2014 is a great year for those of you looking for a budget smartphone. The Apple range of smartphones won’t be within your budget bracket but there are more than enough great handsets with good performance for you to choose from.
ZTE Blade V
Budget quad core/5MP camera phone
Coming in at a mere £100, the ZTE Blade is a great handset for those wanting to get the most for their money. With a small 4-inch, 480 x 800 LCD screen you’ll be more than able to enjoy video and photographic content. Coming pre-loaded with Android 4.1 means you’ll have all the features that Android users enjoy as well as a host of apps available through the Google Play store.
Build quality isn’t the best but at this price it’s one of the nicer looking phones available.
Sony Xperia M
Affordable well designed smartphone with great battery life
The Experia M is a great budget phone for those of you who’ve got a little more to splash out. It’s no Xperia Z1 but for £180 this is a great little smartphone. Featuring many design similarities see in the rest of the Xperia series, the build quality looks and feels great. The M runs on the Jelly Bean Android OS and is powered by a more than capable Qualcomm S4 plus dual-core CPU which means you’ll be able to run most apps with extreme ease.
With 9 hours of battery life, one charge cycle will get you through the day with no problem unless you’re a real smartphone addict. However with only 2GB of memory, it’s advised you purchase a microSD card to make use of the expandable memory slots on the phone. If you’re looking for a sub £200 smartphone this is a more than capable handset.
Samsung Galaxy Y
Ultra budget smartphone
If spending more than £100 seems like a daunting prospect, you’ll be more than glad to discover this handset costs a mere £45! This ultra compact smartphone has a 3-inch screen and a 2 megapixel camera. For the price it’s a good phone but don’t expect to be playing the latest games on it. If you just need a simple phone for light internet browsing, emails, texts and phone calls then this is a great little number. Be sure to check out the Samsung Galaxy Y from Mobile by Sainsbury’s for a really competitive price!
HTC Desire500
Attractive handset at an attractive price
The HTC desire is our favourite looking budget handset of the moment. With a 4.3-inch screen with 480 x 800 resolution, viewing photos and videos is really enjoyable. The 8megapixel camera is more than useable and great for snapping a quick picture. With a Snapdragon 200 quad-core processer with 1GB of RAM, the Desire500 is up there with the high performance budget handsets.
At a price like this you’ll be hard pushed to find a handset that combines design and powerful processing with such success.
Nokia Lumia 620
Windows phone with unique and quirky design
If you’re after something a bit different the Nokia Lumia 620 is a great option. The quirky and colourful design make this an eye catching handset and for a mere £150 this phone very reasonably priced. What also makes this phone different is that it runs on Windows 8, unlike the rest of the Androids on this list. Windows 8 is a beautiful operating system and the 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU is more than capable of running the OS without lag. One of the disadvantages of the Windows 8 operating system is that you’ll have access to less apps, though the majority of popular downloads do have windows versions!
Nokia handsets are renowned for the quality of their cameras, and the Lumia 620 is no exception. Despite not having as many megapixels as other phones in this list (the Lumia 620 sits at just 5MP) the lens and overall picture quality is significantly higher. At the great price it’s easily one of the best handsets in the budget bracket range.
Motorola Moto G
The Rolls Royce of the budget smartphone range
Finding faults with the Moto G was extremely hard when we got our hands on this smartphone. The Moto G features a great 4.5-inch screen that makes apps, photos and video look great. When you consider you’re getting 720p resolution, this is the best screen for your money.
Design wise it isn’t the best looking phone, or the slimmest. But what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in specs. With a Snapdragon 400 CPU with 1GB ram and using the latest build of Jellybean, you’ll be able to enjoy the vast majority of games and apps in HD!
For a mere £135 for the 8GB model and £160 for the 16GB model – the Moto G is a top pick for us as it’s very affordable and performs like more expensive phones. What more could you want?
With so many great budget options for smartphones, there’s no excuse not to get involved. Take a look at what you can get for your money today.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the natural successor of the Samsung Galaxy S4, which was one of the most sought after models released to the market. However, does the Samsung Galaxy S5 offer anything worth getting excited about or is it better to wait for the S6?
