Tag Archive for: How To Kill An Hour

Nokia 8110

Nokia 8110 – Banana Phone Upgraded!

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Nokia are playing on our nostalgia once again with the success of the 3310, HMD Global are re-releasing the Nokia 8110. This time with a whole new modern and upgraded set of insides. In 1996 the original ‘banana phone’ was made famous by Keanu Reeves in ‘The Matrix’

The original 8810 was groundbreaking due to the weird but useful shape, which many dubbed a ‘banana’. It may look silly but it served a very good purpose. The shape allowed the phones microphone to be placed as closely an as ergonomically to your mouth.

The upgraded 8810 runs a ‘Smart Feature OS’  which allows for 4g connectivity. Something you wouldn’t expect from such a stripped down phone. Plus would you believe it, it even has Facebook! Well eventually it will, Facebook have said that an app will be available to download at some point.

Nokia 8110 – Apps you say?

It may look small and but it is mighty. The Nokia 8110 will include stripped down versions of Google Assistant, Twitter, Maps, and search. Alongside the usual texts, email and of course the old favourite ‘Snake’.

HMD Global, Nokia’s parent company suggest that the Nokia 8110 is a phone that we should use to switch off from the always connected modern world. That the use of their phone would be perfect for the weekend to:

“switch off, have fun and relax in the knowledge that all your smartphone essentials are there when you need them”

Will the 8810 be as popular as the previous upgraded 3310? We will soon find out when it’s released in May in the UK for a total price of £69. The banana phone will be available in black or yellow.

Do you remember the Nokia 8110? What are your thoughts on the newest upgrade from Nokia? Let us know by contacting us via our socials! @howtokillanhour

To listen to our latest podcast please click here.

To see more watch our Mobile World Congress Day 1 Vlog please click here!

Star Wars Secrets of The Empire

Star Wars Secrets of the Empire: Ultimate Star Wars Experience?

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Star Wars Secrets of the Empire from the guys over at The Void, may just be the ultimate Star Wars Experience. It’s a hyper reality experience that takes over all of your senses to transport you into the world of Star Wars!

It’s a full sensory immersive VR/AR experience that takes you inside the action. Literally! It’s location based, so the sets are interactive too, there’s also real time effects that help to heighten your experience. They really go ALL IN, in trying to make your experience as real as possible.

You really have to experience yourself to truly understand what we’re talking about. (It’s THAT GOOD trust us!) Plus we’re really not allowed to delve into too much as the experience is all about discovery! We wouldn’t want to ruin the secret for you either!

Star Wars Secrets of the Empire: How does it work?

Before you go into the hyper reality Star Wars Secrets of the Empire experience you have to put on RIG (Rapture Insertion Gear) this allows you to feel the force of all the things around you via haptic feedback! (It’s so hard not to tell you what you’ll be feeling!) You then put on the VR/AR headset to give you a full 360 degree HD experience of Star Wars. You also get given a blaster (which also has haptic feedback built in)

We won’t say much else but our very own Marcus Bronzy had this to say:

“That was one of the most intense virtual reality experiences I have felt, I feel like I have actually been a part of a Star Wars film”

To purchase your own tickets to attend the Star Wars Secrets of The Empire hyper reality experience please click here!

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Powerbeats 3

Powerbeats 3 – Your new Gym ear-phones?

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Powerbeats 3

We all love the gym. Correction. We all love to hate the gym. However, we all still go, some of us religiously, some of us sporadically. However, one thing that links us all is our love of music. Hitting the gym is great and all, but it’s nothing without your music. It’s the worst when we forget our earphones at home. No one likes the gym’s in house music. We think we have found your new favourite earphones. Plus their wireless. Let us tell you about the Powerbeats 3.

The Powerbeats 3 are the earphones to beat all earphones. They’re stylish for one and come in a range of colours. Such as:

Powerbeats 3 - Colours

Powerbeats 3 – Colours

  • Black
  • White
  • Flash Blue
  • Siren Red
  • Shock Yellow

They come with a handy wire tamer to hold the wire away from your body and neck. Therefore preventing from any potential dangerous tangles or flying out of your ears. We’re especially impressed by 12 hours of battery life. So for those who work out even up to 2 hours a day for 5 days a week will have 2 hours spare to listen to your favourite tracks.

Powerbeats 3 – Connectivity

Furthermore, connecting them to your phone is a piece of cake. Excuse the pun and resist the temptation! Simply turn on your Powerbeats 3 keep them close to your iPhone 7 or iPhone X and the phone will automatically recognise them. Click connect and you are done! As, this is all due to Apple’s X1 chipset which is found on the Beats X!

