Category: Gadgets

3 Reasons to Update your iPad and 3 Reason to Not

So we have all heard and see the reviews of the new iPad. its great, its a new ipad, we get it. The real question is should you update yours, its it the viable option for anyone looking for a good tablet at a reasonable price? Here are the 3 reason you want the new iPad and the 3 reason you don’t really need it.

1. The Processor, A11

Apple has updated teh processor in its new 9.7 inch ipad. The  A10 Fusion chip inside the new iPad provides a lot of horsepower for multitasking, playing games and running augmented-reality apps. Power for the slew of Augmented reality games and apps coming out is a necessity. This will be big and an ipad or mobile phone with out the power will be a liability. This reason alone makes this iPad a need. If you’re going to be editing video with the iPad, you’ll be glad to know it can churn through clips with ease. It transcoded a 4K clip in just 57 seconds. need

2. Apple Pencil makes a big difference

The Apple Pencil is a worthwhile accessory for taking notes, drawing or marking up documents. It provides remarkable precision without lag, as well as both tilt sensitivity and pressure sensitivity. All of Apple’s iWork apps have been updated to support the Apple Pencil, including Pages, which has a handy new Smart Annotation feature. Its only $99 for schools.

   3. Camera And Battery

The 8-megapixel camera on the back of the 9.7-inch iPad captures sharper-looking photos and smooth 1080p video, which makes it a valuable tool for anyone working on multimedia projects. The Battery has been vastly improves to  lasted just over 10 hours.

So why would I pass on this less expensive iPad? There are some things you should consider, its not all gravy with the new iPad.

1. The Design

its the same old, same old looking iPad. No real physical improvements in 3 years now. its not thinner, lighter or more elegant. They even stuck with the home button instead on making the iPhone X jump in design. pass.

2. All the New Accessories

Toys, gadgets, features and functions all come with a hefty price. The pencil alone is $99, add in the keyboard and iPad Smart Cover you are adding another $150. The $299 price has us all excited but here they come with the add-ons. You’re gonna get add-ons. Oh yeah and the Keyboard wont even work with the new iPad… pass

3 The Display

Another big miss on the new iPad is the display. We are stuck with the same LED, it would have made all the sense to go to an OLED like the iPhone X. Instead they just left it alone, no enhancement to the screen at all. pass..

The Final Thought

I love the power, I probably wont use the pen.. I mean its cheap enough but Im not rushing to pick one up. I’m just not moved and I need to be moved.

March 30, 2018
RED the Smartphone

In 2017, the cinema camera making company RED announced it was working a smarthphone with a holographic screen Consumers were unsure what this meant until September 2017. Essentially, the phone would provide a 3D viewing experience on screen, projecting things like buildings and landscapes in an interactive map. A user could essentially take a virtual tour via the phone screen, looking around, above, behind, or in-between various objects.

The RED smart phone is currently available for pre-order, for the fairly hefty price tag of $1,195. No official release date has been announced, but the company says its Hydrogen One smartphone will ship this summer. Jim Jannard, RED’s CEO and founder, gave the update in January. RED says that the Hydrogen One phone is still months away from being released. But it does at least have a timeline: the phone is supposed to enter mass production and then ship sometime this summer.

What Is It?

There have been a few basic details about the phone around since last July, and Jannard has now revealed a few more: it’ll run a Snapdragon 835 processor (Jannard writes that it’s an “835x,” which doesn’t currently exist, so it’s unclear if that’s a typo or some upcoming variant), have a dual SIM slot, and include a 4,500mAh battery, which is relatively huge. (The Note 8, for comparison, has a 3,300mAh battery.) The downside to this phone being released a full year after it was announced is that, while the 835 is a top-of-the-line chip, it’ll be succeeded by the Snapdragon 845 by the time the Hydrogen One actually makes it to market. That’s not necessarily a huge deal, but for a phone this expensive, it’s not great, either.

