What I Want for Christmas?

This is a short review of what is available on the market for computer based things.Because the cost of memory is very low and the chip makers are making more and more sensory chips, i.e. ones that sense movement, temperature, light levels, location (GPS), sound etc., more and more devices are becoming smart.

Smart versions are available, not only for your mobile telephone, but for home heating, televisions, smoke and gas alarms, burglar alarms, security cameras, ordinary photo cameras, printers, wearable technology, etc.

Some of these devices need to alert you of impending trouble, smoke detection for example, so the need is there for them to contact you in a hurry, and the device now chosen is the smart phone. Others just use the smart phone as a convenient control device. Therefore the smart phone tends to be the key product to start with.

Smart PhonesSmart phones have a starting cost of about £80 for a pay-as-you-go one or £12 a month for a 2 year contract one.

The one I use is the Moto e which is made by Motorola and is on a 4G network at £10/month from Tesco. 500GB data and 250 minutes of phone calling. 5000 texts.Other creditable ones are Samsung Galaxy range or, for those with Windows 10 on their PC's, the Lumia range from Microsoft are interesting.

So many devices are dependant for most of their efficiency on you home router. If you are lucky enough to have fibre fast broadband, so much the better. It is the router that channels the information from home smart devices back and forth between your home based smart devices. So an important piece of kit.

Home DevicesThree home based devices I will mention, the home heating control, the home smoke cum gas alarm, and the home security camera.

Home heating controllers improve the efficiency of your heating. It can it turn off when you leave the house by detecting that there is no one in and turn it back on when you are about to return. (Using GPS). Three systems I will mention, The Nest, the Hive and the TadoThe Nest Thermostat. £179The Hive. £249 including installation.Tado, smart thermostat £200

The Nest Protect.

This is a smoke detector cum carbon monoxide detector (and night light).It tests itself regularly, and speaks to advise you of a problem. It communicates with your smartphone if you are elsewhere and can call the emergency services if you don't or cannot respond.

The Nest CameraMonitors your home when you are not in. Use your smartphone, tablet or laptop when you are not at home to see what is going on.

Wearable Technology(not to mention implantable devices)Smart Wristband Fitness MonitorsFitbit FlexThis is a straight forward wristband with no screen but has a series of LED indicator. It records the steps taken, distance travelled and calories burned. It records the active minutes as well as the sleep hours including the quality of your sleep. You can alsoset a silent wake alarm to when you are ready to get up and start your day. The band is water resistant so you can take it outdoor. Use the online and mobile tool to set and track your goals as well as interact with others and see how you perform on a leader-board.

The FitBit Surge super watch is designed for fitness minded people. It has a built-in GPS, multisport functionality, along with a continuous heart rate sensor to monitor yourbeats per-minute to give the best possible stats for a training regimen. It also has an activity tracker, automatic sleep detecting sensor, along with text and call notifications.

The Fitbit communicates with your phone and tablet.

The JawboneThe Jawbone UP3 is a wearable wristband that has state of the art sensors built into itto track your health on the go. It has a built in heart health sensor that can measure and track your resting heart rate while you are working or at home relaxing. It can automatically sync data of your workouts onto your phone to keep track of your daily and weekly workout regimen. It has a water resistant design along with a full week of battery life before it needs to recharge.

Smart WatchesThe Apple Watch is probably the most publicised what what can it do for you? If you subscribe to “Apple Pay” you can pay for your shopping (no the Apple Watch will not do the shopping for you). It can monitor your fitness, your heart rate, the calories you are burning, browse, maps, and control your music. It can even tell the time. £315 from Amazon.

The Windows Band is for people who want to live healthier and achieve more there is Microsoft Band. Reach your health and fitness goals by tracking your heart rate, exercise, calorie burn and sleep quality, and be productive with email, text and calendaralerts on your wrist. If you are playing golf it can tell you the distance from the hole using its GPS and you can talk to it (Cortana) to dictate your emails, etc. £199 from Amazon

Hannspree PrimeThe Hannspree Prime SmartWatch is a standalone Smart Watch boasting integrated SIM support. It can Pair with a smart phone to relay alerts of incoming calls and messages but most notably it can support an independent SIM and provide most of the features and functionality of a smart phone such as sound recording music player contacts menu on-board camera, it even offers a remote camera shutter. £57 from Ebuyer.

Memteq DZ09 Memteq is a Hongkong based company selling through Amazon and Ebay £15 to £30

Cameras A new breed of camera is now with us fitted with WIFI and GPS. These cameras can tell you where you are in the world, useful tagging when you are on holiday, and can be operated from you smart phone remotely. For example, the Panasonic Lumix DMC- TZ60, which also has an electronic viewfinder as well as a large screen, will do all this for around £236.

Blood Pressure monitors. Yes even blood pressure monitors are getting in on theWiFi. Communicating and assessing your fitness via an app on your smart phone. The Lidlversion of this, the Sanitas, is £19.99. More my price bracket.

Getting away from the smart devices and wireless equipment, perhaps more basic equipment is of more interest. Lets try Laptops. (Notebooks)I doubt whether there are many of us who need high powered fast units for games. We are more likely looking towards a middle of the road unit. I have recently upgrade my old Toshiba to an Assus X555L which has a Pentium i3 processor and 4GB of RAM. Sainsbury's were selling them at £290 discounted from £380. High end units may cost you as much as £1700.

