Author Archive: Gareth

Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.

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By June 10, 2014 Read More →

Unboxing Acer Aspire Switch 10

AspireSwitch10_series_photogallery-02A look at the newly released Windows 8.1 tablet and laptop hybrid. This convertible has an attractive design and comes with a unique, magnetic detachable keyboard. Alongside some fairly attractive specs we have a tablet with a “Zero air gap” that brings the screen right up to the front glass making this a lot brighter and vibrant.

Unboxing Acer Aspire Switch 10  specification:

  • 10.1 inches, 16:9, Active backlit LED
  • Windows (8.1)
  • Wifi 802.11 a, b, g, n (2.4, 5 GHz)
  • quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 processor
  • 2GB RAM 
  • Intel HD Graphics 
  • 2-megapixel front-facing camera

Posted in: Laptops, Videos/Unboxings
By June 9, 2014 Read More →

Could this be the Google Nexus 8?

nexus-8-leak-1Supposedly, two pictures of the new Google Nexus 8 tablet might have leaked online. Along with the photos, the source of this intel claims the following details for this tablet:

  • A 64-bit Qualcomm processor
  • 3GB of RAM
  • Android 4.5
  • Will debut at Google I/O on June 25

All of these specs are just generic but plausible enough to easily be viable, therefore, if this is a fake report, the source took the safe route and didn’t go crazy with out of this world ideas. The main reason we are so sceptical of this report is that the tablet has such a huge bezel. It looks like an 8-inch tablet, yet with an ugly inch thick bezel, the display would be no different than a Nexus 7. 

Likely, this is beta hardware for testing some new additions to the hardware feature set, the sensors required for  Project Tango for example.

nexus-8-leak-2

Posted in: News, Tablets
By June 9, 2014 Read More →

ZX-Uno bringing the Spectrum back

1905-zx-uno-zx-spectrum-hardware-fgpa-cloneWhat is the ZX-Uno?  Essentially it is a fan-made clone of the ZX Spectrum hardware, set to offer retro gamers an alternative to getting their 8-bit game-on.

The ZX-Uno has no release date just yet, the official website shows the hardware is already at quite an advanced stage of development . The FPGA based board not only behaves exactly like a ZX Spectrum, but also offers several new features the micro-computer could only dream of having.

Coming equipped with an SD Card slot, gamers will be able to load .TAP files directly into memory for use on the system – allowing easy access to the likes of Jet-Pac, Manic Miner and just about everything else. Designed to fit inside a Raspberry Pi case, the ZX-Uno also offers a rather snazzy audio-in 3.5mm jack port, allowing those who really want to stay true to the hardware the ability to boot up original cassette tapes.

According to the team behind this device, the ZX-Uno is estimated to cost a mere 30 Euros. So should you be a fan of the British micro-computer or need a good alternative to the dated hardware, keep a close eye on the ZX-Uno.

Posted in: Apps & Games, Science & Technology
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By June 8, 2014 Read More →

Viewsonic VSD241 Unboxing

vsd241_left_hires_2A quick look at Viewsonic’s All-in-one Android monitor, the VSD241 Smartscreen. This 24″ touch screen Android machine houses a NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-Core 1.7GHz,1GB of DDR3 RAM, a criminal 8GB storage with 4GB available under it’s Wide Color TFT Transmissive LED at a resolution of 1920×1080. There is a built-in SD card port and 4 USB (2 full size, 1 mini & 1 micro) ports for connectivity.

Viewsonic VSD241 Key Features:

  • 24″ (23.8″ viewable) all-in-one smart display
  • Full HD 1920×1080 resolution with Dual Point Optical Touch technology
  • Features NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core Processor
  • Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for PC-Less computing
  • Google GMS certified for access to thousands of Android applications
  • USB HID Compliant Dual Point Optical Touch for intuitive interaction
  • Integrated 2M pixel webcam for crystal clear video conferencing
  • Includes Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
  • ViewSound premium audio system

 

Posted in: Desktop Computing, Tablets, Videos/Unboxings
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By June 7, 2014 Read More →

What’s new in Android 4.4.3?

nexus-logo-drop-shadowThe Android 4.4.3 update is finally baked. Google made the Factory Image available for download. This one is designed for the Nexus 5, the Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 7, Nexus 4 and Nexus 10. These images are 440MB to 465MB in size and will require fastboot set up to install.

