Bucket Tech: Huawei MateBook D Series

Everyone knows Huawei for their brilliant mobile devices and of recent their smart tablets have been getting more exposure but they also make laptops and quite frankly they're just as good if not better than most of their competitors on the market! The MateBook D series comprises of two models, the D15 and D14, both of which are essentially the same with the only difference being screen size. Huawei says the main selling point for the MateBook D Series is its pricing point and while they always cater for the masses by giving us value for money products, this notebook is much of the same, they have not compromised on performance or quality in these products and the price is pretty reasonable and in most cases cheaper than the competition. The D Series laptops feature some of the innovations available on the market today, its equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor and a Radeon Vega 8 graphics card, the system design and capabilities enable these laptops to realise the full potential of their CPUs and GPUs output. The result is machines that work hard and play hard, and will be able to deliver any task you set them. 

Huawei have made these the first Windows PC's to use fingerprint technology for log-in, which works really well when you boot up, all you do is scan your finger and it logs straight in, no need to input passwords. The laptops come with 8GB of DDR4 memory, thats enough to handle most high-load apps no the market. While these laptops are high spec'd, their main aim is for work output as well as browsing, they are capable of running games as well but not on the highest graphics setting. 

Huawei market these as lifestyle laptops, depending on your circumstances and needs, they integrate seamlessly with other Huawei devices. With Huawei share, all you have to do is touch your mobile device to the laptop and it instantly syncs the devices with a virtual screen of your phone on the laptop. You can access your phones files directly from the laptop screen and can drag & drop documents with ease. No need for cables and security settings. 

The Huawei MateBook D15 laptop measures just 16.9mm thick making it the thinnest and lightest laptop in its price bracket, with its 15.6" FullView display offers a borderless viewing experience with 1080p FHD IPS screen. The top and side bezels are only 5.3MM thick which means its a 87% screen-to-body ratio, again the highest yet on a Huawei MateBook D. The D14 laptop on the other hand has a 14" FullView display, with an 84% screen-to-body ratio and is just 15.9mm thick. The MateBook D battery life is particularly impressive as its approximate life is 9.5 hours on video playback while the D15 has a 6 hour battery life. 

Overall, its yet another great product offering from the Chinese manufacturer, pricing is on point with the both having a RRP of R13,499 and are available from the Huawei online store or other Tech outlets. 

Bucket Tech: Huawei Mate 10 Pro & Mate 10 Porsche Design - First Impressions

Monday night saw the launch of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Mate 10 Porsche Design devices in South Africa, much like the wind in Cape Town, it blew many of the crowd away with it's features of which many are a first for a smart phone. For it's flag ship device, Huawei opted for the tranquil and scenic Camps Bay, which was anything but thanks to the weather. Once sheltered from the gale force winds, it was time to view what the Chinese manufacturer had in store in its latest Mate series device. With the smartphone trend, everyone is looking at what each other is inventing but then copying and perfecting these trends, with Huawei, they have set some standards in the industry first which saw their competitors play catch-up. some of these include the dual lens technology in the cameras, the long battery life and super charge, but with the Mate 10, they needed something ground-breaking, something that would make their competitors not only think "why didn't we think of that?" but rather "how did they do that?". 

Step in the world's first AI Processor, the Kirin 970. But you may ask, what is AI? And how will it be beneficial to me? We've seen AI in movies but most of that has been fiction until now, AI is artificial intelligence, which enables the device to think on its own and not only when you tell it to do something. Yes, this is ground breaking and what makes it even more astonishing, is that it is able to do this without having a connection. For example, Huawei has teamed up with Microsoft for a number of things for the Mate 10 Pro, one of them being Microsoft Translate. The Mate 10 pro is able to view foreign text and convert it for you to the desired language, all on its own without an internet connection. "As we enter the age of intellegence, AI is no longer a virtual concept but something that interwines with out daily life. AI can enhance user experience, provide valuable services and improve product performance" says Likun Zhao, GM of Huawei Consumer Business Group. "The Huawei Mate 10 Series introduces the first mobile AI-specific Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU), launching a new era of intelligent smartphones. For the South Afrcan market, we bringing two most premium phones in this exclusive series - namely the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 - as we believe these are the best phones to meet the mobile needs of South African consumers, especially when it comes to business."

