I-Tech Company

19/10/2015

An Insightful Look at the New Samsung Galaxy Devices

With every new year come new mobile phones, with various phone manufacturers working hard to achieve the best technologically advanced mobile phone, highly competitive against the rivals. The majority of us will always be looking to get our hands on the latest mobile phone and nifty features that will allow us the ability to “do all” with one device. It’s clear that just when we think manufacturers cannot come up with a better smartphone than they already have, we are proven wrong.

Meet the Latest Samsung Smartphone

The new Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are said to bring about revolutionary, unrivalled smartphone features.

A Closer Look at the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge

At first glance, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge appear to be very similar. They are both designed with superb styling and high-tech, yet user-friendly features. Both devices have an excellent High Definition Display. In a departure from previous models, the battery is built-in, which might not find favour with all Galaxy fans. The S6 Edge is distinctly recognized by its curved display and is one of the first smartphones to showcase this chic curved screen. This design offers the user exclusive features embedded within the curved frame such as “People Edge”, “Information stream” and “Night clock”. The phones are made with innovative aeroplane grade aluminium steel and Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It goes without saying that the new Samsung Galaxy phones are not only very attractive but robust too.
Top Galaxy S6 Specs:

Face detection
Smile detection
AF assist beam
Black illuminated sensor
Digital zoom
Voice activation

Additional Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Specs:

Heart rate monitor
Fast charging
Wireless charging
Able to run multiple applications simultaneously
Wake a smaller part of the screen to view notifications
Tracking auto-focus
Fast opening camera
Phone can be used as a TV remote

Price Tag

Both Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and the S6 will be available to purchase in South Africa in April 2015. If you’re looking to get your hands on either of these new Samsung smartphones, you will have to dig deep into your pockets. Research shows that the Samsung Galaxy S6 price will start at about R12,000 for the 32GB and the S6 Edge 64GB will be available from a whopping R16,000. Of course, prices will vary across mobile networks in South Africa.

10/08/2014

Say It with an Image
The field of photo sharing applications is a crowded one. There are thousands of them out there, and new ones seem to be springing up practically every day.
In this (far from exhaustive) overview, we focused on some of the most talked-about photo apps that are: a) dedicated to sharing pictures from a mobile phone; b) free of charge; and c) available on both iOS and Android.
Instagram is the best known of the social photo apps, especially with all the publicity it got when Facebook bought it for about 1 billion US Dollars in April 2012. Instagram has a plethora of editing capabilities. Plus, it is easy to use.
Path. Unlike Instagram, which allows one to follow and be followed by thousands of people, Path asks users to choose a limited number (150, at the last count) of closest friends and family members with whom to share photos and videos in a “private social network”.
Familiar app is also designed for the purpose of sharing photos with family and loved ones. Users can either snap a photo or import existing images from Facebook, Picasa, and SmugMug.
Photobucket lets users upload pictures to the site or download pictures from it, as well as share them on Twitter and Facebook. A separate app, called Snapbucket, was released at a later date for editing and adding filters and frames to the photos.
Shutterfly. Use this mobile app to upload photos to the site and edit and share them while on the go. Users can also order prints and customised photo gifts for friends and family members.
Don’t be surprised if an app mentioned here can’t be found anywhere by the time you decide to download it. Although all were well and alive the last time we checked, photo sharing apps can have a short life span.
Over the Moon with Over

Those who tried it absolutely loved it.
To be fair, Over is not the only app out there that allows users to add text to images. However, this one was declared World’s Best Start-Up at the U-Start conference held in Milan in May 2014.

All visit www.i-tech.co.za

05/05/2014

Should you ditch your low end compact digital camera now that your mobile phone comes equipped with a good (or goodish) camera? The controversy has been raging in the amateur photographic world ever since manufacturers started offering picture taking capabilities with mobile phones at the turn of the century.
Here are the main reasons from the pro-compact camera camp and from the pro-phone camera camp:

*Low end cameras are better, because:**Phone cameras are better, because:

