Category: Gadgets & Tech

Feed and watch your dog – from anywhere

“I’m a huge fan of your site”. Always a good start that. Well done PetziConnect. They launched an IndieGoGo campaign and had a goal of $30k. They’ve blown past that now and are at nearly $59k. What is it? Well, it’s a magical doo-hickey that’ll let you interact …

Beats looking to remove HTC involvement

When the Beats audio first starting appearing in HTC kit we saw, and still do, a lot of promotional material from HTC about the new sound technology. HTC at one point owned a 51% share of Beats, but that dropped down when Beats bought back 25%. A reported …

Sony DS-QX10 and DS-QX100 clip-on cameras manual leaks with specs

Earlier in the week we posted an intriguing article about a pair of clip-on 18MP optical zoom Sony camera attachments for mobile phones. We spoke about them at length on the podcast and couldn’t decide whether they were practical, silly, a hoax, or all three! Today we’ve got …

GlassUp – PayPal withholding start-up funds (Update)

Sometimes, just sometimes, PayPal decide to do something a little strange. Sometimes it seems that they’re gone to the Google School of Customer Service, where either no emails are responded to or rules are suddenly enforced that no-one was really aware of. Sadly this story involves those GlassUp …

You can’t see me…

We had a question from a reader why no-one seemed to be covering a transparent phone which promised to also allow the owner to build their own phone by selecting the processor, screen size, memory, camera almost as if you were building your own PC. Somewhat intrigued by the …

Wrappz – Personalised mobile phone cases, skins and covers

Come Padawan. Let me talk to you about something. Phones, as you’ll probably know, are ruddy expensive. I know you really, really don’t want to, but whacking a cover on your device is the best way to protect it. But hey, it’s boring isn’t it? A little bit. …

Ubuntu about to fall off the crowdsourcing edge?

Back in July we reported that the people at Ubuntu, the open-source operating system alternative to Windows or Apple, had launched a crowd-funding campaign (via Indiegogo.com) to create a new mobile phone called the Ubuntu Edge. This phone would showcase the newly developed Ubuntu phone OS and dual-boot …

Samsung Galaxy NX Android camera get UK price

Are you after a professional quality smart camera? Well the world’s first mirrorless Android powered camera with interchangeable lenses, the Samsung Galaxy NX, now has a price in the UK. I suggest you sit down… £1299.99 If you go to Jessops or Wex Photographic Warehouse werbsites and hand …

Xperia Z Ultra First Impressions

The day has arrived….. That magic day when you get your hands on with the object you have been lusting after since it was announced in all the glitz and glamour that go with product announcements. This device which is very firmly in the Phablet range with a …

Ubuntu Edge – a new phone and home computer?

The Ubuntu PC operating system has been around for a good while now, the free computer OS that is open source and helps make cheap pcs possible, especially for developing countries. They have been working on a smartphone OS for some time and now that work has been …

Buying your next phone – a third option

Let’s be honest, times are hard. The next smartphone you buy will probably be bought in one of two different ways. You’ll either get an unlocked phone or you can get a contract handset and sign up for two years or so. Getting out of that contract, by …

Review – The Snugg real bamboo wooden case

A case made of bamboo. It’s not something you hear of every day, but that’s what he people from The Snugg have loaned us. It’s currently £29.99 or $29.99 (don’t get me started on that currency conversion) and here’s a look at it. First up. Yes, it’s very …

TV viewing now involves a TV a lot less

A survey of 2,000 Americans has revealed that our TV viewing habits are definitely changing. The “Television and Advertising Survey” shows that more than a third (34%) of TV “viewership” is on a mobile device now. It also shows that 47% of Americans now watch TV programming on …

Break the seal and charge your phone

Batteries in phones are still a massive weak point in mobile phones and in Bristol they’ve started to really take the p*** with their new invention – a charger powered by urine. It all works by using microbial fuel cells which, when peed on, produces enough charge to …

Ultra Fast 64GB MicroSD Card

Global leader in flash memory storage solutions, and memory manufacturer SanDisk has a new product in their line of microSD cards, the SanDisk Extreme microSDHC and microSDXC UHS-I cards. These cards have been designed for users who need fast storage for their smart phone, tablet or camera, the …

Making money on the move

What do you use your smartphone for? Well, if you’re anything like me it’ll probably be to check Twitter and Facebook, perhaps the odd email. You may do some browsing and you may even upload photos to the web. However, why not use it for making money? In …

Sony Smart Watch 2 Available Next Week

Remember this link where we reported that the next version of the Sony Smart Watch is available for pre order with a delivery date of September.  The Web site Clove have announced that there are expecting stock on 15th July. The watch can be pre-ordered here from Clove …

Nokia Lumia 925 Wireless charging shell review

A rather nondescript envelope arrived at my house at the weekend. Now it had been a good night on the Saturday to say the least so I had forgotten arranging this delivery. With some trepidation as to what I may have bought in a Corona fueled haze I …

Top up your Sony Entertainment Wallet with your mobile

We received this email yesterday and it may be of interest to you PS3 owners out there. It basically means you can use your monthly mobile bill to top-up your Sony wallet. It is no doubt part of the preparation for the arrival of the PS4. Dear Sony …

Smartphones. What have we done to ourselves?

