Samsung Galaxy S4

Yesterday (and excuse the late blog post, I thought it was released today), came the much awaited release of Samsung's latest Galaxy S phone - the S4. Its slick look and impressive screen size will catch the eye of any onlooker, however only ones with full pockets will be able to afford one, as with all top of the range phones.

The S4 comes packed with so many incredible, clever and some frankly pointless features, something that the iPhone 4S, which is ironically the reversal of the S4, failed to do entirely. Firstly the camera has been significantly improved, from the S3's 8MP to 13MP on the back facing camera, along with a variety of effects similar to those on the Samsung Galaxy Camera. The overall picture quality is impressive, and the Dual Camera ability allows you to use both the front and back facing cameras at the same time, perhaps useful in some situations.

The screen had yet again increased in size since the previous Galaxy S model, from a huge 4.7" to an almost-definitely-too-large 5", with standard HD AMOLED screen. Not too much to say about the screen, except that it works whilst wearing gloves, a welcome feature for those of us who can't find a pair of vaguely fashionable touch-screen gloves. Other than that, the screen is pretty flawless.

As well as the fairly standard features on a new android phone, such as Near-Field Communication (NFC) for contactless payment, the S4 isn't at all short of them. Its eye-tracking technology, Smart Stay, is a feature featured on the S3 but not perfected, but one that the S4 has improved - the screen will only sleep "when you do". However, this is nothing on the new Smart Scroll, which allows you to scroll up or down a web page or messages thread simply by tilting your head up or down, and to pause videos by turning your head away - useful for people like me who are always forgetting to look at the video I've decided to play. Useless, you may say? But something of a novelty for your first few weeks at least. Secondly, as included in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, is the ability to expand pictures and preview videos by hovering your finger just above the screen. Furthermore, a swipe left or right over the screen can switch tabs on the browser, or skip a song. Finally, a drag down of the notifications bar will reveal a universal remote for use with any TV - not just Samsung ones. The infrared blaster on the top of the phone allows you to change channels, view the programme guide and even record programs, increasing the range of things a slab of plastic can do these days.

The S4 is by far the best Samsung phone to be released, and debatably but most likelily the best phone on the market.

The Full Features of Facebook

Since Facebook started in 2004, it has grown hugely in popularity, reaching over a billion monthly users last year. It impressed users with the ability to make their own profile, make statuses, 'Like' other people's statuses, make and join groups and create events to invite friends to, recently with the ability to play games and listen to music via Spotify integration.

However recently the craze about Facebook seems to have somewhat died, with teenagers spending less time on it and checking it less frequently. But what should be made know to people is just how amazing Facebook is for day to day communication, games and music. Here I will outline some of the newer, cleverest features and how to get the most from Facebook.

Firstly is Facebook's music application - they recently included Spotify integration, making listening and sharing music incredibly easy, or just for stalking a friend's embarrassing music tastes. Despite Spotify's annoying 5 plays per song limit, and adverts about one of their employee's love for 'Broadway Show tunes' (among other things), overridden only by paying large amounts of money to Spotify for their music, it really is a handy and convenient way to listen to music for free - you get your money's worth. Users were able to share playlists, see what other friends were listening to and listen to the music with their friends at the same time as them.

Secondly Instagram, the latest addition to the Facebook family, was bought by them in April for $1 billion and since then has become increasingly popular as iPhone and Android users use the app to upload and tag photos, creating a sort of photo blog ('phlog', if you will) with all photos sent to your Facebook profile to keep it all together. Photo updates from a user's friends would be displayed in a news feed similar to Facebook's. The idea of #hashtags was borrowed from Twitter to enable people to find photos from its selection of users belonging to a particular category, and users could also add a number of effects and editing tools to their photos.

Thirdly is Facebook's App Centre, compiling a vast selection of Games (such as Farmville or Words with Friends), Music (Spotify, Soundhound etc.), News (The Independent, Metro etc.) and many other categories. Facebook's Gift Cards provide credits which can be used in such games, but can only really appeal to people with literally nothing better to do than send endless game requests to their non-interested friends, watching their money from game credits spiral endlessly into the waiting wallets of Mark Zuckerburg & Co. Its Club Penguin, but for adults.

