Yesterday I went to a press conference in London (don’t laugh - I was literally the only mum in a sea of very knowledgeable looking male tech journalists). I sat in the front row with my Disney notebook and tried very hard to take in a lot of super technical stuff while Three executives unveiled the future of the UK’s fastest 5G network. So - with apologies for any techy mistakes - here’s Three’s new 5G internet explained.
‘Another social media platform?’, I hear you groan. I know, I know - we’re all supposed to be breaking up with our phones, not spending more time on them, but I’ve been using Vero for a while now (mostly lurking) and I really like it. There’s a transparency and a - gasp - honesty about it that’s quite refreshing. The makers of the app seem to be focusing on the sharing and collating aspects of Vero, and that’s what’s drawing me to it. If you haven’t heard of it - or indeed are a new adopter and a bit baffled - here’s a quick rundown, and here’s how I’ll be using Vero.
Recently, an enormous box arrived at English Towers with a lovely note from the folks at Kenwood: ‘we know you love cooking, so would you like this beautiful Kenwood Chef Elite?’ Seriously generous, right? But I didn’t rush to open it, because, well, I’ve got a mixer already that I’ve had for ages and love, and on the box it looks all complicated and new-fangled, not homely and quirky like mine. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, though, and because everyone kept complaining that there was a huge box on the kitchen floor, I opened it up and popped it onto the kitchen counter. Well. Cue choirs of angels singing and all that jazz, because this thing is beautiful. Seriously, I sent a pic to Mr E and he replied ‘erm, wow. It really goes in our kitchen’. To give it a thorough test, though, and make sure it has brains as well as beauty, I attempted some Christmas crumble muffins with my sleek and shiny new baby. Here’s how I got on:
The run up to Christmas can be stressful. For most of us, it’s a whirlwind of online (and real life) shopping, cooking and planning, and of course my work doesn’t stop either (I’ve already cooked three Christmas dinners and it’s only just December). I decided to take a pre-Christmas pampering trip with a little help from Trainline’s new voice app. Here’s how I got on.
If you’ve read my top ten tips for visiting Halloween Horror Nights, you’ll know that we had a fabulous trip, and this time - thanks to Dixons Travel - I get to truly share it with you as we made our first GoPro video! Yes, there was some jerky camera work (and rather a lot of screaming) but I’m actually really proud of our Halloween Horror Nights GoPro movie. GoPro have an excellent editing app called Quik that’s simple to use and allows you to edit your movie, blend clips together and add music too.
Recently I was lucky enough to be invited up to London to attend a launch event for the new Samsung Galaxy A series. The new Galaxy A3 and its big brother, the Galaxy A5 are mid-market phones, sitting nicely between the very high end Galaxy S7 Edge and Samsung’s entry level offerings. Samsung know that even those with less budget, say: teenagers, for example, still demand features like great quality pictures, water resistance and good battery life. The new Samsung Galaxy A series sits happily in this mid-range spot, offering some really fabulous innovations:
Recently, I’ve been trying to sort out the office/ironing room/room where everyone dumps all their crap, and one of the things we’ve been meaning to replace was our very old, temperamental printer that only prints when it feels like it. We were delighted to be offered an Epson Eco-Tank wi-fi printer, especially as I’d read about these new, fabulous printers that just have ink reservoirs and no cartridges.
So I told you that we recently travelled to Gran Canaria to stay in the beautiful Seaside Palm Beach Hotel. One of the reasons for our visit was to complete a few challenges set by Three UK to test out their Feel at Home service (you know, the one that allows Three customers to use their phone abroad without incurring international data roaming charges, which basically means you can make calls and text to the UK, and use data, at no extra cost). Read more
Regular readers will know that I’m a massive fan of Three, not least for their ‘Feel at Home’, which means you can use your normal minutes and data while you’re abroad (it now covers Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Macau, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland the the USA) - it’s a must for a social media nut like me. Just before we headed out to Texas and then on to our cruise around the Caribbean, and knowing that I’d be around water and beaches (dangerous), wanting to upload #holidayspam to my accounts, I ordered a waterproof case for my iPhone6. The LifeProof FRE iPhone 6 case is a hard case with a grippy rubber edge that completely encloses the phone and claims to make it completely waterproof.
