Leading real hands on tech review site in Ireland with technology, business news and more. Jim O Brien Tech.
Author: Jim O Brien/CEO
CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.
The Sony Z3+ Officially launches in Ireland exclusive to Vodafone only,Exclusive deals are pretty much a killing point to some extent for those who are not on the network that has not got the product but it does hamper potential sales for the company itself that being Sony…However this is a common measure with regards to exclusivity deals,some may like and some hate, I chose the latter.. From €69.99 on Vodafone Red Extra,and €569.99 on prepay. The Xperia Z3+ in black is exclusively available in Vodafone Retail and vodafone.ie from June 26th. On-line sim free prices however paint a different picture which the average is €699.
We spoke about the device back at launch where you can see the full specs and more..
Russell Keating, Senior National Account and Marketing Manager Ireland comments: “We are delighted once again to partner with Vodafone to bring Sony’s premium flagship Xperia Z3+ exclusively through their retail network across Ireland. Xperia Z3+ offers the best of Sony imaging and sound in waterproof design, combined with outstanding 2 day battery life keeping our customers connected faster and longer.”
Vodafone Ireland Consumer Director, Marcel de Groot said, “We’re delighted to bring the Xperia Z3+ handset to Vodafone customers across the country. Consumer appetite for data is growing. With our network now providing 4G services to cover 90% of the population the demand for compatible handsets is also growing. With the addition of this latest Xperia Z3+ device to our portfolio, our superfast 4G network is now more accessible to even more customers, enabling people to enjoy faster streaming and higher quality sound wherever they are in the country”.
The Band Play has been announced and what an odd name,The Band Play runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, and has a 5-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixels. There’s a 13 MP rear camera with laser auto focus on the back, and a 5 MP wide-angle camera on the front. Powered by a 64-bit quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, the new LG smartphone also features 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of expandable internal memory, and a 2,300 mAh removable battery.It is not know as to what the availability of this particular device will be as yet and perhaps just solely for Korea.
Meizu which is another Chinese brand is to release their Unbutu Edition MX4 today but only via a silly invite system and on their English site.Priced at €299 it does not seem bad but the OS is still not polished yet but for the price you get a fairly decent spec. It also looks very generic looking too but leaning towards the iPhone.
Some specs inlcude 2GB RAM 16GB internal memory 5.36in 1152×1920 screen, Octa-Core MediaTek processor, 20.7MP rear camera, 2MP front camera and a 2,320mAh battery.
Lexus which is known for making cars will begin testing its device this Summer in Barcelona, according to a Bloomberg report. There is no word yet on when the device will go on sale just yet bit Back To The Future fans will welcome this particular craft.
The tech behind the futuristic device is magnetic levitation. It uses liquid nitrogen-cooled semiconductors and magnets for its frictionless movement, according to the Lexus website.
Questions may be asked here as to why bother but its here yes a Marmite app I kid you not.It is only available on iOS for now but we may see it spread to Android at a later date..The app has been developed to transform the way Marmite is consumed forever!
The app features Unique personalisation features within the app include; spreading style (do you dollop, smudge or scrape?), current jar status (are you barren or brimming?) and bespoke push notifications (does your Marmite need some TLC?).yes this is its description it the store…
A spokesperson for Marmite said: “We wanted to change the way people interacted with Marmite in a deeper, more meaningful way. The growth of apps that enhance our lives is undeniable and we’re excited to be entering the market with a first in spreadable tech. We hope people will embrace the app to help us address Marmite neglect once and for all.”
HERE maps have been in the news pretty much of late and its all good news and HERE fans like good news,HERE is now taking steps to accelerate development of live maps for cars which sounds pretty cool.
HERE, a leader in mapping, navigation and location experiences, has published an interface specification that defines how sensor data gathered by vehicles on the road can be ingested by a cloud. The aim of this step is to support the automotive industry in accelerating the deployment of technologies that improve road safety and ease traffic congestion, such as connected Electronic Horizon and automated driving.
