Tag Archives: BBC Radio Suffolk

Kodak PixPro SP360 4K Unveiled at IFA

Earlier in the year, we reviewed the Kodak PixPro SP360, we thought it was a superb camera capable of recording YouTube compatible 360 movies, so we’re really pleased that Kodak have announced an upgraded SP360 which is now capable of recording in 4K.

The original SP360 was capable of capturing video in up to 1440×1440 HD, this video was then unwrapped to product scrollable 360 video which could be uploaded to YouTube and viewed interactively.

There has been a great deal of excitement concerning the KODAK PIXPRO SP360 Action Camera and it’s been popular in the tech press and TV, this has placed Kodak at the forefront of this technology.

Kodak SP360-4K
Kodak SP360-4K

The SP360 4k Camera captures 360-degree field of view in multiple directions via its dome shaped lens design and can be panned not only 360-degrees horizontally, but also up and down with a host of different vantage points and views for playback post capture.

At the official press launch, Mariame Cisse, Marketing Manager of JK Imaging Ltd said “The KODAK PIXPRO SP360-4K revolutionize video recording and how you see and experience the World All Around You. This is the next step to Evolution for 360 degrees Cameras. You can now create the most pristine videos and photos in 4K and Direct and Act your own Virtual Reality movie”.

SP 360 4K – Features

  • 12 megapixels, BSICMOS sensor
  • Fixed focus lens (F.2.8) that takes 360° spherical images
  • Viewing options: Dome (235°), Front, Global (360°), Ring, Segment (180° front and 180°rear) or Panorama mode
  • High speed videos 1280 x 720 (120fps); plays back with normal 50fps speed.
  • 4K HD videos in 2028 x 2028 (50fps)
  • Dimensions/weight: 46.5 x 50 x 53 mm/121 g

The KODAK PIXPRO SP360-4K will be sold with varying accessory bundles depending on geographical region. It will be available in October this year in Europe. For more information, please visit: kodakpixpro.com/SP360

Hopefully we will have a chance to try out the new features soon including the live broadcast features.

The Gadget Man – Episode 65 – Transcend WiFi 32GB SD Card

People who know me will know that it isn’t easy to render me speechless, but after trying out my gadget this week, I can honestly say I was! I’m talking about the Transcend WiFi SD Card, a very impressive exercise in both miniaturisation and usefulness.

Transcend Wifi SD Card
Transcend Wifi SD Card

Most of us will be aware of SD Cards, we use them everyday in our cameras and they are an established way of transferring photos and videos from these devices to our computers, which is kind of where the main problem lies. SD Cards can be very fiddly, more so if you are an active photographer. There is definitely going to be an occasion when you drop or worse still lose your card during handling.

It seems as though Transcend have come up with a very elegant solution to this problem by embedding WiFi technology into the card itself! This is an astounding feat of engineering and works very nicely. Users are able to browse their photos using either an iPhone or Android handset via a downloadable app or if using a computer can connect directly to the card and download the photos using a web browser.

The only stipulation is that your digital camera is supported (click here to view the list) and that the camera is kept powered up during the process.

During the recording of this weeks episode I took a photo of presenter Mark Murphy live on air using the card and shared it on Facebook.

At around £35, the card is in my mind a bargain and I would heartedly recommend it to budding photographers who want to share their memories both quickly and smoothly.

Thank you very much again to Mickaela Noone from Transcend for her assistance.

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 63 – Fujifilm XQ2 Compact Camera

Cameras are one of my favourite areas of technology. It’s marvellous to  be given the opportunity to review the latest and greatest of these devices. Today I chat to Mark about the Fujifilm XQ2, a simple beautiful compact digital camera with a staggering number of high end features.

Listen in to the stream and keep an eye out for a full review soon.

Thank you again to the amazing Jeannie at Fuji for being so very helpful as ever!

The Gadget Man Episode 61 Toshiba Camileo X Sports Camera

Action cams are the big thing at the moment. They offer excellent filming quality but are rugged and waterproof giving opportunities to film in water and rain.

The Toshiba Camileo X Sports Camera is no exception, it packed masses of features in a great quality camera but at a much lower price that the competition.

