Author Archive: Gareth

Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.

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By December 12, 2013 Read More →

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 215: Short and Sweet

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 215Gareth, Dan and Phil are here with another UK update on the mobile front, this week with Phil Lain.

This weeks podcast was supposed to be the best of 2013 however it would appear the Hangout suffered from some form of technical set back and the majority was lost. However, we still have the news from this week and Dan shows us his new tool…

Next week we hope to record again with the Best of Award show in all it’s grandeur.

Featuring Gareth, Matt, Dan and Phil

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Posted in: News, Podcast
By December 11, 2013 Read More →

Nokia step in and sort out unhappy Samsung customer

nokiaGood old Nokia has turned up trumps this week in a manoeuvre that will impress many. Nokia USA is offering a Lumia to Richard Wygand who’s Samsung Galaxy S4 recently caught fire whilst charging. Richard took to a social network to show off the damage.

Posting a video on Youtube of the flames licked device Richard was offered a replacement by Samsung, however he was asked to remove the video from Youtube. Samsung was hoping to keep the issue a secret and sort out any issues without publicity. Richard refused to remove the video.

 

Nokia rushed to the rescue, taking the opportunity to turn things in their favour and sent Richard a free Nokia Lumia (model not mentioned.) Their comments were for Richard to experience customer service as it really should be. I’m not sure if this means Nokia sent Richard a broken Lumia as a number to get it fixed…

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Posted in: News
By December 10, 2013 Read More →

The Samsung Galaxy S4 with metal body?

w640There was talk months ago about Samsung releasing a few different variants of the Samsung Galaxy S4. A tough and rugged one that could accompany you on adventure holidays or onto the building site. A larger, almost dedicated camera version. And finally a higher quality version as many have given the majority of Samsung’s flack for their all plastic construction.

The recently release of the Galaxy Gear with it’s impressive steel construction has gotten some rumours going that the S5 might be of metal construction. Instead we see that the Samsung Galaxy J is being launch in Taiwan. Additionally the phone has 4G LTE-A technology inside it.

Here are the features we could dig as it is essentially the same as and S4

Phone Features

  • Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches
  • Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400
  • RAM 3 GB
  • Primary camera 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels
  • Secondary camera  2 MP,1080p@30fps
  • Works on 2G, 3G and 4G networks
  • Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.4 KitKat
  • Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery
Posted in: News, Phones
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By December 9, 2013 Read More →

The No Glasses 3D Tablet

83344_1000x1000Hammacher Schlemmer has an interesting tablet for the holidays. Costing $349.95 this is a glasses-free 3D tablet. The company claims this is the only tablet on the market that displays 3D movies and images without those pesky glasses.

According to the company, 3D delivery is accomplished by using a parallax barrier layer placed on top of the 8- inch screen. The device delivers a slightly different set of pixels to each eye, thus creating a depth of field when held in specific angles without colour distortion.

Specification details are limited, the tablet has an 8-inch touch-based screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution, backed by Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean” and a battery promising five to seven hours of use on a two-hour charge. The company claims that playback “automatically distinguishes between 3D and 2D content.” The tablet will even convert 2D material for a 3D-like effect.

The 3D tablet also packs 16 GB of internal storage, an SD card slot for up to 32 GB of even more storage, and support for USB flash drives via a presumed microSD 2.0 port. Other features include Bluetooth and likely Wireless N networking, a 2MP camera on the back, a 0.3MP camera on the front, and a wireless keyboard case. The tablet measures 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.75 inches and weighs a mere one pound.

Unfortunately, the product description isn’t specific about other hardware details like the processor and amount of RAM. $349.95 does seem to be a larger sum to ask for a bit of a gamble. For more information about the No Glasses 3D tablet, head here.

Posted in: News, Tablets
By December 9, 2013 Read More →

Google launches the Player Choice Poll

google-play-trophyGoogle is giving you the opportunity to vote for the best games and apps of the year. Player’s Choice Awards contest, is decided by the people who actually play the games and not an a panel of insiders There are 6 categories in all, three for games and three for apps, each category containing eight nominees. Best of all, if you don’t like Google’s choices, you are can suggest your own favourite.

