Bucket Tech: CES 2021

Consumer Technology Association CES is hosting their annual global show, this time virtually and going with the current times we're seeing some interesting devices and concepts that form part of the "new normal". With the worlds landscape changing dramatically over the past year, it forced people to work remotely and also adapt to new ways of living, brands have noticed this and have acted accordingly to bring through technology into their products that will help us adjust to the new way of living. Of course the show isn't just about what will help us live in a pandemic and some pretty cool new devices have been launched too, so here's our picks so far. 

Gaming accessories manufacturer Razer unveiled their "Project Hazel" N95 facemask protoype, which they call the first ever "smart face mask". Razer did launch their own variant of reusable cloth masks last year which featured cool designs and patterns, but Project Hazel takes it up a notch with a dual filtered ventilation system that allows cool air in and hot air out. These cylindrical vents also featured LED halo lights which Razer says has up o 16.8 million colours, so there's a colour for any occasion. The mask also features a soft silicon guard which fits over the cheeks and nose, promising an airtight seal as well as comfort for your face. The main design feature is the transparent plastic of the mask, which allows anyone to see the mouth of the mask wearer. Razer say this design feature was critical as all masks make it difficult for individuals to understand each other with the mouth being hidden and thus will allow users to read the lips as well as hear them perfectly. The Razer Project Hazel comes in a pretty cool box which serves as a wireless charger for the mask as well as a built-in ultraviolet disinfectant case for the mask. Is the future for masks? 

Smart glasses were a big talking point over the past two years and then it sort of died off but Lenovo have resurrected the topic by launching their ThinkReality A3, which they say is the most versatile smart glasses ever designed. the ThinkReality A3 is a lightweight smart glasses offering to deliver intelligent transformation in business and bring smarter technology to more people. From customized virtual monitors and 3D visualization to Augmented Reality assisted workflows and immersive training, the ThinkReality A3 helps transform work across many levels of the enterprise. The ThinkReality A3 fits like sunglasses and can be enhanced with industrial frame options for safer and more durable use, its powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 platform for high-quality performance and feature stereoscopic 1080p displays presenting the user with up to 5 virtual displays. An 8MP RGB camera provides 1080p vide for remote expert use cases while the dual fish-eye cameras provide room-scale tracking. This is some serious Sci-Fi movie stuff and something that will be put into good use for the right industries. 

One of the biggest talking points so far has to be about LG's rollable smartphone, for years we've seen brands tease the concept of a screen that you could roll up like a piece of paper but since then we've only seen folding screen technology, LG have gone one up and given us a glimpse of their latest smart device which has a rollable screen, the video teaser shows a tablet device being reduced in size to that of smartphone but my a method similar to that of a rolling garage door. LG insist that this isn't just another teaser but and actual device will be made available to purchase this year. This is massive in-terms of screen technology, as maybe we'll finally see it being adapted to other areas, like TV's and so forth. 

Technology in cars, Mercedes-Benz showed off their MBUX Hyperscreen which will be debuting on the EQS electric luxury sedan, it's the brands first all-electric production vehicle. The massive 55.5-inch widescreen display spans the entire dashboard and is made up for three haptic OLED touchscreens under one continuous piece of Corning Gorilla Glass. The driver and front passenger each get a wide 12x13 inch screen with and 18inch screen in the center for general controls such as ventilation, entertainment and navigation. The passenger can display video and the drivers side has all your general gauges and instrument cluster. A cool feature shown in the press briefing was a UFO graphic that zooms around the display to demonstrate the g-force the car is undergoing in real-time. Not quite sure why Merc is giving the option to display G-Force in an electric luxury sedan but hey, its there if you want it. 

