Tech
Samsung Series 3 Chromebook Review
December 4, 2012
In an age of smartphones, tablets, transformers, ultrabooks and retina displays, Google’s Chromebooks – a series of cloud-centric laptops – are probably the least appealing of the bunch. The common knowledge that you’ll be purchasing an underpowered machine that’s almost entirely dependent on the Internet is enough to ward off even the most open-minded of tech enthusiasts. Add in a high price tag, combined with other noticeable limitations of Google’s browser powered laptops and you’d be forgiven for thinking that Google’s genius had gone missing on this occasion. But actually, Chromebooks aren’t as bad as they sound – honestly!
The WIRED Pop-Up Store! – #SamsungWIRED
December 1, 2012
A couple of months ago I bought myself a Samsung Galaxy S3 (which was a rather pleasant and substantial upgrade over my iPhone 4), so when I was offered the chance to attend a preview event of the WIRED Pop-Up Store, I was certainly looking forward to seeing what kind of technology a respected magazine publisher and Samsung could assemble into a temporary high street space in the run-up to Christmas!
The whole idea of this collaboration is to present the concept of the “New Industrial Revolution” – where creative thinking is meeting new technologies to inform new manufacturing techniques, product customisation and SMART business innovations – and give a glimpse into the world in 2013.
Continue reading »What Makes A Laptop An Ultrabook? We Take A Look At The Requirements
August 13, 2012
If you have you been shopping around for a laptop lately then you will have almost certainly noticed the name “Ultrabook”, a name which numerous computer manufacturers seem to be applying to their laptops lately.
Now although the name Ultrabook may not be truly imaginative or catch consumer attention for the right reasons (marketing folk’ tend to overuse terms to draw consumer eyes), there is a genuine reason that the Ultrabook name is cropping up everywhere currently.
If you are confused about what an Ultrabook actually is, I aim to try to explain this, the best I can in this article. If you are shopping around online for an Ultrabook and already know what one is, then this handy Ultrabook buyers guide should help you out a lot. Read on to find out what makes a laptop an Ultrabook.
Continue reading »Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 Speakers Review
January 30, 2012
If you’ve been reading my posts over the past few years on a regular basis, you’ll know by know that I’m a self confessed audiophile. My iTunes library is full of lossless tracks that I’ve ripped from my growing CD collection (yes, until I can download music losslessly, I will continue to buy CDs and vinyls), but until now I haven’t had a truly great pair of speakers that can do all of those tracks justice.
The Bowers and Wilkins MM-1s caught my eye a few months back, with their promise of great sound and technology taken from their studio speakers, not to mention the incredible design work that is clearly present in every aspect of the units.
Continue reading »HTC Sensation XL With Beats Audio Review
January 27, 2012
When I took a look at the original HTC Sensation last summer, I was left impressed by its qHD display and the speed at which the phone carried out tasks, thanks in no small part to its 1.2GHz dual-core processor. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person who enjoyed using it either, as it’s proved popular enough for HTC to partner with Beats Audio and release the new HTC Sensation XL with Beats earphones bundled in.
After setting the bar so high with the original model, though, can the Sensation XL live up to its name? Let’s take a closer look and find out!
Continue reading »Acer Announces The Aspire S5, The World’s ‘Thinnest Ultrabook’
January 8, 2012
The ultrabook competition is well under way at this year’s CES; we’ve already seen the ThinkPad T430u announced by Lenovo, and now it’s Acer’s turn to shine in the spotlight. The Taiwanese company has just announced what it’s calling “the world’s thinnest ultrabook’, and at 15mm thick at its maximal point it may be in the running for that title.
The 13.3-inch laptop is constructed from a magnesium-aluminum alloy cover and brushed metal, and weighs just 1.35kg. Needless to say, if you’re looking for a computer to take on-the-go with you, this one would fit the bill quite nicely.
Continue reading »Lenovo K91 Shuns Google TV, Puts Android 4.0 On The Big Screen
January 8, 2012
Lenovo’s certainly been busy at this year’s CES; we’ve already seen their new hybrid ThinkPad X1 and T430u ultrabook, and now it’s time for round 3: the smart TV.
