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Buyers Guide, Samsung, Useful Articles

Best TVs for those on a Budget

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TV’s have become a staple item for every household and with the average British adult consuming over 2 hours of TV a day last November alone, it is evident that televisions aren’t going to be losing their popularity any time soon.

Gone are the days where TVs cost a fortune to purchase. With advances in technology, TVs are evolving all the time which has caused the new models to become more desirable and the older ones to depreciate which makes for a wonderful price for your new TV.

With this in mind, you’ll need to know what TVs are available on a budget for you and which one you should ultimately go for. Here are our top TVs for any budget.

Toshiba 50UK3163DB
Toshiba 50UK3163DB

Toshiba 50UK3163DB

This 50 inch LCD TV is a great choice for any household. Offering you a 4K HDR picture, watching anything from the likes of blockbuster movies to the news will be crisp and clear making your TV watching experience all the more rewarding.

As well as this, this television includes three HDMI inputs which makes hooking multiple gaming consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch easy; why choose between which ones you have plugged in when you can plug them all in making for easy switching between consoles.

If 50 inch isn’t the size for you then the Toshiba 50UK3163DB can also be purchased at 43in, 58in and 65in.

Samsung UE43AU7100
Samsung UE43AU7100

Samsung UE43AU7100

Samsung is notorious for making beautiful technological creations but this might be one of their best. This LCD television comes in eight sizes from 43in to 85in so depending on your budget, there’s plenty of room to choose from.

Displaying a 4K picture with a Tizen operating system, this Samsung television is one of the best budget TV’s that money can buy. Coming in comfortably under £500 for the 43-inch model, this TV will bring any room to life with crisp imagery on anything you watch.

TCL 55RP620K
TCL 55RP620K

TCL 55RP620K

If you’re wanting a TV that is smarter than most then look no further than this TCL television. Fitted with an incredible smart platform, this TV is easy to navigate making it suitable for families of a range of ages sharing the TV.

The TCL 55RP620K tackles complex colours on screen expertly well displaying them to the viewer to watch on in awe of what they are witnessing. Bring your favourite films and TV shows to life on a budget with this magnificent TV.

Getting TV’s on a budget is a fantastic way to save money but there is more than you can do to bring the cost down further. Use things like employee benefits to get an added discount on your budget TV. For example, people who work for the NHS have access to the Currys NHS discount as a perk for working there. Many companies will have a benefits scheme of their own so check with yours today and start saving.

Amazon, Black Friday 2021

Amazon Black Friday – Favourite Deals of the Day

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Black Friday is upon us, the busiest shopping day of the year! Named after the fact that most stores end the day ‘in the black’, the internet is swimming with amazing deals.

Sitting at the front of the queue is the online giant that is Amazon.

I’ve listed a few deals below which I think are amazing value for money. If you do happen to order through my links, I may earn a small commission.

Have Fun!

Fire HD 10 tablet | 10.1″, 1080p Full HD, 32 GB, Black – with Ads – Black Friday price £79 (£89 without ads)

Fire HD 10 tablet | 10.1", 1080p Full HD, 32 GB, Black - with Ads
Fire HD 10 tablet | 10.1″, 1080p Full HD, 32 GB, Black – with Ads

Even at it’s normal retail price, this is serious value for money. A very high specification 10″ Tablet.

Great Value at £79 with ads (promotional offers on the unlock screen) or £89 without.

The Fire tablets run FireOS which is based on Android but without Google Applications. You can use it for Microsoft Office, Amazon Movies, Netflix, Disney+, NowTV, YouTube, Channel 4, Channel 5, BBC iPlayer, ITV and so much more.

