Get smart with the Google Chromecast

Image courtesy of logos-download.com 

The Google Chromecast is a handy little gadget that has been hanging around for a little while now, I feel it deserves a post as it’s something that I do not think is common knowledge. The gadget is around £30 and allows you to turn your ordinary TV into a smart TV.

Image courtesy of www.futuretech.pk

The Google Chromecast allows you to display your phone or tablet to your TV screen as long as your TV has a HDMI port.

Plug the Chromecast into your HDMI port and download the ‘Google Home’ app to your phone or tablet. The app will recognise the Chromecast and it takes about 5 minutes to setup. All you have to do then is use your phone or tablet as a remote. The app is available on both iOS and Android phones but can also be used with your Windows laptops, Macs or chromebooks.

As the Chromecast is a product of Google the functionality is a bit more seamless on an Android phone but the iPhone’s do work pretty well too.

The beauty of this is that you can watch all of your favourite streaming channels such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube. As well as this you can catch up on your favourite TV programmes using BBC iplayer, 4OD and ITV Player.

Apple Watch Series 2





           Image courtesy of selfridges.com



Back in 2015 when I first heard that Apple were going to be releasing a watch to add to its overpriced range of desirable products, my first thoughts were ‘why?’ and ‘who would buy that?’. Two years had passed and I am now a proud owner of an Apple Watch Series 2... but you know what; there isn’t a day that goes by where I haven’t used it or regretted my purchase.

Some features you may not be aware about are its; heart rate monitor with Nike+ fitness app integration, connection to other non-Apple developed applications via your iPhone, and that it is water resistant up to 50 metres.

The Apple watch connects via Bluetooth seamlessly to iPhones but only iPhones, which isn’t necessary a bad thing. In my mind the likelihood of someone buying an Apple Watch is because they have an iPhone already and not the other way around. This is not to say that you need your iPhone constantly connected to it because you don’t.

For example, when you’re at the gym you can leave your iPhone in the lockers and continue using the watch for its fitness app and music (as long as you have wireless headphones). For me this feature is great and one of the reasons why I had purchased it. The only features that would be disabled when you’re not connected to your iPhone would be the voice and text function and any apps that require an internet connection.

From working out in the gym to having sophisticated dinner plans the Apple Watch can be used to aid in these and many other day-to-day activities. One of the iconic features and its selling point for most is that it has digitally customisable watch faces and interchangeable wrist straps - this feature is brilliant and can change the watch entirely. The only downside is that the official Apple Watch straps are very expensive and for reasons I cannot work out. If you want to save money on a new swanky strap your best way of doing so would be by heading to Amazon, they have a wide range of choice and for a very reasonable price.

Image courtesy of Apple.com/uk

While we are still on the topic about cost there are several options with different price points however the technical specifications are all exactly the same, the only difference in them would be the physical appearance and what metal/material is used to make it.

In my mind the only real downside about this is the high initial price point and that it is the same design as the previous model (but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing). Other than that, I cannot fault it.