Tesla batteries that can power homes

Tesla who are known for manufacturing electric cars have unveiled batteries that can power homes and businesses.

This is latest technology the US electric carmaker have revealed as it attempts to expand its vehicle business that very well known for.

The batteries could store solar energy and serve as a back-up system for consumers during blackouts. It can also be used for allowing consumers to get off the power grid and bring energy to remote areas that are not on a power grid.

The rechargeable lithium-ion battery unit would be built using the same batteries that Tesla uses to produce its electric vehicles.

Powewall Unit

The system that manages the batteries is called Powerwall and can be bought for $3,000 (£1,954) for a 7kWh unit. The 10kWh unit will retail for $3,500 (£2,275) to installers.

Powerwall units can be attached to walls. Buying additional units can be attached along with each other to combine its power and the ability to store more energy. Only up to nine units can be attached to each other

Three powerwall units attached to each other

It estimates that one kWh can power a laptop for two days, full washing cycle and boiling a kettle 10 times for two days from the energy comparsion firm, USwitch.

Tesla energy reveals this is a critical step towards a future for zero emission power generation.

Who invented the selfie stick?

The smartphone is now the number one device for almost everyone people to take a quick photographs of themselves or a group. Normally one person in the group would have to hold the camera to a photo but quite recently this has change with the selfie stick!

Group selfie photo

With the selfie stick, an indivdual won't have to be excluded from a group photo or use the timer feature on a camera. The selfie stick can be extended to add distance from the camera and the people getting their photo taking. A button is also included with the stick that can be connected with a smartphone using bluetooth, the user can use to take as much photos as they want with a press of the button.

The gadget can be bought easily and cheaply from online store such as ebay and amazon.

Current selfie sticks

But who is responsible for inventing the selfie stick? An American claimed he was responible for coming up with the idea for a attachable camera stick in 2002 but it was actually much earlier the selfie stick was first invented in Japan.

In 1983, a Japanese camera company called Minolta released the Minolta Disc - 7 camera that was years ahead of its time. The inventor, Hiroshi Ueda said the idea behind the gadget was " I didn't need to rely on anyone else to take a photo - I could take a picture of myself whenever and wherever I liked," says Ueda.

Minolta Disc - 7 (Original selfie stick)

Minolta Disc - 7 Manual

When the original selfie stick, the Minolta Disc - 7 was released in 1983. It was not a commercial success and did not sell as well as expected. It was disappointment for Ueda who still keeps his invention with him at all times as pocket camera, "I use it all the time. Even 30 years ago, when the product stopped selling, I always, always carried a pocket camera and extender stick with me."

New Phantom 3 Drone flys with 4K Video Cam

DJI, the worlds best selling drone-maker have unveiled a new camera equipped model that is able to shoot aerial footage in 4k quality.

Phantom 3 Drone

The ultra high definition format is four times the resolution of 1080p HD which allows video -makers to zoom in and crop the Phantom 3 professional's footage easily without degrading its quality.

It also has an app that controls the camera equipped machines to allow live video streams to YouTube. This can be useful for journalists to show live streams of major events around the world.

Sales have increased over the years for drones from hobbyists to businesses all interested in its latest gadget by DJI.

The new Phantom will come in two different version, an Advanced edition priced at $999 and a Professional version priced at $1,259. The professional version comes with the camera that can shoot 4k quality while the slightly cheaper advanced version shoots in 1080p.

The high quality video shooting ability is the main selling point but the the Phantom 3 also includes the DJI's Lightbridge technology feature that allows the operator to see what the drone sees live and in HD, within a mile range. Both drones also use a three-axis gimbal to stabilize the camera and provide super-smooth video.

The New HTC One M9

I always liked HTC phones due to their nice designs and build quality that can put most smartphones on the market to shame. The new HTC One M9 is still remarkable in many ways. its got good build quality and sleek design and also specs on par with most new smartphones on the market such as the iPhone 6 and Samsung S6.

Design

The phone design hasn't changed from its predecessor, M8 it will looks beautiful and sleek with its silver aluminium finish. The build quality is solid and is a lot heavier than a iPhone.

