Immaculate (2024)

We follow the story of Cecilia who has had a childhood trauma in which she ‘died’ for 7 minutes. Surviving the incident, she thought it was some god or other who had done it for her and so vowed to be a nun. Off she goes when she’s old enough to Italy to take her vows - she seems to have chosen catholicism and christianity for whatever reason - and start working/living in some ancient convent where the fit and healthy care for the old and knackered nuns.

We spend some time getting to know Cecilia, played by the top-heavy Sydney Sweeney (who spends most of the film in a flimsy gown showing off her major assets), as she struggles with the language and culture of the country and regime. Sweeney is actually rather good in her role and certainly seems to have more about her than simply the camera's focus on her two major points!

Anyway, turns out that one day she is pregnant, even though she’s never been infiltrated by any human male, so the religious people around her claim that it’s a miracle and has come from their god and it must be some sort of second coming of the previous alleged immaculate event!

SPOILERS from hereon in so beware
Turns out that one of the priests is trying to get DNA from one of the nails that allegedly came from Israel from the previous god-child on a cross and invoking said second coming by experimenting, calling on his previous career as a biologist, on various nuns over the years, getting them pregnant and hoping for the best! Later on we see a lab, below quarters, where the evidence is stored of all the failed attempts! So it’s turned at this point into kinda Mad Scientist territory!

There’s lots of gore, torture and abuse, burning crucifixes into various nun’s skin, chopping heads off chickens, cutting out of tongues, attempted drownings, beating people to death with crucifixes, strangling others with rosary beads, mutilated corpses, burying people alive in coffins, cutting open of stomachs to get to what’s inside and burning offending people and lab contents!

In the end, the audience doesn’t get to see what comes out of her as in the final scene the camera focuses on her face as she looks down at the grunting creature, she bites through her own umbilical cord, grabs a boulder and smashes it down, destroying whatever it was!

So yes, as everyone else seems to be saying, a reverse version of Rosemary’s Baby to some degree. It’s actually quite entertaining, if pretty over the top and cliched with lots of creaking doors and daft jumpscares (where the music plays a better part than the visuals). All good fun and suspenseful at times with Sweeney carrying the show almost single-handed and big juggedly! Available on various streaming services.

Moto Buds+

The Moto Buds+ (Plus) are a fine addition to the MotoAddict's treasure trove! They're not the best-sounding earbuds in the world, but they are very good indeed, plug in nicely via Moto's App to any device with a supporting OS, are well-featured and don't cost the earth.

The buds which Moto sent over for review are Forest Grey (a.k.a. Black!) but you can also snag them in a very nice Beach Sand colour too. In the little box you get a USB-C to USB-A cable, small, medium and large ear-tip thingies, no charging plug and the 'water repellent', decently magnetised-closing case with the buds inside. It's a landscape style clamshell plastic case which is not as slippery as some that end up on the floor(!) rather here having a slightly matt, not glossy coat. The case and buds are made of plastic, of course, and typically with Moto, have no official IP-rating of any sort. Just claims of 'splash and spill' resistant.

I was able to use the buds without changing the tips, so I guess my ears and ear-canals must be pretty standard! I have to admit at this stage that I'm really not a fan of in-canal earbuds, having tried years ago, not liked and then always went for the outer-ear style since, like, for example, the Edifier W320 or, more recently the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 (non-Pro version). So this was to be a bit of a challenge for me to see if I could tolerate the other kind - and if I thought there were benefits.

The 520mAh case has wireless charging, slowly of course, taking about 2 hours, but still good to have at this price-point of, at time of writing, £129 in the UK. Plug the cable in and faster speeds are attainable and with the right charger you can get it all back up to charged, buds'n'all, in about an hour. Once charged up, Moto claim a total of 38 hours of playtime (with ANC off), buds getting 8 hours (or 5 with ANC) before needing a return to the mothership for a boost. In my ongoing tests, I can't argue with that - all seems like a reasonable claim. With them being in-canal, I don't really feel the need for ANC, so get the longer playtimes. Also, you can get a 3-hour boost with a quick 10-minute charge. There's a LED on the front of the box which is green when all's good and red when charging is needed.