A super bright screen, fast charge through USB Type-C with cable and charging plug. I recommend buying the fabulous ‘made for Amazon’ All-in-one Bluetooth keyboard

  • Fast and responsive: powerful octa-core processor and 3 GB RAM. 50% more RAM than the previous generation.
  • Up to 12-hour battery life and 32 or 64 GB of internal storage. Add up to 1 TB with microSD (sold separately).
  • Brighter display: vivid 10.1″ 1080p full HD display is 10% brighter than the previous generation, with more than 2 million pixels.
  • Enjoy your favourite apps like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and more through Amazon’s Appstore (Google Play not supported, subscription fees may apply).
  • Stay connected: download apps such as Zoom or ask Alexa to make video calls to friends and family.

Available in Black, Denim, Lavendar and Olive.

However, if you do decide to buy the tablet, we wholehearted recommend the..

All-new Made for Amazon Bluetooth Keyboard with detachable case | Compatible with Fire HD 10 (11th gen., 2021 release), Black. £49

All-new Made for Amazon Bluetooth Keyboard with detachable case | Compatible with Fire HD 10 (11th gen., 2021 release), Black
All-new Made for Amazon Bluetooth Keyboard with detachable case | Compatible with Fire HD 10 (11th gen., 2021 release), Black

Tablet keyboards can sometimes come up short, but this wasn’t the case with this made-for-amazon keyboard, it is a proper hard case and high-quality keyboard which effortlessly pairs with your Fire HD 10 tablet and can also detach by pulling gently and releasing the magnetic catches. Great for use on the go with super long use rechargeable battery which also charges via USB Type-C

Great quality and really good value for money., which gives you a high-end 1080 netbook for £129 using the black-Friday deal.

 

https://amzn.to/3CViCYm

Echo Dot (3rd Gen) – Smart speaker with Alexa – Charcoal Fabric – £18.99 Black Friday Special.

Echo Dot (3rd Gen) - Smart speaker with Alexa - Charcoal Fabric - £18.99 Black Friday Special.
Echo Dot (3rd Gen) – Smart speaker with Alexa – Charcoal Fabric – £18.99 Black Friday Special.

Who doesn’t love an Echo Dot? We do, they are now all over our home. This Black Friday special gives you the 3rd Generation model with charcoal fabric and superb sound quality for the price of a taxi fare. Really Really good value for money at £18.99!

  • Amazons most popular smart speaker: now with a fabric design and improved speaker for richer and louder sound.
  • Voice control your music: stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, TuneIn and others. You can also listen to audiobooks from Audible.
  • Bigger, better sound: pair with a second Echo Dot for rich, stereo sound. Fill your home with music with compatible Echo devices in different rooms.
  • Ready to help: ask Alexa to play music, answer questions, read the news, check the weather, set alarms, control compatible smart home devices and more.
  • Connect with others: call almost anyone hands free including UK mobile and residential numbers (from UK only), other Echo devices, Alexa app and Skype. Link your Vodafone account to make and receive mobile calls. Instantly drop in on other rooms in your home or make an announcement to every room with a compatible Echo device.
  • Alexa has skills: with tens of thousands of skills, Alexa is always getting smarter and adding new skills like tracking fitness, playing games and more.
  • Voice control your smart home: turn on lights, adjust thermostats, lock doors and more, with compatible connected devices.
  • Designed to protect your privacy: built with multiple layers of privacy protection and control, including a Microphone Off button that electronically disconnects the microphones.

Super deals on Smartphones, Wearables from, Samsung, Nokia and more

Samsung Galaxy M12 Smartphone Dual SIM Android Mobile Phone Green [Amazon Exclusive] (UK Version)

Samsung Galaxy M12 Smartphone Dual SIM Android Mobile Phone Green [Amazon Exclusive] (UK Version)
Amazon is offering a wealth of special offers an a massive range of mobile devices.

One notable offer is the 38% discount on the Samsung Galaxy M12 Smartphone Dual SIM Android Mobile Phone Green [Amazon Exclusive] (UK Version).

Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote (includes TV controls) £24.99 (50% off) Black Friday.

Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote (includes TV controls)
Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote (includes TV controls)

The Amazon firetv stick  4k is amazing value, simple to set up and really snappy to use. Currently available at half price of £24.99, it’s hard to ignore.

  • Cinematic experience: watch in vibrant 4K Ultra HD with support for Dolby Vision, HDR and HDR10+.
  • Home cinema audio with Dolby Atmos: feel scenes come to life with support for immersive Dolby Atmos audio on selected content with compatible home audio systems.
  • Endless entertainment: stream hundreds of thousands of films and TV episodes from Netflix, Prime Video, Now, Disney+ and more, plus listen to millions of songs. Subscription fees may apply.
  • Live and free TV: watch live TV, news and sport with subscriptions to BT Sport, Eurosport, Sky News and more. Stream for free with ITV Hub, All 4, PlutoTV, YouTube and more.
  • Alexa Voice Remote: search and launch content with your voice. Get to favourite apps quickly with preset buttons. Control power and volume with one remote.
  • Control your compatible smart home: ask Alexa to check the weather, dim the lights, view supported live camera feeds, stream music and more.
  • Simple and intuitive: quickly access your favourite apps, live TV and things you use most, all from the main menu.
  • Easy to set up, compact enough to stay hidden: plug in behind your TV, turn on the TV and connect to the internet.

Kindle books with HUGE DISCOUNTS of up to 95%, starting at 99p

Kindle books with HUGE DISCOUNTS of up to 95%, starting at 99p
Kindle books with HUGE DISCOUNTS of up to 95%, starting at 99p

If you are a fan of reading books, you can’t go wrong with a Kindle, the lightweight device which revolutionised the ready book market.

Start off your collection with some amazing Kindle deals starting at 99p

Looking for something to read them on?

Kindle | Now with built-in front light—with Ads—Black £49.99

Kindle | Now with a built-in front light—with Ads—Black
Kindle | Now with built-in front light—with Ads—Black
The With Ads option (also known as Special Offers) displays sponsored screensavers on your device’s lock screen and in sleep mode.
  • Adjustable front light lets you read comfortably for hours, indoors and outdoors, day and night.
  • Purpose-built for reading, with a 167 PPI glare-free display that reads like printed paper, even in direct sunlight.
  • Distraction-free reading. Highlight passages, look up definitions, translate words and adjust text size, without ever leaving the page.
  • Select from millions of books, newspapers and audiobooks. Holds thousands of titles so you can take your library with you.
  • Prime members read for free with unlimited access to over a thousand titles.
  • A single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours. Learn more in Technical Details below.
  • Enjoy more books with Audible. Pair with Bluetooth headphones, or speakers, to switch seamlessly between reading and listening.

As an Amazon Influencer, we may earn a small commission, should you decide to buy their products through these links!

Gadget Man, Matt Porter, Smart Phone, Technology

4 Simple Ways To Make Your Smartphone More Unique

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We all carry a smartphone on us at all times these days and we rely on them for so many things. But if you carry something around on you at all times, shouldn’t you make it look good? A lot of people don’t really think about how their phone looks and they aren’t bothered that it looks just the same as everybody else’s phone, but if you want to make your phone more unique, there are some simple ways to customize it and make it your own. These are some of the best ways to personalize your smartphone and make it more unique.

Image From Pexels CCO License

Choose A Different Brand 

Everybody is walking around with iPhones or Samsungs, so if you want to set yourself apart from the crowd, why not go for something different? When you are choosing a phone, look at some of the less popular brands and see what they have to offer. In a lot of cases, the phone itself will be just as good as the well-known brands, but it will be a lot cheaper. You’ll get a more interesting phone that not as many people have and it will save you a lot of money at the same time. 

Get A Good Case 

Getting a good smartphone case is important because phones are fragile and the screen will easily break if you drop it. But you should also see your case as a good opportunity to personalize your smartphone and make it more unique. There are so many amazing cases out there, so when you are buying one, think about something that reflects you and your interests. For example, if you love cars, you can get some great Formula 1 Phone Cases online. You can also get custom made photo ones with pictures of your friends and family. The right case can make your phone a lot more unique to you while also protecting it from damage. 

