Posted by: Dave Burrows | April 20, 2012

Why is iPhone considered better than Android?

The iPhone vs Android debate is a big one and it follows on from the old days of PC vs Mac.  There’s a loyal fan base on both iPhone and Android. Most of the iPhone followers feel the iPhone is better, most of the Android followers agnostic and some that drift between the two platforms.

Well I’m in the camp where I prefer iPhone over Android but I have both platforms and use both regularly.   Whilst there are things I like about Android, and one is a larger screen, there are a lot more pluses for me on iPhone.  Not the OS or the simplicity, although they can be a bonus, but the accessories.

I have on my desk 3x iPhone docks.  I have iPhone speaker docks  at home both in my lounge and in other rooms.  They’re docks that both charge and allow the iPhone to be used as a loud speaker, much louder than the iPhone speaker can output.

The problem I have with Android is fragmentation.  Not in the normal sense you hear about Android OS levels being fragmented, but manufacturer fragmentation.

Each manufacturer creates their own style of devices, each have different sizes of phones, different rounded edges, different thickness of devices, the charger plug could be mini USB, Micro USB or even a non-standard connector.  The connector can be on the bottom of the phone, the left side or the right side of the phone.  This means that no one manufacturer can make a dock accessory that will work with multiple phones.  So most dock/accessory manufacturers just  decide not to make one, it’s that simple!  Then the manufacturer of the devices only make one dock if you’re lucky, and it’s a pretty poor afterthought.

Now roll on iPhone.  Sure there’s multiple iPhones like a 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S.  So there’s a little difference but most docks that work mostly work across the entire range.  There’s hundreds if not thousands of accessory makers for the iPhone but no where as many as for Android when it comes to docks.

This to me is the biggest Android killer, along with manufacturers not upgrading OS’s to the latest flavour, e.g. ICS (Ice Cream Sandwhich).

If only Android device manufacturers would standardised so docks and other accessories could be used across devices and across manufacturers then it would make Android a much better platform.

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Posted in Android, Apple, Hardware, iPhone/iPod Speaker Dock

Posted by: Dave Burrows | April 12, 2012

Where technology is leading us with our mobile phones?

Thinking back 10 years ago, when you wanted to book a table at a restaurant you used to have to pick up the phone and call the restaurant.  Fast forward 10 years and now you just book a table on your iPhone or Android device that you have with you.

If you wanted to speak to a friend 10 years ago you would arrive and knock on the door, or you would call them before leaving the house.  Now you have a mobile phone on you, what do you do?  No, you don’t call them, you text or iMessage them or better still FaceTime or Skype them.

It’s strange that although technology has moved on and rather than having a phone only at home and at work, you have a phone in your pocket but you don’t actually use it as a phone, you use it for other things.  You can see why mobile networks are getting worried about the loss of call time revenue and SMS texting revenue when you see the phones evolving, I would too if it was my core business.

If you wanted to find out where your friend was 5 years ago, you would call them up, say high and ask them where they were and if they wanted to meet up with you somewhere.  Now you pull out your SmartPhone and open up a map and see where they are on the map.

If you wanted to find the nearest restaurant or ATM/Cash Machine you would have had to go and look for it, or look at a Yellow pages.  Now you just run up an app and it tells you all the businesses that are close to you, not even that but it will even give you directions to it and track your position relative to that business as you walk, cycle or drive to it.

SmartPhones are evolving at such a pace that it’s difficult to keep up with them.  I remember when my father said “Why would I need an iPad” and when my mother said “Why would I want an iPhone, I have a regular iPhone and an iPod Touch”.  Needless to say they both have iPhones and iPads, and they wouldn’t now be without them.  They’re hooked just like I am (although to a slightly lesser extent) but still hooked on the technology and what it can do for them.  No more having to wait 10 minutes for a laptop to boot up when the iPad is always on, just press the power button and it wakes up and can be used instantly (providing you remember to charge it).