The S5 features various improvements to its camera, display, design and operating software. However, there has been significant debate in the tech world about if an upgrade to the Samsung S5 is necessary in spite of the improvements.
Here, we will explore if the Samsung Galaxy S5 is worth the hype or if it a development that will ultimately fail until the release of the S6.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 Design
It is evident that Samsung has put in a lot of effort to make the S5 design different from its predecessor. It features a dimpled back to differentiate it from the glossy and smooth design on the S4. One of the main drawbacks, however, is that this handset is mostly made of plastic.
As this is supposed to be a high-end phone, some might expect a more expensive, luxurious material. Sony, Apple, Nokia, and HTC have all experimented with metal to make their high-end phones but Samsung seems reluctant to shift from plastic.
The Samsung S5 has been designed to be both dust and water resistant in about 3.3 feet of water for almost 30 minutes. The phone is available in a variety of colour finishes including sweet pink, champagne pink, shimmery white, copper gold, electric blue and charcoal black among others.
The S5 features a big and bold 5.1-inch full HD super AMOLED screen. One of the best aspects of this handset is its clear screen. It is a bright screen and this makes it ideal for users who spend a lot of time browsing the internet.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 Main Features
You can tell after just a few minutes that the S5 is definitely more usable when compared to the S4. Mostly because it includes more features that consumers are likely to use every day.
S Health
S Health is one of the most noticeable features on this phone. It includes a heart rate monitor that is placed at the back just below the camera. The monitor allows you to track your pulse. S Health has been designed to help users monitor their daily activity. However, it does not offer the same benefits you get from devices solely designed for this function.
Ultra Power Saving Mode
Samsung is making an effort to come up with a battery that will last longer when you need it the most. The ultra-power saving mode activates on your phone when you need it to reduce power consumption when the handset is not in use. The feature reduces available apps to six to reduce total power use and increase battery life.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S5 camera offers selective focus. This feature allows users to take pictures and then defocus the background. The downside is that the camera takes a while to ‘fire up’, especially if it is in sleep mode. Furthermore, its autofocus is swift but it is not always accurate.
Fingerprint Scanner
Samsung have decided to place a fingerprint scanner on the S5 home key. This is an intuitive program, but risky as it does not always pick up the fingerprint. Users are required to swipe vertically for the scanner to work but it is also possible to swipe sideways with less accuracy.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S5 handset comes with a 2.5 GHz CPU that makes it one of the
most powerful models on the market. However, with that being said, some of the features are slow. As mentioned, the camera can take a while before it is ready to work.
The model offers 16 GB internal memory, but only about 11 GB is available for use. The good news is that Samsung has eliminated some apps that were considered less significant on the S4, but you can still choose to download them in the Google Play Store. This gives users greater control over their internal memory.
Conclusion
The progression when it comes to performance and in-phone features make this upgrade more than worthwhile if you are coming up to the end of one of a number of long term mobile phones contracts. There are a number of great value contracts from Virgin Media available now that you can take advantage of to get the Samsung Galaxy S5 for a great price.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 has an amazing screen and it offers plenty of battery life. This is a powerful and competent phone with unique elements that make it different from any other model available.
Samsung Galaxy S5 – Size comparison with iPhone 5S
Today the world is going wild for the LG G3, LG’s latest flagship. In synchronised events in London, New York and San Francisco LG have updatged their much loved LG G2 with a feature set that will directly compete and perhaps best the flagships of Samsung, Apple and HTC. Much like the HTC One (m8) the G3 has a lightweight metal body and rocks an impressive QHD 2560 x 1440p 5.5-inch display, that works out about 530+ppi.
Housing this delicious Gorilla Glass 3 screen, most interestingly, is virtually no bezel at all. LG G3 measured 8.9mm in depth, 75mm long and 146mm wide. Inside there is a quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM in the 16GB model, and 3GB of RAM in the 32GB model. This is expanded by a microSD card slot supporting up to 128GB. All of this is powered by a removable 3000mAh battery, similar to that we saw in the LG G2. Other features include Infrared, wireless charging LTE-Advanced, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and USB 2.0.
