Apple sends out invitations for 9 March Event

Apple sent out invitations to the press to attend their event on 9 March in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts. The invitations read ‘Spring forward.’

There is no word on what Apple will talk about but some rumoured projects like the the Retina MacBook Air and/or iPad Pro. The Apple Watch has been announced by Apple and will probably have some details on it there. The Retina MacBook Air has been rumoured for quite some time now and has also been rumoured to remove all its ports (except the headphone jack) and replace it with a single USB Type-C.

The iPad Pro is rumoured to have a mouse and keyboard “Ports” which seems odd because that would take away the whole tablet feel unless it was something like the Microsoft Surface. It is also rumoured to have USB Type-C with faster charging speeds.

We know that the Apple Watch will start at US$349 and that there will be three models, the Sport, Edition and Standard models. I hope that Apple will set an exact date for when it will be released.

So what time will it happen?

Apple will stream the event that Monday and here are some times around the world that they will stream it.

Los Angeles: 10:00 am
New York: 1:00 pm
Paris/Amsterdam: 6:00pm
Johannesburg: 7:00 pm
Bangkok: Midnight between Monday 9 and Tuesday 10
Hong Kong/Shanghai/Singapore: 1:00 am (Tuesday)
Tokyo: 2:00 am (Tuesday)
Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra: 4:00 am (Tuesday)

What are you excited about? I will be writing a post about what Apple announces about 1-2 days after the event. Also come back for my impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the HTC One M9!

Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you later! Mekul

Image from The Loop.

Best of CES 2015

CES 2015 has come and gone and lots was presented that it was hard to compile a list of the best of CES 2015. I have rounded some of my favourites and hopefully yours to. From TVs to smart home appliances to cars, this is the Best of CES 2015. Let’s get started.

BMW Cars

BMW had an awesome booth this year, where they showed off their super techy cars, the BMW i8, i3 and the BMW M4. Starting with the BMW i8, this is a hybrid (a car that combines a gas engine with batteries) and it looks so awesome. This is where it gets crazy, you have probably heard of wireless charging in phones. You guessed it, BMW made wireless charging available in the i8, simply drive onto the mat, and it charges almost as fast as when it is plugged in. It also has a screen on the key to display some information such as the charging, etc. For the BMW i3, you will go even crazier. First, if you are under 15 miles per hour and you try to crash the car, it will not let you. The car will automatically detect any obstacles and will slow down even if you have your foot on the gas pedal. The other feature is that you can call the car to come to you, from your smartwatch. That is awesome. The BMW M4 has some pretty cool stuff as well. The laser headlights at the front turn on at night full beam automatically to brighten up 650 yards (594 metres) in front of you. These laser headlights are on during the day and night. Then the taillights, they are made from OLED lights. That could pretty much make any colour at any pattern, so for example I could have MrMekul showing on the back on the car. The BMW M4 also has some pretty cool interior stuff such as a backseat tablet that can control features in the car such as heating or seat controls or settings for the car and a gesture control system for the iDrive system.

MKBHD has a video on this, go check it out.

LG G Flex 2

The LG G Flex 2 was probably one of the best phones shown at CES 2015. The G Flex 2 looks way better than its predecessor, probably because of it’s smaller 5.5 inch 1080p with 403ppi a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, running Android 5.0 Lollipop, a 13mp with OIS rear facing camera and a 2.1 front facing camera. As most of you know the G Flex is known for being able to bend and scratch and will be able to be self healed. The G Flex 2 will be able to heal itself in about 10 seconds rather than it’s predecessor which could do it in a matter of minutes.

Linus Tech Tips has a video on the G Flex 2, go check it out.

