Author Archive: Gareth

Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.

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By April 7, 2016 Read More →

php0ih4cgHuawei took to the stage yesterday to announce their flagship successor, the Huawei P9 that combines everything that is great about the Nexus 6P and the Mate S and evolves them. What we ended up seeing was a collection of highly interesting phones that packed some incredible features and some unique additions to really sent them apart from the competition.

The P9 actually breaks down into a few different variants. Here is a list of the actual models:

  • 3GB RAM and 32GB storage.
  • 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.
  • Huawei P9 Plus with pressure sensitive display.

Each model will have their own colour selection featuring some unique colours schemes.

The Huawei P9 has a 5.2-inch and P9 Plus at 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display. The 5.2-inch model comes with a Full HD resolution and 423 pixels per inch (ppi). Huawei claims this devices has 96 per cent colour saturation (directly comparing it to the iPhone’s 72 per cent), while brightness is rated at 500nits. Whereas the 5.5-inch screen of the Huawei P9 Plus has a 1080p resolution and combined with pressure sensitive technology.

 

The P9 and P9 Plus have the Kirin 955 chipset. This comprises of four 2.5GHz A72 cores, and four 1.8GHz A53 cores. There is also support from a Mali T-880 for graphics. A microSD card slot and USB Type-C connection for fast charging have also been included.

The cameras have been developed in partnership with Leica and both P9’s feature two 12-megapixel sensors, fronted by a Leica Summarit lens. Unlike other dual cameras phones on the market Hauwei have opted for a more interesting approach. One camera features a colour RGB sensor and the other is a monochrome sensor. As we would suspect the camera can combine the information to create a better picture and allow the user to change the focal distance but the dedicated monochrome function captures in black and white, rather than using a filter in post-processing. There is also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies the P9 Plus has added of autofocus to this camera.

P9 measures 145 x 70.9 x 6.95mm and weighs 144g. The P9 Plus measures 152.3 x 75.3 x 6.98mm and weighs 162g. Prices start at €599 (around £480) for the 32GB Huawei P9, €649 for the enhanced 64GB model, and €749 for the 64GB Huawei P9 Plus. The unfortunately it looks as though the enhanced P9 is not due to be released in the UK. The P9 is due for release across UK, Europe and Asia from 16 April. Huawei P9 Plus will be available from 20 May in these regions.

Posted in: News, Phones
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By April 3, 2016 Read More →

Huawei MateBook priced and specced

mid2If there is one company this year that has turned things upside down its Huawei. Launching a slew of recommendable Android devices in the last six months Huawei has become one of the top rated names in the Mobile world. It doesn’t stop there. Mobile World Congress 2016 saw Huawei unveil the MateBook, a high end 2-in-1 device much like Surface that combines the new eye for style, quality hardware designs with the power of Windows. 

Using high-quality, lightweight aluminium unibody weighing just 640g the Matebook supports a keyboard case and stylus, much like Microsoft’s offering. With a 1.5mm keystroke and a chiclet style design the keyboard is a real head-turner. The MatePen stylus offers 2,048 levels of sensitivity and features a laser pointer on the back. It also comes with fingerprint recognition feature that supports 360-degree sensitive identification.

The MateBook will be available  in two colours: grey and golden and should roll out in Asia, Europe and North America in the coming months.

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Posted in: Laptops, News, Tablets
By March 31, 2016 Read More →

First-ever Philips 5K Display

mmdMMD, the leading technology company and brand license partner for Philips Monitors, announces a new display with UltraClear 5K resolution – the first 5K display in the line-up. With 14.7 million pixels (5,120 x 2,880), the Philips 275P4VYKEB display with 5K resolution packs four times as many pixels as Quad HD, and over 50 percent more than Ultra HD, delivering ultra-fine clarity and sharpness to amaze and delight even seasoned graphics professionals. The new 27-inch display is also equipped with PerfectKolor Technology, which ensures factory-calibrated 99% Adobe RGB, 100% sRGB colour space and one billion colours.

Ultra-sharp, ultra-clear, ultra-professional: 5K clarity
The latest 5K resolution packs an extra 1,000 horizontal and 700 vertical pixels of display area compared to a 4k monitor, creating additional space to help busy users work more productively and effectively – there is space for an extra CAD tool window, for example, for comparing a series of photos or professional graphics, or simply to keep a mail window open. This also makes a second screen superfluous for many tasks, which helps to increase efficiency as well, as users can keep their eyes on one screen. With advanced PLS technology, the display also features extra-wide viewing angles of 178 degrees, ensuring viewing accuracy with razor-sharp visuals from just about any angle.