Now with new OMLED flexible screens from Samsung and wearable glasses with HUD (Heads Up Display) from Google, technology is evolving at a much faster rate.

5 years ago I never thought I would be sitting here writing this post on an iPad or having my entire gaming, audio book, reading books and audio and video all on my device in my hands, yet I do.

In 5 years time, technology will have evolved again, will we be wearing the technology?  e.g. HUD glasses, waterproof touch screens attached to our clothes via velcro?  It’s entirely possible at the rate it’s advancing.

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Posted in News

Posted by: Dave Burrows | April 9, 2012

iPad 3rd Generation Review – is it all it’s cracked up to be?

I’ll have to start out by saying I owned the iPad 1, still own the iPad 2 and received the iPad 3 the day after the launch.  This pretty much tells you that I’m an iOS junkie, and spend a lot of time already with iOS devices.

You’ve probably heard of #warmgate and #batterygate on the New iPad.  Let me explain these a little if you don’t already know.

#warmgate
This is due to the iPad 3rd Generation not only sporting a dual-core processor like the iPad 2, but a quad-core graphics processor and 70% more battery along with a battery sucking retina screen.  This means when running high graphics intensive games the iPad is likely to get warm to the touch.  Not hot, not boiling, not too hot to handle, but warm.  It does make you wonder what the temperature is inside the iPad and whether it is doing any long lasting damage to the other components.

#batterygate
Due to the iPad 3rd Generation running 70% more battery power, it means it takes at least twice as long to charge.  On average to go from 80% to 100% takes 2 hours, that means 8+ hours to do a full charge.  Not to forget that even when it shows 100% it then goes into trickle mode and still charges up to an hour longer.  This means that you’re more conscious of the battery reduction and when you need to top-up the charge.

iPhoto
Like most of the Apple applications, iPhoto is an additional extra from the AppStore, but it’s a good one.  Think along the lines of PhotoShop or Snapseed for the iPad, but much better.  Just import your photos using the iPad Camera Connection Kit from your camera, edit the photos enhancing the photos to look like a professional.

Add various filters, tweak brightness and contrast levels, then save, email or even AirPrint them to your AirPrint printer.  If you’re not into printing, then keep them on your iPad and use them as a photo viewer device to show others your holiday snaps.

Is the iPad 3rd Generation worth the upgrade?
The iPad 3rd Generation’s screen alone is worth the upgrade, it really does make graphics and text look a lot more crisp.  I don’t have 20/20 vision, but not far off.  I do need to wear reading glasses (and don’t always wear then) but have found due to the text being so clear on the 3rd Gen iPad, I find it a lot clearer to almost perfect when not wearing glasses.  Let me first say, this doesn’t mean you don’t have to wear corrective glasses, that would be completely foolish of me.  What I mean is that I can read it a lot better without my glasses than a regular iPad or iPad 2.

The size of the iPad is almost identical (although a little thicker than the iPad 2), battery life is exactly the same as the iPad 2, and apps and games do run a little faster.

The biggest draw back for me is the having to recharge it, knowing how long it takes.  I’ve been using the iPad 3rd Generation for almost a month now, and I now have the battery percentage branded into my brain.  I check the percentage a lot more than I used to do on the iPad 2, when I see the battery percentage floating around 80% I know that’s a 2 hour to realistically 3 hour top-up charge, so I know I have to plug it back in to a charging socket.

For me, the iPad 3rd Generation is worth the upgrade, especially seeing that it’s not costing any more than an iPad 2.  I went again for the 64gb WiFi+4G device, my iPad 2 was a 64gb WiFi+3G device.  Already less than one month on I only have 7gb free on my 64gb iPad 3rd Generation.  I think some spring cleaning is going to be needed soon.

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Posted in Apple, iPad, Reviews-Hardware

Posted by: Dave Burrows | April 9, 2012

That horrible iPhone wake-up alarm call

In the UK it’s the Easter holiday weekend, that means bank holiday Friday and Monday, so no work for most of us.  However, it doesn’t necessarily mean a lay in.  Especially like me when you forget to unset your 3AM alarm clock.