Customize Your Wallpaper And Lock Screen 

The case makes a big difference, but you should also customize the wallpaper and lock screen on your phone. Usually, your phone comes with a default wallpaper, which will probably be pretty boring. If you want your phone to be unique to you, make sure to change it to something different right away, like a photo of your family and friends or a great picture of something that you are passionate about, like your favourite place. You can also make a live wallpaper with dynamic moving images, which is much better than a boring static picture. 

Add Widgets To The Home Screen 

You can improve the look of your phone and boost the user experience at the same time by adding a few widgets to the home screen. Most people already have things like a clock or the weather on their home screen, but why not add something more interesting?  You can get some great note-taking widgets to keep things organized or even use a custom widget-maker to create your own. 

Make these simple customizations and you can make your smartphone a lot more unique to you.

BBC Radio Suffolk, Blog Post, Gadget Man, Gadget Road Trip, Radio Interview

The Gadget Man – Episode 148 – Better Late than… Matt got cut off, Three was down, Vodafone had billing problems and Samsung’s Fingerprint Sensor was bust

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Yikes!!! From a few weeks back! Here is Episode 148 where I spoke to James Hazell about Three, Vodafone and Samsung… Oh, I also got cut off from Facetime during the conversation.

All the issues are resolved now, but it should make informative listening.

From Thur 18th October 2019

Image Credit: By comedy_nose under CC BY License

 

Apple, BBC Radio Suffolk, Cameras, Gadget Man, HTC, James Hazell, Matt Porter, Motorola, Podcast, Radio Interview, Sony, Technology, The Gadget Man, Three

Gadget Man – Episode 130 – Why are people not upgrading their phones as often?

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Many of us will remember the halcyon days when upgrading our mobile phone handsets was a six-month event.

No so now it would seem, instead, we are waiting much longer and are clearly looking for greater incentives to part with our beloved devices and even more importantly, our money.

You can listen into my interview with James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk where I talk about why the smartphone market is slowing down. Click on the link above to hear what I had to say. 

A Short(ish) History

My first mobile phone was bought in 1993 (some 26 years ago) from Dixons in Derby. It was an NEC P100 and I think it cost me £50 and then £7.50 per month for the contract with Vodafone, no calls were included, so I paid 50p per minute if I did need to call anyone.

The phone itself ran on the old 1G analogue network at 900MHz which was very quickly superceded by the digital 2G networks split between 900MHz for Vodafone and Cellnet and the alternative 1800Mhz for Orange and Mercury One2One.

Note: if you don’t recognise many of these names, it’s because due to buyouts, rebrands and mergers, Vodafone remained, Orange became EE, Cellnet became BT Cellnet, then O2. Mercury One2One became just One2One and then changed to T-Mobile which in turn is merged with Orange to become EE. Then of course 3 launched a 3g service later on and of course, two dozen or so ‘piggy-back’ operators such as Giffgaff, Sky Mobile, Virgin etc, who don’t, in fact, run their own networks but instead using the Big Four’s network. 

So my first phone was relatively cheap in today’s terms and in fact in ‘yesterdays’ terms too. the NEC P100 was meant to be a durable portable phone which it was and I kept it for some years until the analogue network was phased out and I had to get a more modern phone. The 2G network roll-out in the UK caused a market explosion and along with it came the Nokia 5110 and then 3310 phones which completely dominated the marketplace.

This explosion in popularity came with reasonably cheap phones with cheap and short contracts, this meant that phones could be renewed quite regularly and soon cupboards would start filling up with unwanted and out of date devices, fuelling development and in reality, a war between manufacturers and networks to provide more and more functionality. Heading this surge was Orange and O2 who had struck up a deal with little known manufacturer HTC to produce the very first Microsoft Windows CE based ‘Smartphones’, long before the birth of the iPhone.

