In this latest episode of The Gadget Man, Matt unravels the long-standing myth about using rice to dry out wet mobile phones.
Despite its popularity, this method is debunked as ineffective and potentially harmful.
The Gadget Man – Episode 178: Rice, Phones, and Chili Con Carne: Debunking Tech Myths with Malcolm Boyden
Apple itself has issued guidance against it, warning that rice grains can damage the device by blocking ports and causing corrosion. Instead,
Matt suggests allowing the phone to dry out naturally in a dry, airy place, highlighting modern phones’ water resistance capabilities and the importance of gentle care in case of water exposure.
Rice can damage devices
The conversation takes a lighter turn with a humorous suggestion for the best use of rice: making chili-con-carne, adding a flavourful twist to the tech discussion.
Dropping your phone in water is now not the disaster it used to be
This episode not only clears up a common misconception but also serves up a side of humour, making it a must-listen for tech enthusiasts and foodies alike.
Theion, a global battery manufacturer of lithium-sulphur cathode technology, today announced the appointment of Dr Ulrich Ehmes as CEO and the upcoming commercial availability of its Crystal Battery for applications, beginning with the aerospace sector. Dr Ehmes, who has a long track record of industrialising battery production at companies like Swiss-listed lithium-ion battery company Leclanché, will lead the commercialisation of Theion’s innovative lithium-sulphur cathode technology, which is targeting triple the range and usage time compared to conventional lithium-ion cells.
Theion’s battery innovation is based on sulphur – a material available In abundance without harmful mining (a byproduct of industrial processes). Sulphur replaces cathode materials with high processing cost and high metal content like nickel and cobalt. As a result, sulphur is not only 99% cheaper to source than the cathode materials, used in existing state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, but Theion’s battery cells also require 90% less energy to produce – from raw material to finished cell.
Under the leadership of Dr Ehmes, Theion will leverage his decade-long experience in the battery manufacturing sector to scale production. Dr Ehmes also serves on the Board of major battery research clusters funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education and is a member of European and German battery associations.
“I joined Theion because I am convinced that selecting the right battery active materials and processing these materials in a way that best leverages the material’s storage property, will disrupt the battery industry to another level,” said Dr Ulrich Ehmes, Theion CEO. “With 16 patents pending, our process innovations are scalable, and will bring a new dimension of mobility, range, usage time and sustainability.”
Theion’s patented production process extends the cycle life of batteries by combining sulphur’s crystal material properties with carbon nanotubes and a proprietary solid electrolyte. The company will be shipping material later this year, firstly to aerospace customers, as part of the qualification stage, then to aircraft, air taxis, drones, mobile phones and laptops, before servicing the electric flight and automotive sectors in 2024.
Battery Start-Up Theion Unveils Crystal Battery for all Mobile Applications
“We are using mother nature’s crystals under the guidance of our patented processes to unlock sulphur’s full potential as an energy carrier,” said Marek Slavik, Theion co-founder and CTO. “Its wide abundance around the world is crucial to the material cost. The design of our highly energy-efficient manufacturing processes makes our Crystal Batteries fully sustainable.”
Theion is backed by Lukasz Gadowski, CEO of Team Global, a technology holding company investing in and starting frontier technology companies. With a successful track record that includes Delivery Hero, and recent investments into Volocopter, Zapata and AutoFlight, Theion’s addition to the portfolio is highly synergetic.
“At a time when industry demand for batteries is surging, but materials cost and sustainable sourcing are experiencing volatility, Theion’s breakthrough is ideally timed,” Lukasz Gadowski, founder and CEO of Team Global, and principal investor. “Theion’s Crystal Battery is perfect for all mobility applications, while being massively sustainable, and is targeting to extend the use time of handheld devices, the driving range of electric cars, and the safe flight time of eVTOL applications and electric aircraft by a factor of three. When in full production, it has the potential to replace every battery in every mobility device on earth.”
