Gareth and Matt enjoy a warm and fuzzy recollection of days gone by in this the latest instalment of the Retro Tech Addicts podcast.
In this week’s show we talk about Windows XP, the first Apple iPod and the HTC MTeoR. Also in this show we discuss the rise of HTC and several of their key, early handsets.
This was also an experimental show. We’ve used Google Hangouts to record this week and later we’ll have a video of the show to share too. It’s not polished and obviously we’ll get better at this as we progress but we thought we would share it nevertheless.
We would really appreciate your feedback!
Following on from their free give away last week, Amazon.co.uk have got into the spirit of Halloween and are giving away another seven apps today only.
Amazon Appstore is getting in the Halloween sprit today by giving away a bundle of ‘scary’ apps worth over £4 for free!
Including everything from Zombies, to spiders; the bundle is part of the ‘Free App of the Day’ initiative, which enables customers to download a paid app or game for free every day.
All ‘Free Apps of the Day’ and bundles are specially selected and customers can discover these directly from the Amazon Appstore on Macs, PCs or Android phones and tablets (including the Kindle Fire range).
A full list of the free apps including in the ‘Haunting Hits’ bundle include…
- Zombie Highway (RRP £0.59)
- Slender Man! Chapter 1: Alone (RRP £0.61)
- Zig Zag Zombie HD (RRP £0.61)
- Zig Zag Zombie (RRP £0.62)
- Greedy Spiders (RRP £0.63)
- Age of Zombies (RRP £0.64)
- Hidden Objects: Zombie Madness (RRP £0.67)
Yesterday Lenovo announced another new Tablet to join its existing lineup. The Lenovo Yoga Tablet will be the worlds first multimode tablet and like the Yoga laptops in the range will be able to function in a number of orientations.
From a side-view the Yoga Tablet looks a little like an Apple Wireless Keyboard and it really is that slim, and will be available in both 8 and 10 inch varieties with either WiFi and 3G or WiFi only. The top model with 32GB of flash memory.
Quite surprisingly, unlike the Yoga 13 that we looked at recently, these new tablets will run Android OS rather than Windows 8.
As I’m now one of the LNVO INSDRS, I should be getting some hands on time with the Lenovo Yoga Tablet shortly so watch this space for our videos and review.
ZTE is a company that seems to be doing very well at the moment and the brand itself is definitely emerging as a recognisable name to consumers.
ZTE have released a number of devices under the Blade name over the past few years and each one has built upon the success of the previous. Today ZTE have announced their latest ZTE Blade Q series which, like several other manufacturers out there that we could mention, is available in small, medium and large.
The specification of each model in the Blade Q range, which can be seen below, is impressive and if previous form is anything to go by they are likely to be extremely competitively priced.
It is now confirmed that the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset will be coming to Android and that Android users will also have their own headset. A newly announced mobile headset will be a lighter consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset already planned for PC.
We have some exciting plans on the mobile VR side as the PC VR side. We’re really looking at hitting the consumer market. We’re very excited about what we’re seeing. Skeptical about how good mobile VR could be on such a small platform. It’s pretty incredible what [John Carmack has] been able to do. – Chief executive officer Brendan Iribe
Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot more in terms of details than what was mentioned. As for when we can expect the Android headset to be released, the company is hoping to have both the PC and Android versions release simultaneously or as close to it as possible. No word on pricing as of yet.
Canadian Carrier WIND Mobile has just posted a pre-registration page for the Nexus 5 on Facebook. Specs for the device have been semi-confirmed along with the tag-line, “Google Nexus 5. The smart, new phone made to capture the moments that matter.” Here are the quick specs listed:
Nexus 5 specification:
- Screen: 4.95-inch 1920×1080 display (445 ppi) Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Cameras: 1.3MP front facing 8MP rear facing OIS
- Weight: 130 grams
- Dimensions: 69.17 x 137.84 x 8.59 mm / 130g
- Operating System: OS Android 4.4, KitKat
- Chip Set: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz
- Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 a/b/g/n/nc NFC (Android Beam) / Bluetooth 4.0
- Storage / Memory / Ram: 16GB or 32GB internal storage 2GB RAM
- Ports & Connectors: microUSB, SlimPort enabled, 3.5mm stereo audio jack, Dual microphones, Ceramic power and volume buttons
There is a report from the Wall Street Journal today that hints we may see the next phase of the wearable tech rolling out very soon. Google is already nearing mass production on a new Google Now smart-watch. In fact, if the timeline they are suggesting is as accurate as their rumour, then we might see a Google Now connected smart-watch revealed in the first quarter of 2014.
According to the WSJ report, Google is working hard to address the two primary concerns/complaints with a wearable smart-watch, usefulness and battery life. Google is planning to address these issues head on by imbuing their smart-watch with far greater functionality and a deeper integration with Google Now services. Additionally, they have focused a great deal of development on increasing power efficiency for the device so that it can last several days on a charge.
Here’s a quote with more details:
The new device, which will run on Android, will be integrated with Google Now, the company’s intelligent personal assistant that can answer questions, make recommendations and predict what information users need based on what they are doing, a person familiar with the situation said. Google has also been working to reduce power consumption on the smartwatch so it won’t require frequent battery charges, the person said.The smartwatch will be able to communicate with other devices such as a smartphone, and draw information such as travel schedules from a user’s email through Google Now, the person said. The device could be ready for mass production within months, the person said.
