If you are unfortunate to either break your smartphone or for it to develop a fault, it can be a tricky business find a reliable repair service.
I was recently approached to take a look at iMend.com and was impressed to find an easy to navigate website and very transparent repair service. The icing on the cake is that you can either send your smartphone in for repair or they can come to you.
Check out the video below for more details.
Please note: This is a sponsored video.
Christmas; a time where the snow falls, trees are decorated and we all flock to shopping centers and malls to scramble for Christmas gifts and it just so happens that tech is usually number one on peoples gift lists. So let’s count down this year’s top 5 tech gifts for Christmas 2014, selected by Geekanoids guest writer Ben Smith.
5. Google Nexus 9
Google knows a thing or two about making great tablets for even better prices. The Nexus 9 is no exception, the 8.9- inch screen looks amazing as does the smile on the receiver of this tablet’s face after they see the speed and overall great performance of this device. Google has done it again and you won’t regret buying this for someone this Christmas.
4. Apple MacBook Air
There’s really nothing to say about this laptop that hasn’t already been said. Great performance, sleek and sexy design, along with all the useful features that Apple is known for. Mix that with the long battery life and great operating system (OS X YOSEMITE) this laptop is sure not to disappoint this Christmas season.
3. Google Nexus 6
Okay, so here’s another Nexus device, only this time it is a phone. Google gave the task of building the new Nexus phone to Motorola and so far they haven’t disappointed. This is a quad-core phone with great specs, build quality and an even better experience. If you’re shopping for an Android fan in the market for a new phone this Christmas season, this is the phone to get.
2. Apple iPhone 6
Well, again Apple has made a killer smartphone with a great design, amazing operating system and features that just feel right. Touch ID is welcome return, along with a better camera and user performance. I’ve always argued that 4.7 inches is the sweet spot for so many people and people are responding very well to the bump up in screen size. This is the phone to have for any Apple junkie this Christmas season.
1. Apple iPad Air 2
As luck would have it, this top 5 has been Apple and Google, so to stay consistent, number one will be an Apple product, a very good one at that. We loved the original iPad Air and this new rendition is even better. All the features we loved before make returns such as; a beautiful screen, great battery life and a tablet expirence that’s second to none. Throw all that on top of even better specs and the debut of Touch ID on a tablet. Makes this the number one Christmas gift for 2014.
Well folks, there you have it, my top 5 gifts for Christmas 2014. Remember that while all these are what I consider the cream of the crop, always buy what’s right for you. Be sure to follow Geekanoids on YouTube, as well as the website and social media for great tech insight. Have a very merry Christmas, consider donating to a food bank this holiday season and remember if you’re planning to have a great time this Christmas season, remember to never drink and drive and always use a designated driver.
By: Ben Smith - Twitter
Microsoft has announced that office for iPad is coming soon and will officially unveil it next week during a press event. The event will be the first time we see new CEO Satya Nadella speak publicly to the press since replacing Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft.
Reports say that Microsoft is sending invitations to some members of the press regarding the press event in San Francisco taking place on March 27. It is thought Nadella will himself introduce Office for iPad which is rumoured to closely resemble Office for iPhone which launched last year.
Office 365 allows subscribers to install office on up to five devices excluding Windows Phone and Windows RT devices which get free access. As with the iPhone version users will be able to view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the go.
Nadella recently spoke of his intentions to prioritise cloud services and in particular cloud services on mobile devices so this fits in with that vision. Microsoft also recently made OneNote available on Mac as part of this effort.
We are likely to hear lot more from Microsoft about it’s future plans at the Build Developer Conference which starts on April 1st. The biggest announcement will likely be the release of Windows 8.1 update 1 but it will be interesting to see what else they have up their sleeve under the reign of Satya Nadella.
Apple yesterday released the much anticipated iOS 7.1 update for all devices capable of running iOS 7 so that’s iPhone 4 and later and iPad 2 and later and both iPad mini devices. iOS 7.1 contains some significant features including the addition of CarPlay, formerly known as iOS in the Car. This allows users with a ‘CarPlay’ enabled vehicle to use features of their iPhone using the cars dashboard touchscreen for features such as sending and receiving texts answering and making calls and interacting with Siri.
The update also fixes the issue whereby the touch ID was not very responsive for the iPhone 5S and brings stability and performance improvements to the aging iPhone 4. Having tested iOS 7.1 on an iPhone 4 I can confirm that this update has significantly improved the experience of iOS 7 and the iPhone 4 runs a lot smoother than it did prior to this update. Many iPhone 4 users have complained about the poor performance of iOS 7 on their iPhone so I would encourage anyone still using an iPhone 4 to update and reap the benefits.
Other users have complained about a ‘White Screen of Death’ since the launch of iOS 7 particularly on the iPhone 5S and 5C and this has also been addressed in the latest update with Apple claiming they fixed a bug that may cause the homescreen to crash.