This update includes a few new tweaks and enhancements: the dialler app has new colour accents and a card-based process for speed dialling, there is a bug fix related to CPU usage and the Nexus 5 camera. These factory images are obviously perfect for those who don’t want to wait for the OTA. 

Here’s the link to the factory images: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

Speaking of OTA’s, the 2013 Nexus 7 WiFi-Only version is already receiving the update push right new. Users can expect to get it any time within the next few days. For some reason, the LTE version of the 2013 Nexus 7 is not yet supported by this update.

Posted in: News, Phones, Tablets
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By June 6, 2014 Read More →

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 227: G3 IOS8 Mega 7.0 S5

Podcast-Logo_thumb.jpgGareth and Matt get together to chat about the latest mobile phone, tablet and chromebook news in the UK.

Plenty going on in this week’s show with news from Apple about a couple of small announcements, LG and their new G3,  benchmarks, Chromebooks and more.

 

Featuring Gareth and Matt

 

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Show Notes

Mobile Mayhem

The LG G3 – A Quad HD smartphone

Archos Smart Home Bundle now available exclusively through Clove Technology

Apple iOS 8

Smartphones – your best budget options

Samsung Galaxy S5 is it worth the hype?

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 7.0 blurs the lines

Benchmarking comparison – S5 Vs. Note 3 Octa Core

Nvidia stepping back from mobile tech

Newchunks:

Another massive security breach at Ebay – What you need to know!

Panono

Galaxy S5 Active

Kitt on KitKat?

Tablet Table and Laptop… Lap

Is Google Tangoing the tablet

Asus go for broke to take the world

Kujali iPad Mini case review

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ unboxing and hands-on

HP 14 Chromebook video review

New HP Chromebook and Android Slate announced

Bargain Basement

LG G Flex £299.00

LG G3 32gb/3gb ram + Free LG Wireless Charger (Approx £497)

Allfine Fine 8 Work 8.0″ Windows 8 Tablet £120.08

Three’s feel at home now includes France, Switzerland, Israel, Finland and Norway added to the list of USA, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Macau, Australia, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland

Smartphones – your best budget options

Email us: [email protected]  Tel: 0208 123 3757

Gareth Myles – @garethmyles

Matt and Tracy Davis –   @tracyandmatt                           

Dan Carter – @mobilemandan

Phil Lain – @low405

 

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Posted in: News, Podcast
By June 4, 2014 Read More →

New HP Chromebook and Android Slate announced

hoHP has announced a refresh to their popular 11-inch Chromebook and the introduction of their first Android-powered notebook, the HP SlateBook 14. 

The new HP Chromebook remains sized at 11.6-inches swapping the generous 176° viewing angles afforded by the IPS display of the previous model for a standard backlit LCD. Some slight hardware changes include a Samsung Exynos 5 dual-core ARM processor clocked at 1.7 GHz with 2GB RAM and a 16GB eMMC flash drive for storage. All sitting in a new, smaller, chassis used by its larger 14-inch Chromebook. There should also be a marginal improvement to the battery, up by about half an hour.

It’s hardly going to stop the presses however, it might be enough for the popularity to continue especially with the stylish design.

HP also announced the SlateBook.  This is one of two Android based notebooks to be released this year, the second being the Arcbook by Archos. This device is powered by a Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor, features 1GB RAM and a 16GB eMMC drive for storage. This combines a 14-inch touchscreen with a traditional notebook form factor in addition to  running Android 4.3.

hp_slatebook_14_6_porte hp-slatebook-14-1

The Slatebook will arrive in with a black shading with a hint of yellow. Other colours are sure to follow as we have heard tell of a pink one in the wild.

The newvHP Chromebook 11 has an expected release date of July in the US with a price tag of $279.99 (or $249.99, depending on which press release you read). The Android-based HP SlateBook 14 launches on July 20 with a absurd starting price of $399.99 for 16GB, going up to $429.99 (32GB) and $459.99 (64GB).

Posted in: Laptops, News
By June 3, 2014 Read More →

Asus go for broke to take the world

new-asus-stuff-june-2014Today Asus announced the Transformer Book V, which is a tablet/phone/laptop hybrid device. Along with the all-in-one combination of these physical devices, it even includes the ability to dual-boot between Windows and Android on the tablet and laptop portions of the device. 

