Tag: Featured

By July 25, 2016 Read More →

Archos 50 Power Unboxing

Image13Archos have sent over another cheap and cheerful mobile, the Archos 50 Power. This £139.99 phone has 4G/LTE compatible, a 5” IPS HD display running on a Mediatek Quad-Core 1 GHz processor, with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory. In addition, its 13 MP back camera make the ARCHOS 50 Power a fully equipped smartphone for intensive use. Under all that is the key feature, a 4000mAh battery to that see you handle two days on the trot easily.

  • CPU – MT6735P Quad-core @ 1GHz Cortex A53
  • GPU – Mali 720
  • RAM – 2 GB
  • Storage – 16 GB +  Micro SD card, up to 32GB (when formatted to fat32 standard)
  • Screen – 5 inches IPS 1280 x 720 pixels HD
  • Operating System – Android 5.1, Lollipop
  • Dual SIM – 1x micro SIM + 1x nano SIM or 1x micro SIM + microSD card
  • GSM / GPRS / EDGE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
  • 3G/ WCDMA freqs 900 / 2100 MHz
  • LTE frequencies 800 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 MHz
  • Data Rates HSPA + 21 Mbps / 5.76 Mbps
  • Rear camera – 13 MP* AF + Flash LED
  • Front Camera – 2 MP
  • Video – 720p
  • Battery -4000mAh Li-Pro
  • Audio – 3.5mm Jack
  • USB – Micro USB V2.0
Posted in: Phones, Videos/Unboxings
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By July 13, 2016 Read More →

Adata i Memory Flash Drive UE710 Unboxing

Image9A flash drive for Apple devices is a simple idea however they are not as easily available as other platforms.

The UE710 accommodates a wide audience by combining Apple-certified Lightning and USB connectivity. It supports iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices, enabling data transfers as well as Ultra HD 4K video – freeing users from limited network bandwidth with direct content sharing and enjoyment. For large files and social engagement, premium USB Flash drives such as the UE710 are still superior to moving content via the internet.

You can purchase from Adata’s site here.

 

By July 7, 2016 Read More →

Alba 10 inch Android Tablet Unboxing

vlcsnap-00014Argos have sent over the Alba 10″ tablet for review. Here we take a look of it out of the box and share our initial impressions of this Archos built, rebranded Argos tablet. There is a plenty to like, some could grumble however this it a £90 tablet with a good build quality, bright screen and enough features to make it worth considering.

Watch out at http://www.Tracyandmatt.co.uk for the full review.

You can find the Alba 10″ version for sale here:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4998015.htm

There are also 7″ and 8″ variants.

Specifications:

  • 1.3GHz MediaTek mt8163 quad core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 16 GB internal storage
  • 10.1 inch screen, 1280 x 800 pixels, IPS technology
  • 2mp rear camera
  • VGA front camera
  • Wi-Fi enabled
  • Bluetooth
  • 3.5mm stereo headphone jack
  • Microphone
  • microSDHC memory card slot up to 32GB
  • Mini HDMI
  • Micro USB
  • Up to 5 hours battery life (depending on usage)
  • 10.3mm thin.
  • Size H16.6, W26.6cm.
  • Weight 568g.
Posted in: Tablets, Videos/Unboxings
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By July 4, 2016 Read More →

AIbird Uoplay 3 Axis Smartphone Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer Unboxing

Purchasing a Steadicam is something not a lot of people would ever have expected to have been able to do, nor would many see it as a sensible purchase, however after playing with the AiBird Uoplay Gimbal I am excited to say this is one of the best peripherals you can pick up for a smartphone.

This isn’t a review, yet. We will be coming to that in the coming weeks. My initial reaction is that I am going to love this accessory and take it everywhere with me, looking for every opportunity. Even between filming the tiny footage and editing it together into the unboxing video I have an extra 30 minutes to pick through for the review, by the time I come to write the full review I’ll probably have a few hours of material.