Albert Ulfman, Product Manager Philips Monitors Europe at MMD, says: “With the 5K resolution, we ensure that professional users can enjoy a superior-quality display with long-term reliability that can measure up to the challenges of graphics and engineering applications. 5K Ultra HD shows every minor detail, sharp and clear.”

PerfectKolor for exact results
Professionals who choose a display with super-fine resolution are likely to be equally demanding about colour accuracy. Inconsistent colour is simply out of the question. With PerfectKolor, the new 5K display provides factory-calibrated colour with 99% Adobe RGB and 100% sRGB consistency – so users can be completely confident that every colour exactly matches requirements. The colour is not only accurate; it is also smooth and sumptuous. With 10-bit colour support, the new display offers rich colour depth, and can represent over one billion different colours – more than the eye could ever distinguish. Thanks to 12-bit internal processing, colours are re-created smoothly and naturally, without gradations or the nuisance of banding effects.

Designed for the way professionals work
As well as offering brilliant, accurate colour and 5K resolution, the display is engineered with a range of features to fit the way professional users work, with webcam and microphone for collaborating and sharing with colleagues and clients, plus built-in speakers for lifelike sound reproduction. The Flicker-free technology keeps the eyes fresh even after hours of detailed work, and the SmartErgoBase, which can be tilted, swivelled and height-adjusted to individual preferences, ensures maximum viewing comfort. It also keeps cables tidied away, freeing more space on the desktop.

To connect efficiently with data sources – vital for the data-intensive graphics applications common in professional environments – the new display also supports USB 3.0, with a transfer rate of 5 gbits/s, 10 times the speed of USB 2.0. It also allows fast-charging of a device simultaneously with the super-speed data transfer.

The new Philips 275P4VYKEB display, with an RRP of £1,169.99, will be available at the beginning of April.

More information on Philips monitors: www.philips.com/monitors

Posted in: Accessories, Desktop Computing, News, Press Releases
By March 31, 2016 Read More →

Gigabyte and the World’s First Intel Thunderbolt 3 C236 Chipset Motherboard

gigGigabyte has recently announced that its support for Intel® Thunderbolt™ 3 has expanded with the certification of its upcoming Gigabyte GA-X170-EXTREME ECC motherboard.

The Gigabyte GA-X170-EXTREME ECC motherboard is the world’s first C236 chipset board to receive Thunderbolt™ 3 certification from Intel, enabling full support for the fastest connectivity protocol on the planet. Compatible with Intel’s Xeon® E3-1200 v5 processor and DDR4 ECC (Error-correcting code) memory, the GA-X170-EXTREME ECC motherboard has what professionals need to do their best work. The addition of Thunderbolt™ 3 makes the motherboard a definite must-have for any high-end desktop system.

Powered by Intel’s own Thunderbolt™ 3 controller, the new Thunderbolt™ 3 protocol, which is available over a USB Type-C™ connector on the back I/O of select Gigabyte motherboards including the GA-X170-EXTREME ECC, brings an unprecedented single-wire bandwidth of up to 40 Gb/s — twice more than the previous generation! You can also check out more Surface Mount Assembly Reviews here.

Thunderbolt™ 3 over USB Type-C™ supports DisplayPort 1.2, which is able to drive a 4K resolution display at 60 FPS, and revolutionary industry-first features such as power delivery up to 36W, as well as the ability to daisy-chain up to 6 devices per USB Type-C port.

Support for Thunderbolt™ 3 on the GA-X170-EXTREME ECC motherboard, an industry first for the C236 chipset, means that professionals are no longer constrained by the bottleneck of bandwidth. With the ability to transfer extremely large files – such as raw 4K video – in a manner of seconds, professionals spend less time waiting and more time

Posted in: Desktop Computing, News, Press Releases
By March 30, 2016 Read More →

Synology announce the release of the DiskStation DS416slim

001Synology are pleased to announce the release of the DiskStation DS416slim. Now available worldwide the DS416slim is an ultra-small and compact Network Attached Storage system measuring at only 18.4 cm x 16.8 cm x 23.0 cm(7.2” x 6.6” x 9.0”) and less than 700g. This NAS supports a total of 4 x 2.5” SATA III/II hard drives and also one of the J series model which adopts the Marvell Armada 38X CPU family, equipping with Armada 385 Dual Core 1.0GHz CPU and 512 MB DDR3 memory. DS416slim promises great read/write performance of around 170.23 MB/s in reading and over 77.62 MB/s in writing through Link Aggregation in Windows environment. There are dual 1GbE RJ45 LAN ports located on the rear panel, ensuring continuous service uptime and reduce the risk of unexpected LAN failure. Additionally two USB 3.0 are included to support high speed data transfer, each located in the front and rear side. DS416slim comes backed with Synology’s 2-year limited warranty. 