Headquartered in Berlin, Theion operates three locations within the city, specializing in cell design, prototyping and testing. Theion is expanding by adding manufacturing facilities to accelerate its mass production roadmap, beginning in Berlin. Locations for later Giga-Factories are not determined yet but will be located close to the customers. Thus, production sites are envisioned In Europe, Asia and the USA.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of talking to Tim Shepherd, Senior Director of Bullitt Group. Bullitt is the sole manufacturer and license holder of CAT Smartphones and Feature-phones.
The launch of the Cat® S62 Pro is the pinnacle of innovation, functional design and rugged durability. It incorporates the highest resolution FLIR Lepton® thermal imaging, which is a game-changer for more demanding work environments, such as engineering, mining, manufacture, agriculture and wildlife. Compared with its predecessor, it is 12% more compact, with a 10% bigger screen. It is faster, more powerful and incredibly tough, making it the ultimate work phone.
Cat S62 Pro Dirtproof
With isotherm alarming, you can monitor a custom temperature range (anything between -20 degrees Celsius to +400 degrees Celsius) and add alarms to alert you when something falls within that range. This is hugely useful and time-saving when watching for machinery to reach a specified temperature, screening for unusually elevated temperatures, finding game or livestock at night, or even checking if the braai is at the right temperature.
Cat S62 Pro FLIR Lepton Thermal Imaging Camera
Powered by the FLIR Lepton 3.5 and the new MyFLIR™ Pro app, the S62 Pro offers a four-fold increase in the number of thermal pixels and an unmatched feature set within the included application. For the first time, professionals and consumers can access FLIR Systems’ VividIR™ image processing, enhanced MSX® (Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging), and visible-to-thermal blending technologies integrated into their smartphone.
Users can now vary the intensity of MSX®, which overlays visual outline detail from the scene onto the thermal image or use the new alpha blending feature to combine thermal detail with the visual image from the Sony dual-pixel camera. Together these upgrades deliver dramatically enhanced image quality, sharper images and higher thermal resolution to provide greater context and understanding of the thermal image you are seeing.
Cat S62 Pro Waterproof Smartphone
Tested to Cat® phones’ demanding, market-leading rugged standards, the S62 Pro is incredibly tough. It achieves and surpasses an ingress protection rating of IP68 and US military standard, Mil-Spec 810H. It has undergone rigorous testing including repeated drop tests from 1.8m onto steel, with multiple drops onto every side and corner, as well as extensive waterproof, dirt and dustproof, temperature extreme survivability, and vibration and tumble tests.
It is hygienic too – it can be fully submerged and easily washed with soaps and disinfectants or cleaned with alcohol wipes, which makes it ideal for hygiene-conscious consumers, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The IP69 rating has recently been added, which includes the ability to withstand washing with high-pressure washers.
The S62 Pro’s display has been upgraded to 5.7” FHD+ (18 x 9), and memory is now 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM. It also features a faster Qualcomm chipset, Android™ 10, and a large, optimised long-life battery. The Cat® S62 Pro is fully enterprise-ready. It supports Android Enterprise features, including Zero-touch, and has undergone a series of enrolment and policy provisioning tests with leading EMM solutions. Manage all the Android devices in your organisation simply. It is built for business, is rugged and ready to go anywhere – work or play.
We will be reviewing this product very soon!
Key Specifications:
• Picks up heat and measures surface temperatures from a distance of up to 30m.
• Scalable and movable regions of interest with ‘hottest’ and ‘coldest’ indicators.
• Horizontal field of vision is expanded to 57 degrees to capture more of the scene.
• 9 thermal colour palettes to choose from depending on the situation.
• PDF reporting.
• Powerful 4,000mAh battery.
• 12MP Sony dual pixel rear camera and 8MP front camera.
• Hardwearing, non-slip rubberised TPU back.
• Bluetooth 5.0, NFC.
