Category: Software and apps

WhatsApp wangs welly of updates your way

Not content with just updating their app once, WhatsApp has decided to slam in eight – yep, you heard right – eight updates in the last couple of days since 21st July. Most of which should have started winging their way to your handsets by now. If you …

SpiderOak Launches SpiderOakONE

SpiderOak, the encrypted online backup and file hosting service, this week launched SpiderOakONE. SpiderOakONE is the paid service of SpiderOAK and has some interesting features to differentiate it from competitors. Pricing for the online storage and backup is as follows: 2GB = Free 30GB = $7 per month …

Is technology going to kill the BBC?

Over 1000 jobs are to go at the BBC – far more than originally thought – because “more than one million fewer people had a television set than was predicted in 2011”. What? Are people throwing their TV’s in the bin? No, no they’re not. Whether you like …

Storytime for grownups. Why you should try digital audiobooks

Prologue If you’ve ever taken a class on ancient literature, mythology, or even anthropology, you’ve probably run across “the oral tradition”, mankind’s earliest form of storytelling. Perhaps I’m getting to heavy here, but I’m basically saying that listening to stories rather than reading them was the norm at …

Neon Alarm revisited – review

I’m a bit of a fiend for alarm applications. I don’t know why… That isn’t true. I’m one of those people who would be late for their own funeral if I didn’t have something to remind me I need to get there on time. And then remind me …

MOT Models launch mobile portfolios – A world first

When I applied for my first few jobs I had to sit in a stuffy office while some HR person clicked through my CV. I had a folder with all my qualifications in there too, but fast-forward to today and I’m instead getting job agencies using my LinkedIn …

The Terminator gets added to your navigation

Way back in the day we used to upload voices to our hacked versions of TomTom to Pocket PC devices. Remember someone having Yoda speaking out the directions? Now we’ve got Waze which, if you didn’t know already, is a rather clever community-driven traffic and navigation app. If …

Cortana for Android (beta) coming in July.

Microsoft has revealed that a beta version of Cortana, their digital assistant (none of which I can get to work right), will be available for Android users sometime in July – as a Beta. This means that the Cortana version for Android won’t have all of the features of …

Cyanogen OS CM12.1 for the One Plus in testing.

OnePlus have announced that the latest version of Cyanogen OS, Cyanogen OS 12.1 (based on Android 5.1), which is currently undergoing testing and Google certification. On the other side of things OxygenOS, which is OnePlus’s own operating system update based on Android 5.1, is in the works. Sadly …

Apple Pay coming to UK

  Currently confined to the US Apple Pay, (the tap to buy service that uses the NFC to beam your relevant card details to the vendors terminal, similar to “contactless payment we already have fitted to some UK credit/debit cards.) might not be US only for much longer. …

Google I/O 2015 – Android M Preview and Wear update

Here is a brief overview of what went down in the Moscone Centre last night at Google I/O 2015. The conference started with a massive Pong game stretching across the panoramic screen around the venue. Some guy won a giant fluffy Android toy! Last year 8 out of …

Broadcast Yourself with Stre.am

Periscope has been been finding quite a following recently. It’s all over Twitter and it’s made by… Twitter. The app allows iPhone users to broadcast a live video stream around the world from their phone. However, despite being released by Twitter themselves, the app is only available for …

OnePlus One, touch screen problems… sound familiar?

The OnePlus One is a good phone. Heck, it’s a great phone for the price. In fact, it’s kind of like the Nexus line when you think about it. Don’t get me wrong, there are some things that were missing that could have made it an even better …

Skype and Sky. Too similar, rules court

Here we go again. Another battle between Sky and Microsoft and, after a lengthy case, the court has agreed with Sky. What’s the problem? Well, somehow, it would seem that Skype .. … could be mistaken for Sky.. This isn’t the first time that Sky have thrown their …

Skype.. on web, in the browser.. in a Chromebook. Almost.

You may have noticed that the one of the things that people say stop them from trying out a Chromebook is that they have no ability to use Skype on there to call and talk to their friends and family. Sure you can use Hangouts, but that’s dependant …

Four user-friendly and free reading apps for Android

My wife loves reading books. She’s probably read more books in the last month than I have … err.. ever. Now, if you’ve got Android then you may have your favourite e-reader app already, but have you considered the others that are out there? There’s stacks of apps …

Watch Sainsbury’s Movies and TV via your Chromecast

You knew that Sainsbury’s offered TV and Movie content over your smartphone, didn’t you? No, I’ll admit, neither did I, but I do now. If you use Sainsbury’s Entertainment and have their app, you can now output your favourite content to your TV via Chromecast. It’ll also let …

Google to deliver more secure and familiar age ratings

  It’s been a problem for some time now, and to some extent it still continues. I’ve been banging on about the fact that the “family computer” is now a distant memory. You can’t really keep an eye on your kids when they’ve got small connected gadgets which …

OnePlus One starts receiving Cyanogenmod OS 12 OTA

After somewhat of a delay, Cyanogen have finally began the roll out of  Cyanogen OS 12 the Android 5.0 based update for the OnePlus One.  The update has all of Google’s features introduced in Android 5.0 including Google’s new Material Design.   As always the Cyanogen team, have included tweaks …

Will smartwatches have the same range of apps as smartphones?