* They have optical zoom.
* They take better images, especially if you need to snap a subject that is only a couple of centimetres away, or a moving subject.
* Compact cameras are more reliable. Your phone batteries will quickly go flat if you take lots of images. Plus, the phone will probably run out of storage faster than you’ll run out of photographic inspiration.
* The lens of the camera is always cleaner than the finger-smudges lens of a phone camera.
* Your camera won’t ring at the critical moment and spoil your shot.
* They enable you to share or upload images as soon as you take them.
* They have bigger and better screens than compact cameras, so you can actually see what you are photographing, even in broad daylight.
* You can go to an apps store and download modes and filters which cheap digital cameras do not have.
* Phone manufacturers are constantly innovating. Digital camera manufacturers are not.
* You always have your phone with you, and if the best camera is the one that’s in your pocket - guess which device takes the title? Should you ditch your low end compact digital camera now that your mobile phone comes equipped with a good (or goodish) camera? The controversy has been raging in the amateur photographic world ever since manufacturers started offering picture taking capabilities with mobile phones at the turn of the century.
Here are the main reasons from the pro-compact camera camp and from the pro-phone camera camp:

*Low end cameras are better, because:**Phone cameras are better, because:*

* They have optical zoom.
* They take better images, especially if you need to snap a subject that is only a couple of centimetres away, or a moving subject.
* Compact cameras are more reliable. Your phone batteries will quickly go flat if you take lots of images. Plus, the phone will probably run out of storage faster than you’ll run out of photographic inspiration.
* The lens of the camera is always cleaner than the finger-smudges lens of a phone camera.
* Your camera won’t ring at the critical moment and spoil your shot.
* They enable you to share or upload images as soon as you take them.
* They have bigger and better screens than compact cameras, so you can actually see what you are photographing, even in broad daylight.
* You can go to an apps store and download modes and filters which cheap digital cameras do not have.
* Phone manufacturers are constantly innovating. Digital camera manufacturers are not.
* You always have your phone with you, and if the best camera is the one that’s in your pocket - guess which device takes the title?

07/04/2014

The Curved Screen

We’ve seen plasma screens, LCD
screens and even LED
LCD
screens, but now here comes Samsung with a revolutionary new technology for an almost affordable price. It’s called OLED, which stands for Organic Light Emitting Diodes.

At around R91359.43 the Samsung
KN55S9C is definitely not cheap, especially when you compare it with those earlier technologies. But if money is (almost) no object and you’re determined to be the first in the neighbourhood with the latest technology, you’ll love this 55-inch curved OLED TV.
What’s so special about the KN55S9C? For the first time, the new technology offers a real infinite contrast ratio, which is definitely not the same as other manufacturers may have been claiming previously.
With the OLED technology, each individual pixel has the ability to change from the darkest black to an extreme brightness, even brighter than an LED or LCD screen can offer, giving a realism and depth to the picture that simply doesn’t exist on other TVs.

The Samsung comes out of the box already mounted in something Samsung calls a ‘Timeless Arena’ frame, which affords a place for the speakers and camera, keeping them well away from the screen itself. This does have a cost in terms of space requirements however, adding around six or seven inches to the overall width and increasing the depth to around 5.3 inches. Add the stand and the overall dimensions creep up to 58.8 inches wide x 30.6 inches tall and 14.3 inches deep.
In addition to the framed screen and the stand, you’ll also find Samsung’s ‘breakout’ box and a ‘One Connect’ cable, the idea being that all your other devices connect to the breakout box and a single cable then connects to the TV.
The breakout box offers a variety of input and output connections:

• Four HDMI inputs
• Two USB inputs
• An Ethernet connection
• Digital and optical audio
• IR outputs
• RS232 outputs

Also in the box are two pairs of active shutter 3D glasses with built-in earbuds. These are the gateway to another Samsung innovation, Multi View. Basically this means that two people can watch entirely different programs full screen simultaneously. The glasses are synched to the TV and each program is shown alternately. And no, the technology doesn’t affect resolution or fluidity of motion.

The curved screen is intended to add to the ‘immersion’ experience and overall depth, but it really doesn’t add to the viewing quality; however it’s the only option currently available.

The conclusion? The Samsung KN55S9C curved OLED TV is just about as perfect as you can currently get, with incredible realism and depth to the picture.

