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i’m watch – The Android Powered Watch

By Cheryl | Posted in Android, Gadgets | December 1, 2011 – 1:05 pm

Ever fancied receiving calls or even emails to your watch? Well now you can. i’m watch takes everything from your Android phone and puts it’s straight on your wrist.

Users will be able to make and receive calls, text messages and emails on the device while also keeping up with notifications from the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.

Music can also be played from the watch and purchased from the i’music store, and like all Android handsets, the device can handle various apps which can be purchased through the i’market.

Many of the options on the watch require internet connection, and handsets that work with the device include: Android, RIM, iOS, Bada, Symbian and the Windows Phone 7. The watch itself is connected entirely through Bluetooth but disappointingly runs Android 1.6.

i.MX233 processor
64 MB RAM
4 GB Flash Drive
1.54-inch colour TFT display
240×240 pixels
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Standby 48 hours w/o Bluetooth
Standby up to 24 hours w/ Bluetooth
Talk time with speakerphone up to 3 hours
70 gr weight (Colour version)
Charging via USB to computer or via power adapter

At such an expensive price it will be hard for this product to become little more than a novelty, with people able to purchase handheld devices for a lower cost.

Would I buy it? No. As much as I love Android I’m not sure how much use I would get from the watch and would much rather use a handset. It’s obvious the technology is still quite away from being perfected so maybe waiting another year or two before buying such technology would be your best bet.

One question…What were they thinking with the name?!

Prices start at €249.

LG unveils first 3D Smartphone

By Cheryl | Posted in 3D, Android, Gadgets, Gaming, Twitter at 12 | February 15, 2011 – 12:57 pm

It was always a matter of who rather than when, as we awaited the announcement of the first 3D Smartphone.

It appears that LG has won the race to release the first 3D phone to the market, as it’s LG Optimus 3D was shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, held between the 14th and 17th February.

The phone will come with dual 5-megapixel cameras offering 3D recording, HDMI and DLNA for 3D content sharing, and a LCD screen capable of displaying 3D without the use of special eyewear.

It’s not just the 3D display that’s impressive; the device will contain a dual-core processor, 8GB of storage, and will run Android 2.2 Froyo with an upgrade to Gingerbread possible in the future.

The phone is expected to be released in the spring but it is not yet known what the true market appeal for 3D Smartphones is.

Nintendo were the first to bring out this new technology with their 3DS, and the company have recently announced they expect global sales to hit 4 million by the end of March. Although you can’t really compare the two products, mobile phones are just as likely to be used to play games as they are for making phone calls, making the appeal greater.

The company also announced the first 3D tablet, the LG G-Slate, at the event so expect a review on that in the near future!

Acer Revo 100 – The home theatre

By Cheryl | Posted in Entertainment, Gadgets, Twitter at 12 | January 26, 2011 – 1:04 pm

It may look like a PlayStation, but in fact it’s Acer’s new Revo 100.

The stylish desktop system is designed for your living room and is all about connecting media from PC to TV.

Designed with looks in mind, the PC is stylish and is one of the slimmest systems on the market. Adding to its uniqueness, it can be placed landscape or upright and comes with a simple looking stand and Windows 7 installed.

Social media is the big thing right now so being able to connect your Facebook, YouTube and Flickr accounts to share/upload images will be a big plus for many users.

Another feature that’s impressive is the systems ability to upload images from your phone. As soon as you step in to your house, or are in the Wi-Fi signal area, the PC will automatically upload the images. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on what type of pictures you take!

It’s the small things…

One of the most attractive features of the Revo is the slate-like keyboard and mouse. When not in use, the slate can be inserted in to the chassis, which also acts as a charging station and volume control wheel. There is also a mouse mode available, turning your keyboard in to a touch-mouse, similar to Apple’s Touchpad.

The downside? As the keyboard is touch-type, it may not be the best for writing long text and you might find it slowing you down but a keyboard can be attached to the system to solve that problem.

Clear.fi

As you would imagine, Windows 7 doesn’t work very well as a TV interface, which is why Acer have created Clear.fi.

Clear.fi is Acer’s media sharing system making the sharing of multimedia content easier. Connecting a device to the network allows you to instantly share multi-format content and stream it across multi-platform devices.

Acer had the following to say about the product, “Clear.fi is the Acer media sharing system based on the idea that it’s easier if all multimedia content is simply brought into a single system with a common interface. No matter where they are”

One problem is the software is not fully developed yet and has no support for services such as iTunes and iPlayer available at present. Hopefully this will be completed this year and we’ll be left with a very impressive product.

