Category Archives: Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 77 – Touchability Grip Gloves from touchscreengloves.co.uk

Touchability GlovesIf you live in the UK, you will have noticed the sudden change in temperature over the past couple of days, whilst this time a few of weeks ago we were basking in warmer than normal October, are now plunged into the depths of winter.

 

Recently, I have taken to cycling to work on an e-bike and aside from a decent coat, hat, waterproof trousers, spare set of clothes and shoes, in this weather; gloves are a MUST!! These days however, gloves get in the way from our obsessive use of touch technology!! Not so, it would seem. Gloves no longer obscure the use of mobile phones and cause breakages with their slippery surfaces, not when they are Touchability Grip Gloves from touchscreengloves.co.uk.

Click to buy from Amazon!!

The gloves I tried were standard knitted type with the addition of silver woven in. The silver gives conductivity and allows the electrical signals from your fingers to travel through the glove material onto your touch screen device. Not only that, the palm side of the gloves had rubber dots attached meaning that even the most slippery phone would stay secure in your hand.

Listen into the stream to hear what I thought of the gloves and head over to www.touchscreengloves.co.uk to see the Grip gloves and their full range of products.

The Gadget Man – Episode 75 – Self balancing two wheeled board

Hover boardThis week we chatted about the Self balancing two wheeled board’s that are currently very popular. You might know them as Hoverboards, Segways, Balance Boards, Monorovers etc. This is because the device is being manufactured by ‘copycat’ companies in the Far East and is being marketed under a whole host of different names in the UK alone.

It takes a bit of time to get used to riding the board, but once you get it, you are away. It’s great for smooth surfaces, not so good on bumpy ones.

Listen in to the audio stream to find out all about it. Lots of video shortly.

Thanks you a million times to Charles Claughton for the loan of the board, he is indeed a star!

 

The Gadget Man – Episode 74 – Fuze

Fuze reviewed by Matt Porter
Fuze reviewed by Matt Porter

This morning I chat to Rachel about the Fuze, which is “A programmable computer and electronics workstation, the FUZE, with FUZE BASIC, is an ideal platform for learning and teaching computational thinking and computer programming and provides a safe environment to experiment with simple electronics.”

It has been really interesting testing the Fuze and I will be reviewing here in more detail in the next few days, for now enjoy the audio.

 

 

The Gadget Man – Episode 72 – Internet Dating

This week the BBC are looking at dating later in life, so this morning I talk to Mark about Internet Dating and how it has evolved over the last 10 – 15 years. We discuss how to keep yourself safe online what you should look out for.

We also chatted about the new raft of apps available to help people connect up with each other online.

Danvers Baillieu from Hide My Ass was also due to chat, but was unable to due to a comms failure. I have also linked to my interview with him last week.

 

The Gadget Man – Episode 71 – Edifier MP211 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with NFC + The Rolling Stones

This week I have been able to sample the audio delights of bluetooth streaming with the Edifier MP211 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with NFC. This is a very nice wireless speaker solution for people looking for a mobile solution to playing their music quickly and easily.

The Gadget Man - Episode 71 - Edifier MP211 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with NFC plus The Rolling Stones

 

 

 

 

 

Listen in to the stream to find out all about it, full review of the product coming up shortly.

 

The Gadget Man – Episode 70 – MiniSun Bluetooth LED Colour Changing Speaker Bulb

This week I chat to Mark about the MiniSun Bluetooth LED Colour Changing Speaker Bulb, a very nice product which would be perfect for upcoming party season.

To find out more, listen in to the stream, a full review will be posted in the next few days.

MiniSun Bluetooth LED Colour Changing Speaker Bulb
MiniSun Bluetooth LED Colour Changing Speaker Bulb

 

 

 

 

 

#minisun #speakerbulb #ledbulb

The Gadget Man – Episode 69 – Star Wars BB8 Sphero App Enabled Droid, plus we live taste Brew Barrel

The gadgets are coming in thick and fast at the moment, but one gadget I was really looking forward to reviewing is none other than the Star Wars BB8 Droid from Sphero, not only was it featured on the show but I also spent some time in the green room demonstrating it to none other than magician Paul Daniels and singer Andy Abrahams. I also had the duty of cracking open our fully brewed keg of Brew Barrel which featured last week, it was very tasty!!!