Sleeping soundly I was awoken at an earthly hour to wake me up to go to work.  This isn’t the first time I’ve forgotten to unset the alarm and get awoken to go to a ficticious work day.  I awoke, layer in bed for a few minutes, decided to get up, several minutes later I looked at the clock in the lounge and the regular Homer Simpson DOH! hit me.  Yes, it’s a bank holiday, no work today.

With the software and hardware enhancements you would think by now that you have have an alarm clock that you can set for daily or weekly alarms but then exclude bank holidays.  Alas, not the case at the moment.

We have another UK Bank Holiday coming up beginning of may, I’ll have to remember to ‘unset’ the alarm this time!

Some day’s I really do hate tech, although I know it’s hard to believe!

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Posted in iPhone, Something for the Weekend

Posted by: Dave Burrows | November 11, 2011

Siri Full Review, what Siri can and cannot do

If you’re reading this review of Siri then you probably know what Siri is. If you don’t, Siri is Apple’s new Personal Assistant that is available only on the iPhone 4S.

Siri is a voice to text system that allows you to naturally ask Siri a question and most of the time Siri responds with a good or suitable answer. If Siri can’t help then it will suggest that you perform a web search.

What you first have to understand with Siri is that it has a limited vocabulary of around 5,000 words. Although this is a lot in terms of a voice to text system, it’s not a lot when you think that the Oxford English Dictionary contains words for over 170,000.

Siri doesn’t respond well to multiple questions.
If you provide Siri with limited information, it then asks you a second question, and you answer the second question, it seems to treat it as a new question. e.g. ask Siri where 1 Infinite Loop is in California.

Mixing words and numbers doesn’t go down well with Siri
Ask Siri something like what is the full price of the iPhone 4S in the UK and it seems to get a little confused with what you actually said.

Likewise if you ask it where 4 Bloomsbury Square in London is, it doesn’t understand the number 4

Ask Siri where you are and how to get home
If you tell Siri you’re lost, it says it can’t provide any maps or directions in the UK. It can provide them in the US though.

Apple repeatedly lose their iPhone’s in bars, so I thought I’d ask Siri what to do in the event of finding a lost or stolen iPhone.
So it seems Apple things if you find a lost iPhone you want to have a number of meetings about it.

Christmas

I decided to try Siri out to see what Siri knows about Christmas

Father’s day and Mother’s day
I quizzed Siri a week ago over when was Father’s day and Mother’s day. Although Siri came back with results, it came back with the US holidays and not UK holidays, even when using the UK voice.

Testing 1 week later Siri now doesn’t come back with any results on this question…

Siri can’t handle generic questions, it’s vocabulary isn’t wide enough
Siri simply cannot handle a generic question, although it will allow you to search the web.

First man on the moon?
Siri, who was the first man on the moon? Hmmmm, I don’t think so…

What Siri is good for?
Siri is spectacular at giving you people’s birthday’s. It can even create relationships, so if you ask it “When is mum’s birthday” it will lookup your mothers name and provide the birthday. That’s of course providing you have entered all the details in the contact record.

Siri is also good for finding out what appointments you have scheduled

Siri is also good at getting weather reports from Yahoo. Although sometimes Siri can get a little flustered, as though s/he has just been awoken from a deep sleep.

Likewise sometimes she can get the text completely wrong. I put this down to some beta bugs that need to be ironed out of the system at the server end.

Siri has been programmed to sometimes be vague or provide different answers to the same questions, e.g. in “What’s the meaning of life”.

Siri is great at playing music

Siri is great about finding out about products but isn’t quite as good at retrieving the latest news.

Sometimes Siri can get a bit pedantic and stuck in his/her way

What Siri will really get confused with is different meanings for a similar word. e.g. Soul (as in Soul Mate), Sole (as in fish)

So there you have it, Siri is still in beta so s/he will get some things wrong. If you really want to get the most out of Siri then try to use it on weather forecasts and anything to do with calendars or contacts on your iPhone. You can eve use Siri to create a reminder, although it will create it as a Task and not a reminder. I’m sure Apple can start to iron out some of these bugs and improve Siri. Although the UK voice for Siri was recorded about 5 years ago, and I suspect similarly other language voices may not be that new either.

