Google Glasses Spotted on the Subway

January 21st, 2013Curious Stuff, Device Reviews, Electronics Industry Chatter, Tech News No Comments

Whatever we think of the style value of Google’s smartglasses, it’s great to see future technologies making an appearance in everyday life. Google’s Sergey Brin was spotted out and about on the New York Subway system wearing the billion pound shades Google has spent the last few years developing.

Billed as the future of mobile technology, the “augmented reality” shades received mixed reviews when they were finally revealed to the world last year. You can read more about them here in one of our old Money4Machines blog posts.

Image courtesy of Noah Zerkin @Noazark

The image was snapped by passenger, Noah Zerkin, who then uploaded his internet gold striaght onto his Twitter account. Zerkin says his interest in mobile technology and knowledge of Brin was just coincidence, and that a brief chat with the billionaire revealed him to be a “nice guy” having a bit of run by riding the New York subway wearing unreleased mobile technology worth billions in research.

Got any comments about Google’s specs? Once you’ve used our quote system to sell mobile phones or sell iPads or whatever, let us know what you think of Google’s next mobile technology venture.

Pakistan Lifts YouTube Block (But Not Long Enough to Watch Much!)

January 4th, 2013Tech News No Comments

A full ban has been in place since violent protests against anti-Islam content that was carried on the YouTube back in September 2012. But the Pakistan government is realistic about how ineffective a complete ban on the website would be, both in public relation terms and for the good of Pakistani residents and global access to online resources.

The ban was lifted briefly on 29th December to allow the government to test a filtering system that prohibits the viewing of blasphemous or pornographic material. The filtering system failed almost instantly which led to the reinstatement of the complete ban. According to numerous international news websites, it was still possible to watch the original offending content and a lot of other videos that should have failed to make it through the filter.

But the plans have not been abandoned, and the Pakistani government promises to overhaul to filter system as quickly as possible.

Here in the Money4Machines office we’re happy to see the Pakistan government looking so avidly for a compromise. When you visit our website to sell iPads or sell your mobile, feel free to let us know what you think.

US Cyber Warriors Train in Tiny Mock-Up New Jersey Cyber City

November 29th, 2012Curious Stuff No Comments

Doesn’t is sound very much like the plot from the film Gamer? It’s a bit of a jump on our part, but if US cyber warriors can train remotely for attacks using tiny scale models of their targets, surely an army of convicts controlled by teen gamers in battles to the death can’t be too far away?

But jokes aside, the US has never been much for under-reacting, so one of their latest public military training schemes – NetWars CyberCity – is nothing short of gloriously over-the-top and really quite exciting.

Or maybe not.

The environment has been designed by the SANS Institute to simulate eighteen different missions based on protecting the infrastructure of America, including banks, power supply sites, hospitals and government buildings.

US hackers are set various missions in response to hypothetical cyber attacks. These missions last between a few hours and several days, and are designed to test every aptitude and skill in the hackers’ arsenals.

Helping you sell mobile phones and tablet securely is pretty much the limit of our technical capability (actually, that’s not true, but our high scores on Battlefield 2142 and Monkey Island 3 aren’t really professionally useful in terms of Money4Machines website security!)

Cyber attacks aren’t a common part of our business – we have exceptional website security which means you can sell iPads, UK-based GPS devices and all the other bits and bobs we accept through our gadget recycling teams… when they’re not trying to use the hair of a stinky dog and syrup of ipecac to make a snake vomit up Guybrush Threapwood (one for the Monkey Island 3 fans!)

Apple Maps in the UK

October 15th, 2012Tech News No Comments

Despite the hilarity of poking fun at recent issues with Apple Maps, it appears around 74% of US users haven’t been affected by poor software performance.

A survey published by tech website, Electronista, found 50% of those questioned had experienced no problems, almost 24% said the software was adequate for their requirements, and a further 17.2% said initial issues were not a deal breaker as Apple are typically reliable in terms of bug fixing. Only 5.6% of survey participants said the performance of Apple Maps could negatively affect their future buying habits.

UK Users

This is all splendid news for iOS users in the US. But while Apple have thrown up their hands and admitted to not having the strongest mapping software around, despite marketing promises, it’s here in the UK and the rest of the world users have been most detrimentally affected.

Main issues include lack of local information etc, but there are plenty of other bugs that had either slipped by Apple’s usually eagle-eyed teams or been played down as minor glitches and released anyway. All new software ships with a few bugs, but do we buy Apple’s excuses?

The mapping software description on Apple’s website recently changed from

“…the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever.”

To the decidedly more vague,

“All in a beautiful vector-based interface that scales and zooms with ease.”

The continuing paragraph even urges users to download alternative apps like MapQuest, Bing, Waze, Nokia Maps and Google.

Maybe the bottom line is that we’re not used to Apple promising things they can’t deliver. Fans looking to sell iPads or iPhones to update to the newest device will likely still be pleased with their decision, but for users outside the US, Apple Maps could become simply the next Siri – unsuccessful and unpopular thanks to total disregard of users outside the US. Siri updates to make the software compatible with local information outside the US, have been on the cards for over a year but are yet to appear.

Best Gadgets for Backpackers and Adventure Junkies

March 5th, 2012Curious Stuff, Device Reviews No Comments

We all know or have been that lucky backpacker galumphing about the world. It was pretty much the first thing some of our team were discussing here at M4M HQ this morning! Did you know our Marketing Director worked at a gorilla rescue centre in the Malaysian jungle? Our Office Manager spent a year travelling the world (scariest moment – little kid playing with a machine gun in Rio’s fevelas!), even our Social Media lady spent two years living in rural Japan! We’re a pretty well-travelled bunch, so aside from testing old iPads and helping you folks get the best rates for old Kindles and gadgets, we thought we’d road test a few of the best devices for backpackers and adventure lovers heading out for 2012!

Kindle with 3G and Wi-Fi
Love it! As folks who have spent more than their fair share of bored hours in airports, a Kindle is a brilliant addition to the backpacker kit list. Lightweight, connection across more than 100 countries and territories, and capable of holding around 3500 book at a time. Brilliant.

SD Cards
Keep them safe in a watertight hardshell container. Absolutely indispensible for those on long trips carrying thousands of shots! You can also store important documents etc. safely.

Tough Camera
The Fujifilm Finepix XP50 Waterproof Digital Camera is pretty cheap for what it does (around £170) Built to withstand things like frequent drops, moisture, dust, freezing temperatures and hot climates, it also boasts a 5x wide-angle optical zoom, HD movie capture, motion panorama mode and a 14 megapixel FSI-CMOS sensor.

We buy laptops, smartphones, DSLR cameras etc, so you can sell iPads and whatever other goodies you’ve got lying around to fund your trip of a lifetime!