Tech Trends straps on the latest smart watch from Samsung.

I still remember my first watch. A red and blue, plastic, made in China, digital beauty that was also a Transformer. The fact it told the time was incidental. The reason I loved it was because of all the other crazy stuff it did. If we’re honest, smart watches are the grown-up version of that, still targeted at the same people. The difference is that now the “grownups” of my generation have a bit more pocket money to spend on their toys, and those toys can actually do a lot of the things that we couldn’t imagine back then.

Smart watches are about much more than just telling the time
Share on X

Looks are also important, of course. A watch you choose to wear all the time should look the bollocks. I know my Transformer one was the king of the classroom, if only for a week. It’s a great feeling. And that’s the feeling I got as I unboxed the Samsung Gear S3 smart watch, in spite of it looking – sorry Optimus Prime – a whole lot classier than my childhood companion. Papa’s got a brand new toy, and it’s pretty awesome.

Packed behind the 1.3” Super AMOLED touch screen and safely sealed inside the IP68 certified steel body are a 1 GHz processor, 768MBs of RAM, 4GB of storage and a huge 350mAh battery that promises a 3 day charge. All of this weighs in at 59gms and is attached via a very nice quality leather strap that is conveniently punched for wrists of all sizes.

So, what is it like to use? Let’s get the obvious out the way first, yes it tells the time but you can choose how, with a multitude of watch faces available and even more that you can download. So whether you’re a classic, analogue or digital person, there’s a watch face for you. So now we’ve got the timekeeping bit out of the way, what else can this baby do? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

Initial setup and linking to my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone was very straightforward, and I soon had the watch synched with my calendar, Gmail and WhatsApp, and impressively the connection was rock solid. Over two weeks testing I never once lost the link between phone and watch. Location detection and weather is useful and accurate in my experience but you need to use a third party app like Here WeGo to get reliable maps and directions working independent of your phone. I did feel the lack of Google maps here but Here WeGo is a functional replacement.

Initial setup and linking to my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone was very straightforward
Share on X

A key feature expected of smart watches are fitness aids, and Samsung’s own Health apps tend to get good reviews, so the first thing I did when I strapped on the S3 was get out of the house and start moving. Within a few minutes the S3 detected that I was walking briskly, congratulated me (thanks!) told me how long I had been walking and how many calories I was burning, hooray!

When I stopped walking, the watch also detected that, and gave me a quick summary of my walk, and based on the number of calories I had burned, classed it as a healthy walk. Of course, it had no way of knowing that my brisk walk had taken me to the coffee shop where I proceeded to have a latte and a bacon sandwich. It’s not THAT smart.

The fitness app worked well, giving me lots of options and suggestions to make me more active
Share on X

After a while the app did warn me that I had been inactive for a while and encouraged me to exercise some more, which I did after I finished the last bit of bacon. As you can tell, I’m not the most active of folks, but joking aside this did get me thinking about my physical activity and caloric intake a bit more, and every little helps! And there are a lot more features and functionalities such as setting reminders to drink more water, easily logging how many glasses you’ve had each day. A quick twist of the dial will also show you more info on number of floors climbed, heart rate, number of steps taken, etc. You can also choose how naggy you like the app to be, so if – like me – you get tired of the constant nudges you can tone them down a bit.

Overall, the wireless charging works smoothly and the battery life held up pretty well even with days of intensive use. The screen is also lovely to look at considering its relatively low resolution. The only downsides to it were that although the buttons were nice, the twist dial that you use to navigate the menus was a bit too delicate, I would have liked a more solid-feeling one like in an old-school watch, but that’s a personal preference. The keyboard was also completely unusable, at least for me.

Downloading new apps for the Samsung Gear S3 via the Samsung Galaxy App Store is easy
Share on X

The main complaint I had is the same one everyone makes about Tizen devices – the app ecosystem is nowhere near as advanced as Android or the Apple app store – but having said that, I don’t need my watch to do everything my phone does, I still have a phone for all that, and wearing the Gear S3 I was able to find a good option on the Samsung Galaxy App Store to do everything I wanted, so it’s more of a niggle than a real issue. A huge plus was that downloading new apps via the Samsung Galaxy App Store is easy – done through the Get More Apps option within the S3’s Apps menu – downloaded and installed very smoothly via your phone. Very impressed with that side of things.

The notifications interface is really nice, where they pop up accompanied by a pleasant vibration and are then stored for review. Twist the dial anticlockwise to see them again and simply swipe up to pop in the trash and dismiss. Twisting the dial clockwise to access widgets is also very neat, adding extra app widgets such as calendar and world clock easily.