The categories, and the nominees for each, are:

Posted in: Apps & Games, News
By December 9, 2013 Read More →

Stare at the Oppo Find 7 with crazy eyes

Oppo-Find-5-660x479-635x460We didn’t get to see the Oppo Find 5 in the UK, however it was one we followed in the hope we would. However, rumours suggest that we will the phone’s followup. According to recent whispers, the Oppo Find 7 could launch with a mighty Snapdragon 805 CPU, Qualcomm’s latest and greatest system-on-a-chip for mobile devices.

Perhaps one of the most exiting features of the Find 7 is the claimed 5.7-inch 2,560×1,440 touchscreen that will make it one of the first 2K devices on the market.

Other rumoured specifications include 3GB of RAM, a 13MP camera, and 4G LTE support. Oppo recently posted an image to their Web page “4G LTE, I’m ready!” a pretty clear indication that we should expect this. If the Find 7 lives up to these rumours, we could be dealing with a serious phone from the daring mobile manufacturer looking to make a name for itself and standing out of all the Android options out there.

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By December 6, 2013 Read More →

Yotaphone coming soon to the UK

YPCoverWe have recently covered the upcoming Yotaphone. Now we have more information for the Russian made device and things are looking good.

The handset features two screens, a 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 LCD in the front and 4.3-inch 360 x 640 electronic paper display (EPD) on the rear.  The Amazon Kindle-like EPD stays lit, displaying updated information such as the time, date, maps, social media and messages.  It’s even possible to set certain items (like maps or contact information) to remain on the EPD even after the battery has been exhausted.
Vlad Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices sees the dual-screened phone as “a revolution in telephone architecture” and states that “Before Yotaphone, this space was useless.”  While a constantly lit EPD would seem like a quick death to standby and operating times, the screens ultra efficiency can actually conserve battery life.  Martynov explains: “The typical user picks up and activates their smartphone more than 150 times a day”  Why? Because users worry that messages or information they need or want are hidden behind their phone’s black screen.”  Since the Yotaphone gives users the ability to quickly check phone statuses without powering up the more energy intensive LCD throughout the day, users can actually experience increased operating times.

Yotaphone runs Android 4.2 Jellybean and features a dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage, a 1-megapixel front facing camera, 13-megapixel rear camera and a 1800mAh battery. Yotaphone is currently selling in Russia, Austria, France, Spain and Germany. UK launch as yet to be confirmed however, we are on it and hope to update you soon.

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By December 6, 2013 Read More →

Anti-Patent-Troll bill passed

url4It looks as if we will hopefully see an end to these over-long and costly patent wars between the big companies. For years we have been hearing about Apple suing Saumsung, Samsung suing Apple, Apple suing HTC, HTC suing Nokia, Nokia suing Apple etc… I’m sure you get the idea.

A recent bill passed through the “House,” or “Crib” as the Representatives residing there might call it, outlines a Patent trolling lawsuits. This initially seems like a good idea, however it might not protect the average Joe inventor who needs the system to help protect their discovery. If you legitimately make an awesome discovery, your right to profit from it.

The real problem is that the patent office is totally incompetent and will give you a patent for obvious “inventions” if you dress it up nicely enough. Not just for practice uses, but for business method patents. That’s what gives these trolls the ammunition to shake down legitimate businesses.

Source: Arstechnica

Posted in: Editorial, News
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By December 5, 2013 Read More →

Retro Tech Addicts Podcast 08: A Segway to the Segway

RTA Logo MTAGareth and Matt enjoy a warm and fuzzy recollection of days gone by in this the latest instalment of the Retro Tech Addicts podcast.

In this week’s show we talk about the Segaway, the Pong video game and the release of World Of Warcraft. In our feature segment we discuss Samsung mobiles.

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Posted in: Podcast, Retro Tech
By December 4, 2013 Read More →

Applebee’s to have tablets on the tables

applebeesSome one must be listening to our podcast and has taken a shine to the Tablet Table. Applebee’s have announced plans to install a tablet at every table in its 1,860 restaurants across the United States. Customers will be able to use the devices to order food, pay the bill, and entertain their children with games.

Recently, Amazon announced some flying barbecues to switch up their work force and Applebee’s look to be doing something similar. Eliminating the need to have a friendly server swishing around the tables collecting orders we will probably see the human touch reduced to shovelling plates from the kitchen and dealing with complaints when less technical patrons realise they have possibly pressed the wrong button.

Chili’s have also announced the idea in the last few months, even going as far to say the tablets will pay for themselves by bringing in extra revenue from impulse orders and at-the-table gaming.  Extra management will be probably be required for billing queries.

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