Review: Aluminium-Style Bluetooth Keyboard Case for Nexus 7

The Nexus 7 is such a versatile tablet, it really revolutionized the power and performance a budget-tablet could hold. With it being so very outstanding, you need to push the limits of your little tab. Maybe, turn it into a laptop?

Use it like a typical netbook

Well, your prayers have been answered with this aluminium-style Bluetooth keyboard case for the Nexus 7.

The design is what really sets this keyboard/case apart from the competition. The keys are fairly comfortably spaced (for a smaller tablet) and pairing with the keyboard was insanely simple (click the 'Connect' button, tap on the keyboard in Bluetooth settings, enter a number and press 'Enter').

Nice and slim

The style of the keyboard matches the surrounding frame of the Nexus 7 perfectly, it even mimics the design of the back of the tablet. It stands in a typical laptop fashion.

The keyboard has a battery life of about 55 hours, and can hold its charge for around 60 days. It uses a lithium-ion rechargeable battery.

The back of the keyboard matches the Nexus 7's design almost flawlessly

Also built into the keyboard are designated keys for Android, like Home, Back, Search and controls for music. All very handy if you don't feel like actually touching the screen.

There's plenty of software-centric keys

The only tiny downer for us Brits is that it is a US keyboard, which doesn't carry the '£' sign. It also doesn't feature a touchpad like the Microsoft Surface's keyboard case does, but that is pretty common.

Overall, I'd give this keyboard case a 4 out of 5 stars. Style, build quality and a competitive price means the smaller bad bits don't really make an impact. One of the best Nexus 7 cases I'd say. You can buy it right here.

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Microsoft Debuts 'Xbox One' Takes Aim at the Set Top Box and Smart TV

Microsoft have revealed their next-gen games console today, the 'Xbox One'. Providing a strong rival to many other set-top box services, the One provides all you could ask for from any subscription service.

Microsoft showed off many different aspects of the One, including TV, gaming, web browsing and Skype from your living room.

Image credit: The Verge

In many ways it beats any Apple or Google TV box we have seen yet, but it also takes a massive swipe at the Smart TV market, as the One can give you all the smart functionalities of these products and then some.

The innards include a 1080p camera, 8GB of RAM, various microphones, and a dedicated DVR, all in the new bundle box.

Microsoft also previewed some of EA's enhancements to their games, with a new Ignite engine. Titles to launch with the service include FIFA 14, Madden 25, NBA Live 14 and UFC.

Kinect also a had a boat-load of enhancements, making sure every move you make is captured. A Kinect is also included with every Xbox One.

Microsoft said that the console will be launching later this year, around the time Sony are expected to launch their PlayStation 4 console.

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Review: Leather Style Rotating Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Case

Watch your favorite shows without holding your tablet up with this case

The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is not a tablet you solely browse the web with, it can double as a TV, music player, netbook and fashion accessory.

The great thing is, there's plenty of unique cases and accessories you can get for it. Today, I took a look at a leather-style rotating case which lets you set down your Tab in landscape or portrait, whichever is more convenient.

Thin and sleek, professional and fun

It works with some cut-outs in the front face of the case, where the actual casing can be placed.

Speaking of the casing, if you're not a fan of the book style case, you can remove the inner casing, as it swivels on a button. Sadly though, if you do choose to remove the inner casing, there is always a slot for the button on the back which you can't remove.

Annoyingly, the button on the back cannot be taken off

If you choose that the book-style is for you, then you'll be happy to know that there is a strap that you can out over the front which means you don't have to worry about the front of the case drifting open and the screen potentially getting damaged.

Use your Tab in portrait to browse your favorite social networks

I'm not going to lie, it does add a fair amount of bulk to the tablet, but that could be added protection if you accidently drop it. It does have access to all the ports and the cameras, however if you wear both cases, the backwards-facing camera is blocked off in landscape mode.

In portrait mode, you can even take pictures while in the case

Overall I give this case a 3 out of 5 stars. It provides great protection for your Tab, and it is very functional, but in some areas it could have been better, and it did add a fair bit of bulk. I think there are some better Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 cases out there.

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Review: Colca Sac 13" Macbook Pro Sleeve

The Colca Sac sleeve provides protection for your laptop and charger/tablet

If you've just purchased a MacBook Pro 13", or any other 13" thin laptop for that matter, you want to protect it with something just as classy as the design of the laptop itself.

Good looking, and it can hold your tablet.

Something that solved this problem for me is the Colca Sac Uintah sleeve. It is, as mentioned above, made for the MacBook Pro 13" with Retina display, but I tried it with my 13" Samsung notebook and it did fit very well too.

The inside is very fluffy

The outside casing is made of natural hemp, which gives it a very nice look and feel, a bit like a SuperDry shirt for your laptop. Inside, the 100% recycled polyester fleece keeps your laptop snug, and also feels very nice to touch.

