Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.
Having a go at doing an SSD face-off with three lower priced SSDs in a typical PC setup. All three SSDs are tested on the same platform in an IDE set up. From the expensive Kingston SSDnow 100 V, to the considerably cheaper Toshiba Q Series Pro and including the OCZ Vertex Plus R2 for good measure we see that money isn’t everything when it comes to picking up an SSD.
Back in June, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman launched an initiative called Secure Our Smartphones, with a coalition of consumer advocates, police, prosecutors including other officials in an effort to put pressure on smartphone makers to bring a halt to smartphone theft. One of the goals was the introduction of an industry-wide “kill switch” that would allow consumers to remotely render a stolen smartphone worthless.
Now five months later, the New York Times reports that wireless carriers State side are not keen with the idea. Gascón was reportedly working on a deal with Samsung Electronics to include anti-theft software with its phones in the United States, that would have undoubtedly rolled out worldwide soon after. Unfortunately, this software requires approval from the wireless carriers that service the phones: in this case, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Sprint. All four rejected the idea a kill switch. Described as “unwilling“ Gascón reportedly viewed emails that took place between a Samsung executive and a software developer that revealed the four carriers’ reluctance to allow the software. The emails suggested that all four were more concerned about the profits made through insurance programs that are purchased to cover lost or stolen phones.
“Corporate profits cannot be allowed to guide decisions that have life-or-death consequences,” Gascón said. “This solution has the potential to safeguard Samsung customers, but these emails suggest the carriers rejected it so they can continue to make money hand over fist on insurance premiums.”
Instead of worrying about money the Carriers could have pointed out that there is room for abuse for such a step, say the kill switch is installed and a hacker gains control of the phone. They could disable the device and lock owners out. Or in the case of police evidence could be destroyed remotely from confiscated devices.
In the case of Apple’s Activation Lock, that’s not entirely true: the customer can disable the phone if it’s been lost, and then reactivate it with the correct username and password if found. For Android Device Manager, users can remotely lock their smartphone or tablet with a new password, or remotely reset the device to the original factory settings. The latter doesn’t stop thieves from selling the device on a secondary market, but at least the user data is mostly erased.
Gascón is reportedly evaluation what action can be taken against the carriers refusing to cooperate with the kill switch initiative.
“We have repeatedly requested that the carriers take steps to protect their customers. We are now evaluating what course of action will be necessary to force them to prioritize the safety of their customers over additional money in their pockets,” he said.
If you were looking to pick up one of the best values in an Android tablet in time for Christmas, then you probably want to check out the Advent Vega Tegra Note 7 is the first (and currently only) Tegra 4 powered Android tablet available. At a price of just £179.99 over at PC World and Currys, the power and features of this little tablet might surprise you.
Here’s a recap of the Advent Vega Tegra Note 7:
While the amount of RAM is a bit low, and the display isn’t true HD like many of the newer tabs, the graphics prowess of the Tegra 4 could rival some desktop PCs. This tab is obviously built with gamers in mind, but at this price point it should attract more than just gamers.
The Toshiba Excite 7 was officially announced yesterday. It boasts a quad-core processor, a microSD slot and more for only $169.99 (105). Here’s a breakdown of specs and features:
The specs are rather mediocre, although the microSD slot and Quad-Core CPU is appreciated. At this price point there are certainly better options however with the name Toshiba you know you will be getting a good quality device.
One of the tech world’s most reliable leak sources, @evleaks, suggests that there could be a successor to the very popular HTC One early next year. Apparently, it will also be running Android 4.4 KitKat when it launches.
Other rumours suggest the new phone will come with 3GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1080p IPS LCD display, Boomsound speakers, and the seemingly omnipresent Snapdragon 800. It’s also expected to maintain the One’s signature metal casing.
Other suggestions are that this will be called the HTC Two? But personally think something along the lines of HTC One Pro is more likely.