Back to the device

What has let other devices of this kind down recently is lack of Blu-ray support. Luckily you won’t have to worry about it with this PC as it comes with an integrated Blu-ray drive AND is 3D compatible. Impressive.

The PC also comes with a 500GB hard drive, allowing for a lot of movie storage, and 2GB or RAM which can be upgraded to 4GB.

Verdict

Acer have made something special, and although the computer itself may not be the most powerful, if they can develop it in the way they have with the appearance Acer could be on to a winner.

Specification

AMD Athlon II Neo dual-core processor

Nvidia ION graphics

2GB standard (up to 4GB)

500GB Hard drive

Blu-ray

Wi-Fi

3 USB ports

Multi-in-1 card reader

HDMI port

Spotify team up with Logitech

By Cheryl | Posted in Entertainment, Gadgets, News, Twitter at 12 | January 17, 2011 – 12:59 pm

Looks like you’ll be ‘spotting’ Spotify a lot more following an announcement earlier this week that the firm will be partnering with Logitech.

The joint venture will see the popular software appear on Logitech Squeezebox Touch and Squeezebox Radio products.

Squeeze what?!

The Squeezebox is a media player that allows you to wirelessly transmit music through your home. The device gives users the opportunity to browse, organise and play tracks from their own collection, CD’s and even online stores such as iTunes. They are also able to enjoy thousands of free internet radio stations, making complaining about having nothing to listen to a thing of the past.

The player is easy on the eyes too and Logitech have obviously moved with the times, offering the ‘Squeezebox Touch’; the attractive touch-screen media player.

The partnership with see Spotify’s music streaming service available on the Logitech media player, allowing you to listen to all the latest tracks from a number of record labels.

Although Logitech already have partnerships with other music-streaming companies such as Rhapsody and Pandora, Spotify will surely be a popular acquisition for the company.

Romain Du Gardier, senior product manager for Logitech EMEA had the following to say about the partnership:-

“Whatever music you like from wherever in the world, Spotify and Squeezebox make it even easier for you to sit back, listen and relax in any room in your home,” added Du Gardier. “Logitech is delighted to add Spotify to its family of online music services for the Squeezebox product line.”

Spotify

Spotify is a music streaming service offering users the ability to listen to music from major record labels including Sony, Universal, EMI and Warner Music Group.

The news of the partnership comes at a time when people are hitting back over the company’s inability to move the service to the US. It seems the company is finding it hard to broker a deal with record labels in the US, meaning the release date has been constantly moved.

On a good note though, the partnership with Logitech proves that Spotify is a highly rated and much sought after service, meaning there will be a lot of people over the pond hoping they can thrash a plan out with the record labels sometime this year.

Spotify is currently available in Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

What do you need to get started?

All you’ll need is a premium Spotify account to use the software. This is available at £9.99 per month and can be used on any PC/Mac, mobile phone or Squeezebox.

The Gadget Timeline…

By Jemma | Posted in Fact Friday, Gadgets, Gaming, Google, Mobile | December 17, 2010 – 12:59 pm

Gadgets have been around forever, even over ten years ago there were exciting new Toys to play with.

In our Fact Friday this week we are doing a Doc Brown and going back in time to see the gadgets that have moulded our society of today.

Playstation 1 – 1995

It was released September 29 1995 and was a massive hit, with games like Crash Bandicoot and street Fighter.

Digital Cameras – 1995

Everyone owns a digital camera of some sort and it all started back in 1995. It is said that

Eastman Kodak invented the first ever digital camera and the technology has just grown from there.

Windows 95

Design and planning started for this three years previous to the actual release date. It was said that Windows 95 was released with the single “Start Me Up” (Rolling Stones) on it and Microsoft paid them between $8-$14 million dollars for the privilege.

DVD 1996

DVD was a massive change from VHS and it took a while for people to adapt to the huge improvements, like being able to watch a film again without having to rewind it! Toshiba and JVC are the two known companies who made the first generation of DVD players and are as popular today as they were back then.

Flat screen 1998

Even though these are now the most popular, must have necessity in our living room they have been round quite a while. They were a lot more expensive back in 1998 thus not as popular as today.

Google 1998

The one and only Google.com, this is one of the (if not the most popular) site on the web. With about 320 million hits a day this has become the search engine of the century and I don’t think things are about to change any time soon.

Nokia 3210 1999

The infamous Nokia 3210 was extremely popular and was the beginning of a revolution when it came to mobile phones. It was one of the first mobiles to hide the big awkward antenna and have a choice of three games. Everyone loves a game of good old snake!