The buds themselves, which have a 45mAh battery in each, are of the Stem design, made famous and popular by Apple originally (I think), so touch controls are available via the appendage. These can be set via the app, which, because of Android/Google's Fast Pair, fires up on the screen, offering to install, as soon as you open the box - certainly with Moto and Samsung phones here. I understand that there's no support for Apple devices, but I have not verified/tested that myself, not living in that world! There's a pairing button inside the open case, if needed. Gestures in the shape of single tap, double-tap, triple-tap and tap/hold can be assigned independently for each bud in the app, offering a good choice for the user.

Also in the app is access to a range of equalisation controls, piggybacking the Dolby Atmos on a Moto phone, with switches for Spatial Audio (which really does seem to make a difference, like Moto's Sound Virtualiser I've found), Head Tracking (with a Moto phone - more on that later), battery status graphical readout, dual connection (TWS) for hooking up to two devices at the same time for easy-switching and the various ANC/transparency modes.

Transparency allows the user to hear what's going on around them so conversations can take place, Noise Reduction (ANC) seems decent enough, though challenged more-so by sharp/unexpected noises than perhaps more expensive 'pro' buds - and Adaptive (with Gemini logo!) to leave it to work out for itself! Head Tracking is inside the Spatial Audio setting and I can't seem to make it work or do anything, even armed with the latest Motorola Edhe 50 Pro. So maybe I'm doing something wrong. I have experienced this on other systems, so I do know what I'm looking for in this pseudo-3D audio world! As you turn your head away from the source of the music/video it's supposed to 'leave' the sound in the location of the source - so if you turn your head left, it favours more sound from the right bud. But maybe this is a bug that needs fixing in a software update.

Back in the app, there's also a toggle for Wearer Detection which works well - take the buds out and it pauses playback. Put them back in and it starts again (within a reasonable time spell). They are also smart enough to respond to someone wanting only one bud in, with the other back in the case, by switching both stereo channels into mono through the one in use (without having to rely on phone/Accessibility settings). There's a toggle for High Definition audio which can be thrown and used if you want to use more battery and have a LHDC-supporting phone, like a Moto! Otherwise, it's SBC or AAC via Bluetooth 5.3. Incidentally, there's been a deal done with Bose here so that the tagline Sound by Bose can be added. I really don't know if that's tokenistic or meaningful, but you get what you get - there's no toggle to switch that on/off of course (much like AKG and Samsung) so I can't really tell what it might sound like if it hadn't been 'tuned' by them! "Certified by Bose to deliver an unprecedented audio experience". Apparently.

And the sound is great, I have to agree. I think if we're nit-picking, you can get more volume and bass from more expensive buds, but if you have a Moto phone and are happy to save £200 in the mix, you can't go far wrong with these. I'm no audiophile, but they sound great to me and, I suspect, 98% of the potential target market users - leaving the 2% to nerd-out on minimal advantages of more expensive or so-called 'pro' models. Real adjustments that make a real difference can be made in the app, very pleasingly for different music genres and taste.

Using the buds for call management seems to work well enough. Tested here, I heard the other party perfectly well after tapping the bud to answer/end and they reported hearing me perfectly well, too, even when conducted via a busy high street with hubbub and vehicles passing. There are three microphones built-in which support this, so seem to do a decent job. I've set up a tap/hold on the left bud to access the Google Assistant/Gemini and that seems to work well enough - tested asking generic questions and specific ones about my data in various Google apps. If you're too close to the phone, that seems to take over, splashing the data on the screen but I've also tested out-of-earshot of the phone and all's good.

These are a great pair of buds. I have got used to them easily and yes, even I can see that the sound from the in-ear-canal style of buds, creating a good seal, does nothing but help the audio experience. They are comfortable in my ears and easy to control via the array of gestures. The battery life is excellent and sound (with options) perfectly good for most people. They are well-made and I have confidence in Moto's decision not to increase the cost of the hardware by paying for IP-certification. This has been a long-standing method for them and with phones, through various nano-coating techniques, they have kept the cost down. Yes, it is best to use these with a Moto phone, but there's still enough of offer via the app (or not, even) via standard Bluetooth connectivity with other OEMs' devices. Recommended very much.

