Category Archives: Technology

Cameras, Christmas Presents, Gadget Man, Podcast, Review, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 48 -D-Link myhome – Smart Plug, Motion Sensor, Home Monitor and Music Everywhere

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This week I talk to Mark about a bunch of amazing products supplied to me my D-Link. Specifically the myhome suite of products.

D-Link myhome Smart Plug
D-Link myhome Smart Plug

D-Link have taken a very intelligent view of home automation by not only providing a plug that can be controlled via a phone app from anywhere in the world, but also by adding sensible features to the product allowing you to monitor usage and also set switch on and cut off times via a schedule.

When used in conjunction with the Motion Sensor and Home Monitor, the smart plug can be programmed to switch on or off based on events triggered by motion (Motion Sensor and Home Monitor) and also sound (Home Monitor).

The Home Monitor is a very able HD streaming camera which as I have mentioned can be programmed to trigger other devices within your personal home network.

They are really very good devices and I would like to personally thank D-Link for sending the very helpful Robert to our offices to fully demonstrate their capabilities.

We will be fully reviewing the devices online shortly

Electric Car, Electric Vehicles, Gadget Man, Hybrid, Motorsports, Porsche Motorsports, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 47.5 – Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Hypercar with Gordon Robertson

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Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Hypercar arriving at the Porsche Experience Centre
Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Hypercar arriving at the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone Racetrack – Photo from Porsche Facebook Page.

To celebrate it’s 10 million fans on Facebook, Porsche ran a competition offering the winner a chance in participating in a 1000 km road trip in the 918 Spyder. The car was specially wrapped to allow fans along the way to sign the car

During the trip, the 918 Spyder was joined by the Panamera S E-Hybrid and Cayenne S E-Hybrid.  The convoy travelled  through cities such as Oxford and Stratford, the winding roads of Brecon Beacons National Park and many others, where Porsche fans could leave their signature on the 918 Spyder.

gordonThe car was driven by Gordon Robertson, the Chief Driving Consultant at the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone Race Track, upon his arrival, we were lucky enough to catch up with him for a few minutes to find out how he had got on.

You can listen to the interview at the top of the post. Thanks to Gordon for spending the time to chat to us.

Cameras, Gadget Man, Podcast, Review, Technology, Transcend

The Gadget Man – Episode 47 – Transcend DrivePro 220 – In-Car Camera

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Transcend Drive Pro 220 ReviewThis morning I talked about a very useful dash-cam, namely the Transcend DrivePro 220 in-car camera. The camera boasts an incredible F1.8 low aperture super wide lens with a hefty 16GB memory card on-board.

The camera is however much more than simply a way of recording your journey (and any unfortunate events), it also features ‘lane departure warning’ and ‘collision warning’ and speed warning systems. I found it very able and the picture quality was outstanding.

If you would like to find out more, listen in to the link above and find out what I thought!

You can find out more information about Transcend and its other products by liking their Facebook page or following them on Twitter.

http://www.facebook.com/TranscendUK
http://twitter.com/Transcend_UK

 

Thanks to Mickaela Noone at Transcend Information Europe B.V for the loan of the product.

Electric Car, Electric Vehicles, Gadget Man, Hybrid, Mark Webber, Motorsports, Podcast, Porsche Motorsports, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 46 – Porsche 919 LMP with Mark Webber

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We had a wonderful day at the World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Silverstone last weekend. Not only were we guests of the wonderful people at Porsche Motorsports, we were also able to chat to the Technicians and Drivers and find out more about how the idea of Hybrid power translates to the worlds fastest racecars.

Matt Porter interviews Mark Webber about the Porsche 919 LMP1
Matt Porter interviews Mark Webber about the Porsche 919 LMP1

During our day, we were able to speak to former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber who is now racing the Porsche 919 LMP1. We also spoke at length to Alexander Hitzinger who is in charge for the 919’s development as Technical Director for the LMP1 and Michael Christensen who is the works driver for the Porsche 911 RSR.

I would like to thank the ever amazing Mark Webber for his patience after a long day! Sam Lloyd at Lloyd Bell Productions and Nick Perry at Porsche Cars Great Britain for their help making the day so memorable.

Massive thanks to Paul Shalan for attending with me and taking so many AMAZING photographs!!