Most of all, if you’re running a little low on juice and you’re also running late to the gym. Charge the Powerbeats 3 up for 5mins and you get 2 hours of charge in these bad boys as well. With sweat and water resistance, an ability to take calls on them, there’s nothing to not like about these gym focused earphones!

To listen to the guys discussing this on the podcast please click here.

To purchase your own Powerbeats 3 please click here!

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Fifa 18 Nintendo Switch

Fifa 18 Nintendo Switch Version!

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Fifa 18 Nintendo Switch Version: What’s it like?!

Fifa 18 Nintendo Switch and it is very much different to the regular Fifa that you can get on the home consoles today! For one, in our experiences that it plays a lot more like an arcade game than a simulation. But is it any fun?

The answer to that question is yes! It still feels a lot like a Fifa game, even though it is not as serious as it’s home console counterparts. There are some clear differences between the two versions which we will list below:

  • No Online play with friends: As Nintendo Switch has no party/invite system built into the console itself (Mario Kart has one in built to the game using friend codes) there is no ability to play online against friends.
  • The controls are a little fiddly when played against a friend as the controllers are so small.
  • The graphics engine is different to the home console version, but it still looks very good!
  • There is ultimate team on the Nintendo Switch version but it’s missing key features like Squad Building challenges.

Verdict

Despite it’s lack of features the Fifa 18 Nintendo Switch version still has a lot to offer and if you’re playing just a 1 on 1 match against the computer or online. It is a lot of fun. However if you’re looking for a bit of depth then this game isn’t for you. Fifa 18 is built for the Nintendo Switch. By that we mean, it’s built for a quick match here and there when you’re out and about. Load up a quick game of Fifa and be on your way. That’s the way we see it anyway. Short, quick and fun, much like the Nintendo Switch itself!

 

Purchase Fifa 18 on the Nintendo Switch by clicking here!

To listen to the guys discussing this on the podcast please click here!

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267 – Photography Tips w/Gadgets Jon

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depop

DePop: A Brand New Marketplace

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DePop – Marketplace

DePop is an app where you can sell things online right from your phone! It’s a mobile marketplace, meaning there is no desktop version of the app/platform. Therefore making our lives a whole lot easier!

Designed for the creative community, take a photo of what you want to sell with your phone. Upload it to the app with your phone. Follow your friends and explore all different shops around the world. That’s what your account is. It’s a shop. Not a place where you sell things.

Literally anything is sold on DePop from clothing, jewellery to arts and music, all from around the world. Furthermore there is even an explore page, which is listed from all the things you look at and buy. Purchase with a tap, safely and is your privacy and safety is secure with PayPal integration. Promote your shop on all your social media and grow your hobby into a business!

Community

There’s a HUGE community with over 7million users, shop from 10million different items. There are even local meet ups and lunches from around your city or town!

So whatever your level, either at hobby or business there is no other easy way to get involved in selling your stuff online. As everything is done via your phone there is no need to set up long drawn out item listings. That, is the reason why we, at How To Kill An Hour, love DePop!

What do you think of DePop? Have you used it before? Let us know what you think via our social media pages! We’re @howtokillanhour on all forms of social media!

To download DePop please click here Apple / Android

We also spoke about DePop on the show with Gadgets Jon from Gadgets Boy! To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Huawei Mate 10

Huawei Mate 10: A HUGE screen on a cool phone.

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The Huawei Mate 10 is a smartphone that is HUGE and has a few features up it’s sleeve which separate it from the rest of the pack. Firstly, the Huawei Mate 10 has a FULL HDR display, in glorious 16:9 aspect ratio, making it perfect to watch movies on. It has an almost bezel less design, and a robust glass casing. On both the front and the back of this glorious phone! It’s Android based so all of your favourite apps are capable with it too.

Huawei Mate 10: Battery

As Gadgets Jon discussed in his episode with is the Huawei Mate 10 has a very impressive battery. On the show Gadgets Jon stated that the Huawei Mate 10 could last up to two days from an average user. Rightly so with a HUGE 4000mah battery and optimized with Huawei’s own internal software. The Smart Power Management system helps to optimize the use of the phones power and thus make your phone stay alive for longer.

Huawei Mate 10: Camera

The Huawei Mate 10 has an incredible camera, that unlike other cameras with two lenses. Uses software driven capabilities to recoreate the Bokeh effect. While it also boasts a 1.6 F stop aperture and ‘Real Time Recognition’ Which basically means the phone’s camera will easily be able to recognise the scene that it’s in (Low Light/Day time) and objetcs that are in the shot.