HTC was at the time manufacturing the Compaq and HP iPaq Pocket PC and by adding cellular functionality, the Orange SPV (Sounds, Pictures and Video) and O2 XDA (extended PDA) began to be sold and the Smartphone was born.

Suddenly our dumb phones became ‘Smartphones’ and with it rapidly increasing prices. These costs had to be passed onto consumers via increased contracts with longer minimum terms (mainly to allow for the handset and network infrastructure costs to be absorbed ). Minimum six-month contracts became twelve, then eighteen, then twenty-four months. All of this was necessary to pay for the device and network overheads!

The phone networks began bundling minutes (and later, data), in part to placate phone users who were starting to become caught up in the ever increasing contract times.  Subsequently, devices became more expensive, resulting in more expensive contracts.

With the launch of Apple’s iPhone, O2 and T-Mobile began offering ‘all you can eat’ data plans in order for these data-hungry devices to take advantage of the vast amount of content appearing. Once the iPhone 3G was launched, with its ability to consume vast amounts of bandwidth and data, the all-you-can-eat model was scrapped or altered with ‘acceptable usage’ policies to limit data consumption, unless you were prepared to pay more.

Now that the smartphone had become established as a Super-Gadget, the manufacturers began an ‘Arms-Race’ to establish themselves as the Go-To brand in the multi-billion dollar marketplace, the likes of Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, LG, Sony and HTC began pumping billions into product development, patent registrations, cross-licensing and all-out war!

In turn, the Smartphone industry has driven bigger, better, faster and more costly devices into the consumers’ hands! Meanwhile, in China, Xiaomi, Huawei and Honor are producing comparable and in some cases, better products, the market is now awash with products that were once competing with each other but are now blurring their differences making it difficult to see the differences

Summing Up

We now have a smart-device marketplace with astoundingly high-quality handsets costing £1000 plus! How can we justify paying over £100 a month for a mobile phone contract, when we are struggling to differentiate between ‘last-years’ model?

What is needed now is for the manufacturers to take a breath! They need to find out what their customers really want. Maybe we are becoming tired and bewildered of being told what functions we need by these companies and it’s time for them to start listening to their consumers.

Matt Porter
The Gadget Man

 

 

 

 

Apple, BBC Radio Suffolk, Cameras, Electric Bike, Gadget Man, Mark Murphy, Matt Porter, Mobile, News, Podcast, Radio, Radio Interview, Samsung, Smart Phone, Technology, The Gadget Man

Gadget Man – Episode 112 – Too Much Smartphone!

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The Genie is now officially out of the bottle! We use our smartphones too much!

Most of us will already know this though, how could we miss it? You only have to travel on buses, trains and planes to see myriads of people sitting quietly staring at their smart phones, glued to Facebook, Snapchat or Twitter, scrolling through the latest news.

In restaurants alongside the place settin will sit a smartphone, ready at a moments notice to be snatched up and used to photograph a plate of food of a group selfie.

At rock concerts, the crowd is now lit up by mobile phone screens at they live stream or record a band whilst watching on those same screens, perhaps forgetting to watch and enjoy the band live rather than by proxy.

A designated 'Cellphone Sidewalk' in Chongqing, China. Photo credit: China Daily/Reuters
A designated ‘Cellphone Sidewalk’ in Chongqing, China.
Photo credit: China Daily/Reuters

In homes across the world, millions of people are sitting scrolling through their devices, then standing and walking into the kitchen, the phone still in front of their faces, then to bed, when finally after another 10 minutes of messaging, the phone is plugged in to finally rest and recharge, it’s peace only broken in the middle of the night as a hand reaches out to grab it and check Facebook.

Apple iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are one of the most popular smart phones in the UK
Apple iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are one of the most popular smart phones in the UK
Image Credit: Apple

As morning breaks, a sleepy hand reaches out, slowly grabs the device and the day begins again.