The LG G3 camera offers a 13-megapixel sensor featuring OIS+ (optical image stabilisation), dual LED flash, 4K video recording and a new Laser Auto Focus feature. On the front is a 2-megapixel “Selfie Camera” that shoots in Full HD. For this front facing camera the pixel size has been increased, ala the HTC One, to help with low level lighting and optimise the selfie frenzy that many are having to deal with.
LG have added a couple of extra mics’ and upgraded the speaker. The rear buttons, a volume rocker and hold button carrier over from the LG G2 have been tweaked for comfort and design aesthetics.
One feature that really set the G2 apart was KnockCode – a way of waking up and unlocking the device with a user-defined sequence of taps on the screen. The G3 has a few new features of play with, Contact Lock to allow you to hide naughty pictures sensitive files and a kill switch… to avoid embarrassment incase those naughty pictures sensitive files fall into enemy hands.
LG G3 will be available on 27 June. A Carphone Warehouse Spokesperson added
“Fans of LG’s G series are typically more tech savvy than the average customer and the G3 certainly doesn’t disappoint in terms of high end specifications. LG has somehow managed to cram an incredible 5.5” Quad HD screen, super-fast processor and top spec camera into one relatively lightweight handset with impressive and long lasting battery power. We’re predicting that this will be the geek chic device of 2014 that customers will want to snap up.”
Customers can pre-register their interest in the new handset from tomorrow (28.05.2014) at Carphone Warehouse and pre-order their handset from Carphone Warehouse from early June. No prices have been set at this time however £400+ seems like a good starting place.
Nintendo revolutionised the gaming market in 2006 when they introduced their motion sensing Wii console. Their innovative controller brought about a host of new ways for the whole family to play and made their Wii the bestselling console of the last generation.
Microsoft then went one step further and followed up with their Kinect technology, making motion detection without the need for a controller the next gaming success. Nintendo attempted to match this success with their new Wii U device, but the impact was far less impressive than expected.
Now there is innovative new gaming technology in development. Here are four technological developments that are set to change the future of gaming success:
Super-sensitive motion tracking
Motion gaming is set to escape the living room and be introduced to our portable devices. Technology such as the Leap Motion device will be controlling games on laptops and PCs. The controller masters super-sensitive tracking of hand and finger actions, accurately detecting movements as small as 1/100th of a millimetre.
What’s more, motion gaming of the future won’t even require players to move their bodies to control the game. Eye tracking sensors will integrate into smartphone and gaming devices to allow control of games with eye movements alone.
Motion gaming for smartphones
The 2014 Silver Edison Award for the most innovative new product of the year was awarded to Rolocule Games for their Rolomotion technology. Their product turns your smartphone into your gaming controller so you can control games on your television. The Rolomotion app links to a smart TV and utilises the in-built sensors to control the game with the players’ natural movements.
Immersive gaming
Headsets that allow complete immersion into the game are already in the pipeline, with the Oculus Rift being highly anticipated. The headset will allow the gamer to experience the game with a 100˚ field of vision and head tracking abilities that let you look around as in real life.
Combine the headgear with a 360˚ treadmill and you have total immersion into the gaming reality. Virtuix are set to release their treadmill that allows players to walk and run in any direction within their virtual realities.
EEG headsets
EEG headsets in gaming are bringing the ability to monitor players’ emotions and focus and translate that into gaming commands. Throw Trucks With Your Mind is one example in which an EEG headset measures electrical impulses in the scalp to gauge the players focus. Normal directional gaming controls are used, but the level of focus of the gamer determines the power at which objects are thrown in the game.
This article was provided by The IT Job Board, who are currently advertising over 150 game developer jobs on their site.
Gareth takes a quick look at HP’s larger Chromebook, the 14. Easily the best looking of the larger Chromebooks the 14 has a number of differences over the other Chromebooks on the market whilst delivering the same Chrome Operating System experience.
