Drones are never far from the news at the moment and with the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) currently in progress in Law Vegas, there has already been some big announcements in this area.
But none quite so big as the EHANG 184 Autonomous Flying Vehicle. Stay tuned for more CES announcements. You can watch the official video below for more about the EHANG 184 and it’s founders ideology of safe aerial transportation.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
We’re now firmed established in the New Year now and 2016 is looking to be a memorable one for technology. What hasn’t changed however is computer crime. Criminals have now settled in to established methods of computer crime using either hacking or persuasion on the telephone or email.
Attached is a recording of a telephone conversation I had with a ‘cold caller’ who goes on to tell me that I possibly have issues with my computer and with their help, they are suggesting they can fix them.
I have had countless telephone calls very similar to this one, what is different is that I specifically request the caller to go home and think about who they are working for, when they immediately hang up on me.
To be clear, NO COMPANY is able to tie your telephone number to your computer in this context. It would be incredibly time consuming to go about such an act and would therefore be reserved for government or police forces to do. If anybody calls you out of the blue and suggests your computer is faulty, hang up and consider reporting the call to the police and telephone provider. Do NOT follow any instructions by the caller to run software of ANY kind, they are simply attempting to extort money from you which could run into thousands of pounds.
If you know ANYONE who might be vulnerable to this kind of scam then please send them the link to this page.
Happy New Year
Matt
Photo Credit : Christiaan Colen via Flickr
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
Its my last broadcast of the year and I so talk about my top 5 gadgets of the year. Listen to the stream to hear what I thought of the following :-
These are all products I’ve reviewed in the past, so you can click on each of them to take you to it’s relevant feature.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
Thanks for visiting The Gadget Man over the last year. I sincerely wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year wherever you are in the world.
Stay tuned for next year where I will be testing the Tesla P85D with Autopilot. I’ll also be looking at the amazing Loop Energy Monitoring gadgets and a whole host of new and exciting stuff!!
Finally, don’t forget to tune in to BBC Radio Suffolk on 28th December 2015 at 10.50am, where I will be talking about my gadgets of the year!!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
When I started out as ‘The Gadget Man’, I always thought that Watches were the obvious gadget, something you would recognise as a gadget, be it Dick Tracy, Star Trek or Thunderbirds. Being able to communicate with your nearest and dearest by talking to your wrist seemed to be the a really futuristic thing to be doing, so it was my first port of call. Having now tested 8 smart watches and wearables, I was really looking forward to getting my hands on the Huawei Watch.
If you haven’t heard of Huawei, you should have. They are one of the leading communications and technology companies in the world and have been manufacturing Smartphones for some time now, but it is the Huawei Watch that I wanted to see.
The Huawei Watch is a premium Android Wear device, noticeably weightier than other models and with a much brighter, high res screen that stays on the whole time. Like the Moto 360, the Huawei Watch sports a round screen, but unlike the Motorola device it uses the entire screen and the ‘flat tyre’ is absent. This means that their are no external sensors on the screen, so auto-brightness is not an option, but saying that; I prefer this trade off because using the whole screen makes the watch look all the more realistic.
This is one of the first Android Wear devices to officially support iOS so iPhone users are not simply tied to the Apple Watch. When I say officially, I can confirm that I have paired a Moto 360 with an iPhone as well, but it isn’t officially supported.
As with all Android Wear devices, it makes use of Google Now with the ‘OK Google’ trigger to do lots of difference tasks. There is no speaker in the watch, just a microphone, so don’t expect to use the watch as a speakerphone (just yet). Personally, I’m surprised that this functionality hasn’t been added to Android Wear, it was present in the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 more than 18 months ago and worked really nicely. I’m certain the trade off against battery use was one of the reasons not to include it, but it’s a shame though.
Aside from the pre-installed apps supported by Wear, other apps are reliant on what is installed on your handset. I’m a keen (electric assisted) cyclist and I’ve personally tried a number of cycling related apps, as soon as these are installed, the watch automatically installs a Wear capable add-on, whether this is a information window or live map, it’s always intriguing to see what the developer has deemed worthy of the watch-face. Some good and some not so.
The Huawei Watch uses sapphire crystal as it’s watch face which is much harder and scratch resistant that other toughened glass and seems less prone to fingerprints. The display is a 1.4 inch AMOLED display which gives excellent blacks, this is because AMOLED screens use self illuminating pixels and don’t require a generic back light, so blacks are not lit at all. This sounds great, but in bright sunlight the display suffers which is a common problem with the technology. The watch has built in Wifi, which allows for updates without the need for a phone in the vicinity, but as will almost all wearables, you really need a phone nearby to get the full potential.
The watch itself is manufactured from cold forged stainless steel and the watch strap is a very high end leader fastener. All in all the watch feels expensive and very high quality. The rear of the watch has a magnetic four pin coupling for charging and in the centre is a heart rate sensor which works with Huawei’s fitness software and Google’s ‘Fit’ system.
Battery life is really pretty good for a watch that is effectively switched on the whole time, but in standby mode a different clock face is used which uses lots of black and therefore lots of pixels are being lit. Very clever decision by Huawei.
I was particularly looking forward to reviewing this watch as it looked like a real contender to the Apple Watch. I love the circular face smartwatches that make you feel that these wrist worn wearables are something more that a boring square display. I was fond of the Moto 360 which is slightly larger and the Huawei device certainly didn’t disappoint.
The smart watch is still finding it’s feet and I would suggest it will find them by the next generation of wearables. Whether is can be established as a replacement for smartphones is a question we will have answered eventually, but until then the Huawei Watch does a superb job of using the available technology to it’s maximum.