Will Siri’s UK male voice be changed or will they have the same voice-over artist record additional strings? Ultimately it would be good to be able to choose a female voice for the UK. You can choose the US voice but then the amount of words it understands based on accent tend to drop percentage wise. I think Siri is a pretty good product as it stands already, it’s certainly better than the Android equivalent and hopefully will improve over time.

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Posted in Apple, iPhone, Siri

Posted by: Dave Burrows | October 12, 2011

iOS 5 now available for download

Apple have released iOS 5 and it’s now available to download to your iOS devices.

Changes include

This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

Notifications
◦ Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Centre
◦ New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
◦ View notifications from lock screen
◦ Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app

iMessage
◦ Send and receive unlimited text, photo and video messages with other iOS 5 users
◦ Track messages with delivery and read receipts
◦ Group messaging and secure encryption
◦ Works over mobile networks and Wi-Fi*

Newsstand
◦ Automatically organises magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
◦ Displays the cover of the latest issue
◦ Background downloads of new issues

Reminders for managing to-do lists
◦ Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
◦ Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

Built-in support for Twitter
◦ Sign in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
◦ Add location to any tweet
◦ View Twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts

Camera improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Double-click the Home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
◦ Volume Up button to take a picture
◦ Optional grid lines to line up shots
◦ Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
◦ Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
◦ Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure; iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock

Photo improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Crop and rotate
◦ Red-eye removal
◦ One-tap enhance
◦ Organise photos into albums

Mail improvements
◦ Format text using bold, italic or underlined fonts
◦ Indentation control
◦ Drag to rearrange names in address fields
◦ Flag messages
◦ Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦ Customise mail alert sounds
◦ S/MIME

Calendar improvements
◦ Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
◦ Tap to create an event
◦ View and add event attachments

Game Center improvements
◦ Use personal photos for your Game Center account
◦ Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
◦ Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
◦ Discover new games with custom game recommendations

AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S

Multitasking Gestures for iPad
◦ Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
◦ Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
◦ Swipe left or right to switch between apps

On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant

Software updates available over the air without tethering

iCloud support
◦ iTunes in the Cloud
◦ Photo Stream
◦ Documents in the Cloud
◦ Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
◦ Backup
◦ Contacts, Calendar and Mail
◦ Find My iPhone

Redesigned Music app for iPad

Hourly weather forecast

Real-time stock quotes

Wireless sync to iTunes

Keyboard improvements
◦ Split keyboard for iPad
◦ Improved auto-correction accuracy
◦ Improved Chinese and Japanese input
◦ New Emoji keyboard
◦ Personal dictionary for auto-correction
◦ Optionally create keyboard shortcuts for frequently used words

Accessibility improvements
◦ Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
◦ Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
◦ New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
◦ Option to speak a selection of text
◦ Custom element labelling for VoiceOver

Exchange ActiveSync improvements
◦ Wirelessly sync tasks
◦ Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦ Improved offline support
◦ Save a new contact from a GAL service

More than 1,500 new developer APIs

Bug fixes

Products compatible with this software update:

  • iPhone 4S
  • iPhone 4
  • iPhone 3GS
  • iPad 2
  • iPad
  • iPod touch (4th generation)
  • iPod touch (3rd generation)

* Normal carrier data rates may apply. Messages will be sent as SMS when iMessage is unavailable; carrier messaging fees apply.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

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Posted in Apple, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Media Tablets, Technology

Posted by: Dave Burrows | October 8, 2011

How far has mobile technology come in the last 10 years?

This week saw the passing of Steve Jobs due to a long outstanding illness of pancreatic cancer and I thought it might be time to look back and see how far has mobile technology come in the last 10 years?