We all carry a smartphone on us at all times these days and we rely on them for so many things. But if you carry something around on you at all times, shouldn’t you make it look good? A lot of people don’t really think about how their phone looks and they aren’t bothered that it looks just the same as everybody else’s phone, but if you want to make your phone more unique, there are some simple ways to customize it and make it your own. These are some of the best ways to personalize your smartphone and make it more unique.
Image From Pexels CCO License
Choose A Different Brand
Everybody is walking around with iPhones or Samsungs, so if you want to set yourself apart from the crowd, why not go for something different? When you are choosing a phone, look at some of the less popular brands and see what they have to offer. In a lot of cases, the phone itself will be just as good as the well-known brands, but it will be a lot cheaper. You’ll get a more interesting phone that not as many people have and it will save you a lot of money at the same time.
Get A Good Case
Getting a good smartphone case is important because phones are fragile and the screen will easily break if you drop it. But you should also see your case as a good opportunity to personalize your smartphone and make it more unique. There are so many amazing cases out there, so when you are buying one, think about something that reflects you and your interests. For example, if you love cars, you can get some great Formula 1 Phone Cases online. You can also get custom made photo ones with pictures of your friends and family. The right case can make your phone a lot more unique to you while also protecting it from damage.
Customize Your Wallpaper And Lock Screen
The case makes a big difference, but you should also customize the wallpaper and lock screen on your phone. Usually, your phone comes with a default wallpaper, which will probably be pretty boring. If you want your phone to be unique to you, make sure to change it to something different right away, like a photo of your family and friends or a great picture of something that you are passionate about, like your favourite place. You can also make a live wallpaper with dynamic moving images, which is much better than a boring static picture.
Add Widgets To The Home Screen
You can improve the look of your phone and boost the user experience at the same time by adding a few widgets to the home screen. Most people already have things like a clock or the weather on their home screen, but why not add something more interesting? You can get some great note-taking widgets to keep things organized or even use a custom widget-maker to create your own.
Make these simple customizations and you can make your smartphone a lot more unique to you.
If you’re somewhat of a gadget lover, then the chances are that you most probably have a number of old and unwanted gadgets stashed around your home. It’s always hard to part with a previously used gadget, isn’t it? However, storing them all up around your home will not only leave you with little storage space left, but is also extremely wasteful.
Instead of holding onto your old electronics and letting them go to waste, why not opt to get creative with what you do with them? Think how much better you would feel if you knew that your electronics were actually being put to good use, instead of just sitting there wasting away in a cupboard unused and unloved.
The question is, of course, what can you do with your old electronics? The good news is that there are plenty of ways that you can make use of everything, from your old tablet to your disused camera. Keen for a little inspiration? Have a read of the ideas below!
When it comes to what you should do with your unwanted devices, be it an old toaster or an unwanted iPad, you could opt to sell them. Of course, where you choose to sell them is up to you, and will depend on what the item is, as there are different marketplaces designed for different items.
For instance, are you looking to sell your Apple Watch? If you are, then you could sell this to a company like Mazuma, for example. Whereas, if you are looking to sell a drone, then perhaps you would be better placed selling it on somewhere like Facebook Marketplace or a second-hand selling site like eBay.
Selling your unwanted items is a great way to get rid of them while making a little extra money. Just think, whatever you make you could put towards your next big tech investment.
Recycle your unloved devices
Another option for getting rid of your old, unwanted electronic devices is to recycle them. The fact is that there are programs across the globe that encourage tech lovers to recycle their old technology, allowing it to be revamped and reused. If you’re keen to recycle your old devices, perhaps you could consider looking at the projects that are being run in your local area?
Alternatively, there are a number of global electronic recycling projects that you can find information about online, if you take the time to do some research. You would be surprised about the number of things that old pieces of tech can be turned into, from garden furniture to jeans – there seems to be no limit to what recycled tech can be used for.
