Technicational

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the leader in digital convergence technology, expands the Samsung Experience in Jamaica with the opening of Samsung’s second Experience Store in our small country called Jamaica. On February 13, 2014 they opened the second Samsung Experience Store in Montego Bay.

After the success of the first store, opened last September, they announced the grand opening of the second Samsung Experience Store in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The intention is to reach a wider audience and provide the customers the opportunity to discover the functions and features of innovative products on that side of Jamaica. This is just another step in the continued growth of Samsung in Jamaica.

The shop that is located at Shop 7 in the Sagicor Montego Bay Shopping Center, the store opened its doors with a formal ceremony with local celebrities, VIP’s with some Samsung executives present during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Also government officials were present to celebrate the official opening and test the products.

The Experience Store features the most popular and innovative Samsung mobile and consumer devices in demand in the local market, such as handheld flagship products (Galaxy S3,S4 and Note 3 etc.) and other advanced technology. The expert staff offers personalized assistance on Samsung branded devices and is trained to help customers with repairs and other services, such as software installations and configurations. The Montego Bay store is one of numerous locations planned to open throughout the Caribbean region during 2014. Just a quick note... did you know that the first of the Samsung Experience Stores in the world opened was in December 2012 in Paris and now we are apart of that prestige list of countries with one.

So I’m posting this on the day after the Samsung Galaxy S5 presentation which the world is watching to see how the new series for the Samsung will be like. Sigh… Too much pressure and I wait till tonight to see how that event goes. Right now though, I have with me the new Note 10.1 2014 Edition Tablet. Apart from having an oddly long name for a tablet, this device packs a lot of impressive hardware under its name. Before reading the specification sheet below take a gander on the unboxing video below.

Specification Sheet

It’s a Samsung device so you know the spec sheet will be cluttered with lots of goodies that you won’t see anywhere else.

I could go on and on with the specification sheet but its obvious this tablet isn’t geared towards the average consumer. This tablet is a multi-tasking genie and with all the productivity features Samsung took the time to pack in it, this tablet will be a serious workaholic’s tool. Let’s take two scenarios into account to see the productivity effectiveness of this device.

 

  

Scenario 1

You are an account or someone who deals with a lot of figures and you’re in the middle of a spreadsheet reviewing the yearly numbers which needs your utmost attention. Here comes Jane your assistant with an urgent message telling you that Dave Levy your boss wants to speak with you now and you should call him on his new number 227-6741. In situation like this the Note 10.1 (Air Command) Action Memo will be a excellent asset to have readily available. This feature lets you hand write on a memo sheet that floats over any application you were using before and save the information directly into your contacts.

Scenario 2

Have you ever gotten one of those dreadful documents that you have to sit and read and make multiple of correction on? Then needed to email the document back to the source? Well your life would be a lot simpler with the Note 10.1 (Air Command) Screen Write. This feature takes a screen shot of what is currently displayed on your screen, and then give you the ability to write/draw/scribble on the photo. After which you can email/hangouts/share the picture to the person you are correcting.

Final Thoughts

The Note 10.1 2014 Edition is without doubt a great work tool that is feature rich, so much so that we only scratch the surface on the amount of things you could do with it in the work world. This great android tablet retails around the $70,000 dollar price mark, which might be steep for most but be a serious investment for the true businessman. The products mentioned in this article were provided courtesy of Royale Computers and Accessories telephone#: 906-1067, 906-1068, and 754-5048.

So two weeks ago I was given the chance to take home a Playstation 4 for a review. Smh, and here I thought Christmas was in December. So, this week with a smile from ear to ear I’m proud to bring to you my review of the PS4.

System Design

Let’s admit the Playstation 3 (PS3) first designs wasn’t something we were too pleased with because of it sheer size. It looked too much like a meat grill that I see advertising on cable. Sony wised up this time and made the PS4 sleek and thin with a LED light strip running on the top of the system, and two touch sensitive buttons for eject and power. The design of this system is leagues slimmer and attractive than its predecessor.