This 4V — or ‘four view’ — tech is what makes the Hydrogen One exciting on paper. With it, the phone can handle normal 2D media, stereo 3D, augmented reality, virtual reality and augmented reality, without additional glasses or headsets. The company hasn’t been forthcoming in explaining how this will work, although it did offer a slightly bemusing description in its update: “The 4V files match the pixel resolution of a traditional 2D file, which is great for downloading. The resolution perception is just different. The horizontal resolution of 2D is now split into depth layers. It gives a completely different feeling. All the pixels are there… but instead of ‘looking at’ a pic, you are immersed in the image. It is quite spectacular.” RED is best known for its high-spec camera, so if it pulls this off, it certainly will be quite spectacular. At least both skeptics and supporters will only have to wait a few months to find out.

The Final Thought

Alot of anticipation, hesitation, and skepticism are surrounding the. good be peaches, could be lunch meat we wont know till this summer. Ill with hold any true judgement until then, stay tuned.

March 30, 2018
Hands On the New iPad
If the computer were invented today, what would it look like? It would be powerful enough for any task. So mobile you could take it everywhere. And so intuitive you could use it any way you wanted — with touch, a keyboard, or even a pencil.¹ In other words, it wouldn’t really be a “computer.” It would be the new iPad.

The Great
- Fast A10 Fusion performance
- Works with Apple Pencil
- Fun augmented-reality apps
- Good battery life
The Not
- Thick bezels
- Apple Pencil
- keyboard and cover at additional cost
The Conclusion

The new 9.7-inch iPad provides plenty of power, long battery life and Apple Pencil support, all for a really great price. What are you waiting for..? Go update.

The iPad still packs a sharp, 9.7-inch display into a compact and lightweight aluminum package. But the overall aesthetic is a bit tired in an age of shrinking bezels on phones; the thick black border around the screen feels somewhat antiquated even for the iPad’s relatively low price. The budget iPad from 2017 has been updated – Apple says it’s an iPad for education, but it’s actually a really impressive tablet for the general user who wants to get a great experience – and having the Apple Pencil support on there as well is great

The Design

The design feels solid, and I didn’t feel that much strain when holding the device up to browse the web, check my email and play with AR apps for long stretches. The iPad weighs a very manageable 1.03 pounds for the Wi-Fi version (the LTE model weighs 1.05 pounds), and it measures just 0.29 inches thick.

The trusty old Home button sits beneath the screen to handle Touch ID for logging in, and there’s a Lightning connector on the bottom for charging and a headphone jack up top

The 9.7-inch display on the iPad packs 2048 x 1536 pixels, so it’s plenty sharp for watching movies, playing games and working on reports. It’s also bright and colorful; as I watched the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War on this panel, I could make out individual wisps of the Scarlet Witch’s red hair dappled in sunlight, and the details of her leather jacket didn’t get lost in the shadows.

The Pencil

The main feature of the new iPad is the fact that it’s Apple Pencil-compatible, something that’s not been seen since the launch of the iPad Pro range. Apple’s entry-level iPad now supports Apple Pencil, which means you can use the $99 accessory to draw, take notes and interact with a growing number of Pencil-enabled apps. This is the first ‘normal’ tablet from Apple to take advantage of the accessory, and it’s designed to give students a chance to ditch the notepad and use only the iPad for class.

A tool so precise that Disney animators use it, the Apple Pencil felt completely natural to use in my testing. Writing with it will be hard to actually input though, and that’s partly down to the fact that most people have forgotten how to actually write words down, and partly because the feel of the screen under the Apple Pencil still feels too slippery to write properly.

If you slow down it’s not too bad, but you can’t note-take as fast as with a pen and notepad.

The Final Thought

With a power upgrade and the support for the pencil all at a cheaper price whats not to like. The ipad is already best in class, there are tablets then there is the iPad. Speaking as someone who worked the front retail lines in the mobile universe, you cant give tablets away but everyone wants an iPad.
March 30, 2018
SmartPhone Spotlight: iPhone 8 Plus
Phone 8 Plus introduces an all‑new glass design. The world’s most popular camera, now even better. The most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone. Wireless charging that’s truly effortless. And augmented reality experiences never before possible. iPhone 8 Plus . A new bigger generation of iPhone.