So what is it? The Aibird UoPlay is a stick for your phone that uses a 3 axis, motorised support to allow for smooth movement as you move. Much like a Steadicam would achieve in the movie industry, or a drone might produce.

Annoyingly the best location to purchase the Aibird Uoplay is on Ebay UK.

The official website for the AiBird Uoplay Gimbal can be found here.
By June 22, 2016 Read More →

Tech Addicts UK Podcast – 22nd June 2016 – Motos, Tangos and Hasselblads

Podcast logoFeaturing Gareth Myles and Jay Garrett

RSS Link: http://mobiletechaddicts.libsyn.com/rss

Direct Download.

iTunes

Google Play Music 

Show Notes

What have you been playing with?

Gareth: Olixar fast charger, Panasonic ALL70t, Alba 10” Android Tablet, Griffin Suvivor All-Terrain case

Jay: Astro A40 TR Pro with MixAmp, Motorola VerveLife Ones+ and Rider+, Panasonic ALL70T, ONEmicro, Geekout V2

Discussion: HASSELBLAD ANNOUNCES GROUNDBREAKING X1D

Discussion:  MOTOROLA BRINGS THE MOTO Z AND MOTO Z FORCEJBL SoundBoost

Discussion: LENOVO AND GOOGLE GO TANGO AND IT LOOKS PHAB

Main Show URL: www.techaddicts.uk

Join the Discussion: https://goo.gl/spaces/6FF6jraF9KHiPUyA6

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @garethmyles ; @gavinfabiani ; @samjpullen ; @GadgetyNewsCom ; @JayGarrett

Web: http://gavinsgadgets.com ; http://GadgetyNews.com

Google Plus: +garethmyles ; +gavinfabiani-laymond  ; +samjpullen ; +JayGarrett

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By June 14, 2016 Read More →

Olixar Ultimate Mains Universal Fast Charger Unboxing and test

vlcsnap-00002A fast charger is an appealing idea, sucking more power out of the wall to get you closer to 100% quicker. It also seems to be the best temporary solution to the battery woes we are all suffering from. Devices have batteries relative to their size and they are unlikely to last a full day if you use them heavily.
Having a faster charger means you can get the battery to a higher percentage as folks can get a little anxious when their battery hits 30% or less in the afternoon.

Olixar have had a go at and produced a rather bulbous yet simple offering. Available from Mobilefun for £19.99 this universal fast charger make some bold claims, up to 60% in 30 minutes and 75% faster than conventional charging methods.

So we put it to the test on a Nexus 6p…

You can purchase the Olixar Ultimate Mains Universal Fast Charger & Travel Adapters here for £19.99.

By June 12, 2016 Read More →

Tales from the Acer Live Blog 2016 Conquer new worlds #AcerLiveBlog2016

Screenshot (1)Acer UK invited a number of top UK Tech Bloggers to Belfast, Northern Ireland to unveil their latest Predator gaming range, as well as the Acer Jade Primo windows 10 phone and the Android Liquid Zest 4g.

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The event was hosted in Belfast’s only five start hotel, The Merchant, which has been famously used by Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan in the popular BBC series The Fall. After a brief lunch and introduction we were taken to The Brian Ballard room which had been darkened red room glowing with several laptops in the middle of the room and a display of monitors with desktops at the edge of the room.

Linda_Hassall_-_Head_of_UK_Marketing_-_Acer_-_May_2014Linda Hassall, Head of Retail / Channel Marketing UK & Ireland at Acer introduced herself and gave us a quick briefing on the products that were us.

In the room we had The Predator monitor range Predator Z35 £799.99, Predator X34 £899.99 Predator XB271HU £549.99,

With these new monitors Acer promises;

  • Wrap around Gaming
  • Get a panoramic view of galactic domination with a wraparound game space that pulls you deeper into new worlds.
  • New Smooth Experience a whole new smooth. NVIDIA® G-SYNCTM eliminates screen tearing and minimizes stuttering for legendary PC gaming.

