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 7, 2011 Read More →

Win an Amazon Kindle!

11071374-black-friday-kindle-3g-wifiCompetition time again here on tracyandmatt, this time we’re giving you a chance to win a fantastic new-model Amazon Kindle.

This prize has been kindly donated to us by an avid reader and fan of our Mobile Tech Addicts podcast. He didn’t want us to mention his name but we thank him anyway!

The Kindle is a great gadget. The paper-like screen can be used in all lighting conditions making it a cool beach gadget and the memory allows you to store hundreds of books while the battery life is such that you’ll get up to a month between charges!

Entering is easy. All you have to do is follow tracyandmatt on Twitter and retweet the following tweet: "RT @tracyandmatt I’m hoping to win a Kindle on tracyandmatt.co.uk – Find out how you can enter too: http://bit.ly/mOFkyp" You can also click the retweet link below to save you copying and pasting the phrase. Your twitter name will be entered in to the draw. You’ll have to keep following us as we’ll notify winners via DM.

RETWEET ME!

This competition will run until the end of July, ending Sunday 31st July 2011. This competition is open to all as the Kindle will work internationally. Entrants will need to continue to follow @tracyandmatt on twitter in order for us to get in touch with the winner.

The winner will be chosen at random within two weeks of the competition closing and the prize will be sent to the winner directly.

 

Posted by: Matt

[ Post Tags: Kindle, Competition, Amazon, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Posted in: Competitions
By July 6, 2011 Read More →

OS update for HTC Sensation

HTC Sensation_Left HTC have started rolling out an OS update for their latest Android powered superphone, the HTC Sensation.

At this time the update is for only unlocked or SIM-free unbranded versions of the HTC Sensation and only here in Europe. Sadly though this update is not the anticipated Android 2.3.4 that many have been waiting for nor is it the bootloader-unlock that has been promised by HTC. Instead it would appear, from reports that we’ve had from followers, that this update simply provides a number of bug-fixes. We’re not sure exactly what has changed in the update as yet but I’m pulling it down for my HTC Sensation as I type this.

If you have a carrier supplier/locked HTC Sensation I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a while longer for the carrier specific updates be be released.

The XDA Developers forum will give you more info.

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 6, 2011 Read More →

HTC Honoured with Eight Awards, Including the Prestigious IDEA Gold Award

htc-logo-300x188 News just in from HTC that they have been awarded honours by three international organisations, recognising their excellence in pioneering design.

I’ve always been a fan of HTC’s products and designs so I’m really pleased to see them recognised in such a way. Well done HTC.

Full press release follows:

 

Posted in: Press Releases
By July 4, 2011 Read More →

Facebook to have Skype video chat

skypebook Facebook and Skype are working together to bring in-browser video chat to the Facebook site. That’s according to a story posted by TechCrunch.

The report suggests that there will be a web-based component that would presumably require you to download and install something but could also, conceivably, interface with the full desktop version of Skype to bring this functionality. Perhaps recent updates to the Skype app. may include something already lurking there?

TechCrunch have been following Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who apparently tipped off Seattle press that the company would be launching an “awesome” new product next week that has been built by Facebook’s Seattle team. The press invitations to that event went out today, saying nothing more than “Please join us for an event at Facebook” on July 6.

So lets see what Facebook come up with in a few days time. In any case I’m sure it’ll be interesting!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 3, 2011 Read More →

HTC EVO 3D priced?

EVO_3D_FrontR A little over a week ago HTC officially announced that the HTC EVO 3D was coming to the UK in quarter 3 of this year. HTC were not specific about the exact release date nor could they give any indication of the price but we did expect that it would exceed the price of the HTC Sensation by a small amount.

Today I was perusing the pages of Amazon looking at how their prices on smartphones stack up against the specialists that we know. Turns out that Amazon are not too badly priced, but still a bit more expensive than the specialist stockists. As expected really.

However, while looking at the like of the HTC Sensation on there I discovered that the HTC EVO 3D is already listed in Amazon.co.uk and is being offered for pre-order. The price is an eye-watering £569.99 which is £120 more than the HTC Sensation. Seems quite a high price to pay for the 3D screen when you consider the other spec is much the same as the Sensation.

On top of the £569.99 price tag Amazon.co.uk also says that the estimated release date is September 12th 2011. Now this I suspect is just an estimate but if HTC leave it till September for the EVO to go on sale I think that will be giving the likes of the LG Optimus 3D too much ground and the price difference between the Sensation and the EVO 3D is just too high.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the coming weeks and see what the final price becomes. Watch this space!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 3, 2011 Read More →

3 million Samsung Galaxy S2’s sold in 55 days!

galaxy_s2-sales As the title of the post says, Samsung have just issued a press release stating that their flagship Android Superphone has already seen it’s 3 millionth sale. What’s even more staggering is that it achieved that lofty milestone in just 55 days, that’s day quicker than its Galaxy S predecessor.