FULL PRESS RELEASE
According to a recent forecast from automotive technology research firm SBD, by 2020 there will be some 33 million vehicles sold annually with built-in connectivity, generating more than 163 million terabytes of data each year via their dozens of on-board cameras and sensor technologies. When shared across the road network, this data can be utilized by vehicles to give them an awareness of road conditions beyond the reach of their sensors, and thus enable the driver or the vehicle itself to better plan driving maneuvers. In order to be efficiently useable, the data shared should be intelligible to other vehicles, and thus it ideally should pass through the cloud in a standard format.
In view of that need, HERE, which is developing location cloud technology for automated vehicles, has published a sensor data ingestion interface specification for the automotive industry to utilize. HERE intends for this interface specification, made available through a creative commons license, to become a standardized way for vehicles to send to the cloud the rich variety of data gathered by their on-board sensors. With a standard interface specification, the data generated would be analogous regardless of vehicle manufacturer and could be pooled, processed and analyzed quickly to create a detailed live view of road and traffic conditions.
HERE is already discussing the interface specification with certain leading automakers, and intends to invite other industry peers to discuss the specification this summer. More information about the interface specification can be accessed on theAutomotive section of the HERE website.
“Your car generates a wealth of data about road and traffic conditions which will be very helpful to other cars driving behind you,” said Dietmar Rabel, who heads product management for the automated driving program at HERE. “By uniting around a single data specification, we can improve our collective abilities to gain a better overall understanding from the data collected. It will mean fewer accidents and less time spent in traffic. It also moves the industry closer to the goal of cars that can drive themselves.”
The data generated from sensors on board modern vehicles can be used to warn others of possible dangers, including icy roads or a spill, sudden braking or traffic build up, an accident, or an animal or object on the road. Data can also be used to verify and enhance map data and attributes, provide warnings of poor road infrastructure like potholes as well as construction. With cloud technology this data can also be utilized for new dynamic and personalized services.
The HERE location platform applies data fusion and crowdsourcing for the extremely challenging task of deriving useful information from a huge volume of vehicle sensor data. The platform ensures the robustness of data it sources to enable a car to effectively ‘see around the corner’ and avoid an accident. Achieving the highest possible confidence level requires continuous near real-time processing of large streams of very diverse data which are then fused with map, traffic, incident, weather and other data. For information to become actionable and made known to other vehicles on the road, it would typically have to evolve through multiple layers of information extraction hierarchy. HERE has already implemented a next generation engine for real-time traffic and in doing so has gained significant expertise to apply similar technology for road events relevant to highly automated driving.
As is the case with its other products and services, HERE has built data anonymization into its sensor data ingestion interface specification, meaning that the location data generated by vehicles are anonymous unless drivers opt-in to sharing personal identifier information in order to benefit from additional personalized services.
To know more about the vision of HERE for autonomous cars and read the full interview with Dietmar Rabel, visit HERE 360.
The feature delays your own outgoing message for a set number of seconds. After that, you can decide to delete it completely or make corrections. When 30 seconds have passed, the e-mail will be sent as usual this will be a welcome addition for mistakes or if you have forgot to add an attachment or perhaps wanted to say something and changed your mind.
How to set this up is simple.
Hit the Settings icon (GOG) on the top right hand side whilst your inbox is open,then hit Settings,scroll down to Enable Undo Send pictured above,tick the box on the left and you then have between 5 and 30 seconds to select which suits your needs,once you have chosen make sure you scroll down to the end of the page and select SAVE CHANGES.
We have had our BlackBerry Classic for some time now and its time to talk about it and we felt the device faired out,going back to its classic design language its certainly more solid and has better looks and performs well all round its solid in hand and ideal for one handed use,pros and cons like any other device are present so lets look some more.
If you missed the unboxing take a look here first and have a look at the device.
Build Quality.
Overall i liked the build quality,with metal trimming around the entire device it gives it a good look and it looks tough just like the Passport,the trim looks well and gives the classic a premium look,the backing of the classic is also quite nice with a grippy cover it makes the phone much less easier to drop,although it fits perfectly fine in one hand it may be slightly to big for some,that was not the case for me as one handed use was how i used the phone.Check out the images below for a tour of the device and as you can see the quality is quite good all round.The keys are solid with good travel,non catchy and the sim and sd trays too are solid.
