Tag Archives: Matt Porter

If you live in the UK, you will have noticed the sudden change in temperature over the past couple of days, whilst this time a few of weeks ago we were basking in warmer than normal October, are now plunged into the depths of winter.

Recently, I have taken to cycling to work on an e-bike and aside from a decent coat, hat, waterproof trousers, spare set of clothes and shoes, in this weather; gloves are a MUST!! These days however, gloves get in the way from our obsessive use of touch technology!! Not so, it would seem. Gloves no longer obscure the use of mobile phones and cause breakages with their slippery surfaces, not when they are Touchability Grip Gloves from touchscreengloves.co.uk.

The gloves I tried were standard knitted type with the addition of silver woven in. The silver gives conductivity and allows the electrical signals from your fingers to travel through the glove material onto your touch screen device. Not only that, the palm side of the gloves had rubber dots attached meaning that even the most slippery phone would stay secure in your hand.

Listen into the stream to hear what I thought of the gloves and head over to www.touchscreengloves.co.uk to see the Grip gloves and their full range of products.

Body Cam, Cameras, Streaming, Transcend, Video Review, Wearables

The Gadget Man – Episode 76 – Transcend DrivePro Body 10 Bodycam

Audio November 17, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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This week I talk about a new wave of devices aimed at both Police and private security firms. Body Cams allow for the collection of video evidence which is aimed at reducing the time wasted by conflicting opinions from police and witnesses to crimes.

I have been reviewing the Transcend DrivePro Body 10, a really excellent example of such a device, which is easy to set up, extremely simple to wear and operate and produces excellent 1080p video in both daylight and nighttime. The device has an excellent F2.8 160 degree wide angle lens and comes with a 32GB micro SD card included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzGO7-4IEU

Video is split in to manageable sized files which means that en entire video file does not need to be viewed or copied to other media for use in court. It is also time and date stamped with the option of adding additional text to the file which is displayed on the resulting video.

The device is weatherproof and also includes a ‘snap shot’ button for taking 3.3mp image files. Operation of the video is simple and only requires the power button to be depressed to start recording and pressed again to stop.

Don’t forget to listen in to the stream to find out more about the Transcend DrivePro Body 10.

Many thanks to Transcend for providing me with a demo unit.

Christmas, Christmas Presents, Electric Vehicles, Gadget Man, Podcast, Technology, Wearables

The Gadget Man – Episode 75 – Self balancing two wheeled board

Audio November 10, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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This week we chatted about the Self balancing two wheeled board’s that are currently very popular. You might know them as Hoverboards, Segways, Balance Boards, Monorovers etc. This is because the device is being manufactured by ‘copycat’ companies in the Far East and is being marketed under a whole host of different names in the UK alone.

It takes a bit of time to get used to riding the board, but once you get it, you are away. It’s great for smooth surfaces, not so good on bumpy ones.

Listen in to the audio stream to find out all about it. Lots of video shortly.

Thanks you a million times to Charles Claughton for the loan of the board, he is indeed a star!

App of the Week, Education, Gadget Man, Podcast, Streaming, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 74 – Fuze

Audio November 4, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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This morning I chat to Rachel about the Fuze, which is “A programmable computer and electronics workstation, the FUZE, with FUZE BASIC, is an ideal platform for learning and teaching computational thinking and computer programming and provides a safe environment to experiment with simple electronics.”

It has been really interesting testing the Fuze and I will be reviewing here in more detail in the next few days, for now enjoy the audio.

App of the Week, Christmas, Costumes, Gadget Man, Halloween, Podcast, Review, Smart Phone, Wearables

The Gadget Man – Episode 73 – Halloween Ideas from Digital Dudz at Morph Suits

Audio October 26, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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This morning I chatted to Mark about some Halloween and Christmas costume ideas from Morph Suits.

I was sent three different costumes ideas, the first was Cyclops Mask (available here) which aside from being a very well made full head mask, also had the added feature of fully animated eye which is achieved by slotting your mobile device into a special slot about the eye socket whilst running the Digital Dudz app for iPhone or Android. When inserted, you can then centre the eye in its socket and pinch to zoom in and out to get the right size and positioning.

Cyclops Mask from Digital Dudz modelled by Mark Murphy

As you can see from the photos and video above, the effect is amazing and a little disturbing, but a fantastic use of technology all the same.

The second and third costume items where a clown t-shirt and Christmas jumper. The clown t-shirt has a hidden slot on the front which allows for the insertion of a mobile phone with the same app running. This gives another really spooky twist to Halloween costumes! The Christmas jumper allows the insertion of a mobile phone above the photo of a Gingerbread Man, again running the app, the Gingerbread man is slowly devoured!!

The Clown T-Shirt can be purchased by clicking this link and the Gingerbread Jumper at this link. You can browse the entire range of Morph Suit clothing here.

There’s still time to order your Halloween costumes in time for this weekend at http://www.morphsuits.co.uk/

App of the Week, Gadget Man, Hide My Ass, Online Dating, Podcast, Review, Streaming, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 72 – Internet Dating

Audio October 19, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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This week the BBC are looking at dating later in life, so this morning I talk to Mark about Internet Dating and how it has evolved over the last 10 – 15 years. We discuss how to keep yourself safe online what you should look out for.

We also chatted about the new raft of apps available to help people connect up with each other online.

Danvers Baillieu from Hide My Ass was also due to chat, but was unable to due to a comms failure. I have also linked to my interview with him last week.

Gadget Man, Hide My Ass, Internet Security

The Gadget Man – Episode 71.5 – The state of Internet security with Danvers Baillieu from Hide My Ass

Audio October 15, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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We’re half way through Cyber Security Month and you can’t open a paper or turn on the TV without hearing about the latest high profile data leak. Security Issues are certainly something that we have covered in the past, so today I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview Danvers Baillieu, Chief Operating Officer of Hide My Ass!

Hide My Ass! or HMA are one of the leading firms of companies providing secure VPN connections to the internet and it was great to speak to Danvers to hear his view on current Internet security issues that are seemingly constantly in the news.

In the interview we covered internet security from both a company and personal point of view, how the governments should or shouldn’t involve themselves and what we should be looking out for in the future.

Listen in the stream and let me know what you think of the topics covered.

Thanks to Danvers for taking time out of his day and for Jocelyn from Cow PR for setting up the interview.

App of the Week, Bluetooth, Edifier, Gadget Man, Music, Podcast, Streaming, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 71 – Edifier MP211 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with NFC + The Rolling Stones

Audio October 14, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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This week I have been able to sample the audio delights of bluetooth streaming with the Edifier MP211 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with NFC. This is a very nice wireless speaker solution for people looking for a mobile solution to playing their music quickly and easily.

Listen in to the stream to find out all about it, full review of the product coming up shortly.

Bluetooth, Christmas Presents, Gadget Man, LED Lighting, Lighting, MiniSun, Review, Smart Phone, Technology

The Gadget Man – Episode 70 – MiniSun Bluetooth LED Colour Changing Speaker Bulb

Audio October 5, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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This week I chat to Mark about the MiniSun Bluetooth LED Colour Changing Speaker Bulb, a very nice product which would be perfect for upcoming party season.

To find out more, listen in to the stream, a full review will be posted in the next few days.

#minisun #speakerbulb #ledbulb

App of the Week, Beer Making, Drones, Gadget Man, Podcast, Review, Star Wars, Technology, Video Review

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

Audio September 29, 2015 Matt Porter Leave a comment

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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