As the dust settles from one of Apples more controversial iPhone launches, IOS 10 was officially released to the masses.
Eager to try out all of the new cool features available, notably the changes to the Messages app; I updated my iPhone 6s this morning.
Initially you are presented with Apples new lock screen, a change that is different, but not impossible to get used to. I like the fact that you are able to see all the banked up notifications easily with a directional swipe. Swiping in the opposite direction you can now access the camera app, these new homescreen features work fairly flawlessly.
The iPhone now wakes when picked up. It is brief but constantly lighting up a standard LCD screen can cause battery loss. Initially having owned an Android phone with a similar feature/flaw I stuck my thumb over the proximity sensor and picked my phone up once more, to my surprise my phone lit up. Although I like this feature as it makes momentarily checking your phone easy, I have concerns that when it is in my pocket moving about, the iPhone will constantly light up causing the battery to drain faster than it already does.
I have not tested this and the battery loss is probably marginal, for me anyway my iPhone 6s battery is already horrifically bad so I havent yet noticed anything.
Lets hope it is rectified in the next update
Monday 10 October 2016
Friday 29 April 2016
DELL U2414H Monitor Review
The Dell U2414H is definitely not the newest or most pixel packed monitor in DELL's ultra sharp series but it still is a noteworthy monitor to consider for those not wanting to break the bank.
The monitor itself is not large by any means, with virtually no surrounding bezels it can look a little small however depending on space constraints this could be ideal for your needs.
The top and side bezels come in at a hair over 6mm whilst the bottom bezel is roughly 15mm which is still extremely small. The overall dimensions without the stand are (HxWxD) 321.1mm X 539.1mm X 45.6mm coming in at 3.61kg making it ideal for wall or desk mounting.
The monitor uses an IPS panel with a total resolution of 1920x1080p and a fairly standard contrast ratio of 1000:1. The response time of 8ms gtg isn't blazing fast but is not sluggish either as it is typical for most similar IPS monitors. The panel itself has a very subtle matt coating which does an excellent job at combatting glare.
On the rear of the monitor their are 2 HDMI inputs, 1 Mini Displayport and two regular size Displayports one of which is an output for daisy chaining a secondary monitor. Their is also a USB in and 3 USB outputs as well as a high powered USB out which is uncovered and located more to one side. For the overall size of the monitor it packs more ports than one could need, a feature which has proven extremely useful when using the one monitor for both a desktop and a laptop.
Overall the DELL U2414H is an impressive monitor, it is slightly pricier than other 1080p monitors but you are paying for an excellent list of features, a calibrated display that outputs an extremely sharp image and ultra thin bezels. At $335 AUD I would say this monitor was worth it, their is however the slightly newer U2417H the newly released successor to the U2414H but you can expect to pay another $80-$100 for a slightly updated spec list.
The monitor itself is not large by any means, with virtually no surrounding bezels it can look a little small however depending on space constraints this could be ideal for your needs.
The top and side bezels come in at a hair over 6mm whilst the bottom bezel is roughly 15mm which is still extremely small. The overall dimensions without the stand are (HxWxD) 321.1mm X 539.1mm X 45.6mm coming in at 3.61kg making it ideal for wall or desk mounting.
The monitor uses an IPS panel with a total resolution of 1920x1080p and a fairly standard contrast ratio of 1000:1. The response time of 8ms gtg isn't blazing fast but is not sluggish either as it is typical for most similar IPS monitors. The panel itself has a very subtle matt coating which does an excellent job at combatting glare.
On the rear of the monitor their are 2 HDMI inputs, 1 Mini Displayport and two regular size Displayports one of which is an output for daisy chaining a secondary monitor. Their is also a USB in and 3 USB outputs as well as a high powered USB out which is uncovered and located more to one side. For the overall size of the monitor it packs more ports than one could need, a feature which has proven extremely useful when using the one monitor for both a desktop and a laptop.
Overall the DELL U2414H is an impressive monitor, it is slightly pricier than other 1080p monitors but you are paying for an excellent list of features, a calibrated display that outputs an extremely sharp image and ultra thin bezels. At $335 AUD I would say this monitor was worth it, their is however the slightly newer U2417H the newly released successor to the U2414H but you can expect to pay another $80-$100 for a slightly updated spec list.