Hello Monday morning. This is a strange article for me, because it actually criticises the very thing I love and write about on a daily basis. The other day I was in Pizza Hut. Classy huh? I spotted two people come in and they sat directly in my …

Parrot Minikit Smart Bluetooth car kit – Review

The Parrot Minikit Smart car kit is more than just a mobile phone car dock. It’s intelligent, doing the same job as a Bluetooth enabled car. Will the £49.99 price tag save me the hassle of buying that Mercedes with the fancy stereo? Let’s hope so! Good Looks …

Do you text in sick? You’re not the only one

We’ve had an email from a company called Intercity Telecom. They’re trying to get us to mention their Orbit system, which lets you access your desk phone, mobile, instant messaging and email all in one place. A lot of companies do this, but they add a survey in …

Bluetooth-enabled gloves could see you speaking into your finger

Could this be the future of mobile communications? Could we all soon be wearing one glove like Michael Jackson? Well, it’s an idea at least, and one that has been thought up by Sean Miles of Designworks. He was approached by O2 Recycling to try and highlight possible …

Samsung announce the Galaxy NX, an interchangeable lens smart camera

Samsung’s launch event is throwing up some surprises; one of which is the Galaxy NX, an Android powered smart camera with 3G, 4G LTE and wi-fi connectivity. Big deal, I hear you cry, sounds like an updated Galaxy camera, right? Oh no, this one’s gone truly pro with …

Ex-HTC execs to launch a new range of smartphones

Well, as if the loss of all those big names from HTC wasn’t enough, now two of them are to launch a competing range of mobile handsets. Based on their press release (below) it looks like they’ll be branding handsets with their name which, by the way, is …

Be part of a TV documentary, get involved here

Yes, it’s happened at last. We all knew that it was just a matter of time, but now I’ve received an email from someone working on a TV show and they want young, handsome people who love smartphones. They want me in it, so I’m going to be …

91% of American adults now have a mobile phone

Over here in Europe we’ve become accustomed to everyone having a mobile handset.. maybe two..maybe three. In the US they were slow to start, but now ownership has hit 91% of adults, with Pew Research declaring that 56% of American adults have chosen a smartphone. The stats are …

Alert! Random cheap tablet news item

I know you. I know you well. I sneak around in your kitchen when you’re out. I know that you’ve got wine that people gave you years ago that you still haven’t drunk. I know that you have that sandwich toaster and you’ve not used that for years …

For some, it’s never inappropriate to use a phone

We’ve had an email from Co-operative Funeralcare. I couldn’t quite figure out how their services related to the smartphone world, but it turns out that they did have something quite interesting for us. They’ve conducted research which actually shows that up to one in six people have either …

MOGA mobile gaming controller released in UK

There have been several solutions to getting a proper game controller to work with mobile devices; most have been pants. The MOGA is the latest player on the block, and it’s now available for pre-order in the UK (with a provisional release date of 14th June). There are …

Review – Sumo Omni

I’m sitting outside right now. I’m sitting in the sunshine on a beanbag. It’s not something I do very often but I think I’ll start to make a habit of it. There’s a back-story to this though, and sadly it involves my rusty garden furniture getting thrown away. …

DMZmusic Bluetooth dongle – Review

I was alerted to the DMZmusic Bluetooth dongle by a comment on Leigh’s recent review of the StreamPort Universal. In it, Graham Eastham suggested that it wasn’t worth spending £59.99 on the StreamPort and instead suggested the DMZmusic Bluetooth dongle for just over a fiver! Having an eye …

Got your phone wet? Here’s your solution. Ice cream!

Water, water, everywhere, but it’s all in my phone. AGH! You know what it’s like, the screen looks like an electronic goldfish bowl and it makes a sad swishing sound when moved around. A drop in the bath, a fall into a drink or even an unfortunate accident …

Amazon Coins, another virtual currency. But why?

Amazon’s new digital currency is now just a month away from being introduced. It’s a currency and payment method that you’ll be able to use in the Amazon Appstore and will soon become second nature for those with a Kindle Fire HD. Amazon Coins will let you buy …