What You Need To Watch

When it comes to technology, there have been a lot of new introductions already this year but there is one product that has been on everyone’s agenda, a smart watch.

Smart watches have been one of the hot topics of the last few months and with Samsung announcing their Galaxy Gear, more technology bigwigs are starting to give us something to think about.

Rumours surrounding the Apple and Google headquarters are becoming louder and louder and we have already seen a number of concept ideas from the former.  In fact, only recently did we feature an article about Apple’s iWatch.

Google themselves are being closely watched too. When they bought Wimm, a maker of Android-based smart watches, back in September, many technology enthusiasts thought it was inevitable that the search-engine giants would be rolling out a new smart watch very soon.  Google actually look set to be the next tech giant to launch a smart watch following on from Samsung’s introduction.

According to reports surrounding this topic, the smart watch from Google will use many of the utilities that are commonly found in the Google Now software, which is an intelligent mobile digital assistant, so it could be a very useful watch indeed.

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear already has a 320 x 320 pixel Super AMOLED screen in 1.63-inch and a 1.9-megapixel camera installed too. It also boasts a 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage, so it will take some serious technology from Google and Apple to knock it of its perch.

These three techno-wizards have a rivalry that far surpasses just watches though, as we all know, and they are constantly trying to out-do one another.  So Google and Apple, we’re sure, will be using the release of Samsung’s Galaxy Gear to their advantage in order to create a model of smart watch that is all singing, all dancing.

There are other smart watches available on the market already though, like Sony’s Smartwatch 2 and the Pebble Smartwatch, so we can fully expect to see more and more companies crawling from the woodwork and jumping on the bandwagon.

Are Apple's Paid Apps Dead?

If you buy paid apps, you will think ‘no’ and if you only purchase free apps, you will be thinking ‘yes’.  The truth is, paid apps have slowly declined since their first release when the App store was born but people do still pay money for their apps

App producers are finding it more difficult to make money on their paid apps, but many are resorting to in-app purchases.  Although many people are questioning whether paid apps are dead or not, the revenues made through apps on both the Apple’s App Store and Google Play are on the rise and have been all year.

Apple introduced in-app purchases to its App Store in 2009 alongside the release of its iOS 3.0 software. This has opened up a whole new source of revenue for developers.  The idea behind this was, instead of purchasing an app from the outset, developers could create a free-to-download app which can offer in-app purchases for added extras to the original gameplay, for example.

These are called ‘Freemium’ apps and have rapidly become the standard for many of the most successful apps and games within the App Store.  In fact, according to new statistics, in-app purchases within the U.S’s App Store make up 76 per cent of their whole revenue. Paid apps only make up just 5% of this revenue.

So, what is the future of app pricing, you ask? Good question. The main problem app developer’s face is that finding the perfect combination of impressive download numbers, high conversion rates and high prices can be difficult. An app like Candy Crush Sage though, ticks all of these boxes and does it well.

When considering an app or an idea, it is worth keeping on top of the latest trends like this to see which will be a good return on investment for you. Freemium apps might be the way to go in the interim but every App Store customer is different, so paid apps are a long way off becoming extinct.

We would like to know what you do when downloading apps. Do you buy fewer paid apps but always end up making in-app purchases, or are most of your apps paid for before downloading? Let us have your comments.

Microsoft Scratch The Surface, Again!

Yes, that’s right! Microsoft is looking to launch their next generation of tablets after unveiling them at a press conference in New York towards the latter part of last month.

Does this mean it is time for the Surface RT to move over? No, but the Surface Pro 2 and the Surface 2 are definitely looking to take the hot seat for a while.

The Surface 2 is much cheaper than the Surface RT and at £359 it’s an exciting prospect on price alone. But what you get for the money is what you really want to know. Well, it comes with an improved 1080p screen, but that isn’t all. You can also expect to see Microsoft Office already pre-loaded onto the tablet, as well as a faster processor.

The Microsoft Surface 2 seems to have come a long way since it’s younger brother, so Microsoft have learnt from their previous mistakes. The tablet is much sturdier when it is in your hand and this could quite well be due to the kickstand at the back adding another layer of sturdiness. Although the Surface 2 is one of the larger tablets on the market and is much sturdier, it still manages to keep the lightweight feel and is easily manageable in just the one hand.