About 10 years ago around 2001 which incidentally was pre-SmartPhone days, I was in a hotel using a Compaq iPaq Windows CE based Pocket PC which was at that time the best operating systems and devices to use for a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). This wasn’t my first one, no I actually had prior to this the Casio E105, E125 and many more other Pocket PC’s after the iPaq.

I was in the hotel and I wanted to connect to the Internet to check my personal email, so I got out my Nokia phone, lined the IR (Infrared) port up on the Nokia phone with the IR port on the Pocket PC, allowed the Pocket PC software to then dial out and connect using the phone as a modem. From recollection I think I was getting around 3 kbps, one thing I remember is it was slow, very slow. It did the job and providing I didn’t knock the Pocket PC or Phone, and the IR beam didn’t get interrupted in any way, and the phone signal didn’t drop, I could eventually download my email to read it off-line.

I also had a keyboard dock that I could place the iPaq into, the keyboard worked great and it enabled me to not have to use a stylus on-screen. It allowed me to type large amounts of text without having to use the 1 tap stylus. Of course, I’d have to then reconnect the modem and then it would take an age to upload it.

Looking back, those were the days where technology was a painful experience getting on-line.

Fast forward 10 years, and now every phone has a built-in modem, it’s capable of broadband speeds (up to 7.2mbps) and most of them have a built-in on-screen keyboard you can use without a stylus (aka your fingers are the stylus). The phones are always connected, so you don’t have to wait a good 60+ seconds for it to connect to the Internet, it’s always connected.

Now if I want to connect to the Internet, I just open up my email icon and it’s already checked using push email seconds to a minute before, so I don’t even have to hit a send/receive button. If I need to send an email, I just type out the email, hit send, and it’s gone within seconds. Likewise there’s Internet apps, which allow me to check where my friends and family are, interact with them, share things like my location, what I’m doing, even play a game on-line, all done within seconds.

Technology is a big part of our lives now, whether we like it or not. Gone are the days of not being connected to the Internet for the most of us (unless we leave our phone at home) and that’s a tough pill to swallow. What if someone wants to contact you? What happens if you need to make an emergency phone call? What if you’re lost? Picking up our Internet connected SmartPhone now is simply like picking up our car keys or house keys, basically you wouldn’t leave your keys at home as much as you wouldn’t leave your SmartPhone at home.

Many of the younger generation won’t have had to have gone through the painful experience, very similar to playing with pixel clashing 8kb ZX Spectrum. Now we can play console games on our phones and even beam them to our large screen TV’s.

It’s strange to see how far technology has come, for the most it’s even harder seeing what technology will be like in another 10 years. One thing I can tell you is the hover boots and flying cars still won’t be available, nor will living on the moon. These things take a lot longer to accomplish, but our every day technology moves so fast that it’s easy to forget how painful using technology once was.

Going back even further to 1993 I remember when I purchased my first modem, I connected for 25 mins to the University of Berkeley’s FTP Server, and was amazed that my computer was actually talking to another computer the other side of the world (quite literally) and that was on a 9k modem connected to my PC. Now I have a 7,372.8k modem built into my phone and it’s always connected (and not costing me a penny until I download something).

Technology is a funny thing, sometimes we love it and sometimes we loath it, but it’s now apart of our every day life and it’s here to stay.

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Posted in Something for the Weekend, Technology

Posted by: Dave Burrows | October 7, 2011

Steve makes it to the iCloud

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Posted in Apple, iPad, Something for the Weekend, Videos

Posted by: Dave Burrows | October 6, 2011

Apple iPhone 4S UK pricing

Apple have announced that the 16gb iPhone 4S price will start from £499, although Apple haven’t yet announced the 32gb or the new 64gb prices.

Looking at the price of the iPad and previous pricing, the iPad 16gb WiFi+3G goes for £499, the iPad 32gb WiFi+ 3G goes for £579 and the iPad 64gb  WiFi+3G goes for £659.

