Category Archives: Technology Reviews

iPhone 4 Review

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Currently I use an iPhone 3GS on pay as you go, which I am happy with. I often wondered if it was worth upgrading to the iPhone 4 or 4S and was really pleased to be sent an iPhone 4 to review. This gave me the chance to experience what it was like and to decide if it was worth moving to this phone in the future or one of the other alternatives that are currently available on the market.

Appearance

The first thing that struck me about the phone was its look. The iPhone has changed shape since the 3G variety.

iPhone 4G

You can’t really tell when you look at it head on, but when you hold it in your hand you can definitely feel the difference.  It has exactly the same weight at 137g but the dimensions are 115.2mm x58.6 mm x 9.3mm which is quite a bit smaller and slimmer. The design is also different as well, it is no longer curved with a plastic back but is much squarer in shape. The front and back are made of glass, reinforced glass fortunately and the side is rimmed with steel which is ten time stronger than normal steel.  It makes the handset a lot stronger than the old version, I found the plastic tended to crack.

The volume buttons have changed shape to become round buttons with + and – marked on them and the volume on off switch remains the same but all the buttons have a new metallic look.

The on off button is still on the top of the phone and the headphone jack. The headphone jack feels more flush with the top of the phone than the previous model. The little tiny hole next to it is a microphone which is for noise cancelling.

The bottom of the phone has the usual space for the charger or docking and on either side we have the speakers. The right hand side of the phone appears blank but the sim card is actually inserted here. The iPhone 4 actually uses a micro sim card rather than the normal sized sim card so you will need to change your sim card.

If you look at the front it all looks very similar to the iPhone we are used to seeing. The screen is the same and there is that one big button on the front that is used to move between applications.

Once I got used to the change in size it felt nice to hold and having a slightly slimmer phone was definitely better. In the box you get the usual charger, USB cable , headphones and metal tool for opening the sim card slot.

User Experience

Display

The Apple iPhone 4 has a new high resolution display called the Retina Display. The display is really crisp and clear, and it should be as it has 326 pixels per inch all packed into the 3.5 inch screen.  In normal use you do not really notice the difference but when you are zooming in on a page you do notice how much clearer and crisper the lines are.

Interface

The user interface is really intuitive and easy to use. If you want to use an application tap on the icon on the screen.  If you want to leave the application hit the big round button at the bottom. If you want to move the icons about the screen press on one and hold it and the icons all start wobbling about.

iPhone screenJust press on one to move it around the screen. If you want to delete it altogether then press on the x at the top of the icon and it will remove it from the phone. You are not able to delete the pre-loaded applications however which is probably a good thing.  It is all really simple and easy but also looks good while it does it.

iphone ScreenIt also handles multitasking. If you hit the home button twice you  get a little row of the most recently used applications on the screen, the most recently used one is on the left.  You can scroll along to the right to choose one and it goes back to where you were in the application before you left it.  If you scroll left along the icon list  you find useful music control buttons and a button to lock the screen orientation.

iphone Screen

The screen will rotate as you rotate the phone and this button will stop this from happening.

Making Phone Calls

The iPhone 4 makes it easy to make phone calls and the sound quality was clear and crisp. I was aware of problems reported about loss of signal when using this model but I did not experience this. On the iPhone 4 you can also make video phone calls using Face Time but I honestly never saw the point of doing this so did not try.

Messaging and emails

It is really easy to set up numerous email accounts using the iPhone 4 and it is easy to move them between accounts, folders and delete them as required. Messaging is similarly easy to use and I like the way that messages are threaded so you can read back on all your exchanges with a particular person. It is also really easy to use MMS, if you want to add a picture to a message just click on the camera icon, browse the pictures and tap to add.

Internet

The internet has always been really easy to use on the iPhone and the same is true on the iPhone 4G.  You can zoom in and out by pinching the screen. Bookmarks are easy to add as well. My main issue with the iPhone is that it does not have Flash support which is annoying when you hit a Flash based website.  If you want to copy and paste text it is easy to do this by tapping the screen, selecting the text and then choosing copy.

Camera

The camera is a vast improvement on the iPhone 3GS. It is a 5 MP camera with LED Flash and the sensors have also been improved to improve the sensitivity. Tapping the screen will focus the picture. The camera is easy to use and the picture quality is a lot better.  Video is in HD and can be recorded and edited from the handset which is great.

Applications

Applications and music for the iPhone are available from iTunes and the iTunes store.  The App store has an incredible range of applications, varying in price from free to over £50. The good thing is that whatever you are looking for you will definitely find it and you will never be short of a game to play on your phone.

Battery Life

The battery life will depend on what you do with the phone. If you sit browsing the internet, reading books, playing games then your battery will obviously be used faster than if you just have the phone in your pocket.  I found that the battery lasted much longer than on my iPhone 3GS in normal use.

