the Technology Affinity blog

Finally a place to put your DSLR lens cap – another great Kickstarter project

geofas — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:55:15 +0000

It’s not that I have already lost loads of lens caps, but I certainly ran too close to the misfortune several times. And it’s not even that, I also find it terribly annoying having to find a space for it and never remembering where I put the thing. Then of course Di get’s annoyed since I’m holding everyone up and we should be moving on, but I digress.

All this hassle and annoyance is finally a thing of the past thanks to this nifty little gizmo. The lens cap holder stays on the neck strap and is always easily accessible. And of course since the thing stays in one place I shouldn’t forget too many times where I put the lens cap.

Video after the break

What Apple needs to launch today in order to catch up with Android and overtake them

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:08:45 +0000

In a few words: burst the shackles of the wire!
In these times the wire should only be required to charge the device’s battery.

Let’s look at a few key features after the break …

Apple	Match Android	Overtake Android
Wired OS updates	OTA OS updates	OTA OS feature updates
Wired app backup	OTA app settings backup, data if supported by app	OTA app backup for settings and data
Manual OTA app updates	Automatic OTA app updates (unless permissions change), but seems to come in batches	Fully automatic OTA app updates (unless permissions change), push-based when new app version is available
Wired media loading	OTA music streaming OTA video streaming rentals WiFi media syncing (AirTwist)	OTA media access with local buffering download (as patent suggests), i.e. Lala Plus
Wired system backup/restore	Full OTA backup/restore but home screen customisation does not work yet	Full OTA backup/restore, seamless backup, restore tied to Apple ID, zero-configuration
Old Google Maps	Update to Google Maps 5.5	Ping meets Google Maps 5.5
Basic support for non-Apple services (Flickr)	Add social networks or any account similar to “Share API” in Android	??
Static home-screens with basic badges and push notifications	Widgets on home-screen with pull-down notification area	Refreshed UI (it’s been 4 years) with customisable widgets with configurable data-sources, not restricted to Apple feeds, screen overlay with notifications and messaging threads
Ping in its current form, which is very limited	Nothing similar	If Apple could open up to connecting other social networks it could really get good traction with Ping. No media player in Android is really good at being social, and media discovery is quite important for people who can’t be bothered to research and put playlists together (like me) Last.fm-like scrobbling of my media consumption should also be standard with a feed to my social network and basis for more media discovery – this would result in more media sale for Apple
iWork	Google Docs, online only	iWork fully features in the iCloud but with local synced copies a la dropbox
iDisk which is a nice try but not quite what people need	Nothing similar.	iDisk a la Dropbox (Apple, you could buy them)
MobileMe, syncing small elements across Apple devices AirPlay to transfer viewing/listening from one device to another	Chrome has great syncing but we’re not at proper cross-device syncing of all Android powered devices No AirPlay-like functionality yete	Full sync between all devices connected to an Apple ID, pick up on one device where you left it off on another Move files/media from one device to another regardless of storage location, this will of course be helped by full storage of everything in the cloud

The real question will be the charging model around this. At the moment Android does all of their wireless magic for free.

Did I miss anything in the list? Any other ideas?

The Oona. – Versatility meets stand. Another great Kickstarter project.

geofas — Thu, 12 May 2011 22:00:52 +0000

Imagine if you had a stand that could hold your dearest device in whatever position you need it? Enter …

Update: This nifty little gizmo will free your hands and secure your gadget against any flat/even surface.

With just three screw holes it is incredibly versatile and sure to find many uses in your life. At the time of the original posting the project was already over the threshold of successful funding. Now of course it is well into the early stages of it’s kickstart career as a successfully funded project and I can’t wait to get my hands on my Oona.

iPad 2 with 3G or just WiFi?

geofas — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:14:37 +0000

Looks like TUAW saved me some of the write-up but came to a more open or be it even different conclusion. While all their considerations are true and make sense the conclusion is driven by personal usage. http://i.tuaw.com/2011/03/06/iphone-4-personal-hotspot-wi-fi-only-ipad-possible-but-wit/

On my iPad 1 I used the 3G connection under half a dozen times in a year.

