What Comes After the Yottabyte?

December 21st, 2012Tech News No Comments

And you thought your mp3 collection was impressive. It’s generally agreed that the world’s data is growing quickly, perhaps even exponentially. But as we grow technologically as a species, we need to develop new ways of quantifying our evolution, e.g. what comes after the yottabyte?

1 Yottabyte = 1 quadrillion gigabytes

Below it we have the zettabyte, exabyte, petabyte, terabyte, gigabyte, megabyte and kilobyte.

According to our good old pals over at Wikipedia, to date no storage network has exceed 1/1000th of a yottabye. Websites like Facebook currently work in petabytes at the most. In 2009, it was estimated the internet contained 500 exabytes. So it looks like we’re pretty safe, for now. But what comes next?

UK gadget website, Money4Machines, say an ongoing campaign to name the next big thing (in numbers) after the slang word for ‘many’ – ‘hella’ – would sit well with scientists and internet fans alike.

“Our customers aren’t dealing in hypothetical hellabytes when they visit us to sell iPad tablets or get cash for games consoles, but it’s not difficult for the layman to understand that quantifying data is a huge part of internet development. We recently read a few suggestions made online by supporters of the ‘hellabyte’, our favourite being the ‘lolabyte’!”

New measurement terminology can only be approved by the International Committee for Weights and Measures.

Twitter Rolls Out Photo Filters Post-Instagram Split

December 20th, 2012Curious Stuff No Comments

 

In a handbags at dawn style battle between the two internet giants, Twitter seems to have dealt the final blow to Instagram by launching a photo filter feature that enables users to take a photo, crop it, apply a filter from the catalogue and post the picture without leaving the cosiness of the app.

Like a messy divorce, Twitter and Instagram have been battling it out for the past year, with Instagram finally severing links by removing the feature that allowed Instagram users to embed shots of their breakfast/cats/shoes/beautiful plastic bag/ Christmas tree/lunch/old cassette mix tape from 1991/frost/sunglasses/dinner/duck face/eye make-up/etc. On their Twitter feed.

But just how much difference is it really going to make to Instagram/Twitter fans? UK gadget company, Money4Machines, said it’s unlikely the most will do much aside from annoying users and fans on both sides.

“When people sell mobile phones and other smart devices to us, Instagram and Twitter tend to go hand in hand. Let’s say you sell your iPhone to us, you want to know all your favourite images and words are safe, and Twitter/Instagram is a great way to do that to some degree. People want to Tweet their words and publish their pics, and they love being able to blend platforms.

Both are very strong presences online, and both play to their strengths superbly. But Twitter is not an image-based platform, and Instagram is not a word-based one, so all this severing of tie is likely to do is irritate fans of the two platforms’ previous easy integration.”

Swedish Commuters Treated to Free Light Therapy at the Bus Stop

December 18th, 2012Curious Stuff No Comments

Many of us here in the UK might be shocked to know that other countries in Europe have it tougher in the winter as far as inclement weather goes, and Sweden is one of them. Scandinavian counties suffer some of the coldest winters in Europe and still manage to keep their cities moving, and perhaps part of that is down to the ingenuity of the likes of Swedish energy company, Umeå Energi.

The firm, based in the Swedish city of Umeå, has decked thirty bus stops with mood-lifting light therapy installations to help brighten the day for Umeå’s commuters. But what’s it all about?

Umeå is around 373 miles north of Sweden’s capital, Stockholm. During the winter months, the sun typically sets at around 2PM, averaging 4.5 hours of daylight, meaning many Swedes spend their entire working day out of the only natural source of light available. It’s hoped the light installations will combat low winter moods.

UK tech news website, Wired.co.uk, reported the Swedish energy firm wants city residents to feel valued and cared for through the toughest months of the year. But what about here in the UK?

UK gadget company, Money4Machines, said a similar project here in the UK is unlikely to take off.

“Here in the UK, we actually average a pretty decent amount of daylight during the winter, especially if it’s a bright day. Here in the office we try to use natural light as much as possible, especially for our teams processing ‘sell my mobile‘ requests looking at computer screens. We buy energy efficient light bulbs and try to create an office lighting concept that minimises shadow and glare.”

Pinterest Launches Secret Boards Feature

November 23rd, 2012Tech News No Comments

 

It’s been the social media success of the year, and Pinterest is clearly looking to expand its base further with the introduction of its new “Secret Boards” option.

Just a few months ago, Pinterest lifted the lid on a signing up process that required new users to either be formally invited by a current Pinterest user or vetted and approved by Pinterest. The process was defended as keeping spammers and fake account creators at bay, but the clear commercial value  and power of Pinterest has led to the creative giant opening its doors to all.