Some other noteworthy gadgets that were worth a mention are, L'Oreal's smart shower head which not only regulates the amount of water you use per shower but also uses a technique called "fractioning" that forces water droplets to collide and reduce in size, while simultaneously accelerating their speed. Lenovo showcased their ThinkBook Plus 2 which is a normal laptop but with an added 11inch black and white E-Ink display on the top. Giving you a Kinde like display on top for you to work from when the device is closed. Dell launched their 40inch Ultrasharp monitor, its the biggest model for 2021 from Dell and has an astonishing 5,120 x 2,160 pixel resolution. 

There's still a lot more to lookout for at CES in these upcoming days, including news from Samsung which many are presuming is the new Galaxy S Series flagship device, the S30, but we are going to have to wait till tomorrow for that. 

Bucket Tech: Huawei Mate 10 - First Impressions

Monday afternoon in Munich, Chinese mobile phone giants, Huawei unveiled their latest flagship smart phone, the Mate 10, along with the Mate 10 Pro and Porsche Design Mate 10 to the world's media. With Samsung and LG having gained the markets attention with their new smartphones, namely the Galaxy Note 8 and the V30, Huawei had to pull out something spectacular with the Mate 10 and unsurprisingly, they did. After launching the world's first smartphone SoC chipset, the Kirin 970 at IFA2017, that very same chipset will power the Mate 10. The chipset is essentially an octo-core processing unit which is split into two quad core processors. It has a combined output of 4.2GHz, but it's the AI abilities that shine through in it, with it being able to perform much faster than it's competitors. The AI capabilities don't stop there as it improves the camera and also be able to translate foreign languages without internet connectivity. 

The design of the Huawei Mate 10 has changed compared to the Mate 9 with it being more rectangular and flat, almost like a P10 Plus, the edges seem to have a smooth bevel finish but the main talking point is the screen. Huawei have opted for the long screen trend which enables "FullView Display" which gives the device one of the best screen to body ratio on the market which Huawei was quick to point out at the launch with a direct comparison with the iPhone X. Moving to the rear of the phone, Huawei have continued with their long-term partnership with Leica, with the Mate 10 sticking with dual lens technology but lenses now are vertically aligned as apposed to horizontal like previous models. The lenses remain as 12 MP RGB and 20MP monochrome which fuse the picture to give a true colour output. Leica have also thrown in a dual ISP to the lens to enhance the picture. The Mate 10 is also rated IP67, which makes it dust and waterproof, so you can take that call, whether you're in the middle of the dessert or in a monsoon. 

A strong aspect about the Mate series from Huawei undoubtedly the battery life, the Mate 10 series has a 400 mAh on board and can deliver 48 hours of life with normal use. That in this day and age is pretty impressive, given the chipset and display which we all know loves to kill the battery. The devices also come with fast charge technology, as seen on the P10 as pretty impressive, With this behemoth battery, 30 minutes of charging from 1% will give the the Mate 10 approximately 58% life. So far this phone seems the business and really set to rock the elite business smartphone market. It's due to land in SA later this year and by then hopefully we will have more info on it. It's nice to see Porsche Design come on again to design a special edition version fo the Mate 10, the Mate 9 Porsche Design was quite a hit and I'm personally eyeing the PD Mate 10 for my next phone.

Bucket Tech: LG G5

The Mobile World Conference is currently on the go in Barcelona and today saw one of the main days in terms of phone releases, Samsung unveiled their S7 Galaxy but while that was pretty big, many had their eyes cast over at the rival Korean stand of LG.

LG launched their latest premium smart phone the G5 and although the phone it self is a pretty good product, more was said about the accessories made available for it. The companies catch phrase/ hashtag for the G5 is #LGPlayMore which encourages users to have more fun with their phone and with that they've launch a host of portable accessories that connect and transform the device. 

More about that later, the phone it self is much different from the older models with the G5 shedding the plastic casing and opting for a full metal semi sealed unit. I say semi sealed because what they've done is pretty smart, the battery is still removable unlike many of it's competitors. The bottom bit of the phone slides out with the battery attached and you can purchase an additional battery that slots in. Also apart from the material the phones shape is more modular, none of those funny curves that we've become accustom to in previous gen devices.