The BoomSound speakers at the top and bottom do add some length to the length and it doesn't pack the compact nature of other flagship phones HTC has on offer.

Screen 

The new phone's screen hasn't changed much, it still boasts a 1080p resolution, 5-inch but still look great at colour reproduction. 

Features, specs and performance

There are not many new features for the new HTC Once M9 and really doesn't innovate due to brand doing so much already with its previous models. The BoomSound speaker are still present and correct and now imbued with Dolby power to offer virtual surround sound both with and without headphones.

The new smartphone still has a impressive spec list; the de rigeur Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset offers a lot of power without killing the battery, 3GB of RAM allows the One M9 to feel super fast and there's a 32GB of storage with an option for expansion with a microSD slot.

The camera boasts a 20MP with Ultrapixel sensor on the front of the phone that offers better low light snaps for taking photos with your friends.

It is also capable of shooting in 4K but the performance is not at its expected best in terms of exposure. This should improve when the software gets finished.

Verdict

The HTC Once M9 certainly looks and feels like a premium device like the iPhone but the new model doesn't seem to have enough and difference in features and specs to convince owners with its predecessor, the One M8 to upgrade right away.

The Apple Watch is finally here!!! - date, prices and features

The Apple Watch finally has a release date that will see their latest gadget launch on the 24th April. During their recent Apple announcement event, the Apple Watch will brings us three different models - the Watch Sport, Watch and Watch Edition. The price range from $350 (£299) to $17,000 (£13,500). 

 

The three models will officially launch on April 24 in nine countries, US, UK, Austrialia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan. More countries will get the Apple Watch at a later date.

The Price - 

The lowest price for the new Apple Watch starts at $349 (£299) for the aluminum Sport edition that is a small 38mm version and the 42mm size will cost a bit more at $399 (£339). 

The mid range model with its glossier stainless steel, "Watch" collection will start at $549 (£479) and will cost up to $1099 (£949) depending on the Apple Watch size and band configuration.

Finally the top of the range gold "Watch Edition" would cost $10,000 (£8,000) to $17,000 (£13,500) which is incredibly expensive and will only be available in limited supply at Apple stores.

The Features - 

The Apple Watch will be able to do many things such as notifying the user of new messages, Facebook updates and texts without having to take our iPhones out of our pocket.

There will be more ways to interact with the watch, from recieving notifications, to feeling "taptic" feedback, to calling upon siri, according to the developer's WatchKit software.

Also some apps will work without the need of your iPhone including Apple Pay (only available in the US at moment) Passbook flight check-ins, listening to music during a run and tracking fitness metrics.

The watch will have a 8GB storage which will limit the amount of music and photos you can store on the device itself but it has double the space of its other competitor 4GB Android Wear watches and most content streams from the iPhone.

Exercise with Apple Watch

Competitors - 

The Apple Watch is not the first smartwatch in the market, there has been many new smartwatch getting release as the device becomes more and more mainstream to get consumer's interest in the new gadget. The Moto 360, Samsung Gear and the Pebble Time are pushing themselves into the market to become the best smartwatch available. In my recent post, I talked about the Pebble Time smartwatch and can be found here.

Would I buy Apple Watch? - 

I think the Apple Watch is very appealling and would be cool to have it link up with my iPhone to advantage of the apps that you can use and to check my notifications without having to take my phone out my pocket is great. For me I already wear a ordinary watch everyday to check the time,  I would not be in a hurry to purchase the new Apple Watch as I don't feel there enough features on the device to make me want to buy it on release day.

The pizza box shaped oven takes pizza cooking to a whole new level

Have you ever had leftover pizzas that doesn't taste quite as fresh and delicious when you reheat cold slice from last night?

CuiZen PIZ-4012 Pizza Box Oven

Well CuiZen have solved our pizza problems with it's pizza shaped oven made of stainless steel with a 1200-watt heatng that can cook us any 12inch pizzas on top and bottom. To ensure pizzas are cooked evenly, the pizza will be rotated slowly as it's getting heated and a pair of dials on the front lets users set a timer up to 30-minutes long, and a temperture as hot as 525 degrees Fahrenheit.