JBL Clip 5

The 2024 JBL Clip 5 is an impressive dinky little bluetooth speaker which is beautifully designed, made and featured. I didn't have hands-on with the Clip 4 so can't compare it with that but I do have the Marshall Willen here and have been enjoying that for many months, so hopefully that's a useful comparison as well as my thoughts on the Clip 5 as-is.

The unit is about £60 here in the UK at time of writing and can be snagged in a range of colours - the blue I chose, black, red, pink, purple, white and even camouflage! The blue is very smart, but clearly they're after the youngsters with the colours - but also the snazzy design and look/feel.

It fits beautifully in the palm of the hand with its 'pebble' curves and rounded edges and sweeping 'clip' up-top with a sturdy action/tall space for clipping to a range of handles, bikes, bags - or whatever really. The world is your oyster! This makes it feel like genuine fun as an audio accessory rather than a stuffy, blocky, conservative kind of unit that most bluetooth speakers tend to be. If such a shape can have dimensions, then I guess it's about 5" x 3" x 2". But you really don't notice any of that beyond it being dinky, because of the design and light weight.

There's a nylon-looking 'mesh' which wraps around the whole speaker only broken up by rubbery-looking plastics which house the clip, ports and buttons. And logo! Yes, emblazoned across the front of the unit is the JBL logo which they have clearly tried to make a feature of, stylising the "J" and (at least on this blue one) giving the letters a stylish orange/red trim. Above that are 'cartoony' and big Play, Volume Up and Volume Down 'buttons' which the user presses into the body of the speaker. They don't feel 'mushy' but rather have a nice enough click-reaction 'underneath' the mesh.

The 'clip' is colour-matched to the colour of the unit with the moving part of the clip (the opening) being more of the rubbery-like material and the rest of it more shiny/slippery plastic. There's another logo on the right "Clip 5" and on the left, a recessed 'panel' housing the Power, Bluetooth and Auracast (more of that later) buttons. Inside the 'recess' each of the 'buttons' is further recessed, making it clear when they are being pressed. It all feels very much like environment-proofing and sure enough, the unit is IP6/7-rated, so for water and dust.

I have hung the speaker in the shower and it got drenched a number times with no evidence of it being any the worse for wear. Still worked fine afterwards and dried out quickly with the water disappearing from the materials quickly enough. On the back, there are 'rubber' stripes - 5 of them - which makes it stick solidly to a desk or table - and the same is true of the JBL logo on the front, incidentally, if you want it on a desk upside-down. According to JBL they have in-part used "post-consumer recycled plastic and fabric" for the construction.

I can't seem to find a diagram of where the speaker/s inside are but most of the higher frequencies seem to come from the front when putting the unit to the ear and bass/rumble(!) from the back. Which is handy when on a desk/table as the bass resonates nicely through whatever it's touching. Down the bottom there's a USB-C port (with colour accenting to match the surround of the logo on the front) which you're supposed to let dry out, if wet, before plugging in a charger. There's no charger in the box, incidentally, just a USB cable.

JBL claim that the 1,400mAh battery lasts 12 hours between charges, but they don't say under what conditions/settings, but clearly you'll do better at 50% volume and less bass on equalisation than if you're booming the bass at full volume. Better again at 25% volume. I guess! I have only charged it once since it arrived and have used it on and off for a couple of weeks now and the battery, via the app, is showing 45% remaining. I'm guessing that the 12 hours is probably based on that 50% volume and I have no reason to doubt it. I don't have the conditions to do a 50% volume battery test, until depleted, I'm afraid - I'd get lynched by the neighbours!