Aorus x5 and HP Omen 15

Gigabyte and HP had some really good looking gaming notebooks, starting off we have the Gigabyte Aorus x5 which has a Intel Quad Core i7, a Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M, 3 SSD’s, up to 32 GB of RAM, 4 USB 3.0 ports, 2 HDMI ports, Mini DisplayPort, SD Card slot, full keyboard and glass touchpad and all that comes to 0.9 inches thin. Wow. Moving on to the HP Omen 15, this has a Intel Core i4 4710hq, 8 GB of RAM, 15.6 inch 1080 display with a full touchscreen, a red backlit keyboard, wide touchpad, 4 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI port, Mini DisplayPort, headphone jack and an SD Card slot. It sounds alright the specs, but it is very slim and it looks awesome!

LinusTechTips has a video on both of these notebooks, the Aorus x5 starts in the video at 2:09 and ends at 3:18 and the Omen starts at 4:53 and ends at 6:48, go check it out.

Samsung SUHD TV and Sony X900C

 

Samsung came out with a not well known technology in one of its TV’s. The technology is Quantum Dot and unlike LCD, Quantum Dot does not need to be filtered to make RGB pixels. So Quantum Dot will show pure colours without needing to be filtered which would mean the colours are much more vivid are brighter. MKBHD explains Quantum Dot in more detail.

Then there is the Sony X900C, which is the thinnest 4K LED TV coming in at 0.2 inch thick. Wow! That is thinner that an iPhone 6 and that is thin. It runs Android TV which is based off Android 5.0 Lollipop and you can control the TV with your smartphone using an app.

That’s it for CES 2015. What was your favourite thing? Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you later. Mekul

CES 2015 Update

Hey guys, just a quick update on the Best of CES 2015. I have been on holidays and have had very limited internet connection, though I’m back and you should expect the Best of CES 2015 post late today or early tomorrow.

Thanks for waiting! Mekul

Christmas Picks from Mekul

Christmas is coming up fast and you need to get these gifts sorted out. If you need to get these last minute gifts in. That’s where I come in. I’ll give you some gifts that I recommend to give to your friends or family. Most of the gifts will be based around tech, mostly Apple products. So without further ado lets get right into it.

iPad Air 2

Faster and thinner than its predecessor, the iPad Air, undoubtedly this is the best iPad that Apple has made. Equipped with Touch ID, a great 8 megapixel camera with awesome image processing. This also has a 9.7 inch display with a resolution of 2048×1536. It has an A8X which is 2.5 times faster graphic performance than the A7 chip and has 40% faster CPU and 2 gigabytes of RAM unlike its predecessor that had 1 gigabyte of RAM.

It’s not cheap, starting at A$619 dollars, this is great for people ranging from people who aren’t familiar familiar with tablets to people who love gaming.

Apple TV

Apple TV is Apple’s media device that plugs into your TV.  You can rent and buy movies and TV shows through your Apple ID, watch YouTube, view photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad, stream your screen to the TV, play some games through the Apple TV and so much more.

Apple TV costs A$109.

Sonos PLAY:1 or PLAY:3

 

Sonos has some of the best wireless speakers that you could put in your house. You control Sonos via your phone, tablet, computer. You can choose to play songs that you have downloaded in your music app or you can choose a music service like Spotify, Pandora, MOG and more like I have. The PLAY:1 is a small speaker that can fit into small spaces, in my house, it’s in the kitchen. Surprisingly, the PLAY:1 is quite loud. The PLAY:3 is more appropriate for your bedroom, lounge, or study.

You can buy a PLAY:1 for A$299 and the PLAY:3 for A$499. This includes a free 12 month membership by Deezer, which is a great music service.

iTunes Gift Card

Nothing beats a good old iTunes gift card. When redeemed, you can purchase apps, music, movies, TV shows (depending, naturally, on how much credit you have and how much the item is). You can give (or receive) a $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 gift card. You can also electronically send any amount to an email regested with iTunes.

Microsoft Xbox One

Xbox One is a gaming console and is a great place for people to play a wide variety of games. I have one and it is awesome for playing games and the controller is awesome, it vibrates in different sections of the controller if you are in a game and something happens. You can also play and talk with your friends with Xbox Live but you have to pay another fee for that.

