The Gadget Man - Technology News and Reviews

Such are the strange times we live in, many of us now face working from home for the first time along with caring for our children. I have worked from home extensively over the past 20 years and I thought I would try and share some tips on how I have been able to work effectively in a home environment. This morning I spoke to James Hazell at BBC Radio Suffolk about the trials and tribulations abou...

In this week’s Gadget Man, I talk to James Hazell about phantom phone calls when phones are set to silent, Zombie Bot Networks, Dyson Hair Straighteners and VAT is finally removed from eBooks! You can listen to the stream (above) or play the video (below) James Hazell: [00:00:00] It’s time. We looked at technology, several things to discuss, not least of which can scammers really make...

This week’s Podcast / Vlog-cast comes from the second floor of Gadget Towers! In this episode, I talk to James Hazell at BBC Radio Suffolk about Apple’s class action settlement regarding the perceived slowing down of older iPhone models. Running a website with an SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt? Check that you don’t need to request a new one as there has been issues with...

This morning was the final of my Mix Tape tracks played by James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk. I’ve attached the YouTube playlist yet again below which will play the interview followed by the track. Two Tribes, by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, is a truly incredible track which absolutely blew the music scene away back in 1984 and launched the band into super-stardom. “From the railway station in...

“I think that there are great ideas which sometimes are rolled out by the wrong people.” This morning was the third of my Mix Tape tracks played by James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk. I’ve attached the YouTube playlist again below which will play the interview followed by the track. This is a track which I find I go to when I need to wind down and relax. It’s great reflection musi...

This morning was the second of my Mix Tape tracks played by James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk. I’ve attached the YouTube playlist again below which will play the interview followed by the track. This is probably one of my favourite pieces of music ever, I don’t know quite where I first heard it, but it is a very, very, very popular dance track. I went on holiday with my parents and some frie...

Motor manufacturer, Kia, have today released a report detailing two pieces of customer research in November 2019 and January 2020, speaking to 3000 UK residents between 16 and 60 about their views on moving to Electric from Petrol or Diesel cars. The research revealed that almost half of those interviewed admitted to over-exaggerating their green credentials to family and friends on subjects such...

This morning was the first of my Mix Tape tracks played by James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk. I’ve attached the YouTube playlist below which will play the interview followed by the track. The transcript of the interview follows below. Gadget Man Mix Tape – Part 1 James Hazell: The mixed tape all this week features the gadget man himself, Matt Porter of Matt Porter web design, our regular gui...

More and more businesses are being targeted by criminals who are hijacking there websites and online accounts in order to blackmail them. Here I am talking to Georgie Jameson on BBC Radio Suffolk about what small businesses can do to protect themselves from these kinds of attacks. The post Gadget Man – Episode 154 – Protecting Small Businesses from Cyber Attacks appeared first on Matt...

This morning I spoke to James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk about the benefits of Dash Cams in cars. During the interview, we discussed both the negatives and positives of these devices and how they can be used as an Independent Witness of an accident or other car-related crime. I’ve been reviewing the Nextbase 422GW Dash Cam over the past two weeks, which will be published soon. In the meanti...

This week I travelled to London to take part in the Hyundai Drive Different Test. In my previous post , I provided details on the thinking behind this initiative. Today, I spoke to James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk about my experience and what I think made driving each car different. Listen to the stream above and view the cockpit videos below to see some of what I experienced during the day. Hyun...

I was hugely excited to be invited to London yesterday to take part in the Hyundai Drive Different Test. During the day, I had the opportunity to drive both a Petrol and Electric powered Hyundai Kona around the streets of Finsbury Park and Highgate. You can watch the video below or listen in to the podcast episode! During the test, my eyes and head were tracked by specialist cameras, my heart rate...

Apparently using your Laptop in a Cafe at the weekend is no longer a ‘thing’. According to the Daily Mail, a cafe owner in Belsize Park has placed a ban on the use of laptops during weekend hours because it takes up valuable space during busy periods. The ban has caused a regular customer to accuse the owner of bullying. Francesca Specter said, “the ban amounts to bullying of tho...