To add app shortcuts – for example Here WeGo – these could only be added to the App Short Cut Screen, which only allows 4 shortcuts, and that felt rather limiting. You can, however add multiple App Shortcut Screens and edit them so each screen shows four different apps. This is great but needs a bit of setting up and I would like to be able to twist the dial to the app I want and just touch to activate it.

The Samsung Gear S3 Reminded me of how much fun watches can be
Share on X

I had stopped wearing a watch years ago, but after trying out the Samsung Gear S3 I have become a convert again. Not only is it really useful to be able to see your notifications and read your emails without constantly having to fish your phone out of your pocket, but it reminded me of just how much fun watches can be – even though it doesn’t become a Transformer. Maybe there’ll be an app for that soon though.

Tech Trends is a Samsung consultancy and media partner and this is a #sponsored post. However, we retain full editorial control and all reviews accurately reflect our experience in testing out the products.

The post Product Review: Samsung Gear S3 appeared first on Tech Trends.

Virtual Reality is all about presence,  so content that lets you create and share live moments could be its killer app

Getting people to try out a VR experience for the first time is usually not hard. The novelty factor gets most people curious enough to at least give it a go. And having watched a lot of newbies (or VRgins as I like to call them) go through those first moments of immersion is always a lot of fun, as they gasp and reach out to touch things that aren’t really there.

Getting people to try out a VR experience for the first time isn't usually hard
Share on X

But if this new medium is to fulfill all its shining commercial promise, and prove to the doubters that it’s got the momentum to move beyond its “hype cycle” it needs to get those first-time users to do it again, and again… and so forth. In other words, we need to make VR “sticky.”

To do that, companies pushing the technology (specially around mobile VR) have to enable users to create and share content in an intuitive, compelling and addictive way. And while there’s probably not one silver bullet for what that’s going to look like, it is clear that piggybacking onto live events presents some interesting possibilities.

Live events present interesting possibilities for VR
Share on X

Think about it: when you go to an event – be it a comedy show, a play or a rock concert – you are there to create some memories. You’ve invested serious time and money into being there in that moment, and that usually means people are keen to share them with friends (wherever they happen to be) and even broadcast it to strangers. And we usually do that by taking pictures or video on our phones and sharing these all over social media.

This is why Social VR has attracted such attention. Linden Lab recently opened up its Sansar platform, and AltspaceVR got substantial amounts of investment by exploring the live events vertical. And even though AltspaceVR recently hit significant obstacles, narrowly missing having to close down, there is little doubt that social will play a huge part in the mass consumer adoption of VR.

Social will play a huge part in the mass consumer adoption of VR
Share on X

The latest crop of smartphones is already making it possible to create that shareable content in 360, and platforms like YouTube allow you to easily share it too. Companies like Samsung have invested heavily onto those functionalities for the Galaxy S8 Handset, and you can also get peripherals such as a camera that automatically takes 360 pictures.

Yet for most of us, though, that all still feels a bit intimidating, so the challenge is to show users that such 360 content can be easy to capture, easy to share, and socially relevant.

The challenge was to show that 360 content is easy to capture and share
Share on X

This is in fact what Samsung set out to do by bringing a giant 40-foot installation to two of the most popular events in the UK Summer festival calendar: Reading and Bestival.

The so-called Hypercube housed a mirrored chamber which created an infinity effect that was enhanced by hundreds of projected light effects. Into that chamber, groups of 30 festivalgoers at a time were ushered in with instructions to dance their hearts out to create a collective selfie, which was captured by a 360 degree camera mounted on the chamber’s ceiling.

360 content is the next step in social content sharing.
Share on X

That selfie then got emailed to each reveler, who in turn shared it around. Although very visually impacting, however, this wasn’t about showcasing breakthrough tech. This was all about showing people that 360 and VR content is just the logical next step in social content sharing. And if the excited crowds on the day were anything to go by, it seemed to be working.

It’s difficult to say which will prove the crucial tipping point for VR and 360, but what is clear is that such stunts can be useful in bridging the psychological gap in your typical user’s mind between VR as a gimmick and VR as a technology that they can incorporate into their everyday lives.