Fourthly I am brought to Facebook's upcoming feature of 'graph search', a smart search tool allowing users to search naturally and in general human sentences. Upon request, it can find items such as "Friends who like cycling who live in my hometown" or "Pictures of my friends taken before 2003", making finding friends who have something in common with you even easier. On writing this, Facebook Graph Search is only in Beta, and a waiting list must be joined to try it out, but soon enough it will be hitting your profile, just like Timeline did.

Before I finish, something on Timeline; on its release, it annoyed and shocked many with its entirely different layout. Eventually, however, I think people realised that it wasn't that bad at all, adopting it wholeheartedly. The idea of a cover photo was clever and looks awesome, and Timeline made it easy to track back to events in the past and revisit your Facebook footprint. Music tastes, friends and recent activity could be found immediately from your Timeline, and Life Events could be added to show commitments or achievements. Although we all miss our Facebook Walls, Timeline is a solid replacement for them, and is something we grow to love.

Finally, the best thing about Facebook is that it allows growing businesses, (for example: barneysgardenhelp.webs.com) blogs, (barneystechblog.blogspot.com) and YouTubers (www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWnQRwIuphYt) to promote their businesses, blogs, music and videos to all of their friends, plus the other 200 other people they don't actually know. For many, Facebook is vital for advertising freely their hobbies and interests; that is, unless you want to pay Facebook £4.96 to get it to the top of your friends' News Feeds. You can't count on all your friends staying on Facebook, but you can be assured that they'll always to find news ways of sucking the money from your pockets.

Last Minute Christmas Gadget Gift Guide

With less than a week until the most widely celebrated event of the year, you may be stuck for present ideas, and this year offers more gadget choice than ever before. Here's a lowdown on the bestsellers this Christmas, and what to get if you're in a panic:

Amazon Kindle
For a book lover who is yet to bag themselves a digital e-reader, an Amazon Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Fire is a must have, all sold at particularly low prices too. At just £70, 170 grams and with the ability to read in bright sunlight, the Kindle is the perfect gift this Christmas, and cheaper than ever before. Its huge selection of books, light weight and cheap price make it stand out against its other e-reader competitors such as the Nook and iPad Mini, justifying its place at the top end of the market. For game, music and movie fanatics, the Kindle Fire HD combines these elements with the book reading experience for a wider entertainment choice.



Samsung MV800
If you're looking for a digital camera for under £100 then the Samsung Multi-View camera has to be the one to get. With a full 16MP and 5x optical zoom, in addition to the 180 degree flippable 3 inch touchscreen LCD display, smartphone like user interface and easy addition of digital effects, this camera gives you fantastic value for money and makes the perfect gift for a photography lover, or for just a bit of fun.



LG Nexus 4 by Google

The Nexus 4 shapes up to be on par with the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 on specs, with its price way below at just £239, or £26 a month on contract. It has an 8MP camera, Google Wallet for contactless payment, and over 700,000 apps on the Google Play store. And on top of these features, the Nexus 4 also includes panorama photos, HD video recording, Google Maps and Google Voice Search, allowing it to compete with the best smartphones available. So, if you're looking for a new, top end phone as a gift this Christmas but don't want to spend a crazy amount of money for it, then the Nexus 7 is the phone to buy - although they are currently out of stock (at time of writing) due to the huge demand.

WOWee ONE
The WOWee ONE is a quirky but clever speaker which vibrates the surface that its on to create sound instead of using conventional speakers. The Classic version is powered by a rechargeable battery, small enough to hold in the palm of your hand and is compatible with all iPods, iPhones and Blackberrys, and clocks in at an impressive, affordable, £50.


Apple iPad Mini
Despite criticism from many for being entirely useless, many find that the iPad Mini finds the perfect balance between laptop and mobile. At 7.9 inches diagonally and 308 grams, it is lighter and more smaller than previous iPad models, allowing easy portability from home to work, and is the perfect addition for your Macbook or laptop. And with a growing collection of the best tablet apps from the App store, and all the best iPad apps on the iPad Mini, all your giftee's music, business and game requirements can be met - at a reasonable £269.

The Evolution of the iPod Touch

Four more generations of iPod Touch have come from from Apple since the release of the first in September 2007, each outdoing the previous with new features, many of which also featuring on the Touch's closest relative, the iPhone. As well as the music by which the iPod became popular, the Touch provided more entertainment options such as videos, apps, and of course games. But with so many models starring in the iPod Touch timeline, what's the difference between them?

