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Minority Report tech becomes reality?

2012-01-14T13:44:00.000Z

Check out the video of Samsung's Smart Window. Maybe a while before the tech from Minority Report becomes a reality but we are getting there. Several sci-fi teach has become a reality in our lifetime.

Hottest gadget accessory of 2011 - Beats by Dr. Dre

2011-12-27T01:17:00.001Z

No! The hottest gadget accessory is not the multicoloured iPad covers or your Wi-Fi signal detecting T-shirt (though I would love to have one).

The hottest gadget accessory this year are the headphones. And I am not referring to just any headphone but Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. I first noticed them in some celeb pictures but now I see them everywhere.

Pic by MB-one (Alexander Kaiser)

I noticed a couple of University students with the phones hanging around their neck and asked them what they liked about the phones. Their reply: "They are cool!"

They do look nice but they are definitely not cheap. For example one of the best selling head phones on the Apple store is the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre High Definition Wireless Bluetooth Headphones which costs £249.95. However, according to some of my techie friends, its' just a fashion fad and you can have comparable or better quality headphones for lesser, for example, the Sennheiser MM400 Bluetooth Headset (in comparison to the Beats headphones), only costs £184.95.

Check out the list of the best budget headphones on the Stuff website.

TomTom Vs Google's Navigation app

2011-12-19T03:07:00.001Z

update: 20/12/2011

Car navigation systems maker TomTom has been experiencing a slump in sales and has recently detailed plans to cut around 10% jobs globally. A major reason for this is attributed to the development of GPS enabled mobile phones and more specifically the Android phones which come with Google's turn-by-turn Navigation app.

The major advantage of the Navigation app. over TomTom is that it is completely free. Furthermore, maps are updated more frequently and the updates are free as well.

I bought my TomTom One in 2007 and upgraded the maps in 2009. As I wrote in one of my old post, I was thoroughly disappointed with the new map. Several post codes were missing - including some which were present in the older map.

Quite recently I was going over to a friend's apartment here in Coventry and like several new builds, I could not find the address on my TomTom. In the end I had to use my Samsung's Navigation app. It was a bit frustrating a couple of time when the map lagged behind and I had to slow down a couple of times. However, it did get me to my friend's apartment in the end and even showed me a picture of the building when I arrived.

All Satnav makers including TomTom and Garmin are going to face some serious challenge from Google in the near future and I feel that offering frequent and free updates to their maps might be one way to retain their customers.

Grand launch of the Nokia Lumia 800 in London

2011-11-29T19:04:00.001Z

Nokia teamed up with Drive Productions for a spectacular 4D light show projected on Millbank Tower in London's South Bank to mark the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800.

Watch the amazing video:

And behind the scenes:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus: 1st with Android Ice Cream Sandwich

2011-11-27T01:13:00.006Z

The World's first smartphone with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is finally here. Ice cream Sandwich brings together features from Android Gingerbread (phones) and Honeycomb (tablets) - BTW, don't you love those tasty sounding names.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus comes loaded with some amazing new applications including a facial recognition system to unlock the phone and Google Beam – which allows simple content sharing using built-in NFC (Near field communication) (updated: 29/11/2011)

The phone is powered by a 1.2GHz dual core process. Thus I was curious as to what that would mean for the battery. Well Samsung claims that the phone has up to 1060min (2G) and up to 500min (3G) Talk Time and up to 290Hours (2G) / upUp to 270Hours (3G) Stand-by Time- which is not really impressive.

It features a contoured screen with 4.65" HD Super AMOLED display and 280 x 720 External Resolution. The 5MP camera with LED flash offers fast image capture, panorama shot and HD video recording.

However, was very disappointed when I found out that it does not have a SD card slot and you only get 16GB internal storage to store all your data.

Fast and accurate typing with the Sony Ericsson Experia Pro

2011-11-16T01:40:00.001Z

It's not new but I just found out that that the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ Pro was found to be the fastest and have most accurate typing according to usability tests carried out by an independent test institute, beating the HTC Desire, Nokia E7 and Blackberry Torch.