Yes, SA won't be getting the standard Mate 10 device as Huawei feels that the consumers would opt for the Pro and the PD devices, also the price difference in the standard and Pro is minimal. Getting back to AI, in essence, this issues a new dawn in the smartphone market, AI will only be enhanced from here on, unlocking potentials that we can only dream off from a phone. Some other cool features of the Mate 10 Pro, includes a new camera. It's a world's first f1.6 Leica Dual LEns camera which identifies, in real-time, different types of scenes and objects, such as food, nightscapes, sunsets and beaches, heck it can even identify if you taking a picture of a dog or a cat! It will then automatically adjust to make sure your picture is captured in the best possible way. While their is a Pro feature on the camera, you would rarely have to use it! The Huawei SuperCharge has also been upgraded, as the phone comes with a 4000 mAh batter with AI powered battery management for optimal usage, so this extends battery life on the device. It also comes with fast charging, allowing the device to get from 0 to 20 percent in 10 minutes. 

The Mate 10 Pro also comes with a dual SIM where both SIM slots are 4G capable. The design see's a change to the 9, with it having a more beveled finish, making the handset quite smooth and sleek. It has quite a large display, Huawei calls this "full view" enabling the user to have brilliant clarity and optimizes the viewing for the user. It also has the best screen to body ratio in its class using a 5.9 inch screen and 16:9 display. The device is IP67 rated as well, which we put to the test in the viewing rooms where we were allowed to dunk the phones into a fish bowl. Quite nerve wrecking but cool to see. 

Pre-Orders for the Mate 10 Pro have already begun, but the recommended retail prices have some folks talking. The Huawei Mate 10 Pro being R18,999 isn't too bad seeing that it has a host of worlds first and an extremely good smart phone, however the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10 comes in at R26,999. That is a big jump in price but with PD, their products are quality and quite expensive. Also this Porsche Design handset will be super exclusive with only 999 units coming to South Africa. 

"We are delighted to bring the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and the Porsche Design Mate 10 to South Africa as we believe these smartphones will cater for the South  African consumers needs as we enter the age of AI" - concludes Zhao. 

Bucket Tech: Microsoft Lumia 950XL - First Impressions

Since Microsofts take over of Nokia, the Lumia brand has been kind of quiet but that's not to say the technology giant has been slacking. They've been working hard on making a smart phone to rival the giants in the mobile industry that is Samsung and Apple. The biggest challenge for Microsoft is trying to get mobile phone users to adapt to their Windows platform as many are used to Android OS systems or iOS. 

Research has shown that 90% of computer uses have Microsoft Windows as their primary OS and many are comfortable with it, hence the company felt that their mobile OS had to be more streamlined and similar to that used on the bigger machines. Hence Windows 10 was released with much hoo-ha in the industry as many wondered what happened to Windows 9? 

The beauty of Windows 10 is that it's pretty much the same on your phone as it is on your personal computer, so this is provides the uses almost seamless symmetry with devices and one such device is The Lumia 950XL. The XL is not just a bigger version of the 950 but practically a PC in the palm of your hand. It's large 5.7" Quad HD LCD screen is perfect for ease of use for office work. The device comes with a years subscription to Microsoft Office 365 with rich formatting Word and Excel, so you can edit or create complex spreadsheets from your phone!