While it might be tempting to keep all of your old devices stored in your home, the fact is that they’re just wasted sitting there. So why not opt to do something more productive with them, such as selling or recycling them? There are plenty of options available for each – it’s just a case of finding the one that’s right for you.
There’s a lot of talks around mobile phones these days, and we are all looking for the best mobile phone for our needs. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and advertising, but when it comes to choosing her phone for yourself, then there are a few things that you need to keep in mind before taking the plunge. Many of us average a fair few hours on our phones every day according to studies, so if we have a phone that doesn’t suit our needs this can be frustrating and reduce our enjoyment of the activities we choose. So try and stick to these simple ideas and make a decision that’s right for you.
Sometimes it can be simple to find the perfect phone for you, and thebigphonestore.co.uk can help you with this, but sometimes we need to draw on our experience and experience of other people to make our decisions. If you have always had an iPhone then it may be difficult for you to make a decision to switch, but if you speak to other people who have experienced the switch before, then you may find you have a better idea of what you are about to decide. Your own experience is also important and something that you need to ensure is taken into account. Also if you have had a bad experience with a brand in the past and this can also alter your opinion. And rightly so. So make sure you take into account your experience and that of others, and even have a look at YouTube videos with people reviewing these phones to see which one you like the look off.
Purpose
The main purpose of your phone is going to help you decide, functionality and exactly what you need to do to be able to get the best out of your mobile phone, it’s something that we should all consider carefully. If you use your phone just for calls and texts, then you aren’t going to necessarily need to have a phone that is all singing and all dancing. It’s not always about having the flashiest phone and taking pictures all the time. Some of us just need a phone that works. So don’t feel as though you need to purchase the latest iPhone if it isn’t going to fit your purpose. However, if you do need something that works well, and has all of the access to apps, and functionality then, of course, go in for a top of the range phone is a good investment for you.
What matters
At the end of the day, what matters to you is the most important thing here, and making sure that people make the right decisions for themselves ultimately prevents any problems. Getting the right phone to the right people can be tricky, but eventually, we all find the right handset for us, and it’s all about trial and error. Some people have great brand loyalty, and some of us are just looking for a phone that works so decided on what is important to you will help you come to the right conclusion.
Each day the average amount of time a person spends on their smartphone increases, and now we have reached a stage in which some young adults spend upwards of 6 hours mindlessly scrolling. Getting involved with this from a business perspective can cause you to gain a considerable amount of profit, as you can join the smartphone revolution with your own unique company concept and become a great hit! Figuring out exactly how you can become a part of the mobile industry doesn’t have to be a difficult task, as there are a few unique ideas that may just be the perfect choice for you. So, if you want to know more about how you can cash in on modern societies smartphone obsession, then read on for some of the greatest pathways that you can take to reach ultimate business bliss in no time at all.
One of the best things about smartphones is that you can download and play a seemingly endless amount of different games that can be tailored to suit your own specific likes and dislikes. You can play anything from fighting games to drift hunters unity games. The App Store contains a wealth of different genres for you to make the most of, whether that means education, socialising or just plain fun and games! If you have some knowledge regarding programming and previous technical experience to base your project on then feel free to dive straight in and code the algorithms yourself, as you will be able to get the most unique application that’s individual to your company. If you struggle with electronics then there’s no need to worry, as you can find bespoke iOS application Development teams that can do all of the hard work for you – simply approach them with your plans and explain your goals for the future so that they can fully understand your requirements.
Repairing & Refurbishing
Despite the seemingly limitless selection of cases on offer today, so many people end up dropping, smashing or generally breaking their smartphones. It’s common to see a young person sporting a cracked screen, as it would seem that smartphone related built-in obsolescence has one of the shortest life cycles ever. As a result of this, getting into the repair business will ensure that you always have a job to do – people are always going to be clumsy, and smartphones will always be made just well enough for you to experience them in their prime for no longer than a couple of months. Sourcing old smartphones that can be refurbished into working models is also a good route to take, as you can buy parts for a very cheap price and make a full phone that can generate a nice profit, especially if you’re working with refurbished iPhones, which can still command a high price. It is, however, worth noting that there are already a lot of people offering this service, so you will need to ensure that your business is competitively priced if you want to be able to compete effectively with the competition.
