Thursday, 29 August 2024

Ultrasonic Laundry Machine

On the last Whatever Works Podcast we spoke about these Ultrasonic Portable Laundry agitator thingies! Unfortunately, the one we targeted was no longer available so I rolled the dice and ordered one from AliExpress via the Slow Boat from China!

This is the one - Ultrasonic Cleaner USB Pocket Laundry Washing Machine Multifunction Outdoor Travel Clothes Fruit Vegetable Washer replacing the Portable Clothes Washer as originally cited. So what looked like a fun, cheap experiment was going to be a more expensive one and would clean us out! Actually, that was just an excuse for a pun as it was actually cheaper at £13. Well, it was delivered. Three weeks later!

The vibration motor is amazingly strong. I charged it up with the proprietary (pogo pins) supplied USB-A cable and chucked it in with some smalls on max. There are 3 different strength settings. It agitated the water - I could see the ripples - continued to work for 15 minutes - then stopped. I put it back on again and it did the same. I removed the smalls and sure enough, they appear to be clean (though to be fair, they were hardly ‘dirty’ before)! The water I threw away did look like it had been used, kinda grey. Dried them and it seems to be OK. Not really sure how to test it more fully. I guess chuck some cake mixture over a t-shirt, let it dry then see how it does!

I still say that a primary use of this item would easily be as a sex toy! Though it looks like it has to be turned back on every 15 minutes. So quickies only!

The instruction leaflet was only in Chinese so I got Google to translate it, then Gemini to summarise it and it ended up as the following...

The Rub Bath + Laundry Cleaner is a dual-tone deep wave sonic bath that uses high-frequency radio wave vibrations to clean clothes, fruits, and vegetables. It works by dispersing, emulsifying, and peeling off dirt through cavitation, acceleration, and DC effects.


Key features Sonic shock: Effectively removes dirt and bacteria from deep pores.

Sonic emulsification: Removes deep and stubborn residues.

High-frequency vibration: Penetrates deep into the skin, clothing, fruits, and vegetables.

Easy to use: Simply soak clothes in water, add washing liquid, and start washing.


Important information

Safety: Must be used by people over 14 years old who are physically and mentally healthy.

Electromagnetic interference: May shut down if exposed to interference.

Automatic shutdown: Shuts down after 15 minutes of use.

Charging: Uses a DC 5V 1-2A charging adapter.

Repair: Damaged products should be sent to the after-sales department for repair.

Abnormal phenomena: Stop using immediately if abnormal phenomena occur.


Product specifications

Model: WV-281

Voltage input: DC 5V

Current input: 1-2A

Power supply: Li-ion

Voltage output: DC 3-4.2V

Power output: SW

Casing material: ABS

Net weight: 90g

Gross weight: 135g

Size: 140x47x36mm

Packing size: 150x68x52mm


So take what you can from that! I think it works, but keep tuning into our podcast for updates as we go forward!


Saturday, 24 August 2024

Compliance (2012)

This is a very interesting film from the pen of Craig Zobel, who is also behind the lens directing things. I wasn't paying attention at the start and missed the fact that this story was based on truth, which made it shift from a daft, fantasy, horrific thriller into a jaw-dropping must-watch.

Yes, I realised part-way through that this was a story based on a series of incidents which ended up in young girls in America being sexually assaulted at work (in fast-food outlets) by staff and others around them, directed by a person on the phone claiming to be the police. He was getting them to deal with a member of staff who he told them had been caught stealing from a customer.

Not knowing that this was a true story, or at least based on truth, I started watching it unfold thinking that it was a cheap, fantasy, imaginative thriller for those wanting to see a bizarre situation turn into an audience-titillating one with nudity. The further it went along, the more I was saying "yeah, right" to myself as the people involved made more and more ludicrous decisions about what they did and fell into compliance with the man on the phone, expecting it to almost end up as a comedy. But no - nothing of the sort.

Sandra, the shift manager, played amazingly well by Ann Dowd (who did an equally worthy - and chilling - job as Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid's Tale - spookily enough in another compliance-type role) as she gets more and more concerned with the things she is asked to do to/with the girl by the 'policeman' on the other end of the phone. But she complies. It's a confidence trick and nasty hoax played out in near real-time during a busy Friday evening shift where the team is already understaffed.

We begin to get to know the girl at the centre of attention when she starts her shift. She's a typical teenager doing a job she has no interest in for the money, pushing boundaries and getting away with whatever corners can be cut. Becky is the character's name and she's played with an equally amazing performance by Dreama Walker (Gran Torino, The Good Wife) turning from cocky teenager into cornered, frightened rat in a short space of time.