HP 14 Chromebook specification:
- 14”, 200-nit display with 16:9 aspect ratio
- 20mm thin – 4.08 lbs / 1.85 kg.
- Intel Celeron 1.4GHz Processor
- 2 x USB 3.0
- 1 x USB 2.0
- Full size HDMI Port
- Bluetooth®4.0 Compatible
It looks like one of Google’s next tablets will be unlike anything we have seen before. According to a recent report, Google plans to bring Project Tango to an upcoming tablet product. Not much is known at this time, but the report explains that the Project Tango tablet will have a 7-inch display. It will also include two rear cameras, infrared depth sensors and advanced software that can capture precise three-dimensional images of objects.
Google is planning to produce roughly 4,000 prototype Project Tango tablets to distribute to developers next month. The tablets will feature a 7-inch screen, two back cameras, infrared depth sensors and advanced software that can capture precise 3D images of objects.Bryan Ma, an analyst at research firm IDC, said, It is critical to open the new technology to developers first as the key is how you can translate the technology into practical applications.
As you can see, this is one of Google’s next big developer push products. As usual, they keep coming up with “out of the box” ideas and throwing them at developers to see if they will stick. We will keep you apprised if/when we get any further details.
It’s hardly a battle to the death, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Octa Core are two of the fastest phones on the market. Today we have a look at just how quick they are when compared to each other.
The S5 boasts a Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400 with a Adreno 330 and 2gb of RAM. The Note 3 is not your typical off the shelf Note 3, instead this is the Octa Core version with an Exynos 5 Octa 5420 Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 and quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 with a Mali-T628 MP6 and 3gb of RAM.
It seems oddly strange timing, NVIDIA’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has announced the company’s plans to take a step back from developing technology specifically for the mainstream tablet and smartphone markets. NVIDIA is currently preparing their next-gen Tegra K1 chip. It’s extremely powerful and recently destroyed the competition by a wide margin in some artificial benchmarks.
This is why NVIDIA’s move seems a bit puzzling at first. After reading Huang’s perspective on the subject, it seems a bit more sensible. NVIDIA has realized their higher-end technology isn’t meant to compete with the menagerie of mediocre mobile models available. While NVIDIA was striving to take on their biggest rival, Qualcomm, the smaller MediaTek was swooping in to dominate in the low-end markets. This was basically rushing NVIDIA from two sides.
To be clear, NVIDIA is not at all abandoning mobile. On the contrary, they are instead refocusing their efforts on future tech and on markets they have always been good it. That is automotive mobile and mobile gaming respectively. Huang indicated he does not want NVIDIA’s flagship Tegra brand conforming to inferior standards. NVIDIA sees the Tegra as a powerful line which should not have its standards sacrificed in the name of more efficient chipsets. In other words, NVIDIA wants to be the Lamborghini or Ferrari of mobile chipsets, instead of catering to mass production markets eventually relegating the Tegra line to that of a value sedan.
In retrospect, this move makes a great deal of sense. NVIDIA has always been one of the two big titans in the gaming world. They are experts at fighting in that market. Of course, the mobile auto industry is new, but if NVIDIA can get there first, they can get a leg up on the rest of the mobile industry while their competitors’ focus on smartphones and tablets.
It sounds like NVIDIA will still have chipsets for tablets, but they will more than likely be geared towards gaming. Of course, the NVIDIA Shield device is also their baby, and Huang renewed their commitment to that product. In fact, Haung made it clear that he believes NVIDIA Shield will be the device which transforms Android into a great gaming platform.
Today Acer announced a new modestly specced and even more modestly priced laptop. Geared toward the student and as a road warrior work machine, the Travelmate B115P have some attractive features to warrant consideration:
• New FlowCurve design with 21.2mm slim body
• Intuitive Windows touch controls
• 10 hours battery life
• Fan-less design for whisper-quiet computing
Acer has today unveiled the new TravelMate B115P laptop with stylish new FlowCurve design, improved mobility and up to ten hours of battery life. Together with its quiet fan-less chassis and Windows-based touch control, the B115P delivers a great mobile computing experience.