Summary

I liked the iPhone 4, it was sleek and easy to use. I was very impressed with the improvements to the camera, the display is crisp and clear and the battery life is much improved. I would love to see how much the iPhone 4S has improved in comparison. My main dislike is the like of Flash support,which is annoying in a phone like this. I think if I was looking at upgrading I would definitely have a look at the other phones on the market now and compare them before I bought. There is  more competition out there now for the iPhone and a lot of very sleek phones with a smaller price tag.

Specifications

OS iOS 4
Capacity 8 GB
Display Retina Display, 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display, 800:1 contrast ratio
Wireless Connectivity GSM model: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz);
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)CDMA model: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology
Camera 5-megapixel iSight camera, LED Flash
Video Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
Audio Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000HzAudio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Battery Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion batteryTalk time: Up to 7 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)
Dimensions 115.2mm x58.6 mm x 9.3mm
Weight 137g

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Blackberry Playbook Review

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review

Samsung Galaxy Pro Review

BlackBerry Playbook Review

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The BlackBerry Playbook is a tablet computer produced by Research in Motion (RIM).  It is a seven inch tablet that runs on the operating system QNX.  At seven inches it is a lot smaller than some of the other tablets that are currently on the market, but I found that it is actually a nice size. It slips neatly into my handbag and is very portable which is  ideal if you are on the road a lot.

The tablet is matt black in appearance.  On the top you will find the power button, the volume up and down buttons and the play and pause buttons for video playback. The volume control is raised but the power button is small and slightly indented which makes it a little bit hard to press. The headphone socket is also on the top. The bottom edge has micro HDMI, micro USB and the charging connector sockets on it. The fact that it has a micro HDMI connector is very useful if you need to connect it to a screen to show power point presentations for example.

Usability

When you turn on the Playbook you get a screen with Time and Date, Settings, wifi and battery indicator at the top and at the bottom you can choose from different menus which give you different things to choose from. If you click All you get the main range of applications.  The addition of a Help Manual is very useful and allows you to quickly look up things if you get stuck. Otherwise the range of installed applications is as you would expect, an internet browser, a picture gallery, music, videos,  kobo books, a calculator, bing maps, clock, weather, a You Tube application and access to the Music Store and the App World.  There are a couple of games installed as well. The other menus are Favourites, which you can add your Favourites to, Media which pulls together all the Music and Video Apps, Games and BlackBerry Bridge which I will mention later.

Navigation around the Playbook is done by a series of swiping actions. This took a bit of getting used to at first but once you get the hang of it and remember what action to use it is easy.  You can easily move from one app to the next using a sideways stroke to the left or the right.  This scrolls though the apps that are running and you can choose one by tapping on it bringing up to full screen.  This multitasking is a great feature and easy to use.

If you are inside an app and swipe down from the top of the screen it brings up extra menus and finally if you swipe diagonally across the screen it brings you back to the home page.

It is worth noting that the internet browser supports Adobe Flash which is a definite plus as this is a standard in many web pages these days.

BlackBerry Bridge

This is used to pair up the BlackBerry Playbook with a BlackBerry phone running OS 5 or 6. The phone also needs to be running the BlackBerry Bridge App.  The Playbook and the phone then connect via Bluetooth and you can then access your email, contacts, calendar and BlackBerry Messenger data. You also get new features enabled on the tablet. This is great if you use a BlackBerry phone. If you don’t then it will not be of interest.

Camera

There is a 3MP camera at the front and a 5MP camera at the back. The camera includes the ability to shoot video at 1080p in MPEG4 format.  The camera takes reasonable pictures but does not have flash so you will need reasonable lighting conditions.

Applications

The range of pre-installed applications is useful and includes some good productivity tools for work. The range of applications available for the BlackBerry is not as wide as the range available for other makes of tablets.  If you want to get an application you need to go into the App Store which is easy to use and browse.

Specifications

OS  QNX
Chipset  1 GHz Dual Core Processor
Display   WSVGA, 1200×600
Camera  3 MP Front Camera, 5 MP Rear Camera
Video   MPEG4, WMV, and H.264
Battery  5530mHA
Dimensions  194 x 130 x 10 mm
Weight  425g

Summary

The BlackBerry Playbook is a nice portable size and an easy tablet to use. It does take a bit of getting used to the use of gestures on the tablet, instead of just finger presses but this is a powerful feature. It handles multi-tasking with ease and the addition of an HDMI connector makes it a great work tool. For general users it is let down by the lack of applications but this is something that will be rectified in time.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review

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As you are aware I am a Samsung Mob!ler and I have recently been playing with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.  The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a tablet computer which runs on the Android 3.1 Honeycomb operating system and features TouchWiz 4.o  which makes navigating more intuitive.