Listen in to the stream above and watch out for a full review on BB8 in the next few days

The Gadget Man – Episode 68 – Brew Barrel – Home Brewing made easy

Home brewing kits have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years and the amazing startup from Germany called ‘Brew Barrel’ have certainly been at the forefront of developments in this area.

This morning I chatted to Mark about a Brew Barrel, so listen in to the stream to find out more and afterwards watch the video of me making a batch up at home for testing next week! So don’t forget to tune in to BBC Radio Suffolk or check back here!!

Porsche to enter the electric sports car market with the Mission E – 310 miles – 15 minute charge

There has been a slew of announcements from Volkswagen Group today, but the the real news for us is the announcement of the Porsche Mission E electric sports sedan!

Back in April, I spoke to notable people at Porsche (notably Mark Webber) at the WEC at Silverstone about the potential of Porsche launching a fully electric sports car, at the time everyone was understandably tightlipped even going so far as to say that they couldn’t see it happening. Well, it has happened, in the form of the four seater Porsche Mission E.

Obviously there is a direct comparison to the Tesla Model S P90D with it’s Ludicrous Mode and super fast charging and it seems that Porsche have specifically targetted these areas with Mission E.

The Mission E has all wheel drive dual electric motor drive producing 600HP accelerating the car from 0-60mph in less than 3.5 seconds. The technology for this vehicle has been inherited from the awesome Le Mans class Porsche 919 LMP1 giving exceptional energy recuperation.

Charging the vehicle can be just as rapid as Porsche have chosen an 800 volt ‘Porsche Turbo Charging System’ which can replenish the battery to 80% in just 15 minutes! The car also supports 400 volt home charging and even inductive charging meaning parking over an inductive charging plate will begin replenishing the cars power plant. Fully charged, the Mission E gives up to 310 miles range, which is again in Model S territory.

The interior is future-proofed by the inclusion of 3d eye tracking displays and holographic controls with race bucket seats for all four passengers.

This is a massive announcement from the world’s most popular sports car manufacturer and we can now look forward to the eventual production model and the technology finding its’ way down the VW Group food chain to the other brands in the group.

I love the fact that Porsche are so incredibly active in the EV and Hybrid market. It’s a very exciting time for car manufacturers at the moment. As I’ve said before, we are seeing a gold rush in the electric vehicle market, driving it forward faster than ever and this can only benefit ‘us’, the drivers in fuel efficiency, performance and most importantly – safety.

Kodak PixPro SP360 4K Unveiled at IFA

Earlier in the year, we reviewed the Kodak PixPro SP360, we thought it was a superb camera capable of recording YouTube compatible 360 movies, so we’re really pleased that Kodak have announced an upgraded SP360 which is now capable of recording in 4K.

The original SP360 was capable of capturing video in up to 1440×1440 HD, this video was then unwrapped to product scrollable 360 video which could be uploaded to YouTube and viewed interactively.

There has been a great deal of excitement concerning the KODAK PIXPRO SP360 Action Camera and it’s been popular in the tech press and TV, this has placed Kodak at the forefront of this technology.

Kodak SP360-4K
Kodak SP360-4K

The SP360 4k Camera captures 360-degree field of view in multiple directions via its dome shaped lens design and can be panned not only 360-degrees horizontally, but also up and down with a host of different vantage points and views for playback post capture.

At the official press launch, Mariame Cisse, Marketing Manager of JK Imaging Ltd said “The KODAK PIXPRO SP360-4K revolutionize video recording and how you see and experience the World All Around You. This is the next step to Evolution for 360 degrees Cameras. You can now create the most pristine videos and photos in 4K and Direct and Act your own Virtual Reality movie”.

SP 360 4K – Features

  • 12 megapixels, BSICMOS sensor
  • Fixed focus lens (F.2.8) that takes 360° spherical images
  • Viewing options: Dome (235°), Front, Global (360°), Ring, Segment (180° front and 180°rear) or Panorama mode
  • High speed videos 1280 x 720 (120fps); plays back with normal 50fps speed.
  • 4K HD videos in 2028 x 2028 (50fps)
  • Dimensions/weight: 46.5 x 50 x 53 mm/121 g

The KODAK PIXPRO SP360-4K will be sold with varying accessory bundles depending on geographical region. It will be available in October this year in Europe. For more information, please visit: kodakpixpro.com/SP360

Hopefully we will have a chance to try out the new features soon including the live broadcast features.