I won't go into the details of what transpires and what the girl has done to her, but as we continue to view (and after I checked to see that this was not a fantasy writer's fiction), we start to ask ourselves why these people are behaving as they do and not twigging earlier on that something is horribly wrong. But apparently that's what happened. And continued to happen in a similar way in a long string of incidents in these types of situations.

We can see on Sandra's face that she's not happy, not comfortable, is fighting with herself and her moral compass but ultimately continues to be taken in by the confidence of the man pretending to be a police officer on the phone, demonstrating how gullible people can be when faced with confidence tricksters. As the end credits roll, we're told that there had been a string of 70 of these incidents happen in 31 states across America going back to the 1990's. A man was arrested for the crimes but never convicted because of a lack of evidence.

There have been other social experiments conducted across time, sometimes made into films and documentaries where ordinary people have been placed into roles of power or subservience with resulting titular compliance, not least of all, the German people in WWII. Difficult watch as this film is, you can go into it knowing that it's based on truth. It's real edge-of-seat stuff as we live the shift with the people involved, very well held together by Ann Dowd. Highly recommended viewing if for no other reason, to raise awareness of what people out there are capable of - and hopefully so that others don't get caught out. Available via various streaming services in the UK as I write.

Friday, 9 August 2024

Violent (2014)

This is one of those (largely) arthouse films within which everyone will see, digest and take away something different. It's a sumptuous Norwegian work of art with gorgeous photography, brought to us by Canadian director Andrew Huculiak, out to make us think and reflect along with the main character.

Dagny Backer Johnsen plays the lead, using her real first name, as a young lady who is facing death, involved in a brief catastrophic event - which lasts the length of the film as she rolls us flashbacks of snips of her life, focusing on five people who have loved her the most.

We accompany her as she contemplates a move from one town to another and is offered a job in a shop and accommodation above by someone she used to know when she was a child back in the first town. The first chapter unfolds as we explore his thoughts about her as they work together and she lives above. A grim and lonely existence in an unexciting situation - a dour and unkempt flat and knowing nobody except for her now, employer. And he turns out to be not quite what she had hoped.

She's gone to the town so that she can be near her best friend from years ago, but when she gets there, the friend announces that she and her partner have decided to move away. We experience Dagny's joy in reunion, then the impact of immediate, violent destruction and loss.

We further follow her as she bumps into other people along the way, but after each chapter of the film we have a reflective consideration about water, electricity and the noise a fridge makes as she says goodbye to each of the five who have loved her, still heading towards her catastrophic, violent end.

I'll keep the details short so as not to spoil anything but Johnsen has been nicely picked for the role, sweet, innocent, green, but clearly looking - through these encounters - for something in herself (to take to her grave). It's a beautifully shot film, with a story which unfolds slowly, but at an appropriate pace, which I found charming and engrossing. A person reflecting the meaning of life, love and relationships. It really needs to be watched a second time, too. I have to admit that the first time I didn't really 'get it' but the second, I was more in-tune with what was being portrayed and said.

Dagny carries the film beautifully but is very ably supported by other actors in the mix the best of which being the character's grandfather (played by Yngve Seterås) who, in the last five minutes, brings the most moving finale which could have been imagined as he sits telling Dagny about the last moments of his wife's life, offering her some deep hope through reflection. The film ends with a bright flash of light. It's beautifully touching and moving.

Thursday, 1 August 2024

OnePlus 12R

I don't think I've reviewed a OnePlus phone since the Nord 2, nearly two years ago now. That was a nice phone, I seem to recall. My review is linked here. I remember being annoyed by the fact that I couldn't find what I wanted readily in the Settings, but overall, for the price, finding it to be a super handset and great experience. I wonder how things have moved on in the OnePlus experience since then. I was keen to find out with the perfect opportunity as OnePlus PR sent over the 12R.

My initial impressions of the phone physically are that it's big and weighty, over 200g! With a 6.78" screen, I guess that was inevitable. Almost the size of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in fact! Although not quite, width and height are a shade less. But its what people want, we're told, so no wonder, really. There was no case in the box, rather a 100W supporting charger and cable, papers and pokey-tool for the Dual 5G SIM Card Tray. It's solid and hefty, chunky - you know it's in your pocket - and protected with an IP6 (dust)/4(water) rating. So decently-enough dust-resistant, but only basically splash/quick-dunk for dropping in a toilet!