The phone has a lightning fast Qualcomm Snapdragon, Octa-Core processor which ensures the device runs smoothly with almost zero lag when running memory intensive applications. Speaking of apps, the Windows Store has everything in one convenient place, be it apps, music or games. Need a personal assistant? No problem, say hello to Cortana, think of it as Siri on steroids. While many would copy a competitors idea, what Microsoft have done here is quite brilliant, they made it much better and customized it to suit every ones needs. Whether it's to remember your appointments to track your morning run, Cortana can do it all. Cortana isn't available yet in South Africa but here's hoping it arrives soon.

The device comes with a 20 megapixel ZEISS optics lens, with a triple LED natural flash, ensuring you capture the perfect picture every time. With the various options on the camera, one can manipulate the settings to suit or if you're not a pro, just leave it on auto and it would do a pretty good job. The camera also has 4K video recording capabilities for ultra clear videos. The phone also features USB-C fast charging with an extra large battery, which I would love to put to the test. 

Like other Lumia's, the phone is made in an enclosed aluminum case with a non-removable battery with a single sim and memory card slot capable of housing a maximum 200Gig microSD card. Overall the phone looks like a good competitor to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note and Apple's iPhone 6+. It would just be a matter of swaying the consumer to go for a device with a Windows based OS, but like I said with seamless integration with Windows for PC, it shouldn't be that hard. 

Bucket Tech: Nokia 1520

Evolution, it's inevitable in life as it happens all around us, we as humans evolve and the things we use on a daily basis evolve. Cars, houses, appliances and of course, the cellular telephone, in fact over the past few years it has been the one piece of technology that has evolved the most. When the first cellphones came out, they were big bulky and were called "bricks" because they practically were. They were big, heavy and did pretty much nothing but make phone calls but as the years went by, the more the manufacturers improved the devices, making them smaller, adding more applications and eventually introducing other technologies to it like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, not too long later we had phones with camera's but then the smart phone came along and things started change.

Phones, although becoming smarter, they also started to increase in size again, hold on? Doesn't newer mean better and smaller? Well yes but in the smart phone's case, no. You see, the people who genuinely use these devices need it to do more than just make phone calls, they use it for instant messaging, social media, emails, view documents, edit documents, schedule meetings, basically the need their computer on their phone. For all this to be possible they going to need a nice big high resolution screen to work on, hence the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note and Sony Xperia T. Both quality devices but blody huge to carry around but it would be unfair to put them in the term "brick" as they may be bigger in size but do a hell of a lot more than the first phones plus they're way thinner, so they much rather be called small TV's or a term I created, since its an inbetweener of a phone and a tablet, I call them "Phablets".

All that rambling was for a purpose, it brings me down to the reason for the blog post. Just little over a month ago Nokia sent me there newest product that just hit the market, the Lumia 1520. Not knowing what to expect from the phone before it arrived and not doing any research on it, I expected it to be more like the Lumia 925 . I got a surprise to open the box and find a 6" monster lurking inside! To say it's huge is an understatement because at the time, the only other competitor on the market was the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which comes with a 5.5" screen. It may sound like a fraction of the size but when put next to each other the difference is quite clear. 

From using a "normal size" cellphone with a standard issue 4.2" screen, it was quite an adjustment to move on to something so big and cumbersome but from the first day, you tend to get used to it. Maybe it was the human way of evolving to the phone? Yes in most cases one cannot use the phone with one hand, simply because it is impossible but you appreciate the size when you see exactly what it can do compared to your older phone. Carrying it around wasn't a big schelp either, it fitted in most of my pants pockets and apart from the odd bulge, I couldn't tell the difference to that or my regular phone. 

The Lumia 1520 comes with Windows 8 black operating system which in my opinion is one of the better OS's on smart phones today. Besides being easy to use and fast, it integrates and syncs so well with your desktop PC which makes moving from your work station to your phone feel like you're still at your desk. The phone gives you 7 gigs storage space to sky drive so retrieving documents is as easy as pie, the phones internal memory is 16 gigs and it comes with a MicroSD slot capable of housing a 64gig card, so you know storage space isn't going to be a problem. The phone is equipped with a 20 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics auto-focus lens, because of the screen size the lens is wide angled so you can take some brilliant horizontal snaps at 4992 x 3744 pixels, as demonstrated in the pic below of Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. It also records videos in full High Definiation with quality sound recording. The front face camera is a 1.2 megapixel camera which quality is more than sufficient for that selfie. 

