Black Friday 2022 Tech Deals

by George Lovell | November 25, 2022 | 0 comments

It's Black Friday!

You've just been paid, and don't the retailers know it. How many promotional emails and ads have tried desperately to part you from your hard-earned cash so far this morning? Big fat vultures, all of 'em.

Then again, there's like some retail therapy to take your mind off the rising cost of living.

So we've spent the morning browsing tech deals, and found four bargains worth sharing.

> iPhone 14 Pro from Sky. £35 per month is the cheapest that we've seen for a 14 Pro. You then add one of their data plans on top, which start at £6 per month. Again, they have a Black Friday deal on their 60GB package, which is just £15.00 per month. 14 Pro with 60GB of data at £50.00 per month is a tempting deal.

> The new Amazon Echo Dot 5th Gen. Smart home devices are actually becoming useful and affordable. You've been defiant to the idea of a creepy robot residing in your home, but at £39.99, it's surely time to just settle down with Alexa.

> The Xbox Series S is for sale on Amazon at just £189.00, which is less than half the price of an Xbox Series X. This is a great budget console to get for Christmas.

> Galaxy Buds2 - £79 from Samsung. Whilst these aren't quite as fancy as the more expensive Buds Pro's, they have excellent sound quality, active noise cancellation, and are water resistant, making them a great value set of ear buds. 

Happy shopping!

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See Our Blog for the latest industry news, tech tips, company updates, and anything else we feel like writing about. 
 

     

Using your mobile phone in the Middle East is expensive

by George Lovell | November 21, 2022 | 0 comments

If you're on ID Mobile, you're out of luck. According to Uswitch, a 1 week trip could cost you £969!

• Check if your network offers a roaming add-on. Check what their standard rates are abroad.
• Turn your mobile data off. Only use Wi-Fi, but be wary of entering sensitive details on public Wi-Fi networks.
• Use WhatsApp, messenger, or another app for Wi-Fi calling and messaging.
• Download everything before you go: World Cup apps, maps, media (music, movies, TV shows, podcasts), boarding pass, hotel details etc.
• Consider picking up a pre-paid SIM from the airport or a shop. You will get a much better deal on minutes, texts and data.
• Cancel your trip and watch the games at home or at the pub.
  
  

We will be supporting both our nations (We have some Welsh blood), but we will remain open as usual during the games.

This time, it really is coming home. 

Thanks for reading!

See Our Blog for the latest industry news, tech tips, company updates, and anything else we feel like writing about. 
 

     

Is the Google Pixel a threat to iPhone and Samsung?

by George Lovell | November 18, 2022 | 0 comments

Google recently released the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Watch.

MKBHD gives us a good look at them here.

Straight out of Star Trek: The camera visor is made out of one continuous bit of metal, which is an improvement on the top-heavy block of glass that we had on the Pixel 6. Aside from being 0.2" smaller, this appears to be the only design change, yet it makes the phone significantly more attractive than its predecessor.

Here's Jerry trying to destroy the thing with a utility knife.

The best camera in a smartphone?

The consensus amongst expert tech-reviewers is that the Pixel 7 Pro camera is the best on the market for daylight photography, and might just be the best all-round camera available right now with it's impressive zoom capabilities, ultra-wide camera with autofocus and macro capture, which is powered by Google's latest camera software. 

Google's Tensor chip also continues to impress: The "Unblur" feature uses AI to fix blurry, out of focus images, with remarkable results.

With all the various camera options in different settings and contexts, no single device can be declared the undisputed champion of photography. But we certainly have another contender.

As for the Pixel Watch, here's an in-depth review from Toms Guide.

To summarise in conjunction with other tech reviews:

• It looks and feels amazing.
• It's on the smaller side - which means limited screen space and a tiny battery, which struggles to get through a whole day.
• Integrated Fitbit software makes for highly accurate health, fitness and sleep tracking. FYI: Google own Fitbit.
• Voice-to-text for message response works well.
• Google Assistant and Google Maps are awesome apps, so having them on a watch is nice.
• £339.00 is a competitive price
  
  

All in all, it's a pretty solid first attempt, and we're looking forward to future generations.

The overarching theme at the forefront of my mind is the increasing strength of the Google Ecosystem. Google have such a strong range of products, which when coupled with a tremendous smartphone and a capable smartwatch, makes it a very tempting package...

• The Pixel has the best version of Android OS.
• You've got great every day tools in Google Assistant, Maps, Wallet, Calendar, Drive and Gmail. 
• The tech is setting up to take over your home, with Google Home, which includes Nest, Wi-Fi, and Chromecast. 
• Google's parent company, Alphabet, own some absolute powerhouses, including YouTube, Waze, and Fitbit.
• As well as specialising in ads and cybersecurity, Google are dipping into a number of exciting tech niches, including autonomous vehicles, drone delivery, AI research, and biotech. This level of diversity could bolster the consumer ecosystem in unforeseen ways. 
• The product range now includes a smartwatch and Bluetooth earphones, plus a first-gen tablet - due to be released in 2023.
• The Chromebook is a great value laptop, but doesn't appeal to professional users in the way that a MacBook or Windows laptop does.