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Please note that the above performance is based on DSM 5.2 and the performance based on DSM 6.0 will be updated within 2 weeks. The unit should retail for around £222.00 including VAT or €248.64 excluding VAT.

DiskStation DS416slim

Incredibly Small NAS With Great Performance
Synology DS416slim is a palm sized 4-bay NAS with only 0.66kg in weight and measures 120mm x 105mm x 142mm, fulfilling your need for a personal cloud without taking up too much space. Despite its compact appearance, DS416slim makes no compromise on performance. DS416slim is powered by a dual-core CPU with hardware encryption engine and built-in floating point unit support. Under RAID 5 configuration in a Windows® environment, DS416slim delivers up to an average 170.23 MB/s in reading and 77.62 MB/s in writing through Link Aggregation, while delivering an average speed of 112.77 MB/s in reading and 78.81 MB/s in writing through single Gigabit LAN.1

The Dual Gigabit LAN with failover support ensures continual service uptime in the event of unexpected LAN failure, while the hot-swappable drive tray allows you to replace the hard drives without powering off DS416slim. Designed for easy replacement, the system fan can be quickly swapped, so the average time to repair can be significantly reduced. DS416slim comes with dual USB 3.0 ports, each on the front and rear panel, providing fast and convenient data transfer and backup to external storage devices. Running on Synology’s award-winning DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system, DS416slim shares a rich reservoir of applications available in DSM Package Center.
Cross Platform File Sharing

Synology DS416slim supports comprehensive network protocols, ensuring a seamless file sharing experience across Windows, Mac®, and Linux® platforms. Windows AD and LDAP integration allows Synology DS416slim to fit quickly and effortlessly into any existing network environment without the necessity to recreate user accounts. Cloud Sync keeps your Dropbox, Google™ Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Baidu and Box storage in sync with your personal DiskStation at home. Cloud Station suit allows users to sync files among multiple devices, no matter it’s Windows PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android™ tablets/phones, effortlessly keeping everything up-to-date. While you enjoy the seamless file sharing, all the file sharing over the Internet is protected at a high security level through the HTTPS, firewall, and IP auto-block that supported by DS416slim.

Reliable Backup Solution
To protect your valuable data, DS416slim can become a centralized backup destination for consolidating fragmented and unstructured information across your network through a range of options. Advanced backup privilege management makes network backup tasks safer and more efficient. Complete backup solutions such as Backup & Restore minimize the impact of disasters, keeping your valuable data safe and secure.
Your Personal Multimedia Bank

DS416slim helps you easily manage your multimedia contents and share them across Windows, Mac®, and Linux® platforms. With Video Station, you can organize your digital video library with comprehensive media information, watch movies and films, or record your favorite TV programs with a DVB-T/DVB-S stick. Photo Station’s intuitive design allows you to effortlessly organize photos into customized categories, smart albums and blog posts, and link them to social networking websites within a few clicks. Audio Station comes with built-in lyrics plugin, Internet radio and lossless audio formats support and provides music playback via DLNA, AirPlay®, and Bluetooth devices (A Bluetooth dongle is required).

Anywhere/Anytime Availability
No matter what browser you’re using, Synology offers handy features of QuickConnect and EZ-Internet, letting you enjoy accessing to the Internet with minimum effort. Combined with Synology’s mobile apps for every popular feature, including DS photo, DS audio and DS video for anywhere multimedia access, DS download, DS file, and DS cloud for seamless file download/access/synchronization, you can enjoy the content and data in your NAS anywhere, anytime.
Energy Efficient and Easy Management DesigN

Synology DS416slim is designed and developed with energy efficiency in mind. Compared with the average storage server counterparts, DS416slim consumes only 17.17 watts in regular operation. The support of Wake on LAN/WAN and scheduled power on and off can further reduce power consumption and operation cost. HDD hibernation can be configured to take effect automatically when the system has been inactive for a specified period of time. This not only saves energy but also extends the lifespan of the hard disks.