Some of the key specifications of the phone is the Quad core 3.3 GHz Krait 400 processor with the chipset more than capible of making this device function to its optimal level. Speed on the OS is no problem, speed with regards to its telecommunications level is super fast as well with the phone being 4G/ LTE ready and its Wi-Fi speeds more than adequate to send or receive data in a flash. The stand out thing for me was the battery life, claimed stand by time is 768 hours but from using it, the phone gave me a solid 3 days use, that's with all the connections active, that is network, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. 

The big talking point for the phone as with many devices is the applications available for it, Windows App store gets populated on a daily basis so there are tons of apps available for the phone, being a social media geek, I went for all the popular ones as soon as I got the device, so Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Foursquare and LinkedIn were in the queue for download, granted some of the apps are still in beta testing form, they still work well. It also comes with Nokia story teller, which uses GPS co-ordinates to track your pictures when snapped, almost like leaving breadcrumbs to the places you've been so you can scroll over to Here Maps and search your steps by pictures taken at the various places you have visited.

The build quality of the phone is pretty remarkable, the screen being so big comes with trusty Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection so its safe from scratches and falls... I know, I dropped the test unit a few times and its pretty strong. Just don't drop it on your foot, it hurts. Another cool thing about the phone is the wireless charging, it comes with a unit which plugs into your wall socket but to charge the phone, one simply has to place it on the charger for it to charge. This may seem unnecessary but you try to charge your phone then receive a phone call or try to reply to a message with it still being plugged it!

Overall I think this is yet another quality product from Nokia, although aimed at the businessman it still is pretty useful to everyday people like you and me, if you prefer the bigger screen its a massive plus and streaming videos on it is almost as good as watching it on TV. The phone does what it says it can do and so much more, over time and with new apps coming out for it, the phone can only get better.

Some pics taken with the phone:

Microsoft YouthSpark Live

One of the major news stories to break out this week was that Nigeria's GDP overtook SA's. We as a country consider ourselves as the leader in Africa yet another country that's normally shrouded in instability is performing better than us on an economic level. Unemployment is a major contributing factor to the countries GDP and with almost a quarter of SA's population being unemployed, it doesn't look very promising for the future. Out of that figure, it is estimated that 70% are youth, which is a greater cause for concern seeing that that is our future. Government alone cannot alleviate this problem and needs help from the private sector, step in Microsoft SA with their YouthSpark initiative. 

The first YouthSpark event was held at Wits University, last year in May with a turn out of just around 1000 students, the day proved to be very knowledgeable for students considering a future in IT. Microsoft showed attendees the various tools on offer to help them in choosing the right path in their career choices. The day was not only for the students to learn but the feedback Microsoft received was tremendous. It was a similar case when they took the road show to Cape Town and King Williams Town. 

The next stop is this weekend on the 12th of April in Durban, the venue, DUT (Durban University of Technology). It's bound to be just as good as the others but it needs student participation, the event is free of charge, so if you're a student, learner or budding entrepreneur, be sure to register now for a seat as space is limited. 

You can register online at www.youthsparklive.com with the registration code "Durban", alternatively you can email saevent@microsoft.com or call call the contact centre on 0860 22 55 67.

A year that was...

Looking back at the year that was, 2013, it was pretty good which is why I suppose I can't understand why so many are wishing it away. Yes, for most of them it must have been a pretty horrible year especially if you're a Western Province supporter hence they're wanting to start off 2014 in a fresh mindset knowing that it is a brand new year. That's the thing though, its all in the mindset, at the end of the day it is you and how you react, how you control your mindset that can change the course of how things happen. Why does one have to wait for the turn of the year when you can do it now? Well, that's my two cents on the matter, I'm no motivational speaker neither do I want to be a preacher but that is how I see things from my perspective. 

