Tag / technology

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Helvetica: The story of the future’s font

In 1957, one of the most powerful figures of our time was born in a small Swiss town. Though the majority wouldn’t even recognise his name, his countless distinct silhouettes are among the biggest players in the marketing and information spheres. He’s worked with everyone in the music industry from The Beatles to Swedish House Mafia. He’s the only one whose talents are diverse enough to justify appearing in advertisements for everyone from American Airlines to American Apparel and 3M to Verizon without being dismissed as a corporate shill. Every day, hundreds of millions of iPhone users are greeted with his face as they go about their days. And yet, he still frequently appears in public without anyone batting an eyelid. 

For he is Helvetica. He is the typeface of both the 20th and 21st centuries. He is the symbol of modernism, of efficiency, of approachability and of sophistication. You saw him on the way to work this morning. He’s behind you on the fire exit sign. In some places, he’s even on your government documents and public transportation signage. The omnipresent typographical embodiment of Swiss neutrality brought brands into the age of machinery in the 1960s and beyond, forever changing the way we think about marketing and advertising.

There was a simpler time, though. Continue reading →

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Digixav Podcast 017 – September 8th 2013

It’s been a busy week in consumer technology and the world in general but also for our podcast squadron, who didn’t really have a chance to meet up and talk tech. Chris and Xavier found half an hour on Sunday night, though, so here is a show where we sound totally unprepared and blast through the headlines like there’s no tomorrow. WARNING: The creepy voice of Chris lives on, dear listener.

Links

Right click and save this link to download, and you can subscribe (and rate and review the show) using iTunes! Don’t fancy iTunes or use a different podcatcher? Here’s our RSS link!

If you have any feedback, questions or comments, tweet us or send us an email to podcast@digixav.com. We’d love to hear from you!

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

King Cheapo Nexus 4 receives substantial price cut to just £159 unlocked

Nexus 4

The Nexus 4 may be getting slightly long in the tooth now as it approaches its first birthday, but it’s still pretty powerful and boasting the very latest version of Android with continued prompt updates from Google. Our own Neil Thomas loved it when he reviewed it earlier this year, and now the phone – which was already mindblowingly cheap at launch – has received a price cut on Google’s Play Store, presumably in preparation for the impending release of its successor. The 8GB model, previously £239, is now just £159, and the 16GB variant, formerly £279, is now just £199. While neither variant sports LTE connectivity, there is absolutely no question that the best mid-market Android phone you could buy is now the best cheap Android phone the world has ever seen. Providing you’re willing to accept that there’s a new one pretty much right around the corner (and let’s face it, if that’s beyond you then you should avoid technology at all costs) then, like me, you’ll be sorely tempted.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some money to find.

Source Google Play

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Digixav Podcast 016 – August 25th 2013

You may think that it’s been a slow news week, but our triad of podcasters can always spin an hour-long show out of any news, no matter how small. From golden flip phones and iPhones to LG’s latest tablet, coined Samsung Homeboy, Xavier, Henry and Chris take you on an excruciatingly musical journey past Steve Ballmer‘s potential replacements Chandrasekar Rathakrishnany and John Legere, Xavier’s review of Nokia’s Lumia 720 and olinguitos that play video games. It’s a fun ride, so join us for the trip.

Right click and save this link to download, and you can subscribe (and rate and review the show) using iTunes! Don’t fancy iTunes or use a different podcatcher? Here’s our RSS link!

If you have any feedback, questions or comments, tweet us or send us an email to podcast@digixav.com. We’d love to hear from you!

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Nokia Lumia 720 audio review

WP_20130818 2

Earlier this week, I published my extensive review of Nokia’s Lumia 720. If you haven’t read and watched it already, I’d sincerely recommend that you check it out, but today I’m bringing a new option of consuming our written word to the table. Alex, the lovely robot found within iTunes on Mac OS X, has made an audio version of my post which sounds remarkably good for one of these text-to-speech things. The concept of audio reviews is something I’ve been considering for a while now, so if you think it’s worth us continuing (even if we have to replace Alex with a human or alternative robot voice) give us a shout in the comments or on Twitter.

Right click and save this link to download, and you can subscribe (and rate and review the podcast) using iTunes! Don’t fancy iTunes or use a different podcatcher? Here’s our RSS link!

If you have any feedback, questions or comments, tweet us or send us an email to podcast@digixav.com. We’d love to hear from you!

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Digixav Podcast 011 – June 20th 2013

It’s been a bit of a crazy week, best epitomised by John McAfee going mental. There’s also been a trailer for The Lego Movie, an Xbox 180 and even a new portrait QWERTY phone from NEC. Less excitingly, Samsung, Instagram and HTC all hosted events, while Nokia promised one in early July. As ever, Chris and Xavier digest it all so you don’t have to, and Henry calls in for the final seconds despite our plethora of technical issues.

If you have any feedback, questions or comments, tweet us or send us an email to podcast@digixav.com. We’d love to hear what you think!

Right click and save this link to download, and you can now subscribe (and rate and review the show) using iTunes! Don’t fancy iTunes or use a different podcatcher? Here’s our RSS link!

