of information was shared on this subject, but we will keep an eye out for it now. Perhaps we will see something pop up at one of the first trade shows of next year like CES in January.

By October 10, 2013 Read More →

Archos are back in the Game (pad)

Archos GamepadAn unexpected hit last year, Archos have refreshed their Gamepad for a second outing. The Archos Gamepad 2 is a gaming tablet that features a built-in physical controller, reasonably decent specs and a price tag of $200 in the United States, €212.36 for those in Europe. No price has been announced in the UK.

The Gamepad packs a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, 2GB RAM, a 7-inch IPS display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, 8GB storage, microSD, HDMI, Wi-Fi and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Archos is even partnering up with Gameloft to give you two full games out of the box, Asphalt 8: Airborne and Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour to show off the power of the device. Check the press below:

By October 10, 2013 Read More →

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 211: In Gold

Podcast LogoGareth, Matt and Dan are here with another UK update on the mobile front. This week we discuss the Nexus 5, LG G2 and Gareth waxes lyrical about the Samsung Note 3…

Featuring Gareth, Matt and Dan

Direct Download
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Download the iPhone App
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RSS Feed.

By October 10, 2013 Read More →

Chromecast not available to you

Chromecast-amazon-no-more-international-ordersTwo days ago I ordered a Chromecast as Amazon was offering some limited international shipping of the Google Chromecast even though Google is not currently selling the device outside of the US. Shortly afterward users began to find that ordering had dried up. It now seems that Amazon has shut down the ability to get the Chromecast shipped anywhere outside the United States.

Those who did manage to order will see their orders fulfilled, hopefully. I have notification that my unit has shipped. I now wish I had order several, one for me and one for you.

https://www.ukmeds.co.uk/surgical-face-masks