What I do know is that it takes the best part of 3 hours to charge with a 5V/1A charging cable/plug, which is what its rated to receive. The 12 hours can be extended if needed by using the unit on what they call Playtime Boost. However, when this is selected from the app, it strips out the body and character of the sound (which I'll come to). It loses most of the bass and favours higher frequencies. I wouldn't say it's in any way 'tinny' but any depth is drained.

Which is a shame because for those 3 hours, for those who need it, you lose what is a fabulous output from the unit. It's incredibly loud for its size, bassy and, as I said earlier, resonates with a rumble through anything it's touching (particularly the back of the unit). Has to be heard to be appreciated, of course, but I have absolutely no complaints as it challenges the output of some of my bigger speakers here. No problem filling a big room or even serving an outdoor BBQ or party. Obviously it's going to be limited in that respect compared to bigger units, but I'm still very impressed.

The JBL Portable app is downloadable via the Google Play Store (and Apple's equivalent, I'm led to believe) and makes for easy-peasy bluetooth connection to phones. I just turned on various phones here and Android is simply smart enough to know what you're up to and offers to lead the user by the hand to get it set up. Hassle and frustration-free, unlike in the old days! 

Once installed, the sound can be adjusted by the equaliser with various pre-sets or a 'custom' with sliders to make it how you want it. I have found that the "JBL Signature" setting is indeed the best option/well-tuned by them and so am happy to leave it there. But yes, on Custom, there's a further marked change in bass and higher frequencies for those who want to boom even more! Whatever you do, it doesn't seem to distort at all, even at top volume, maximum bass.

There's also the ability to use two of these speakers as a stereo pair, again, a simple setting in the app to throw a switch. I don't have two (and I'm not buying another) so won't be testing this, but as I understand it, anyone who does, can expect, yes, split stereo channels, one for each speaker. Bluetooth 5.3 is present on the device, incidentally.

For the even more ambitious, the speaker supports the new Auracast system. Again, I don't seem to have enough other gear to test this properly but as I understand this new tech, it means that a user with an Auracast phone (for example) can 'cast' audio to any compliant other gear, phones, speakers or whatever. I see that the best use for this might be in, for example, a museum or other public place, where one device can feed guide information to anyone who has a device which is compliant. But yes, also in a party situation where one source of sound can be thrown around to as many speakers or headsets as are supported. The user presses that Auracast button on the side to get hooked up to the array. I shall explore this sometime soon when I (probably) understand it better and have more compliant devices to test it with. Worth noting that this is currently limited to JBL's own speakers for now - but presumably can be updated via the app in future.

Incidentally, you don't have to use the app if you don't want to - you can just pair it up manually with a device, but you'd be missing out on getting updates downloaded, those equalisation options and other options mentioned above. There's no microphone on the Clip 5 so no chance of taking/making calls, using Assistant and so forth. This is a speaker. That's it!

As for the Marshall Willen, my tests here show that the two speakers are very closely matched in terms of volume and quality of sound, even though the Willen has 10W output and JBL, 7W. They are both IP6/7 rated but the Marshall App is woeful in comparison with the JBL's. There's also an ongoing problem with some Marshall speakers, the app and Android 14 - short version is that it's a right fiddle to get it connected and using the app at all. However, paired up with an Android 13 devices, all's well. Marshall need to sort this though - it's been months and months of looking at the 'apology' splash-screen when trying. Update Aha! It looks like they might have fixed this as when I connected to an Android 12 device it allowed me to download firmware update v20 to the Willen, then, when back on an Android 14 device it was playing ball. Still a bit of a poor show that a user needs two devices in order to get it working! I happen to have two here, but many users won't have.

The battery life of the two is technically comparable, being around the 12/15-hour mark, 'moderate' volume (whatever that means) and looped playback/connection to source. Unlike the Clip 5, the Willen does have a microphone, so users can get the speaker to route phone calls. There's also more obvious control over playback on the Willen with the multi-control button offering a range of functions, including those related to phone calls. The JBL is controlled in this way by multi-presses (mainly) on the 'Play' button, but of course, not the phone bit!

