The camera features are quite a step up and the actual quality of the shots is extremely high even in lower light and more difficult light settings such as high background light. The dual shot feature enables you to shoot with both front and back cameras, and the audio snippet also lets you record a small audio grab with the photo. Although there’s always a novelty factor attached with these new features, it will be interesting to see if people end up using these as default settings. The so called ‘drama shot’ also enables multiple shots to be taken of a subject and then merges this into one shot so for instance someone running would have multiple shots of them moving, but with a steady hand the background would remain unchanged. This will be interesting to see what the more creative of users get up to.

The most interesting feature, which is definitely a bit strange at first, is the enhancement of non-touch interactivity with the latest eye tracking technology. While reading something, the page can auto scroll based on your eye movements, look away whilst watching a movie and the movie pauses; and then picks back up when you’re paying attention again. Also, instead of the typical swiping of the screen to answer calls, speed dial, change songs, read emails etc. the Air Gesture tracks hand movement above the screen and reacts accordingly. This also allows functionality whilst wearing gloves, which although only a minor inconvenience to most, will be highly appreciated those that use it and wish to avoid frostbitten fingers just to answer a call.

Fitness Apps are aplenty at the moment, and the Samsung Galaxy S4 includes it’s own S Health range of apps to keep you in shape. This allows tracking of weight, food intake, exercise regime, and even a sleep monitor. A review could be written on this app all by itself, but it definitely continues on the ‘Life Companion’ moniker and is likely to be heavily utilised in one way or another by most users. Additionally, the S4 can also communicate with a heart rate monitor chest belt (HRM) to sync in with the Running Pro app for fitness tracking, and can also communicate with the Samsung branded body scale weight checker. No news yet if it will sync with your Samsung fridge and go from Life Companion to Nagging Nanny when reaching for that extra slice of cake though.

There are many more features of the S4 and Samsung have definitely put a lot of thought and time into not just developing the features of the phone, but also how this is presented to users. With more complex devices, finding all the features can be difficult with most users just not bothering to learn them. Samsung however have rolled these into the general usage of the phone quite well to ensure a generally easy to use interface. With the next iPhone release just around the corner with an updated iOS, and the latest Windows 8 phones gaining traction, it will be interesting to see if Samsung continue their dramatic increase of the smartphone market.

Read more about the full range of Samsung features here. We also offer complete Samsung S4 repairs as well as general service and support including our FREE, no obligation, device checks. Call us today and let us know how we can assist you.

The Xperia Z Series also boasts to be up to 30 minutes water resistance. Though we wouldn’t test this more than a few metres at most, we have seen the tests of the usual contenders for water damage i.e. dropped in a puddle, dropped in the bucket while washing the car, dropped in the toilet on a Saturday night (will let you guys deal with the cleaning bill on this one though). Once pulled out of the water, and residual water removed from the front glass, the phone continued working as normal.

The Sony Xperia also offers an easy link if you own a Sony Bravia TV, and also the usual bluetooth mode of connection for other devices. With an array of additional features to help you share, store, and stream your photos, it will likely pay to have a good play with the smartphone and test these out to get the most out of it.

For business the phone offers the usual Windows 8 tool set to easily access emails, including keeping track of conversation trails across multiple text and emails. The media features can also help in industries where staff need a quick way to take decent HD photos or videos, and then be able to upload this on the road or when back in the office.

And onto the Windows 8 interface and usability. For us Windows 8 works quite well on mobile devices. The tiles enable an easy way to stay up to date, and even if you aren’t a connection junkie, it is still a convenient way to get up to date from multiple sources on the one screen i.e. news, facebook etc. We would like to see a bit more customisation of the tile menus which hopefully MS will release in their Windows 8 update later this year and we would expect the phone to fully support this update. The tile menu is definitely a nice change from most other mobile OS’ that although haven’t entirely copied Apple’s OS, don’t offer a huge amount of difference on the default display.

Sony Xperia Z is available now from the usual outlets on plans or purchase outright and you can read the full feature list here. If you need any help, service, support, or Sony Xperia Repairs, give us a call 7 days on (02) 9698-9644 and let us know how we can assist.

• Friday – CLOSED
• Saturday – 10am-2pm
• Sunday – 10am-2pm
• Monday – 10am-2pm

We will then commence normal trading hours after that with our usual 7 day support roster.

Remember that we offer a FREE quick system check on any device you wish to bring in. Just bring any device you are having issues with in and see one our technicians, who can have a look at the problems, advise of the most likely costs and solutions required, and then you have the option to continue to advanced diagnostics or attempted repairs. This service comes with absolutely no obligation to go ahead after the free quick check, and bookings aren’t required so pop in today.

Also note that we are now also repairing a large number of other phones, as opposed to our typical iPhone and iPad repair services. Whether you have a broken screen with your Samsung S3, your HTC isn’t charging, or your Google Nexus is having strange software issues, bring it in to us and we will provide the best advice and most applicable solutions for you.

If there is anything else we can assist you with in the meantime please let us know, otherwise we look forward to assisting you soon.