03/04/2014

The Gear Every Vehicle Deserves


Spare tyre, first aid kit, warning triangle: those things are mandatory for every car on South African roads. If driving across the border, you may need to have additional items, such as a high visibility jacket or a fire extinguisher.
On top of obligatory equipment, many drivers lavish additional car accessories
on their vehicles. Here are some of the most popular ones, ranging from practical to flashy (and back).
Well Kitted out
Non-mandatory, but highly recommended car accessories include a basic toolkit; replacement bulbs; jack and tyre iron (if not included with the spare tyre); tow strap; and jumper cables.
Roof rack is a must for even mildly adventurous drivers, because it is impossible to fit a kayak or a pair of skis in the boot. Cycling aficionados will want to have a specialised bike mount at the rear of the vehicle.
The modest cell phone charger, which connects to your phone and to the cigarette lighter in order to recharge your cell phone's battery, is simply a must-have for a long trip (and for drivers who are in habit of forgetting to charge their cell phones).
S***k and Span
Believe it or not, one of the best selling vehicle accessories are… floor mats. Some drivers are so passionate about cleanliness that they (we kid you not) make passengers wipe feet on a mat before entering the vehicle.
Other popular car care products include car vacuums, microfibre cloths and splash guards for exterior protection. To complete the presentation of your spotlessly clean car, make the interior sweet-scented with car air fresheners.
Passenger-Friendly
If you have a child, the proper safety seat is non-negotiable. This is one of the best car accessories for your child and for your peace of mind (so you can concentrate on the business of driving).
And if you often drive with a pet, better get a harness seatbelt. A pet wondering around a car is bad news, for you and for the other participants in the traffic.
A Pleasure to DriveThe modern-day drivers have at their disposal a plethora of gadgets and gizmos designed to make the driving experience easier and more pleasurable.

Practicality-wise, a GPS device is close to the top of the list. With prices of petrol soaring as they do, no one wants to drive around looking for the right address.
Cellphone holders will save you from hunting for your handset while driving. A cheaper alternative is a dash pad, which will keep your mobile, your keys, coins, and other small things in place.
A hands-free cellphone connector is a boon when a call simply has to be made or answered, though talking on a cellphone while driving is never a good idea.
Gloves are another highly recommended accessory. The driving wheel can get really hot under the South African sun. Besides, driving gloves look cool and protect your hands from getting age spots before their time.
It goes without saying that a decent sound system is something no car should be without. However, be kind to your ears and turn the volume down.

What's your take?

14/05/2013

Tuesday 14 May 2013
By Thabop Manase
Question:

What is an IP address and how is it used?

Answer:

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique number assigned to computers connected to the internet. It could be compared to an ID number used by people, as it is a unique number that could be used to identify a specific point connected to the internet.

The IP address is important in geo-tracking because it allows the traffic through a site to be tracked. In doing so the traffic can be locked to a specific region, i.e. keeping to South African traffic only.

It also assists in the prevention of fraud, by making clicks traceable it helps prevent double counting in trying ascertain the amount of traffic through a site.

13/12/2012

www.i-tech.com

The best bandwidth for 2013

I freely admit to being a total geek, and if asked what I want for a new year pressie I'll probably tell you I want more bandwidth. During the year I get many varied questions from i-techcompany readers, and some of the most common ones I still get is for me to explain basic broadband concepts, mostly around the question of what is ADSL bandwidth? Or what are the differences between different types of bandwidth, and what does each type mean. With so many different ISPs in the market it can sometimes be a bit tricky comparing apples with apples when often what you think are apples are actually oranges, or sometimes worse, it is rotten apples.

The most important thing to understand about broadband, specifically ADSL, is what your data cap is. With a broadband service you pay per megabyte of information you send and receive, and your data cap is the amount of data throughput you're paying for, normally measured in gigabytes. That being said there are two kinds of Internet traffic. Local traffic, which is traffic to and from South African sites, and international traffic which is to non-local sites. Why this is important to understand is because some ADSL packages will include an amount of free additional local traffic. This free additional local traffic is known as a soft cap, and its great, because once you hit your soft cap you can still receive your emails and browse to local sites, like your bank or i-techcompany. So what you need to be sure of when choosing your ADSL option is to truly compare like with like. Very often people are not told about the difference between a hard cap and a soft cap, or that a soft cap is available, and that with a hard cap you're cut off and get no more email or browsing the rest of the month.

Soft cap accounts will normally cost a few Rand more, but you cannot beat these for value for money. Before settling on your type of ADSL you should definitely check out your options. For i-techcompany consumers there are excellent ADSL deals to be had with really good value.