Then there's the 'clip' on the JBL, which is partially matched on the Willen by the inclusion of a rubbery 'strap' on the back which can be unlatched, wrapped around a suitable upright or bag/coat/bike loop to secure it with similar results for the active. It's not as quick and easy as the Clip 5's clip. Many people will be drawn to the Willen for the classic Marshall styling however, the name and 'amplifier' accents and appearance. And you can't beat that for the right target buyer!

Both of these are great little pocket speakers, packing a punch way above their weight, loud and producing great quality for their size and portability. Throw in a decent battery performance, water/dust-proofing, great build quality in different ways and very similar real-world pricing (at time of writing) and what's left is mainly a choice for style, look and feel. I love them both, for different reasons and would recommend either without hesitation.

Abigail (2024)

A bunch of lowly hoods are brought together in the typical nobody-knows-each-other style, not supposedly sharing anything about themselves, by a dastardly criminal to carry out a job. Think Reservoir Dogs, Ocean's 11 or even The Lavender Hill Mob. The job in question is to kidnap a rich bloke's 12-year-old daughter, who is a keen ballerina, dump her in a broken down big house for 24 hours and watch over her while the ransom is organised.

As I'm sure you know, if you're reading this, the little girl turns out to be a vampire and the gang of six are lined up one-by-one to be feasted on as she turns the tables on them all! It's a comedy, really. A caper. But with blood, guts, gore and thrills aplenty! There are some twists and turns along the way but most of it is fairly predictable in that respect. All very far-fetched but an enjoyable romp nonetheless!

Alisha Weir (Matilda: The Musical, Wicked Little Letters) plays the title role and is clearly having great fun with it in the midst of the chaos. The 'star' of the show however and person with the most screen time is the very pretty Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Keep Breathing, Scream) doing a great job holding the cast together around her. The rest of them do a pretty decent job as well, if you take it for what it is and not too seriously. I guess this, for most, was a fun outing between their proper jobs! The late Angus Cloud makes a one-scene appearance right at the death(!) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul's Gus Fring), a couple of scenes trying to be scary in a different way. (He should stick with the genuinely frightening Fring character!)

Sets are great and photography thoughtful and well imagined. There's not a huge amount of suspense, tension or mystery about it, as it does come across more like a comedy, but they have chucked in some shots at jump-scares here and there. The fun bits and laugh-out-loud moments are when various people explode and scatter their bodies over the rest of the cast in a million pieces! Anyway, that's about it really. All good fun and certainly worth a Friday night gander after the pub. Available on various streaming channels.

Motorola MOTOvator Unboxing!

Motorola UK sent over the MOTOvator Welcome Box this week for me to unbox, get stuck into and share my thoughts. It included a sparking new Motorola Edge 50 Pro, pair of Moto Buds+, shiny lapel-badge, travel mug, cloth shopping bag and one of those folding ring thingies that you stick on the back of the phone (or case) to help hold bigger phones with a finger inserted.

It was certainly a nice little bundle of goodies which I shall enjoy reviewing very much in the weeks to come. The phone, supplied in Black Beauty colour with 512GB Storage and 12GB RAM is from the latest crop of non-folding devices sitting between the Edge 50 Fusion and flagship Edge 50 Ultra. The RRP is £599 here in the UK and sits very much within that mid-range battleground. Spoiler alert before the review - I think it comes out, feature-for-feature, pretty much on top. I have a bunch of Motorola phones here to compare this with including the Edge 30 Neo (and comparison with the Pixel 7), Edge 30 Ultra, Edge 40, Edge 40 Neo and ThinkPhone - so it should indeed make for a decent showdown. I am particularly interested to see, for the first time, Moto's new HelloUI front-end after MyUI before. (Links here to previous reviews and coverage.)

The buds, I was not aware of and usually don't go for the in-ear-canal type, I shall indeed make the exception here and give them a good workout as I hook up with Google Fit, FitBit and get out working through my Steps! The Moto Buds+ have a RRP of £129 here in the UK. As for the mug, it looks like it's a double-lined unit with a tightly-fitting lid and slider-opening hole for drinking in a nice blue colour. It has a grippy base to avoid accidents and of course, offers the 'Batman' Moto 'M' logo proudly.