Now looking at the current iPhone 4 prices at Apple for

  • iPhone 4 16gb – £510
  • iPhone 4 32gb – £612

It’s most likely that Apple would be looking at something around the following…

  • iPhone 4S 16gb – £499
  • iPhone 4S 32gb – £599
  • iPhone 4S 64gb –  £699

For the 32gb and 64gb models it’s possible they could go with something like £579 and £679 respectively.

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Posted in Apple, iPhone

Posted by: Dave Burrows | October 6, 2011

Comparing the Apple iPhone 4S

It seems that everything happens when I’m on vacation, firstly the announcement of the iPhone 4S and secondly and more recently, Steve Jobs passing away. I had put together the following information and thoughts on the iPhone 4S announcement, I was just about to post them when I heard the sad announcement of Steve Jobs passing away.

Many millions of people worldwide were looking out for the announcement of the iPhone 5 and were left a bit deflated when there was no iPhone 5 but a newer iPhone 4 modeled on the same design of the iPhone 4.

Apple didn’t re-design the iPhone 4 because quite frankly, the iPhone 4 is the best looking and designed iPhone to date. It’s so good that Samsung and other companies are copying the design of the iPhone 4, like they did with the iPad and iPad 2 to increase their sales.

For anyone thinking there isn’t a lot of new features in the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4S is evolutionary not revolutionary, here is a breakdown of the new features…

  • iOS 5 – greatly overhauled to enhance speed, enhance notifications and a lot more
  • Dual-Core  A5 chip, making the device much faster
  • All new 8 megapixel camera with better CMOS (almost double the pixels over the iPhone 4′s 5 megapixel camera), f/2.4 aperture and face detection
  • 1080P HD Video Recording as standard
  • New Notification Message Center and iMessage
  • iCloud support allowing you to have all your data in the cloud
  • iTunes Match allowing you to have all your music in the cloud
  • Siri. The intelligent assistant that helps you get things done. All you have to do is ask
  • iPhone 4S supports ALL networks GSM and CDMA in a single phone
  • AirPlay as standard
  • iPhone 4S is the first phone to intelligently switch between two antennas to transmit and receive, so call quality is better. It also doubles the maximum HSDPA data speeds from 7Mbps to 14.4 Mbps. Which means faster connections, faster loading and reloading, and faster downloads.

The biggest enhancement that everyone will see on a daily usage is the A5 processor as Apple explain “Two cores in the A5 chip deliver up to two times more power and up to seven times faster graphics.2 And you’ll feel the effects. Fast. iPhone 4S is quick and responsive, which makes all the difference when you’re launching apps, browsing the web, gaming and doing just about everything. And no matter what you’re doing, you can keep on doing it. Because the A5 chip is so power-efficient, iPhone 4S has outstanding battery life.“

If you still doubt the A5 chip will enhance the iPhone 4S then “The dual-core A5 chip delivers up to two times more processing power, which makes iPhone 4S even more responsive. Pages load quicker. Gameplay is better. And everything just feels faster.“

So there might not be an iPhone 5 available this year, but these are significant enhancements over the iPhone 4, very similar to the enhancements seen from the iPad 2 over the original iPad.

To compare some of the iPhone 4S features, see the table below

Will many previous iPhone customers upgrade?  I think it will be similar to how many iPad 1 customers upgraded to iPad 2.  Eventually when your mobile phone contracts are up for renewal then many will go for the iPhone 4S.  The die-hard Apple fans will undoubtedly upgrade within the first 3 months of launch.  For anyone upgrading the main enhancements will be the Speed of the dual core processor, the enhanced camera and video recording and perhaps Siri.

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Posted in Apple, iPhone, News, Technology

Posted by: Dave Burrows | October 6, 2011

Steve Jobs, a visionary creator and one that will be missed

Steve Jobs was a visionary creator, everything he designed and did in life was to perfection. Steve was a great mentor to many, whether people knew him personally or knew him in his public life, and will be dearly missed by everyone that uses Apple products.

Steve, R.I.P and enjoy your time looking down at us all from the great iCloud in the sky.