With a price of $60, it is not cheap as getting a pizza delivered straight to your door from your local pizza place but it's definitely a cool looking cooking gadget to have in your kitchen and more importantly you'll never have to eat cold pizza again.

 

Buy it now from Amazon - CuiZen PIZ-4012 Pizza Box Oven 

Xiaomi launches cheap action camera to rival GoPro

Xiaomi, the makers of smartphones such as Mi3 and the Redmi Note. They are a company based in China and are currently the world's third largest smartphone distributer. Their smartphones are selling like hotcakes in Asian countries as they have specs that can match Apple's iPhones and Samsung's S5 but for a fraction of the price.

But Xiaomi don't just sell smartphones. They have just launched their Yi Action Camera for a very low price of 399 yuan (£41) that to rival GoPro's cameras.

Yi Action Camera

The Yi action camera has pretty good specs that can match GoPros Hero camera specs which is more than double the price of Xiaomi's camera.

Both cameras share a few features they have in common such as built-in Wi-Fi for file transfers and remote control via companion apps. They both have similar battery capacity, identical waterproof depth of 40m, and a handy option of bracket-mounting the device on your chosen helmet, pet harness, or on a vehicle.

Yi Action Camera with pet harness

However when it comes to video quality, the Xiaomi's Yi camera wins due to the device being powered by an Ambraella A7LS image processor paired with Sony's back-illuminated Exmor R BSI CMOS image sensor, which enables it to shoot photos at 16 megapixels and record 1080p video at 60fps. Whereas the GoPro Hero can only shoot at a 5-megapixel resolution and record 1080p video at 30fps or 720 video at 30fps. The Yi camera is also weighs less than its rival at 72g versus the 111g GoPro Hero.

At the moment the device is only available in China but the company has plans to open an online store that will allow people from outside the country to purchase their products directly.

Xiaomi - Yi Sport Camera

Pebble unveil new smartwatch - The Pebble Time

Smartwatches are definitely the must have gadgets nowadays for people who love wearing stylish watches but also want more from their wrist timepiece.

There have been many smartwatch releases from 2014 such as Samsung's Gear S, LG G Watch and the beautiful Moto 360. In spring 2015 Apple will be releasing their own smartwatch, the iWatch. Everyone will be looking at Apple's new gadget watch and how it competes with the smartwatches already in the market.

Samsung's Gear S, LG G Watch and Moto 360

Another smartwatch, The Pebble Time is getting ready to be released through crowd funding website, Kickstarter. The Pebble Time is the company's second smartwatch released through kickstarter which allows people make pledges that allows them to make early purchases of the new gadget.

Pebble brought out their first smartwatch in 2012 which used a e-paper display and can use multiple apps on it. It only costs around £99 which made it one of the cheapest smartwatch available. It raised more than $10m in kickstarter's crowdfunding for its first generation device.

First Pebble Watch

The Pebble Time will have a colour e-paper display that can last up to 7 days battery life. It also has a microphone enabling users to send short voice replies to notifications and messages received from the watch via their smartphone. The new smartwatch will be 20% thinner than its predecessor and comes with a accessories port which allows developers to build hardware for it. The watch will use a feature called 'timeline' that chronologically organises the users alerts.

The Pebble Time

The original Pebble smartwatch has sold more than one million and it looks like there is again huge demand for their new watch device. Currently on kickstarter, the demand for the new Pepple Time watch is clear with well over $4,000,000 pledges already made and counting.

Personally I'll be waiting for Apple to release their version of the smartwatch in April, the iWatch but I am very interested to see how well The Pebble Time will do.

The Pebble Time on Kickstarter

Welcome to my blog!

Hi all!

As part of my Digital Marketing module for uni, I have created this blog to post the latest news in the exciting world of gadgets and technology.

Every week I will present the best new gadgets out there from the latest smartphones to remote control minidrones...