Tag Archives: Tablet

Christmas Gift List For Your Dad

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Dads are great so they deserve a great present. FACT. Take your pick from this lot.

christmasgiftlistsfordad

Olloclip 4-IN-1 Photo Lens

Olloclip

We loved reviewing this. It is pretty cool and makes taking pictures on a smartphone a professional experience. This lens will let you get amazing shots. The Apple users can’t wait until the one for the iPhone comes out.

Olloclip the creators of innovative smartphone lens attachments, have recently released the newest addition to their product range; the 4-in-1 for Samsung S4 and S5. Leveraging the phenomenal success of its iPhone flagship product, the olloclip 4-IN-1 Photo Lens systems for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and S4 features four lenses (fisheye, wide-angle and two macros –10x and 15x) in one small package weighing less than an ounce.

This product is available on all apple products and there are plans for the IPhone 6 versions in the pipeline. This product is ideal for snap happy smartphone users allowing them to create digital SLR quality images without the baggage. . RRP: £59.99, available in all Apple stores and online. www.Olloclip.com and here.

 

Nuevue

Nuevue

This is brilliant, very handy. iPhones can be hard to clean, this is convenient and works well. Nuevue have released the world’s first antimicrobial smartphone and tablet cases that clear away the nasty smears and fingerprints on the device’s screen in one easy slide. Whilst consumers may be travelling on holiday or the simple commute the antimicrobial technology not only cleans the screen quickly and easily — with a simple sliding motion — but eliminate microbes as well.

RRP from £34.99, available at Nuevue.com and here.

 

Personal Weather Station by Netatmo

Personal Weather Station by Netatmo-

This is amazing. Just an amazing invention. We had a lot of fun reviewing this. You can monitor the weather, C02, humidity, temperature, air quality indoors and out, barometric pressure and acoustic comfort. It allows the user to monitor indoor/ outdoor air quality with the help of two stylish cylinders that communicate their activity through a free App. It measures the humidity, CO2 and sound levels as well as the temperature – RRP £139. Available in all Apple Stores and online at Netatmo.com and here.

 

Kingston Technology Datatraveller MicroDuo 3.0

This is convenient and brilliant. Great for travelling dads or just those with a lot of data to shift. The DataTraveler microDuo 3.0 expands the storage of AndroidTM devices up to 64GB, easily moving large files, photos, videos and music from a phone or tablet to the USB drive and back. The USB 3.0 to MicroUSB dual interface drive can be used with any USB On-The-Go compatible device and allows users to transfer data without plugging into a computer. From Ebuyer.com

 

Leitz Complete Power Sleeve For 10 inch Tablet

This a brilliant, high-quality sleeve for dads tablet. Is lightweight and robust and looks very sleek and cool. A great present.

Around £24.30 Via Amazon

 

 

Microsoft Surface Tablet First Opinions – Could the Surface Flop Badly?

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So the first opinions are in on the new Microsoft Surface Tablet and the verdict isn’t great. Sam Biddle from Gizmodo gave his view on Bloomberg TV and he was pretty critical calling it ‘a real let down’.

According to Biddle the device was a complete flop as a computer replacement. The keyboard was a real struggle to type on and the track pad was unresponsive and didn’t ‘cut it’.

However he said the design was great. The engineering on the keyboard was phenomenal and it snaps beautifully into place. The kick stand was also a great addition.

Biddle thought the Surface worked better as a tablet but was not a challenger to the high end. Overall he seemed very disappointed.

Bloomberg’s Rich Jaroslovsky was more positive. One bright point is that the keyboard which Biddle disliked so much can be replaced with one with real keys (although this is more expensive at $130). Jaroslovsky found this easier than typing on glass. This might solve many of issues Biddle had.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment with the Surface is the confusion over Windows 8. The Surface only runs Window RT, a variant of Windows 8. It doesn’t run software for earlier versions of Windows. I thought the whole point of Windows 8 was to have one seamless operating system across all devices. But now they seem different anyway. Moreover Jaroslovsky saw the potential for a lot of confusion between tablet and desktop mode on the tablet. For example there are two different versions of internet explorer.

The tablet side of the Surface is not as intuitive as similar rival devices and takes getting used to. The space also gets eaten up very quickly by the windows operating system and built in apps. So it doesn’t seem as good as a laptop or a tablet.

The price is also very disappointing The Surface starts at $499 the same as the latest iPad. But at this price the Surface doesn’t even come with the keyboard cover which turns it into a laptop so it’s largely irrelevant as this is pretty much a necessity. For that it’s $100 more. At such a high price it’s difficult to see the Surface making big inroads with so many other great cheaper alternatives. Neverthless as Jaroslovsky says Microsoft get points for being bold, and the $499 version of the Surface has already sold out. The jury is still out for the moment but the first opinions suggest this product is in danger of being a flop.

RIM unveil BlackBerry PlayBook {Gadgets}

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BlackBerry makers RIM have unveiled their latest toy ‘The BlackBerry PlayBook’ and are pointing it squarely at the “let’s pretend it’s work but shh it’s actually fun” generation.

The professional-grade tablet boasts unmatched power and web performance. Perfect for either large organizations or an “army of one”, the BlackBerry PlayBook is designed to give users what they want, including uncompromised web browsing, true multitasking and high performance multimedia, while also providing advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a breakthrough development platform for IT departments and developers.

“RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world’s most robust and flexible operating systems,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia.”

Measuring less than half an inch thick and weighing less than a pound, the BlackBerry PlayBook, with its 7″ high resolution display is ultra portable. One of it’s main selling points is multi-tasking. Its performance is jointly fueled by a 1 GHz dual-core processor and the new BlackBerry Tablet OS which supports true symmetric multiprocessing.

Another of PlayBook’s big selling points is its “Uncompromised Web Browsing” with support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, Adobe® Mobile AIR® and HTML-5, the BlackBerry PlayBook provides users with an uncompromised, high-fidelity web experience and offers them the ability to enjoy all of the sites, games and media on the web. For more than a decade, the mobile industry has worked to bridge the gap between the “real web” and mobile devices through various apps and technologies and, in fact, a significant number of mobile apps today still simply serve as a proxy for web content that already exists on the web. RIM are also encouraging developers and content publishers to work with them to develop applications and content.

The BlackBerry PlayBook features dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing that can both record HD video at the same time…possibly to capture the scene you’re looking at and the look of amazement on your face at the same time…and an HDMI-out port for presenting creations on external displays. The BlackBerry PlayBook also offers rich stereo sound.

For those BlackBerry PlayBook users who carry a BlackBerry smartphone, it will also be possible to pair the tablet and smartphone using Bluetooth. This means they can opt to use the larger tablet display to seamlessly and securely view any of the email, BBM™, calendar, tasks, documents and other content that resides on (or is accessible through) their smartphone. They can also use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data.

The BlackBerry Tablet OS is built upon the yummiest sounding operating system – the QNX® Neutrino® microkernel architecture. It’s been used in everything from planes, trains and automobiles to medical equipment and the largest core routers that run the Internet.

The Specifications and Key features of the BlackBerry PlayBook include:

  • 7″ LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
  • BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
  • 1 GHz dual-core processor
  • 1 GB RAM
  • Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
  • Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
  • Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
  • HDMI video output
  • Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
  • Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
  • Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
  • Ultra thin and portable:
    • Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
    • Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
  • Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
  • RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

It’s due to reach the UK for Apr 2011 [BlackBerry PlayBook]