Saturday 23 April 2016
Uber Eats First Impression
Tuesday I received an email from my Dad, it was forwarded on from Uber, their new food delivery service had just been launched in Melbourne.
My first thought was how did my Dad hear about this before me and secondly I quickly downloaded the app to check it out.
Immediately a myriad of nearby restaurants appeared on the list, I picked an option and added a few items to the checkout cart just to get a sense of pricing and what fees their were.
Amazingly the food was normally priced and their were no fees at all, usually similar services will have a minimum order amount and a delivery fee.
Upon doing a little more research Uber will eventually add a $5 delivery fee after the first month, which in all honesty is extremely reasonable and on par the other services.
Tonight (Saturday) I decided to actually order an Uber eats meal, I chose a local burger joint, added a couple of items to my checkout cart and hit the order button.
Within a minute my order was confirmed and was being prepared by the restaurant, this took around 10-15 minutes. Once the order was completed an Uber driver picked it up and headed my way with the food, my apartment is in an awkward spot in between a bunch of alleyways but my driver managed to find the building easily. I went down to the front of the building to meet the driver and assuming from his reaction they must normally deliver it to your door. The driver handed me my drink and then a Uber branded bag that contained my burger, he made a point of letting me know my straw for my drink was in the bag, a nice touch but nothing short of the great service expected from Uber.
I took this opportunity to ask the extremely friendly driver about the service, he said it was good and even made a comedic remark about how the food doesn't talk to you, I even had a chuckle myself. From his attitude and what I can pick up from my short conversation food delivery must be as beneficial as normal Uber driving. This could well be because of a similar commission or because of a higher volume of work compensating for the commission differences in the services.
In conclusion Uber Eats is a very compelling service that does deliver (figuratively and literally) My food arrived at a reasonable tempurature which was comparative to getting takeout and not eating it until you got home and the speed in which it was delivered was good. I believe the key to Uber Eats success is that you can only order from restaurants within a certain radius of which guarantees warm food delivered in a reasonable time frame.
Use the promo code FEEDMELBOURNE for 50% off (up to $10 total) off your first delivery,
Uber eats is worth a try especially when you can get free delivery and 50% off your meal, I'm not sure if I'll use the service again because I live in such a central area, but when my food cost me only $10 instead of $20 it was an offer too good to refuse.
My first thought was how did my Dad hear about this before me and secondly I quickly downloaded the app to check it out.
Immediately a myriad of nearby restaurants appeared on the list, I picked an option and added a few items to the checkout cart just to get a sense of pricing and what fees their were.
Amazingly the food was normally priced and their were no fees at all, usually similar services will have a minimum order amount and a delivery fee.
Upon doing a little more research Uber will eventually add a $5 delivery fee after the first month, which in all honesty is extremely reasonable and on par the other services.
Tonight (Saturday) I decided to actually order an Uber eats meal, I chose a local burger joint, added a couple of items to my checkout cart and hit the order button.
Within a minute my order was confirmed and was being prepared by the restaurant, this took around 10-15 minutes. Once the order was completed an Uber driver picked it up and headed my way with the food, my apartment is in an awkward spot in between a bunch of alleyways but my driver managed to find the building easily. I went down to the front of the building to meet the driver and assuming from his reaction they must normally deliver it to your door. The driver handed me my drink and then a Uber branded bag that contained my burger, he made a point of letting me know my straw for my drink was in the bag, a nice touch but nothing short of the great service expected from Uber.
I took this opportunity to ask the extremely friendly driver about the service, he said it was good and even made a comedic remark about how the food doesn't talk to you, I even had a chuckle myself. From his attitude and what I can pick up from my short conversation food delivery must be as beneficial as normal Uber driving. This could well be because of a similar commission or because of a higher volume of work compensating for the commission differences in the services.
In conclusion Uber Eats is a very compelling service that does deliver (figuratively and literally) My food arrived at a reasonable tempurature which was comparative to getting takeout and not eating it until you got home and the speed in which it was delivered was good. I believe the key to Uber Eats success is that you can only order from restaurants within a certain radius of which guarantees warm food delivered in a reasonable time frame.
Use the promo code FEEDMELBOURNE for 50% off (up to $10 total) off your first delivery,
Uber eats is worth a try especially when you can get free delivery and 50% off your meal, I'm not sure if I'll use the service again because I live in such a central area, but when my food cost me only $10 instead of $20 it was an offer too good to refuse.