Weighing only 1,190 grams with a 21.2mm body, the B115P features an Intel Celeron Dual Core processor, 4 GB memory and 500GB HDD, offering users a lightweight and powerful solution. The device is also encased with a sleek aluminium top cover and is strong enough to withstand everyday use.
Powerful Design
The B115P comes equipped with all the essentials needed for a busy working day. With an intuitive HD multi-touch display, full-sized keyboard and large precision touchpad with enhanced sensitivity and accuracy, users are able to work quickly and efficiently no matter what the task. It also features a HD webcam with High Dynamic Range (HDR) to provide clear image for video conferences while powerful speakers ensure music is enjoyed to the full.
Users can rest assured that documents are secure as Acer Office Manager enables small businesses to deploy security policies, monitor IT assets and set maintenance whilst Acer ProShield lets users easily maintain their credentials, data protection and web accounts. Business contacts can also be quickly saved to smartphones via Contact Pickup while Face Login enables quick login using facial recognition.
Enhanced Productivity
The B115 comes equipped with Windows 8.1 allowing simple access to all Windows apps. Users can Skype with friends or work colleagues, complete work with Office tools, access online files anywhere with SkyDrive, or find their favourite apps using the Windows Store.
In addition users can touch, write and create content with Acer Touch Tools. Acer Screen Grasp allows users to capture and grab images which can be placed on Acer Scrapboard perfect for creating a collage. Finally, Acer AccuFinger is designed to help users tap tiny items on the screen for much more accurately.
For the Education market, Acer Classroom Manager (ACM) is also available and allows teachers to improve the efficiency of content sharing and communication by centrally instructing students on their computers. ACM enables teachers to better monitor students, help them to focus, and maximize their time by making it easier to access and share content. In addition, with the Student Journal application enables lesson details to be captured and saved.
The TravelMate B115 is also available as an alternative to the touchscreen B115P.
The TravelMate B115P will be available in the UK in early July with an SRP of £349.
Our buddies over at Clove.co.uk have bagged exclusivity on the Archos Smart Home bundle. This all in one solution or home security and automation is now available for £199.99. For that price you get the 7″ Smart Tablet to control a combination of satellites. Six satellite units, 2 movement sensors, 2 mini cameras and 2 weather sensors.
It all looks like a great set up for a low price and we will hopeufully have a hands on with the kit soon.
Home automation and intelligent security monitoring has taken a giant leap forward thanks to Poole based Clove Technology who have just launched the new Smart Home range of products from ARCHOS.
Clove Technology Managing Director, Chris Love, says “Having a smarter home which understands its environment, knows who is coming through the door and could automatically text you when the kids get in is now available at the fraction of the price of systems put into million pound properties just a few years ago”.
The ARCHOS Smart Home is a innovate kit comprising of a 7” Smart Home Tablet, two (2) movement tags, two (2) mini cam’s and two (2) weather tags that work together to allow your home to become smarter and yourself more informed.
The six (6) provided wireless components communicate with the tablet using the Bluetooth Smart data transfer standard. Able to be positioned indoors and out, the components have a communication range of up to 20 meters indoors.
Powered by lithium batteries, these innovative modules are capable of lasting a whole year without replacement; the kit offers a tidy, cable free solution for the modern home.
Easily programmable with three simple steps, the use of a Trigger, Action and Schedule allow you to configure the system to work for you the true power of the system is only realised when you have it in hand and see it in use.
Mike Edwards, UK Managing Director of ARCHOS, commented. “We are very excited about this new range of products we are launching and the way they can offer a simpler more cost effective solution to many aspects of home automation. There are additional products to complement the range further coming soon and we are pleased to be working with Clove Technology exclusively on this launch.”
The UK exclusivity runs for a period of one month from June 1st when the first kits will begin shipping from Clove.
The ARCHOS Smart Home is available for order now, at a price of £199.99 from Clove.
For further more detailed information on the Smart Home and how it works visit our Explore Archos Smart Home page.
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