Author Archive: Gareth

Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.

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By February 23, 2014 Read More →

Samsung go Tizen with the Galaxy Gear 2 and Neo

samsung-galaxy-gear-2-and-galaxy-gear-2-neoLeaker @evleaks was bang on the money the other day as we have now seen Samsung announce the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 and the Galaxy Gear Neo. The first point folks will be looking at on these wearables are the price as the first was launched with a rather hefty price tag. This dropped rapidly as the devices were not flying off the shelves. No prices were announced unfortunately but it is a safe bet the Neo will be cheaper than the Gear 2.

The most important factor of these watches are that Samsung chosen platform is no longer based on Android, but Tizen. You can pretty much forget about using this with you Motorola, Nexus, HTC or any non Galaxy device. One can’t help but wonder about the wealth of apps that are currently out for the original Android flavoured Gear… oh wait… there are only about 10.

Samsung Galaxy Gear 2

Gear-2-150x150

While gaudy processor and RAM specs don’t quite have the same importance for smart watches as they do phones, it’s still important. The Galaxy Gear 2 slightly improves on the original with the following suite of silicon:

  • 1.63-inch 320 x 320 AMOLED display
  • 1GHz dual-core processor
  • 512MB of RAM
  • 4GB of internal storage
  • 2 megapixel camera
  • Pedometer, heart rate sensor, sleep cycle monitor and more
  • Bluetooth 4.0 LE
  • irLED
  • Accelerometer and gyroscope
  • 300mAh battery good for about 2-3 days of “typical” usage

Samsung Galaxy Gear Neo

Gear-2-Neo-150x150

This is the same as the Gear 2 aside from the camera, it’s gone. Samsung are bragging a bunch of not so silly colours. The Neo should be available in Charcoal Black, Mocha Gray, and Wild Orange.

 

Posted in: Gadgets, News
By February 23, 2014 Read More →

Project Tango to map out everything around you

2014-02-20_14-52-44Google’s Project Tango are working on a phone that is able to scan the world around it and, over time, create maps out of it. The primary purpose of this will be for Google’s obsession with mapping and navigation. We have seen Google Maps implement as Street View focus on interiors of certain land marks and this has the potential to create interiors of almost any building anywhere on the planet.

Augmented Reality like they’re proposing isn’t new – there are primitive forms of it available on everything from current phones to the 3DS – but this phone could turn your entire world into a game stage, and let you simply add new content just by visiting new areas. Throw in the touch screen and motion controls and you’ve got a completely new way to play video games. 

By February 22, 2014 Read More →

Magnavox Odyssey² Emulator on Android

magnavox_odyssey2_1If you’re looking for a new retro-gamer-friendly application to add to your mobile phone then look no further. A licensed Philips Videopac / Magnavox Odyssey² Emulator has hit the Google Play Store coming pre-loaded with over 40 classics, everything you could possibly need to rekindle yourself with the 35 year old console.

Whilst the likes of Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo NES and Sony PlayStation emulators are going to be much more popular, this trip down memory lane for a select few is something you really don’t want to miss out on. Not only does VpacApp come pre-loaded with just about every iconic Videopac title to date, but the original box art is also present along with scans of the game manuals too.

Although this game packed app sounds like a lucrative download, VpacApp is actually available for free on the Google Play Store. The games might be tricky to control on a touchscreen, but nevertheless it’s great seeing these vintage titles once more on modern devices.

The Videopac G7000 was actually Matt’s first games console as a kid so I’m sure he’ll be downloading this one!

Google Play link: VpacApp

Posted in: Apps & Games, News
By February 22, 2014 Read More →

Archos has new devices at Mobile World congress 2014

Archos_SmartwatchARCHOS, a pioneer in Android™ devices, unveils its lineup of cutting-edge tablets and smartphones for the first half of 2014 during Mobile World Congress, including the ARCHOS 80 Helium 4G, the industry’s first 8-inch 4G tablet under £229.99 and the ARCHOS 50c Oxygen smartphone with its Octa Core CPU. 

“ARCHOS’ new lineup of products highlights the company’s commitment to innovation and confirms its position in the 3G/4G market,” says Loic Poirier, CEO of ARCHOS.  “Our new product offerings continue to push the boundaries of technology, blending superior design, cutting-edge technology and impressive affordability,”

 

ARCHOS 80 Helium 4G

Adding to the Helium 4G range, unveiled in January at CES, comes the ARCHOS 80 Helium 4G,the world’s first 8-inch 4G tablet under £229.99 blazing fast speeds through a Quad Core A7 processor, Android 4.3 “Jelly Bean” platform and 4G/LTE Cat 4 connectivity for faster surfing, streaming and downloading.  The state-of-the-art device comes equipped with outstanding features such as high resolution screen, Bluetooth Smart technology and full access to the Google Play store.

 image002 

 

ARCHOS 50c Oxygen

The ARCHOS 50c Oxygen wraps an HD IPS Screen (1280 x 720), Bluetooth Smart technology and a MediaTek Octa-Core processor into a super sleek (6.7mm) deep black smartphone. At less than £200, the ARCHOS 50c Oxygen, flagship of the ARCHOS smartphone range, is a Dual SIM device running Android 4.3 “Jelly Bean”.