The Great
- Insane performance
- Dual Camera, Portrait Mode
- Excellent, versatile camera
- Great screen
- Super speakers
- Wireless charging is nice to have
- 3gb of RAM
The Not
- Its heavy
- …come on, its perfect
The Conclusion

The iPhone 8 is great, the iPhone 8 plus is better, bigger, and a much better camera

But the Size

I know everyone thinks they don’t want to carry a bigger phone in their pocket. Its too big they say. Ill drop it. Calm down, you will adjust to the size in a few hours. Its size is perfect, not a liability. Once you adjust you will feel like you could crush the 8 in your palm because its too puney.

the iPhone 8 Plus represents a new update on a modern classic. There are nice upgrades to the screen, camera and processor, although nothing that will really make you say ‘wow’. It’s an iPhone 7S Plus but better.

What Do You Get with a Plus

There are a few differences with the iPhone 8 plus over the 8 than just the size. One big difference is the extra GB of memory. The iPhone 8 Plus has 3GB of RAM, while the iPhone 8 has 2GB. Battery: A tear down revealed that the iPhone 8 has a 1,821mAh battery, while the iPhone 8 Plus has a 2,675mAh battery. Camera: Both phones have a 12MP rear camera with an f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization.

This Camera

The major difference is the dual camera on the back. Why do I want two cameras on the back of my phone? Portrait Mode. That is why. Dual cameras and new facial land marking create dramatic studio lighting effects in Portrait mode. The photos generally turned out great. Low-light gains aren’t as dramatic as I expected compared to the already excellent iPhone 7 Plus, but the photos I’ve been taking have generally looked phenomenal.

Portrait Mode, which debuted last year, now supports flash photography and HDR. The 8 Plus and the X add a new photo technique called Portrait Lighting, a beta feature that adds simulated 3D lighting to faces and even strips out backgrounds to create a studio-shot effect.

Quick Spec Look
- – IP67 certified – dust and water resistant
- Apple A11 Bionic Chipset
- 3 gb of Ram
- Hexa-core (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral)
- Apple GPU (three-core graphics
- 12 MP (f/1.8, 28mm), phase detection autofocus, OIS, quad-LED dual-tone flash,
- 7 MP, f/2.2, 1080p@30fps, 720p@240fps, face detection, HDR, panorama
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot
- Fingerprint (front-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
- Non-removable Li-Ion 1821 mAh battery (6.96 Wh) 14 hours in uses, 40 hours stand by
- LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
- 4.7 inches, 60.9 cm2 (~65.4% screen-to-body ratio)
The Final Thought

I like the plus, its the iPhone but bigger and better. Its beautiful and powerful, like Vin Deisel. Yes that the best way to put it, its the Vin Deisel of phones. Its the Iphone with More RAM, More Camera, More Screen.
March 15, 2018
Laptop Lookout: HP ZBook X2
Its not a Notebook, barely a laptop but it a great PC solution. Hp is Introducing the world’s most powerful detachable PC with remarkable performance and versatility to push your favorite Adobe applications to the limit. Yes it’s a full-performance workstation-class laptop experience with full-sized keyboard and integrated stand. With HP Quick Keys, keep working in your Adobe® apps without the use of a keyboard. The full-sized Bluetooth® keyboard stays active when detached, so you can keep working.

The Good
- Adobe featured
- great stylus
- Great shortcut OS features
- Good Keyboard
The Not
- Battery-life not great
- Lacks graphic performance
- Overpriced
The Conclusion

I cant call it a 2 in 1, its barley a laptop but much more then a notebook or tablet. Really its everything and does it all pretty well but is a master of none.

This is no notebook. This is a specialized tool designed to serve as a complete solution for digital artists, photographers and other creatives. It’s massive, but designed to provide easy access to shortcuts. It also has a professional-grade stylus and a matte 4k display that feels as if you’re drawing on paper.