In addition, there is also a pocket on the front which can hold your charger, or in my case, my Nexus 7.

The sleeve is handmade and comes from Utah, USA. It provides unique and stylish protection for your MacBook or other 13-inch laptop, without being too flashy. It's probably the best MacBook Pro 13 Sleeve I've tried.

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Review: Sony Xperia J

The Sony Xperia J is a nice mid-range Android phone

Sony are making a big bet on their smartphone and tablet business right now, they just revealed their new Xperia Z and Tablet Z, both of which pack in bundles of great features, but they are also dishing out some competition to the mid-range market.

Enter Xperia J. This phone is a entry-level to mid-range Android smartphone, running Android 4.0.4 and packing in a 1GHz processor. It is designed to be sleek, with a curved back making it feel great in your hands.

The back looks like the HTC One, very stylish

It's smaller than the phablet invaders that have entered the market recently, but that doesn't mean it isn't packing much less. It has a 5MP camera on the back, and a VGA camera on the front (however, the front facing camera didn't seem amazing when I tried to use it).

The 4-inch 245 ppi screen is pretty nice

The screen is 4-inches with a 245 ppi benchmark. That sounds small compared to some of the higher-end 1080p phones on the market now, but it was pretty hard to identify an individual pixel.

That blue streak is the notification light on the bottom

The design is where this phone comes into its own. It is sleek and has nice sharp-rounded edges. On the back, the panel is a matt-plastic, which did get pretty grubby with minimal use, although a standard screen wipe did seem to get the marks off. As mentioned above, the back is rounded to fit in your hand better. It's practically a BlackBerry Z10-HTC One hybrid running Sony's skinned Android.

The keyboard felt alright to use, although it didn't have swiping gestures

Although it is running on Android 4.0.4, there is plans in the pipeline for the phone to be upgraded to Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) which could help out with some of the minimal lagging.

It's running Ice Cream Sandwich, but Jelly Bean is on the way

On the left side of the device there is a micro-USB port for charging and connecting to other sources, and on the right side there is the volume rocker and the power button.

USB on the side for charging and connecting to computers etc.

The price is another strong point. It comes in at £179 at the time of publishing, that's straight from Sony, unlocked. It takes a mini-SIM, so you should make sure your carrier can swap your number over to a new SIM card.

Another added bonus of getting this Sony Xperia J is the fact that you can gain access to all their exclusive apps, like Music Unlimited, and store it all on a removable SD card (up to 32GB). You can also swap the battery out when you're out of juice and put another one in, which is good as it only has a 1750 mAh capacity.

You can take the back off, giving you access to the battery, SIM card and Micro-SD card slot

Overall, I rate the the Sony Xperia J as a very solid choice of Android smartphone. I'm sure there's going to be some stiff competition from big players like Google with the Nexus 4 and Samsung with the Galaxy S III Mini, but compared solely on price, you can't beat it. Check out the video below for a quick review of what you can expect:

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Evernote Hacked, Reminds Us of Dangers of Cloud Computing

With a whole host of networks being hacked, including Twitter and Facebook, you would think these internet giants would heed warnings and bulk up on security. Especially if they are persuading you to store data with their cloud too.

Sadly, this hasn't happened. Evernote have been the victim of a yet unknown hacker which has reportedly gained access to email addresses, passwords, and personal data. Evernote say that no evidence has been found of notes being explored.

This, once again, reminds us that even though companies can put some security measures in place, they're not 100% safe.

In order to double down on the chance of your Evernote account being mis-used again, it is recommended that you reset your password, and if you use the same account details on other sites, it is recommended you change them too.

What do you think of this recent hack? Do you think your data is ever safe online? Let me know in the comments.

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How To: Monitor Data Usage in Windows 8 (And How to Limit It)

With Windows 8, Microsoft has made an OS which is highly reliant on background data being downloaded, for news reports, app updates and software updates. However, some who are adopting the new operating system may have a capped internet allowance, like myself.

However, you can monitor your data usage without installing any apps or programmes, by following these simple steps (image guide below):

• See the bars in the bottom right corner? Click that.
• Now locate your network that you're connected to.
• Right-click it and select 'Show estimated data usage'.
• Now you should see how much data you've used.

However, you can also limit the amount of data you use. This is how:

• Head right to step 3 from above, but now right-click and select 'Set as metered connection'

This will now stop apps that automatically download data to your computer in the background. Here's the image steps:

Step 1: Locate the network bar

Step 2: Right click your network and select 'Show estimated data usage'

Step 3: Now you can see how much you've used.

If you want to set your connection as a metered connection (stops massive background data usage), repeat step 2, but instead of selecting 'Show estimated data usage', select 'Set as metered connection'.

That's it! Pretty simple but it could save you some pretty expensive data charges. If you liked this how-to, please share with the buttons below or comment and tell me what you thought.

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