The US-CERT group uncovered that version Java 7 Update 10 (as well as earlier versions) of the software contain an unspecified vulnerability that can allow a remote user to execute arbitrary code even without the actual PC user being aware. Since Java is used on so many sites (it allows a single language t be used such as a website to work natively  on both PC and Mac as an example) user’s can be easily affected just by visiting a site that’s been set up with malicious code to take advantage of the hole. Obviously certain security software and user limitation permissions may prevent this as well (which is why mule-layerd approach to security is much for all users whether Windows, Mac, or even Linux is being used). o

As of last week there are already traces of the vulnerability being used in the wild (released in real world terms)- and is even easier for junior hackers to gain access to with it being incorporated into exploit kits that are readily available. Such kits make it much easier for someone to utilise a vulnerability such as this for their gains and purpose and to some such people such users of these kits are not technically classed as hackers. This means it is even more imperative these days to have all updates installed (PC, Mac, Java, flash etc), disable Java entirely (some experts recommend this anyway due to the much renowned flaws in Java) if not needed, set user permissions to as few rights as possible, and to install a high level security package such as Kaspersky or Sophos.

Oracle responded to Cnet with the following update on the situation

“Oracle is aware of a flaw in Java software integrated with web browsers. The flaw is limited to JDK7. It does not exist in other releases of Java, and does not affect Java applications directly installed and running on servers, desktops, laptops, and other devices. A fix will be available shortly.”

If you would like a FREE quick system check you can bring your system into our service centre and we can have a general look over and advise of any updates required.

• 21^st Dec – 9am – 5:30pm
• 22^nd Dec –9:30am – 4pm
• 23^rd Dec – 10am – 2pm
• 24^th Dec – 10am – 4pm
• 25^th Dec Closed
• 26^th Dec Closed
• 27^th Dec 10m-4pm
• 28^th Dec 10am – 4pm
• 29^th Dec 10am – 4pm
• 30^th Dec10am – 2pm
• 31^st Dec 10am – 4pm
• 1^st  Jan Closed
• 2^nd Jan 10am – 4pm
• 3^rd Jan 10am – 4pm
• 4^th Jan 10am – 4pm
• 5^th Jan 10am – 4pm
• 6^th Jan 10am – 2pm
• 7^th Jan 10am – 4pm

As always you can complete and online form and view our full contact details on our Contact Us page. All the best for the remainder of 2012, and the very best for 2013.

MYOB has been offering it’s live accounts cloud solution for quite a while now, however recently it has really focused on offering a more complete offering. The software caters for invoicing and supplier expenses, as well as Payroll and loaded with easy reports function. For most small businesses that don’t need inventory, advanced purchase order and quote systems, and advanced invoicing modules, the live accounts solution will suit. All you need to access the software is a monthly subscription, a computer with an active internet connection, and some basic accounting knowledge.

The biggest plus that will hep many businesses though is the integration between MYOB Live Accounts and your bank statement. Setup your chart of accounts in MYOB, complete the forms for each bank account and credit card and send away and, assuming you are with one of the major banks, the forms will be accepted and your banking transactions will auto appear in MYOB. For those familiar with the amount of time entering and reconciling bank accounts this is a massive plus and savings. Not only that but with almost daily reconciliations most businesses will be able to pull profit and loss reports weekly that show a very close state of the business. Not only saving book keeping fees, this will also help managers get a much better, up to date picture of the business, and make on the fly changes as required to the business operations.

Payroll works quite well and would suit most businesses however the holiday and sick pay needs to be manually entered and this is one thing that would be good to see resolved. The best thing too is if your bank accounts is linked to MYOB Live accounts, the wages will auto reconcile with your bank account making it very easy to see your total paid wages, including PAYG and superannuation payroll expenses.

One of the other items we really like, is the fact the total GST owed is displayed on the main dashboard when logged in. If you have it so bank transactions are auto imported to MYOB and you operate on a cash basis, this can give you an almost daily, true, figure of what you owe. Coupled with the payroll expenses mentioned before, it is easy to know in an almost real time effect of what is going to be owed on the next BAS and also make it easier to pay monthly if you prefer.

All up the MYOB live accounts offering is quite good and carries enough features for many businesses. The small problems as to why it may not work for some businesses should be weighed against the biggest selling point of linking MYOB with your bank account with auto import of transactions which could quite literately save a business thousands of dollars over a year; this also gives a better insight in to the business operations and help ward off any forthcoming financial hurdles. All this for only $25 per month makes it an extremely attractive offering including business support and software upgrades. Contact us today on  (02) 9698-9644 and let us know how we can further help if you are interested in the MYOB live accounts cloud solutions, or any other IT related questions you may have.

Express delivery for $10 or pickup from our Sydney service centre open 7 days.

Full product specifications on Microsoft official site.

* Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (32/64-bit)

*Intel® Core™ i3 processor 2120 (3.1GHz, 3MB L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB)

*4GB DDR3 Sodimm Dual Channel (2 x 2GB)

*1TB SATA Hard Drive 7200 RPM

* 802.11 g/n wirelss

* 4 years Commercial Desktop NBD Onsite Response (Acer)

* USB Keyboard and Mouse

* DVDRW

*Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

*Intel® Core™ i5 processor 2450M

* 8GB DDR3-1066 Memory (2 x 4GB)

* 2 x 750GB SATA HDD * DVD Super Multi Drive

* 17.3″ WXGA Widescreen Glare LED-LCD 1600×900

* ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 6670M with 1GB of dedicated DDR3 VRAM

* Two built-in stereo speakers  with High-definition audio support

* Acer Crystal Eye high-def webcam, 1280 x 1024 resolution

* Acer InviLink™ Nplify™ 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ + Bluetooth®

* Multi-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD)

* Multi-gesture touchpad, supporting two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate, flip

* Three USB 2.0 ports + HDMI™ port with HDCP support

* 48.8W 6-cell Li-ion battery pack, up to 3.5 hours

* 410 (W) x 275 (D) x 25/35.5 (H) mm approx. 2.9Kg

* 3 year warranty

* Pre-Load Microsoft® Office Starter 2010