The location features were much more commonly used but I never needed a very accurate positioning, that’s what my iPhone is for. Just an easy narrowing down on the neighbourhood was enough for me.

In the UK I can use all BT/FON wifi hotspots as I share my home connection via a FON router (cheaper than the extra cost for an iPad 2 with 3G).

When travelling I mostly use the iPad for browsing at a hotel or family/friend’s house thus not needing a 3G connection.

With home and travel web usage done over wifi most of the time, the battery use issue does not apply for me.

Hence in conclusion I am considering at the moment not getting the 3G version. I would do so for the only reason the article author intends to: just in case I ever needed it. This was the reason getting the 3G version in the first place and as it turned out I used it on a handful occasions, occasions that I easily could have done without. For those rare occasions using the hotspot function of a smartphone will do just as fine.

Leave your views and usage pattern in the comments.

Remember the sneakers with Power Laces from Back to the Future 2? They’re coming.

geofas — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:50:36 +0000

In fact they are almost here! A new kickstarter project by Blake Bevin is making it happen. She is missing a bit more support in her fundraiser campaign. Have a look ….

Canon EOS 550D acquired and unboxed

geofas — Sat, 15 May 2010 06:52:47 +0000

Earlier this week I upgraded from my first DSLR, the Nikon D60, to the new Canon EOS 550D. My first tests with it were done in Delhi in bright daylight as well as tricky indoor low-light situation and I am very happy with the upgrade.

While the Nikon D60 is a great camera to get into DSLR photography I have come to my limits with it quite quickly and was ready for the next step. For about 1.5 months I evaluated both Nikon and Canon systems, fairly early decided that I want to give the Canon system a shot now.

Then for the actual camera my requirements were:
- 15+ megapixels
- 1080p HD video recording
- Liveview
- high FPS for continuous shooting
- >3400 ISO
- user-friendly menu/settings
- ideally dedicated ISO setting button

My initial candidates were the 7D and the 550D but with the 7D costing over £1,000 body-only I narrowed in on the 550D soon, while being continuously tempted by the 9 fps and dual DIGIC processor speed as well as the sturdiness of the 7D. Now having bought the 550D I’m confident that I made the right choice given that I’m still a beginner but I’m still very intrigued by the 7D. The 50D is at the end of its lifecycle and I’m curious to see what Canon will do about it in the next months and the price points it will settle on after a few months of its introduction.

To take a look at the Canon 550D on amazon check: http://bit.ly/daXW1q

The Canon 550D offers:
- 3.7 fps
- 1080p HD movie recording
- 6400 ISO (expandable to 12800)
- 18 megapixels
- liveview
- SD cards, specific support for EyeFi cards
- built-in flash
- built-in mic and speaker, also has socket for external mic
- mini HDMI socket

As I bought the 550D in duty free on a business trip I had a few restrictions to deal with when capturing the unboxing on my iPhone 3GS, running OS 4 beta 3. The lighting was more than tricky and I had no way of fixing the iPhone, but anyway, here is the unboxing video.

Canon EOS 550D Unboxing

My Nikon D60 was is for sale on Amazon. ~~if you’re interested with an 18-55 kit lens for £319.99. As I look after all my gadgets extremely well it is in mint condition and only has seen 1,000 shutter releases.~~

If you’d like to take a look at the listing check this link: http://bit.ly/c1fQ9u
For quality assurance and re-packing pics please see: http://bit.ly/94KdvD

Google Nexus One Unboxing & Optimisation

geofas — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:00:52 +0000

I recently received my shiny new Google Nexus One, as well as the stand, and captured the glorious moments with it as an unboxing feature.

See the pictures here.