The device makes use of a snapdragon 820 chipset with 4 gigs of RAM, the screen size is reduced from 5.5" to 5.3" making the over all size much more manageable in your hand and it is remarkably thing at only 7.7mm. The standard battery that comes with this device is slightly smaller than the G4 at 2800mAh and it has the same camera as it's older brother with teh 16 megapxel, 2160 resolution at the back with wide angle capability and 8 megapixel in the front. 

Now, back to the interesting part, LG have launched a host of devices that can be used with the G5. They call these "friends" and really gives value to their tag, LG Play More. First up is the Cam Plus Adaptor, not only does it have an increased battery size but also provides more area for the user to hold the phone and has buttons and a scroll zoom attached to it. 

The Audio DAC (Digital Audio Converter) module will be another popular one, it's basically a HiFi louder speak attachment for you to use with your phone. No need for a bluetooth speaker as this has been tuned by the guys at Bang & Olufsen and provides high quality stereo sound that is unrivaled by a phone. 

LG have also launched 360 Virtual Reality glasses that pairs with the phone, that can be used for apps like google cardboard as well as a 360 camera that snaps a 360 picture which you can view and manipulate on your phone. Another cool "friend" is the Rolling Bot, which if you watched the latest Star Wars movie, it's pretty similar to BB8. it's a drone but doesn't fly it rolls around and has a built in camera which you view and control from the G5.

Overall this phone has ticket all the right boxes so far, I'm keen to see it in the metal and LG have been tight lipped about it's local launch but I'd guess it will be here but the second quarter. Being an LG owner myself, I'm hoping they've improved on their software and OS issues they have had on previous models. 

                    

Buket Tech: LG G4 - First Impressions

You could only imagine my emotions after getting my LG G3, 2 months down the line LG release the G4. As would any tech fundy, you want the best and the latest that is out there on the market, not to say the G3 is bad but knowing there is a newer one out there just annoys me a tad bit. Anyway, LG invited me to the local launch of the LG G4 at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, like all their events, theres an element of class to it. From the venue, to the presentations and the of course the product.

It was the first time I was going to get to see the phone in metal but before I could get my  hands on it, LG's GM for Marketing, Thomas van der Linde gave us an insight into the thought process that went into creating the G4 before Eric, LG's Mobile Product Manager took us through a video presentation of the features and design of the G4. 

One thing I've come to realised about LG is their dedication of perfecting something. Having the tech isn't enough till they know they have made it to the best possible level at that time and that's exactly what makes the LG G4 one step ahead of its competitors. During his talk, Thomas said that the LG G4 has the best camera on the market at the moment, with a F1.8 lens making pictures taken in low light brighter, even faster reacting laser focus and a choice of 3 modes for the user, with manual mode mimicking settings that of a DSLR. It's the first time I've seen a camera phone that offers such, giving you the opportunity to manipulate various settings before shooting the ideal picture that is captured on its 16 megapixel camera. The phone also gives the user access to the raw image file, which is another first.

Also worthy to note is the image stabilizer on the G4 which has a 2 degree offset which gives the phone a quicker response time to stabilize when taking pictures. LG have taken note the important of selfies and upgraded its front facing camera on the G4 to an 8 megapixel lens and like the G3 has the hand gesture trigger function but now with a slight twist. The single fist takes 1 snaps, opening and clasping your hand twice triggers the phone to take 4 consecutive photos. Everyone knows you don't take the perfect selfie in a single shot so this is the perfect way to work around that. 

The screen continues to marvel with an IPS Quantum Display in Quad High Definition, it really enhances the pictures and gives true representation of the pictures taken. It's the first Quad HD display to employ Advanced in-cell touch (AIT) technology, which combines the LCD and touch sensor into a single layer to provide better colour reproduction and touch sensitivity. This new display is calibrated for DCI (Digital Cineman Initiatives) standards for colour expression, championed by top Hollywood studios. Watching Videos in 4K is also great on the LG G4's display and gives you a true colour representation of what you're viewing.