The 1st generation iPod Touch was released the September after the original iPhone in 2007, and like the iPhone changed the way we listen to music, offering the capability of watching videos, playing games or sending an email, all while listening to our favourite tunes. The App Store allowed users to download music, apps and videos from the largest content collection available. Although its features now seem very limited, it was the first MP3 player with Wi-Fi connectivity and multi-touch gestures, along with the widest selection of apps via the App Store. However, it lacked volume buttons on the side and a built in speaker - features to be included in later models.

The 2nd generation Touch was a decent step up from the original, with a shinier back, rounded edges, external volume buttons, a built in speaker, bluetooth for connecting and sharing photos with other iPods and other minor features like shake to shuffle and a longer battery life.It also included an upgrade to iOS 4.1.2, however its features were limited, for example, multitasking and home screen background editing were not available.

The 3rd gen version, much like the iPhone 4S, offered little more than the previous model. It was 50% faster then the 2nd gen, a remote and microphone on the earphones and Voice Control for 16GB and 32GB versions, but except for that it looks exactly the same.

In the 4th generation Touch, released September 1st 2010, included more features than ever before. A front facing camera compatible with Facetime allowed users to, like Skype, connect and talk with other friends on their Macs, iPhones or iPod Touches, while the back camera was capable of  recording 720p HD videos for viewing on the Retina Display screen. It also featured Apple's latest operating system, iOS5, which included  photo editing, a camera shortcut on the lock screen, Apple's BlackBerry Messenger equivalent, iMessage, and a much needed notifications bar, solving previous problems in which notifications would simply disappear after interrupting your game or call.

The latest iPod Touch, 5th gen, again arrived with more features, including the new iOS6. As well as its taller screen, faster A5 chip, Lightening power connector and 1080p HD video recording, iOS6 added a whole bunch of new features. Firstly, Apple included its own Maps apps to replace Google Maps. Although it originally came under criticism over towns and cities being mislocated, its good graphics, real time traffic updates and flyover view to view the city from the air make up for the odd mistake. Secondly, the Passbook app stores all your coupons, loyalty cards and tickets on your iPod/iPhone for use in partaking shops and cinemas. Siri became available for latest iPad and iPod Touches, Safari was updated to include seamless browsing on different devices, allowing you to continue your browsing experience on whatever device you prefer, and Facebook became integrated with your iPod, making it even easier to share your favourite photos and links with your friends. However its hefty £250 price tag makes it only £10 cheaper than the iPad Mini - a much better idea. But without note to the price, the 5th generation iPod Touch has to be, by far, the best yet.

Google Nexus 7 vs Amazon Kindle Fire HD

Before the release of the Google Nexus 7 in July, tablet options were limited to 10 inch models, such as the iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab. However, since then has come the arrival of a number of smaller tablets; too big to be a phone, and too small the be a proper tablet, which have reshaped the tablet market due to their price and portability. It was this that allowed them to become a hit with the consumer technology market. Perhaps the two most popular of which are the Google Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD, which I will compare here.

The screens on the two tablets are both very similar, with 7 inches diagonally across them and 216 pixels per inch. However, the Kindle Fire's screen has more of a contrast between colours on the screen, while the Nexus displays sharper, and generally better images. Google's 'Project Butter' helps to enhance smoothness and faster touch response on the screen, and the Kindle's HD screen capable of streaming 720p HD video, with a large besel to hold while watching will make the tablet appealing to hardcore tablet film fans. And thanks to the Kindle's 'X-Ray' feature, a tap of the screen during movie streaming brings up IMDb provided information for that film, including actors and actresses. Although the Nexus' relatively decent speaker, 720p video and rubberised grip on the back should also appeal to users looking to use their tablet for entertainment purposes, the Fire HD focuses on Amazon's content (movies, music, apps), hence the lack of much storage space on the device. Although both Google and Amazon focus greatly on content for their devices, customers who have already built a library of Amazon books or apps may choose to opt for the Kindle.

As for syncing with other devices, both have Bluetooth connectivity for easily sharing files with friends or your other devices. The Fire HD is able to link all your Kindle devices using WiFi, allowing your page numbers and other annotations to be kept across your Kindles. The Nexus' equivalent, Chrome log in, lets you continue your browsing on your other devices, along with your history and bookmarks. Its Near Field Communication (NFC) chip enables contactless payment at shops, meaning compatibility with Google Wallet; the app which lets you pay for items in shops with just a tap. Meanwhile, the Fire HD comes with a HDMI cable to show on a TV or computer screen what's on-screen, a feature missing on the Nexus 7.