Now if there were two things, and there are, that are not to my liking, I’d have to say:

Exchange support does not include Calendar!!!!!!!
No HTC Sense UI

Now while there are ways around both issues through apps (paid-for ones), it is just not the same. For a while I pondered to sell my Google Nexus One and get the HTC Desire instead so at least I can get the HTC Sense UI. This would be intriguing if it wasn’t for one crucial difference in hardware between the Google Nexus One and the HTC Desire, the hardware-based noise reduction tech. Since I’m using the Google N1 mostly for business it is quite crucial that I get the best voice quality possible. So after long deliberation and having found a good set of pretty good replacements for some key components of the HTC Sense UI I’m finally leaning towards keeping my Google Nexus One and not pawning it off so I can get the HTC Desire instead.

HTC Sense UI replacement apps:

Basic home theme: “GDE – The new home experience!” by MiroMind [paid for], with the “Hero Theme for GDE” by Diceman4 [free]
Clock/Weather Widget: “Weather Widget” by Android Apps [paid-for], with the H7C skins for clock and weather [free]

I’m aware that this is by far not an exhaustive list of all HTC widgets it is still a good enough work-around, short of having to root the device and flash the HTC Desire’s ROM onto my Google Nexus One.

Other replacement features to match HTC Desire:

“FlipSilent” by Maven Peter: this mutes your phone if you turn it face down

Great replacement for complete Exchange sync/push access:

“Exchange for Android” by NitroDesk, Inc. aka Touchdown [paid-for]

Roomba 581 Unboxing photos

geofas — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:26:37 +0000

We’re the most delighted and happy owners of a Roomba 581. Ever since we openend up the box we have several extra hours available to do meaningful things every single week.

Here are some photos we took during unboxing the happy helper.

Live coverage of Symbian Expo and Eurogamer Expo this week

geofas — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:35:47 +0000

This week two events take place in London that I will cover live via twitter. If you’d like to follow the stream of updates from the areas that I cover, please follow @geekpub on twitter. In case you hadn’t heard about geekpub yet, it’s a little thing that I started in the summer this year to organise drinks amongst like-minded folks. The initiative is in the early stages, free, and open to anyone who likes to chat about gadget, technology, games, etc. For more info please visit http://geekpub.me.uk/ . Besides organising the little meetups I’ve also decided to do all the live microblogging under the geekpub name so as to separate it from the everyday updates under @geofas.

Now back to the events that will be covered. Today is the second and last day of Symbian Exchange & Exposition that I will cover. It is a yearly event to promote the Symbian mobile platform and yesterday was quite intersting, especially the keynotes in the morning and the Open Source Business Model seminars. The event takes place at Earls Court Two, is free and registration easy via web or at reception. You can find more information on their website at http://www.see2009.org/ . The closest tube station is West Brompton on the District Line.

The second event this week is the Eurogamer Expo. I am really looking forward to this one as last year was an absolute blast. Plus this year I will go the both days, Friday 30 October and Saturday 31 October. A truly amazing line-up of games are available to play there and the equiqment will surely be as sweet as last year. The event takes place at Old Billingsgate, the closest tube station is Monument on the Circle and District Line, costs £6 per day but is completely sold out. More information about the event can be found here. A few of the games on display at the expo are already available for sale on amazon.co.uk.

If you’d like to follow updates from these events please follow @geekpub on twitter. Send me a DM if you’re there and would like to meet up.

We’ve moved! geofas.com now runs on Amazon EC2.

geofas — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:28:52 +0000

I’m excited to report that a week’s worth (well about 25 hours in total) of research on work has come to fruition.

After having learned what I need to know about Amazon’s cloud computing web services EC2 & S3 I moved geofas.com over to the new architecture and it paid off. The site runs about twice as fast now which makes me very happy.

If you care to compare bring up http://blt.me.uk/ which on the previous web-host alongside http://geofas.com/ which is now running on Amazon EC2.

Later this year I’m going to post a how2 for setting up a wordpress powered blog on Amazon EC2 and move content over, a particular scenario that I believe has not been properly covered clearly in the blogosphere, so hopefully this may be of help to fellow bloggers.

Update: For cost reasons I’ve decided to go back to my original webhost since I had already paid there for 2 years of hosting.