It is time for me to have a clear out. I've got hundreds of books which I've replaced with eBook, CDs which I never listen to, and DVDs I'm ashamed to own. Selling them individually on eBay or Amazon sounds like a lot of hard work... That's where Zapper and MusicMagpie come in. Both offer the same basic service: Scan the item's barcode with the app. The app makes you a cash offer for your book/CD/DVD. You send a big box of your stuff to them. They send you money. Let's get one thing out…
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This is a sponsored post by LOPOO UK who've asked me to review their Oittm Bluetooth Headphones. There's a lot of technology packed in for £19.99. Bluetooth 4.1 - compatible with Android and iPhone. cVc noise cancellation - for improved call quality. A physically tiny 70 mAh battery - good for around 3-6 hours of use. I found it fully charged in around 2 hours. Flat cable which feels rubber coated and is sweat-proof. All this weighs just 16.5 grams. So, what's inside …
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Is it the end-of-days for the humble headphone jack? As Apple prepare to remove it from their next iPhone - with Android manufacturers no-doubt following suit - I thought now would be a good time to look at the previous occasions when smartphone makers have tried to kill the headphone jack. This is a non-exhaustive history, mostly drawing from my industry experience and drawers full of old phones! Firstly (although not chronologically) special mention must go to… The original iPhone! Yup, i…
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A couple of months ago I was giving a talk in Romania - the organisers had set up a technology expo showing off some great local start-ups. One which caught my eye was TinTag. Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentTintag is pretty clever. BLE beacon but has built in Qi recharging. Very useful. thetintag.com#DevTalks pic.x.com/sjizdew274❤️ 3💬 2🔁 010:29 - Wed 11 May 2016 I've previously reviewed the Chipolo - which is a similar beacon/tracker. So I thought I'd give this one a go. At the airport…
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Like many people, I can't be bothered using Facebook's mobile app. I live my life in the browser and don't need a battery-hungry, always listening, contact stealing app notifying me every five minutes. I check Facebook Messages when I want. If it's urgent, there are many better ways to contact me than Messenger. Until recently, all was well in the world. I happily used Facebook's mobile web site. Then this happened. That, frankly, is bullshit. Why do I need an app to display messages? …
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Parking in London is a pain in the arse. As I drive an electric car, I'm spared the cost of the Congestion Charge, but I still have to stalk the back-streets looking for an available parking bay - or pay through the nose for an NCP space and hope I can squeeze in between the concrete pillars. That's where London-based startup Vallie comes in. On-demand car parking in London for £5/hour - with a maximum charge of £25 per day. Here's how it works: Use the Vallie app (Android or iPhone) t…
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I love my keyboards. I mean, I have an unhealthy obsession with them. I spend a lot of time typing and the cramped keyboards which come with most laptops and MacBooks just don't cut it for me. Their poor ergonomics leave my wrists in pain. For years I was a devotee of the Microsoft 4000 Keyboard. It's a big old beast - and that's its main drawback; it's just too large to carry around. It could also do with an integrated USB hub if it's going to take up one of my precious laptop ports. So…
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Last week I was contacted by the BBC's consumer affairs programme "You And Yours" for my expert opinion on a new type of mobile phone scam. Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentWarning! I'll be on @BBCRadio4's You And Yours shortly.Please tune your wirelesses accordingly. pic.x.com/6f3zsiwuin❤️ 4💬 1🔁 011:18 - Mon 11 April 2016 Several people had contacted the show to say that they had missed calls from the number "08454290015" or "08439800142" - despite not answering the call, nor dialling it them…
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This is a quick unboxing / set-up / review of the Chipolo. This was a nifty piece of schwag from the Twitter Developer Relations team, to whom I'm grateful. The Chipolo is a multi-purpose Bluetooth Low Energy tag. It's like a high-tech version of one of those things which you attach to your keyring which will beep when whistled at. As the box says, it will work up to 60 meters away. It'll beep when you lose it, and it can make your phone beep if someone moves it out of range - handy if…
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Imagine, just for a moment, you could tell someone's most intimate secrets just by looking at them. Many year ago, when I was very young and you were even younger, I saw an advert in the back pages of some cheap comic. The implication was clear - SEE GIRLS NAKED! The reality was somewhat more prosaic. But technology marches on. Today, you can buy a smartphone with a thermographic camera. Point it at whoever you like and uncover them. A glance is all it takes. He's lying. She's…
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Four years ago, I wrote an article for Moo.com about using QR Codes on business cards. At the time, it was the easiest way to get VCARD information from a physical card and onto a phone. I notice that Moo are now selling NFC enabled business cards. As regular readers know, I'm not a great fan of NFC - mostly because it's so expensive. The NFC cards are £1.20 each - the regular cards cost just 26p each! What if we change the idea of what a business card is? Why do I need to hand over a …
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There's a pernicious myth - often spread by tabloids - that the poor and hungry don't deserve the meagre possessions which make life worth living. You see this in headlines like "Benefit Scum Have Flat Screen TV!" It ignores the fact that a) they may have bought the TV when they had disposable income, b) that a TV can provide nearly limitless free entertainment, and c) Flat Screen TVs are really fucking cheap! As the refugee crisis in Europe grows, there are those who wish to exploit human…
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