The Design

You’ve never seen a laptop like this before. The ZBook is industrial in a way that looks powerful. It’s a large octagon of metal. The back is a very plain gunmetal gray with a reflective Z logo and a whole bunch of vents for cooling. The pull-out kickstand could use a little more to put you fingers in the small notches on the side, but it pulls out almost flat, up to 165 degrees.

With a 4k Display and only a 14 inch bezel surrounding it makes it very attractive to look at. Windows Hello is in place with an infrared camera and webcam stuffed in the top. The best part of the design is the 12 programmable shortcut buttons built down the sides. Down the right side you will find a fingerprint reader, an SD card slot, a USB 3.0 port, an HDMI output, a pair of Thunderbolt ports and a barrel-shaped charging jack.Its a big heaver then the others in its class at 4.9lbs but it feels much more rugged and sturdy. The metal body helps this.

The Power

It has the power, it has all the specs of a workstation PC: a quad-core i7 processor (from Intel’s Kaby Lake-R line), an Nvidia Quadro M620 graphics card, and up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD in a versatile desgin. These are the top line specs so you are gonna have to pay more to get the juice. It also rocks a Wacom EMR-enabled and battery-free stylus with 4,096 levels of pressure, comparable to many of Wacom’s gaphics tablets. Then there’s the four modes that the detachable 2-in-1 can be used in. That includes a docked mode where the device can connect to two external 4K displays simultaneously and a “detached” mode where the keyboard functions as a Bluetooth keyboard.

The Final Thought

Its got some neat, unique features and functions. The short-cut keys, the kickstand. Its got the versatility being a tablet, 2-1, and powerful PC. Yes its the most powerful detachable pc tablet laptop but at what cost? It’s a good fit for for artists, 4K videographers, and anyone who needs massive power in a versatile form…
March 12, 2018
3 Cool Updates From Samsungs Television

1. Translucent Ambient Televisions

For years, Samsung has been trying to make TVs look pretty even when you’re not watching TV. The company just announced the latest lineup of its flagship QLED TVs with an all-new feature called Ambient Mode. Basically, thanks to some hardware trickery, Ambient Mode can replicate the texture on the wall behind your TV and almost make it disappear. It’s sort of like an invisibility cloak for your TV.

The demo of this new feature worked well, blending it perfectly with the brick wall behind it. I am super excited to blend a TV in to my living room wall. It would be perfect, until you see a bunch of wires hanging from some random bricks in my fireplace. that leads us to number 2

2.A New Single Translucent Cable Wire

If i have a tv the can be translucent mounted to my wall but the tangle of cords jutting out of the back of the TV, pushing it away from the wall and then dangling down to wherever the cable box, PS4, and Wii U reside, is ugly and pointless. So Samsung did something that strikes you, innately, as both backward and forward thing—it moved all the ports of the TV.

On the 2017 Q9 TV from Samsung they have managed to pack 6 input ports in to a minuscule cord. The Cord is translucent, making it less visible against a bare wall. It will connect to a unit like Samsung’s current One Connect Box, which includes USB 3.0, coax, and multiple HDMI ports. THis seems like the answer to the translucent TV cord issue..

3. The Wall, Summer

MicroLED is a technology that shrinks traditional LEDs to a smaller size, and gives them the ability to produce their own light. Think OLED, but take out the organic part. MicroLED doesn’t require a discrete backlight, and there’s no need for LCD shutters. In turn, this creates a brighter, more contrast-rich television that can turn pixels off individually. This has brought us the next level of cool from Samsung… The Wall.

Yes, yes we have all seen from the unveiling at the CES 2018 in Jan.. so tell me something I don’t know. Samsung’s the Wall is the next big thing. It seemed to be just a concept with actual production and availability in the distant future. Even Samsung said “we are still years away, their next step is a 2-5 year plan for a 75 inch MicroLED set”. With a big announcement today, we have an answer.. August.

We will see the Wall available to consumers August 2018. Given the customization nature of The Wall and the technology it uses, chances are it won’t be cheap when it does come out this summer. I am still guessing 10k.