Hear what I thought of the camera by listening to the stream, full review due soon!!

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 59 – Audi A3 etron sports hybrid

This week we stay with hybrid cars, but this time we look at the Audi A3 etron. First things first, this car looks spectacular! I have never seen such a bright red in my entire life and the big alloy wheels enhance the look even more. It’s certainly a head turner.

The A3 etron comes with a 1.4 litre turbo charged engine outputting 150 bhp, however yet again it sits alongside an electric motor which when combined in ‘Sports Mode’ increases the performance to just of 200 bhp and will get you to 60 is 7.6 seconds. When you are feeling less ‘eager’ to get around town, you can elect for pure electric which is the default mode at start up or 3 forms of hybrid mode, normal, battery save and battery charge.

The battery can be charged from a very cleverly hidden port on the front grill and on electric alone will take you around 30 miles per charge. You aren’t going to want to be taking long journeys on electric alone as the car is designed for hybrid use, it’s probably better to let it decide which forms of power it uses as it will drop to electric in slow traffic and moderate speed.

If you are feeling excitable, then pulling the gear stick backwards enables Sports Mode, the gear information changes from D1,D2,D3 etc on the dashboard to S1,S2,S3 to indicate sports use. Be very careful in this mode at it transforms the car to very high performance. The car is however very good at governing acceleration I I didn’t notice any wheel spin in sport mode, although we did notice some in pure electric (this is possibly down to the higher torque of the electric motor).

A full review of the A3 etron will be coming soon, in the meantime grab a listen to the attached audio from Mondays show.

 

The Gadget man Episode 58 Volvo V60 D6 Twin Engine Plugin Hybrid

This week we move back to hybrid cars with the Volvo V60 D6 Twin Engine Plug in Hybrid vehicle. The D6 is unique as it is a Diesel – Electric Hybrid rather than the standard Petrol Electric that we are used to.

This is a very powerful snappy car, at full ‘Power’ mode it is outputting a combined 280bhp and you certainly feel it. Along with beautiful ride, upholstery and fuel efficiency, I can see this being very popular in the company car sector.

We will be reviewing it in greater detail soon online, but in the meantime, listen in the the stream from Monday 13th July.

 

The Gadget Man – Episode 56 – EE Power Bar

powerbar1This morning I chat to Mark about the EE Power Bar. The Power Bar is a rechargeable battery pack which can supply power to your phone on demand. Like other battery packs, the Power Bar is recharged via USB cable. You can use the included usb cable to charge your phone, or you can plug other USB cables to charge your iPhone.

It also has a torch and flashing light function, which is useful if you are scrabbling around in the dark.

If you are an EE customer, you can pick up a free Power Bar, you have to send a text message to get a redeem code from EE first and this text costs 35p.

The really great thing about the Power Bar is that if you are out and about and you have used up all your charge, you can simply nip into an EE shop and they will swap your flat Power Bar with a fully charged unit, great if you are a heavy phone user.

It’s a nice little gadget and the fact it is almost free is even better.

The Gadget Man Episode 53 Transcend Storejet 25M3

This week we talk about the Transcend Storejet 25M3 detachable

Transcend Storejet 25M3 1TB USB 3.0 Hard Disk
Transcend Storejet 25M3 1TB USB 3.0 Hard Disk

USB 3.0 hard disk drive. These are ruggedised, which mean that they are a bit more durable than your average portable hard disks and whats more, thet support USB3.0 transfer speeds!

The are whisper quiet to use and work very nicely as a backup device with the addition of a quick backup button and also can encrypt your data, so if you do unfortunately lose the device prying eyes won’t be able to get their hands on your data.

We also tested this device as a Set-top box disk drive, this added the functionalities of pausing and rewinding TV and also recording episodes of programmes. Again it worked flawlessly and more importantly quietly.

To find out more, listen to the stream and find out what I thought of the device.

Thanks to Mickaela at Transcend for her assistance again!!

You can find out more information about Transcend and its other products by liking their Facebook page or following them on Twitter.

http://www.facebook.com/TranscendUK
http://twitter.com/Transcend_UK