If there are two underlying themes at this year’s event, it’s certainly the presence of ultrabooks and smart TVs. Lenovo’s ultrabook effort was a valiant one, with a nice entry price point of $849 and a wide choice of hardware. The TV on the other hand? Well Lenovo has certainly pushed out the boat on this one, fitting it with an array of very impressive technologies.
Continue reading »Lenovo Announces The ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook At CES
January 6, 2012
Hot on the heels of Lenovo’s new ThinkPad X1 is another new ThinkPad announcement that it seems everyone is getting in on at this year’s CES: a ThinkPad ultra book.
It seems as though every manufacturer on the show floor is carrying an ultrabook this year, and Lenovo is no exception. The company’s latest announcement, the ThinkPad T430u, starts at $849 and packs a punch with an impressive array of specifications.
Continue reading »Lenovo Unveils The Hybrid ThinkPad X1 With Dual Windows – Linux Boot Options
January 5, 2012
Reports concerning the impending death of the conventional notebook have been greatly exaggerated. They certainly aren’t going to be replaced by tablets anytime soon; professionals and regular consumers around the globe use them on a daily hourly basis, so it’s great to see them getting the attention that they deserve from companies such as Lenovo at this year’s CES.
One of the biggest issues with conventional notebooks is the poor battery life that they achieve. Many new models coming to market can barely reach 3 hours without completely dying, so it’s naturally become a major issue for a lot of manufacturers.
We’ve been promised new battery technology for many years now, and it’s never arrived. Processors have become more efficient, but there’s only so much that hardware optimisation for minimum power consumption can achieve. As a result, Lenovo has turned to software to solve their problem.
Continue reading »Nokia Lumia 800 Review
January 3, 2012
After a much hyped launch, many Windows Phone 7 devices saw underwhelming sales figures in their first year on the market. With the inability to apply custom skins and unique features to devices, manufacturers such as HTC have so far failed to turn Microsoft’s new mobile operating system into the storming success as they have done with Android, but that hasn’t stopped Nokia from going all in with Windows Phone.
Following a lacklustre performance from Symbian devices up against competitors such as the iPhone, Nokia certainly needs to side with the right software provider for their latest generation of smartphones, and Microsoft seemed like the only logical choice outside of Google’s Android, which the Finnish company seems reluctant to consider.
The first flagship Windows Phone 7 device to come out of Nokia is the Lumia 800, which is available on Three here in the UK. With Nokia’s hardware and Microsoft’s software this phone should blow the competition away, but does it live up to expectations or fall flat on its face? Let’s take a closer look…
Continue reading »TruLink 3-Play Component Video / Digital Audio Selector Review
January 2, 2012
With so many high definition gadgets and devices surrounding our TVs nowadays, it’s no surprise that people are starting to run out of ports at the back of their units.
If you’re in that situation with your component video and digital audio devices, then this TruLink splitter may provide you with some relief. It consists of three inputs leading to one output, allowing you to choose between the three inputs each time you want to use a peripheral with your TV.
Continue reading »Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S Review
January 1, 2012
You’d be forgiven for not noticing the arrival of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc S in the smartphone market when it was launched a few months ago. After all, it’s becoming harder to differentiate between the phones that carry the “Xperia” name as the branding is used on more models every quarter.
The last time we took a look at a Sony Ericsson device was back in September 2011 when we reviewed the Xperia Neo and although it felt like an Xperia Play without the ‘Play’, it definitely hit the mark for its price point.
Continue reading »What’s The Most Wanted Gadgets For Christmas 2011?…Well It’s Good News For Apple, Again!
December 13, 2011
Although unseasonably warm weather continues to hamper high-street Christmas sales, and another recession still looms ominously in the background, people are already well into the mindset of deciding what they would like and it seems that ‘all they want for Christmas’ is a gadget. And preferably one with a small silver Apple on it.
Yes it’s that time of year already when the consumer gloves come off and the annual hotly contested competition for the highest Christmas sales begins. Last year we saw Apple leading the way with the iPad being the most desired gadget followed closely by the iPhone 4 with the Kindle, TomTom Sat Nav and the Sony Playstation Move bringing up the rear. Now vouchercodes.co.uk have surveyed the same number (3,000) of people again and the results show a very interesting trend.
Continue reading »Amazon’s Kindle Fire May Land In The UK By January 2012
December 8, 2011
Are you still getting over the immense disappointment of not being able to ask Father Christmas for a Kindle Fire this month? Unfortunately that’s not going to change before the year is out, but you may well be able to get hold of one as early as next month if reports from Know Your Mobile are to be believed.