The tablet is a nice size, it is very slim and easy to handle. The dimensions are 257x175x9mm and it is only 565g in weight. The front is black and there is a small rim round the edge of the screen that is not touch enabled. The sides are grey metal. On the top you will find the power button and the volume controls. These are raised buttons which make them easy to press. Also on the top is the headphone socket. On the bottom is the socket for the charging cable and on each side are the speakers.

The screen is bright and colourful, it is a multitouch 1,200 x 800 LCD panel and uses Samsung’s Super PLS technology. The viewing angles are great and if you play an HD movie it looks really good.

Navigation

The screen is easy to use and navigate around.  There are five home screens which you can access using the small dots at the top of the screen. Each of these can be customised with various Android widgets like email, calendar and the weather. At the bottom left of the screen you will find four buttons.  There is a  back arrow which allows you to go back to the last thing you were looking at. The little house which takes you back to the home screen, a symbol that looks like two boxes which brings up a list of the applications that are currently running on the system and finally a button which allows you to take screen shots. In the bottom middle of the screen you will find a little up arrow, if you press this it brings up extra apps like the Calendar, Music Player and Task Manager.  When they appear the arrow points down and you can press it again to make them disappear.  On the bottom right is a clock, battery power indicator, wi-fi indicator and information about the pulse news application and downloads. If you click on this it brings up a small menu which allows you to access common settings  like wi-fi, GPS and Settings.
If you click the Apps button in the top right of your screen you get access to all the Applications that are installed on your tab.
Again this is spread out over multiple screen that you can access by pressing the little numbered dots.  It is worth noting that Polaris Office is installed by default which allows you to create and view Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents.
The internet browser offers support for Flash which is brilliant and also allows tabbed browsing so you can have multiple windows open. Interestingly it has a tilt to zoom feature which allows you to hold the screen at two points and tip the screen back and forwards to enlarge or reduce it. This is rather novel and quite useful.
Camera
There are two cameras included, a 3 MP rear facing camera and a 2 MP front facing camera. They offer a maximum resolution of 2084×1536 pixels (1280×720 for video), and can record video at 720p HD as well. The camera offers a number of features like autofocus, LED flash, smile and panorama shots and there is a macro mode for close ups. It is easy to use and the settings are very clear and straight forward.

Specifications

OS Android 3.1 Honeycomb
Chipset CP: XMM6260
Display 10.1″ 1280 x 800 (WXGA) TFT
Wireless Connectivity BT 3.0, WiFi a/b/g/n,Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS
Camera 3 MP rear camera with LED Flash, autofocus and geo-tagging. 2 MP front camera
Video WMV9, WMV8, WMV7, H.264, MPEG4, H.263, VP8
Audio MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA
Battery 7000 mAh
Dimensions 256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6 mm
Weight 565g

Summary

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a lovely look and feel and is very intuitive to use. It is a lovely tablet with a lot of nice features and definitely worth a look.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

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As you are aware I am a Samsung Mob!ler and I was recently sent the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to play with. I will be doing a detailed review on here soon but in the meantime I put together a video which looks at some of its key features. I hope you enjoy it.

TPLink Powerline Adapter TL-PA211

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I was recently sent some TPLink Powerline Adapter model TL-PA211 to review.  I personally call them internet plugs as it nicely summarises what they do and sounds much nicer.  These are basically plugs that use your home electrical wires to transfer data at the same time as electrical power. They are used when you need to connect something to the internet which is not near enough to your router to connect via wires and you do not have a wireless connection. They are also used if you have network wireless black spots in your house.

When you open the box you see the following:

There are two plugs, two network cables, an instruction booklet and the manual and software on a disc. The plugs are really easy to set up and use.  The first step is to plug one into a wall socket and then plug the network  cable into it. The network cable then has to go into a spare socket on your router. This magically sends the internet into your electrical cables. You then take the other plug and plug it into a wall socket near the device you want to connect to the internet and plug the network cable into the plug and the device. To get it working all you need to do is to press the pair buttons on each of the plugs and your device will be connected to the internet. The other good thing about the plugs is that they have a power saving mode, when they see data is not being sent though the network they automatically change to this mode which reduces energy consumption by 65%.

There is software provided which allows you to identify powerline devices on the powerline network, measures the data rate performance and  ensure privacy and performs diagnostics but you do not really need to install this to get the plugs working. If you love analytics then you may enjoy playing with this.

The main features of these plugs are:

  • HomePlug AV standard compliant, high-speed data transfer rates of up to 200Mbps
  • Super small design with a new exterior, blends in completely in front of any power outlet
  • Up to 300 meters range over the household power circuit for better performance through walls or across floors
  • Easy Plug and Play operations, No configuration required

The only negatives I have to say about these plugs is that the supplied network cables are a bit short. If your device is situated a bit far from the plug you will need to invest in a longer cable. Secondly the plugs have to be installed directly into the mains socket, if you use an extension cable you can not plug them into this. Ideally you need to have a pair of mains sockets on the wall, one for the powerline adapter and one for your extension cable to plug your devices into. It would be great if the powerline adapter also had a socket in it so you could plug the extension cable directly into it.