If Google shift their focus towards improving their consumer products and services, we could certainly see them offering a polished, integrated ecosystem that rivals Apple's.

So yes, a lot of potential for the Google Pixel. We think that there's a 50% chance that we'll be talking about the "Big 3" in smartphones by 2030, rather than the current "Big 2". That is, unless a Chinese brand like Xiaomi or Realme can win over the hearts of Western consumers, and make it a four horse race.

Given its current measly 3.3% market share, the Pixel has some serious work to do.

Thanks for reading!

See Our Blog for the latest industry news, tech tips, company updates, and anything else we feel like writing about. 
 

     

Macs have come a long way

by George Lovell | November 10, 2022 | 0 comments

Check out this behemoth of a machine: The Power Mac G5. A collaborative effort between Apple and IBM resulted in the worlds first 64-bit desktop computer. The anodized aluminium alloy enclosure was also a novel design - one which Apple retained for seven years.

Some iterations of the Power Mac G5 (including this one) used liquid cooling. Liquid-cooling was and still is typically reserved for high-end gaming PCs or special systems for high-performance computing or scientific applications. Apple had to pull out all the stops to manage the heat generated by IBM's new PowerPC 970FX processor chip.

Liquid is heavier than air (who knew?), making this thing a whopping 20kg! That's equivalent to 2 iMac Pros, or 43 iPads, or 8 large bags of potatoes.

Equipped with a 9-inch, 72 PPI black and white display, an 8MHz Motorola 68000 processor, 128KB of RAM, and a 3.5-inch floppy drive; capable of storing 400kb, the Macintosh had zero utility or appeal to the average person, especially given its substantial price tag of $2,495 which equates to about $7,000 in todays money.    

Almost 39 years on from the Macintosh, and they're still making waves. The new M1 Pro model, released in 2021, sparked Mac shipments to grow by 28.3% last year, compared to 14.6% for the global PC market. 28,958,000 Macs were sold in 2021.



This chart shows the many products in Apple's portfolio, which were building blocks for their current flagship devices; which will be the building blocks for future devices. 

From the original Macintosh, to the Power Mac G5, to the M1 MacBook, and everything in between, each and every product is an integral part of our journey in computing. A journey which has only just begun.

Thanks for reading!

See Our Blog for the latest industry news, tech tips, company updates, and anything else we feel like writing about. 
 

     

Memory vs Storage: What is RAM?

by George Lovell | November 04, 2022 | 0 comments

When looking at product specs, you will typically see two separate columns for Memory and Storage. It can be confusing because these two terms sound interchangeable, and will typically utilise the same unit of measurement: Gigabytes.

Our customers often mistakenly use the term memory to refer to storage. When asking about how much memory a phone has, or stating that their laptop has insufficient memory, we know that in most cases, the nature of their enquiry actually relates to storage.

So what's the difference?

Most people know what storage is: It's the process through which digital data is saved within a device. Data is stored on a hard disk drive, solid state drive, NAND chip, or flash memory card. This is where all of your photos, documents and other files live. Most smartphones have 32GB to 512GB of storage. Most computers have between 128GB and 2000GB of storage.

Memory is an abbreviation of Random Access Memory, which is better known by its acronym: RAM. This is a temporary memory bank which stores working data. It's "Random" because it can read and modify data directly in any order. Most smartphones have 2GB to 8GB or RAM. Most computers have between 4GB and 32GB of RAM.

The simplest distinction: Memory stores data temporarily. Storage saves data permanently.

Why do we need to store memory temporarily?

Processors are fast. Reading data from or writing data onto a drive is slow. RAM bridges the gap: It temporarily stores data which can be quickly and easily accessed by the processor.

Still not clear? Here's an analogy...

Imagine you are writing a project. The data that you need is in the books. You can keep a few books on your desk at any one time, but after that you have to get up and walk over to the book shelf, find a book, and then swap it for one on your desk. The size of your desk is the RAM. The size of your bookshelf is the hard drive storage.  If you have a really small desk, you'll have to keep swapping books from your bookshelf, so it will take you a while to finish the project.

Having more RAM (a bigger desk) enables the device to keep more apps, programs and processes running simultaneously.

RAM is a form of "volatile memory" meaning it loses data when power is interrupted or switched off. A drive is "non-volatile memory" meaning it retains data at all times. Accessing non-volatile memory is slower and more difficult.

Bonus Fact: When you switch your computer off, anything that wasn't copied from the RAM to the disk is deleted. When you put your computer into hibernate, everything on the RAM is copied to the disk so that it can be restored back on to the RAM when the computer is switched back on.

If your computer is running slow, it could be related to the hard drive, or the RAM. We can assess your device and advise on the best course of action. Upgrading your computer's hardware is a cost-effective way to boost your productivity, or just load games quicker.

Get in touch: Computer Services

Thanks for reading!

See Our Blog for the latest industry news, tech tips, company updates, and anything else we feel like writing about.