 

System Controller

The Sony DualShock 4 is a controller that most gamers would appreciate for it great future proof features. This controller has a light bar at the back, a touch pad in the middle of the controller and an option and share button. Also, the L2 and R2 buttons feel more like triggers unlike the things we are used to on the PS3 controller. There is also a speaker located in the middle of the controller to play back selected in game audio. The feature that amazed me the most was the addition of a headphone port on the controller.  This port can be used with any headphone to route all game audio to it. So now you can step into the game world without disturbing the persons you live with.

System User Interface

The User Interface (UI) for the PS4 is entirely different from what you would see on the PS3. First off, you can’t access numerous parts of the dashboard without a constant internet connection. The worst part is that not even your trophies are accessible while offline… Yes, you heard me right. You can’t see your pass, present, or future trophy without internet. This is a sore point for me… cause I have no internet at home and I am a trophy hunter with a level 20 PSN account!!! Moving on… the system UI is strongly integrated with Facebook and Twitter for posting game updates and achievements. You can also post gameplay videos with commentary directly from the PS4 to Facebook, Twitch, and Ustream with the simple press of the share button on the controller. In addition, the ability to switch between two running application has been added finally and can be accessed by double tapping PS home button. I must say, switching between apps is lightening fast on the PS4.

Final Thoughts

The PlayStation 4 is an awesome piece of hardware. It's quick, delightfully built and it's also simple to grasp form the first time you pick up the controller. The only missing elements are mp3 and video playback without streaming, which is still possible to be added at a later date with a system update. I really enjoyed testing the system. Now I need to get one for myself before Infamous Second Son comes out. Lotto here I come… Weh mi fifty dolla deh??? Oh… Forgot to tell you folks that the PS4 doesn’t play PS3 games, so don’t throw away your PS3’s if you have one. The products mentioned in this article were provided courtesy of Royale Computers and Accessories telephone#: 906-1067, 906-1068, and 754-5048.

I was fortunate enough to have two tablets on my desk to review this week. These two tablets are geared towards two different audiences completely. One of the target markets is currently untapped when it comes to tablets. The tablets I speak of are the Polaroid 7” kids tablet and the Lenovo Yoga 10. Let’s get this review on the road and start it off with the Lenovo Yoga 10.

Lenovo Yoga 10

The specification sheet for this device shows that Lenovo was aiming to attract the cost concerned consumer. This tablet has no wow factor on the specification sheet. The word yoga gives you the idea of flexibility, bends, and stretching and you would be right to a certain extent.

Hands on Experience

The one saving grace for this device is the strange and versatile kickstand that gives the tablet many angles to be used in. I have fondled with it enough that I can say without a doubt that the three main positions you’ll be using this tablet’s kickstand in are as follows.

Final Thoughts

The Lenovo Yoga 10 at price tag around $50,000 is one of the few 10 inch tablets on the market right now that’s this flexible, but that’s where the advantages stop. They are many competitors out now that can match and outperform this tablet if you take the time to look. 

Polaroid 7” Kids Tablet

The most common question I get these days is “hey, what’s the best tablet I can buy for my 9 year old child?” Just the thought of a youngster with a $50,000 device give me nightmares… chills. Lucky, Polaroid has realized the need for kids tablet and has introduced the Polaroid 7” Kids tablet. Let’s see if it’s really kid proof. For this I have employed Alex… yes I know he is a grown man, but his brain is numb from all the PVP (Player Vs Player) matches in Dark Souls and he drools. 

Hands on Experience

The Polaroid 7” kids tablet isn’t a pretty sight to look at, but a 6 – 10 year old child wouldn’t be complaining about that so cant mark it down for that. The main highlights for this tablet are as follows.

This tablet was made with parental control in mind with a very articulate security system. After sometime trying to figure out and setting up the parent control I will say it’s totally child proof and somewhat adult proof too. You can set the tablet to only allow you as the parent/guardian to access certain apps of your choosing. My suggestions… lock YouTube first! Don’t want your child singing that brain cell killing Ricky Carty song (3 mins of your life you’ll always regret).  The preinstalled games on this device are quite fun and can occupy a toddler’s attention for a long time.

Final Thoughts