Apple iPod 2001

This was an amazing gadget which could hold up to 1,000 songs and was very small and compact in form. You could automatically download songs off iTunes onto this tiny 6.5 ounce design.

Sky+ 2001

Sky plus has been a revelation and when it first came out back in 2001 everyone was wowed at the fact that you can record programmes and watch them at any time you want. For us busy folk this was perfect!

Facebook 2004

Social Networking site of the past six years, Facebook is forever growing in users and popularity. Even with the competitor Twitter, Facebook is still going strong.

Apple iPhone 2007

2007 brought the unveiling of the iPhone, it was known as a widescreen iPod but turned out to be much more. It came with wifi, camera, visual voicemail, email and web browsing. It was extremely popular and sought after and still is today.

Apple iPad – 2010

This year came the sensation that is the Apple iPad. Basically like a hand held computer, this gadget has sold over two million and the number is only increasing.

So there is a look back at technology over the past 15 years. I personally used to be a fan of the Playstation 1 – couldn’t beat a bit of Crash Bandicoot on a Saturday night!

Tagged: Apple, Cameras and Camcorders, Facebook, Google, Mobile phone, Social networking |

MacBook Air

By Cheryl | Posted in Apple, Gadgets, Twitter at 12 | November 16, 2010 – 1:09 pm

Another week, another Apple release.

Steve Jobs took to the stage last week to announce the follow up to the MacBook Air… and it’s called… the MacBook Air. Must be running out new of names!

The original MacBook Air was released in 2008 to a mixed reception and with a huge price tag, but this time it looks like Apple have put things right and worked hard on producing a product that matches up to their own high standards.

How does it look?

In a world were technology is getting thinner by the week, Apple’s new release is no exception, measuring just 0.68 inches and 0.11 inches at its thinnest point.

Like the iPad, the laptop relies solely on flash memory, making the system quick and reliable. A lot has also been made about the ultra high resolution display, which boasts the display of a laptop twice its size.

The 5-7 hours battery life, dependant on the model, is better than the original release and the 30 day standby mode sounds impressive. The System boot up isn’t too shabby either, how does 12 seconds sound?

FaceTime Camera

Apple’s thinnest camera to date, even smaller than the one currently in the iPhone 4, makes it possible to keep connected via iPhone 4, iPod Touch or Mac.

Multi-Touch Trackpad

One of the most impressive parts of the new MacBook Air is the trackpad. You are able to pinch, rotate and swipe to zoom in on text and adjust images. Expose is still one of the most popular features on the Mac and all the settings can be used by simply swiping your fingers across the pad.

Issues

As nice as the device looks, it’s not without its problems. Much has been made about the keyboard, especially on Apple’s own message board. So what’s all the fuss about you ask? Lack of backlight behind the keyboard. That’s right, Apple have introduced a black keyboard to the new MacBook Air and have decided to take away the backlight; this has caused quite a stir with people actually cancelling their orders. What was Steve thinking?!?

Pricing

As the prices show, the Mac Book Air is not the cheapest laptop on the market but if you’re looking for an ultralight and portable laptop, you can’t beat this one.

11-inch – 64GB – £849.00
11-inch – 128GB – £999.00
13-inch – 128GB – £1,099.00
13-inch – 256GB – £1,349.00

Tagged: Apple |

Top five gadgets for Christmas

By Jemma | Posted in Fact Friday, Gadgets | November 5, 2010 – 1:40 pm

It is only 49 days until the big day arrives and there are some fab gadgets out there to get you in the festive spirit. We have listed some of our favourite Christmas crackers below if you would like to take a look…

Xbox Kinect – Kinect is the Xbox motion-sensing peripheral that allows you to play compatible games completely controller free. Also you can interact with dashboard with out picking up your pad.

Samsung Galaxy Tab – This has hit the stores this month and will no doubt be a big seller for Christmas. It has a 7″ touch screen and is packed with incredible entertainment and communication features.

Phillips GoGear Muse – This has a quality 3.2-inch HVGA touch screen to improve video and image viewing, and includes an HDMI output for hooking the device up to your TV.

Ion Twin Video – This is a great new take on a portable camcorder, it has both front and back lenses so you can record what’s in front of you and also yourself at the same time.

MacBook Air 13” – This offers solid state flash storage similar to the iPad, not to mention up to seven hours’ battery life. It is a super skinny 0.6 inches at its thickest point and offers solid state flash storage similar to the iPad.