Unfortunately, Know Your Mobile’s source didn’t divulge any information regarding pricing or even a precise release date, but considering how well Amazon’s aggressive pricing strategy has worked in the US since the release of the Fire on the other side of the pond, you can bet that it will be priced significantly lower than the iPad to attract consumers away from the world of Apple.
Continue reading »Why Are Trains So Technophobic?
November 18, 2011
We live in a society where everything is transitioning over to 0s and 1s. People are ditching Sky to watch TV online through services such as BBC’s iPlayer and we are consuming more mobile data over 3G networks than ever before.
Despite this, certain industries are finding it more difficult than others to make the transition over to the digital age. As I write this, I’m sat in a railway station waiting to catch the last train home, because I missed my earlier one by 30 seconds. Why? Partially due to my horrendously bad planning skills and partially due to the fact that I had to print my pre-ordered tickets as I entered the station.
Continue reading »AppleCare Review: A Worthwhile Investment Or Money Down The Drain?
November 16, 2011
For the uninitiated, AppleCare is an additional insurance option offered by Apple, that provides you with extra protection for your Macs, iPhone and iPad. Many people unfamiliar with Apple products may question why you’d need such a plan; after all, when you buy any other electronic item such as a TV, the likelihood of you taking out extra protection on it is minimal.
Maybe it’s the transparency of AppleCare that makes it such a tempting offer for many buyers. It can be quite comforting for someone buying an Apple product for the first time to be taken through the plan step by step by a genius in a brightly coloured t-shirt, and let’s face it, who can say no to a lovely genius in the Apple store?
Continue reading »Burnside Easy Answer II Helps Seniors To Cut The Cord, Leaving Their Landline Phones Behind
November 15, 2011
When you think of “cutting the cord”, you would tend to relate it to tech savvy individuals who want to change the way that they consume media and take calls. It’s certainly not a phrase that you would often associate with the older generation.
Landline telephones have been around for a considerable amount of time, and their reliability is still better than that of a mobile phone when you want to make a call. That being said, there are numerous disadvantages to owning a landline phone, too, the most obvious of which is the line rental fee that you have to pay to stay connected, regardless of whether you actually use your phone at all.
For seniors living in the UK, this just adds to the already high cost of living in many areas. According to Burnside’s press release, ‘four million people over 65 now live alone and 2 million are still living on less than 60% of the median UK income, after housing costs’. Clearly, cost matters.
Continue reading »iTunes Match Now Live In The US
November 14, 2011
Apple’s quasi-streaming service, iTunes Match, has finally gone live in the US today! The service, which will upgrade all of your iTunes library to 256kb/s regardless of whether you originally bought the tracks from iTunes, was initially announced at WWDC in June but has seen delays since.
If you’re in the US, you’ll have to upgrade your iTunes to 10.5.1 before you can begin to use the new service. Once you’ve signed up to iTunes Match for $24.99 a year, your library will then sync with Apple’s servers, and anything that isn’t on the iTunes store will be uploaded manually. After this, you will be able to listen to your entire library from your PC or an iOS device without actually syncing your music across.
Continue reading »Hackers Gain Access To Steam’s Database, Compromise User Information
November 11, 2011
If you’re a user of Steam, the popular digital game distribution service, then you may want to log on and change your password the next chance that you get. Last week, Steam forums were hacked, with posts containing redirect links to Fkn0wned.com.
Now, it has been revealed by Gabe Newell, the co-founder of Valve, that the forums weren’t all that were compromised during the attack.
Continue reading »iPhone 4S Review
November 1, 2011
If the blogosphere was to be believed in the build up to Apple’s new iPhone, I should be sitting down to review an incredibly thin new device right now. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. From afar, the iPhone 4S is indistinguishable from the iPhone 4. In fact, it’s indistinguishable up close as well, except for a slightly altered antenna around the edge of the device.
That doesn’t mean to say that this upgrade is insignificant, though. Far from it, in fact. Shipping with the brand new iOS 5 and improved internals, the 4S makes for a solid upgrade to what many consider to be the world’s best smartphone. If you’re thinking of making the jump yourself, read on to see what I make of Apple’s latest and greatest.
Continue reading »