This Android 2.3 Gingerbread powered smartphone (dimensions: 120 × 57 × 14 mm) comes with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

It has a 8.1MP camera capable of recording HD videos and a front-facing VGA camera as well.

For those who love to listen to music on their phones, the Xperia Pro has 31 hours of music listening time.

The Xperia Pro is available in three colours (Black , Silver , Red) and is available on Amazon UK.

For more information visit the Xperia Pro features/ specifications page.

Christmas gift ideas

2011-11-04T14:51:00.004Z

You know Christmas is near when you start receiving Christmas Secret Santa emails in your inbox. For those who are not familiar with this western tradition, you are randomly assigned a person -whom you are supposed to give an anonymous gift. This usually comes with an affordable price range and gives you the flexibility to give and receive gifts without spending much. However, I often have difficulty choosing a gift, especially if it is for a lady.

Fortunately there are several online stores which help you with greats ideas and tips for Secret Santa gifts. The "Find me a gift" site has gifts suited for different personalities. Not surprisingly, I ended up on their Gadget page and were delighted that there were so many affordable yet fantastic gifts and novelties ranging from voice recording novelty mugs (£9.99) to the Flip Mino HD Camcorder (£19.99).

Check out the site, I am sure you will find something you like. I do need a camcorder (Hint Hint!)

Update (20/12/2011): Apparently the camcorder was very popular. It is no longer listed on the site.

The Nokia Lumia 800

2011-10-26T15:59:00.002+01:00

The Nokia Lumia 800 with the Windows Phone Mango OS was launched at the Nokia World event at London along with a few other models.

The phone has a smooth curved glass, 3.7" WVGA AMOLED touchscreen and powered by a 1.4 GHz processor (single core).

Key features include:

8MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens and LED flash.
Can take HD movies (720 pixels resolution) with 30 frames per second playback.
Comes with 512 MB SDRAM memory and 16 GB storage memory. I was surprised when I learnt that there was no slot for micro-SD cards. However, I learnt that users would have 25GB of free SkyDrive storage.

Some people were not happy that it also does not have a TV output though I wonder how many people would use that particular option. The phone also lacks a front facing camera.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is available in 3 colours, viz., Cyan, Black and Magenta.

You can preorder the phone on their website and it looks like it would be cheapest on the Vodaphone network (£99.00 cost for the phone and £33.50 monthly or free for £36.00 per month (both on 24 month long contracts).

Hear what the designer have to say:

The JBL MS-2 - for a better listening experience

2011-10-12T14:07:00.002+01:00

Some great news for audiophiles who love to pump up the volume on their car stereos. The groundbreaking JBL® MS-2 car audio accessory from HARMAN International Industries automatically tunes your car stereo to improve the listening experience from portable music players and smartphones - making it the perfect iPod, iPhone or Android™ smartphone accessory.

Small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and really simple to use, the JBL MS-2 uses digital signal processing to create clearer, more powerful sound from existing speakers in any car or even at home (with a 6-volt DC power supply). Once connected all you have to do is press the Setup button and the JBL MS-2 will automatically tune the tonal balance, bass impact and sonic clarity across a car’s existing speakers.

The JBL MS-2 has a suggested retail price of $239.95 in the US. Not sure how much it will cost here in the UK.

Amazon launches Kindle Fire

2011-09-29T04:08:00.001+01:00

Features:

7" color toughened touchscreen, anti-reflective treatment, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors.
Dual-core processor
Size: 7.5" x 4.7" x 0.45" (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm).
Weight 14.6 ounces (413 grams).
8GB internal storage
Free cloud storage
Over 100,000 movies and TV shows
Comes withe the Amazon Silk cloud-accelerated browser - supports Adobe Flash
All in one email app
1-year limited warranty and service included. Optional 2-year Extended Warranty available for U.S. customers.