Moving on to the design, although it looks very much like the G3 the G4 is a bit different with a the phone having a slight curvature to it. LG believe this is where the market is heading, with curved phones a thing of the future, it might not be as drastic as the G Flex but it is visible to the naked eye. They claim this minimises the risk of damage by 20% if the handset were to fall. 

The phone comes with both an aluminium diamond cut bad which feels very comfortable in your hand. The diamond cut provides better grip but the phone also comes with an interchangeable leather back. It was confirmed that this is 100% genuine leather that is hand stitched. It's a nice touch by the manufacturer and really adds to that premium product feel to the phone. When asked if these added to the price, it was noted that LG chose to absorb these things in offering the consumer a premium product at an acceptable price. No price for the phone has been released as yet but they said its in the region of R430 and R499 a month on contract which is about the same I'm paying for my G3! So you can only imagine my frustration now!

Overall, the phone looks like the market leader for now and I'm not just saying that because I own a LG. Every aspect on the phone from the screen, to the processor and the camera is unmatched by any devices currently on the market, not even that one with the beveled screen that serves no purpose. I'm looking forward to get on to test in the near future and then I can give you a more in depth review of it.  

Bucket Tech: LG G3 - Review

Even the box is fancy

When people are due for an upgrade for their smart phone, natural instincts will direct them to the internet to read reviews on the latest gadgets that's thrown out their by the various brands. Most reviews are long and filled with technical mumbo jumbo that you don't understand but boast to your friends anyway because it makes your phone sound cool. A few weeks ago I was given the LG G3 to review but I'm putting a twist to this one, instead of regurgitating what everyone else is writing about, I'm going to take a leaf from the brand's marketing slogan for the phone "simple is the new smart" and give you a simplified, first hand experience with the phone and how it will affect your life on a daily basis.

Looks

Having attended the launch and seeing what the phone was capable of, I was pretty excited to get this phone for reviewing purposes. Playing with it for 30 minutes is one thing but having it a part of your daily routine makes a big difference and that is where the true test comes in. Lets start of with the cosmetics, the phone definitely looks the part, with its brushed aluminium finish available in various colours, 5.5" LCD screen and no buttons on the front make the phone sleek and sexy in appearance. The main power button and volume buttons are quote oddly located on the back of the phone, LG says it makes them more accessible when using the phone with one hand...yeah, didn't really do it for me. There are also flap covers available for the phone with a first of its kind round cut out for a display interface. I highly recommend the cover as I found the phone if dropped, can scratch easily.

Quad HD display is phenomenal

Display

Undoubtly one of the main talking points about the LG G3 is its screen, I kid you not when I say this, it will leave you speechless. It's the first phone to use Quad HD technology, what is Quad HD? Well precisely what the name says, four times HD. The screen has pixel density of 538ppi, which basically means the quality of the images view are true-to-life. LG is setting the standard with this one for future brands to follow and I'm glad they're settled for a 5,5" screen. It seems the norm size but it keeps the phones physical size to a respectable level and you won't feel like you're carrying around a phablet. Of course there is a catch to this phenomenal screen, with the clarity and brightness being so high, it uses a massive amount of battery life. Just over 30% to be exact!

Picture taken at night, on Auto mode with low light

Camera

With many of our current smart phones, the camera's are good but not great. The guys at LG took this into consideration when deciding on the camera that came with the G3. In the end what they've created is nothing short of magical, a 13 megapixel camera with optical image stabilizer and laser focus which translates to the end user take almost perfect pictures all the time, every time, anytime, anywhere and in any lighting conditions. Laser focus enables the phone to focus on the object in milli seconds, allowing the user to snap almost real time pictures, therefore not missing a second of the action. Couple this with the optical image stabilizer and blurred pictures are a thing of the past. There are occasions it does take a while to focus but when I say a while, its still way faster than any phone out there. It also has dual flashes which make pictures much more clearer and adds more detail to whats being captured. 