VR’s ability to create a sense of presence gives it a unique edge
Share on X

We saw this happen with the Internet and mobile, and at various points with every groundbreaking technology we’ve also had many pundits come out and say that the “hype” was over at various stages. Personally, however, I think VR’s ability to create a sense of presence gives it a unique edge, so that it will eventually become pervasive. And the sooner we get people creating and sharing meaningful moments and memories, the quicker that day is likely to arrive.

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post The Future of VR is Social and Shareable appeared first on Tech Trends.

Capturing 360 photos and video is a breeze with Samsung’s nifty little camera.

Launched alongside the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the new Gear VR, this is an updated version of Samsung’s Gear 360 camera and app which allows you to capture, edit, view and share 360 photos and videos, and even live stream in 360 straight from your phone.

You can even live stream 360 video straight from your phone
Share on X

The new Gear VR is a beautiful, palm size camera featuring two fish eye camera lenses that simultaneously capture the world around in stunning 360. The 2017 version is a real improvement on the original version, not least because it’s now truly pocket-size, while the previous iteration was simply too big to be easily portable.  Your videos and images are stored on the camera on an SDXC card (up to 256GB & sold separately) but can easily be synched to your phone or computer via bluetooth or Wi-Fi for you to edit, save and share in any way you want.

The new Gear 360 sports dual 8.4 MP cameras and produces pleasing, sharp and colourful images that when saved off the Gear 360 are not too large to impact your data allowance when sharing on social media. The 360 videos it produces can go up to 4K resolution but are similarly well compressed, giving your sharp and clear content compatible with 360 capable platforms including YouTube.

Samsung's Gear 360 sports dual 8.4 MP cameras and produces sharp and colourful images
Share on X

Weighing only 130g the Gear 360 is light and comfortable to hold
Share on X

Weighing only 130g it is light and comfortable to hold. It comes with a cute rubber ring base to help stand it on a surface or attach a tripod or similar via a standard quarter inch thread in the base. Check out some of the images I captured at Reading & Bestival music festivals this year. Images can be exported in several formats including panorama and the now famous ‘Little Planet’ look.

Images can be exported in several formats including panorama
Share on X

The camera has a capable internal battery that charges via a simple USB-C port
Share on X

This tidy little camera couldn’t be easier to use with a simple power button plus start and stop trigger for recording and a menu button to toggle through the settings. It has a very capable internal battery that charges via a simple USB-C port and never showed signs of struggling to get me through a day out. Simply charge it up, pop in a micro SDXC card and off you go!

Both the PC and Mac software and the iOS and Android apps are simple to use and quickly synch with the camera via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi so you can save and share your videos and images. It really is a breeze to snap a few pics, synch them with the app on your Galaxy S8 and post then to Facebook so your friends can live the moment with you in immersive 360.

Software apps are simple to use and quickly synch with the camera
Share on X

We tested the Gear 360 camera at Reading and Bestival
Share on X

To test it out Tech Trends took it to Reading Festival and then Bestival to capture the raucous experience in rain and sun. After two day’s hard use we were really impressed with the Gear 360 and can vouch for its sturdy design as we dropped it repeatedly in the mud while pushing through the crowds of festivalgoers, the little camera took the hits without problems and kept on shooting throughout the day. Both the Android and Mac Apps worked very well, linking quickly making it easy to achieve the right look you want before sharing the experiences online. All in all, this is a great little 360 camera that fits in your pocket and has the juice to keep going all day!

The battery lasted quite well
Share on X

• Give friends and family a look into your life as it happens with social 360° live streaming
• Capture every moment in high-quality 4K 360° videos
• Easily edit and share content by using the Gear 360 app
• Comfortably hold the slim and sleek grip

Tech Trends is a Samsung consultancy and media partner and this is a #sponsored post. However, we retain full editorial control and all reviews accurately reflect our experience in testing out the products.

The post Product Review: Samsung Gear 360 appeared first on Tech Trends.

The Samsung Hypercube Installation landed at Reading Festival to make VR content more social and give festivalgoers the ultimate selfie experience 

Music festivals are a main fixture of summer and in spite of all the mud some of the world’s most popular gigs happen in England. But while Glastonbury might be the first name that springs to mind, Reading Festival – which happens just outside London at the end of August is the oldest one still going. Since it started in 1955, it hosted music legends from Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Metallica, Green Day and many more.

Reading is the oldest ongoing popular festival in existence
Share on X

Groups of up to 30 people were taking collective 360 degree selfies
Share on X

But as nice as all the music was, I was there for the VR, so headed for the giant shimmering cube that Samsung had setup to give festivalgoers the chance to create what they called a “unique interactive audio-visual experience.” With groups of up to 30 people taking turns to create a ‘360 Infinity Selfie’ through collective user-controlled performance.

