Gareth shows how and where he has installed the energy monitors for the Moneysupermarket.com challenge. From the insertion of the monitor on the live feed to the monitor on the kettle’s plug, Gareth’s dusty setup covers some of the most used item’s around the house. Don’t feed the giraffes.
Gareth has unboxed an efergy Elite Classic Energy Monitor Set for a challenge set by Moneysupermarket.com. Over the next month Gareth will be monitoring this electricity consumption and attempting to make a saving by comparing his results online.
In this video Gareth opens up the Elite Classic 3.0 In-Home Energy Monitor and one of two EMS 2.0 In-Home Energy Monitors. With these devices Gareth hopes to get a handle on his energy consumption, and perhaps identify a better tariff. To compliment the challenge we will be linking to content with some tips for consumers on the MoneySuperMarket.com website.
Energy comsumption is something that is always at the back of our minds. We hear stories of how leaving your TV on standby contributes a little extra to your energy bill over the course of the month. I am just a guilty as the next man for thinking that it cannot be that much and the hassle of actually turning it off at the wall is more than worth the cost. When Moneysupermarket.com contacted me with the opportunity of actually seeing the impact these little indecresions had on my electricity bill I had to admit it might be time well spent.
An important factor is that I do not come under the standard “Big Six” on the mainland. England has a dizzying variety of energy providers and all I hear is horror stories of tariffs, confusion and contracts. Here is cosy Northern Ireland we have the “Big Two,” Power NI and Airtricity. At the moment I believe these companies offer only one tariff each and what you see is what you get. Over the next month I will investigate the options, tariffs and prices available and when the results of the study are revealed I may be asking some very simple questions to those companies about the findings.
Earlier this year, at MWC, HTC made a fairly queit announcement about two new devices that they were launching. They were the HTC Desire 816 and the HTC Desire 610.
Here we are taking a look at the Desire 816, this new smartphone offers a larger screen, that’s reaching phablet proportions, decent performance and features at at mid-range price.
With a design that certainly demonstrates that it’s from the same stable as the ever popular HTC One, the Desire 816 has top and bottom stereo speakers with built in amplifier, 13MP camera and 5MP front-facing selfie camera.
Check out the video below to see more of what the HTC Desire 816 has to offer:
A photo lover’s dream. 13 megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel front-facing camera ensure high-resolution pics from either side. Capture moving HD images with built-in editing and sharing tools, and combine results for multiple-angle views. Incredible design, massive 5.5” HD display, dual front-facing stereo speakers, customised real-time info feeds and a quad- core processor all make this one of the best value smartphones ever.
A 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.
A 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.
Let’s be honest, phone and tablet cases are not the most exciting things (unless you’re the one making them!) and there are hundreds of manufacturers out there, each with a variety of designs. So it’s not often that we review cases and covers, it’s too subjective and there’s too many.
However, now and then we do make exceptions and here in the video below you’ll see the Kujali iPad Mini case. Not only is it an extremely well made case/cover, constructed from black leather, red suede and shock absorbant inner polyeurathane and silicone glove. It’s multimode with a wrist strap to boot.
But that’s not the only reason that this case got out attention. No. For every case that you buy from Kujali, they will donate a malaria net to a child in Africa. So buying one could literally save a life!
Check it out…
You’re a style conscious passionate guy or gal who cares about what they buy. Someone like you needs a cover to match!
Well thank your lucky stars for the KUJALI Classic, a smart mini iPad cover that oozes class and sophistication. Inspired from Africa its lined with a super soft red suede interior, contrasting with a sleek black leather outer to make you stand out from the crowd.
Style, protection and function is what this little wonder is all about. With its fantastic shock absorbent silicone skin and PU shell protection, you will be relaxed when out and about with your beloved iPad mini, happily knowing that all four corners are completely covered in case of that accidental bump or drop. With integrated volume controls and dust plugs the silicone skin keeps your ipad mini scratch free and looking as good as new for years to come.
Pull together the front and back leather covers with the exterior strap closure and slide your hand into the soft suede integrated handstrap to comfortably hold your mini in one hand. Perfect for presenting at work or jumping back into your favourite book.