Finding the right business phone is absolutely crucial if you want to be able to conduct business while you’re out and about. The right business phone will allow you to use the internet on the go, call and even video call your clients and team members and have plenty of apps that help you to keep track of things like business expenses.
Below, you’ll find the steps you need to take in order to find the right business phone. Take a look:
1. Assess Your Budget
Start by assessing your budget so that you can make sure you’re getting a phone you can afford. Even if you can afford the newest and best iPhone, that doesn’t mean you have to go out and get it. Look at the best iPhone deals first and see what’s out there. You might be surprised at how cost-effective some of the older models are, while still being feature-rich and perfect for what you need.
2. Consider The Features You Really Need
Make sure you consider the features you’re going to need in your business phone. Does the camera really need to be super clear? Do you really need the highest amount of memory you can purchase? If features aren’t all that important to you and you just want to be able to send messages, make calls, and use the internet, then looking outside of the Apple range may be a good idea. However, there’s a reason so many business people do choose Apple. Ultimately, it depends on what you need and what you prefer.
Credit: Pexels
3. Test Them Out In Person
Testing phones out in person is always a good idea, so go to a physical store and see what feels best in your hand. Some of the newer smartphones are huge, and may not be the best choice for you when travelling – especially if you have other devices and things you want to take with you, too. Testing them out in person will give you a better idea of what feels right to you. You might even find that you prefer a bigger phone with a larger screen for business purposes. It all depends on what you’re going to be doing.
4. Ask For Recommendations
Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations from your team or friends. See what you get the most recommendations for and make a shortlist this way. You can read all of the reviews online that you like, but at the end of the day, you don’t know who wrote it and how much they were being paid. If somebody was given a free product for review, they may be a lot kinder than they need to be.
5. Consider How Long You’d Like To Have This Phone
Would you like to keep this phone for 2 years, or perhaps even longer? If you want it to last a long time, buying a newer model is a good idea, as software updates won’t have slowed it down yet.
Today Xiaomi (Shy-Oh-Me) has announced the launch of the worlds first 108-megapixel Penta camera, a blockbuster device packing FIVE rear-facing cameras!
The 108MP Xiaomi (Mi Note 10) Penta Camera Phone is packed into a 6.47 inch 4G Phablet device. Onboard you find 6GB RAM with 128GB ROM powered by a 5260mAh battery which supports Fast Charging.
Xiaomi compares the photo quality of the Mi Note 10 to that of professional high-end DSLR systems and allows users access to quality not seen before on Smartphones.
The Penta-camera setup includes 108MP primary camera, 20MP ultra-wide-angle camera, ultra-telephoto lens, 12MP 50mm portrait lens and macro lens. It also supports ‘Super Night Mode giving soft-lit, sharper images in low-light. Alongside are dual soft light and dual flash.
The display is a 6.47 inch AMOLED hyperboloid screen curved to fit the body of the phone and making a beautifully comfortable grip with an embedded in-screen fingerprint sensor.
Inside, the device packs a Snapdragon 730G with Adreno 618 GPU with AI capability. Memory is plentiful with 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. NFC and infrared remote control are included as is the standard headphone jack and 1216 superlinear speaker.
Power is provided by a 5260mAh battery supporting 30W fast charging. Xiaomi suggests 30 minutes charging to 58% and 64 minutes to 100%.
Available to buy in three colour options:
Midnight Black – Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – 108-megapixel Penta-camera smartphone – available from GearbestDeep Green – Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – 108-megapixel Penta-camera smartphoneXiaomi Mi Note 10 (CC9 Pro) 108MP Penta Camera Phone Global Version – White