These huge monitors were designed to give the consumer the ultimate gaming experience and with the G6, G3 and the compact G1 attached to them have Acer created a gamers paradise with the Predator range?

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The Predator Desktop range G6 £1199.99 G3 £972.95, G1 £549.99, The Predator 15 laptop £1187.97 Predator 17 £1449.79

The G6 is a huge machine that Acer have packed the latest technologies in, even though these machines are VR ready we did not have any VR content to play with at this time.

dav

G6 specs

  • Operating System: Windows 10 Home
  • CPU: 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6700k processor
  • GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 Ti 
  • RAM: 64GB DDR4 2133MHz

You already know what’s inside. Power-up for galactic domination with the latest top-end NVIDIA® and Intel® hardware. IceTunnel Gaming is hot, so stay cool with IceTunnel cooling system. Multiple air intake zones on the front and left side of the machine create a powerful airflow that efficiently pushes out hot internal air.

G3 specs

  • Operating System: Windows 10 Home
  • CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-6400 processor Quad-core 2.70 GHz
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 with 2 GB Dedicated Memory
  • RAM: 12 GB, DDR4 SDRAM
  • HDD: 2 TB

G1 specs

  • Smaller & Deadlier
  • This desktop’s 16-liter body conceals the power of a full-sized graphics card – up to NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX Titan X1.
  • VR Ready
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 9701 graphics and above, you’ll be ready for the world of virtual reality.
  • Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5
  • SoundBlaster X-Fi MB5 and 7.1 channel audio will captivate you in glorious gaming audio. Amplify enemy footsteps, mask your voice, and more.
  • Dual Headset Cradles
  • Two retractable cradles on either side of the PC give you convenient places to rest your headsets.
  • Sound-Reactive Growl Lights
  • Configure these pulsing multicolor LEDs to react to your game sounds and music the way you want them to.
  • There was also the Predator Z650 projector £939.32. Specs

dav

To complete the Predator range Acer have constructed the Predator 8 tablet retailing at £199.99.

This tablet looks amazing, with four speaker grills on the front of the tablet this looks like a winner however on lifting it off the table I was disappointed in discovering the Predator 8 had a plastic feeling case which made the tablet feel flimsy. The gun metal casing could have been made out of a more solid material, there is no denying the insides of this tablet are impressive, which makes the Predator 8 a good competitor in the mid range tablet market,  this is let down by the casing. Had Acer a metal body like the cheap Archos 70 platinum they could have had made a potential record breaking tablet.

Predator specs

  • Operating System Android Lolipop 5.1
  • Display 8-inch, Full HD (1920 x 1200)
  • 16:10 aspect ratio, 380 nits,
  • Zero Air Gap & IPS technology
  • 283.02 ppi, 10-point touch
  • Processor Intel Atom x7 (2.4GHz(
  • Graphics Intel HD Graphics, Gen 8-LP 16EU 600 MHZ
  • Memory LPDDR3L 2G
  • Storage eMMC up to 64GB
  • Audio Single digital mic, 4 x 2W speakers,
  • Camera 2.0MP front, 5MP back
  • Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2 x 2 MIMO
  • Dolby Sound solution
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Input & Output MicroSD up to 128GB, 1 x micro USB 2.0
  • GPS/Glonass, G+Gyro eCompass sensor
  • Power & Battery 10W fixed type 5V/2A adapter
  • 17.3Wh / 4550mAH

There was also Acer’s two mobile devices the Liquid Zest 4G £109, their budget Android phone  and the Jade Primo £429 without dock £475 with dock. I got to use these two devices I had more time with the Jade Primo  but  hope to get them both soon for a full unboxing and review.

