26 Mar 2013

The Vamp

I love new technology that can breathe life into old stuff which we normally consider junk. The Vamp is the perfect example. A Kickstarter project by Paul Cocksedge, this amazing invention allows you to convert any old speaker immediately into a portable bluetooth speaker.

I have the SoundWave SW50 Bluetooth Speaker but my wife is not satisfied with the sound and has decided to get the Jawbone Big Jambox. However, it's not cheap - £259.99 for one. Unfortunately the Vamp is not for sale in the market yet. However, if it does go on sale, it will cost only £35 and you can use it with any old speaker. I wish I had kept the speakers from my old Sony hi-fi which went kaput and ended up in the tip.

When I last checked, Paul has been able get £19,932 pledged out of £35,000 goal with 33 days more to go on the Vamp Kickstarter page.

20 Mar 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4




The Samsung Galaxy S4 was launched with much funfare at Times Square NYC on the 14th of March.

Watch the launch video:


The phone runs on a 1.6GHz processor and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS. It has a slightly larger touchscreen display (5") as compared to the S3 (4.9"). As for memory, the S4 has 2GB Ram and 16GB internal storage.

I was really curious about the camera and I was not disappointed - it has a huge 13 megapixel camera. However, as I have learnt in the past, higher mega pixels does not necessarily mean better images.

Iguess, the feature which makes the Galaxy S4 stand out from it's competitors is its eye tracking technology. The Smart Pause feature will stop videos when you look away and you can actully scroll pages up or down by using their Smart Scroll feature.

Another first for this phone (if I am not mistaken) is its ability to take videos from both the front and rear facing cameras AT THE SAME TIME.

Looking forward to getting my hands on one.


6 Mar 2013

Google Glass



Google Glass detail
(Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/azugaldia/7457645618
Author Antonio Zugaldia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.)

Seems like every is now talking about Google Glass (stylized simply as GLASS). This augmented reality wearable computer with a head-mounted display (HMD) is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project.


According to this concept, you have access to the Internet and computers everywhere you go (at least where there is a connection) and which you can control via hands-free voice commands. It uses the Google's Android operating system.

The amazing thing is that this project has already generated so much publicity and most of this was via Twitter and other social networks.  According to a recent article on Forbes, Google copied Apple's strategy creating a “demand before supply” and  "using a more understated strategy centered on exclusivity and community".

I definitely cannot wait to get my hands on one and try it out. Hope it lives up to the hype.