You could personalise the experience by choosing different effects and music on the Galaxy S8
Share on X

The ‘Hypercube’ where it all happened was a bold and rather striking 40-foot-tall structure that all the way through the day attracted large crowds- bigger than some of the stages around it. Those long queues were efficiently managed by a friendly team in Samsung t-shirts, who briefed everyone as they waited for their turn. They also kept the crowd entertained by letting them try out some content on the new Samsung Gear VR, and registered their email addresses on tablets so they could be sent their selfie videos afterwards.

As I got to the head of the line, we were all instructed to put on some plastic overshoes so as not to smudge the mirrors on the floor with footprints. This was definitely getting curiouser and curiouser.

Once they got inside the mirrored room, people gasped audibly
Share on X

Once inside the cube’s small antechamber, our guide proceeded to psych everyone up and tell us what to expect when entering the next room where the selfie action would happen.

This being a typical British summer day (i.e. unbearably hot and muggy) many in my group were looking rather sunburned and more than a bit wilted. So it was a credit to the enthusiastic steward (smart move by Samsung to hire young actors for that job) that he managed to whip up the crowd to shout at the top of their lungs that they were ready to go into that blissfully air-conditioned room.

Once they got inside the infinity room, however, people needed no encouragement to shout and gasp, as it was genuinely impressive. Every surface was covered in shiny mirrors, where projected lights created hypnotic patterns that were striking without being disorientating.

Every surface of the Hypercube chamber was covered in shiny mirrors
Share on X

The light effects were dazzling without feeling disorientating
Share on X

At the centre of the room was a pillar with about a dozen or so Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphones, setup so that users could quickly choose what kind of music and graphics they wanted to beam out during their experience.

The beauty of it was that all the individual choices went into the mix, so each group of strangers instantly bonded over producing that shared visual and soundscape. We then had about 30 seconds of intensive dancing around to those sounds and lights as a 360 camera suspended from the roof captured the giant selfie action.

Each group of strangers bonded over creating a collective experience
Share on X

Making VR content sticky and shareable is a big challenge
Share on X

The entire experience only took three minutes or so (not counting time spent in line of course) and people were encouraged – with the promise of prizes – to share it using the #ShareTheStage hashtag. All in all it was textbook social media best practice, with the added 360 element. And that’s what makes it so interesting.

People used the #sharethestage hashtag to share their 360 experiences
Share on X

Virality is about striking the balance between easily replicable and personalised content
Share on X

Virality is about creating something that is easily replicable, yet provides enough scope for variation so that each experience is also unique and personal. A great example of this is the Ice Bucket Challenge that raised over $100m for ALS research in a month.

Producing compelling and easily accessible content that people want to share is probably the biggest hurdle facing VR at the moment, so what’s interesting about the approach Samsung is taking here is that they struck that sweet spot between simplicity and wow factor.

There was a real communal sense of enjoying the technology together
Share on X

There was a real communal sense of enjoying the technology together, and that, it seems to me, is what content makers looking to make VR content “sticky” need to focus on – creating an emotional connection to the moment and to one another.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Samsung’s 360° Infinity Selfies Are Hit With Music Festival Crowds via @alicebonasio #GearVR https://t.co/qOmB4jLXi4 pic.twitter.com/sT8loQ7wT1

— VRScout (@VRScout) September 3, 2017

Tech Trends is a Samsung consultancy and media partner. We retain full editorial control over all content published on our site, and all articles accurately reflect our opinions and experience.

The post Creating the Ultimate 360 Degree Selfie appeared first on Tech Trends.

We certainly had our share of gorgeous gadgets this month, from a spy’s dream drive to the lovely Microsoft Surface Book to the Samsung Galaxy S8, plus the usual sprinkling of more random tech.  

iStorage diskAshur 2 SSD

Testing out the new diskAshur 2 SSD 256GB from iStorage shows that industrial grade security need not slow down your workflow, or look unappealing. This very sexy little portable USB SSD features real-time AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption and software free design, setup and operation. Unlike any other portable drive I have tested before, this is platform/device independent and works across all operating systems including all versions of MS Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Chrome, Thin Clients, Zero Clients and embedded systems, any device with a USB port, in fact. Now THAT’s impressive.