The screens size, 10.6 inch, is great for practicality too, especially for those people looking for a practical tablet to take with them. Writers and those that work with spread sheets are definitely going to want one of these. The processor, like we mentioned earlier, has also been improved which means application switching is virtually effortless.

The Type Cover fits perfectly onto the tablet and is another improvement on the previous Surface model. Typing is quieter, more sensitive and has a lot more touch capabilities too. Being able to glide your fingers across this new keyboard-slash-cover means you can literally do anything at the touch of a button if you don’t want to use the screen.

We have no doubt that this new model from Microsoft with outshine any of their previous releases but will it out-do the iPad 4 and the Nexus 10 … We’re not quite sure yet. It definitely has a fighting chance though!

Amazon Look To Burn The Competition

With a lot of focus recently towards Apple and its new iPhone, we have decided to turn our attention to Amazon and what they have to offer – The new Kindle HDX.

We live in a very tablet-centric society at the moment and Amazon has upped their ante with regards to the Fire tablet we all know and love. They have introduced two new models, the 7-inch and the 8.9-inch and both come with a brand new, high-resolution screen that change their brightness in accordance to the ambient light.

That’s not all either, both come with a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor at 2.2GHZ (better than a lot of laptops) and are 34 per cent lighter than their predecessors. Arguably the most successful Android tablets on the market, these powerhouses cram in both power and pixels, which is good for those of you who want to continue using the Kindle for your reading hobby.  In fact, they are also packed with a special reading mode to allow you to read on your new tablet for up to 17 hours. That’s a lot of reading!

The 8.9 inch Kindle HDX comes with a rear-facing camera too and has been installed with a small photo editing app, so you can tweak the brightness and contrast of your favourite snaps. Amazon has paid attention to its previous success with their Kindle’s though and the design has near enough stayed the same. The soft rubbery back still remains as does a very similar interface, so if you have had a previous model, you’ll fly round this one too.

One of the Kindle HDX’s key features that has been praised as one of its major selling points though is their ‘May Day Button’. This allows 24-7, 365-days-a-year technical support should you need it and also utilises a one-way video chat. Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, has also said that they are aiming to respond to requests in 15 seconds or less. Impressive!

If you want one though, you will have to wait just that little bit longer. The 7-inch model is available for pre-order but will not be shipped until October 18th. The 8.9-inch; November 14th.

What also might be good to know is the 7-inch will cost around £200 and the 8.9 inch will be under £350.

7 Top Tips For iOS7

So you've just installed the shiny new iOS7 but apart from the new look you're not sure what else it does. Or even worse you were used to the way something worked and now it's different. Well after answering a few questions (that were often the same) about it from our clients over the last day or so we decided to put a few top tips together.

1. New slide up/down panels
By sliding your finger down from the top of the screen the notification centre is opened. As well as just showing old (misssed) notifications this now includes the date, current weather, calendar, reminders, and stocks. This can now be done from the lock screen though can be disabled in settings.

Another new panel has also been added by swiping your finger up from the bottom of the screen too. This is called command centre and includes things you quickly want to change or specific Apps to quick launch. This includes things like flight mode, wireless on/off, brightness, volume, and timer, calculator, and some others.

2. Searching
In previous version of iOS you had a specific search screen to the left of the home screen. This is no longer there on iOS7 so how do you search? From any of the home screens if you swipe your finger down from the middle of the screen then the search box will appear at the top of the screen. Simple when you know how!

3. Flashlight Addition
Ever found yourself fumbling around in the dark and wishing you had a torch with you. Well with iOS7 you can use your phone as one! From the new command centre you can switch on the flashlight with a single press and use your phone's camera flash as a torch.

4. Email Changes/Improvements
If you're used to going to your inbox and swiping right across the message previous to delete that obvious spam message you may get a shock. It doesn't do anything now! But don't worry, if you swipe right to left instead of left to right then you can delete (trash) instantly or even reply, forward etc too using the more button.

Another massive improvement that has always been missing is the ability to "mark all". This is especially useful for people who have their email setup where they are seeing the same messages on their phone as their computer but these are showing as unread on the phone. Now you can just click "edit" and then use the new mark all as read function.