The cameras on the two tablets are both similar; neither have a back camera, but with 1.2 and 1.3MP resolutions on the Nexus and the Fire HD respectively, while their batteries have reasonable 8 hour and 10 hour lives respectively. For Browsing, the Nexus 7 probably cuts just above the Kindle, with its fantastic Chrome browser and Chrome log in. However the Fire HD puts up a tough fight with its Dual Antenna WiFi for much faster connection, and its decent Silk browser - however neither of the tablets have 3G; perhaps a feature in later models.

The Nexus 7 runs on Android 4.1.2, Ice-Cream Sandwich, a nice interface running with the Google Play Store for apps, music and films, however with a limited number of apps compatible with the Nexus 7 in particular. The Fire HD runs on a limited version of Android 4.0, with a fairly uncustomisable interface in that the apps sit on a default ordered shelf. Another disadvantage are the limited number of apps available for the Fire HD, and more advanced games simply don't work at all. Ads on the lock screen are sure to aggravate users, only removable by paying a one off £10 fee.

Currently, the Nexus 7 comes in 16GB version for £159, and a 32GB version for £199, with the Kindle Fire HD shipping at the same prices.

Overall,  if you're a user keen on reading or with a library of books or films already bought from Amazon, the Kindle Fire HD will match your needs perfectly. However for those looking for a neatly priced tablet and value for money with lots to offer in terms of apps and features, the Nexus 7 is probably the tablet for you.



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iPad Mini

Just days ago came the arrival of the highly rumored and highly anticipated iPad Mini from Apple, a competitor to the number of other 7 inch tablets previously released. This new iPad had a lot to live up to, with the Google Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 to compete with, all of which are cheaper.

Apple have a problem, in that their products have a certain style and quality mark to live up to, meaning that they are unable to make a tablet to easily compete with the number of other 7" tablets under £200. It was perhaps because of this high price that, after the announcement of the iPad Mini, Amazon Kindle Fire sales rocketed. Many tablet users were expecting a cheap Apple tablet, but, when the £259 pricetag was unveiled, opted for a cheaper Kindle Fire - and who could blame them?

However, when picking up the iPad Mini for the first time, what is immediately obvious is how thin and light it is compared with its rivals. At just 308g, and 7.2mm thin, it is by far the thinnest and lightest tablet on the market; made increasingly more impressive considering that is definitely not the smallest. Its new lightning connector on the bottom frees up space for an extra speaker, adding enhanced sound performance to the iPad. Plus, all the iPad apps which Apple users have grown to love are easily compatible with the iPad Mini due to its identical aspect ratio, preventing app developers from having to adjust their apps.

Although so many criticise the iPad Mini, calling it unnecessary, I think that it reaches the perfect balance between a phone and a laptop, and that 7.9 inch tablets could be the new must have gadget.



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4G - Pros and Cons

Yesterday, 4G arrived in 10 of England's main cities, with many more being added to the list by the end of the year. 4G claims to be able to allow users to access the internet with speeds up to 5 times faster than 3G networks - faster than some home broadband speeds. The new 4G connection is currently being provided by EE (formerly known as Everything Everywhere), formed by the merging of networks T-mobile and Orange. But the question is, will 4G be worth the price tag it brings with it?
In fact, when comparing EE's price on Apple's new iPhone 5 on 4G to Orange's price on 3G (Unlimited calls and texts with 500MB internet), the 4G tariff appears to be only £3 more expensive on a 24 month contract, at £36 a month, with a device cost of £179.99 (totalling around £43 a month). This is surprisingly cheap for the service being offered, perhaps making the service available for lower budget customers. A problem arises in the fact that there are currently only seven phones operating with 4G connectivity, all of which are at the higher end of the market. This means that customers with a lower budget may have to wait a while until they can get their hands on a 4G deal. However, when other networks begin to provide 4G signal sometime next year, competition should cause prices to fall.
Another issue is in the small number number of cities currently able to recieve 4G signal. Currently only 10 cities are able to receive 4G signal, rising to 16 by January. Therefore many will have to wait a while until they can access faster mobile internet rates.
But the advantages of this super-fast new connectivity probably outweigh the negatives; 4G will be more appealing to business users than WiFi because of its privacy and security. It is also capable of film downloads in seconds, and watching live TV without buffering. It is for these reasons that 4G will surely become a steadfast replacement for 3G.