It’s though the new secret board feature could be aimed at making a dent in the wary male population, which currently accounts for less than 30% of users. Secret boards allow users to maintain up to three boards with private content.

UK gadget company, Money4Machines, maintains a Pinterest account relating to everything from cat-friendly offices to the latest in mobile technology.

“Pinterest allows us to engage with customers on a very visual level. We can manage board about what we buy, unusual gadgets, the latest apps – everything!

Secret boards are a great idea because it lets you collate something privately or amongst a small circle of users. We help people sell laptop, smartphone and tablet devices up and down the UK, which means our teams aren’t always together all the time.

Secret boards are a great way to let our employees know everything from what’s hot in the sell for cash gadget market to what makes a decent Secret Santa present for under £5.”

To access the new feature on mobile devices, users must download the latest version of the relevant Pinterest app.

Ofcom Announces Bidding for Rival 4G Services

November 22nd, 2012Electronics Industry Chatter No Comments

 

Ofcom announced at the beginning of the week that rival service providers to Everything Everywhere (EE) – currently the only UK 4G/LTE carrier – would be invited to bid for 4G services on the UK from 11th December, with licences granted in February/March and launches expected in May/June.

EE rivals Vodafone and O2 have been conspicuously vocal about Ofcom’s decision to award the inaugural UK 4G contract to EE. Although EE’s Orange and T-Mobile networks were the only ones able to carry the 4G signal this year, it’s hoped December’s bidding applications will mark the beginning of kick-starting the 4G market in the UK.

Money4Machines, a UK gadget company offering a quick sell for cash service on unwanted electronic devices, said the move is great for the 4G market in the UK.

“Competition is what keeps the market healthy. It’s why you can sell iPhone handsets at companies like ours for very competitive rates. We’ve noticed a healthy amount of customers looking to sell mobile phones to fund an upgrade to a 4G device. The interest is definitely there, so it’ll be great to see the market really take off.”

Seen as the future of mobile broadband, 4G super-fast broadband should enable users to access data speeds between and 5 and 7 times faster than 3G speeds, reducing opening web pages from 1second to around 0.25seconds and offering similar improvements on video streaming and downloads.

iPad Mini 2 Could Have Retina Display

November 20th, 2012Tech News No Comments

It seems to be the latest trends in hardware – release a new device, and then release an upgraded model with retina display. The iPad 4 is a prime example of developers only letting a hair’s width of time lapse between the release of a much-anticipated device and it’s follow-up.

Ac cording to CNET, the rumours have already started concerning a retina display iPad Mini.  Their digging revealed information from Apple’s Chinese supply chain about the possibility of a retina display iPad Mini in the not to distant future. Chinese iPad Mini maker, AOU, is said to be working on a 2048×1536 resolution display for the iPad Mini, which would match the retina display on the iPad 4.

UK gadget company, Money4Machines, said this is the kind of rumour Apple fans may have to take with a pinch of salt.

“Packing the same number of pixels into a 9.7inch screen as into the full size iPad will mean a pixel density of more than 300ppi. The iPad 4 has 264 ppi. Apple may have brought out the iPad 3 and 4 in fairly quick succession, but it’s doubtful that will happen with the iPad Mini.

Apple designed the iPad Mini to cannibalise the iPad 2 market, so we don’t think anyone should rush out to sell iPad Mini 1st generations ready for an upgrade just yet.

So, before heading off to scour the “sell my iPad Mini” listings online, it’s worth remembering that Apple have so far – predictably – declined any comment on the subject of an iPad Mini with retina display. Then again, CNET reported that the grainy display of the iPad Mini is considered one of the devices greatest failings.

Samsung S3 Outsells iPhone in Third Quarter – But the iPhone 5 Was Only On Sale for Just Over a Week!

November 19th, 2012Tech News No Comments

 

A research firm announced glibly last week that South Korean company, Samsung, could rest easy on their laurels for the Q3 period. They had done it – the Samsung S3 outsold the iPhone in the third quarter, 18 million to 16.2 million.

Samsung may have reported record profits in 2012, but some tech analysts say the lull in Apple sales was due to the launch of the iPhone 5 near the end of the quarter. UK gadget company, Money4Machines, said it’s worth taking the figures with a pinch of salt.

“People started visiting our website to sell iPhone devices way before the iPhone 5 was released. They wanted to get the best sell for cash rates to fund their upgrade, but they didn’t want an iPhone 4S, they wanted to wait for the iPhone 5. The same trend across the market could easily skew the figures in Samsung’s favour. The number of people looking to sell Samsung devices was still high, again, looking to upgrade to the S3 or Galaxy Note 2.

The problem with the figures reported concerning Samsung S3 versus iPhone 5 sales is that the iPhone 5 was only available for NINE DAYS before the end of the Q3. Macworld wrote a very insightful article on the subject which covered global smartphone sales figures and some more specific date information.”

Apple is expected to retake the crown when figures for Q4 are reported.

Skype in the Workplace – Less Fun, More Effective

November 16th, 2012Curious Stuff No Comments

 

Microsoft recently announced the intention to retire Windows Live Messenger (WLM) everywhere except China by March 2013. For many businesses, this is going to mean finding a different IM platform for employees to communicate. But what if they could access more than just instant messaging?

WLM has been a mainstay of the office environment, particularly for small businesses, since the early days of the internet. Microsoft say they intend for the recently purchased Skype platform to cannibalise WLM users, but isn’t Skype a bit fun – to many bells and whistles – for the average business user?

Microsoft certainly thinks so. Six months in beta being tested by 500 companies and it’s now finally time to meet SITW – Skype In The Workplace. The platform has been designed specifically for SME (small and medium sized enterprise) clients to communicate and promote their services globally and locally.

Users sign in via their usual Skype account (Microsoft are also providing software to migrate all WLM contacts and information to Skype) and follow the options to connect to the Skype business hub – SITW.

SITW allows users to connect with business partners, consultants, experts, existing customers and potential clients. The service is designed to be 100% business focussed, something Skype desperately needed to show.

Money4Machines, a UK gadget company, said it’s great to see this kind of tailored service in the wake of the WLM announcement.

“If you want to sell iPhone models or old Xbox 360s etc, we’re here to offer great sell for cash rates. But we’re a small business and quick, reliable communication is the beginning and end of our success. WLM has been a standard platform for us, and it’ll be sad to see it go, but we’re definitely excited about SITW.

SITW is free to use. For more information visit Skype’s official SITW website.

Should We Introduce Smartphone voting in the UK?

November 13th, 2012Curious Stuff No Comments

 

President Obama’s recent win at the polls did not include a service for voters to submit their choices by smart device. All voters found their devices were actually banned in polling stations and they therefore couldn’t even consult apps designed to help voters remember which candidates they’d chosen. Paper notes were allowed though, and in most cases election supervisors stepped in and allowed people extra time to write paper notes to take into voting booths.

But it was voting by smartphone that really hit the headlines. Many tech fans and voters felt that if their smartphone can book a taxi on the other side of the world three weeks in advance, why can’t they use it to vote?

The general consensus seems to be that if a nation’s candidates could find a way to make voting from a smart device completely secure, it could make voting easier for people who can’t leave home or even folks who can’t drag themselves away from Halo 4!

But regardless of how many Americans would like to vote via their Xbox 360, their iPod or iPhone 5, a poll reported in The Guardian found only 30% of Brits questioned, felt that smartphone voting would be beneficial to the voting process.

UK gadget company, Money4Machines, said security is a huge concern for Brit voters.

“Smart device users are always being warned about security risks concerning everything from their Facebook account to clearing data when they sell mobile phones. A huge issue is also anonymity. Voting should be nameless, and it would be almost impossible for voters using a smartphone to remain 100% anonymous.”

 

Could You Help Someone Recycle Their Unwanted Gadgets?

May 18th, 2012Selling Your Device No Comments

A recent survey by AXA revealed the glorious wonders of the internet have now overtaken gardening and DIY as the preferred hobby of U.K seniors. 41% of those quizzed listed the internet as their preferred pastime, logging an average of around six hours of weekly browsing, email, life admin etc.

So the U.K is a nation of silver surfers. When anyone mentions the idea of helping others, most of us automatically assume the unspoken target demographic of old people. To be frank, it looks like lots of seniors have got themselves covered when it comes to internet access, but there are still heaps of folks out there who could probably use a little assistance finding a sell my mobile service like ours. We buy consoles, laptops, mobile phones, cameras and heaps of other gadget goodies, meaning you can offer a superb lifeline to anyone floundering in the sea of unwanted gadgets!

A huge part of what we do is about access. We do our best to make our blog nice and informative, our ads very clear and our marketing campaigns as far reaching as possible. The problem is that we’re very much internet-based, so folks will always slip through the net. Can you help? Our aim for 2012 is to encourage lovely folks like you to spread the word of our sell for cash gadget service. You’ve probably got mates, family members or even the odd employer who doesn’t know that they can get money for their unwanted gadgets, so why not help them sell computers, tablets, mobiles and cameras for cash?

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