Wednesday 20 April 2016
Best customer service from a consumer technology company
Recently I built myself a PC, my very first tower PC ever as previously I have only ever owned a Mac and a sh*t DELL laptop which was School issued...
I have been tasked with the job of picking a Monitor for my PC a task which started out simple, a base level $200 budget gave me alot of simple options. As I looked and looked I began to creep up the price scale eventually stopping at double my original budget, I felt fairly confident in investing in a really good 1080p monitor that should last me a while.
A week into my initial hunt I had a brain wave to try and get a deal using the power of social media, I posted on twitter for the first time, tagging every monitor manufacturer and asked the simple question, "time to buy a monitor which do I choose?" To my surprise LG swooped in and sent me a link to their website, Samsung then pulled out the big guns showing off their curved range however that was it... No one else said anything, LG did come back to me with a private message and gave me some personalised links however they were all $500+ monitors which were undoubtedly beautiful and sadly out of my price range.
So no luck, no twitter feud and no free monitor arriving on my doorstep, but hey it was worth the try.
Back to DELL it was, the only problem was my local stockist was out of the U2414H and I am hoping to pick something up before the weekend. This forced me to look a little more, I even got back to LG and asked if they recommended any more 'budget' options and they replied super quickly with another two links of which one was the service-persons personal recommendation.
What a story so far (I am still undecided). Never have I ever experienced such service from a company, I have to give LG props for their pure excellent service, I might end up with one of their products as they have done a pretty convincing job so far.
I have been tasked with the job of picking a Monitor for my PC a task which started out simple, a base level $200 budget gave me alot of simple options. As I looked and looked I began to creep up the price scale eventually stopping at double my original budget, I felt fairly confident in investing in a really good 1080p monitor that should last me a while.
A week into my initial hunt I had a brain wave to try and get a deal using the power of social media, I posted on twitter for the first time, tagging every monitor manufacturer and asked the simple question, "time to buy a monitor which do I choose?" To my surprise LG swooped in and sent me a link to their website, Samsung then pulled out the big guns showing off their curved range however that was it... No one else said anything, LG did come back to me with a private message and gave me some personalised links however they were all $500+ monitors which were undoubtedly beautiful and sadly out of my price range.
So no luck, no twitter feud and no free monitor arriving on my doorstep, but hey it was worth the try.
Back to DELL it was, the only problem was my local stockist was out of the U2414H and I am hoping to pick something up before the weekend. This forced me to look a little more, I even got back to LG and asked if they recommended any more 'budget' options and they replied super quickly with another two links of which one was the service-persons personal recommendation.
What a story so far (I am still undecided). Never have I ever experienced such service from a company, I have to give LG props for their pure excellent service, I might end up with one of their products as they have done a pretty convincing job so far.
Sunday 21 February 2016
The Best NBN Plan In Australia with free coupon code
Upon moving to the big city of Melbourne, Australia, I have been blessed with an NBN service in my apartment. This is a treat I never thought I would see for the next few years at best, but it did not come without hiccups.
Looking for an NBN plan opened an entirely new can of worms, my previous ADSL 2+ service is with westnet and has been for a matter of years, their is no contract, they rewarded me really well with extra data and I have never ever had to call up because of an issue. But upon looking for a new internet provided I discovered numerous foreign names which have materialised in the last few years, one of which stood out the most. Belong, a subsidiary of Telstra (yeah I know I laughed too)
But don't take off just yet, because this is unlike anything Telstra, ever. Belong is a new hip type internet provider, with a simple and elegant website + user portal. Their plans are simple, you either choose 12 months contract or no contract, and their is no set up fee just a $60 outright payment to cover the cost of a router. I signed up for a 500gb no contract plan (i have trust issues) which is $65 per month, that includes the $5 extra per month for not committing to a contract. Next you choose your speeds, which albeit cheeky is the same with every single company. The offerings are 12, 25 or 100mb per second speeds, I am a student so despite the temptations of 100 or even 25 I stuck with 12mb per second although I do plan to try out 100mb per second at some point this year.
Being a coupon freak I found this code: IAFE2SFTL which gave me $20 off my first month which
even better. Seeing I am on a no contract plan, if the deals get better somewhere else I will change so be sure to lookout for an update!