Motorola have in no way dictated to me what to say as I review this swag, leaving it up to my honesty and discretion as to my views. So, watch this space as I put the various elements through their paces and try to remain objective, even though it is well documented that I have been an admirer of what Moto do with Android and their hardware for a good number of years.

Steve Litchfield and I will continue to cover the Motorola hard and software in our weekly audio podcast (Phones Show Chat), now in its 16th year and over 800 shows, including the items from this Welcome Box. Steve has also covered plenty of Motorola stuff on his YouTube channel over the years to, so do head there and search for his great content - long-form videos and Shorts.

Flu (2013)

This is a very nicely structured pandemic/disaster movie from South Korea which is similar in theme to the likes of Outbreak (1995), The Andromeda Strain (1971) and Contagion (2011). We follow a handful of people as they negotiate the outbreak of a virus in their city, which arrives in a shipping container full of illegal immigrants from Hong Kong. Also known as The Flu and originally, Gamgi.

Director Kim Sung-su leads the charge as we spend most of the 2 hours runtime in the company of the key players, fighting the virus, death, the mishandled military/political response to the chaos and the general population in panic. It's mostly thrills, suspense and fast-moving action but there's still time to slip in a bit of a love story, family drama and humorous relief.

We start out with a pandemic-unrelated scene-setter in which a rescue worker is attempting to save a girl who is trapped in a car after apparently it fell into a sink-hole in the road. We get to know the pair and it just so happens that she's a doctor able to work later towards trying to save the people from the virus. He's a happy-go-lucky dude, out for fun, but also very much dedicated to his profession, disgruntled because when she was rescued she didn't even say thanks! Therein lies a plotline for later as he pursues her romantically.

She has a daughter who she loves dearly but seems to be irresponsible in terms of the amount of time and effort she spends with her, prioritising her work first over family values. During the course of the film, we see this swing around and it provide one of the messages of course! As the outbreak takes hold, the daughter gets directly involved because she comes into contract with someone who has the virus. Incidentally, there's no husband as he abandoned them in favour of a life in America before we join the story - which opens the door for our rescue worker.

The three of them leap between mini-disasters, helping each other, trying to help the people, getting trapped in awkward situations in makeshift quarantine camps, finding ways through and fighting off any chance of them not making it to the final reel! Meanwhile, we follow the virus as it spreads between people in ordinary situations with the tension building as more and more people get sneezed on, coughed on and touched, to pass it around. We've seen it before in the aforementioned films and it has been done better, but it's handled decently enough here to keep the audience committed.

Then the President turns up and various other authority figures as the fight between themselves, along with the hard-nosed American command team who seem to be present in the country to assist and partner east/west, takes hold. Different values emerge as they see the crisis in various ways and project outcomes based on what they consider to be the best course of action. Think Outbreak, again. So yes, nobody in the mix is really agreeing about how to handle this.

As we approach the second half of the film, things start to get ugly and various special effects are engaged to show harrowing activity as the military and authorities find ways to deal with the masses of dead people whilst still trying to stop the spread. I think you get the idea by now, that's it's pretty well done and certainly keeps the viewer on their toes - more so, the further we get in, away from the lighter and fluffy relationship stuff - which also turns serious.

Kang Ji-goo (Jang Hyuk) and Kim In-hye (Su Ae) play the leads very smartly, as the storyline starts with us disliking the girl, favouring the boy, but leads us to liking them both! The absolute star of the show though is the cute little girl. Played by Park Min-ha, she's on the face of it at the outset a precocious, over-confident little brat who reflects her mum's similar traits, but the girl's acting is just terrific. Like the other two, we warm to her over time and as the heat builds, she becomes much less cocky, more distraught and this is where her amazing ability at that young age shines through. It's almost worth watching the film just for her.

