Author: Stephen Fenech

From today customers can get up close to the Apple Watch in Apple Stores and even book an appointment for a fitting – two weeks before it goes on sale on April 24. Apple Stores have been transformed across Australia to give customers a chance to see the company’s smartwatch along with all of the watchbands that go with it. Display tables will showcase every combination of the Apple Watch, available in two sizes – 38mm and 42mm, under a glass panel. Other stations in the store will have the Apple Watch on the tables for customers to interact with.…

Apple has released the iOS 8.3 software update for the iPhone and iPad which adds a number of enhancements and performance improvements. These include iCloud Photo Library, labelled albums in Photos an emoji picker and wireless access to CarPlay. iCloud Photo Library has now lost its beta tag and is the full working version that allows users to replicate their photo library on iCloud to access from any iOS device or a Mac. The Photos app has new labels for the albums including separate folder for panorama shots, videos, slo-mo videos, recently deleted and other albums for pictures captured with…

DJI has revealed its latest drone –  the Phantom 3 – with enhanced features that are designed to make the craft both easier to fly and to take even better photos and videos. There has been a slight design change to the drone and there will be two versions of the Phantom 3 available – Professional and Advanced. The Professional model will include a camera capable of shooting 4K video and capturing 12-megapixel images while the Advanced version can shoot full high definition 1080p video as well as 12-megapixel images. Users can capture some amazing aerial video and pictures and…

The decision in the Federal Court yesterday that will see iiNet handing over details of customers who allegedly illegally downloaded and shared the film Dallas Buyers Club has certainly made huge waves in Australia. The fallout of this decision alone will really make people think twice about illegally downloading content. In a time when any type of content is just a mouse click away and piracy is commonplace, this latest decision will be a wake-up call for anyone who’s ever illegally downloaded content. But will it stop Australians – noted as avid content pirates – from downloading content illegally? Yes…

There has been a major disturbance in the Force. All six Star Wars films – one of the most iconic movie franchises of all time – will be available in digital format for the very first time this week. With the seventh Star Wars film – Episode VII The Force Awakens – is due for release in December, fans can now enjoy the entire saga from a galaxy far, far away anywhere and anytime in high definition on their smartphones, tablets, computers as well as on Apple TV. Episodes I-VI – The Phantom Menace, The Attack of the Clones, Revenge…

In what could turn out to be a landmark case, the Australian Federal Court has ordered iiNet and other internet service providers to hand over the details of customer who allegedly illegally downloaded the Oscar-winning film Dallas Buyers Club. Justice Nye Perram ruled that iiNet and other ISPs including Dodo and Internode, will be required to divulge the identities and addresses of users who allegedly illegally downloaded and shared the film to Dallas Buyers Club LLC. In one of the biggest decisions against online piracy, the case was centred on users who allegedly not only illegally download the movie but…

Tech and gadget lovers lend me your ears and tune in to Episode 142 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast hosted by editor Stephen Fenech for the latest news and reviews. On this week’s show, the Apple Watch pre-order procedures are revealed along with guided tour videos of the device’s features. Also on the program, Microsoft unveils the Surface 3 tablet and the Moovit app that has been released in Australia to streamline your public transport journey. In the Tech Guide reviews we take a look at the new Samsung Galaxy S6 edge smartphone with curved screen edges, the Fenix…

The latest 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display might not look any different to the last model but one big change is the new Force Touch trackpad that allows users to interact with the computer and their documents in a different way. Apple has re-engineered the new MacBook Pro’s trackpad with a re-invented mechanism and new capabilities. The old track pad had a “diving board” design which meant clicks were best registered on the bottom half of the pad. But the new Force Touch trackpad has a sensor below each corner so now you can click anywhere on the surface…

Samsung needed to come up with something special this year with its hero smartphone – the Galaxy S6 – and not only has done that it also released a second device – the Galaxy S6 edge. The feature that sets the device apart is the curved left and right edges of the screen. And like the Galaxy S6 – the S6 edge has a 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display and 16-megapixel camera. Also under the hood is an octa-core processor – made up of a quad-core 2.1Ghz processor and 1.5Ghz processor and running Android’s latest 5.0 Lollipop operating system.…

Apple has just released a series of guided tour videos for the upcoming Apple Watch that offer a closer and more comprehensive look at the operation and features of the device. The videos introduce the controls for the Apple Watch as well as the touch sensitive screen and how they are used to navigate the device and connect to the people you know. There are other videos that take a more in-depth look at messages, changing the watch faces and how digital touch works. In the coming days Apple will roll put more videos about using Apple Watch to make…

Apple today announced the pre-order time and procedures for customers who want to reserve one of the 38 variations of the highly anticipated Apple Watch. Customers can pre-order the Apple Watch from 5.01pm on April 10 for delivery or in-store pick-up on April 24. The Apple website allows users to pick their favourite models which will be saved in their account for easy comparison and to speed up the pre-order process. Customers can also make 30-minute appointments for fittings of the Apple Watch from 9am on April 10 when the stores open. There are 38 models of the Apple Watch…

There’s a lot of attention on watches at the moment – smartwatches, fitness watches and Bluetooth watches – but one company that’s been around all along is Garmin and its latest Fenix 3 watch is a combination of all of these models. The Fenix 3 is a rugged sportwatch with GPS onboard and a 1.2-inch display that’s easy to read even in bright sunlight. The device is aimed at athletes, adventures and anyone who loves the great outdoors. On the design side, the Fenix 3 is made from stainless steel.  It is smart and stylish and, despite the numerous features…

Episode 202 of the top-rating Two Blokes Talking Tech podcast, with Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long, brings you the latest tech news, reviews and opinions in a light-hearted yet informative way. This week, the blokes talk about Telstra’s unprecedented new data bonuses on its mobile plans, the launch dates of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge and issues customers are having with their Foxtel iQ3 set-top-boxes. Also on the show, the new Microsoft Surface 3 tablet that will be aiming to take on Apple’s all-conquering iPad and the new LG home entertainment line-up of 4K…

Tech Guide has taken a first look at the next evolution of Google’s Android operating system – Android Auto – which allows users to take advantage of the powerful platform’s features safely behind the wheel. Our hands-on look at Android Auto was on a Pioneer AVH-X8750BT system (priced at $1,149) which hooks up to an Android smartphone running the latest Lollipop operating system. There’s also the top-end system – the Pioneer AVIC-F70DAB ($1,999) – which can also connect and Android smartphone or iPhone and provide all of these capabilities. Once the phone is connected, drivers can put the device away…

Microsoft has revealed an all-new tablet – Surface 3 – a thinner, lighter and cheaper version of the popular Surface Pro 3 which will still boast the full power of Windows and Office. Available to purchase on May 5, Surface 3 will try and challenge the iPad’s iron grip on the tablet market with an affordable price and a range of attractive features. These will include the full version of the Windows 8.1 operating system which can be updated to the latest Windows 10 when it is released – for free. Priced from $699, Microsoft’s new Surface 3 is powered…

Moovit – the popular public transport app that can make your travels on buses, trains, ferries and trams even easier – has officially arrived in Australia after a successful beta trial. One of the world’s fastest growing apps, Moovit has already been launched in more than 500 cities in 45 countries and boasts more than 15 million users. It is now available for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth. But unlike other public transport apps, Moovit allows users to share live travel information for the benefit of other commuters. With the app it’s possible to send and view…

Tune in to Episode 141 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast, hosted by editor Stephen Fenech, for the very latest consumer tech news and reviews that are relevant to you. On this week’s show, Telstra shakes things up with data bonuses on its mobile plans, Samsung announced official pricing and launch dates for the Galaxy S6 and the S6 edge and World Backup Day is here to remind us about the importance of saving and protecting our data. In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a close look at the HTC One M9 smartphone, the Arlo wire-free security camera from…

LG has provided an inside look at its 2015 range of 4K Ultra High Definition and OLED televisions with even larger screens and boasting the latest technology for enhanced picture quality. LG has been hard at work improving the viewing experience on their latest TVs across the board including colour, luminance, enhanced computing power and an improved operating system. 4K Ultra High Definition continues to be a priority for LG and will represent 66 per cent of the company’s latest range. Screen sizes are also getting bigger with 38 per cent of LG’s 2015 range at between 65-inches and 98-inches.…

Samsung has officially announced the Australian launch date and pricing for its highly anticipated Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge smartphones along with the date when customers can pre-order the device. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge will be available on April 10 with pre-orders kicking off online at 5pm today and in-store from tomorrow through selected operator partners. Each of the models will be available in three different memory capacities – 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. The Samsung Galaxy S6 will be priced at $999 (32GB), $1,149 (64GB) and $1,299 (128GB). The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge will…

Tomorrow – March 31 – is World Backup Day, a day created to correct the alarming trend that many people don’t protect and backup the personal data and files stored on their computer. In the past 25 years the amount of personal data has grown one million times and has become more valuable than the device itself. But according to a survey conducted by backup software company Acronis, more than 50 per cent don’t actually backup their data at all while only one third protect their entire computer system instead of just selected files. “These numbers are worrying because the…