With all the buzz happening in the room it was no surprise that #acerliveblog2016 was the no.1 trending hashtag on Twitter that evening

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What I first noticed was the robust and bulky design of the Predator range that evoked  nostalgic eighties memories with its bold red on black colour scheme.  This design carried over all the Acer Predator products from the Monitors, Desktops, Laptops to the Predator 8 tablet.  Acer based their design on galactic battleships, hence their tagline of ‘Conquering new worlds’  However this chunky, bulky design is very much an eighties view of what future technologies would have looked like, would this style suit the age we are living in where consumers want sleek and slimline tech? In any case I was hopelessly lost in their design with the backlit keyboards and mouse imagining my younger self being in a gamer’s ultimate fantasy.  I can recall the last time I was a serious PC gamer was the end of my schoolboy days, I last bought a PC gamer magazine at the beginning of the new millennium when I was still a young free and single man. As friends around me got hooked on the first wave of new age consoles I was adamant that PC gaming was still the frontrunner, so much so I built my own PC and kept it up to date with the latest graphics, sound cards etc. however this was short lived as when I graduated I had to get a job and the spare change for PC gaming was needed for living.

Fast Forward a few years and with a wife and kids I found my gaming time limited and opted for the easy option of having a games console rather than trying to keep up with the forever changing tech advancements. That being said within 20 minutes of playing Metal Gear solid 5 on the Predator 17 laptop my fire for PC gaming was reignited. I forgot how great it is using a keyboard and mouse combination rather than relying on a controller and hoping the charge lasts as long as you are in the zone. I then excitedly moved to the Predator Z35 Which is a beautiful 35 inch curved LED monitor with the huge G6 desktop to test out some more of the games available. The large screen was amazing and if I had the room and spare cash I would definitely have this type of set up in my home and would recommend it to any serious gamer, for the advanced gamer they had a three monitor display which I was lost in as I could only focus on the screen in front and found this setup more annoying than fun. The G1 was a condensed version of the G6 packing almost identical specs but with a rather cool, programmable LED casing, but for my needs I found the gaming experience on the Predator 17 to be just as good and with the added bonus of it being portable my gaming station can be tidied away easily.

dav

The Predator 17 specs

  • Operating system: Windows 10 (64 bit)
  • CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M (3 GB GDDR5)
  • RAM:16 GB DDR4
  • SSD: 256 GB
  • HDD: 1 TB 5400rpm

With these specifications you would expect this machine to be heavy and it is weighing in at 3950g this powerhouse of technology has a custom made Predator back pack which can be bought with as a bundle pack from….

From turn on to playing a game it took about 55 seconds on the Predator 17 which I was most impressed with, on my console it takes a lot longer, with constant updates needed to be downloaded.

A very strong marketing image however this may not be to everyone’s taste, would a more sleek metallic slimline range have more appeal to a wider market? Even so the power packed into these laptops and desktops is not only a gamer’s desire but also for  consumers who need that extra power to work on projects or edit hd video.

We had been allocated teams for some challenges that were to be completed throughout the weekend and we were given an acer rucksack containing the liquid zest 4g, Jade Primo, a Predator 8 tablet.

dav

The phone I was most interested in reviewing was the Jade Primo. I had taken some time to quickly do a live periscope unboxing which proved difficult with no tripod to hold the camera, check out the unboxing here. The phone felt premium with the Super AMOLEDscreen. The camera was a bit slow on response although we were told this was a prototype I hope to do a full review and let Gareth do a proper unboxing. Below are a few video tests and images taken with the Jade Primo. The Windows 10 operating system was just standard I didn’t have enough time to investigate to see if Acer have incorporated some of their own style into it.

Our first day came to an end with cocktails in the famous merchant cocktail bar, followed by a quick drink in Belfast pub and then on to the strip joint, a restaurant.

I woke to yet another sunny day, the gods of old and new were making sure the good folks of Acer and fellow bloggers were going to have an amazing time at Castle ward co. Down with @clearskyni Game of Thrones experience.