So yes, very well acted, something for everyone, tension, fun, drama, family stuff and at the heart a pandemic disaster movie that is well worth watching if you can track it down. Enjoyed it very much.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of June 2024

  ...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 804 - Blast it with a Hairdryer!
Saturday 1st June

It's just Steve and I this week as we natter for an hour about all things phone - and beyond! HMD's back with a Lumia, I've been monkeyin' around with a Moto and we're keyboardin', grippin', skinnin' and casin' to Xtreme! Available in and around the usual places, so grab a BlackBerry juice and join us.

Whatever Works
Episode 207 - The Cutler's Calling!
Monday 3rd June

Aidan and I are here again to make sure that your lives are whole, as we invite you to witness us rattling on about all sorts of tripe for an hour. To amuse and entertain. Not sure if that's us, or you! a.k.a. Isopropyl Varilux done Yorwe! Available now in the usual places!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 805 - Audio Special
Saturday 8th June

This week Steve and I dive into all things audio with phones, other hardware, apps and other stuff in the company of Jeremy Harpham. So if you don't know your Aeropex from your SonicFoam, Xiaomi Pistons from Fosi or 1more from HiDiz, then do join us for an hour or so while we pull it apart.

Tech Addicts Podcast
Peeking at Pentax
Sunday 9th June
Gareth and I are at it again. This week some love for Joplin, TubeSync, Samsung Galaxy S-Pen Pro. There's news, Spotify killing Car Thing, Spacetop G1, Pentax WG-8, HealthyPi, Galaxy Ring, One UI 6 updates a new phone from HTC, Bargains in the Basement and oodles more. So once again, we welcome you to join us and tune in via the usual places.

Projector Room
Episode 164 - The Tires Under Paris
Thursday 13th June

Gareth, Allan and I are back once more to natter about film, cinema and TV in our fortnightly Pod. This time we treat on Timothy Dalton, take a Dry Dive Under Paris, Murder Crows and rats with Fat Ethel, travel back to 1962 with William Shatner and get Freaked out with an Autopsy!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 806 - Platforms and Phones in Step
Sunday 16th June

Jon Trimmer is back this week as the guest of Steve and I as we find out about the devices he's been using lately, HyperOS and his thoughts on many topics, mobile. I've been getting into bed with Sammy again(!) and Steve's had a first hands-on with the OnePlus Open. Loads more as always, so do tune in via the usual routes.

Phones Show Chat
Episode 807 - Apple and Samsung Set the Pace
Sunday 23rd June

Steve and I are here this week with a bit of a catchup show as we explore all good phone-related stuff from Samsung, Moto, Apple, Google and more, including some hot Logitech accessories and Spatial Audio. Available via the usual places, so do join us for an hour.

Tech Addicts Podcast
Samsung Galaxy Ulster
Sunday 23rd June
Gareth and I are back to round off your week with another of our fortnightly dives into all things tech. Samsung Galaxy leaks, Rollei compact cameras, Microsoft's blundering with Recall, Galaxy S24 Ultra hitting the Olympics in Paris, Logitech keyboards/pens, Lenovo nailing the budget tablet, HTC’s new phone, Adobe being bastards, ACDSee fixing Adobe’s issues, a new Pixel Watch XL and Alice, what the feck is Alice..?! Available in all the usual places.

Whatever Works
Episode 208 - Infuser Enthuser!
Wednesday 26th June

Aidan and I are back again with a roundup of all things ludicrous to make up yet another hour of clap-trap. If you've got nothing better to do, join us as we talk coffee, Legoland, AC units, Teapots, Torches, Tooth brushes and Travel bags! Plus loads more. As always.

Phones Show Chat
Episode 808 - From Orange SPV to S24 Ultra
Sunday 30th June

...with Special Introduction on Show 808 by Juha Alakarhu. Geddit?! Otherwise, it's Steve and I as usual, hanging out this time with Paul O'Brien of MoDaCo fame. We get connected with new devices from Moto, announcements from Google - and don our Ray Bans for some Noctilucent Moondrop Space Travel!

The Podcasts
PodHubUK - Phones Show Chat - The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea