Category Archives: App of the Week

The Gadget Man – Episode 69 – Star Wars BB8 Sphero App Enabled Droid, plus we live taste Brew Barrel

The gadgets are coming in thick and fast at the moment, but one gadget I was really looking forward to reviewing is none other than the Star Wars BB8 Droid from Sphero, not only was it featured on the show but I also spent some time in the green room demonstrating it to none other than magician Paul Daniels and singer Andy Abrahams. I also had the duty of cracking open our fully brewed keg of Brew Barrel which featured last week, it was very tasty!!!

Listen in to the stream above and watch out for a full review on BB8 in the next few days

The Gadget Man – Episode 68 – Brew Barrel – Home Brewing made easy

Home brewing kits have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years and the amazing startup from Germany called ‘Brew Barrel’ have certainly been at the forefront of developments in this area.

This morning I chatted to Mark about a Brew Barrel, so listen in to the stream to find out more and afterwards watch the video of me making a batch up at home for testing next week! So don’t forget to tune in to BBC Radio Suffolk or check back here!!

The Gadget Man – Episode 67 – Fitbit Charge HR

This morning I talked to Mark Matthews about the Fitbit Charge HR. Fitbit are a well known player in the fitness band marketplace and the continuous heart rate monitoring is a great feature.

Fitbit Android App
Fitbit Android App

Listen in the the stream to find out what I think of the Charge HR and keep an eye on the site as I spent the next few weeks monitoring my progress wearing the Fitbit Charge HR.

Thanks to Rachel Taylorat Kaizo for organising the Fitbit at such short notice.

The Gadget Man – Episode 64 – LG G4 from Three

This week those very kind people at Three have again supplied us with a gorgeous LG G4 Smart Phone.

The G4’s stand out feature is it’s screen. It improves the QuadHD screen from it’s predecessor, the G3 but brings improvement in colour and brightness. It has a nice loud speaker and the phone controls are on the back of the phone under the camera lens which makes controlling it surprisingly easy.

Both cameras are excellent on the phone, with the rear facing main camera sporting a F1.8 sensor which makes low light photos really clear at it’s 16 megapixels. Coupled with LG’s clever ‘Laser focus’, this is a seriously cool phone.

Find out more about it by listening to the stream, more detailed review is coming soon!!!

Thanks again to Jocelyn Medhurst at COW PR who is super helpful indeed!!

The Gadget Man – Episode 60 – HTC One M9 from Three

This week it’s back to smaller gadgets which brings us to Smart Phones. HTC has been a big player of since the birth of the device category years back. HTC are well known for their high quality aluminium designs with bright screens and fast processors. They have also been one of the leaders in innovation with camera technology with their F2.0 ultra pixel sensors.

Today I chat to Mark about the HTC One M9 which takes the HTC One design and brings further improvements. Listen in to the stream and find out all about the device. A full review will be published here soon.

I would like to thank Three, who supplied the phone for review, It was pleasing to see the 4G icon displayed on the screen and network performance was excellent both using the handset and streaming audio to the Volvo V60 D6 and Audi A3 Sportback etron the phone worked a treat #makeitright

The Gadget Man – Episode 52 – Google Cardboard and Google I/O 2015

Google Cardboard V1 can be assembled in 6 steps
Google Cardboard V1 can be assembled in 6 steps

This week I talk about Google Cardboard and Google I/O Extended from Adastral Park. The event was the brainchild of Mark Thomas at Coderus, they are situated on the Innovation Martlesham also.

Google I/O Extended are events which enable people to experience the keynotes of I/O in Silicon Valley in their own countries. BT provided some amazing facilities to web cast the event to a large auditorium and Coderus were on hand to demonstrate some amazing Google products such as Chromecast and the Nexus Player. We also enjoyed Google themed cupcakes and sandwiches which were delicious.

After the keynotes were finished, there was a question and answer session hosted by Jim Milne from Innovation Martlesham and featured guest speakers from the tech area to answer questions and queries about the direction that Google is taking and there were some very interesting discussions about the nurturing role we can all take with young people to help encourage a new generation of UK based IT expertise.

For those of us that waited until the very end of the evening, we were very pleasantly surprised to receive our very own Google Cardboard to take away.

Google Cardboard is a VR system developed by Google engineers David Coz and Damien Henry in their 20% time. It was first released at Google I/O 2014 developers conference.

DSCF7619
Google Cardboard

This year, Google have updated ‘Cardboard’ to support phones of up to 6 inches screen size and now it works with the Apple iPhone (but check your screen size is big enough!). Google Cardboard headsets cost about £12 to construct and the plans and specifications are freely available to buy online for about a tenner.

They are very simple to use, you install the Google Cardboard app on your smartphone, then slide it into the back of the ‘device’. There is normally an NFC tag with the headset which automatically identifies itself and tells your phone it is ready to work in ‘3d’.

The two lenses built into Cardboard focus onto the screen on the phone and produces the impression of stereoscopic 3d.

The apps are the real gem in the whole idea and there are hundreds available and most provide and incredibly immersive experience, it’s a fantastic opportunity to try out VR and at a low entry cost it means it’s accessible to everyone with compatible smartphone.

Thanks to Mark Thomas and everyone at Coderus for the evening, it was very interesting. You can find out more about the company by visiting their website here or following them on Twitter here

 

The Gadget Man – Episode 44 – Ollie from Sphero

This week I talk to Rachel Sloane about the amazing Ollie from Sphero!

Ollie is a very clever robot toy, controlled using Bluetooth from a smart phone app.

We loved playing with Ollie in the studio, listen in and find out what Matt thought of it.

The Gadget Man – Episode 43 – Sony Smartband Talk

Sony Smartband Talk reviewed by Matt Porter
Sony Smartband Talk reviewed by Matt Porter

I previously reviewed the Sony Smartband and thought it was one of the best wearables of last year.  This week we look at it’s latest iteration which is the Sony Smartband Talk. Yet again, it’s a great product for monitoring activity and more! The ‘more’ being, the lovely e-ink screen and bluetooth headset technology. I really rate these products as a means to motivate people to be more active and the Smartband Talk does this with that added bit of ‘cool’.

Listen in to what I thought of it and hear about some of our listeners that are using the same products.

Full review coming soon!!!

The Gadget Man – Episode 40 – Sony Smartwatch 3

Today we look at one of the newest of the Android Wear devices to hit the market. We’re looking at the Sony Smartwatch 3. A great device with an amazing Transflective display.

If you are looking for an Android compatible smart watch, then the Sony Smartwatch 3 could be for you.

Listen to the stream and find out what I thought of it with a nice little demonstration live on air!!

 

The Gadget Man – Episode 26 – Smart Phones for Vision Impaired People

This week we discussed the availability of mobile phone devices for vision impaired people.

Matt specifically discussed the assistance provided by phone manufacturers in the form of ‘Easy Mode’ and ‘Accessibility’ options. We also discussed addons such as ‘Georgiephone’ and screen readers.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha Silver
Samsung Galaxy Alpha Silver

There was also some discussion on the development of active screens that actually change shape to provide haptic feedback.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha was specifically mentioned as it provides Easy Mode and Accessibility features such as Magnify Glass, Torch and easy to read buttons.

Listen to the stream to find out more and I have attached a photo of the Alpha in Easy Mode.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha in Easy Mode
Samsung Galaxy Alpha in Easy Mode