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 July 26, 2011 Read More →

Mac Mini (Summer 2011) unboxing video

mac-mini A few days ago I recorded an unboxing video of the new MacBook Air and today I’ve managed to get my hands on the latest Mac Mini for review.

Announced and launched just last week the new Mac Mini, like the Pro and Air, now uses Sandybridge and either Intel Core i5 or i7 CPU’s depending on the model you opt for. Of course you’ll also get the new Thunderbolt connector for hooking up the latest high-speed storage devices or even Apple’s new 27″ Thunderbolt connected display.

The model we are looking at here is the 2.5GHz dual-core i5 with 4GB ram and 500GB hard drive. We’ll also be checking out some Thunderbolt storage devices soon.

Check out the unboxing video below which has to be one of the briefest to date. We’ll be back with an update and comments soon too.

 

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
By July 25, 2011 Read More →

HTC Vows to Win Fight with Apple

Apple-v-HTC As we’ve reported a few times over the past few weeks, HTC’s fight with Apple is going to get messy. We’ve already heard that Google are likely to get drawn in to the battle and will be in HTC’s corner but the ITC have provisionally ruled in favour of Apple’s claims on two items.

HTC’s CEO, Peter Chou has made a number of bold statements over the past few days with such sound bites as “We will win” and the claim that HTC has been making smartphones long before Apple.

In speaking to the BBC Mr Chou said "We have enough patents to make a stand," He added that the "war" for smartphone dominance should be fought in the market place and not the courts.

The ITC’s finial decision will be made at the beginning of December. The decision will be made by a panel of judges rather than just one as per the prelim.

"What it means, we started making smartphones before him… (Apple) We don’t want to copy anyone; we want to be a premium product. This world, this market is very big… is for all of us. Nobody should tell other people to leave and we should compete in the market place, let consumers decide… rather than in court."

Personally speaking, I like both HTC and Apple products and accept that neither are perfect but I cant help feeling that Apple’s claims against HTC merely validate HTC’s presence in the market and puts HTC’s name in the same headlines as Apple. A win here for HTC will be a valuable one!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 24, 2011 Read More →

MacBook Air (summer 2011) unboxing video

airy2 Just a few days ago Apple announced, fairly quietly, the new version of the MacBook Air. I’d been looking forward to this one as we’d been thinking about getting an Air but suspected Apple would refresh the model in line with the MacBook Pro and iMac that were updated to include Sandybridge and new Intel Core CPU’s along with Thunderbolt connector.

Apple didn’t disappoint as on the 20th July the MacBook Air and Mac Mini were updated along with the release of OS X Lion.

We’ve got out hands on the entry-level 11-inch model with 64GB SSD, 2GB RAM and 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU. I’ve only had a chance to use the Air briefly, as it arrived from Apple yesterday, but so far I am really impressed with the performance. While it’s obviously not as quick as my top-of-the-range MacBook Pro the Air is still certainly no slouch and in terms of day-to-day web browsing, email and word processing there’s no problems at all.

Check out the unboxing video below and stay tuned for James’s verdict shortly.

 

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
By July 23, 2011 Read More →

iOS 5 beta 4 lands, updates OTA

ios-5-beta-4 In keeping with previous fortnightly updates Apple have made the latest Beta version of iOS 5 available to members of their developer programme. Unlike past updates this latest, beta 4, is the first to be made available via the over-the-air (OTA) update system which iOS 5 promises.

If you tried earlier today you’ll have found the OTA update giving nothing but an error message: ‘Unable to check for Update’. However later this afternoon the OTA update seems to have started working. I’m currently downloading on my iPhone 4 as we speak. However the OTA update doesn’t appear to be the most efficient means of delivery. It has been ‘downloading’ for the past 3 hours whereas downloading the update through the traditional method from the developer site took far less time.

There’s a full list of changes to be found on the Apple dev site but the headline items are so far:

  • The aforementioned OTA installation support
  • Video content in all applications and websites should now be AirPlay-enabled by default
  • Wireless syncing now works with Windows

I’m hoping that the stability of iOS 5 is improved in this release!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 23, 2011 Read More →

Asus EEE Pad Transformer unboxing video

ASUS_EeePadTransformer_4 The rising popularity of the tablet computer cannot be ignored but as good as tablets and tablet operating systems are, there are times where you need a proper keyboard to get the job done. Recognising this, Asus have come up with the EEE Transformer. The Transformer switches easily from Tablet to Netbook and back again giving greater flexibility from one device.

Running Android Honeycomb 3.0 the Transformer is geared for tablet use. This is my first time looking at Honeycomb and I have to say it’s pretty impressive.