Looking for an NBN plan opened an entirely new can of worms, my previous ADSL 2+ service is with westnet and has been for a matter of years, their is no contract, they rewarded me really well with extra data and I have never ever had to call up because of an issue. But upon looking for a new internet provided I discovered numerous foreign names which have materialised in the last few years, one of which stood out the most. Belong, a subsidiary of Telstra (yeah I know I laughed too)
But don't take off just yet, because this is unlike anything Telstra, ever. Belong is a new hip type internet provider, with a simple and elegant website + user portal. Their plans are simple, you either choose 12 months contract or no contract, and their is no set up fee just a $60 outright payment to cover the cost of a router. I signed up for a 500gb no contract plan (i have trust issues) which is $65 per month, that includes the $5 extra per month for not committing to a contract. Next you choose your speeds, which albeit cheeky is the same with every single company. The offerings are 12, 25 or 100mb per second speeds, I am a student so despite the temptations of 100 or even 25 I stuck with 12mb per second although I do plan to try out 100mb per second at some point this year.
Being a coupon freak I found this code: IAFE2SFTL which gave me $20 off my first month which
even better. Seeing I am on a no contract plan, if the deals get better somewhere else I will change so be sure to lookout for an update!
Saturday 9 January 2016
Raspberry Pi 2 review and experience
I just had to have a piece of that Pi....
Lame jokes aside,
I have been procrastinating over the idea of buying a Raspberry Pi for some time. It is a cool credit card sized (not quite) computer that can be put to use on an almost endless list of projects.
I hoped that it would enable me to learn some basic programming and computing as modern computer's/operating systems hide the complications behind pretty menus and icons.
The only thoughts stopping me were that my old DELL laptop from my school years, was most likely more powerful, so why spend more money to buy something less capable.
That seems to be the key word; power. The Raspberry Pi 2 is less powerful than my laptop and most computers, but it consumes less power. So much so that I can run it off of my battery pack I use to top up my phone. The Pi's low price point and power consumption make it the ideal brains for portable and set-and-forget type applications.
I have tried emulation on the Pi and whilst it is cool, later games from the N64 and Playstation 1 don't always run smoothly. Minor problems aside however the Pi 2 excels at other retro consoles allowing me to plaster them on the lounge room TV for some rather good entertainment.
You can use the Pi like a regular computer with a graphical Desktop. The main flavour of Linux you may find yourself installing is Raspbian, either via NOOBS or flashing it straight to an SD card.
In a short and sweet ending that is about as far as I got with tinkering with the little device,
It presented as massive amount of opportunities for the DIY enthusiast but until I have a legitimate use for the little computer It has been set aside for the time being. The main struggle I found with it was I began making up uses for it, stuff that could be done easier and more conveniently by other devices I have.
The main objective of the Pi is for learning, and with such a large community backing and a wealth of tutorials the raspberry pi 2 is well worth its small price tag. However keep in mind you will need a power supply, keyboard + mouse, micro sd card and optionally a case and wifi dongle all of which bring the overall cost up.
Lame jokes aside,
I have been procrastinating over the idea of buying a Raspberry Pi for some time. It is a cool credit card sized (not quite) computer that can be put to use on an almost endless list of projects.
I hoped that it would enable me to learn some basic programming and computing as modern computer's/operating systems hide the complications behind pretty menus and icons.
The only thoughts stopping me were that my old DELL laptop from my school years, was most likely more powerful, so why spend more money to buy something less capable.
That seems to be the key word; power. The Raspberry Pi 2 is less powerful than my laptop and most computers, but it consumes less power. So much so that I can run it off of my battery pack I use to top up my phone. The Pi's low price point and power consumption make it the ideal brains for portable and set-and-forget type applications.
I have tried emulation on the Pi and whilst it is cool, later games from the N64 and Playstation 1 don't always run smoothly. Minor problems aside however the Pi 2 excels at other retro consoles allowing me to plaster them on the lounge room TV for some rather good entertainment.
You can use the Pi like a regular computer with a graphical Desktop. The main flavour of Linux you may find yourself installing is Raspbian, either via NOOBS or flashing it straight to an SD card.
In a short and sweet ending that is about as far as I got with tinkering with the little device,
It presented as massive amount of opportunities for the DIY enthusiast but until I have a legitimate use for the little computer It has been set aside for the time being. The main struggle I found with it was I began making up uses for it, stuff that could be done easier and more conveniently by other devices I have.