 

“MediaTek is very pleased to see its portfolio of dual-, quad-, and octa-core “Systems-on-a- Chip” well represented across ARCHOS’ breaking new smartphone line-up. This is another proof-point of MediaTek’s commitment in making rich multimedia features, leading edge multi-processing and multi-mode connectivity available to everyone at affordable price levels”, said Siegmund Redl, MediaTek’s VP and GM of Corporate Marketing in Europe. 

 image004

ARCHOS 64 Xenon

With its 6.4-inch HD IPS screen (1280 x 720), the ARCHOS 64 Xenon gives users the screen real estate they need for their applications, videos and games in comfort while on the go. Combined with the ARCHOS multimedia applications the ARCHOS 64 Xenon is a multimedia lover’s dream, this unlocked phablet utilises a Quad-Core CPU for superb processing speed and is available for under £199.99

image006

ARCHOS 40b Titanium

ARCHOS transforms the smartphone into a mobile music lover’s dream with the ARCHOS 40b Titanium.  The smartphone makes listening to great music possible with its enhanced audio system and dual front facing speakers that deliver crystal clear and pure stereo sound.  The £99.99 ARCHOS 40b is powered by a Dual-Core CPU, has a 4.0-inch IPS Panel, dual cameras and has full access to Google Play store with more than 1 million apps.

image014

At Mobile World Congress 2014 ARCHOS will also showcase its entire selection of 3G and 4G smartphones, 3G and HD tablets, and ARCHOS’ Connected Objects range (originally unveiled at CES in January 2014), the industry’s most comprehensive ecosystem of connected objects for the home and self. 

From February 24th to the 27th at ARCHOS’ booth – Hall 1 booth 1F20, attendees can experience the benefits of interconnectivity as well as the latest in mobile technology.

 

Product Specifications

 

ARCHOS 80 Helium 4G

ARCHOS 50c Oxygen

ARCHOS 64 Xenon

ARCHOS 40b Titanium

OS

Android 4.3 “Jelly Bean”

Android 4.2 “Jelly Bean”

Android 4.2 “Jelly Bean”

Android 4.2 “Jelly Bean”

CPU

Qualcomm MSM8926 /  Quad Core @1.2Ghz Cortex A7

Mediatek MT6592 /  Octa-Core @1.7 Ghz Cortex A7

Mediatek MT6582 / Quad core 1.3 GHz A7

Mediatek MT6572 / Dual Core  1.3 GHz A7

GPU

Adreno 305

Mali 450MP4

Mali 400MP2

Mali 400

Screen

8” 1024×768 Screen with IPS technology

5” 1280 x 720 Screen with IPS technology 

6.4” 1280 x 720 pixels with IPS technology

4” 800 x 480 pixels IPS

RAM

1GB

1GB

1GB

512MB

Storage

8GB

8GB

4GB

4GB

Expandable
Memory

Micro SD

Camera

5MP- Autofocus with LED Flash

8MP- Autofocus with LED Flash

8MP- Autofocus with LED Flash

5MP- Autofocus with LED Flash

Front Camera – 2MP

Front Camera – 2MP

Front Camera – 2MP

Front Camera – VGA

1080p Video encoding

1080p Video encoding

1080p Video encoding

720p video encoding

BSI sensor

Network & 
Connectivity

GSM/GPRS/EDGE : 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz

UMTS/WCDMA/3G: 900 / 1800 / 2100 MHz

4G/LTE: 800 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 Mhz                                   LTE cat. 4 150Mbps/50Mbps

HSPA+ 21Mbps / 5.76Mbps

HSPA+ 21Mbps / 5.76Mbps

HSPA+ 21Mbps / 5.76Mbps

Bluetooth: 4.0 + A2DP + HFP + EDR

Bluetooth : 4.0 + A2DP + HFP + EDR 

Bluetooth: 3.0 + A2DP + HFP + EDR

Bluetooth: 3.0 + A2DP + HFP + EDR

Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Hotspot

A-GPS

Micro USB 2.0 Sync and Charge

 

POP/IMAP/Exchange Active Sync/SMTP/PushMail

Battery

Li-on 3500mAh

Li-on 2000mAh

Li-on 2800mAh

Li-on 1400mAh

Size

213*155*10.5mm

145*69.8*7.64mm

90.6*170.7*9.3mm

125*61*8.5mm

Price

£229.99

£199.99

£199.99

£99.99

 

Posted in: News, Phones, Tablets
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By February 21, 2014 Read More →

Archos 79 Xenon Unboxing Video

archos_79xenon_Face_slide_2Much like their phone range, Archos are pushing out every variation of tablet to increase customer choice.  Each tablet in the range comes with a different label after a periodic element, Cobalt, Titanium, Xenon and Platinum.

