Top 5 Tablets of 2017

There is such a range of tablets on the market in 2017, we decided to break down the best out there so that you know what will suit you best.


1. iPad Pro 12.9inch, from £549

The iPad Pro 12.9 inch is one of the best tablets on the market and one of the best iPads Apple has ever made. The iPad Pro 12.9 inch comes in 3 different colours, silver, space grey and gold, it also has an A10X fusion chip with 64-bit architecture.
As well as this, the iPad features a 12 mp camera with f/1.8 aperture along with many other great features to the camera making the iPad Pro a very useful gadget to have.



2. Amazon Fire HD 8, from £90

The Amazon Fire HD 8 is the cheapest on this list, however, it is still one of the best for the price. This tablet doesn't have as many high-tech specifications as the others on this list, but it is still a great tablet for the price you pay. It's great if you're just wanting to try out a tablet before you invest in one of the more expensive ones.


3. Microsoft Surface Pro 4, from £729

This tablet is the most expensive on our list but it has the specifications to match from the 6th Generation Intel® Core™ m3, i5 or i7 processor and Windows Hello face sign-in camera (front-facing), 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video, and 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video, along with many other clever features and rightfully earns its place on this list.


4. Google Pixel C, from £399

The Google Pixel C is another tablet that you should check out. If you're not a massive Apple or Microsoft fan then this is probably for you. The Google Pixel also has a NVIDIA Tegra X1 256 core Maxwell GPU processor and a 2MP front camera, 8MP rear camera. The tech specs on this tablet really make it one of the best with its reasonable price tag.


5. Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, from £499

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is one of the most popular tablets on the market for a very good reason. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 has a Quad Core processor and a 13MP rear camera making it a very high-quality camera for a tablet. This tablet comes in two different colours black and silver and a Li-Ion 6000mAh battery. This is also one of the best tablets on the market simply for the high-quality camera it comes with.


So that's our top 5 tablets ranging from £90 to £729. There’s something on here for everyone, even if you just wanted to try one out and not break the bank. Let us know what you think to our top 5 and what’s your favourite tablet?

Top 4 iPhone Tips and Tricks

People are always asking us how to get the most out of their iPhone, so here’s a list of 4 iPhone tricks that you may not have known you could do. These little tips and tricks should help you discover a few things that your iPhone can do that you never knew about!

1. Create custom iMessages for calls you can’t answer

This can be very helpful for those times when you just can’t answer the phone but want to let the person know that you’ve seen the missed call and that you’ll respond later. This is great for those times.

>Swipe upwards on the phone icon next to the unlock slider.

>Choose respond with a text.

>There are 3 custom messages and a custom message button where you can write your own message to send to that person.

2. Set a sleep timer for your music

With this feature on your iPhone it can be very helpful for those people who fall asleep listening to music as this helps to prevent a loud song from waking you up in the middle of the night.

>Go to the clock app

>Go to timer

>Set a timer for how long you want your music to play for

>Then press when timer ends

>Next scroll down to stop playing

3. Create customised vibrations for different contacts.

By having this option to create different vibrations for different callers can help you identify who is contacting even when your phone is on vibrate.

>Go to settings

>Sounds

>Ringtone

>Vibration

>Create new vibration and then tap a pattern in.

4. Lock autofocus points

This little trick is a great one for if you’re on the move and trying to take a picture of something as it helps you to get the perfect image without it being blurred.

>Go to camera

>Hold the screen for a couple of seconds until ‘AF locked’ pops up on screen

They are my top 4 iPhone tips and tricks that you may not have known before.

A personal favourite of mine is that you can lock autofocus points meaning that when you’re on the move you can still take great pictures that aren’t blurry.

Have you got any iPhone tips and tricks?

What You Need To Know About Apple's Event and the New iPhone 8 and iPhone X

After the Apple event last night many new products were announced.

 First up was the new Apple Watch Series 3. The biggest new feature is that it has cellular built in so that you can take calls and texts without a phone (EE only in the UK for now). You can also stream 40 million songs from your wrist using Apple Music and AirPods, great for runners or cyclists.

Along with the new Apple Watch, Apple announced the new Apple TV 4K making it possible to watch movies in 4K HDR. It offers a whole new 4K interface and Apps like Netflix, live sports and news.

Then the new iPhones were announced which is what everyone was really waiting for! As expected, they announced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The new features being the all new glass body, wireless charging, better cameras, and augmented reality experiences.

However, the main event and star of the show was the announcement of the iPhone X (referred to as both X and 10 to celebrate 10 years of the iPhone) with many new high tech features being introduced. Here's our roundup of the main 8:

1. Edge to edge OLED display 

This is one the more obvious and most useful changes in our opinion. The iPhone X features a new edge to edge display creating a much more immersive experience and changes the well known look of the iPhone that we’ve known for the past ten years. It's a 5.8 Inch Super HD OLED display offers the best colour accuracy on the market.