And when ready to unwind after a hard days work, pop open your KUJALI Classic to kick back your iPad mini into one of the indentations to give you the perfect angle for watching a film. When you’re done, the embedded magnets in the front cover will put your iPad mini to sleep and the integrated strap closure keeps it safely shut, ready for another exciting adventure tomorrow.
To top it off, for every protective iPad Mini cover you purchase KUJALI gives a mosquito net or life saving treatment to protect a child in Africa from malaria. Style never felt so good!
Back in November of last year we reviewed the previous Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10, that had a 1280 x 800 pixel display but Lenovo have built upon that earlier model and have come up with the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 HD+. This new version has a better than HD display with 1920 x 1200 pixels.
Otherwise the design of this Yoga 10 is much the same as the other model. Both are still on sale and both are available with or without 3G capapbility. £299 for WiFi model, £329 for 3G model, it’s currently on sale from Lenovo.com and, from the first week of June, from Amazon, Currys/PC World and John Lewis.
Yoga Tablet 10 HD+’s pioneering design places a battery cylinder and kickstand on the side of the device, shifting the center of gravity and opening up multiple usage modes: Hold, Tilt, and Stand. In Hold mode, the weight of the device falls into your palm rather than your fingers, making it more comfortable for reading and browsing. Lay it down into Tilt mode and you have a perfect viewing angle for typing or gaming. Flick the kickstand and rest it upright in Stand mode to comfortably watch videos, listen to music, or video-chat.
Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 400 1.6GHz processor combined with 2GB RAM gives the Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ an incredible combination of high performance and power efficiency. Switch seamlessly between your favorite apps and enjoy amazing visuals whether you’re surfing online, streaming movies or playing the latest 3D games.
Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ keeps going over the long haul with its off-the-charts battery life. Its triple-cell battery lasts up to 18 hours so you can go all day — and into the night — without recharging. The secret: Yoga Tablet’s unique, cylinder-shaped side chamber allows more room for battery storage — and more time between charges.
The Yoga Tablet 10 HD+’s 10.1″ 20/20 Vision Full HD (1920 x 1200 resolution) display delivers sharper, more detailed images and high definition video with a 178° wide viewing angle. Plus, adaptive display technology auto-adjusts screen brightness and colors to match where you are, making reading more comfortable.
Unlike most tablets, the Yoga Tablet 10 HD+’s speakers face front — toward you — rather than to the side our out the bottom. Combine that with Dolby® audio enhancement and you have a rich, immersive sound experience that’s perfect for watching videos or listening to music.
Turn your Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ into a productivity machine with the optional Accutype keyboard, a stylish Bluetooth accessory that also serves as a cover for your device.
The 8.0M rear and 1.6M front cameras let you take high-definition pictures and enjoy crisp, clear video chats.
Optional 3G, integrated Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and GPS that even works offline keep you connected and make navigation easy.
Do more with your Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ with premium Lenovo Applications like SHAREit, which lets you share files quickly without network charges or a WiFi connection and SYNCit, which backs up and restores your contacts and SMS messages.
Expand the native 16GB or 32GB of eMMC storage with up to 64GB of micro-SD card storage support — perfect for transferring photos or storing large files like movies.
Lenovo Yoga Table 10 HD+ Specification |
|
|---|---|
| Processor |
Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 400 quad core 1.6GHz MSM8228(3G) / APQ8028(Wi-Fi)
|
| Operating System |
Android OS, v4.3 Jelly Bean (Free upgrade to Android KitKat 4.4, shortly)
|
| Sound |
2x Front-facing speakers / Dolby® Audio / 3.5mm Jack
|
| Memory |
|
| Battery |
|
| Dimensions (W x T x H) |
(261mm) x (9.1mm – 3.0mm) x (180mm)
|
| Weight |
|
| Integrated Cameras |
|
| Display |
|
| Color |
Silver
|
| SIM |
Single, micro-SIM (3G model only)
|
| Sensors |
|
| Connectivity/Radios |
|
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.
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.
A round up of the more interesting stories from the last week with Gareth from tracyandmatt.co.uk
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