The Kindle Fire will be released on November 15, 2011 and is now available for booking at $199 on the Amazon.com.

Info about Startup Sauna

2011-09-28T02:44:00.001+01:00

The next web interview in a sauna. What a great idea to get noticed (and heard)

Rubbish Barbie branded toys

2011-09-20T02:43:00.001+01:00

Like a lot of girls her age, my daughter used to love Barbie dolls. However, she seems to have lost interest in playing with them and I can think of a possible reason - Barbie branded electronic toys.

The first Brabie branded electronic toy I bought her were a pair of pink Barbie Walkie talkies. She was really excited and she enjoyed playing with it You had to imagine what the other person was saying as you could hardly hear them over the static and I guess the novelty wore off and it ened up among the old pile of toys.

However, what really made her angry was a Barie camera which I bought for her last birthday. She choose it from the Argos catalogue and it was not cheap - it cost around £30 and was bright pink (what else). She was happily taking pictures of everybody, her cake and presents.

Imagine her disgust when we downloaded the images next day and found out that the pictures were really awful. The resolution of the camera was really bad and pictures were dark and grainy. She was really disappointed and told me that she didn't want to buy any Barbie products ever again.

One of the better images taken - a close up of my face by my daughter.

I know it's a toy and I was not expecting HD iamges but but at that price, I was expecting something better. In fact you can buy 7MP digital cameras for less than £25 and older digital cameras for less than a tenner on eBay if you are lucky.

My advice: stay away from Barie branded electronic toys - just a waste of money. And I have nothing to say to toy makers who think kids are stupid.

Facebook page fans

2011-09-17T23:50:00.000+01:00

We launched the Adamok Dot Net Facebook page some time back. It has become an amazing hit with over 3000 fans and fast growing (3,338 at last count).

The page automatically pulls posts from the Adamok.net blog as well as interesting link from other technology and gadget sites and Facebook pages.

If you are not a fan yet go ahead and join the community.

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray

2011-09-14T03:02:00.000+01:00

Check out the latest smartphone from Sony Ericsson - the Xperia ray. It is just 9.4mm thin and comes in four different colours.

The Aluminium framed phone has a 3.3-inch touchscreen and a Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine delivers really clear images.

The 8.1mp camera allows users to take seriously sharp photos day or night and HD videos as well.

The phone runs on the Android 2.3 OS and comes with internal phone storage of 300MB with 512MB RAM. It can take an external memory - microSD™ card up to 32GB.

Samsung's ChatOn

2011-09-11T23:54:00.000+01:00

Last month Samsung Electronics Co launched a mobile instant messaging tool called ChatON, a free mobile communication service that allows users to communicate instantly with any mobile phone.

ChatOn will be available in more than 120 countries and up to 62 languages.

It is available in two functionality options:

1) A basic functionality option: Available for feature phone users who prefer simple and easy usage, allowing users to share text, pictures, calendar, contacts and emotions through an easy-to-access client.

2) Advanced feature options: Available for smart phone users enabling richer communication by allowing users to see how often they communicate with their buddies using the Interaction Rank feature and post comments on buddies’ profile pages. Users can also create an ‘Animation message’ which allows them to create their own content by scribbling texts, adding audio and choosing their background pictures. All photos and videos in each conversation window can be viewed in an automatically-generated content sharing ‘Trunk’.

Nokia launches 3 new Symbian Belle phones

2011-08-26T02:31:00.000+01:00

Nokia have just launched 3 new Symbian Belle phones - the Nokia 600, 700 and 701.

The software update will be available to other phones running the Symbian OS soon.

The Sims Social now live on Facebook

2011-08-24T19:54:00.001+01:00

Video game maker EA has brought the popular game The Sims to Facebook. Called The Sims Social, the online game is finally live today. You can create your virtual Sim, build you ideal home and interact with all your friends.