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Posted in Apple, News, Technology

Posted by: Dave Burrows | September 9, 2011

Give it back, give us back our iPhone 5… Now!!! [Video]

This is a great parody….

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Posted in Apple, iPhone, Videos

Posted by: Dave Burrows | September 2, 2011

Battery Charger review for your iPhone, iPad, Android and tablet devices

When I’m out with friends, many have their phones or gadgets die just when they want to use them, and mine are always fully charged. I always get asked how come I have so good battery power on my gadgets? It’s quite simple, I have a host of battery chargers I use.

I have 2x New Trent 5000mAh battery chargers and 2x Philips SCE4430/05 battery chargers.

The New Trent 5000mAh will give me about 40% extra power on my iPad (which already enjoys a massive 10 hours battery power), or I can get around 3x full charges of my iPhone 4.

The Philips SCE4430/05 which I have previously mentioned here and here, will give me around 1x full charge of an iPhone 4. I actually do have 3x of these and not 2, although one requires a reverse adapter (which I conveniently forget) so I tend to not use this one so much.

So in essence if I take all 4x battery chargers out I can get a massive 8x full charges of an iPhone. For the most part I never usually have to charge up my iPad as I’m never away for more than 10 hours from an electrical plug socket, but it’s nice to know I have some power on tap if I need it.

For the most part if I’m only out and about for a few hours then I’ll take my Philips SCE4430/05 with me, or if I’m out for 5+ hours then I’ll carry around the New Trent 5000mAh charger. I usually keep at least one in the car, so if I need to I can run back to the car to get additional juice.

The great thing I like about both of these battery chargers is they have a standard USB socket on them, so pretty much any USB cable you have for a phone or gadget will connect into these devices. So no real need for these attachment bits that some chargers come with (and that you always happen to lose).

The Philips SCE4430/05 is great for putting into your shirt pocket with ease, the New Trent will fit into your shirt pocket and it’s the same dimensions of the iPhone 4, but a little heavier, so although you could put your iPhone 4 and New Trent charger into the same shirt pocket, it does look a bit on the bulky side.

I always pack at least one of the New Trent 5000mAh battery chargers into a bag I carry whether it’s an iPad bag, gadget bag or even my Messenger (over the shoulder) Laptop bag or rucksack. That way I always have something available fully charged and ready to go just in case I ever need it. You’d be surprised the amount of times you think, I’m running low on battery or I need a quick top-up. Whether it’s in meetings where you might have plug sockets but no charger plug lead to being out in the street, out on location photographing something or at a friends house.

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Posted in Android, Battery Chargers, Hardware, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Reviews-Hardware, Technology, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7, Zune

Posted by: Dave Burrows | August 30, 2011

Should I convert from PC to a Mac? What advantages or disadvantages are there?

This is a common question I receive a lot from people that ask me by email or in person.  I converted from PC to Mac a little late, about 9 months ago to be exact.  I decided at a whim to suddenly try the other side as grass is usually always greener on the other side of the fence you sit on, even though many friends had tried to convert me to the Mac OS for a number of years.  I think the first suggestion was around 2001 and 10 years later I finally made the jump (or is it a leap?).

For the most part the Mac is a good platform, it’s not that disimilar to say Windows.  Both Mac and Windows have evolved leading with innovation as well as taking features from each other.  The big question that I had to ask like most people was, will most of the applications I use be available on the Mac, and if not, is there a suitable alternative?  For me, a good handful of apps were available (and of course being a different platform you have to purchase these again), for the ones that weren’t (like Jasc PaintShop Pro that I use a lot) there’s other applications like Pixelmator and other free alternatives.

For the most part I’m very happy with Mac OS X Lion (and Snow Leopard before that), it’s a good OS.  There’s a lot of good innovation like the gestures on the trackpad that Windows still doesn’t have, dashboard, mission control and more.  I use the Mac primarily for Blogging, Facebook, Google+, Gmail, internet Surfing, Photo Editing and it works extremely well.