This information overload is affecting peoples brains, our bodies are fooled by the blue light from an LCD screen and now we believe it is daylight 24 hours a day. We are conditioned to rely on our devices for everything, for affirmation from our friends, to give that affirmation back in a pre-formatted ‘Sending Hugs 🤗🤗🤗’ .

So, have we forgotten how to communicate? Are we now so reliant on our smartphones, that we no longer feel the need to use it for it’s original purpose? That of speaking to people and conveying our true feelings without relying on pre-programmed ’emotions’ invented by clever people in California.

Samsung Galaxy S9 with Infinity display
Samsung Galaxy S9 with Infinity display providing vast displays in the palm of your hand.
Image Credit: Samsung

Time will tell, but no amount of intervention by software giants will put that Genie back. We as a race have to take that step.

I spoke to Mark Murphy at BBC Radio Suffolk about the obsession with smart phones this morning. Listen to the stream above, I would love to read your comments on the subject.

Matt Porter
Gadget Man

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Apple, Asus, Bluetooth, Cameras, Cars, Competition, Dell, DJI, eBike, Electric Bike, Electric Car, Flash Storage, Fujifilm, Google, Hard Drives, HTC, Huawei, Music, News, Pens, Smart Phone, Smart TV, Smart Watch, Tablet, Technology, Tesla, The Gadget Man

First Products of the Tech Giants – Play our Quiz!

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We all have to start somewhere and so did some of the biggest tech companies. Play our quiz and see if you can guess what their first products were? You might be surprised at some of the answers!

Don’t forget to comment with your score and don’t forget to like and share!!


Credit:: https://money-pod.co.uk/guides/first-products-tech-companies 
Gadget Man, Robot Vacuum Cleaner, Smart TV, Technology

The Gadget Man – Are TV’s Listening to our Private Conversations? plus Robot Vacuum Cleaner on the Rampage!!!

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A couple of news stories this morning caught the public’s attention. The first related to Samsung TV’s and privacy concerns. The second told the story of a South Korean woman having her hair devoured by a robot vacuum cleaner.

I chat to Mark Murphy at BBC Radio Suffolk to find out more.

Listen to the link above to find out the facts!!

Photo: khan news

Gadget Man, Smart TV, Technology

Samsung isn’t listening to your private conversations after all

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There’s been quite a lot of coverage in the UK media overnight regarding the supposed ability for Samsung Smart TV’s to listen in to our private conversations. It all makes great headlines I guess, but after being prompted to comment on BBC Radio Suffolk about the story, we decided to look into the matter a bit more closely.

The story was originally brought to the media’s attention after publication on the online news site The Daily Beast (view) which highlights a particular portion of the Smart TV Privacy Policy (view). The specific section states (important bit in bold):

  1. Voice Recognition
    1. You can control your SmartTV, and use many of its features, with voice commands.
    2. If you enable Voice Recognition, you can interact with your Smart TV using your voice. To provide you the Voice Recognition feature, some voice commands may be transmitted (along with information about your device, including device identifiers) to a third-party service that converts speech to text or to the extent necessary to provide the Voice Recognition features to you. In addition, Samsung may collect and your device may capture voice commands and associated texts so that we can provide you with Voice Recognition features and evaluate and improve the features. Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.
    3. If you do not enable Voice Recognition, you will not be able to use interactive voice recognition features, although you may be able to control your TV using certain predefined voice commands. While Samsung will not collect your spoken word, Samsung may still collect associated texts and other usage data so that we can evaluate the performance of the feature and improve it.
    4. You may disable Voice Recognition data collection at any time by visiting the “settings” menu. However, this may prevent you from using all of the Voice Recognition features.

Again, we looked into the technology behind the TV and found the that these specific Smart TV’s work in two modes of operations

1) The viewer can operate basic features of the TV by saying ‘Hi TV’ out loud. The TV wakes up and can be told to “Change Channel”, “Volume Up” etc. These commands are very basic and no online communication takes place at all.