For me the year kicked off to a tragic start, many heard about the sudden death of South African model Reeva Steenkamp. It made shock waves in the news and media all over the world but for me and many of her close friends it was for all the wrong reasons as the attention was only focused on the person who committed the crime and not on the beautiful soul that was Reeva. Not many know this but she inspired me to put more effort into this blog, she was just meant to be another model I featured on here but instead of just being that, she got me to take this blog more seriously as she corresponded via email, sharing ideas, suggestions and other things I can do to enhance viewer ship on here. So from the success I've had with this blog, I owe a lot of it to her. Thank you Reevs.

For my online presence, the years keep on getting better as I was fortunate enough to be invited to some amazing events. Definitely a highlight for me was the BMW Electro Mobility Summit where I was flown to George to partake in a days discussion with others in the industry on the future of the motor vehicle as well as see and drive future products from the BMW stable, this in turn gave birth to a new feature on the blog, the Bucket Seat which I must thank you guys out there for keeping the views coming is as its turning out to be one of the popular ones on here. We're looking at expanding the brands in the new year so keep a look out for them!

Other major events included Microsoft TechEd Africa 2013, going in as a novice and not knowing too much about system development, it was a tad bit intimidating but after spending a week learning and meeting people it was a real eye opener into the industry and to see what Microsoft has up its sleeves for the future makes me wanting to attend next years TechEd as well! Be sure to check out the other new segment that launched as a result of this, Bucket Tech, where we and with the help of some guest writers will be reviewing the latest gadgets that are on the market.

This year also saw me make my stage début as I was invited to be part of a bloggers panel at the first ever Durban Digital Day. The turnout was fantastic and my time on stage was nerve wrecking to say the least but again, very fortunate and privileged to be given the opportunity and to be recognised as one of the Durban based bloggers to be looked to.

Now I for one would tell you right away that I am not very active, sure I go to the gym 2 times a week, maybe 3 though  I'm a far stretch from being an athlete but when Mr Price Sport came knocking on my door asking me to participate in their inaugural Blog Olympics, I couldn't turn the offer down. Spending the day, hanging around with some of the best in the local online world was a blast and even though I was totally useless in most off the challenges which probably caused my team to come last, I never regret taking part.  

For me working with brands is important and as much as there is many to chose from, I can't work with them all, for one there is very little time to juggle my paying job with this part time hobby. Also I feel that I need to give whomever I work with the respect and time they deserve, hence I've been picky with ones I have chosen and more importantly I chose them because I genuinely like them and like working with them. One of the major ones being Tsogo Sun, despite them being one of the largest hotel groups in Southern Africa, their on line presence is second to none, with the team being on the ball to deal with PR matters. I have visited 5 of their establishments this year and I can honestly say that my experiences at all of them were brilliant. I look forward to keeping this partnership in the years ahead and also bring you reviews on the hotels I've stayed at.

Whats a year without parties? From the most recent @iLuvDBN launch party to seeing the number 1 DJ in the world, there's been tons of them but by far the most memorable one was the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Cape Town which involved a pain staking but fun road trip with mates from Durban to Cape Town. It tested all of our patience but at the same time gave us time to bond.... well mostly annoy each other but it was an unforgettable trip and one for the record books.

As the year started off on a sad note, it also ended on a sad note with the passing of former President Nelson Mandela. Like I said in my post about him, we must learn from him and practice what he has taught us, be able to forgive and move on because most of the time it is you who has to be the bigger person and most importantly be thankful for everyday that you live and don't wish them away. It's been a great year for me despite the losses and obstacles but without them life would just be boring. Make the most of it and don't wait for tomorrow to make the change, do it now. 

Have a safe New Years Eve and hope 2014 brings everyone much joy and happiness.