TabletsThere are very many companies making or having made for them a range of Tablet Computers. The display sizes are generally 7”, 8”, and 10” The Apple Ipad.The original, successful designed unit, came from Apple and was a 10” device. The success of smaller competitor’s versions prompted Apple to produce a Mini version, the 7” one.Although this is generally reckoned to be the best from build and apps. point of view, it is also the most expensive and many consider it to be overpriced. The Mini Ipad 2 is priced at £219 with a 16GB of Storage, (I’m not sure whether it has a SIM card facility.) If your going to use it for gaming or films it may not be enough. 32GB would be better at £259. The Ipad 2 has been superseded by the 3 and the 4 butthe differences are minimal. From 2 to 3 is the addition of a finger print reader for security. The cost of the 3, 16GB is £319 and the 4, 16GB is £479.

The Hannspree HANNSpad.This company is Taiwanese and its origins relate to its product manufacture of the glass panels for original equipment makers.It is probably one of the cheapest range of products available although the specs are generous.

10.1” WiFi at £75

8” with 3G at £100

Asus Tablets

ASUS MeMO Pad ME181CX 8GB Tablet

Specification Operating System AndroidTM 4.4 Display 8" LED Backlight WXGA (1280x800) Screen IPS Panel 10 finger multi-touch support CPU Intel® Atom™ Z3745 Quad-Core, 1.33 GHz, up to 1.8 GHz, 64bit Memory 1GB

Storage

8GB eMMC

Wireless Data Network

WLAN802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth V4.0

Camera

0.3 MP Front Camera 2 MP Rear Camera Audio Stereo Speakers with SonicMaster technology

Interface

•1 x Micro USB •1 × 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic-in) •1 × Micro SD Card Reader,up to 64GB Sensor G-Sensor Battery 9 hours; 15.2Wh Li-polymer Battery *3 Navigation GPS & GLONASS

Color White

Dimensions 124.9 x 211.7 x 8.8 mm

Nexus 7Perfect for life on the go, the Google Nexus 7 combines all the features you need in a tablet; it boasts a 7" display with a vibrant 1920x1200 resolution for incredible visuals in full HD, 16GB of on-board storage and a 5 megapixel rear camera as well as a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera.

Weighing only 290g, the tablet’s ultra-thin 8.65mm profile hosts a Qualcomm®

Snapdragon™ S4 Pro processor and runs on the versatile Android™ operating system. With the Google Play™ Store you can access thousands of music, games, social networking and news apps.

Great for gaming, the Google Nexus 7 tablet is motion sensitive with functions such as tilt, tap and touch to help you progress your way to the top. Alternatively, the Google Nexus 7 gives you the chance to kick back with the world’s largest collection of eBooks,stream radio, listen to music or even immerse yourself in thousands of movies and TV shows on Google Play.

The Google Nexus 7 also comes with all your favourite applications including Gmail™,YouTube™ and Google+ Hangouts™. Wi-Fi enabled, the Google Nexus 7 tablet includes a 2-in-1 audio jack and a micro USB port, along with up to a 10 hour battery life for prolonged use, accommodating the hectic lifestyle of today.

No expansion card

Samsung Galaxy TAB 4 John Lewis £129SIM card up to 64GB. 7 inch screen

Hudl From Tesco8.3 inch £99

Ken Chatters2nd November 2015

For Christmas?

Moto G 3rd. Generation Moto E 2nd. Generation Lumia 640

£100£140£125

Smart Phones

For ChristmasNest Hive

£179 £250 inc Installation

For Christmas

The Nest

Rethink your heating system.

Over 60% of your energy bill goes to heating your home. But for most people, heating is guesswork. The Nest Learning Thermostat gives you precise control of the temperature, creates a personalised schedule for your home and eliminates the need for a programmer. So you can save energy. Simply.

For ChristmasThe Hive

For Christmas

£89

For Christmas

For Christmas

The Nest Cam

For Christmas

Fitbit Flex £48 Microsoft Band £199 from Amazon

For Christmas

Microsoft Band

For Christmas

John Lewis £50Ebay £30

Jawbone UP 24

For Christmas

For Christmas

For Christmas

For Christmas

£57.00 ebuyer

For Christmas

For Christmas

For Christmas

£27.98 from Ebay

For Christmas

£19.99 inc post from Ebay

For Christmas

DZ09 by MEMTEQ

For Christmas

MEMTEQ DZ09

For Christmas

Panasonic DCM TZ60 Travellers Camera

£236 from John Lewis

For Christmas

Assus X555LA£300

For Christmas

Mini iPad 2 £219 for 16GB and £259 for 32GB

For Christmas

Samsung

Gaxaxy Tab S2, 8” at £399

Galaxy Tab 4, 7” at £129

For Christmas

For Christmas

ASUS Google Nexus, 7" Tablet, 16GB, WiFi - Black (2013)£157

For Christmas

Hannspree 10.1”8GB £75

16GB £95

For Christmas

For Christmas

ASUS ZenPad Z170C 7" Tablet - 16 GB, Black £80

2mb cameraSD card slot

For Christmas

Streetwise from Argos£25

Ebay £11

For Christmas

Details about 120°Car Camera Full HD 1080P DVR Video Recorder Camcorder Dash Cam Night Vision

From Ebay £10

For Christmas

Garmin from Halfords £108

Garmin Dash Cam 10 HD Vehicle Driving Recorder