DiskAshur from iStorage shows how industrial grade security can be efficient and look good
Share on X

As a media professional who is constantly moving large and rather important files around on drives this was a bit of a  revelation. On the subject of large files, I tested out the speed of the diskAshur 2 SSD via its built-in USB 3.1 cable and wow! Blackmagic Disk Speed Test read 310 MBps READ / 250 MBps WRITE with 5GB files. This is very swift indeed, specially when you consider the encryption involved. I think the drive is able to be so fast due to a dedicated hardware-based secure microprocessor (Common Criteria EAL4+ ready), which also employs built-in physical protection mechanisms designed to defend against external tamper, bypass attacks and more.

The diskAshur 2 SSD has a really nice keypad and each key clicks softly but confidently when pushed so you know when a number has registered. The keypad lets you securely access the drive with your own unique 7-15 digit PIN. Following the instructions to setup my personalised passcode was easy, but do choose carefully, as you’ll only want to do this once. When that is done you simply plug it into your computer, input your code and push the unlock button, and off you go! A really nice feature is that when you want to finish using the drive you simply use your computer interface to eject the drive and that is that, your data is automatically secured.

Input the wrong pin code 15 times and the drive automatically wipes out its data
Share on X

Unlike other solutions out there, the diskAshur 2 SSD reacts to an automated attack by entering the deadlock frozen state, which renders all such attacks as useless, and if you input the code wrongly fifteen consecutive times, the device assumes it is being attacked and will delete the encryption key and lock itself, rendering all data previously stored on the drive lost forever. At this point the drive can be reset to factory default settings.

You can pre-program the drive with a self-destruct function, handy for spies on the run
Share on X

And if you are on the run from the foreign spies or the KGB and need to ensure your data does not fall into enemy hands you can pre-program the diskAshur 2 SSD with your own unique Self Destruct PIN which, once implemented, instantly deletes the encryption key, all PINs, data and then creates a new encryption key! Below are a few more specs and you can check out the full spec here.

• USB 3.1 Encrypted Portable SSD
• Capacities up to 4TB*
• FIPS PUB 197 validated
• AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption – no software required
• OS & Platform independent
• Employs EDGE* Technology
• Available in 4 colours: Phantom Black, Ocean Blue, Fiery Red & Racing Green

RRP: £219 256GB version

Samsung Galaxy S8

When I first realised that the Galaxy S8 was entirely buttonless, I wondered whether I’d miss the functionality of the home button in any way, but the short answer to that has been a resounding “No”. The most impressive thing about this phone is its screen, and the fact that you don’t get a button, together with the gorgeous Infinity Display, means that every inch of real estate on this baby is pure, vivid screen. And that’s no bad thing in my book. Besides, for those – like me – who are upgrading from the previous Galaxy models, there is still the exact same button functionality, in the same place where the physical one used to be. So your brain soon gets used to it, and starts wondering why we ever put up with buttons in the first place.

Read Tech Trends full review here

RRP: £689

Microsoft Surface Book

In October last year Microsoft released an upgraded Surface Book with a Performance Base featuring a new, more powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M with 2GB of VRAM and a larger battery. They had not bumped the Intel i7 up from 6th generation to 7th but that was not a deal breaker and promises of a faster internal SSD and the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update hooked me in. Unfortunately these things do take time to arrive here in the UK, but as I unpacked it last week I couldn’t help but think it had been worth the wait.

Read Tech Trends full review here.

RRP: $2,799 / £2,399

Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel

RRP: $995

AnySharp Pro Knife Sharpener

We like to stay sharp here at Tech Trends so were pleased to see that the AnySharp Pro Knife Sharpener lives up to its claim of being ‘The Worlds Best Knife Sharpener’. A sharp knife is essential for opening all those ultra-securely packaged gadgets that arrive in the post, specially those those evil clear plastic blister packs that USB drives always come in. I tell you, a sharp knife can really save your sanity when trying to open one of those!

I find that a sharp knife always comes in handy
Share on X

AnySharp claim that sculpting your old dull blades to the perfect 20 degree angle was no problem, and I duly tested this on some of my very old knives (I hate throwing knives away) I found the best candidate rattling around in my toolkit, where it had lived for about fifteen years or so. It was a serious challenge, but a few swipes across the tungsten carbide v section brought it right back to life. It works on most blades; hunting knives, kitchen knives and even serrated knives but maybe not your good old zombie machete. I was always a purist and favoured whetstones for knife sharpening but I am, well, a rather lazy man, so the AnySharp is a very welcome addition to the kitchen drawer. The best thing about it is its PowerGrip suction cup base, which attaches securely to any smooth surface or worktop without the need for any tools. Once it’s attached you can sharpen any knife safely hands-free! No whetstone does that!