Being a huge fan of the show I was so excited and caught up in the atmosphere that I forgot to periscope and document my time here. Castle ward was the setting for Winterfell in Game of thrones season one and two, a lot of CGI was used to build on top of the existing castle as we were shown a brief clip of the making of Game of thrones there.  We of course got dressed in official HBO endorsed Winterfell clothing for the occasion and accessorised with our swords we set off for our first challenge.

Using the Acer Liquid Zest 4g we had to take some action shots using the Acer liquid while doing Archery.  Learning to shoot a bow and arrow in the same spot from the series was an amazing experience and after a few shots and some good coaching i actually impressed myself and hope if their is a post apocalyptic world i may be able to survive.  The liquid zest’s 8 megapixel camera was sharp and fast responding, unfortunately the shots taken with the camera were not extracted from it to include in the review.

We had to use the Predator 8 to recreate a number of scenes from Game of Thrones armed with our swords and wigs our team was willing and prepared to take this task and win.  Unfortunately we discovered that it was quite hard to become actors and directors in an instant and our determination to create a HBO worthy clip turned into more of a ‘You’ve been framed’ blooper reel.  The Predator 8 was very capable in shooting the clips in 1080 hd however we paused the video while shooting our scenes which left us with very large files, which in turn made editing the clips on the tablet sluggish.  The sound on the clips was

To end our time at Winterfell we had a medieval banquet of ale, chicken, beef casserole, bread and more beer.  

To end our time on Acer’s Liveblog weekend we visited Belfast’s St George’s market, winner of UK’s Best Large Indoor Market 2014 by the National Association of British Market Authorities.  We had to search for a blitz memorial, and look differ something acer green, being colour blind I had to let Matthew and Katherine seek out this as I would have taken a picture of something orange or yellow.


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I had a fantastic weekend and look forward to receiving some of the products mentioned for  a full review for the site soon.  I think this weekend although was aimed at ‘Conquering New Worlds’ for me it was rediscovering old worlds and igniting my passion for PC gaming all over again. All I need now is Quake and Command and Conquer Red Alert.

By June 10, 2016 Read More →

Lenovo launches the Phab 2 line with Project Tango

610201610846AM_635_lenovo_phab_2_proAt the Lenovo Tech World 2016 in San Francisco, Yang Yuanqing, the Chairman and CEO of Lenovo announced the first consumer facing Project Tango smartphone during his keynote address on yesterday. For a consumer launch, Google has graduated from the project phase whilst keeping it Tango.

The first device to feature this new technology will be the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, a smartphone Lenovo has design in collaboration with Google. The new technology makes “AR and VR as pervasive as your GPS.” In other words, Tango is centred around the cameras vision with sensor setup that provides motion tracking, depth perception, and area learning. This can enable augmented reality applications like indoor navigation and mapping, searching, and gaming. With depth sensing, it can use gesture tracking in virtual reality.

The smartphone will become globally available on retail shelves in September, and Lenovo said they are expected to start shipping from online stores in August. The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is priced at $499. UK price will differ slightly, hopefully.

We saw the first Lenovo Phab at IFA in Berlin last year and whilst a good looking device it was not destined for our shore. So the Phab name is not one well known amongst the British public.

  • Display – 6.40-inch QHD IPS display
  • Resolution – 1440×2560 pixels
  • Processor – 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC “Tango Edition”
  • RAM – 4GB
  • Storage – 64GB
  • Front Camera – 8-megapixel
  • Rear Camera – 16-megapixel RGB camera
  • Battery capacity – 4050mAh delivering 15-hours battery life


Additionally, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro houses the depth-sensing, infrared camera with an imager and an emitter, as well as the motion tracking camera. It also sports Dolby Atmos audio technology for its speakers, apart from Dolby Audio 5.1 Capture technology for recording 3D sound.

Also mentioned was a new, special, Tango app store featuring 25 apps at launch, with the hope to reach 100 apps by year-end.