Buy Xbox One from here or other retailers as they might have better discounts.

That is all for my Christmas picks this year. I wish you a very happy Christmas. Thanks for reading. Mekul

#BendGate: Explained!

Apple released the new iPhone 6 Plus, which had a bigger screen, bigger battery life, thinner at 6.9 mm thick, and it bent. Well actually, unlike the LG G Flex, the new iPhone wasn’t really supposed to bend. 

A small number of iPhone 6 Plus owners have reported that their iPhones have been bending when they have put them into their tight pants front pocket. A YouTuber called Unbox Therapy preformed a bend test on the new iPhone and posted a video on YouTube, and that video went viral extremely fast and thus #BendGate was born. 

There have been tens of thousands of tweets commenting about the iPhone 6 Plus bending issue. Manufactures and bloggers like Kit Kat, LG, Heineken, HTC, etc., have also been mocking Apple about this issue. According to Forbes, the hashtag has been used over 26,000 times! 

If you are concerned about your new iPhone 6 Plus bending, do not worry as this is very unlikely to bend. Try to avoid putting your new iPhone 6 Plus in tight pockets or pants. However, Apple is known for its build quality and you should not have to do that because you are spending a lot of money on what you think is a good phone. You are probably wondering why the normal iPhone 6 is not reported to be bending. It is thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus so it would be easier to bend, right? Well it would be, but the area of the iPhone 6 Plus is bigger making it prone to accidental bending, but if you tried to bend the ikkd

So I explained #BendGate, now you know what it is! Thanks for reading, Mekul!

Nearly half of iOS devices in the world run iOS 8

It is more than a week after the iOS 8 release and 46% of Apple devices are on iOS 8 have visited the App Store recently says a dashboard on Apple’s App Store distribution developer page. 

You might be wondering how Apple record this data. Well the data of the adoption rates is based on how many people access the App Store after 21 September, 2014 running iOS 8. 

The usage of iOS 7 devices has gradually dropped down to 49% usage after iOS 8’s release. Another 5% of all Apple devices are on iOS 6 or lower. However, last year when iOS 7 was released, within a week, 52% of Apple devices were found using iOS 7. However, Apple staged the release of iOS 8 could explain why the adoption rates are so slow. 

Many users saw a message saying “Update Requested,” and down below it said “Your software update request has been received. You will be notified when the update has been downloaded is ready to install.” This stage to iOS rollout could be due to the large file size and massive demand of iOS 8 on its servers.

Since the release of iOS 8, Apple’s App Store review team seems to have slowed down as only 74% of app updates and 53% have been reviewed of the apps that Apple have been sent in. 

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you later. Mekul

Haiku Deck: Make slideshows beautifully

It is hard to find a better app other than Apple’s Keynote for presenting slideshows, but today that is going to change. Haiku Deck, a third party app that has a tonne of features that can make your slideshows better. Without further ado, let’s start the review.

Design

This is what makes Haiku great. The first thing that you do when you download this app is creating an account. You can sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account also. Once creating your account you have two pre-installed ‘Decks’ telling you what is Haiku Deck and the app in action. Tap the plus button to make a new deck.

The picture above is the first thing that you will see when you create a deck. On the left you can see you have a text button, picture, layout and notes button. You press the picture button to add pictures off Haiku Deck’s wide selection of photos (all photos that Haiku allows you to use is Creative Commons), your own photos from Camera Roll and cloud services. You can choose from 3 different graphs, and solid colours. The layout button lets you choose what layout your title, sub-headings, paragraphs can be.

You can export your Haiku Deck through major cloud services, links, Keynotes or PowerPoint, or PDF.

The Good

You can export your deck to other formats which I found really suprising because usually you need to upgrade through In-App Purchases. It looks great and fun to use. Haiku Deck takes slideshows to another level. 