The main objective of the Pi is for learning, and with such a large community backing and a wealth of tutorials the raspberry pi 2 is well worth its small price tag. However keep in mind you will need a power supply, keyboard + mouse, micro sd card and optionally a case and wifi dongle all of which bring the overall cost up.
Monday 2 November 2015
iPhone 6s short term impressions
Yesterday I got my hands on the new iPhone 6s..
I managed to pre-order the 4.7inch model early enough so that it arrived on launch day, sure beats waiting in line outside an apple store.
Needless to say the phone is nice,
I say nice because its design is pleasing to the eye and not wildly different. Heck a near identical phone has been out for over a year now.
Even the software is the same, its nice, it works well. Many of the software features are IOS 9 improvements, meaning all IOS devices have benefitted from features like low power mode and a more intelligent SIRI with a rather handy "Hey Siri" feature.
Their are a few practical implementations in the new 6s. 3D touch is a feature I see myself becoming somewhat dependant on once it is more widely implemented. Currently the most useful 3D touch Is that I can launch Shazam so it begins listening for songs immediately. Live photos however, I turned off straight away, although now I do find myself 3d touching old photos in hopes of a little glimpse. The upgraded processor in the 6s isn't insanely prominent due to the efficiency of IOS but it does definitely help power through new graphically demanding apps. One of the most notable improvements that I use a lot is the upgraded touch id fingerprint reader. It is fast, as in I click the home button to wake my iPhone and check the time only to have the phone unlock completely. The speed is seriously impressive. Paired with a new processor is 2gb of ram, Apple is still sadly behind in that department but it does shows specs aren't everything.
The new iPhone camera isn't standout but it does a great job at capturing consistently nice photos. One major improvement that I have definitely noticed is the camera's low light performance as it does a significantly good job at squeezing light out of lightless situations.
In conclusion the new iPhone 6s is nice, I haven't had an IOS device since the iPhone 5 so for me its a refreshing change. If you currently have the iPhone 6 I would hold off until next year, for the most part the new features are in the software and apart from the 3D touch screen both phones should perform very similarly. (Check out a few sample images below)
All in all Apple does a great job of creating a device that is good at all the things we don't necessarily notice. They create 'nice' albeit expensive devices that just work and do their job well.
Some people, namely Android users tend to find IOS and subsequent devices restrictive and truthfully they are. But in a perfect world of electronics control over its users sadly creates consistency.
I managed to pre-order the 4.7inch model early enough so that it arrived on launch day, sure beats waiting in line outside an apple store.
Needless to say the phone is nice,
I say nice because its design is pleasing to the eye and not wildly different. Heck a near identical phone has been out for over a year now.
Even the software is the same, its nice, it works well. Many of the software features are IOS 9 improvements, meaning all IOS devices have benefitted from features like low power mode and a more intelligent SIRI with a rather handy "Hey Siri" feature.
Their are a few practical implementations in the new 6s. 3D touch is a feature I see myself becoming somewhat dependant on once it is more widely implemented. Currently the most useful 3D touch Is that I can launch Shazam so it begins listening for songs immediately. Live photos however, I turned off straight away, although now I do find myself 3d touching old photos in hopes of a little glimpse. The upgraded processor in the 6s isn't insanely prominent due to the efficiency of IOS but it does definitely help power through new graphically demanding apps. One of the most notable improvements that I use a lot is the upgraded touch id fingerprint reader. It is fast, as in I click the home button to wake my iPhone and check the time only to have the phone unlock completely. The speed is seriously impressive. Paired with a new processor is 2gb of ram, Apple is still sadly behind in that department but it does shows specs aren't everything.
The new iPhone camera isn't standout but it does a great job at capturing consistently nice photos. One major improvement that I have definitely noticed is the camera's low light performance as it does a significantly good job at squeezing light out of lightless situations.
In conclusion the new iPhone 6s is nice, I haven't had an IOS device since the iPhone 5 so for me its a refreshing change. If you currently have the iPhone 6 I would hold off until next year, for the most part the new features are in the software and apart from the 3D touch screen both phones should perform very similarly. (Check out a few sample images below)
All in all Apple does a great job of creating a device that is good at all the things we don't necessarily notice. They create 'nice' albeit expensive devices that just work and do their job well.
Some people, namely Android users tend to find IOS and subsequent devices restrictive and truthfully they are. But in a perfect world of electronics control over its users sadly creates consistency.
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