2) This mode of operation can only be triggered by depressing the ‘Mic’ button on the remote control. whilst depressed, the view can ask natural language questions such as ‘What shall I watch tonight?’. It is at this point that your words are being recorded, when you finish talking those words are transmitted securely to third party natural language translation company Nuance (You might have heard of Nuance as they make the very popular dictation software Dragon Naturally Speaking). Upon arrival at Nuance’s servers, the spoken phrase in converted to text, the recording discarded and the text returned back to the TV for processing. Using a 3rd party means that the accuracy of the translation is much higher and less errors are likely to come about due to difference accents or dialects being used.

So, put simply. Unless someone with very advanced decryption abilities is permanently listening in to your internet connection on the vain hope that you might (whilst asking your TV to find you something to watch) divulge some deeply private secret, the chances of any kind of security breach is very low indeed.

I contacted Samsung for comment and a spokesperson issued the following statement:-

Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously and our products are designed with privacy in mind. We employ industry-standard security safeguards and practices, including data encryption, to secure consumers’ personal information and prevent unauthorized collection or use.

Voice recognition, which allows the user to control the TV using voice commands, is a Samsung Smart TV feature, which can be activated or deactivated by the user. Should consumers enable the voice recognition capability, the voice data consists of TV commands, or search sentences, only. Users can easily recognize if the voice recognition feature is activated because a microphone icon appears on the screen.

If a consumer consents and uses the voice recognition feature, voice data is provided to a third party during a requested voice command search to execute the command. At that time, the voice data is sent to a server, which searches for the requested content then returns the desired content to the TV.

Samsung encourages consumers to contact the company directly with any product concerns or questions.

So, should we be concerned? Well, yes we should always be concerned about our privacy and where possible take every step we see fit to ensure it is maintained. We are at constant threat of having our privacy interfered with under the veil of protection by companies and possibly governments, so we should shown caution.

However, an obvious legal statement to protect a manufacturer from litigation is perfectly acceptable in our over litigious world and I think in this case, it has been taken out of context.

I would be very interested in what you think, so please feel free to comment as you see fit.

Cameras, Christmas Presents, Drones, Electric Bike, Electric Car, Electric Vehicles, Gadget Man, Podcast, Review, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 30 – Gadget Review of the Year 2014

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It’s been a great year reviewing such a wide range of gadgets from smart watches to high end sports cars. It’s been quite a ride, I’ve really enjoyed the whole experience, so thank you to all involved from BBC Radio Suffolk to the PR agencies and companies that have been so generous allowing me to try out all the wonderful tech!

This morning I spoke to Mark Murphy about my favourite gadgets of the year and the Gadget which won the gadget of the Year.

Smart Watches

We have a lot of fun reviewing some smart wear. We reviewed the Samsung Gear 2, Sony Smartwatch 2 and Sony Smartband. My favourite was the Gear 2, purely for James Bond features. However we have been asking to review other watches, but none have been sent out. Let’s hope this improves next year.

Samsung Galaxy Gear 2  – Wearable of the Year 2014
Sony Smartwatch 2
Sony Smartband

Smart Phones and Tablets

We were never short of phones and tablets which is not surprising given the size of the marketplace. HTC, Samsung, LG, Asus, Nokia and Motorola all supplied us with review units.  HTC phones exhibited the best built quality and screen sharpness. LG had the best screen of the two Quad HD displays (the other being the Galaxy Note 4). Motorola was the best value for money with it’s Moto G.

Overall, our favourite handset started and remained the Nokia Lumia 1520. A six inch incredibly vibrant screen, superb battery life and exquisite  camera. Although very large, it was by far the nicest of the all the handsets we reviewed

We also reviewed three tables, the Samungs Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2, the Nokia Lumia 2520 and the Asus Transformer. The Tab Pro 12.2 was our favourite with massive 12.2 inch screen with better than HD quality, the Nokia 2520 with Windows 8.1RT on board was close behind.