It's a very nice blue colour, apparently Cool Blue, but you can also buy it in Iron Gray or Electric Violet as well. It's very 'glossy' and slippery, so needs a case to stop the inevitable. The stand-out feature for me is the huge, circular camera island. And not stand-out in a good way! I guess it's down to personal preference and perception of what style means, but for me it seems disproportionately big and awkward as it also has grooves/lines heading towards the left edge. No attempt at symmetry. The circle has a knurled edge, too which feels like it should, therefore, turn. But it doesn't. More so-called style maybe.

There's a OnePlus logo in the middle of the back and that's about it. The camera island houses four inner circles, the main camera, the wide-angle, the macro and, no, not a second flash but a MultiSpectral Sensor used for capturing more accurate colour information. Apparently. The back is made of glass, though it looks and feels very much like plastic. The edges curve round to meet the aluminium frame in all four directions, making it feel classy and premium. The same is true of the front, where Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is employed underneath the factory-fitted screen protector (which is not glued on, so can be easily removed). Subtle curves on the left and right of the front glass, which, again, I like and adds to the look/feel, and small, centralised circular Selfie cutout just below the earpiece, which is also one of the two stereo speakers.

On the right of the phone we have solid-feeling power buttons and volume rocker, up top an IR Blaster (for those who still use them), at the bottom, USB-C port, the other speaker, SIM Card Tray and on the left, still unique in Androidland, I think I'm right in saying, the Alert Slider. Well done OnePlus for keeping that a thing! Firm and precise switching between Ring, Vibrate and Silent. Excellent. There are various microphones and antenna cutouts around the phone of course, given that it's metal.

The front panel, then, is an AMOLED one which can be switched between 60Hz or 120Hz alongside an option to let the system decide for itself, based on what you're doing. OnePlus claim that in auto mode, the brightness is capable of 4,500 nits, though in most cases it's functioning at 1,600 - which is still mighty impressive! It's hard to fault the screen. It's bright and colourful, just like my favoured Motorola screens, with all sorts of options in settings to further tweak how you want it to look. The panel is 1264 x 2780 pixels which, over the large screen returns a ppi of 450. Very happy with the screen - no complaints.

I decided to use my trusty Motorola Edge 50 Pro as the copy-from device so dutifully installed OnePlus' Clone Phone on it. The app seemed to kick off the 'clone' process but then slides into the standard-looking Google backup/restore process, so I'm not quite sure what installing the App did - apart from not having to type in my router's code. The app produced a QR code on the OnePlus 12R which I was invited on the Moto to scan. I did. Which is when the Google Backup/Restore process appeared. So I waited for it to finish then opened Clone Phone on the OnePlus device, did it again, using a QR code, having told the OnePlus that it is the 'new' phone and a much different dialogue popped up on both phones and off it went again, proprietary, not Google's. And it was much quicker - 7 minutes instead of 20 (for the same data I chose) at 100MB/s. So I'm not sure what that was all about, but I got there in the end. It seems that the best way to do this is to set up the OnePlus phone first, enough to invoke the Clone Phone app, then start the process from there.

Anyway, all that done and the basics are there. No homescreen layout benefits but all the apps are then downloaded and installed with some basic settings selected, but far from all. Probably a tall order when OxygenOS 14 is so different from Moto's HelloUI. So yes, OxygenOS 14 out of the box, based on Android 14 (with a promise of 3 OS updates - so to include Android 17) and as I write, July 2024 Google Security Patches (with a promise of 4 years more of that, taking it to Spring 2028). That's a good mark in the sand. Google should force all OEMs to offer that 3/4 as a base minimum in my humble opinion!

Face Unlock and Fingerprint Scanner registered surprisingly quickly and easily, which might be a bit of a worry, but they work surprisingly well given that these optical under glass fingerprint scanners are not always great. And yes, the face recognition registration was like lightning. Barely looked at it for a couple of seconds and it declared that it was done!

It's a shame that in order to get the 100W charging (80W in USA) and 0-100% in under half-hour with any of these BBK phones you really have to use the charger that comes in the box - though good indeed that it's in the box. And carry it with you! I tested this and it's clear that using my generic UGreen 100W GaN charger it's taking about an hour and a half (as it drops down, apparently, to 18W) whereas, for example, my Motorola Edge 50 Pro with 125W brick in the box, when used with the same UGreen charger, remains lightning fast, TurboCharge function retained, no need for Moto's own brick. PD and SuperVOOC are different technologies. Only if the device supports both does one get a similar performance. There's no wireless charging here, either. But there is a whopping 5,500mAh battery! And that's a great size which, in my tests, is good for 2 days clear of my average use and nets me the best part of 3 hours with my 10% Reading Test.