Thanks to Huawei for the loan of the watch, I’m very grateful for your efforts.
Back in the 1980’s the UK was a melting pot of computer development, back then you couldn’t visit a friends’ house without seeing a them huddled behind a television slowly tapping out computer programs from magazines on their newly purchased home computers. While the USA basked in the glory of the Apple II and IBM PC, in the UK we had our feet firmly placed on the ground and our wallets closed tight. In the States people were paying $2,500 for their computers, far too much for us in the UK, being much more cautious with our hard earned money! Instead we made our own computers, the amazingly popular Sinclair ZX Spectrum, BBC Model B, Acorn Electron and Dragon 32. All of these were home grown products which took the country by storm for a few short years, much cheaper than the US counterparts at £140 and much more fun, well until the IBM PC was licensed to the likes of Dell, HP and AST and the prices started to tumble to more affordable prices.
During this era of the ‘Home Computer’, a new industries sprung up with them. After weeks and months of typing program listings from magazines, the kids started to understand what was behind the code, how it worked and in most cases, how to improve it. Small ‘Software Houses’ appeared and began selling their games in the back pages of the computer magazines.
The BBC Model B was adopted by schools and immediately the national curriculum included ‘Computer Studies O’Level’. It was now possible to study computer programming, the UK was becoming a hotbed for coding and technology. Following school, students could continue their studies through college and university, it was exciting times for the UK computer industry.
Then suddenly without notice, the curriculum began to change again. The PC had become established in peoples’ homes and work, it seemed like everyone was running Windows and suddenly everything was easier. Instead of learning the basics of coding and programming, pupils were taught how to use Word Processors and Spreadsheets, how to put together school magazines using pre-made layouts and horrific 3d text effects. We had lost our way, we had forgotten how to encourage creativity and instead software was now just tools to build similar looking newsletters and faxes using ‘Wizards’ and animated paperclips.
30 years on and quietly ‘Coding’ is back in the curriculum, the country has woken up to it’s lost opportunities and reintroduced the tools to help our children learn to create again. The Raspberry Pi computer was launched in 2012 and brought affordable computers to everyone. At a little under £20, you could buy a fully functioning credit card sized computer that could connect to your HD TV and could be programmed using any available language. It was a good start, but there was something missing.
This is where Fuze comes in, by packaging the Raspberry Pi in a useable case (strangely evocative of the BBC Micro from the 80’s) with integrated keyboard and circuit prototyping board, the Fuze is being launched into schools as the ideal platform for Coding in the curriculum. The circuit board that sits on top of the Fuze allows for electronic design and testing that can be directly controlled from the included Fuze Basic programming language.
Included in the package is also a variety of transistors, LED’s and resistors packaged with a Programmers Reference Guide and Quick Start Projects book. Out of the box, it’s everything a budding programmer needs to get themselves on the path to Coding in the 21st Century. Further purchases can buy you a Robot Arm and other interesting projects and of course the system is based on the Raspberry Pi which has a mountain of components already available and the option to try out modern programming languages such as Perl, C++ and PHP.
The Fuze is housed in a sheet aluminium case which is both durable and safe for young people to use and Fuze have improved upon the Raspberry Pi IO connecters by integrating the FUZE I/O board which greatly simplifies the Raspberry Pi by separating, and clearly labelling, the most common functions (Voltage, Ground, Digital IO and PWM) but goes further with the addition of four analogue in ports and one Out port (as the Raspberry Pi lacks analogue). It all may sound complicated, but in reality it has been designed to be accessible and easy to learn.
The Fuze starts at £69 and is available from a most computer stockists. For more information, visit www.fuze.co.uk.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
In the words of Deep Purple; “The Nights Are Closing In”, and with it the increase of Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D. which affects around 3-6% of the UK’s population.
I’ve been testing a SAD Therapy Lamp from Mini Sun which helps to lessen these symptoms through light therapy. Use of the Therapy Lamp for 60 minutes a day, not only produces the correct levels of serotonin to help fight the effects of SAD, but also comes in a very nice padded carry case similar in size to an iPad.
I sat the device to the side on my desk which gave the impression of sitting by the window on a sunny day. Having suffered from SAD in the past, I found it comforting as the natural light produced by the lamp gave a feeling of the sun shining on my face.
The lamp is available in both white and pink designs and can be purchased via Mini Sun‘s website and is an excellent addition during these dreary winter months.
To find out more, listen to this mornings recording above which also features a discussion about Ed Sheeran quitting social media.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
This morning I talk to Mark about the Motorola Moto G (3 gen) handset. At £169 sim free it represents fantastic value for money with excellent build quality and specification. To hear more about the phone, listen in to the audio recorded today on BBC Radio Suffolk.
Thanks to Three for the loan of the device, they always go above and beyond the call!
It’s certainly been a busy time for smart watches over the last 18 months and we are certainly seemingly spoilt for choice. We’re also not spoilt for price options either, there should be no reason that you shouldn’t be able to find a smartwatch to suit yours or a loved ones style.
To help find the right watch, our friends at Mighty Skins have produced a handy infographic that details everything including price, compatibility, functionality and battery life.
You can download the info graphic, by clicking the image below or head over to Mighty Skins themselves.
We’re not just on air and online, we’re also in print in this month’s On Our Doorstep, where we talk in depth about the latest so called ‘Hoverboard’ craze. There’s lots of other interesting articles again this month, so click the link below and dig in.