All Synology products are produced with RoHS compliant parts and packed with recyclable packing materials. Synology acknowledges the responsibility as a global citizen

Posted in: Desktop Computing, News, Press Releases, Storage Devices, Streaming Services
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By March 27, 2016 Read More →

AOC and Philips leaders in Europe’s monitor market

C3583FQ-BS_front_to_right_yellow_designAccording to the latest figures from the analyst Context, the European market for monitors shows significant signs of recovery after the turbulences one year ago. Western Europe stabilises, and also in Eastern Europe the market decrease has slowed down from quarter to quarter last year. In these market surroundings AOC and MMD, license partner for Philips monitors, have achieved further growth in their market share. In the last quarter of 2015, the two companies together grew by 4.5 percent compared to the same quarter the year before. With nearly close to 15 percent market share they together hold the number 1 position in Europe. AOC and MMD are subsidiaries of the world’s leading display manufacturer TPV.

In Western Europe, the two companies continuously grew their market share during the last four quarters and made a step of 12 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the quarter before. Together the two brands now hold the number 3 position in Western Europe.

“As did the entire IT industry, monitors have had a challenging year 2015. All market players had to handle a weak exchange rate for the dollar and economic uncertainties in several markets. With our focus on innovation and customer-centric strategy, we have managed to grow with both of our brands AOC and Philips right from the beginning of the year each quarter – even under these challenging conditions. This is now the basis for further growth, as we have signs that the market is recovering again”, says Thomas Schade, Vice President Europe at AOC and MMD.

In the market of the United Kingdom and Ireland the two monitor specialists continued their successful development. From quarter to quarter AOC and Philips monitors together increased their market share and together hold the number 4 position in the market. AOC alone grew by more than 23 percent on an annual basis. The market share of 7.3 percent for AOC is the highest market share for five years. 

Posted in: Desktop Computing, News, Press Releases
By March 25, 2016 Read More →

Lyca Group Announces Three New Services

Free-Lyca-Mobile-SIM-Card-300x300Lyca Group, the world’s largest provider of services to ethnic and expatriate communities, has launched three new offerings: Lycaremit, an online money transfer service, Lycachat, an app that allows the user to make calls, send messages and share videos worldwide and LycaTV, the world’s largest ethnic channel entertainment platform.

Global brand Lycamobile forms the foundation of the Lyca Group, created to encompass the full offering of Lyca services which provide people with the chance to improve the way they maintain close networks of friends and family across the world.

Lyca Group chairman Subaskaran Allirajah said: “We’ve built our business over the past decade by providing vital services to primarily ethnic communities across Europe, from mobile calls and data to financial services and travel bookings. The business continues to grow by responding to the needs all consumers who have family, friends and loved ones across the globe. We launch three new services today, broadening our offering and demonstrating our vision to be a truly full service multi-media platform.” 

New video on demand service, LycaTV will offer over 450 channels in 20 languages, making it the biggest platform for primarily ethnic-focused TV and movies in the world. Among the content available to LycaTV subscribers will be over 1,250 Bollywood classics via major provider Eros, the destination for premium Bollywood movies and music on demand. All LycaTV content will be available on mobile devices, smart TVs, desktops or streaming players.

The new online Lycaremit money transfer service allows customers to send money quickly and easily to family and friends in over 50+ countries at ultra-competitive rates using their smartphone, tablet or desktop at www.lycaremit.co.uk. Beneficiaries are able to collect money via banks, cash collection services or mobile wallet, depending on the destination country. It launches with an introductory offer of zero fees on all money transfers for three months up until 31st March 2016.

The free to download Lycachat app further extends the Lyca Group’s mission to connect customers with their loved ones at the most competitive price and the highest possible quality. As well as sending messages and sharing videos worldwide, the app will also let customers make voice calls with low rates to landlines and mobiles with Lycachat Out.

