mobile internet
Cars To Become Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspots? Audi A8 Features 3G Internet Access
February 15, 2010
Just the other day I was pondering whether there would be any benefit to including 3G mobile broadband connectivity into cars. Then today I log onto the Internet and do the usual rounds, before I stumble across an interesting article telling me that Audi have joined up with Qualcomm and done this very thing. The navigation system in the new Audi A8’s will now include 3G capability in which a driver just shoves in a connected sim card and it opens him up to a whole host of features previously unheard of in motor cars.
Ok so you’re not going to sit browsing the net whilst in the driver seat, that would be more dangerous than using your phone, but the features are somewhat impressive. For example, when you pass a landmark or spot an interesting building, or a historical venue, the navigation system will give the driver the simple option of pulling information from sources such as Wikipedia regarding that spot. Great eh?
Continue reading »Zath’s Technology & Gadget Roundup (12/02/2010)
February 12, 2010
Well it’s the end of another week and as always there’s been a lot going on in the world of technology and hi-tech gadgets, luckily some of our favourite websites have not let us down as they’ve covered some of them this week, here’s some of the stories that we liked most, along with a few of our favourites from Zath and the thoughts that come to mind from reading them!
O2 Testing 4G Mobile Broadband Network in the UK – the one thing that puts me off buying a mobile broadband device right now is the fact that I see such variable coverage and often poor download speeds when using my mobile phone, so news that we could be approaching a time of 4G mobile broadband coverage which would see much faster browsing and download speeds is a very promising thing, although I’m guessing it’s still a few years off just yet, so I’ll probably end up using the 3 Mobile Broadband voucher code to save £54 afterall, but there’s hope for the future!
Continue reading »3 Mobile Broadband Voucher Code (Save £54 on 5GB Monthly Plan)
January 21, 2010
I’ve recently been looking around for a good mobile broadband deal to enable me to access the Internet while away from home for both work or leisure purposes without having to rely on free public wifi hotspots, which are great, but sometimes hard to find or don’t work so well.
There’s quite a few options out there these days for mobile broadband, obviously you need to take into consideration the signal strength of the mobile network in the areas you’re likely to be using the mobile broadband most frequently, but after that you’ll want to look at the monthly data allowance that is going to be appropriate for you.
In my experience 3 Mobile Broadband generally comes out better with larger mobile broadband monthly allowance than many of their competitors do, therefore they can be better value for money overall.
Continue reading »iPhone 3GS Review
January 13, 2010
Everyone’s seen an iPhone, and most people want one, but can you tell the difference between an iPhone 3G and an iPhone 3GS? The answer is most certainly no; they look identical to each other and are no different to the naked eye. Once you’ve used an iPhone 3GS, however, you’ll realise just how different it is.
It’s been around 6 months since the iPhone 3GS was released and at the time many people thought that it was somewhat of a low-key upgrade from the iPhone 3G, certainly it was more of an evolution than a revolution, especially when you consider what some of the 3rd generation iPhone rumours that had been going around prior to Apple’s announcement in which they introduced us to the iPhone 3GS.
So what can be added to our previous review of the iPhone 3G? Well here’s the key improvements that we’ve come to appreciate in using the iPhone 3GS, especially if you now go back to using an iPhone 3G – these differences are then immediately obvious!
Continue reading »Lenovo Skylight Smartbook Announced! (CES 2010)
January 6, 2010
There’s nothing like a flagship model to get a new category of devices booming, and that’s exactly what the Lenovo Skylight could be for the Smartbook market in 2010. With its incredibly thin design, the Skylight is the first Smartbook released from a major player in the market, and it’s certainly lived up to expectations.
The Lenovo Skylight is available in red, blue and silver – it’s extremely thin at under 20mm and weighs less than 2 pounds. The keyboard and trackpad are extremely well designed and implemented considering the size of the device. The keyboard used in the Skylight is actually the same keyboard that Lenovo use for their ThinkPad Edge 13and X100e, so it’s very high quality, with space between each key to make typing easier.
The trackpad is a decent size for a Smartbook, with no physical button in sight – taking a leaf out of Apple’s book, the whole trackpad acts as a button. A lot of people don’t like this design, but as a Macbook user myself, I now prefer it to a discrete button on a notebook.
Continue reading »Nokia Booklet 3G Review (Mobile Internet Netbook)
January 3, 2010
You may have seen my article not so long ago regarding the latest best netbooks (Winter 2009/2010) available on the market. Within that list I included the new Nokia Booklet 3G; a netbook aimed at the higher, more luxurious end of the market. Now it has been released and consumers have had their chance to get their mitts on one, does it justify its somewhat extortionate price tag? Or is it just over priced and overrated?
The netbook retails for anything between about £600 and £800 which does seem ludicrously expensive when compared to other netbooks on the market today, of which there are an ever increasing amount.
Continue reading »Looking Forward To 2010: The Year Of The Smartbook?
January 2, 2010
Netbooks have really taken off in the past few years, sporting Intel’s Atom processor and Windows XP or Linux and being sold cheaply to consumers. At the same time, smartphones are getting faster, being seen with processors capable of speeds up to 1GHz and running very capable operating systems. But what if a netbook’s too big for you? Is a smartphone too small for your needs? Then worry no more; 2010 is going to be the year of the smartbook!
So what exactly is a smartbook? To put it simply, it’s a smartphone in the body of a small netbook, running a smartphone OS such as Android or Windows Mobile. If you cast your mind back to the original Asus Eee netbook, it consisted of a 7” screen and the Atom processor was still on the drawing board.
Continue reading »Technology Of The Noughties: Cloud Computing
December 31, 2009
Cast your minds back to the beginning of the decade… Broadband was making its first appearance in the technology world and all our applications were installed locally on a hard drive in our computer. Fast forward nine years, and we still have a lot of local applications, but with fast internet connections, having your local applications with you all the time is no longer a necessity, in fact the vast majority of applications on your hard drive right now probably have some sort of cloud equivalent…
In my opinion Google has, and continues to, make major breakthroughs in cloud computing. If you were working on a presentation or important document on your computer ten years ago but forgot to take it with you to work on the crucial day, there wouldn’t be a lot you could do about it…
Continue reading »Dell Mini Inspiron 10 Netbook (Atom N450) Announced
December 31, 2009
In the crowded world of netbooks, Dell have always been a major contender, with their Mini series and we’ve written two reviews here on Zath for the Dell Mini 9 netbook.
With a new year, comes a new netbook from Dell. The new Dell Mini Inspiron 10 netbook will be released early this month and Dell are offering a variety of options as always.
In terms of performance, it is the same as always, 1.6Ghz N450 Atom processor, 1Gb DDR2 RAM and the option of either 160Gb or 250Gb hard drives. Not much improvement since the last model there, however they also give you the choice between 3 and 6 cell batteries with the latter providing up to 9.5 hours of battery life. This puts it right up there with its greatest competitors in terms of endurance.
Continue reading »Buy Palm Pre Exclusively On O2 Network (UK)
October 20, 2009
Well you can now buy the Palm Pre in the UK – but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we suffer quite a bit here in the UK from late releases and it seems we have to wait a reasonable period of time to get even some of the biggest names in tech – even this week we had the Kindle 2 and Mintpass, both of which have been available in the US and Korea respectively for ages!
This is a shame cause it not only means we have to wait but I feel the manufacturers themselves also suffer as the original euphoria from when the Palm Pre was first announced has somewhat died down over time – but now it’s time for the ‘Palm Pre’ to make its UK debut, and I’m sure Palm will be hoping that the interest is still strong, as will O2 who have the exclusivity on the handset in the UK.
Continue reading »