5. Closing running programs
Previously you could close down Apps that were running in the background by double clicking the home button and then holding your finger on the App icon and select delete. With iOS7 the double home button click is the same but then it shows a card of the App and the icons below. Now matter how long you keep your finger pressed the delete button won't appear! You now simply swipe the App card upwards off the screen and it's closed.

6. Blocking numbers
This will be a lifesaver for those of you that are always getting spam PPI claim phone calls! If you go into recent calls and click on the info icon then at the bottom of that screen you can "block this caller". This then blocks calls, messages, or FaceTime from that number/contact.

7. Photo Viewing
As well as the existing albums structure then if you use the "photos" tab then you can view your photo's by collections and moments. This cleverly splits up your photo's into headings of the place and times photo's were taken. So if you were on holiday for a week in Cornwall it would create a heading for this and have all your holiday photo's in there. This makes looking for that specific photo from an event so much easier than going through your whole camera roll!

We hope that these tips all help you get along with your fresh install of iOS7 and please feel free to add tips of your own in the comments section below.

How Much For That App?

Whilst browsing through recent reviews about the new iPhone and the release of the iOS 7 software, we came across an interesting infographic about apps.

The average price of an iPhone app is around $0.19 (12 pence) so we were surprised to see some of the pricey apps available on the App Store and thought they were worth a mention.

Top of the pile is VIP Black. This is the world’s first premium lifestyle app and is for those people that have an income above £1 million, which they must show proof of.  So, that rules a lot of us out even if we wanted to see what this app was about. Although, another thing that would rule many of us out is the price tag … $999.99 (£623). This is the highest amount of money that app developers can charge for an app on the App Store.

Another top-priced app is Agro, a functional App whose most common audience is Farmers. Tested by large organisations, this app is useful for storing client details pertaining to different chemicals, pests and crops. This app, along with VIP Black is optimised for the new iPhone 5, which is handy!

A little lower down the app chain is Preebs. This has been specially crafted to assist commuters on their daily drives or commutes. It makes full use of billboards during their journey by providing various types of outdoor advertising. Preebs, isn’t cheap either though, and will set you back nearly £500.

Next up is a football game, and no, it’s not made with gold footballers – instead it comes with high resolution graphics and animations that give you the ultimate playing experience and is named Barcelona vs Madrid. We would like to think that the game includes a few more teams than these two though. For this app, you can look to pay $349.99, or £220 for those in the UK, a lot dearer than FIFA.

So, these are little more expensive than Angry Birds, even if we think we would have more fun on Angry Birds. For those of you interested in these apps you will have to pay a hefty sum - they will cost you more than buying an iPhone outright. Pricey!

Apple's Double iPhone Day

Apple has announced not one, but two new additions to their already existing collection of technology.

September 10th saw Apple shed some light on its latest releases, with the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C being the main focus. The delivery date for the new iPhone 5S is September 20th, so we don’t have to wait too long to see it first hand, but we will have to wait a little longer for the iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 5C is available for pre-order though, and you can choose from a number of different colours too, which include Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink and White. There is not much difference from the iPhone 5 but you can expect to see improved software (iOS7), better FaceTime and much more support for your networks.

The iPhone 5S is also armed with the iOS7 software which was touched on during the media event earlier in the week. Better apps, a smoother user experience and a new look are all key features of the new iOS7 software and will accompany both new Apple additions.

If you are due an upgrade, this will be the first time you will have the choice of two iPhones, but if you’re looking to find which one is best, the answer is difficult. Both models are very similar but have their differences, which makes the decision all the more easier. If you are looking for an app power model and prefer more security features, the iPhone 5S is the choice for you, but if you love the iPhone but don’t like the huge price you have to pay for them, the 5C might be the better option for you. Truth is, both are pretty good so you won’t go far wrong with either.

The iPhone 5S has twice the processor performance which makes it the number one choice for those who search for smoother gaming and usage, although the apps that will actually use this performance won’t be in the App Store for some time yet.

The iPhone 5C is basically the iPhone 5 with better choice of casing and for a lower price. So, to reiterate … it is entirely your choice.  All we know, is we look forward to seeing them up closer when they are finally released.