First things first and as I pull down the homescreen I'm invited to agree to use the OnePlus' Shelf function. This is a front-end overlay which can be invoked by swiping down on the homescreen from anywhere but the very top (which is assigned to the Notification shade of course). You can turn it off and have the swipe-down from anywhere instead being the Notification shade, as per standard Android. But before I do that, let's take a look.

There are 'tiles' (a bit like Windows Phone, except that they appear to be the size they are, not resizable). By default, the user is served up with a clock, Steps counter (tracker), Note taking, weather and (a broader) Spotify. Options to add via the plus icon up-top are IR Remote, Recorder and Photos. You can long-press each tile to remove them. The Settings allow you to choose 'smart' suggestions (and reminders taken from your Calendar). Up the top there's a universal search function, which seems to search the phone for apps, files, photos or any other data, presumably, that it can find - though clearly not Calendar as it failed to return my dentist appointment - even though I had given Shelf permission to use Calendar. And lines up a row of adverts for apps at the top!

Using the Recorder app (either via the Shelf or standalone) seems to work OK with options to edit, skip silences, change speed, mark a point in the recording with a photo (take with camera or choose from their Photo App - but not any other). The Photo tile works automatically when you've taken enough interesting photos (in their app) so that it can produce a 'highlights' reel. Or you can assign a 'custom' Photo tile and pick which photos from the app that you want shown when the tile is tapped. It seems all pretty basic - and is really simply a shortcut to a 'favourited' bunch of photos. The tiles don't seem particularly 'smart' in any way, though some auto-refresh (like clock, weather and steps). I'm not really sure that this whole front-end Shelf is really useful or needed. Would be interesting to know how many OnePlus fans use it.

The Notification Shade has simply adopted the Apple Control Panel style. No choice, like with Motorola (for now, at time of writing), you're just stuck with it - short of installing another Launcher I guess. I really don't like the big-buttoned clunkathon which feels cartoony and cheap. The standard Android way is much nicer as far as I'm concerned. Bad OnePlus for giving no choice.

I joined the Red Cable Club and gave in to the ever-present nag at the top of the Settings page. This opens up an online page of plugs, member nags, options for support, care and service and a Discover panel which again plugs OnePlus services and reviews from various online sources by the looks of it. Membership benefits with all sorts of points schemes' stuff encouraging the user to spend more money, ways to 'earn' Red Coins (so perhaps you don't!) and perhaps more usefully, troubleshooting guides and systems analysis tools. It's pretty much the same kind of stuff that Samsung are doing in their Members app (and now Moto too, on the bandwagon, with their Motorola Notifications/Hello, You app). The price of being able to knock a few quid off the buying price, I guess.

Talking of which, I'm now on the hunt for Bloatware and find very little. Just Facebook (easily uninstallable), not even LinkedIn. Well done OnePlus. There are some apps which double-up Google ones, like Photos, Calculator, Clock, Internet and Weather (none of which can be uninstalled, only force-stopped/disabled) - but then their own apps too, some of which it could be argued are genuinely useful. Games, IR Remote, Camera (of course) and ColorOS' O Relax. OnePlus Store stands out as uninstallable. My pick of these is O Relax as I found this to be genuinely useful on a previously-owned Oppo phone. A plethora of relaxing sounds to mix and match, overlay - all sorts of options and great sounds to generate, an explore section with some wild visuals and VR-style interaction as you move the phone around and a timer to set if you want to drift off. It is a veritable playground and helpful tool. Probably the best thing BBK ever did!

Wallpapers
can be generated using a photo or shot from the camera which then serves up a few options to choose from on the theme of the shot used. This is something that most OEMs are playing with - last week I was musing on the same with Moto and reflecting, as for this, that it's not really that useful or well done. The onward surge towards more AI it seems!

What OnePlus do offer is lots of ways to adjust one's UX via Icon shape/size, grid layout for homescreen, various of their own Widgets - in fact if you start digging into settings, there are loads of adjustments to be made which seem to be unique (at least to OnePlus, if not BBK too) which I shall hope to cherry-pick as highlights as I continue with my thoughts here.

Google's Feed or Discover (or whatever it's called this week) is off to the left for those who want it and that is bog-standard Vanilla. You can change the homescreen mode to the Apple style one (if you must) where all the apps are splayed out across multiple screens, or stick with Android's own App Drawer.