There were numerous other small updates and tweaks such as those listed below:
CarPlay: formerly known as iOS in the Car, which supports iPhone calling, music, maps, and messaging. It also allows users to control certain functions through iOS’ in-built voice-activated assistance Siri;
Siri improvements: Including natural-sounding voices for U.K. English, Australian English, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese. You can also use it in push-to-talk mode by holding the Home button for the duration of your query;
Calendar changes: The list view has returned in month view, and the update has also included country-specific holidays added for many locales;
iTunes Radio updates: The radio feature, first introduced in iOS 7, has been updated with new features, including the ability to buy albums over-the-air from “Now Playing”;
Accessibility additions: The “parallax” motion feature option now includes Weather, Messages, and multi-tasking user interface animations;
Camera settings bolstered: Including a setting that allows users to automatically enable HDR mode for iPhone 5s users;
Touch ID improved: The software that controls the biometric reader has been improved to make fingerprint recognition better.
To update your device to the latest firmware simply go to the settings app, tap about and then check for updates. As always you can also update to the latest version of iOS by connecting your device to your computer and using iTunes which may be your only solution if you are currently running a Jailbreak on your device. Please be aware that as discussed last week if you update to this firmware you will lose any active jailbreak currently on your device.
Image Courtesy of KĀRLIS DAMBRĀNS (Flickr)
Nearly three and a half years after the debut of a dedicated Apple Store app for iPhone, Apple is launching a new iPad version of the application today, reports TechCrunch. The new app, which appears to be U.S.-only for the time being, offers a "sparse" iOS 7 design aesthetic and makes use of high-quality images and context-aware panels to offer an exceptional user experience...
Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours
The experts at iFixit have performed another one of their usual high-quality teardowns on Apple's new iPad mini with Retina display, revealing that while the device is nearly unchanged visually from the original iPad mini, it features a number of internal upgrades such as an A7 chip and M7 motion coprocessor alongside the new high-resolution display...
Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours
Apple's new iPad Air marks a significant technological step forward for the company, improving performance while reducing the device's volume and weight by over 25%. Much of the size and weight savings have been enabled by improved power efficiency, allowing Apple to reduce the device's battery thickness and capacity by roughly the same 25%...
Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours
According to a survey by PiperJaffray, 75 percent of U.S. iPad Air purchasers on launch day already owned an iPad, compared to only 58 percent for last year's iPad mini launch.
Gene Munster, a PiperJaffray analyst, believes the U.S. market may be getting slightly more saturated.
Surveying 71 day-one iPad buyers, Munster found that the early-adopter upgrade cycle is around 23 months, significantly shorter than the general public's upgrade cycle of 30 months. Also, the average capacity purchased today was 59.7GB versus 40.5GB for the 3rd-generation iPad launch...
Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours
Apple was once again the talk of Twitter during a media event that introduced new iPads and revealed that Mavericks would be released free of charge. The Cupertino company's event spawned more than 770,000 tweets between 10:00 a.m PT and 12:00 p.m. PT, according to data shared with CNET by analytics firm Topsy.
Collectively, the people of Twitter showed the most enthusiasm around the lighter, full-sized iPad Air and the new Mac operating system, but the top tweets surrounding the affair, measured in retweets and replies, highlight a mix of different emotions.
From 10:00 a.m PT to 12:00 p.m PT, actor Darren Criss, seemingly an enthusiastic Apple fan, had the top four tweets, which altogether generated 1,753 retweets and replies during the two-hour block...
Read the full story here... Source: CNET
Five months after it was initially announced, and after an unplanned delay due to unexpected demand, BlackBerry Messenger is finally launching on iOS. The app, which is similar to Apple’s own iMessage, was first announced back in May. It should launch on the App Store later today.
Back in September, the BBM for Android and iOS apps were delayed after an unreleased version of BBM was leaked that "caused issues" with the BBM servers...
Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours
According to ex-Apple Developer Relations employee and industry analyst Jamie Ryan, Apple has been testing a first-party keyboard case to be potentially released alongside the upcoming fifth-generation iPad. The case itself would reportedly be similar in nature to Microsoft's Touch Cover, which is made for the Surface line of tablets...
Ryan also adds that the primary motivation behind the development of the case is that Apple's current Bluetooth keyboard is not as integrated as Microsoft's Touch Cover, and that Apple is interested to create a better keyboard solution for the full-size iPad in order to distinguish it from the iPad mini. The analyst also adds that other cover-like accessories are also being looked at for release...
Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours
If history is any indication, we can expect Apple to unveil the latest iPad and a new iPad Minisometime this fall. In October 2012, Apple updated its popular Retina Display iPad with slightly better specs and introduced a smaller, more portable tablet called the iPad Mini.
The rumor mill quieted for a few months after last fall's iPad launches, but it didn't take long before people started wildly speculating about the next generations of Apple's tablet line. Now, with possibly only a few weeks to go before we expect to see some new iPads, the rumors of a delayed iPad Mini with Retina Display and a thinner iPad 5 are cropping up every few days...
Read the full story here... Source: CNET