PowerA officially introduced a new Moga controller on Wednesday, built for the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5 and fifth generation iPod Touch running iOS 7. The Moga Ace Power game peripheral is available now for $99.99 at Apple Retail Stores, from the Apple Online Store, or at the official Moga website shipping worldwide.
The controller connects to the iPhone 5 and iPod Touch via the Lightning connector. As the images show, on the left side iOS gamers will find the L1/R1 buttons on the shoulder, an analog stick on the top portion, a directional button below that, pause and select buttons, and a switch for turning on the peripheral. On the right are the L2/R2 buttons on the shoulder, the typical XYAB action button setup, and a second analog stick below those.
The Ace Power also has a built-in 1800 mAh battery and Moga Boost technology for charging the phone or iPod Touch during gameplay. “With the new Made for iPhone controller framework built into iOS 7, Moga anticipates a flood of game developers to take advantage of controller support,” the press release adds. “Mobile versions of traditional game genres such as first-person shooters, action, arcade, family, and sports/racing games will now be played with console-style controls.”
When you think of educational instruments you rarely thin of Nintendo however, Nintendo of America software engineer Nando Monterazo has been tweeting in regard to Nintendo is experimenting with a tablet running Android. Over the years there has been much speculation that Nintendo might bring Mario or Link to a mobile platform however it does not seem like this will be happening anytime soon in a traditional sense as this tablet is meant for schools.
From the sounds of it Nintendo is considering using its most well-known and loved gaming characters in a new range of educational titles. Those titles may even be linked to a single, Nintendo-branded tablet that’s not offered to consumers, just schools. Monterazo also said Android is being used just for the experiment and if a final tablet were manufactured it could run a “Unix environment.”
If you have a Nexus 4, 5 or or the Nexus 7 tablet you are going to be wanting one of these. A Nexus Wireless charger. Appearing just in time for the holiday rush this would be almost the perfect present for a Nexus user. The charger has already been launched in the US at $50, however, here in the UK we have merely have a “coming soon” listed.
This will undoubtedly be a big hit for those in the Nexus fanclub. This isn’t the only option for wireless charging the Nexus devices, as they use a Qi standard, there are cheaper alternatives out there. The purists out there will have to pick one there up though as this one comes with Nexus branding.
With the Nexus Wireless Charger, your new Nexus 7 becomes the first truly wireless tablet. No more messing with wires, cords and plugs – your tablet just snaps into place on the magnetic face and begins charging. The Nexus Wireless Charger adheres securely to any surface – like your desk, counter top or nightstand – so the convenience of grab-and-go charging is always within easy reach.
Despite critical reviews and an unappealing price-tag, it appears that Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch is turning out to be a solid success. According to a couple of reports, Samsung has shipped using freight forwarders around 800,000 units to retailers world-wide. Additionally, 50,000 units have already been actually sold to customers in South Korea alone. This has far surpassed Samsung’s own initial expectations. These numbers also put it far ahead of competing devices from both Pebble and Sony.
Samsung issued a statement regarding the surprise success of the device, “It’s the most sold wearable watch available in the market place…and we plan to expand its availability by expanding mobile devices that work with the Gear.”
One of the reasons for the increased success of the device can mainly be attributed to incentive programs to help push the device out the door. This includes bundling it with the Galaxy Note III, and there were even UK carriers currently offering it for free if customers purchase the Note III on a two-year contract.
Of course, there have also been reports that up to 30% of consumers in the U.S. have returned the device, which does not bode well for its future sales. It will be interesting to see how the sell-through numbers match up with the shipping to retail numbers when everything is finally tallied. Regardless, shipping out 800,000 units to retailers in only 2 months is nothing to sniff at.
Blackberry are at it again, letting Porsche design a new premium handset. The previous Porsche design met with mixed feedback, as will this one. However, the styling looks a little more subdued this time around.
The P’9982 features a customised version of the BlackBerry 10.2 Operating System touted to give the ultimate personal experience for a Blackberry user.