Posted in: Deals & Offers, News
By March 25, 2016 Read More →

EasyAcc 20000mAh Rugged Powerbank Unboxing

vlcsnap-error391When it comes to battery batteries or Powerbanks there is a wealth on the market already and they serve every need, however with Summer coming there is going to be a few out there who a looking for a solution for all their gadgets without having to have multiple batteries in their bag. Enter the EasyAcc 20000mAh Rugged Powerbank. That’s right, 20000mAh. Good for around 5 full charges of their phone. This is the perfect powerbank for the charge and forget about it approach, perhaps you work Monday to Friday, need a battery and don’t want to have to remember to charge one every night or ever other night. At 20000mAh you have a full charge every day of the week and need only remember to charge it at the weekend. 

With two full sized USB output the battery can handle two phones and if one of those supports the faster charging methods then a at full speed at up to 2.4A. Admittedly the 2A input does mean the battery might take around 12 hours to charge when drained fully but then again it does hold 20000mAh. With a rating of IP67, the powerbank can be immersed under 1 meter water for 30 minutes thanks to a little door that closes over the input and output port. I am not entirely sure of the doors effectiveness as it feels a little loose when it comes to a water tight seal.

Finally a super useful addition is the LED light. Not new to power banks however on a 20000mAh battery the light will stay on for an Age. Also included in a flashing beckon option for attracting attention is in trouble.

Posted in: Accessories, Videos/Unboxings
By March 24, 2016 Read More →

AOC Launches Premium Gaming Monitor Line-up

aocDerived from ancient Greek, AGON stands for competition, clash and antagonism. These are the strong characteristics that AOC, a market-leading display manufacturer claims for their upcoming gaming monitor line-up. The AGON series has been created to deliver the utmost gaming features and outstanding designs to the vast community of professional and hardcore gamers.

AGON – AOC’s New Gaming Line
During the year 2016, AOC plans to launch ten variants of its gaming monitors with either IPS or TN panels, each with premium technology to provide gamers with the most versatile gaming experience possible. The AGON series includes both standard and curved models with Flicker FREE technology developed by AOC; all of them enriched with either NVIDIA® G-SYNC™ or AMD FreeSync™ technology.

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AGON – Developed for Awesomeness
With modern-day gamers’ increasing demand for visual precision and image quality in gaming monitors, it is essential for gaming monitors to be engineered not only with the latest technology but also exquisite exterior designs. Yet the AGON series seeks to reach above and beyond the status quo. Response times of 1 ms (TN), 144 Hz and higher refresh rates, height-adjustability, speakers and USB 3.0 ports are default features for this new line-up. With sizes ranging from 24″ 16:9 to 35″ ultra-wide, there will also be curved monitors, and resolutions from Full HD all the way to 4K. The combination of materials on the rear of the monitor will give the AGON an elegant and stylish finish, to perfectly supplement high-end gaming battle stations.

A launch event for the AGON takes place in Beijing today and the all-star Natus Vincere Dota 2 squad will be there to present the new monitor line to the press and PR professionals in attendance.

The first model of the AGON series will be available in the European market in June.

Key Features:

– AGON line-up by AOC
– 10 new gaming monitors
– G-SYNC and FreeSync
– AOC Flicker FREE technology
– Ergonomic, height-adjustable stand
– AOC Game Mode
– AOC No Input Lag Mode
– AOC Shadow Control
– FHD, QHD and 4K resolutions
– TN and IPS displays with 144 Hz+
– Sizes range from 24″ to 35″
– Curved and standard monitors

Posted in: Accessories, Desktop Computing
By March 24, 2016 Read More →

Homido Virtual Reality 3D Wireless Headset Glasses for Smartphones Unboxing

vlcsnap-error619There is no shortage around Virtual Reality launches right now and it is to be the next big thing even if you are not interested. VR Headsets are popping up all over the web for various different prices, however many of which are essentially upgraded versions of Google Cardboard. Most will avail of the limited amount of video and app content in Google and Apple’s apps stores and given the prices of these units and the quality of the apps currently available we are delving in to check out one of the higher end variants to see if there is value for money.

Step into the vr stripchat by being able to see what is happening all around you – behind you, above you, beside you and of course, right in front of you, with the clearest of vision.

The Homido Virtual Reality 3D Headset is a £47.99 option that is available from Mobilefun that looks to take Google Cardboard to another level of perfromance. Featuring:

  • Experience the virtual world through your smartphone
  • Universally compatible
  • Huge range of VR apps already available
  • Lightweight and comfortable
  • Adjustable display
  • Protective case included
  • Compatible with 4 – 5.7″ smartphones with iOS or Android

Posted in: Accessories, Science & Technology, Videos/Unboxings
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