The Bad

Saving your deck may take a while depending on how big your deck is. 

Overview 

I would recommend that you should try Haiku Deck if you are looking for something free, simple and fun. It has taken slideshows to the next level. Download Haiku Deck for free on the App Store.

Thanks for reading, more posts coming soon. Mekul

The Best Photo and Movie Apps

Hey everyone! Mekul is back with another post and today I am going to talk about the best Photo apps for iPhone and iPad. So without further ado, let’s get started.

Snapseed

Probably the best photo app there is on the App Store. The simplicity to use it makes it even better. The options that you have to edit the photos are very good like brightness, frames, contrast, options are very good. The option of frames are broad. This app probably has a lot more features than a free photo app on the App Store. Download Snapseed now from the App Store.

PhotoToaster

PhotoToaster is a great app, especially when looking for professional filters, frames and FX. There is an FX Brush that allows you to brush in areas of focus and colour, and find that a cool feature. It also has unlimited undo’s which is great because many apps still don’t have that feature. This app is available for $3.99. Download Snapseed now from the App Store.

Photo Editor by Aviary

I might say that a photo editor is great at filters and frames, and brightness and all that jazz, but really this app is really worth checking out for some features like, red-eye removal, whitening teeth, effects, memes, stickers do drawing features. It is worth checking out and one of my favourites, this app is avaliable for free. Download Snapseed now from the App Store.

iMovie

Moving on to movies, this app is Apple’s simple video editing app (it isn’t as good as the computer version), it does the job well. This has slow/fast-mo features, trim and split in movie making. You can choose from some great trailers, or movie themes. iMovie is avaliable for $6.99. Download iMovie now from the App Store.

Thanks for reading, sorry for not posting, see you later. Mekul

iWatch: My Thoughts

Hey everyone! Mekul is back with some of my thoughts on the highly rumoured iWatch that Apple could be developing. iWatch is rumoured to be working with iOS 8’s new Healthbook app. If you want to read my thoughts continue.

Is it actually going to come out?

Yes. Definitely. I mean it hasn’t actually been officially announced that the iWatch will come out but Apple has picked up two previous Nike FuelBand engineers and presumably are in the iWatch team. Reports have been saying that the iWatch will be going into production. Apple will only make the iWatch’s if people want to buy it.

What do you want it to look like?

I’d like it to be a bit like Samsung’s Galaxy Gear watch because it would have a bigger screen, easier to read information and all that.

How much do you think it will cost?

It is a very complex accessory so I think because of that, around about $150.00 40% to build, 50% for Apple and 10% for the people who build it.

Would you buy it?

Depends. If it only has features for the HealthBook app then no, but if it has features like make phone calls, send messages, play games then yes I would consider it.

Thanks for reading. Mekul

Ingress comes to iOS

For those who have been waiting for Ingress on iOS (which was only on Android before) will be happy to know that the internet giant, Google has released Ingress on iOS.

The game uses your real location, objects and landmarks around you to provide clues and find ‘mysterious energy’.

Here is the blurb.

A mysterious energy has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. We must control it or it will control us.

“The Enlightened” seek to embrace the power that this energy may bestow upon us. “The Resistance” struggle to defend, and protect what’s left of our humanity.

Highlights from the description.

The World is the Game – Move through the real world using your iOS device and the Ingress app to discover and tap sources of this mysterious energy. Acquire objects to aid in your quest, deploy tech to capture territory, and ally with other players to advance the cause of the Enlightened or the Resistance.

Strategy – The struggle is being played out globally. Track the progress of players around the world, plan your next steps, and communicate with others using an Intelligence map.

Form Alliances – The struggle to save the planet spans the entire world. Groups of people acting together can be more effective than individuals acting alone. Cooperation across neighborhoods, cities, and countries will be needed to achieve the ultimate victory.

Download Ingress now from the App Store. It supports iOS 5 and up but crashes on iOS 6. Thanks for reading, Mekul.