HTC One M8
HTC One Mini 2
Nokia Lumia 1520 – Smart Device of the Year 2014
Sony Xperia Z2
Moto G
Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2
Nokia Lumia 2520 Tablet
Nokia Lumia 630
Asus Zenfone 6
Asus Transformer
LG G3
Asus Zenfone 5
Samsung Galaxy S5
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Cameras

We reviewed a number of cameras this year, as expected the GoPro models come ahead of most others for their durability and quality of movies and photos. The Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 was excellent and was a fully functional Android device to boot. The Sony Actioncam was good, but kept fogging up which spoilt most of it’s footage. The Autographer was…. weird.

GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition – Camera of the Year 2014
Samsung Galaxy Camera 2
Sony Actioncam
Autographer
BT Homecam
GoPro Hero
Selfie Stick

Electric Bikes

I loved reviewing the electric bikes this year. I started out with the mindset that electric bikes would be a welcome relief from simply reviewing mobile phones for a year, but I ended up extending my ‘E’ vehicle reviews to cars. It was thoroughly interesting and liberating to get out in the Suffolk countryside and off the beaten track to test out these bikes. The Sparta is not really designed for off-road, but was capable and fast used for travelling to work. The Smart Ebike was fabulous and I loved every minute of using it, especially off-road.  The Batribike was excellent in every area, I only marked if down for off-road use, but this was a little unfair as it had road tyres.

Sparta Ion/RX+ 
Smart Ebike – Ebike of the Year 2014 – Joint Winner
Batribike Granite Pro – Ebike of the Year 2014 – Joint Winner

Electric Cars

This was an amazing experience from the beginning. The Renault Twizy was small and exciting to drive, but really only designed to replace moped type use. The Renault Zoe was an excellent car, out of all, this was the one car which could truly offer and alternative to fossil fuelled cars both in size and price. The BMW i3 was interesting and very fast. Design wise it hardly resembled an standard BMW but it was high spec and beautiful to drive. The BMW i8 was outstanding to look at and drive. It was like sitting in Red 5 at the end of Star Wars Episode IV, and the most exhilarating drive so far (electric car wise). I didn’t get to test the Tesla Model S this year, but in a week or so, I am looking forward to reviewing it.

I also got to experience 3 AMG ‘normally’ aspirated vehicles. I say normal, there was nothing normal about these vehicles. I experienced the G63 (G Wagon), the S63 and the C63 Edition 507. The C63 was simply mind shattering. When a manufacturer electronically limits to the top speed to 171mph, you know something is afoot.

Renault Twizy
Renault Zoe
BMW i3
BMW i8 – Car of the Year 2014

The Rest

I got to test out other gadgets and gizmos, ranging from domestic gadgets to toys and drones. The drones were fun, but in some cases difficult to control. The Ankidrive was fun and the Samsung Smart TV with Soundbar was very cool indeed. However, by far the best gadget we tried out was the iRobot Roomba 880. This is a fantastic vacuum cleaner and has remained in use at least three times a day since July this year. It does a brilliant job of vacuuming up just about any type of debris on any surface. It was fantastic!!

iRobot Roomba 880 – Winner
Samsung Smart TV and Soundbar
Ankidrive
Parrot AR.Drone 2.0
Parrot Jumping Sumo

Overall Gadget of the Year 2014

The Gadget Man - Gadget of the Year 2014 - iRobot Roomba 880
The Gadget Man – Gadget of the Year 2014 – iRobot Roomba 880

We’ve certainly tried and tested many gadgets this year. Some were disappointments, some were surprising successes. But at the end of the year, you simply have to hand the Gadget of the Year award to a recipient that deserves it for providing above and beyond expectation. With this in mind, we simply have to award the Gadget of  the Year Award 2014 to iRobot Roomba 880. It’s a fantastic piece of equipment which has genuinely helped us around the house.