March 7, 2018
Amazon Buys Ring Doorbell Company

News broke today that Amazon has purchased the Ring Co., best known for their smart doorbell system. The terms of the deal are still unknown, but it’s expected that Amazon will likely keep the product as is with an upgraded Amazon Ecosystem. Ring already supports Alexa voice control and I would imagine we can expect more upgrades to come. The rumored purchase price was for $1 Billion dollars, but this is not confirmed.

What the Sale Means for Ring?

The two companies aren’t specific about their plans. In a statement, Amazon told Engadget it was “excited” to work with Ring and aid in its “mission to keep homes safe and secure.” the company said it could “achieve even more” by allying itself with Amazon as it focuses on its “vision for safer neighborhoods.” With this purchase in addition to Blink, Amazon now own two major companies that produce doorbells and wireless security cameras. Amazon’s apparent mission is find a cornerstone in the home safety market.

This purchase should help Amazon have the hardware to rival the GoogleNest System. Nest partnered up with Google and has been expanding their presence most recently with the Hello Video Doorbell. We can all imagine that Amazon will make a similar addition to the Ring especially after they recently changed their policy to state the following:

The Policy Change

“Where permitted by applicable law, you may choose to use additional functionality in your Ring product that, through video data from your device, can recognize facial characteristics of familiar visitors. For example, you may want to receive different notifications from your Ring Doorbell depending on whether a visitor is a stranger or a member of your household. If you choose to activate this feature, we obtain certain facial feature information about the visitors you ask your Ring product to recognize. We require your explicit consent before you can take advantage of this feature.”

The Summary

This recent purchase could mean big things for Amazon and the smart doorbell company. Because of the Google and Nest partnership, Amazon could feel threatened and need to make moves to stay atop the voice activated and video world. Never the less, Amazon should increase the doorbell’s capability and features. I await to see what upgrades the company gets.

March 1, 2018
Fitbit’s New Smart Watch Unveiled

Recently Fitbit’s CEO James Park, said that the company is working on a “mass appeal smartwatch” following fading sales of its Iconic line. As of today, the company unveiled it’s new smartwatch at the MWC in Barcelona, Spain.

First Looks

Early images were obtained of the company’s upcoming smartwatch, and it doesn’t look bad! The unnamed watch still has some work and fine tuning ahead of it, but Fitbit appears excited for its upcoming launch.

Similar to the Ionic, this new smartwatch will run the new Fitbit OS platform that allows for app support, notifications, and more in addition to Fitbit’s standard fitness-tracking suite. The new watch is expected to be quite a bit smaller than the Ionic, and it’ll come in black, silver, rose gold, and matte colors with an assortment of different bands. As the product is released, I’m sure we’ll see all sorts of bands and special addition color schemes.

It’s expected that the smartwatch will be water-resistant up to 50m and comes with the Ionic’s SpO2 sensor that can eventually track and monitor your sleeping habits and nighttime issues such as Sleep Apnea. At the moment it does not appear that the watch will come with GPS. We can likely expect the watches to come with NFC so Fitbit can keep pushing its Fitbit Pay platform, but there’s no word on this just yet.

Additionally, Fitbit want to expand and “appeal to a larger, more general smartwatch audience”, Wareable’s source says that this watch will also come with a lower price than the Ionic which currently retails for $299. At a cost significantly lower than the Apple Watch, this one is definitely worth trying on.

Summary

With a sleek and polished look, I’m eager to see what the watch will look like at the time of it’s release. I am hoping that there is some upgrades regarding battery life as well. As for now looks like im sticking with my 1985 Casio, but when Fitbit releases there new awaited watch, I may have to upgrade.

March 1, 2018
SmartPhone Spotlight: Nokia 8 Sirocco
Nokia has officially launched the Nokia 8 Sirocco at the MWC 2018, which will be available from April 2018 . In fact, this is the most powerful phone that will support Android One.

