Showing 11 - 20 of 31
Huawei still some way behind rivals
Life, James Hein, Published on 21/11/2018
» I've had some feedback expressing surprise that I invested in a smartwatch. Yes, I didn't think I'd see the day either, but it does function very well as a watch with changeable faces and at a price point that's far below some of the faces it can duplicate. The always-on test was a success in that I only turned the watch off when I wasn't using it on some evenings. It also does sleep tracking, which perhaps provides a sterner test, but it still provided a week's worth of use making it usable for many. On a longer trip you would need to take the charger along. Note that for both tests, I kept Bluetooth on the whole time.
An opaque Windows upgrade
Life, James Hein, Published on 08/08/2018
» I have heard a number stories of users having problems with Windows 10 who upgraded from Windows 7 without a clean install. This has happened to people with notebooks, PCs and recently a server. It started a few updates back when rebooting took a long time, which was resolved with a subsequent update. A more recent issue has occurred for those who did not do a clean Windows 10 install, ie they directly upgraded from Windows 7 or 8, having problems ranging from slow to almost unusable speeds and even system lockdowns. If you find yourself having problems, backup your data and do a clean install directly from Windows 10. In short, reformat your system drive and install from scratch. For some this has been the only solution, others have been a little luckier.
Upgrading to the Samsung S8
Life, James Hein, Published on 05/07/2017
» So, I finally went for the smartphone upgrade and ordered a Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. The Chinese phones are not quite there in terms of feature set, and the prices on them keep rising. The next article will cover some of the issues I faced moving from my current S5, and the wonders of the new phone as I discover them. After that, the next question will be "Do I get the docking station and VR kit or not?".
Even Facebook can't crack AI
Life, James Hein, Published on 30/11/2016
» So where are we as far as artificial intelligence is concerned? For some time now Facebook, with all of its resources, has tried to build a machine intelligence that can reason based on text input. Different groups have been trying for decades to build some form of machine intelligence but it is still a long way from what TV shows like Westworld and Humans portray. Even so, there are groups such as the University of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence in Cambridge that are also looking into the long-term risks of developing AI, just in case.
Google wants your Android
Life, James Hein, Published on 15/06/2016
» Which is the world's most valuable brand? A number of them should pop into mind like Coca-Cola, Apple and Cartier. The new leader of the pack however is Google taking the slot from Apple based on the recent BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study. With a 32% increase in brand value they were a big mover since last year, while Apple dropped in value over the same period. Other IT names are in the top 10 like Microsoft at third, Facebook at fifth and Amazon at seventh place.
MS Windows' new OS nota perfect 10
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/04/2016
» Outlook users wanting to upgrade to Windows 10, beware -- you could be facing some trials ahead. One error commonly seen is send/receive error 0x800CCC13, warning of an inability to connect to the network. If you see this or something similar try the following. Right click on the Start button and choose the Admin Command Prompt or PowerShell. At the command prompt, enter sfc/scannow which runs the Windows File Checker Tool. When this is complete -- and it can take some time -- restart your computer. Try Outlook again. While this works for some, others have reported that the only way they could get Outlook working again was to revert to the previous Windows version.
Taking a bite out of Apple
Life, James Hein, Published on 30/03/2016
» It now appears the FBI will be able to get into the iPhone they are interested in without the help of Apple. No, it isn't a back door, but a non-disclosed asset, which is FBI-speak for a hacker. This could be someone from the Cyber Division or a White Hat (hacker) or even a friendly Black Hat that has been co-opted to break into the device. None of these options is outside the realm of possibility, because people have successfully hacked into iProducts before. Although the FBI was probably hoping for some kind of free-access method to future iPhones, this will at least get them access to the contents of this particular phone and perhaps some additional info on the terrorist in question.
Samsung's 7s ain't too bad
Life, James Hein, Published on 02/03/2016
» The new Samsung Galaxy S7 duo has been announced, bringing to mind the Meatloaf lyrics, "two out of three ain't bad". Some will remember I sent a letter to the Korean electronics giant some time back, but the letter was returned to sender. At first I was confused by this until I remembered that job titles are of high importance to the Koreans and I had used the general term product manager instead of what the exact title was, hence the return. Despite that I suspect others had also contacted Samsung and provision for the SD card was returned, along with the S5 waterproofing. There's still no replaceable battery but for many that is not really an issue.
Who's really sending me these emails?
Life, James Hein, Published on 28/10/2015
» A while back I wrote to Samsung outlining my concerns, validated by low sales and a move to iPhones, about the latest S6 and Note 5 devices moving closer to Apple in functionality. In particular they removed waterproofing, included a fixed battery and stopped support for a microSD memory expansion. It has been some weeks and so far no response.
There's no such thing as free tech
Life, James Hein, Published on 21/01/2015
» Can hackers really ruin your day? Consider the story a friend of mine recently told me. He has been playing the game Stronghold Kingdoms for a couple of years now. Apparently, as a result of hacking, some players gained points and certain advantages and had their accounts spoofed.