The Always on Display has some options, some animated but most of them 'canned' and not so many basic 'clock/weather' type ones. There's a few. Annoyingly the only Music Player app which is supported for AoD use is Spotify. Why not (at least) YouTube Music, OnePlus! The AoD can be set for always on ("All Day"), scheduled between certain times or to reflect Power Saving - so it turns off if you don't move it for a while. Sadly, like most AoD functioning devices these days, there's no control over the brightness and, yet again, its algorithm is returning it too dark for me in some situations. Nobody seems to get this right - even Samsung stripped away the manual control. 
The Games app comes across as a child's toy, frankly. Perhaps it is. Bright and colourful, cartoonified and with dreadful, annoying music playing the whole time.

There's plenty to play with in amongst the settings with a ton of BBK-unique features such as the Smart Sidebar and Big Homescreen folders, most of which I've covered before in my OnePlus reviews here on my blog, so search for the features you want to read about. I will isolate that Smart Sidebar though as it's worthy of special attention. It does all the usual stuff you'd expect from a sidebar but adds into the mix a section for Recent Files which will list and allow you to open them and File Dock, which lets you drag/drop any file you like into the area, which pops up when long-pressing a file, again, for easy reference/use later. The homescreen enlarge folder function is similarly useful so that you can make a folder bigger/smaller and make what's in it more visible by bigger icons (obviously then taking up more space on the screen).

This phone came armed with 256GB storage and 16GB RAM. By default, the 16GB RAM has been upped to 20GB by the pointless expansion system, using storage space as more. I'm no expert but those who seem to know about this kind of thing seem to think it's something-and-nothing. You can turn it off and return to 16GB or expand it if you want by another 8/12GB, making up to 28GB RAM. Eeek! That's more than most desktop PCs out there! There are also variations on this configura
tion out there, 128GB 8GB, 256GB 8GB and 256GB 12GB but be careful when choosing as there's no expandable storage. The storage seemed to be reading/writing nice and quickly with UFS3.1 when bombarded with copying tasks, both internally and when attached to a PC. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm) and nobody, even relatively heavy gamers or video creator/editors, will have any complaints about the processing speed and load capacity. I didn't find anything during my tests here that slowed it down significantly for anyone to notice, I contend, even though some may cry that this is 'last year's processor'.

A quick word about Microsoft's Phone Link - this OnePlus 12R has full working with Phone Link on PC with Apps and pass-through audio, just like Samsung/Surface Duo.
This the first breakthrough device that I have tested (other than those) as most remain a no-go for apps and pass-through audio, so it looks like OnePlus is ahead of the pack. Well done. What's not so good is that there's no HDMI-Out and the USB-C port is only v2.0 rated. No plugging into the telly, but most people are wireless-minded these days anyway. There's only me left, it seems, who wants a cable!

The phone's stereo speakers seem decent enough - not tinny at top volume, fairly loud but not up there with the field-leaders for that, or quality/bass. There are various controls to review/explore inside and out of Dolby Atmos, some only for headphone use. There's a fair bit to play with and adjust. The sound is just fine. In keeping with the Motorola devices I have to hand and Pixel, but not up there with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. But then that is twice the price. At least! Earphones tested both wired and Bluetooth (v5.3) and both do an excellent job. There's a form of Dolby Atmos in the audio settings, enhanced for ear/headphones, but it's vary OnePlus-flavoured, not any version that I've seen anywhere else outside of BBK Group phones. There's a Spatial Audio setting which seems to do something - not sure what really with MP3 music tracks - but yes, makes it sound better and sure enough, when watching the right YouTube video which exploits the system, there's certainly 'movement' of the sound around the head making it more immersive. Then there's Head Tracking, which you need the right head/earphones/buds for. When I got that organised, in the shape of the Moto Buds+, all was good and sure enough it works as expected, the source of the music/video staying where the phone/device is in relation to head movements. So phone in front of you, move head left, sound favours the right ear. And vice-versa. I had LDAC playing with no problem, but support depends on supporting hardware of course. It all sounds great to me!

Connection
options appear to be good all-round really, NFC, GPS, data on 5G, phone calls with good clarity both ends, WiFi (7 for those who can use it) is solid in my tests on 5G routers and Broadband, Bluetooth seems to have a good range/stability too, so no complaints here.