The 5 megapixel camera can be used to take pictures and record HD video – storing your images and application is easy with the 16GB onboard memory, expandable by a further 32GB with a microSDHC card. On the front of the device is another 1.2 megapixel camera for video calls.

Our review model here comes from Clove Technology, who have the Asus EEE Transformer in stock for £444 at the moment. Full review is coming up soon but I have an unboxing and demo video for you below. Sorry for the confusion at the start! 🙂

 

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
By July 22, 2011 Read More →

Android Tablets gain ground on Apple

Apple Sales of Apple’s iPad have increased three-fold in the past year and there is certainly no denying the iPad’s position as tablet champion. Think tablet, think Apple, the iPad is the benchmark by which all other tablets are measured at the moment.

I realise that Apple and the iPad are not to everyone’s taste and there are now more choices that ever when it comes to tablets, almost every hardware manufacturer out there is releasing their own tablet and almost all run Android OS.

This time last year Apple had almost 95% of the tablet market. However, just a year later and Apple see that market share fall to just 61.3%

So it the tide turning against Apple in favour of Android? Probably not. Let’s not forget that this time last year there was far less choice when it came to buying a tablet and Apple have basically created the tablet market. Whilst the news it great for Google and Android integrators I don’t think Apple will to too worried, sales are still growing and the market, just like the tablets themselves, is still evolving.

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 21, 2011 Read More →

iPhone 5 coming September 1st?

iphone 5 We eventually got our MacBook Air and Mac Mini predictions right and they went on sale yesterday. The focus has now firmly shifted to iPhone 5 and once again the rumour mill is at full steam.

We have been pretty sure that the iPhone 5 will go on sale worldwide before the end of the year, in time for Christmas. However, there wasn’t much to suggest exactly when that might be, some time within the last three months of the year is about the best we could do.

Now though there’s more to go on as CFO of Apple, Peter Oppenheimer, has been speaking during the latest earnings call and was quoted to have said:

“As we announced at WWDC, we have a lot going on in the fall with the introduction of iOS 5 and iCloud. We also have a future product transition that we’re not going to talk about today, and these things will impact our September quarter.“

We’ve since heard from our source close to Apple who suggests the the announcement could be made as early as September 1st putting the iPhone 5 on sale in time for Labor Day weekend.

So that’s our prediction for now, September 1st! 🙂

 

Predicted by: Mystic Matt

Posted in: Rumours
By July 21, 2011 Read More →

Nokia X7 unboxing video

nokia_x7_8 The Nokia X7 is the first handset that we’ve reviewed with the new Symbian Anna operating system. Anna comes with a new, faster web browser, new icons, refreshed Ovi maps and updated UI.

In terms of hardware the X7 looks quite radical for Nokia, the back is extremely curvy while the clipped corners with little grilles make it look quite industrial. It could easily be a prop from the Alien films. It’s a good look though!

On the front is a generous 4″ AMOLED screen which looks fantastic if a little on the low-res side at just 360×480 pixels, other smartphones would be at least 480×800 with this physical screen size. That said the user interface makes good use of the screen it’s only in the web browser that you really notice the res.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be looking at the Nokia X7 and see how it stacks up against other smartphones on the market. Until then you can check out the unbox and demo video below.

 

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
By July 20, 2011 Read More →

OS X Lion goes on sale along with a new MacBook Air and Mac Mini

product-air-11in I guess the post title here steals it but this afternoon, after what seems like a long delay, Apple released OS X Lion through the App Store for all to download. The great thing about what Apple have done here is that they are offering Lion for a little over £20 and furthermore you can install it on more than one Mac, as long as it’s yours.

We’ll look at some of the new features of Lion at some point soon.

Also today the Apple Store was updated with new MacBook Air and Mac Mini models. As expected both now have the new Thunderbolt ports and Sandybridge. Processors now start at with 1.6GHz Intel core i5 up to quad core 2.0GHz i7 in the top of the range Mac Mini.

Even more surprising though is the price, the entry level MacBook Air is down to just £729.60 while the Mac Mini starts at £476.40.

We’ll have our hands on these for review VERY soon too!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 20, 2011 Read More →

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 128: Knees up mother Brown

Web bannerOn this weeks show we talk about the our Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo review, the excellent BlackBerry Bold 9900 video that James recorded last week, and the surprise ‘leak’ of Nokia See Ray. Oh, and Matt has a rant about the Apple vs HTC story.

We also have a special guest, Dan Carter from Coolsmartphone.

Gareth is still away this week so there is a bit of mayhem but James and Matt manage to keep Dan’s bad language under control.

 

Posted in: Podcast
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