Wednesday 24 October 2012

Apple Announces iPad Mini

Yesterday evening Apple announced its 4th generation iPad, the iPad Mini. The new device is "Thin as a pencil and light as a pad of paper", with a 7.9-inche screen. It looks like the old iPhone 3G due to its curved edges. It will have the same amount of pixels as the iPad 2 -1024 x 768 pixels and all software created for previous iPads will work on iPad Mini. 

It's 53 per cent lighter than the full-size model. It's got an A5 chip, FaceTime HD camera, 5MP iSight camera with 1080p video, has same LTE capabilities, Lightning connector and 10 hours of battery life. According to Apple the iPad Mini is "Small enough to fit in one hand, large enough to give you that full iPad experience", stressing "It's a concentration, not a reduction."


With the 16GB model starting at $329 about NGN 54,285 (Fifty Four Thousand Two Hundred and Eighty Five Naira) and ranges up to 64GB Wi-Fi + Cellular for $659 which is about NGN 108,735 (One Hundred and Eight Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Five Naira) prices may vary. Pre-orders start on October 26 in the U.S. with Wi-Fi shipping first - on November 2 and the Wi-Fi + Cellular models Two weeks later.

But what matters is how Apples latest instalment of its iPad will stack up against the completion. We’ve taking the liberty to provide you with a table to see how it stacks up against the completion.



Is Apples iPad Mini a scaled down iPad or a big iTouch? Is it a miss or a hit? Let’s hear you opinion in the comment section below. 

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Wednesday 17 October 2012

T3 Awards 2012

T3 is the UK’s leading consumer tech and lifestyle magazine. On the 8th of October, 2012 T3 held its annual Gadget Awards in London and here is a brief summary of it featured categories, finalists and of course the Winners.

The categories and nominees are handpicked by the T3 Tech experts and the winners are picked via online polls.




Phone of the Year Finalists 
Apple iPhone 4S
HTC One X
Nokia Lumia 800

Samsung Galaxy S3

Tablet of the Year Finalists 
Google Nexus 7 by ASUS – Winner
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
AUSU Eee Transformer Prime

Gadget of the Year Finalists 
OnLive
Sony PS Vita
Sony NEX-7
LG 55LM960V
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime
Apple iPhone 4S
Philips Fidelio L1 (Headphones)
Google Nexus 7 by ASUS - Winner
ASUS Zenbook UX31

 Google Nexus 7 by ASUS

Computer of the Year Finalists 
Dell XPS 13
Samsung Series 9
ASUS Zenbook UX31 – Winner
Apple MAcBook Air 2012
Alienware M14x
Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display

 ASUS Zenbook UX3

TV of the Year Finalists 
Sony KDL-55HX853 - Winner
LG 55LM960V
Panasonic TX-P50VT50
Toshiba 55WL863
Samsung UE55ES8000
Philips 42PFL7666

 Sony KDL-55HX853


Gaming Gadget of the Year Finalists 
Sennheiser PC 360 G4ME (HeadPhones)
Alieanware X51
Sony PS Vita - Winner
NVIDIA 3D Vision 2
OnLive

 Sony PS Vita

Work Gadget of the Year Finalists 
Epson PX830FWD (Printer)
Logitech Performance MX Mouse
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime
Apple iPhone 4S – Winner
Blackberry Bold 9900

 Apple iPhone 4S

Music Gadget of the Year Finalists 
Pure Avanti Flow (Headphones)
Philips Fidelio L1 (Headphones)
Urbanears Plattan (Headphones)
Jawbone Big Jambox (Bluetooth Speaker)
Sonos (Wireless Speaker)
B&W P3 (Headphones)- Winner

 B&W P3


So which of these devices will you be running out to buy? Don't be shy, let us know in the comment section below.

To stay up-to-date on the latest Tech Award News Like us on Facebook by clicking HERE or follow us on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Monday 8 October 2012

Sony Xperia Tipo Duo Overview

I heard you like the latest tech. I also heard you like to be up-to-date with the latest software upgrades and Apps. I heard you like Android. If I’ve grabbed your attention you’ll love what you’re going to read next!

In Nigeria, everybody has one or two stories to tell about how their mobile providers have let them down. These days most people use multiple phones which in the hustle and bustle of the major cities is very impractical. Others have tried several mobile providers but soon realised that where one mobile provider fails their competitors succeed and vice versa.

Eventually people turned to Dual SIM phones which seemed to solve the problem temporarily, but brought about a new set of issues all together. One problem which plagued early adopters of the Dual SIM phones was that these phones were low quality and were mostly Chinese brands with little or no customer support when problems arose. The battery life of these devices was poor and locating compatible accessories like chargers and earpieces was difficult. Familiar brands like Nokia and LG also tried to enter the Dual SIM market but with little avail.

Without further a due I would like to introduce the Sony Xperia Tipo Duo, a Dual SIM phone unlike any other. At this point you might be asking, what makes the phone so special?


The first thing worth noting about this device is its brand. Sony is a premium brand which delivers quality products with first class customer support. Another thing worth noting is unlike the Nokia Asha 200 Series, Nokia C2 Series, LG P525 and LGGX300 which are low-end mobile phones which only 2G (EDGE) support the Tipo Duo is a fully fledged Android Smartphone with full 3G support. It falls into the Xperia class of Sony Mobile devices as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and the Sony Xperia S.

Some may argue that the Samsung Galaxy Duo Series are also Android phones with Dual SIM capabilities but there are two key differences between these phones and the Tipo Duo. The first of which is those phones run an outdated version of the Android OS, version 2.3 (Gingerbread) to be exact, while the Tipo Duo runs a more recent version of Android OS, version 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Secondly the Samsung Duo Series are Standby Dual SIM phones, while the Tipo Duo is an Active Dual SIM phone.


Allow me to elaborate, a Standby Dual SIM phone is a phone that has two SIM cards but only one can be active at any point in time, while an Active Dual SIM phone allows both SIM to be active simultaneously.

Imagine you’re downloading a file using SIM1 and a call comes in on SIM2. On a Standby Dual SIM phone either the download on SIM1 will be stopped for the call on SIM2 to be received or the incoming call on SIM2 will be rejected. But on an Active Dual SIM phone the call on SIM2 will received with your download on SIM1 being uninterrupted.  


Since Android phones require an internet connection to get the most out of the devices, an active Dual SIM Android phone will allow both lines to always be accessible, further enriching your Dual SIM and Android experience. 

To round up let’s take a quick look at the devices specifications, the Sony Xperia Tipo Duo has a 3.2 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen  capable of displaying 256K colours. It has an 800MHz Cortex-A5 CPU, 512MB of RAM and 2.9 GB of internal storage with 2.5GB user accessible. A dedicated hardware key to switch which SIM is being used and supports 3G simultaneously on both SIMS - and to top it off a 3.15MP camera.

The Sony Xperia Tipo Duo will cost you about NGN 30,000 ( Thirty Thousand Naira ) give or take a thousand naira or two, and is available at all good mobile phone retailers. 

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