The area which some say has been skimped on to some degree in order to keep the price in the mid-range and not flagship is cameras. The main shooter is a capable 50MP f/1.8 unit with OIS, but here is where it falls away a bit with the wide-angle being an 8MP f/2.2 shooter and supported by the not-so-useful 2MP f/2.4 so-called macro facility. The main camera can shoot 4K at 60fps and the Selfie is a 16MP f/2.4 camera, but the whole photography experience here is not a patch on the OnePlus 12 (non-R version). Having said that, what it produces is going to more than enough for casual snappers, people posting to social media, people like me, in fact! I would have no complaints and the reality is that 95% of people would be in the same boat. The lack of any optical zoom, I guess some may snarl at, but even that I reckon would only drop the ratio down to 90%. Pixel peepers beware, you'll need to move up the OnePlus 12 and cough up another couple of hundred pounds. But anyway, as usual I'm going to point you to GSMArena at this point for a proper drill-down, lots of tests, samples and analysis far in excess of what I could generate.

There's lots to like about this phone and it represents very good value for money in many ways. In order to keep the price down some stuff has been shaved away, but most people are not going to notice. Yes, it would be nice to have a zoom camera, wireless charging and fast charging without the SuperVOOC system, but generally speaking this would be very well received by most users who would appreciate a big phone, vibrant and bright screen, huge battery, lovely build quality and a way into the OxygenOS and all the bells and whistles that brings. There's a special place for OnePlus at the Phone Link table for those of us who are using Desktop computers and the phone has decent enough speakers and audio output. You could do far worse than this for your £649 (or, actually, significantly less now that a few months have passed). Recommended for all. A great all-rounder that's not going to break the bank.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of July 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 809 - The Big iPhone Decision
Sunday 7th July
One for Apple fans this week as Steve chats with James Honeyball about all things iPhone and I sulk in the corner, eventually sneaking in some thoughts about my new Moto, spoiling the general atmos!

Projector Room
Episode 165 - Beverly Hills Dumplings
Wednesday 10th July
Gareth, Allan and I are back to bring you a bumper-length catch-up show in which we treat on Martin Landau, take Dark Matter to A Quiet Place, say Nope to a Code of Silence and even dump a Hit Man! Loads more including what's Coming Soon, so do join us.

Phones Sho
w Chat
Episode 810 - Smartphones, Smartwatches, Smart Health
Sunday 14th July
Steve and I welcome JB Walsh back again this week to chat about all things mobile, especially JB's medical activities as he makes the very best use of technology. Great, as always to hear about his work. I sneak in too with some preliminary thoughts about the OnePlus 12R and continued enjoyment of Motorola.

Whatever Works
Episode 209 - Triple Slow Cod Roe!
Tuesday 16th July
Aidan and I 
are here again to save you cash on sleeping pills as we meander through the mayhem of another fun-packed bunch of chaos! Why not shave a Bunny's head with us, cross-action, while we light up the Moon with luxury socks! Pick the bones out of that! But not the cod roe! Available now in the usual places!

Tech Addicts Podcast
Measuring Your Ring
Sunday 21st July
Gareth and I bring you a large dollop of drivel as we pretend to know about the Samsung Galaxy Ring, Google Gemini, Pixii Max, Poco Pad, Turtlebox Gen 2, FiiO DM13, Miniproca, ChromeBox Plus, Immich, Analogue Pocket and much more. Or less. More or less. Available via the usual seedy haunts.

Phones Sho
w Chat
Episode 811 - Moved by Claude
Sunday 21st July
Steve Nutt joins Steve and I this week as we get an update on Accessibility and a live demo of some very impressive photographic-based AI tools available for people with sight impairments (as it assesses our Photo of the Month winner and runner-up) while Samsung summarises my audio. We natter about great folding keyboards, Sony audio and loads more.

Project
or Room
Episode 166 - Abigail's Horizon
Wednesday 24th July
Gareth, Allan and I are back with another round of all things film, cinema and TV. This time we take a Medieval Turkish Class, visit A Town Called Hell, catch The Flu in a Cruel and Unusual way and finally Fall and Rise in A Room with a View - Live from Baghdad! Loads more as always, so do join us.

Phones Show Chat
Episode 812 - Motorola and Contrails in the Skyline
Sunday 28th July
Steve and I are back with a two-header this week as I review the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, Buds+ and look at more Samsung gear while Steve starts out with the HMD Skyline and covers tech in his new vehicle. We also go nostalgic with Moto Mods and loads more.

The Podcasts

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

Aniara (2019)

Aniara is a book-length Swedish sci-fi poem (1956) by Harry Martinson on which this film is based. I haven't read the book/poem but acc...