Each Element seems to increase the specs and the price a little with various screen sizes available for each. Simple idea however, maybe a little confusing with you have so many to choose from. The Xenon is the slightly lower high end range, not quite a feature rich as the Platinum. The big drawback really seems to be the lack of options for storage, all of Archos’ tablets seems to come with 8gb storage aside from their flagship 101xs2 with 16gb.

In the video below I take a look at the Archos 79 Xenon, going hands on with the little beauty after a rapid unboxing.

 

By February 20, 2014 Read More →

Google IO dates announced

IOGoogle has just announced this year’s Google IO dates! Get ready and set your calendars for June 25-26, 2014. Senior Vice President of Google Sundar Pichai has just broken the news and we can’t be more excited to see what Google has in store for us this year.

For those who don’t know, Google IO is the Search Giant’s biggest event. It takes place yearly, in San Francisco. The main focus of the event is to educate and prepare developers to adopt and improve on Google apps and services, but Google has turned it into more than that.

We do not really know what is on the agenda right now, but Google IO is always big. We can definitely expect some big news related to Chromecast, Chrome OS and Chromebooks. These are growing at insane rates, so we are sure Google will have some good news for Chromies at Google IO.

Of course, we will also see news related to pretty much everything Google has to offer. Android, Chrome, Google+, Google Maps and Google Drive are a few of the big ones.

Posted in: News
By February 14, 2014 Read More →

The wake of Flappy Bird

flappy-bird-ebay-iphoneApparently the hysteria around is Flappy Bird reaching new levels as someone put an iPhone 5 up on eBay for sale with the game installed on it. Now that in itself isn’t a big deal, however the fact that it sold for $94,000 is. Sure there have been crazier things that have happened on eBay but $94,000 for an iPhone with a free game on it is pretty insane.

This obviously reeks of rubbish, perhaps it has been targeted by a community to drive up the price and create a headline. This is further fueled by speculation that eBay took it down due to the listing broke some of the rules eBay has for posting listings. This isn’t confirmed at all though, only a rumour.

A quick search has yielded even weirder auctions going on related to Flappy Bird including Iphone 4s with the Flapster installed for a Buy It Now price of £1,000,000.00. A rare piece of paper with flappy bird written on it for £20,000.00. An Apple iPad Air 16GB for £1,350.00 with that Bird game installed and an another auction currently sitting at £6100.00. I would have linked these auctions however they probably won’t be there for much longer and I wouldn’t want to tempt you away from you hard earned cash as you know you couldn’t resist a slightly beaten up iPhone with a copy of a free game that people really only got annoyed at.

Posted in: Apps & Games, News
By February 14, 2014 Read More →

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 220: Please uninstall Candy Crush

Podcast-Logo_thumb.jpgGareth, Phil and  Dan are here with another UK update on the mobile front.

In this weeks show we talk about the Candy Crush scandal, Flappy Birds,  new growing rumours of the HTC M8 and the iPhone 6

Featuring Gareth, Dan and Phil

 

Direct Download 

iTunes

Download the iPhone App

Download the Android App

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Posted in: News, Podcast
By February 13, 2014 Read More →

The uncoming HTC Desire 8 leaked

htc-new-desire-leakA new leak seems to point at a possible HTC Desire 8 debut in the coming weeks at Mobile World Congress.

We have recently seen another unreleased HTC smartphone was revealed on Wednesday in a freshly leaked image with isn’t the much anticipated HTC One 2. Engadget managed to find an image of the HTC Desire 8 and this would look to be an upcoming mid-range Android phone from HTC that would likely debut in the coming weeks.

The phone will reportedly include a 5.5-inch display, a 13-megapixel rear camera, an impressive 5-megapixel front-facing camera and those stereo BoomSound speakers everyone loves so much.

As for when it might be unveiled, Engadget states March 18th as a possible launch date. That would make sense for Mobile World Congress as a launch platform.

Posted in: News, Phones
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By February 11, 2014 Read More →

Another pathetic swipe at Chromebooks by Microsoft

Screenshot 2014-02-11 11.24.17

Microsft have put together another advert for their new budget Windows 8 laptop built by Asus.

Honestly, the laptop looks quite nice, however, the content of the add is anything but. Singling out the Chromebook as an online only device, users of the Windows laptop can achieve so much more without an internet connection… like Chat!  The only real factor on display is that Microsoft must really be concerned about the Chromebooks and perhaps lends more substance to the likes of Samsung ending their Windows laptop production run and Dell preferring Windows 7 over 8 as a option.

Lovely to see that Google does not feel the need to retaliate, just let Microsoft embarrass themselves.

 

Posted in: Laptops, News
Tags: ,
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