The Great
- Premium Line
- Solid Stainless steel build
- Qi wireless charging
The Not
- No headphone jack
- Poor battery performance
- Snap dragon 835 not 845 processor
The Conclusion

a Snapdragon 835 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, dual rear facing camera, a fingerprint sensor, face unlock and Android 8 Oreo onboard – ensuring the Nokia’s 8 Sirocco has a sizable spec sheet to justify a lofty price tag. With a slew of new android flagship phones launching from every direction, the Sirocco will have its work cut out to steal some of the market share.

The smartphone is constructed from a single block of stainless steel a lot like the Apple iPhone X. This makes the Nokia 8 Sirocco a very durable smartphone with stainless steel being much stronger than the Aluminium. It will be IP67 water and dust resistance. As for size it measures just 7.5 mm at its thickest point and 2 mm at it thinnest. This will be the first Nokia Android smartphone to support wireless charging as well.

Quick Spec Look

The Nokia 8 Sirocco has a 5.5 inch pOLED QHD+ 2560 x 1440 px display with 18:9 aspect ratio. The display offers a dual curved design with the vacuum moulding technology with Gorilla Glass 5. The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage.

The Nokia 8 Sirocco comes with dual primary camera setup, powered by Zeiss. The primary 12 MP sensor has an f/1.75 aperture with 1.4-micron pixel size and the secondary 13 MP telephoto lens has an f/2.6 aperture. The device has a 5 MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture and 1.micron pixel size. In fact, the primary camera setup found on the smartphone is exactly similar to the Nokia 7 Plus’s camera specifications.

The device does offer additional features like NFC, 4G VoLte, Bluetooth 5.0, and a rear-facing fingerprint scanner. However, this is the first Nokia smartphone to remove the 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The Final Thought

Underneath that glossy exterior sits a Snapdragon 835 which enables VR goodness, but is still yesterday’s news compared with the brand new Snap Dragon 845. This gives one big reason to pass on Nokia’s new bad boy, but nothing stands out as a good selling reason to grab one.
February 28, 2018
The Matrix is Calling from the Nokia 8110 Reboot
Nokia has debuted a wide range of promising Android phones across a full pricing spectrum, from the slick Nokia 8 Sirocco at the top to the ultrabudget Nokia 1, which runs the stripped-down Android Go operating system. The most exciting news from Nokia is that they are bringing back the Nokia 8110.

Morpheus?

The original Nokia 8110 popularised the slider phone. You know the one we all wanted from the Matrix. We got our first look at the rebooted classic alongside a slew of new phones from Nokia at the annual phone fiesta MWC in Barcelona.

Looks like a Banana

The classic model’s curved case also earned the nickname the banana which Nokia alludes to in the bright yellow colour of the new model. I’m personally going to go full Keanu and get the black. However it is not spring loaded. When asked Nokia’s Raun Forsyth explained: ‘We looked into it but it was a matter of the complexity and the cost and space it took up. So, the width grew, the thickness grew, there were difficulties of making it reliable and risk-free. In the end we had so many concepts on how to do it: one guy wanted an eject button, then we needed something to dampen the eject and so on. In the end, it came down to that conversation of the sweet spot of being reliable, essential, not over-complicated. The phone’s dimensions are very important. Keeping this to what we consider the perfect size is a real challenge.’

It’s a blast from the past with a tiny, non-touch screen and a 0-9 keypad. Navigating it is just as hard as you’d expect until you remember you actually owned Nokia devices 15 years ago. Fortunately that unsightly top antenna from the original phone is nowhere to be seen.

Quick Spec Look
- Smart Feature OS
- Dual-core 1.1GHz Qualcomm 205 processor
- 512MB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- 2.4-inch, 320×240-pixel display
- Micro-USB charging port
- Micro SIM
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- 1,500 mAh battery
The Final Thought

I’m getting one, for $60 it will be a nice back up and it’s makes me feel like I can still walk in to a blockbuster video or call Trinity. I know shouldn’t even care about this phone’s specs because it isn’t a smartphone, so specs don’t really matter. It’s just at a 2.4-inch display, Snapdragon 205 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage, 2-megapixel camera, and 1,500 mAh battery that is removable. Remember removable batteries…. I remembers.
February 28, 2018