You can listen to this weeks episode at the top of the page or below.

Electric Car, Electric Vehicles, Gadget Man, Hybrid, Mark Webber, Motorsports, Podcast, Review, Technology

Heads up for The Gadget Man on Monday – Porsche 919 LMP1 + Matt interviews Mark Webber

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Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche Team: Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber, Porsche Team: Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb
Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche Team – Photo courtesy of Porsche

We had a very exciting weekend at Silverstone for the World Endurance Championship Qualifiers, namely 6 Hours of Silverstone which is the UK heat of the WEC which culminates in the world famous 24 Hour race at Le Mans.

The WEC LMP1 class now uses hybrid technology and following on from our series of electric and hybrid car reviews, we were interested in finding out what Porsche were doing in this area.

Porsche Motorsports and former Formula 1 driver, Mark Webber
Porsche Motorsports and former Formula 1 driver, Mark Webber

Porsche Motorsports very kindly invited us to be their guests for the day and we were able to interview drivers,  Mark Webber & Michael Christensen, plus we were also able to chat to Porsche LMP1 Technical Director Alexander Hitzinger about the technology around the car and what the future holds for us in an increasingly electric world.

To hear the interview, tune in to BBC Radio Suffolk on Monday 20th April 2015 at 11:40 and find out what Mark Webber thinks of the all new hybrid technology and how it will eventually effect us in production cars to come.

Gadget Man, Podcast, Smart Watch, Technology, Wearables

The Gadget Man – Episode 45 – Motorola Moto 360 Smartwatch with Android Wear

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Motorola Moto 360 Reviewed by Matt Porter
Motorola Moto 360 Reviewed by Matt Porter

This week we look at the Motorola Moto 360 Smartwatch. With traditional round face and high end looks, this is one of the most appealing smart watches on the market at the present time.

Listen to the stream and find out what we thought of it. Stay tuned for a full review of the Moto 360 online here soon!!

App of the Week, Christmas Presents, Gadget Man, Podcast, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 44 – Ollie from Sphero

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This week I talk to Rachel Sloane about the amazing Ollie from Sphero!

Ollie is a very clever robot toy, controlled using Bluetooth from a smart phone app.

We loved playing with Ollie in the studio, listen in and find out what Matt thought of it.

App of the Week, Gadget Man, Podcast, Review, Smart Watch, Technology, Wearables

The Gadget Man – Episode 43 – Sony Smartband Talk

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Sony Smartband Talk reviewed by Matt Porter
Sony Smartband Talk reviewed by Matt Porter

I previously reviewed the Sony Smartband and thought it was one of the best wearables of last year.  This week we look at it’s latest iteration which is the Sony Smartband Talk. Yet again, it’s a great product for monitoring activity and more! The ‘more’ being, the lovely e-ink screen and bluetooth headset technology. I really rate these products as a means to motivate people to be more active and the Smartband Talk does this with that added bit of ‘cool’.

Listen in to what I thought of it and hear about some of our listeners that are using the same products.

Full review coming soon!!!

Cameras, Gadget Man, Podcast, Review, Technology, Video Review

The Gadget Man – Episode 42 – Kodak PixPro SP360 action camera

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There are two versions of the video, the first was produced by the Kodak software. You will notice the black bar, this displays because this area is not filmed by the camera.

(Kodak Rendered Video)

(This video was produced by YouTube’s utilty)

I was really delighted to  be able to record todays episode of The Gadget Man in the studio with Mark Murphy. The camera is very easy to setup and get going, not so easy to get the footage onto YouTube, this however is more to do with Youtube.

I shall be reviewing the camera over the next few weeks, in the meantime enjoy the video. You will need YouTube of Android or Google Chrome to be able to see the 360 effect.

Cameras, Drones, Gadget Man, Podcast, Review, Technology, Wearables

The Gadget Man Episode 41 Soloshot2 – Your Robot Cameraman

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This week we chat about the Soloshot2. Billed as ‘your robot cameraman’, it takes away the pain of filming your activities. It does this by tracking your movements using a remote wrist strap which is tracked by the main camera mount unit.

Below is some footage filmed using the Soloshot 2 a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks to William at Soloshot UK for his efforts!!