Add endorsements from Jamie Oliver and (bizarrely) Jilly Cooper, plus a lifetime warranty and you’re laughing. Say good-bye to those raggedy tomato slices.

RRP: $22.99

You will rarely pass a Techie at work without spotting a fancy water bottle or filter bottle on their desk. We Technophiles take hydration seriously! Sitting in front of a computer for days on end with the aircon drying you out like an Inca mummy is no joke so Tech Trends is looking at two top level water filter devices, one very old school and one 21st century.

Black+Blum Eau Good Filter Bottle

This super elegant Eau Good Filter water bottle from Black+Blum uses a ancient traditional Japanese Binchotan charcoal to make your tap water taste great. Yes charcoal, you read me right, but this is no ordinary charcoal like for a BBQ, Binchotan charcoal was introduced to Japan by a Japanese monk and scholar called Kukai 1,200 years ago and is made by wood being placed in a kiln and charred at a relatively low temperature for some time, then, near the end of the process, the kiln temperature is raised to about 1000 degree Celsius to make the wood red-hot. The charcoal is then removed and quickly covered with a special powder made from earth, sand and ash, and this gives the charcoal surface a whitish hue. The rapid rise in temperature, followed by a rapid cooling, incinerates the bark and leaves a smooth, hard surface. If you strike it, you’ll hear a clear, metallic sound. Now this is sounding serious! This super charcoal has an incredibly porous surface with tiny cavities oriented in many directions. Just 1 gram has a surface area in excess of 500 m2 (about one tenth the size of a football field). It is also known as active carbon as the ions of contaminants are attracted to the surface of the carbon, where they will be held. It is also able to release minerals such as calcium, iron and magnesium back into the water, which enhances its taste and health benefits.

OK so that was all quite complex but does it do the job? Tech Trends first flicked the charcoal and blow me down if it didn’t ping a bit like metal, popped it in the bottle, wedged it into the special locking bulge and filled it up. After leaving it for a few hours we quaffed it down and indeed it tasted a lot better that straight out the tap. It’s a winner! Five replacement charcoal sticks are £30.95 including a 10% discount but it probably works out cheaper than buying water, specially if you happen to travel a lot. You can take an empty water bottle through security and most airports now have handy taps to refill them at the other end, so with one of these you can avoid paying that ever-so-reasonable  who said good water was cheap.

• BPA free tritan, cork, stainless steel, silicon
• Includes x1 binchotan active charcoal filter (6 months life)
• Automatic email updates for when to boil and replace charcoal
• W 8.5cm  H 24cm  / W 3.3″  H 9.4″
• 800 ml  27 floz

RRP: £19.95

ZeroWater Filter and TDS Meter

This 12-cup water filter jug from ZeroWater looks much like every other water filter out there but what makes it a more high-tech drinking solution is its patented, 5-stage Ion Exchange Filtration system, which removes virtually all dissolved solids from your water. These solids may include minerals, salts, metals, chemicals and runoff. Mmmm runoff, my favourite non-specific dissolved solid! The ZeroWater filter is also the first in its class to benefit from a sealed lid and reservoir, which allows filtered water to be poured while water, which hasn’t yet been, filtered remains in the reservoir. This adds a further 2 cups of capacity to the 10 cups of filtered water in the jug. It also features a very cool one-handed, pull and pour button spout for easy pouring from the fridge or for filling bottles. Four additional stages of water filtration ensure larger particles and other impurities are removed.

Well I used the laboratory-grade Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) meter provided on our unfiltered tap water and got a reading of 078. I then filled up the jug and measured the filtered water and… dum dum duuuum! Got a reading of 000. So this seems to do a fine job of removing those unpleasant impurities from your water, and that can only be a good thing. Our water normally tastes fine if a little chloriney and after filtering through the ZeroWater tasted very different. It’s difficult to describe the taste but it is not unpleasant and definitely better than straight out of the tap.

• Certified* to reduce Lead, Chromium, & Mercury
• Premium 5-Stage Dual-Ion Exchange filtration system
• Ion-Exchange system that removes virtually all dissolved solids in your water
• The FDA requires the TDS level in PURIFIED bottled water to reach 000-010ppm. ZeroWater is the only filter in its class to achieve this level.

RRP: £39.99

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post August 2017 Tech Trends Product Reviews appeared first on Tech Trends.