In addition to the Phab Pro 2 the company also announced the Lenovo Phab 2 (priced at $199) and the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus (priced at $299). Both smartphones feature 6.4-inch displays, but where the former features an HD display, the latter bears a full-HD display. The Phab 2, with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera and a quad-core MediaTek MT8735 SoC, coupled with 2GB of RAM. The Phab 2 Plus with dual 13-megapixel rear cameras with Fujitsu Milbeaut imaging software, and a 8-megapixel front camera, an octa-core MediaTek MT8783 SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM and the fingerprint sensor on the rear panel seen on the Phab Pro 2.

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By June 8, 2016 Read More →

Tech Addicts UK Podcast – 8th June 2016 – Zus and Zenbo

Podcast logoFeaturing Gareth Myles and Gavin Fabiani-Laymond 

Direct Download

RSS Link: http://mobiletechaddicts.libsyn.com/rss

Show Notes

What have you been playing with?

Gareth: Nonda Zus, CHJGD powerbanks, Phonaudio PHN100,

Gavin:  Xiaomi Mi Max updated to MIUI v 8 – alpha build, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL with display dock in for review and reviewed went live on Monday. Samsung Gear 360 is in the house.

Discussion: The Nexus Player is getting an update

Xiaomi Mi Box

Discussion:  Asus launch

  1. Zenfone 3

  2. Transformer 3

  3. Zenbook 3

  4. Zenbo

Main Show URL: www.techaddicts.uk

Join the Discussion: https://goo.gl/spaces/6FF6jraF9KHiPUyA6

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @garethmyles ; @gavinfabiani ; @samjpullen ; @GadgetyNewsCom ; @JayGarrett

Web: http://gavinsgadgets.com ; http://GadgetyNews.com

Google Plus: +garethmyles ; +gavinfabiani-laymond  ; +samjpullen ; +JayGarrett

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By June 7, 2016 Read More →

Have Three screwed their customers again? #Makeitright

kwOR1FfRSeveral months ago in the UK Three announced that they would be changing their contracts structure and forcing all of those who were enjoying the £15 a month all-you-can-eat bundle onto a vastly more expensive tariff with less benefits. The Hashtag #Makeitright became an avenue for angry customers to vent their frustration as Three swung their axe.

On the All-You-Can-Eat, £15 a month, SIM only tariff you could enjoy unlimited minutes, unlimited messages, truly unlimited data (without a cap,) and unlimited tethering. This was on top of Three’s already excellent value for money Feel At Home benefit when it came to calling home from abroad.

Of course all good things come to an end. And with Three it was like dropping an hammer on your toes. A few months later and most of those customers have either moved on to another network or are paying potentially double for a lot less than the contract before. To keep something similar to the All-You-Can-Eat tariff would cost the customer £30 a month and they will lose the unlimited tethering.

This was a no escape scenario you were moving contract whether you liked it or not. Regardless of how long you were on the Network, attempting to haggle with call agents resulted in little movement on Three’s part. Their new contracts were set in stone and there was absolutely no wiggle room. Threatening to leave the network resulted in Three merely suggesting that you close the door on your way out. However, they knew their contracts were still slightly better value with slightly more bonuses than you would find on other networks.  Three forced customers regardless.

Now a source inside Three has suggested that the reason why the cheap deals have been removed is that Three had spent millions of pounds on extra bandwidth to cater for the purchase of O2 and when the deal fell through they no need to increase their customer base. Losing customers was helpful and those who stayed would help subsidise the cost of expansion. They lost a lot of customers with their heavy handed approach and now they’re trying to win them back with more cheap deals, for example:

IMG_20160603_225033-1024x530

Those customers who stayed loyal will have to continue on the contract that they have agreed whilst new customers are going to be paying possibly half the price for six months before moving to a regular price for the last 6 months. Obviously this is going to leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who has recently renewed a contract begrudgingly taking one of the lesser value contracts.

Posted in: News, Phones
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