An impressive achievement that is for sure but it’s perhaps not that surprising being the first there with the Dual-core CPU it’s performance is certainly very impressive as we detailed in our Samsung Galaxy S2 review back in May of this year, it remains one of our top picks.

Excerpts from Samsung’s official press release follow:

 

Posted in: Press Releases
By July 3, 2011 Read More →

Neato XV-11 robotic vacuum unboxing video

neato-robotics-xv11 Ok, I know what many of you are thinking having looked at the title of the post but no I haven’t gone mad. As you know I love all things gadget but even I have to admit that when I got the email asking if I’d like to review a new vacuum cleaner I was a little hesitant but figured what the hell lets give it a whirl.

Now these robotic autonomous aren’t a new idea, they have been around for a while but this Neato XV-11 is one of the latest to appear. The XV-11 was previously only available in the USA but is about to go on sale here in the UK. I believe that it’s going to be the XV-15 in the UK though.

So what’s special about the XV-11 then? Well first of all it’s a very cool gadget. It has its own power dock that it returns to after cleaning your room/house and puts itself back in charge. Unlike other robotic cleaners the Neato has an array of laser sensors that it uses to create a map of walls, furniture and other obstacles once it knows the layout of the room it works out the most effective way to vac the whole of that area before moving on to another room.

I’ve tried the Neato XV-11 out a few times already and have to say I am impressed. I honestly thought it would get stuck in places or need help but it’s very effective in methodically cleaning the whole of the downstairs of our house, a process that takes it around an hour. As cleaning can be scheduled we’ve got it set up to make one pass every day. As a cleaner it’s very effective and does a great job and while it isn’t a complete replacement for a human driven vacuum cleaner it does help to keep human vac-ing to a minimum. However, if you want to hire a traditional cleaner in Blackpool, contact Diamond Home Support to assist you.

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
By July 2, 2011 Read More →

Samsung Galaxy Z not coming to UK?

galaxy-z0 A few days ago we spoke about the Samsung Galaxy Z, the Galaxy S2’s smaller brother. It’s already been offered for pre-order in Sweden and it was thought to be coming to the UK soon too. However, according to several sources that have apparently had word direct from Samsung the Galaxy Z will not be making a UK appearance after all.

Although it is entirely possible that Samsung will change their minds, they seem all too keen to put the Galaxy name on anything and offer it for sale. Personally though I had thought this one made a great deal of sense filling a small gap in the market. The 1GHz dual-care CPU and slightly smaller than Galaxy S2 screen with Super LCD rather than AMOLED screen set it up to be that little bit cheaper than the beefy S2 whilst still offering a great deal of spec for the money.

Don’t be surprised if we see this go on sale in a month or so!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 2, 2011 Read More →

Samsung Galaxy Mini unboxing video

samsung-galaxy-mini-s5570-1 Samsung are really milking that Galaxy name and now we’re looking at another, the Samsung Galaxy Mini.

The Galaxy Mini is very much an entry level Android powered handset very much on par with the Vodafone 858 Smart or the Huawei IDEOS. The Mini is a decent looking little phone though and that’s one thing that helps to set it apart from the strong competition.

Spec-wise the Galaxy Mini is ‘ok’ with 3.1″ QVGA screen, 600MHz CPU and limited RAM it still does a decent enough job and seems to run quite smoothly considering.

The one we have was provided by 3 and will set you back just under £100 on PAYG, a good price but still a little more than the other handsets mentioned above but then you are getting Samsung build-quality. To see if it’s worth the extra few pounds you’ll have to sit tight for the review in a week or so. For now I’ve got a little unboxing video for you to get a taster of the Samsung Galaxy Mini in action.

 

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
By July 2, 2011 Read More →

BlackBerry Desktop Manager 2.1 for Mac adds PlayBook support

desktopmanager Great news for BlackBerry PlayBook owners as RIM have just provided an update for BlackBerry Desktop Manager for the Mac to now include PlayBook support.

Until now if you had a BlackBerry PlayBook you’d have been forced to use the PC version of Desktop Manager in order to backup and sync your device or if you wanted to add media to the PlayBook it was WiFi or nothing, leaving Mac owners out in the cold.

Thanks to this version 2.1 update, Mac users can now automatically sync music, movies, and photos between the PlayBook and their Mac via iTunes and iPhoto over USB. Awesome!

If you want to download the update head on over to BlackBerry.com to find the latest version.

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
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