Despite all these super cool features, unfortunately it doesn’t have wireless charging built in. Though that is a minor compared to all the really cool features that it has. Most notably the vivid and crystal clear screen that the smartphone has is one of the best we’ve seen here at How To Kill An Hour!

To purchase please click here!

Listen to the guys chatting about this with Gadgets Jon please click here!

Sony RX100 Mk III

Sony RX100 Mk III – A super camera for beginners

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Gadgets Jon stopped by recently to give his tips on photography and cameras. He shared what he thought is the best camera for beginners looking to make the upgrade from their smartphone. The camera he chose was the Sony RX100 Mk III.

The Sony RX100 Mk III is a POWERFUL camera for it’s size, boasting a huge 20 megapixels! In such as small device is beyond impressive. It also has a lens that is capable of shooting very wide! (24-70mm) As well bringing more in for photographers to get a hold of in their scene. With an aperture of F1.8 to 2.8 allowing macro capabilities and an electronic viewfinder, it will not be long before users are finding their feet and wanting to leave the smartphone behind!

Furthermore the introduction of an electronic viewfinder allows creators to hold the camera steadily and accurately compose a shot at a very quick pace! Something with the use of screens has eliminated and damaged the beauty of a physical viewfinder! Yet it also has one! Futhermore it’s flippable so it’s perfect for all the vloggers out there, so just flip up the screen and see what your shooting behind you!

The Sony RX 100 Mk III has really good low light capabilities too, so no more noisey dark photos taken from your smartphone! The camera is built in a steady and rock solid aluminium frame giving a very premium finish. That even high end camera’s will be jealous of!

Consequently for all those that like to share their photos on the big screen there is Wifi and NFC built in. Allowing a user to easily share their creations to NFC-compatible televisions and Android phones.

Listen to the guys chatting about this with Gadgets Jon please click here!

 

Purchase the Sony RX 100 Mk III please click here!

Reikan Focal

Reikan Focal: Bring Autofocus to life!

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Gadgets Jon recently joined us recently to talk about all things camera work! He spoke very highly of a piece of software that helped him out a lot. It’s called Reikan Focal, is designed to help calibrate a users autofocus.

Reikan Focal: Calibration

Calibration is what is being done to the camera, simply attach a DSLR to a laptop that has the Reikan Software installed on it. Then let it do it’s thing for 90 seconds to 20 minutes. So, attach the FoCal Target to a wall. Place your DSLR on to a camera. Connect it to a camera. Consequently just simply follow the instructions and set up guide step by step. So there’s no hacking required! It’s literally the minimal of interaction from you. Therefore, it simply is the piece of tech you need for all the camera enthusiasts out there.

Yet, as cool as this is, the Reikan Focal will not just calibrate your autofocus. Therefore, it’s even easier to unleash your camera’s abilities! Reikan Focal can also analyse, Aperture Sharpness, Autofocus Consistency, MultiPoint Focus and Dust Analysis.

However, there are two different price points for the calibration software. Each with differing features, while there is a £20 difference between the two.

Feature FoCal Plus FoCal Pro
£39.95 £69.95
Tethered Operation
Fully Auto Calibration
Target Setup
File Mode
Camera Information Tool
Camera Settings Save/Load
Computer Support  Windows &  Mac  Windows &  Mac
Included Updates 12 months 12 months
Autofocus Consistency
Aperture Sharpness
MultiPoint Focus Test
Test all focus points
Dust Analysis
Target Optimisation
Detailed Analysis
Save detailed test reports
Compare your results with 1000s of other users
Review your test history
Long Lens Support Lenses up to 400mm focal length. All lenses, including lenses over 400mm.
Camera Support All Canon & Nikon that support AF adjustment. All Canon & Nikon that support AF adjustment.

(Reikan Focal)

NOTE: Reikan Focal works with Canon and Nikon cameras only (*Models that have autofocus adjustment)

To download Reikan Focal please click here!

Listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Vanacci Lockstone Pendant

Vanacci Lockstone Pendant – Lock in your smell!

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Vanacci Lockstone Pendant – Cologne Saver!

Do you ever find that your perfume/cologne doesn’t last all day? No matter what the adverts say? Well introducing the Vanacci Lockstone Pendant, a really cool pendant that allows you to take control of your cologne! Spray perfume or cologne inside the pendant, screw the pendant back up and the smell will be locked in all day long! Approximately lasting 7 times longer that you normally get. You can use any scent and the pendant is corrosion resistant so you can use this for as long as you want! Since it is very absorbent and doesn’t leak all over your clothes, protecting them from potential stains.

To find out more please click here!

To listen to our latest show please click here!