Well, that certainly didn’t take long. No sooner has the Apple Watch been announced and we’re already getting emails telling us about apps that’ll run on the thing. That’s expected I guess, but when betting apps also set to arrive on the thing, you know it’ll probably be …

Piper NV – Review

Home automation is something that is only really limited by your imagination, possibly what accessories you can buy and possibly also by how much money you have. You get the idea though…. One of the more intriguing things I saw at MWC was the Piper NV, it is …

Oxygen OS & CM12 Delayed Say OnePlus

On the 18th March I posted an article about fledgling phone manufacturer OnePlus stating that by the 27th of March this year, their very own Oxygen OS would be available and the CM12 update would be available by 30th March, which you can read here. Since the beginnings …

Amazon – permission much? – opinion

Oh Amazon, what are you up to? Why do you want so much from us? If we say yes, what are we letting ourselves in for? These are some of the thoughts that flew across my mind when my phone wanted to update the Amazon app. Granted, I …

One Plus One Lollipop update coming by end of March.

Today One Plus announced that the long awaited Lollipop update will be available by the end of March. They’re so confident of hitting this deadline that they’ll give away five 64GB devices if they miss it. By March 27th OnePlus plans to release their own Lollipop-based ROM, using …

Screentag. The digital Business Card

A few weeks ago,while I was getting ready to go out to MWC, I posted a picture of my quite snazzy business cards. I was quite surprised by the response I got, it was not people wanting to stalk me or other nasty and sordid things like that, …

Apple iTunes and App Store takes a plunge

Can’t download an App? You’re not on your own. It’s all Jeremy Clarksons’ fault. Earlier today the Apple iTunes and App Stores for both Mac and iOS went down for many users across the world. Only after a good few hours did Apple acknowledge there was a fault. …

MWC – Ford looking to solve your city transport problems

In London our underground system works very well considering the age and complexity of it. People commute in and out of the city and leave their cars in expensive car-parks or, if you run a business servicing the city, you have to try and get your big diesel …

Why Nintendo won’t make their games available for smartphones

For years, gamers have been imploring Nintendo to release its older games on smartphone platforms and operating systems. These pleas have fallen on deaf ears, however, current president Satoru Iwata is instead taking an entirely different approach. More specifically, he plans to remake popular smartphone games for the …

Pebble for Android gets actionable notifications

Pebble have been playing catchup to Android Wear this year, with the latter offering more features. Festive such as actionable notifications, whereby you get an email and you can delete it from your watch. It was the one feature that kept me using Android Wear. During the night …

Getting your app to stand out from the crowd

Creating your own app is hard enough. Learning to code, getting it right, making something popular and then hoping it’ll be downloaded lots is a long and bumpy road to travel. However, if you’ve got a thoroughly enjoyable and addictive game, or a useful and interesting app, it …

Teen Developers – Josh Trommel

Thinking of creating your own app? It’s not as hard as you think, provided you put your mind to it. In our regular feature we take a look at teenage developers, how they got started, what drives them and the challenges they face on the way. This week, …

WhatsApp rolling out voice calling features

The super-popular WhatsApp multi-platform messaging app looks to be rolling out of their highly-anticipated voice calling feature. A WhatsApp user from India has posted some screenshots of the new UI and explained how the whole procedure works. According to him, the voice calling option will only show up once …

CarLock Review

Tracking your car is possible with just a smartphone. Various apps will let you do it, but it’s a matter of having a spare smartphone with a data plan and GPS, plus you have to leave it plugged into the 12v charger and that alone will probably attract …

Send money through Gmail. Coming to the UK soon

Following its launch in the US, the “Send Money” feature in Gmail is finally on the way over here too. To be honest this does exactly what the name suggests and will let people to sign into their Gmail account and send money from right there in the …

WWE Network finally launches in the UK

Grappling fans rejoice, as finally after a false start the WWE network has launched in the UK. Offering On Demand access to a vast library of Wrestling footage, TV shows and Pay Per View events, British Wrestling fans have been eagerly waiting its launch. Access to the service …

Ensuring you’re paying attention to what’s important

Noticed some adverts on your TV after 9PM that have a certain gambling theme? You’re not the only one, and for the most part they’re not actually encouraging you to go into your local bookies any more either, because you can simply place a bet by using the …

UK Galaxy S5 receiving Lollipop Update.

In December last year Samsung began rolling out their Lollipop update the Galaxy S5, starting in Poland, which those of us that love to hack, soon started shoe horning into our devices. Well if you’re not a hacker the wait appears to be over with the update now officially landing on …

Apple Clarifies its EU Returns Policy

Following the announcement of Apple’s updated return policy in the EU, as we reported there was speculation that it was potentially open to abuse, possibly allowing users to claim refunds on purchased apps with the app being removed. However Apple have clarified their stance on their returns policy …

Google pushes Android 5.0.2 factory images for 2012 Nexus 7

If you’re a listener to our fantastic podcast (if not you should be) this week you will hear me stating that the Android 5.0 lollipop update had ruined my 2012 Nexus 7. Performance-wise the device became really laggy. Well, it appears that Google has acknowledged the issues as …