Does Samsung’s latest smartphone push all the right buttons? Tech Trends gets down and dirty with the S8. 

I didn't miss having a home button at all
Share on X

When I first realised that the Galaxy S8 was entirely buttonless, I wondered whether I’d miss the functionality of the home button in any way, but the short answer to that has been a resounding “No”. The most impressive thing about this phone is its screen, and the fact that you don’t get a button, together with the gorgeous Infinity Display, means that every inch of real estate on this baby is pure, vivid screen. And that’s no bad thing in my book. Besides, for those – like me – who are upgrading from the previous Galaxy models, there is still the exact same button functionality, in the same place where the physical one used to be. So your brain soon gets used to it, and starts wondering why we ever put up with buttons in the first place.

After spending some time with the S8, I can say it's the best screen I've ever used
Share on X

Personally, I have always favoured Samsung SuperAMOLED smartphone screens and felt the colours and contrast were better than the competition, and after spending some quality time with the S8 can honestly say it is the best screen I have used. Blacks are dark and silky while colours are bright and bold but don’t feel fake. These qualities carry across from the interface to enjoying videos, games and photos and once you switch the default resolution from FHD+ to WQHD+ detail and sharpness leap to another level and the quality of this SuperAMOLED panel shines. You will not get tired of looking at your Galaxy S8, which is no bad thing considering how often most of us check our phones every day.

The quality of this SuperAMOLED panel shines
Share on X

Video plays smoothly and without lag or stutter
Share on X

Watching HD and 4K video is a great experience, the high quality colour and sharpness of the screen stand out at the maximum resolution of 2960x1440px but notably video plays smoothly and without lag or stutter at this resolution, which is very impressive when you consider the pixel density is 570dpi. That’s a lot of pixels to push around, so it’s clear Samsung have made sure the S8’s hardware is powerful enough to handle high quality media streaming video without a hitch. We can’t focus on the technical excellence of the screen without discussing its 18.5:9 display ratio, almost bezel-less design and curved corners that really help the S8 stand out visually and make it so comfortable to hold. I actually can’t stop fondling this phone! It’s so nice to hold and play with I keep picking it up to just feel it.

The S8 is so nice to hold and play with I keep picking it up to just feel it
Share on X

I was not a fan of the S7 Edge as all, as I found the edges quite sharp and uncomfortable but the Galaxy S8 is a pleasure to hold and use, smooth and glossy with a very nice weight to it. Some find the longer, narrower format odd but I enjoy the way it fits my hand better and it doesn’t mean we sacrifice any screen real estate with the S8 display measuring 5.8″ which is still big. The Infinity Display rolls cleanly off at the edges (in a far more tactile and pleasing way that on older Galaxy S models) and the curved corners of the screen mirror the corners of the device. Both these effects combine to make the eye and the hand flow around the handset and focus your attention on the content you are engaging with while your awareness of the edges are diminished. It really is a lovely piece of design with form and function working in harmony.

The curved corners of the screen perfectly mirror the corners of the device.
Share on X

The full width of the screen can be filled with your video or photo content
Share on X

The buttons appear and disappear depending on what you are doing and the full width of the screen can be filled with your video or photo content with a further tap on the screen, leaving nothing blocking or hovering over your images. YouTube already works with this feature and a little icon button pops up offering to get the interface out of the way leaving you to enjoy the film. This feels so liberating and fresh I think it will draw a new army of fans to Samsung.

The navigation buttons appear and disappear depending on what you are doing
Share on X

The main concern with the lack of a button on the front and smaller side mounted ON/OFF button is the new placement of the fingerprint scanner on the back of the handset. LG have had great success with this same feature and (while drawing some criticism from rather unimaginative elements of the tech press) reported very positive user experiences with a rear mounted scanner, so I am confident that S8 users will adapt. The new larger scanner is located next to the camera on the back of the phone, which is a comfortable place for the tip of my forefinger to rest, and while I do not personally use this feature (I’m an old-fashioned pin kind of person) conscious S8 users will also have access to iris and face recognition functions, as well as the good old “pattern swipe” option.