2. No home button 

One of the biggest physical changes to the iPhone X is the removal of the home button that we all know and love. In order to go home, you now simply swipe up to go to the home screen. They've also utilised the power button for some of the other functionality such as Siri.

3. Face ID 

Face ID is set to replace Touch ID, waving goodbye to the old fingerprint unlocking. It now uses facial recognition as a more secure way to unlock your device. They say the chances of someone unlocking with fingerprint ID was 1 in 50,000. With facial recognition it's now 1 in a million!

4. A11 bionic chip 

The A11 bionic chip in the new iPhone X is the most powerful chip yet. It is up to 25% faster than previous models. It's not only much more powerful, it also uses less power so has added 2 hours to the phone's battery life.

5. Wireless charging 

The new iPhone X (and the iPhone 8 and 8+) now allow wireless charging. You'll need a wireless charging mat but it will create a much easier way to charge your device. Just put your iPhone X down on the mat and it will automatically charge itself.

6. Animoji 

Using 3D tracking technology Apple have devised a way to animate emojis in real time. You can then record these as videos to send to your friends and family. So making text conversations that little bit more entertaining.

7. Dual camera 

The dual camera features a 12MP wide angle and telephoto camera along with portrait mode and portrait mode lighting and not only this the front facing camera will finally have portrait mode for taking much higher quality selfies.

8. Augmented reality 

The A11 bionic chip allows augmented reality in games and apps. This allows the iPhone X to make extremely high quality 3D models to appear as though they are in the real world. This has lots of scope for both gaming, and uses like overlaying scores and data in live sports events.

So that's a quick round up of last nights Apple event and all the tech gear that was announced. The most exciting one by far, being the iPhone X.

What do we think? We think the iPhone 8 is just an incremental upgrade to the 7 (and the same is true from 7+ to 8+) with better and faster bits. If you're already using an iPhone 6 or 7, we can't see that the upgrade is really worthwhile. The iPhone X is different enough to do so though, if of course you can justify the expense at £999!

Over to you now. What do you think about these new releases, which is your favourite, and why?

Thanks

Emily

iPhone 8 Rumours - Our Top 10!

It’s that time of year again when Apple are close to releasing their latest iPhone. There have been many iPhone 8 rumours over the past few months after information was allegedly leaked about the upcoming release. With all of us sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for Apple's 12th September event, it’s set to be another of Apple’s exciting releases.

So we decided to put together a top 10 list of the most common rumours we've heard. So here goes...

1. 5.8” OLED display.
By having an OLED display, it means that the phone will be a lot thinner and consume less battery power.

2. A new A11 processor.
The A11 processor will make this iPhone more efficient and faster.

3. Glass body.
Instead of the aluminium body used previously on the iPhone 5, 6 and 7, they will revert back to a glass body as featured on the iPhone 4.

4. Edge to edge display.
With a full edge to edge display, it will make for a much larger screen and overall better display.

5. Facial recognition will replace touch ID.
Having facial recognition will increase the security of your phone so that only you can unlock your phone. It will also make it quicker and a lot easier to unlock.

6. No home button/ virtual home button.
By having no home button or possibly a virtual home button, it means that the screen can extend down and be much larger.

7. Wireless charging.
We could be saying goodbye to the days of plugging your phone and being attached to a plug socket waiting for your phone to charge.

8. Notifications to be muted just by looking at the screen.
This feature will make muting notifications in situations when you can’t touch your phone stacks easier.

9. Dual lens camera.
With this new camera, some of the rumours are that the camera will be able to detect various different scenes and will adjust the shutter speed and aperture to ensure you get the best possible photo.

10. Waterproofing/ water resistant.
Waterproofing will come in very handy for those of us with butter fingers and who tend to drop their phone anywhere near water!

Even if only some of these rumours are true, it will be quite a change to any of the current iPhones. The removal of the home button would change that distinctive iPhone look that each phone has had previously.

As well as the iPhone 8, there are also rumours of Apple releasing another 2 phones, updates to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus and we do wonder about an updated SE model too. Only time will tell, so roll on September 12th :)

What do you think of these iPhone 8 rumours?

Thanks

Emily

The 3 BIGGEST productivity hacks for any smartphone, that you can implement immediately

If you’ve read some of my previous blogs or know me personally, you’ll know that I’m always looking at better ways of doings things. I’m a big fan of improving my productivity, and being as effective as I can be. Often this involves technology, tools, software, and Apps, but also making changes in my working processes, environment, and mindset.

As I spend most of my time at Appware working with smartphones and Apps, people often ask me what Apps are best for improving productivity. There are some great Apps out there for this, but I like to take a step back sometimes. Instead of answering that question, I prefer to actually fix the underlying issue behind it. With that in mind, here are my 3 biggest ways you can improve your productivity using your smartphone. Surprisingly, none of these are actually Apps, they are all free to do, and you can implement them all immediately.