You should also check out our intro music on SoundCloud! It’s Melodic Trap by Harry Ling.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Digixav Podcast 010 – June 7th 2013

Henry makes a triumphant return to the show after Chris and Xavier break the biggest story of the week, in that you can now subscribe to and rate us in iTunes and all other leading podcatchers! Do that now! Please! We beg you!

There’s also a bit of minor tech news to go through, such as Apple’s new iPod Touch, Googlified editions of all your favourite Android phones, diminuitive and rugged editions of your favourite Samsung Galaxy S4, white editions of your favourite LG Nexus 4 and how the Nokia EOS leaks are probably deliberate ones from Nokia. There’s also the small matter of Computex craziness from Asus, Acer, Dell and Sony to go through, before a regular culture section dissolves into hardcore critiquing of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.

If you have any feedback, questions or comments, tweet us or send us an email to podcast@digixav.com. We’d love to hear what you think!

Right click and save this link to download, and you can now subscribe (and rate and review the show) using iTunes! Don’t fancy iTunes or use a different podcatcher? Here’s our RSS link!

You should also check out our intro music on SoundCloud! It’s Melodic Trap by Harry Ling.

 

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Digixav Podcast 009 – May 28th 2013

Digixav Podcast 009

What would a Digixav Podcast be without a serious discussion about songs that deal with adultery in all its various forms and hipster racing cars? Not episode 9, that’s for sure. This time Xavier and Chris talk about the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and various facets of Samsung and HTC before delving into the more underground side of tech with chat about Jolla, the gold PorscheBerry and a game that comes with a free supercar as a pre-order bonus. Chris also keeps shouting “GEORGIANA STARLINGTON” and something about cream cheese bagels, while Xavier begins to formulate some Xbox and Glass app ideas for the folks at Bang With Friends.

If you have any feedback, questions or comments, tweet us or send us an email to podcast@digixav.com. We’d love to hear what you think!

Right click and save this link to download, and why not also subscribe to us in your favourite podcatcher? Use this RSS link!

You should also check out our intro music on SoundCloud! It’s Melodic Trap by Harry Ling.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

Digixav Podcast 006 – April 13th 2013

xraycoat

If one show this week wasn’t enough for you, Henry was dragged in by Chris and Xavier for another episode of the Digixav Podcast, this time filled with questions from listeners, Samsung’s gigantic phablets, the age-old battle of Ryan Seacrest vs. Joel McHale and why Helvetica is always better than Arial. Stay tuned for more cultural recommendations from Chris and a jacket with 22 pockets for all your technological needs – even an iPad. We also talk even more about that Facebook Phone, the HTC First, the Asus FonePad, O2, EE, Microsoft Office for iOS and Android and Twitter Music, along with a bunch more mysterious unplanned topics!

Warning! This show contains immaturity and strong language. And two penis jokes.

If you have any feedback, questions or comments, tweet us or send us an email to podcast@digixav.com. We’d love to hear what you think!

Right click and save this link to download

Why not subscribe to us in your favourite podcatcher? Use this RSS link!

by James Hardy

Mozilla shows off developer phones for Firefox OS

firefoxphone Mozilla has just announced that they’ve got two “Developer Preview Phones” in the works which will run on their own Firefox OS. Both are made by relatively unknown Spanish company Geeksphone. The orange phone above is known as the Keon, and has 3.5-inch touchscreen and has a 3-megapixel camera on the back. It comes with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, and runs one of Qualcomm’s 1Ghz Snapdragon CPUs. The white model is called the Peak, and has higher specs than the Keon, with a 4.3-inch screen, 1.2Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU and an 8-megapixel camera, though it has the same storage and RAM. It runs on a 1800mAh battery, slightly larger than the Keon’s 1580mAh cell.

Mozilla didn’t mention anything to do with price or  a specific release date, but Digixav understands that the Keon will start shipping next month.

These handsets clearly aren’t going to set the world alight, and it seems as though Firefox might be targeting developing markets with cheaper smartphones. Software-wise, from a purely visual perspective the home screen looks very similar to the iOS one, simply with circular icons instead of Apple’s square ones. We have to say that it is a big disappointment that Mozilla couldn’t have found a fresh or innovative design rather than slightly altering one which is five years old.

Firefox OS works very differently to current mobile operating systems. The processors might seem tiny compared to the quad-core beasts powering the latest phones, but Mozilla have tried to make it so the phones don’t need huge processors to run smoothly. The big thing that sets it apart from rivals, however, is that Firefox OS doesn’t do native apps. What might look like native apps on the phone are actually website bookmarks. This means it can all be written in HTML5, which could be a big boost for some developers. This is a certainly a huge step Mozilla have taken, and it will be interesting to see how the consumer market responds. Mozilla reckons that we’re not doing apps right at present, and we could lose the wonderful open web we currently take for granted.

Here at Digixav we’ll certainly be watching closely to see whether Firefox OS can make a significant impact on the smartphone audience. With an Ubuntu mobile operating system on the way, it will be very interesting to see whether this new breed of open source software can have the desired impact on the iOS and Android dominated market.

Via Wired