Introducing the Porsche Design P’9982 Smartphone from BlackBerry
Productivity Designed for you
Stuttgart/London. Porsche Design and BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today announced the elite, new, all-touch Porsche Design P’9982 Smartphone from BlackBerry and a second Crocodile model strictly limited to just 500 devices worldwide. Uniquely designed and expertly crafted, the P’9982 is exquisitely fashioned from high-quality materials and features a customised version of the BlackBerry 10.2 Operating System to give you the ultimate personal experience.
The P’9982, which extends the Porsche Design luxury brand’s range of modern luxury smartphones, features a satin finished frame forged from the finest quality stainless steel, complemented by a hand-wrapped genuine Italian leather back door. The back door of the limited edition model is hand-wrapped in genuine Crocodile leather. Distinguishable by its special series of PIN numbers, owners of the P’9982 will be instantly recognisable in the exclusive world of Porsche Design smartphone owners. The smartphone carries Porsche Design’s luxurious, iconic styling uniquely through the BlackBerry 10 experience to give you an exquisite handset purposely built to excel at mobile communications, messaging and productivity.
“Engineered Luxury meets Powered Performance – what has been true for the first Porsche Design smartphone is even truer for the all-touch P’9882,” says Juergen Gessler, CEO of the Porsche Design Group. “Once again the collaboration with BlackBerry has led to a device that implements our Iconic Style credo without compromises. With the P’9982 we extend our range of modern luxury smartphones and establish ourselves as a market leader in this segment.”
“The new all-touch P’9982 smartphone combines a unique design from an iconic brand with the power of BlackBerry 10,” said Alistair Hamilton, Senior Vice President of Design at BlackBerry. “Every aspect of this smartphone has been purposely designed and built for a powerful premium experience.”
The new P’9982 smartphone comes with a customised version of the powerful BlackBerry 10.2 OS, with key features such as:
- BlackBerry® Priority Hub – BlackBerry® Hub is the one place to manage all your conversations and notifications. The new BlackBerry Priority Hub intelligently filters messages to give you instant access to the conversations and content most essential to you, helping you stay organized and focused on the most important tasks.
- BlackBerry® Keyboard – The BlackBerry® Keyboard learns how you type, what words you use, and can correct your mistakes on-the-fly. It can also give you next-word suggestions that you can simply flick into your message, helping you type perfect text, every time.
- BBM™ Video with Screen Share – BBM™ Video with Screen Share takes video chatting further by letting you simply swipe to share what’s on your display. With BlackBerry® Natural Sound your BBM Voice and Video calls will sound like you are in the same room.
- Camera Time Shift mode and BlackBerry® Story Maker – The camera’s Time Shift mode starts capturing your picture before you even take it, giving you the power to pick the perfect moment. BlackBerry Story Maker lets you take a collection of photos and videos, and add music and effects, to create an HD movie that you can instantly share.
- BBM™ now in any app – BlackBerry 10 continues to refine the unique communications experience of the platform. If a BBM message arrives, you can instantly reply to the message without even leaving the app you’re in.
- Apps for the Porsche Design customer – The BlackBerry® World™ storefront showcases essential apps for the P’9982 smartphone customer, including productivity apps, games, videos and music based on what apps you’ve downloaded. Get the best on BlackBerry World, uniquely suited to you.
Find your individual look with exclusive Porsche Design accessories that have been specially selected to perfectly complement your new P’9982 smartphone. Inbox, you’ll find everything you need including the premium stereo headset, a polishing cloth, USB cable for high-speed data transfer and an international charging kit. The P’9982 smartphone also offers exclusive after market accessories including handcrafted backdoors made from fine Italian leather that are available in three colours, so you can choose a look to express your individuality.
The Porsche Design P’9982 smartphone from BlackBerry will be available from Porsche Design stores, select carriers and retailers around the world beginning on November 21 with the exclusive retail launch at Harrods, Knightsbridge, London. In the UK, it will also be available from Carphone Warehouse and Selfridges. The limited Crocodile edition will be available beginning early December, and will be exclusive to the Porsche Design shop-in-shop at Harrods.
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