Make Phone Calls
There are so many other ways to communicate on your smartphone these days, rather than calling people on the phone. There’s text messages, email, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Whatsapp etc etc. The problem is that people are receiving so many of these messages they sometimes don’t deal with them, or simply forget to respond.

A phone call from someone is far rarer these days. It will not just make you stand out from others, but will get a response either immediately, or much quicker than any other way. Don’t just chase something up with an email and mark it as done on your to do list. Once you start making phone calls and having real conversations with people again, you’ll soon realise you’re getting more done as you’re getting answers quicker. You’ll also be building much deeper, and more personal relationships with people. That in itself is worth it’s weight in gold.

Switch Email And Notifications Off
These days we’re constantly bombarded with notifications and messages from all sorts of Apps. It could be a Twitter mention, a Facebook like, a LinkedIn connection request, or a new email arriving. When those messages pop up or our phone pings, we simply can’t resist taking a look. Once we’ve replied, we then tend to go down a social media rabbit hole. Twenty minutes later we decide to close it and go back to what we were doing. First, we’ll just get another drink though. So before you know it, at least half an hour has passed.

It’s not surprising that we can’t focus on what we’re supposed to be doing with all this going on. It then gets to the end of the day, and we wonder where all the time went, and why we haven’t done most of the things we set out to do.

So firstly, go to your email account and set it to manual, rather than allowing it to automatically get emails and notify you of new ones. That way if you do need to check email when out and about, you still can but won’t get constant interruptions. Then go to the settings of your phone and disable push notifications, or at least disable it on most of your social media Apps. You’ll be amazed at how much more you’ll be able to concentrate. And do you really need to know when somebody “LOL”’d at your latest cat video post…

Do not disturb mode
This one can be used when you REALLY need to concentrate on something, typically for an hour or so. All modern smartphone had a “do not disturb” mode that does exactly that. It won’t show any notifications (not that you should have any if you implemented the above!) or allow phone calls but is way more convenient than switching your phone off completely. In this mode it still allows you to carry out tasks such as using the calculator, taking photo’s, and listen to music.

I often find that when I want to concentrate, going into “do not disturb” mode, putting my headphones on, and listening to music via my smartphone is a winning combination to avoid any distractions.

So those are my biggest tips to massively improve your productivity on your smartphone. I’d love to hear your feedback, as well as any of your own tips, so please do leave me a comment or send me a message.

Thanks

Richard

How to unlock your iOS10 iPhone without pressing the home button

 Since iOS10 was released I’ve heard loads of people complaining that they can’t unlock their phone easily. For some unknown reason Apple decided to change the way you unlock the phone with the fingerprint recognition. The process used to be as follows:

1. 1. Press the home or power button so your phone screen came on.
2. 2. Rest your finger on the home button.
3. 3. It recognised your fingerprint and opened the phone. Done!

The new standard behaviour in iOS10 is now as follows:

1. 1. Press the home or power button so your phone screen comes on.
2. 2. Rest your finger on the home button.
3. 3. Wonder why it hasn’t opened the phone.
4. 4. Press the power button to switch it off and on again.
5. 5. Press the home button and wonder why it’s asking for a pin instead of your fingerprint.
6. 6. Swear a lot.
7. 7. Press the home or power button so your phone screen comes on. Again.
8. 8. Rest your finger on the home button.
9. 9. Notice that at the top of the screen is now says “unlocked” even though nothing else changes.
10. 10. Press the home button.
11. 11. Your phone is now open and ready to use.

This is a massive frustration, and pretty much everyone I know has asked why on earth they changed it to add another home button press, if and when it works, which is obviously slower.

Thankfully I have good news :) You can revert the unlock functionality to work exactly how it used to, so no more ranting required! It’s actually really quick and simple once you know how to navigate the settings. So here’s how you do it:

1. 1. Run the “Settings” App.
2. 2. Choose “General”.
3. 3. Choose “Accessibility”.
4. 4. Scroll down and choose “Home Button”.
5. 5. At the bottom of the screen, switch on “Rest Finger to Open”

And that’s it. It will now behave just how it used to :)

Please feel free to share this article, to help any of your friends or colleagues you have seen losing their temper with their phones, and about to throw them across the room when trying to unlock them.

Thanks

Richard

Why does my iPhone 6S keep turning off? And how to get it fixed for free!

Over the past few months there have been a spate of reports from iPhone6S users, saying their phones have been randomly shutting down. Even with lots of battery power, the phones just shutdown and restart for no apparent reason. In some cases they didn’t even restart and needed a manual reset to start back up. Obviously this is a real problem as it can happen at any time.

Apple have now identified this shutdown problem as an issue with the battery, on iPhone6S’ made between September and October 2015. The good news is that if you’re having this problem, they will replace the battery to fix the issue for free. The even better news is that if you’ve previously paid for Apple to replace the battery on a phone affected by this issue, they will refund you.

Full details from Apple and how to get a free battery replacement can be found here https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/

Please feel free to share this article, to help any of your friends or colleagues that may have been affected by this iPhone battery issue.

Thanks

Richard