Here’s what the Transformer Book V consists of:

  • A 12.5-inch tablet screen dock
  • Combining the phone with the tablet dock makes it a tablet
  • Combining the phone & tablet with the keyboard dock transforms it into a laptop
  • While in tablet or laptop mode it can switch between Windows and Android (although the phone is Android only)
  • The phone section contains an Intel Moorefield chip
  • The keyboard dock section contains an Intel Core CPU
  • 2GB of RAM in the phone/tablet
  • 4GB of RAM on Laptop
  • The phone and tablet use 64GB of storage and the laptop has 128GB of storage

asus-transformer-book-v

The only other specs/hardware revealed was the following:

  • 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 (4K at 60Hz)
  • 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1.2 (4K at 60Hz)
  • 1 x HDMI 2.0 (4K at 60Hz) / MHL 3.0 (4K at 30Hz)
  • 1 x HDMI 1.4 (4K at 30Hz)
  • 4 x USB 3.0 ports

 

Also today Asus launched new and updated hardware devices. On top of the big announcement earlier of the Transformer Book V, Asus also unveiled the Fonepad 8 and a new MeMo Pad 7 & 8. Here are the details,

MeMo Pad 7 – 

  • 7-inch Display
  • 64-bit Android device – Intel’s quad-core Atom Z3745 chipset (clocked up to 1.86GHz)
  • 5 megapixel rear camera
  • 2 megapixel front camera – also includes a “high definition” resolution — 1280 x 800

MeMo Pad 8 – 

  • 8-Inch Display – “Full HD” resolution
  • Intel Atom Z3580 quad-core chipset clocked up to 2.3GHz
  • Billed as the world’s lightest 8-inch Android tablet at just 299 grams
  • Also only 7.45mm thin
  • 802.11ac WiFi and an LTE modem

Fonepad 8 – 
Really a phablet/giant phone 

  • 8-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution
  • Intel’s 64-bit Atom Z3560 quad-core processor at 1.8GHz
  • Dual front-facing speakers
  • Android-based ZenUI is on-board with a new flat design and over “1,000″ software improvements

 

Posted in: Laptops, News, Tablets
By June 3, 2014 Read More →

Kitt on KitKat?

kitt-eyeAccording to the latest intel, Google is working to bring Google Now voice search functionality to all of of our devices, and they plan on making it completely hands-free. The source of this intel further shared that Google has an internal codename for the functionality. They are calling it KITT after the talking car in the 1980’s TV series.

On top of keeping it completely hands-free, they are supposedly even making it eye-free as well. The ultimate goal is to give users access to Google Now functionality without ever even needing to physically look at or interact with the device. The KITT capabilities will be completely voice driven.Of course, limited versions of this can already be seen in use right now with the Moto X and the Nexus 5. This report indicates Google wants to make it an Android feature for any brand or model device in the future. This could even lead to a convergence of Google’s driverless cars with Android products.

Despite the limited versions of this functionality already showing up in current devices, Google is supposedly a long way from making it viable. There are tow main hurdles they must overcome. One is figuring out a logistical way for users to be able to discern between voice search results without physically looking. The other is that it currently requires the device to be plugged in and charging because of the tremendous drain on battery.

Posted in: Gadgets, Rumours
By June 2, 2014 Read More →

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 7.0 blurs the lines

Samsung-Galaxy-Mega-7.0-leak-640x533It’s hard to believe there is a fine line between phablets, phones and tablets now, the Samsung Galaxy Mega didn’t quite hit the tablet size however it was much to be to be considered a phone, the term phablet had to be used. Now the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Mega 7.0 is coming, it’s tablet sized and phone oriented. Too big to be a phone and even to big to fall into phablet.  The first images have appeared online this Samsung Galaxy Mega follow-up (SM-T2558 and SM-T2556) is said to feature a whopping 7-inch 720p display.

The Mega has never measured up to the specs seen in the Note or Galaxy S range. However, there have been an abundance of Samsung 7″ tablets over the year, is the Mega simply falling into one. Specs for the Mega 7.0 include a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. It would seem the Mega is a quad core variant of the Tab3 with an additional holes for phone calls.

Posted in: News, Phones, Tablets
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