There are many security options available for keeping your phone content safe
Share on X

I was happy to see Samsung have retained a physical headphone jack
Share on X

I was happy to see Samsung have retained a physical headphone jack for those of us who don’t want to shell out on Bluetooth cans. Testing out the audio quality with a pair of excellent SoundMAGIC E10s I can report that it is much the same as on the S7 which means very good indeed, tight bass and smooth mids with no peaky treble led to a enjoyable session streaming Google Play Music. However if you are a bit old fashioned or an Audiophile like me you might want to store your music as FLAC on your device and the S8 comes as standard with 64GB of internal storage which is as much as most people will need for apps and photos. For those of us who have to have thousands of their favourite tracks on their phone, however, the S8 will also take a micro SDXC card up to 256GB. The included headphones performed well and tout the AKG logo, claiming to have been tweaked by the audio specialist, but to be honest I would always spend a few extra quid on a well-rated pair from another manufacturer to get best results as the on-board DAC is very capable.

The S8 comfortably got me through the day with around 30% battery left at bedtime
Share on X

Now on to grunt! Depending where you buy your Galaxy S8 it will be powered by either the Exynos 8895 or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, both very good CPUs whose strength lies in their power and efficiency. With a surprisingly small 3000mAh battery the S8 needs all the help it can get to keep you Twittering, WhatsApping and streaming media through a long day. I am probably a moderate smartphone user but am pleased to report that my Exynos 8895 version S8 comfortably got me through the day with around 30% battery left at bedtime, so power users might run into issues, but to be honest this battery should be enough to keep most people happy. If you do forget to charge it overnight the rapid charge feature really is fast, and will get you from 0% to 40% in half an hour, so plug it in while you shower and dress and you are good to go again.

While other smartphone makers are moving onto Dual Camera technology in their flagship handsets Samsung has not radically redesigned the S8 camera from the old S7 version, but after testing it out in some extremely difficult conditions and comparing it to the S7 it is clear a lot of work has been done on the software under the hood. The S7 had the best mobile camera I had used and I can say with confidence that the S8 shows improvements in some key areas. The 12MP Dual Pixel sensor now sports faster autofocus and a really impressive F1.7 lens which when combined with next generation image processing produces the best low light photos I have ever seen from a smartphone.

The S8's camera is the first one that I have confidence will capture the moment for me
Share on X

The photos are bright and clear with natural colours and fantastic detail. Low light was always the Achilles heel of mobile phone cameras with a high percentage of users expecting good results wherever they happen to be, but this is first time I have been truly impressed with low light results from any manufacturer. Below is a Twitter video and gallery of images we took on the S8 at Reading Festival last week and the ones taken inside the Samsung Hypercube 360 Experience are simply outstanding, considering the conditions were pitch black broken by crazy strobing coloured lights with infinity mirrors and dancing revellers all around.

Incredible Infinity Room @OfficialRandL – Hats off to @SamsungUK for this Hypercube setup #ShareTheStage pic.twitter.com/kkvjCOb9pB

— TechTrends (@techtrends_tech) August 26, 2017

Other software advances are clear to see in the evolution of TouchWiz (newly rebranded as Samsung Experience) which now looks sleeker and less childlike than previously. It has too many updates to discuss all of them here, but the two key ones that stood out for me were the much more stylish default interface, and the swipe-up to open the app drawer. All in all it feels a lot fresher and more modern that I had expected, and really highlights the poor design of TouchWiz going back several years. The one feature that drives me crazy, however, is that the new tap to wake function only works on the home button, not anywhere on the screen like on other devices. This is a small but significant niggle, and perhaps one that could be fixed with an app or patch.

The interface feels a lot fresher, stylish and more modern that I expected
Share on X

Samsung are really pushing their personal assistant Bixby
Share on X

With the S8 Samsung are really pushing their personal assistant Bixby, even giving it a dedicated button on the left side of the screen. This tech is pretty new and can be a bit frustrating, but after registering my voice by reading a few lines of text and following a brief tutorial I was able to use Bixby’s voice recognition to open Gmail, start an email to a specific contact and give the email a subject, which was pretty cool. I was also able to open WhatsApp, write and send a message to a specific contact, which even cooler! These technologies only improve with use as machine learning gets better with more data being fed in, so if you want to use Bixby and contribute towards its evolution go for it and your reward will be a better robot PA going forward.

There is much more I could discuss but to avoid getting hopelessly techie I will just finish by saying that I am very impressed by this phone, and it is easily the best Samsung smartphone to date, combining truly excellent design with powerful hardware and, yes I will say it again in case you missed it, an awesome screen!

RRP: £689

Tech Trends is a Samsung consultancy and media partner and this is a #sponsored post. However, we retain full editorial control and all reviews accurately reflect our experience in testing out the products.

The post Product Review: Samsung Galaxy S8 appeared first on Tech Trends.