What should you look at when buying a Mac?  Don’t go for the entry level model.  When you look at prices you’ll say “£1000+ for a laptop?  I can get a PC Laptop for £399!”.  Yes you can, but it’s an entry level laptop.  It might be a 15″ or 17″ laptop but it’s running a slower processor, less RAM and the build quality is probably pretty plastic.  MacBook Air’s and MacBook Pro’s are much more robust, build quality is superb in a single aluminium unibody (single block of metal hollowed out).  Take a look at a windows based laptop for around £1000-£1300 and then compare those specs to the Mac’s.  If you’re not looking to pay £1000 then quite simply you’re not looking at a high-end laptop, so the Mac’s may not be for you (likewise the better higher-end Windows laptops aren’t for you either).  If you’re okay with paying this amount of money for a laptop then you’re going to get a good laptop.  Get the best processor and RAM you can afford, ensure you get a laptop with an SSD (Solid State Drive) and one that’s the largest your an afford (yes you will need it).

The Mac’s with Snow Leopard have the AppStore as a download, Lion now has the Mac AppStore integrated fully into the Operating System. The Mac AppStore is similar to what you would see on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, which offers a lot of inexpensive applications (and games), and is a good first check to kitting out your Mac’s.  Apple do take 30% cut from developers through the AppStore, so you some developers still prefer to do a slightly cheaper version outside of the AppStore and to make a little more revenue per sale. However then you have to know how to install DMG files (which the Mac AppStore is just plug and play), tap on something, purchase it, it downloads and installs automatically without having to do anything else).

So if you think you’re ready, there’s no better time to make the switch or to at least try out a Mac with the Mac AppStore making it so easy.

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Posted in Apple, Mac, Technology, Windows

Posted by: Dave Burrows | August 29, 2011

Avoiding Google Street View Car, a game of cat and mouse!

I think I have done a pretty good job in my standards of avoiding the Google Street View Car over the past couple of years, but that day had to come where it would make the pounce and I couldn’t avoid it.

    1. The street I’m on managed to somehow get driven down by the Google Street View Car but thankfully 5 houses either side of my house (and including my house) managed to avoid being shown on Google Street View maps.  I’m not entirely sure why, what happened, maybe the radiation being omitted from my house  or perhaps the gun turrets in the front garden, or the sign that says “Google CEO lives here, do NOT photograph).  Actually I don’t have any of the above in the front garden, but it was my first strike at avoiding the Google Street View Car.

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    2. The  second one came at driving through my home town, I noticed the Google Street View car coming up quickly in my rear view mirror, thankfully the car in front of me managed to get out of the way quickly.  I’m not sure if it was due to the excessive waving and flashing of the headlights or whether he planned to take the turn, I managed to put my foot down and make a few left and right turns to avoid the Google Car getting too close (and to this day on the same stretch of road it doesn’t show my car).

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    3. The third came driving in Kings Langley one time in the last year, I came out of a side road to only see the Google Street View car to the right on a main road (already had passed the junction I was at before I managed to reach the junction) – another great escape!

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    4. The fourth came driving counter-clockwise around the M25 this year, I managed to see the Google Street View Car going in the opposite direction too quickly to make my car a complete blur.

More recently on a trip up into the Highlands in Scotland, unfortunately I wasn’t able to escape the evil grasps of the Google Street View car.  I was traveling up through GlenCoe and low and behold what appeared coming towards me at lightening speed was the Google Street View Car….DARN!  It got me!

These past couple of years I felt that Google was trying it’s best to follow me around and capture me.

Some of you might be asking, what’s the problem?  Well I particularly don’t want to be photographed by the Google Street View Car, or any other photo nabbing system that might be out there.  It’s not that I’m doing anything wrong, I’m not skiving off work, speeding or driving illegally.

It’s bad enough with all the CCTV where in London the average person is photographed around 50 times a day as they walk around the streets, on the underground, train networks, on buses, in shops etc, you don’t really want your face blurred out on a street for 10 years do you?

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Posted in GPS Utilities, Hardware, Technology

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