Taking selfies with help from Chia of the Socialite

Selfies Made Easy

The front camera is pretty decent at 2.1 megapixels, the clarity difference is very noticeable but one of the key features of it has to be the selfie detection. We live in an era where taking a selfie is becoming as important as breathing for some and with one having to press a button to capture it, it often moves the phone and you end up taking 50 selfies before chosing one to post to instagram. With the LG G3, it has a built in gesture control to activate the camera. It's quite neat to use as I demonstrated with many during the time in which I had the phone, simply activate the front facing camera, get everyone in the frame, open your palm and make sure it is visible in the screen, when ready to take a picture, clench your first to capture. It will give you a 3 second countdown and capture the perfect selfie every time. This will save you plenty of time in the future and make you look less of a nana. 

Smart Notice

Operating System

The make or break thing for me on a phone is the OS, Android has flooded the market with the various brands but many of them choose not to customise it too much which leaves me and others feeling that there is just too much to the thing. Not saying that it's bad, some people do feel like they want to be operating the Starship Enterprise when using their smart phone but for others, they just want something simple to operate, hence they keep going back to Apple. LG however have taken the step to customise Android's KitKat v4.4.2 to their phone. Simplifying the OS to the devices needs and cutting out all the other junk that you would find on a standard Android device. It makes the device much more user friendly to operate for everyone. I guess that's what they meant by "simple is the new smart" because at the end of the day, your cellphones primary use is to make and receive phone calls, well and now to receive whatsapp messages. 

Google Now tracking my where abouts

Google Intergration

Being Android, the phone is fully Google functional, what I found pretty cool was the voice activated Google search, by use of a trigger sentence "Okay Google", it will open up the search menu, awaiting your search instruction. So you can search for something on the internet without having to type anything! Google has integrated itself well and the phone also comes with Google Now, which pretty much is like a PA for you, or a creepy stalker that tracks your every move. No really it does, it will gather that the place you stayed at over night is home, and track your daily travel routes, notifying you if there are any delays on the route. It even tracks your location to bring you precise weather reports of the area you're in! The phone has access to Google's play store which has thousands of applications to chose from, besides the social media apps, one can find almost anything that they might find interesting. LG also have a store of their own but that is mainly for applications realted to the phone. 

Accessories

As mentioned before, the phone will have LG covers available for it, LG have also released a wireless charging mat for the G3, the downside to it is that is has to be plugged in to charge, so I don't really see the point. With Nokia's it worked as a portable battery pack. The main accessory for the G3 would have to be it's watch, what makes it different and miles apart from its competitors devices is that you can use it on any android device and is not limited to LG products. The watch also makes use of Googles voice activated menu which makes usability effortless. 

Verdict

While there may be some flaws with the phone, such as build quality and battery life, there is no phone out there at the moment that is perfect but I'd like to say that this one is almost near perfect. Most of the features and key aspects of the phone is revolutionary which is basically setting standards for others to follow. Add to that the good looks and simplified Android user interface LG have modified and you really do have a winning phone. The only other phone that came come close to this is the Oneplus Plus but with limited stock and only available to purchase via invite, LG is sure to have that part of the market sorted. Many times I get asked the question on which is the best phone on the market and I always tell people that the answer is based on user preference because we were flooded with similar devices but at long last there is a device that stands out from the rest of the crowd and while LG might not be very popular with the main crowd, they sure do have a great product out.

Specifications

Processor: Quad-core 2.5GHz Krait 400

Memory: 16gig onboard with 2 gigs of RAM

Screen: 5.5" Quad HD LCD, 16 million colours, 1440 x 2560 resolution

Camera: Back - 13 megapixel with optical image stabiliser & laser autofocus, Front - 2.1 megapixel

Battery life: Talk time - 19 hours, Standby - 565 hours

Some pics taken with the phone