The game already has 7,324,839 monthly active users when I last checked.

Looks like Farmville has a serious competitor.

Samsung Galaxy Mini and Portable Wi-Fi hotspot

2011-08-17T19:41:00.002+01:00

Samsung has come up with so many variations in the Galaxy series that I have lost count. The Galaxy Mini is one of the latest additions to this range and is clearly an entry level phone targeted towards the more cost concious consumers who want to get their hands on an Android phone.

Aesthetics wise, there is nothing to shout about and according to some of my friends who got the phone, the 3.14" QVGA capacitive touch screen is not as responsive as other phone. Having said that, they did praise the download speeds. It is quite small as compared to some other Android phones in the market (110x60x12mm) and fits into my palm quite snugly. The phone runs Android 2.2.1 (Froyo+) and has a 3 megapixel camera. Among the special features is Swype for quick and easy messaging and portable Wi-Fi Hotspot capabilities- just at the touch of a button. The wifi hotspot feature means that you can share the phone's 3G connection with your laptop or other wifi enabled devices. Get the Samsung Galaxy Mini either as the Black/Green variation or Black/Silver variation from 3 on the TXT 300 plan with monthly costs ranging from only £10-£13.

Extreme protection for iPads

2011-08-05T22:35:00.003+01:00

Now that you have invested a few hundred quid to buy a iPad, you are so excited and take it everywhere with you. Oops you dropped it and a car ran over it. You are lucky if you had insurance but even then it's not very pleasant.

Anyway, take a look at the Extreme iPad Sleeve from G-Form. The protective case for iPad is made of a special material which they call Reactive Protection Technology™. The RPT™ technology allows extreme sleeve to be soft, flexible and light-weight, while still offering unparalleled protection. The cases instantly stiffens upon impact when they are dropped and absorbs over 90% of the energy resulting from the drop. The makers claim that the case can protect the iPads from a 500 ft airplane drop. Oh yeah! The cases are water-resistant as well.

Take a look at the Youtube video:

Engage with visitors using Sunumax

2011-08-01T17:40:00.004+01:00

Sunumax is a great internet service whereby a real person will present your product or your site on a video. The unique feature is that the videos does not play in the traditional box format.

It is a great way to catch the attention and engage with your visitors.

They have a number of models (more than 60) whom you can choose from and you can even preview how a typical video would look on your site.

Companies using their service include Hyundai, H&M, Asus and Beko among others. Pricing starts from $99 which is ideal if you are promoting a blog or small websites.

Free ebook on personal branding and social media for researchers

2011-07-30T16:24:00.001+01:00

I finally have my first ebook ready and I am giving it away for free. The ebook is a compilation of articles/ tutorials on online personal branding and using social media for research, which I wrote for the Wolfson Research Exchange, University of Warwick.

Download the ebook in either Microsoft Word or PDF format by clicking the links below:

90KB

916KB

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any comment or suggestions.

3D Printing

2011-07-17T12:19:00.001+01:00

By Malik Arman Morshidi

2D computer printing has been around for quite some time - since 1953 when the first high speed printer was developed by Remington-Rand for use on the Univac computer. Since then, more and more advances have been made in computer printing technology such as dot matrix printers, inkjet printers followed by laser printers. Now 3D printing is set to revolutionize the computer printing technology. This technology is not new and in fact has been around since 2003.

ZPrinter® 650 from ZCorporation®

At the beginning, the cost of a 3D printer was was exorbitantly high with the ability limited to printing monotone and not so smooth 3D objects. As the technology evolved, researchers and engineers are competing to build 3D printers that are fast and can create smooth 3D object surface with the latest feature being able to produce colour in subpart of the 3D object. The latest 3D printers can print virtually any object and not only that, they can print a complete 3D object with internal movable parts, such as bearings, engineering parts and virtually any complex working models in single print operation and in one piece. This means that we can forget about the traditional process of printing the different subparts of a model separately which later will have to be assembled manually. One of the companies in this revolutionary field is the Z Corporation.