These gadgets are well worthy of there places in our top five and are most definitely ones to look our for in the run up to Christmas. So why not give in to your geeky side and treat yourself this Christmas.

Tagged: Cameras and Camcorders |

Go on treat yourself…

By Jemma | Posted in Gadgets, Twitter at 12 | November 2, 2010 – 1:05 pm

Gadgets. Everyone loves a new gadget so why not splash out and treat yourself either for Christmas or a pre Christmas gift (to yourself of course).

If you have a few spare pennies this month or cash is just burning a hole in your pocket, here are a couple of examples of fab new gadgets….

Beatbox Sound Dock

Dr Dre’s Beatbox is an amazingly compact and portable box with a multi-speaker club system. Beatbox unleashes the driving bass, lush midrange and great energy for playing almost anything.

It is priced at £319.99 and is well worth it.

DV1 Pocket Recorder

Although small, this device is shockproof up to 1.5 metres and waterproof up to 5 metres, making it a hard gadget to break.

It has a 5 megapixal sensor which allows you to catch low noise and watch full HD videos on the go.

The price of this gadget is TBC.

Philips Stretch

For the more on the go listeners, these would be ideal.

Phillips have come together with sports brand O’Neill to design some new headphones. They are made of temperature-resistant and reliable material that can take any weather. They are flexible and made not to break or snap as the name suggests.

This is priced at £99.99

Wattson Silverlining energy monitor

This is a wireless home electricity monitor with a twist…. It looks great!

Its makers promise buyers will see an average annual saving of almost 20% on their electricity bills and it also has a new reflective design and clock function.

Priced at £125

Nintendo to launch new 3DS handheld console in 2011 – should competitor Sony start to panic?

By Nicola | Posted in 3D, Gadgets, Gaming, Twitter at 12 | October 7, 2010 – 11:59 am

Fancy playing a 3D computer without wearing glasses that make you resemble Austin Powers?

If you’re answer is no, I would encourage you to stop reading. However, if your answer is yes, you may like this little blog.

Technology giant Nintendo has announced plans to launch a new 3DS handheld that will hit shelves in Japan in February next year, which will cost as little as £188. Great ey?

Well not completely…

Us Brits will have to wait until March and there has been no confirmation yet of how much we will be charged.

Nintendo aka rubbish Father Christmas
It’s been a tough few months for the global brand as they had hoped to get the product out by Christmas, but it just isn’t possible. The minute this news hit the press, shares of Nintendo dropped. However, they remain confident in the console as its unique selling point is that you don’t have to wear glasses to enjoy the 3D element.

What else is on the market?
Playstation’s new Move controller is rapidly becoming a winner and competitor Xbox is confident its Kinect add-on will provide gamers with an exciting alternative of playing video games. How? By using a motion capture system that translates people’s body movements into game play.

But wait a minute… how does 3DS work without wearing (Austin Powers’ style) glasses?
One image is sent to user’s left eye
One image is sent to user’s right eye
Top half is made up of 2 LCD screens
They are layered on top of one another
This creates 3D image without glasses

Spokesman for the company Rob Saunders said: “The company has never worked so hard on a new product launch. We’ve got over 70 games currently in development for it. Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Mario, they’re all coming.

“What you’re seeing, I think, is games developers really getting to grips with 3D for the first time. Giving gamers something they really haven’t seen before which, without the glasses, truly is a revolution.”

Tagged: Nintendo |

All I want for Christmas is… a new mini iPad?

By Nicola | Posted in Apple, Gadgets, Retail, Twitter at 12 | October 6, 2010 – 11:55 am

I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need… la la la… okay, I take the hint – less of the Mariah Carey act.

Yes, this story is about the most wonderful time of year when we get to eat mince pies, drink mulled wine and fall asleep in front of Doctor Who.

News just in to the QuadroNation office is that Apple is busy working away delivering a new mini iPad just in time to be on the shelves before Christmas. Rumours flying around at the moment (which were mostly started by a Chinese newspaper) say that the new version would be seven inches in size, which is 2 inches smaller than the one on the market at the moment.

“Chimei Innolux will supply seven-inch LCD screens, which use the same IPS (in-plane switching) technology found in the original iPad, which improves viewing angles and colour on LCD screens,” the newspaper reported.

Following a successful 12 months, this could create yet another huge hit for Apple with some bloggers saying it could have the potential to ‘become the iPad nano of tablets’.

The current iPad model sold a staggering three million units in just the first 80 days of its release back in April of this year.

Best start writing our Christmas letter to Santa…

Tagged: Apple, IPad |