The Camera
Not bad but with the small screen you are hampered to some extent,there is a panoramic option though which you would probably be more inclined to use if you are any way a photo enthusiast,( I aint one really but do take pictures)the camera itself is 8MP with auto focus and sports a flash too and there some settings to play around with and HDR,this worked well also on the Leap and the passport…whilst it does take great photos as mentioned the smaller screen may be an issue for some folk..With a 2MP on front its also adequate so for any selfie fanatics you can relax.
The keyboard and navi keys
I was never a fan of qwerty keyboards until i tried the Nokia E71 to be honest and after the E72 i think was the last time to use such on a daily basis until the Passport came along and that keyboard was a joy to use,you knew you where hitting the right keys all the time even though it was cumbersome at times it worked a treat,the same applies to the keyboard on the classic although probably a bit too small my my shovel hands,the problem here is it takes up space and leaves you with a small screen but the keyboard is simple to use,the navi keys and trackpad are quite tactile and the trackpad helps out on the screen when viewing pages as you will need to navigate some more due to the screen size,they may look tight and clustered but to use they are quite good.
Display.
Ok the screen is small its 3.5 inches so you are limited as to viewing options here without having to navigate the screen but thankfully the navikey helps out here and as mentioned its tactile so zooming through pages etc is quite fine but you will notice this compared to larger screened devices on the market,.Outdoor visibility was quite good but viewing angles poor..
Sound
Dual speakers… No that even fooled me to begin with although aesthetically they look great one is actually a mic ,a trick we have seen many a time on other devices across the board,similar to the huge outer speaker grille and a tiny speaker underneath.the device packs great sound once its on a flat surface,if its in your pocket it will get muffled due to the placement of the speaker down the bottom,music sounds crisp and clear and the music player is also good,on watching you tube etc again sound reproductions proves the same and this department..The stock earbuds as in most cases with any mobile these days are kinda poor but if you have your own personal ones to use yes the sound is good when plugged in you should also note.
The OS
Same as the Passport 10.3.1 its reliable and works fine although there is a newer version rolling out as we speak,its been rather good overall with some frequent freezing issues which can be expected on any OS the lack of native apps is the main problem here which applies to window phone but thankfully we can sideload the playstore and get plenty of missing apps there some may render oddly on the device due to its size,a similar issue which applied to the passport so if you are an apps kind you should be fine once you use the playstore,my daily apps that I use worked fine although trying some others did not but what do you expect,there is enough apps to keep the average user who is not app centric happy. BlackBerry hub and blend are great features,Everything else is pretty much the same as discussed before on the Passport and works fine…
Browsing
Fine,the odd page freeze or render issue,this might bother some and screen estate is not huge so remember 3.5 inch is small compared to todays standards which is now 5 inches and up for most users but the classic i targeted at a certain market but 3.5 is small folks…
Connectivity
It comes with NFC which was amiss in the Leap,although NFC is still slow to start here those of us who have it use it well most of us and we also have peripherals to use alongside which is handy.Bluetooth 4.0 LTE ,Wi-Fi/Direct micro USB and we can also use it as a mobile hotspot. If you have Miracast for example this will also work with the Classic.
Battery
2,515mAh – Again its good like any Blackberry easily a day of medium – heavy use,if you are not so tough or reliant on media etc two days is no problem if its just for calls emails some social media and quick browsing.
Overall thoughts
I think they played safe here with an below today’s standard internals,its like a mini mini of the passport curved that will suit the business user,i cant see it attracting new customers but rather the current BlackBerry Classic junkie,the camera is quite it does everything it says on the tin for its intended market and thats it,for me its too small but I like it due to the the navi keys and trackpad,using a device this small one handed is a joy I must say even though i am custom to a bigger phone I could use this with ease ,it did take a few days to get used to it but once I got over the size it was nice to use,its been years since I used this form factor and it brought back memories of a love/hate relationship of QWERTY handsets because you will love it and hate it..Same applied to the Passport with its odd shape but that’s in a league of its own and will remain there for some time its a powerhouse with a funky design,the classic is for classic fans,one which i was not but it has a place with me now and its a good effort from BlackBerry that could of been a little better in terms of specs.