All in all these plugs work very well and are a great solution for getting the internet to a device that is not near your router.

RRP £49.99

You can find more information at: http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=TL-PA211

You will be able to find this product in electrical stores or on amazon.

Smart Touch Elite Stylus

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I was recently sent a Smart Touch Elite Stylus to review from the lovely people at www.totalmerhandise.co.uk who supply Promotional Merchandise for your business.

So what is a Smart Touch Elite Stylus? It is actually a very clever idea, it is a rollerball pen which also has a stylus tip which you can use with smart phones and tablets with a touch sensitive screen.

I have to say its a brilliant idea, I have lost count of the number of times I have been unable to use my iphone as my fingers were too cold, or I was wearing gloves. With this I can still use it without having to take my gloves off in the winter! It also prevents finger prints getting all over the screen which is something that annoys me no end. Initially I wasn’t sure how well this would work but having played with it for a while I really like it. Its a nice size to hold in your hand and works really well on both my iphone and ipad. I love the way that it doubles up as a pen, this is something that you would carry around anyway and having an extra use for one is great. My one criticism is that it is easy to lose in your handbag, but I think that is more the fault of my handbag which has Mary Poppins like qualities from time to time.

The Smart Touch Elite Stylus is available in three colours, black, white or silver and you can order them in various amounts, the smallest order is for 50 units. You can get your own message printed on them in order to promote your business and I know I would love to be given one of these by a company.

For more information visit TotalMerchandise.co.uk at: http://www.totalmerchandise.co.uk/products/details/Smart-Touch-Elite-Stylus

You can also find them on twitter here: @TM_LTD_UK

http://www.totalmerchandise.co.uk/products/details/Smart-Touch-Elite-Stylus

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Samsung Galaxy Pro Review

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I was recently sent a Samsung Galaxy Pro by Samsung as part of their Samsung Mob!ler program. The Samsung Galaxy Pro is an Android smartphone that combines a full QWERTY keyboard with a 2.8 inch touch screen. The phone offers a 3 megapixel camera, a media player with FM radio, internet access and wi-fi. It is aiming to gap in the market for smart phones with QWERTY keyboards that has been mainly occupied by Blackberry.


Appearance
The phone is sleek in appearance, although it does feel rather wider than the phones I am used to using. Underneath the main screen you will find four hardware buttons, Home, Menu, Back and Search. These are raised and easy to use. Below this is the keyboard and the keys are domed and have a nice feel to them.

The back is dimpled which makes it easier to grip and makes it look different from other handsets. As well as being wide it is very flat, which makes it rather distinctive. On the top you will find the USB port and the headphone jack. The left hand side has the volume buttons and the right hand side has the power button, which also doubles as a sleep button. The bottom has a little gap which makes it easier to remove the cover.

Interface

The Galaxy Pro runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) and also has TouchWiz 3.0 to make it easier for the novice to use.  This includes four icons on the right hand side of the page giving easy access to the dialler contacts, messaging and the app drawer. It has several home pages that can be easily customised. It is shipped with the standard google apps gmail, google maps with navigation and access to the android marketplace and over 150,000 downloadable applications. The phone has an 800 MHz processor so it is reasonably fast and 512MB of internal memory. The memory can be expanded with a memory card, a 2 GB card is supplied but it will support up to 32 GB.

User Experience

The call quality is good and it is really easy to send a text on this phone, the combination of keypad and touch screen come into their own at this point. The contact menu is easy to navigate.

The phone includes a 3.2 megapixel camera, producing pictures of 2048 x 1536 pixels. The camera does not have a flash but is easy to use and navigate with the touch screen.  There are basic options allowing you to change the brightness and white balance. It is easy to swap from the camera to the video mode which supports QVGA resolution at 30 frames per second. The camera also has autofocus, but it cannot be used if the SD memory card is not in place.

For those of us who like music there is a FM radio included, along with the Music Player and Video Player. These are easy to use.

The phone has wi-fi connectivity as well as 3G and the internet browser is well integrated and easy to use. Bluetooth 3.0 is also supported. The screen lacks pinch to zoom which can be a little bit annoying when browsing but you can tap to  zoom instead.

The Samsung Galaxy Pro has a Li-Ion 13 mAh standard battery that will provide a standby time of up to 610 hours in 2G and 430 hours in 3G. If you are talking you get a talk time of up to 11 hours in 2G and 6.1 hours in 3G.

Summary

This is a nice phone that is easy to use. If you are looking for a phone with a QWERTY keyboard this one is a reasonable middle of the range smart phone. If you want a phone that does messaging, plays music has a selection of cool apps then this phone could be for you.

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