Actual 3D models from ZCorporation® website.

3D printing technique is used in the rapid prototyping industry to automatically construct physical objects using additive manufacturing. It starts with a blueprint of a virtual 3D object normally from a computer aided design (CAD) program. An alternative way of producing a virtual 3D object is to scan the object using a 3D scanner, for which the facet (surfaces) of an object being scanned is slowly reconstructed bit-by-bit from the view angles to where the 3D scanner is scanning.

ZScanner® 600 from ZCorporation®

The 3D printer works by successively applying material layer-by-layer . The end product is the exact replica of the virtual 3D object from the CAD drawing.

At the moment, 3D printers are available to be used only in large scale industries. In few years to come, we will soon see 3D printers become available for home use.

Benefits

There are many benefits that can be gained from this technology. In businesses and industries, product prototypes such as shoes, furniture, etc, can be produced almost instantly. Feedbacks from the prototypes can then be used to refine the designs and can be reprinted over and over again, until the product is perfected. In the field of education, subjects such as engineering and architecture can benefit from actual object design visualization for more effective learning process. 3D printing has also attracted great interest in the medical field. Biotechnology firms and academics are actively researching the so called process of organ printing, bio-printing and CAD tissue engineering. Other possible uses of 3D printing include fossil reconstruction in palaeontology, ancient and artefacts replication in archaeology, body parts reconstruction in forensic pathology, and evidence replication in crime scene investigations (CSI).

The processes of reconstruction and replication mentioned above involve the use of 3D scanning. 3D scanning is a non-invasive approach which has lots of benefits. No moulding is required to replicate any physical object. This can be particularly useful for palaeontologists, archaeologists, pathologists, and CSI investigators for which most of the objects they handle are vulnerable to human physical contact.

Issues

Just like the software industries that commonly become the victims of product infringement, same goes to any hardware product with the arrival of 3D printers. Michael Weinberg in his paper “It will be awesome if they don’t screw it up”, talks about intellectual property issues that arise as the result of 3D printers. However, viewing this scenario from a different perspective shows us how this technology could potentially open up more opportunities for innovation and creativity.

Is VPS hosting for you?

2011-07-13T10:24:00.001+01:00

VPS stands for Virtual private server and as the name suggests, refers to a vitual server which is dedicated for use by only one individual customer.

VPS hosting has several advantages over shared web hosting in the sense that customers have more privacy and normally dedicated bandwidth. Moreover, even though customers are sharing the physical resources, due to the nature of VPS, customers have more freedom to install apps and other software on their server. Plus it is cheaper than a dedicated and sperate physical hosting service in case you are unable to afford one.

If you do decide to go for VPS hosting, you should be aware of the disadvantages and the issues involved. In most cases you would be responsible for updating your software and taking security measures. Also be aware of the limits so that you do not end up overloading your VPS.

Blamza - another tech blog

2011-06-28T03:18:00.001+01:00

I love reading other tech blogs because every blogger has their own take on latest gadgets and technology issues. Among the few I have started reading recently is Blamza, a blog which focusses mostly on mobile technology and apps. The blog was started by Tony, a self-declared "computer science nerd" who is really passionate about mobile technology. However, the blog posts are not limited to mobile teachnology related topics. For example, the latest post reviews the Onlive console package.,

If you love reading about technology, especially related to mobiles, I recommend that you visit Blamza.

Information on booting from a CD

2011-06-24T03:57:00.000+01:00

I have heard that having a bootable CD is useful but never thought about it much until I read the information on the Boot from CD site. These CDs contain a smaller version operating system that allows you to run your PC to recover data from crashed PCs or run diagnostic tools.

The site provides links to available solutions and also provides step-by-step instructions to help with your BIOS configuration besides other information.

Roy, the owner of the site has personally downloaded and thoroughly tested all the solution listed on the sites.