Welcome to Episode 149 – It’s all go again with the mobile phone market in the UK, the confusion surrounding Mobile Virtual Network Operators and actual network operators becomes confusing again! Virgin Mobile is currently carried by EE which in turn is owned by arch-rival BT, so now Virgin is moving to Vodafone. It shouldn’t affect your service, but you should check your coverag...

Yikes!!! From a few weeks back! Here is Episode 148 where I spoke to James Hazell about Three, Vodafone and Samsung… Oh, I also got cut off from Facetime during the conversation. All the issues are resolved now, but it should make informative listening. From Thur 18th October 2019 Image Credit: By comedy_nose under CC BY License   The post The Gadget Man – Episode 148 – Bett...

In the final episode of my Retro Gadget of the Week, I bring you the Nintendo Game Boy . This is an exclusive episode which was never broadcast. I’d like to be able to say it was too hot for broadcast, but in reality, it never made it because of time constraints on BBC Radio Suffolk. But here it is in all its glory, exclusively available to your pleasure! Nintendo Game Boy in front of Assort...

So what has been happening in the Electric Car market over the past couple of years? Well, since my slew of Electric and Hybrid car reviews a couple of years back and our mega-exciting East-West Road Trip in the Tesla Model S 100D, we’ve been quiet on that front.  The absolute opposite of what has been happening in the EV marketplace. I spoke to Graham on BBC Radio Suffolk about what’s...

In our penultimate episode of Retro Gadget of the Week , we take a look at one the most revolutionary moments in computer history,  where an explosion of homegrown talent changed the very face of the personal computer marketplace and faced up directly the power of Silicon Valley with low-cost home computers designed in the UK Commodore VIC20 Personal Computer, my first computer in all it’s 3...

All intelligent science is informing us that it is now past the time to start thinking about our planet and how we should be treating it before we reach its tipping point, the time when we can no longer begin to undo the damage that the human race has inflicted upon it. Our oceans are strewn with millions of tons of plastic, so it is good to read that the big car manufacturers are stepping up to t...

We’re now on the home straight with the Retro Gadgets Series and what better classic gadget to feature but the legendary Nokia 3310 mobile phone. This is certainly a gadget that needs very little introduction, after being introduced in 2000, the handset went on to sell more than 126,000,000 units. What’s more, the handset continues to be used in many households today.  I previously dis...

The UK Government’s ‘Department for Health and Social Care’ have today announced a collaboration between themselves and Multi-Billion Dollar tech firm Amazon to provide NHS website information via the popular Alexa platform. Amazon Dot running Alexa can now assist with NHS based medical information With immediate effect, UK owners of the Alexa based devices such as the Amazon Ech...

Before the age of privatisation of utility companies in the United Kingdom, the General Post Office (GPO) of the United Kingdom was responsible solely for the provision of telecommunication services for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The notable exception was Kingston Upon Hull which has been granted the licence to provide it’s own telephone services in 1906. Alongside its te...

We’re now at part six of the Retro Gadget series. This week I spoke to Matt Marvell at BBC Radio Suffolk about the absolutely amazing Breville Sandwich Toaster! Many a Saturday lunchtime in my youth was provided by this gadget. Where I would mostly find my toasted sandwich contained ham, cheese and tomato, I found in later years there was a myriad of ingredients that could provide fillings t...

Keeping backup copies of your data has never been so important and only this week it has been revealed that a fire at Universal Music has resulted in the loss of the original master tapes of some of the worlds most famous artists. To compound the issue, the backups were kept in the same vaults and seemingly perished resulting in the total loss of the original recordings of the likes of Buddy Holly...

We reach the fifth part of our series on Retro Gadgets and in this one, we focus on the 1st Format Wars where VHS fought Betamax for dominance in the VCR format battle for supremacy. During the ’80s, video entertainment came home with the introduction of the Video Cassette Recorder and with it came competing standards. The Format Wars – Betamax vs VHS The main standards were Sony&#8217...