Whether Google’s smart-watch can fire on all cylinders and deliver a compelling experience will have to be judged once it really does come to market. Regardless, it certainly looks like the ball is rolling on the evolution of wearable computing devices, despite not taking off the way smartphones and tablets have.
Kids are always interested in the latest and greatest of everything. From toys to tablets, kids are drawn to all things new and exciting. For many parents, the prospect of having their children repeatedly ask to play on their expensive tablet is a risky and potentially costly prospect. With a range of child-friendly tablets on the market today from the iPad Mini to the Amazon Kindle Fire, parents can choose the perfect tablet for their kids.
iPad Mini
For parents who have full sized iPads, the iPad Mini is the perfect pint sized tablet which is easy for kids to hold and handle. The iPad Mini has access to over 375,000 apps available from the app store, which range from educational apps to the most popular games. The device has a long battery life and a great camera as well. For responsible kids who are already familiar with the Apple brand, this is a great choice.
Kurio 10
Touted by the manufacturer as “the ultimate Android tablet for families”, the Kurio 10 offers customised content controlled exclusively by parents. The device has the capacity to set up eight separate profiles each with their own customised app settings, internet access and time limits for use. With a relatively large touchscreen display and TV compatibility, the Kurio is a good option for families with multiple users who are interested in controlling content.
Amazon Kindle Fire
Amazon specifically designed this model to be kid-friendly by incorporating a strong display that’s 30 times harder than plastic, and customised parental control options. With a simple password system, parents can monitor and block content as they see fit. With 22 million films, magazines, books and music files available for download, the Kindle Fire offers an impressive array of content specifically targeted to younger audiences.
These days, it has been reported that children are becoming tablet-savvy before they can even talk. Selecting the right tablet for your child will likely depend on a range of factors from price points to durability to parental control options. Apple products are known for setting the bar in various technological markets, and the iPad Mini is no exception. As other companies strive to achieve excellence in functionality and design, the market is developing rapidly, offering consumers a range of reliable and reasonably priced options for children’s tablets.
Google’s latest Android OS, aka KitKat, could be launched as soon as November 5th. That’s if the event invitation several gadget sites are receiving is anything to go by.
The invites have been sent out for a Google press conference that is being held on November 5th in Israel and it id thought that the main thrust of the press conference will be to officially introduce Android 4.4 KitKat and, most likely show it off on some of the latest Nexus hardware.
The invite seems to also indicate that LG are going to be taking part which makes sense as LG are the manufacturer of the Nexus 5, and could even be producing a 4G LTE version of the Nexus 4 as well. The image of the invite shows a smartphone that has a KitKat running through it so this is probably hinting at what we can expect from the event.
This invite has been provided by a company called Ronlight Digital that is a distributor of LG products in the country, so we could get to see another Google press event in the US before this one taking place in Israel.
Source: Gadgety.co.il
The Sony Xperia Z1 is receiving a great deal of media coverage at the moment and you’ll probably have seen the lengthy TV commercials and billboards advertising the Z1.
The Xperia Z1 ins one of a few smartphones hitting the market with a full HD screen but one of the features that makes the Z1 stand out from the crowd is that it has an IP58 rating, meaning that not only is it dust-proof but it’s water resistant up to a depth of 1 metre. This means that you can take the Xperia Z1 with you to the local pool and take photos underwater.
Recently there have been a number of innovations in the camera phone arena. At one end of the spectrum Nokia are cramming in as many pixels as they can with the sensor on the Lumia 1020 hitting a massive 41 megapixels. At the other end of the range HTC have opted for a lower pixel count and have made the individual pixel size larger for better light gathering. Sony, of course, have their own take on the camera and the Z1 features a 20.7 megapixel shooter with Sony Exmor RS and Sony’s award-winning G Lens.
Sony have also added a wide array of image processing tools, including and AR Effect mode to add some fun animations to your pictures. Ranging from dinosaurs to ocean-life, these fully customisable themes can be easily edited.
The Sony Xperia Z1 has plenty to offer in terms of specification so in our unboxing and demo video that you can see below, we just touch on a few.
Sony Xperia Z1 specification:
- 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – all versions
- 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 – all versions
- 4G Network LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 – C6903
- LTE 700 / 850 / 900/ 1700 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 – C6906
- Micro-SIM
- Dimensions: 144 x 74 x 8.5 mm (5.67 x 2.91 x 0.33 in)
- Weight: 170 g (6.00 oz)
- IP58 certified – dust proof and water resistant over 1 metre and 30 minutes
- Display: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches
- Protection Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass
- Triluminos display
- X-Reality Engine
- 3.5mm jack
- Memory Card slot: microSD, up to 64 GB
- Internal Memory:16 GB, 2 GB RAM
- WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
- Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP
- NFC
- microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go
- Primary Camera: 20.7 MP, autofocus, LED flash
- Secondary Camera: 2 MP, 1080p@30fps
- OS: Android OS, v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
- CPU: Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400
- Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
- Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS
- GPS with A-GPS support and GLONASS
- TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
- Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.