Here are my picks for the best use for your bandwidth for the start of 2013

netHACKX - www.nethackz.com

The internet has so much to do and so little time to do it in. This site is a place you can go to for down-to-earth tips and tricks on making your life online more productive.
Armor Games - www.armorgames.com

This site can suck you in for hours. It is full of loads of free browser based games with everything from adventure to arcade to strategy. Lots of fun to be had here.
Geekbrief - www.geekbrief.com

I use this site to keep myself right up to date on the latest in the technology world. These shiny, happy news briefs are fun to watch well researched content.
Evernote - www.evernote.com

I surf the web a lot and I'm always finding useful pieces of information all over the show. The problem is its difficult to keep track of what I saw, and where. Evernote is a tool designed to help with that, and it works really well. Definitely worth trying.
NerdTests - www.nerdtests.com

This site has a lot of fun, DIY personality tests on it. Everything from genuine personality tests right through to the less serious am I a geek tests.
Get Safe Online - www.getsafeonline.org

One of the best personal online safety sites I've seen. A must read for almost everyone.

Have a good, safe year, and of course, lots of fun online. As always, if you need advice on what would be the best broadband for you, I'll gladly help, so please be in touch.

Mr Thabo Manase

LSI Graphic Solutions

13/12/2012

Google Desktop Search - http://desktop.google.com/

Google's Desktop Search is slick, easy to use and fast at finding information on your hard drive. This application displays your search results in a similar way to Google's Internet search. A definite negative point is that it does not preview your files for you and you have to open the file to check.
Microsoft Windows Desktop Search - http://tinyurl.com/msdts

Windows Desktop Search 4 is the search application built into Windows. A plus for this application is you can specify exactly which folders you want to index, which means you can save space on your index file. It also does a great job of putting files into categories.
X1 - http://pro.x1.com/

The best feature of X1 is that it is lightning fast. The interface is a little involved because of the range of options that you have available to you, but if you spend lots of time searching for things, or give up because its too hard to find something, then X1 is the way to go. I use X1 on my PC.
Copernic - http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/

What's great about Copernic is it supports a really big range of file types. What is also very nice is it has an easy to use, intuitive interface with an excellent file preview feature, which means you can literally see what the search has found.

13/12/2012

www.i-tech.co.za
Today a very big proportion of the information we deal with in our daily lives is computerised, with all of it sitting somewhere on our computer's hard drive. The very real problem is though that with just so much information we're suffering from data overload. Its becoming more and more difficult to keep track of the information we have on our PCs. What is often very frustrating is that finding information on our own computers is becoming increasingly difficult, almost as difficult as it is to search and find a relevant webpage using a search engine from amongst the billions of web page that exist. This is a challenge almost all of us have faced, and if you use a computer regularly, you've probably had this problem - you don't even need to have that many documents to understand how difficult it can be to locate files on a PC. In the case of common programs such as Microsoft Outlook and Windows Explorer, these are effective only when you're extremely meticulous in that you have to set up a very specific filing system and then stick right to it. Realistically most people don't do that very well. Windows' built-in search tool can sometimes be a help, but it searches through your files and folders only, not your emails or address book, and is also pretty slow. So, what to do? How do you quickly find what you're looking for?

The answer to this is desktop search. Desktop search is the name for the group of applications which search the contents of your own computer, similar to how an online search engine will search the Internet. These applications are specifically designed to find information on your PC, and will cover almost all of your information including your email, text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, sound files, pictures and video, and even your web browser history. The biggest single advantage of a desktop search program is that you get your search results in only a few seconds. All desktop search application will use the same basic idea. They will creates an index of the data on your PC, building a list of all the words and other data used across your files, also known as an index. The application then lets you search that index, instantly picking out all sorts of related items. These are some of the best I would recommend:

07/12/2012

Music Peeps, Coming Soon on www.i-tech.co.za

Skullcandy hooks up with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company, birthing the ultra-cool Roc Nation Aviator headphones (promo video posted below). Is this another case of expensive audio fashion over acoustic function, or do these earphones have the sound power to match its potent price tag?

07/12/2012

The Kingston DataTraveler 310 is the king of all memory sticks, if you have the need to carry a whopping 256 GB with you in your pocket, then the DT310 is the answer.

07/12/2012

Best Buys for Xmas