It comes in 2 versions, Standards (with disk slot) and Digital (without disk slot). Technically, lots of improvements were made on the console compared to the PS4 predecessor in terms of resolution, speed, and processing power.

One thing I don’t get is the low internal storage capacity. Downloading 4-5 games can fill up the 825GB internal HD. Most games nowadays need at least 16-20GB for basic gameplay and an additional 80-100GB for full play. So it will be annoying managing and plugging the additional external storage devices.

Transferring your games and data from PS4 to PS5 is quite easy and straightforward. All you need is to have both consoles on the same wifi and connected together with a LAN cable. The migration process is automatic and needs a few hours.

Although we updated and upgraded all the games, experiencing the full potential of the PS5 might need a bit of time for game makers to upgrade their games to support 120fps in order for us to enjoy the graphics to the max.

The post Sony PS5: A Stormtrooper In Your Living Room appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

Do you own a mobile device? Do you take pictures and videos? Do you chat with other people? Do you send/receive texts, videos, or images? Do you have social media accounts? Then, just like everyone, your privacy is at risk?

The biggest threat to our cyber-security is ourselves. The way we handle our mobile devices and manage the content on these devices makes all the difference.

Here Are a Few Tips to Better Protect Your Online Presence:

1- Password Protect Your Mobile Device!

Limit access to your mobile devices, and don’t share your password.
Choose a complex password, activate face-ID, enable the wipe-my-phone feature to auto-erase your phone after numerous failed password attempts.

2- Do Not Share Your iCloud, Google Account Passwords!

Your iCloud password (iPhone) or your Google Password is not just used to set up your mobile device, this is your master password.
Sharing this password means giving remote access to all your personal data: Picture, contacts, chats, files, cloud storage, and more. Sharing this password is like giving your home keys to a complete stranger.

3- Clear Your Phone Before Sending it for Repair!

I’ve seen people share their passwords with the phone repair guy!
If you absolutely have to share your device, make sure to remove all your pics, delete chats/notes, and log out of social media apps before sharing your mobile device. Reset your passwords directly after retrieving your phone and set up two-factor authentication.

4- Stop Saving Your Passwords on Notes and Memo Apps!

Nothing drives me crazy more than seeing people’s passwords unsecured and publicly displayed on their devices. People just don’t realize that their privacy, confidentiality, and money are at risk. Passwords should never be stored on the notes and memo apps but rather on specialized secure software (i.e., 1Password, Lastpass, Dashlane, etc.).

Here are a few tips on how to better choose a password:

– Stop using 123456″ or “password” as your password.
– Don’t use your name, names of your family members or birthdays
– Passwords should be at least 8-10 digits long. Make sure you are using lowercase, uppercase, and numbers together. example: Tyi8r32wQ$#@s
– Don’t use the same password across your different accounts
– Use random passwords generated by your password managers
– Use 2 step password protection when available
– Update and change your password regularly
– Use a password management solution/app (more details here)

5- Do Not Share Sensitive Pictures/Videos!

If your photo/video is of sensitive nature, do not share it with anyone, not even with your close friends. Any picture that is shared from your device is at risk of becoming public.
Make sure to regularly download photos from your phone and archive them on your computer, don’t keep all your original pics on your mobile device.

6- Don’t Connect Your Phone to Other People’s Computers!

Many people still don’t know how to download pictures from their devices, they might give their phone to a friend to download the images. This means that for a certain amount of time, that person has full access to your device and data.

7- Nothing is Private!

Private Groups or Chats are not so confidential, after all.
Let’s just agree that private chats are not so secure. What do you do when someone on the group itself screenshots the content of the conversation.

If you really have to engage in a private chat, then make sure you are chatting with a trusted person. Remember to use secure apps like Telegram or Signal. The conversations in these apps are encrypted and can be set to auto-delete after a certain amount of time.

Remember to regularly clear and delete unused, old, or confidential chats.

8- WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal?

All three apps are secure and encrypted end-to-end. But again, nothing is ever guaranteed. WhatsApp is safe and practical for all our daily usages. But, if you are looking for that extra level of security, Telegram offers a secure voice calling system that supports multiple callers. While Signal has kick*ss secure chatting platform.

9- Protect Your Credit Card Information!

Keep your credit card information safe. It is extremely dangerous to photograph your credit card and share it via WhatsApp. Never email your credit card information. Never write your credit card details on note apps.

10- Beware of Hackers and Phishing Emails!

Don’t fall for scam emails. We regularly receive emails and messages saying that our accounts got hacked and that we need to “Urgently” click here to reset our passwords. Before you click, make sure to check that the sender is a legitimate account. For example, an authentic email from Apple would be: support@apple.com – while a fake mail would be (for example) from email support@appleicloudaccounts.com

In Short:
Delete scam emails, don’t click on suspicious links, and don’t share usernames and passwords.

The post 10 Tips to Better Protect Your Online Privacy appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

I started off with the Bose QuietComfort 3, it’s a wired noise canceling headphone, I still love and use this device, it’s size is just perfect and can easily fit in any backpack, the only problem is that nowadays with the removal of AUX jacks from most devices, you’re forced to move to a wireless headset.

I later upgraded to the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, this is by far the best noise canceling device in the market, it covers all your ears and just clears out any external sound, the audio experience is just amazing, the downside for this device is that it is bulky to carry around. It will take baggage space.

As for the daily activities when moving around, I depend a lot on the Apple AirPods. They are amazing and just perfect for any occasion. The only problem with the AirPods is that they are not designed for advanced movement.

You can use them when walking and moving around but not for sports activities; They will surely fall and interrupt your workout. I once lost one of them on a night-run, ended up spending 10min just to find them.

A few weeks ago, I got the Bose SoundSports Free Wireless Headphones to use when working out, for jogging or when on my bike. These Earphones are just amazing, they hang to your ears like glue, you can move around, shake them, jump etc. they will just hang on. The headphones are water and sweat proof thanks to the water-repellent mesh in the open ports.

The sound quality is just as good as any Bose device, you can use them to hear music or to talk through them just like you do on AirPods.

The earbuds battery can last up to 5 hours of usage and when they run out of juice you can place them in their protective case to recharge them again. The case carries around 10 hours of battery power. A full charging session is about 2 hours time.

The only downside is that you can’t just chill on the couch using these headphones, the weight and pressure on your ears becomes a bit annoying and visible when you are not engaged in any activity.

Overall, this is the best light and wireless sound device available in the market designed for active people, they are sold for around $200 and are available everywhere.

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PUBG and Fortnite 101 – The Basics:

PubG PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds is a (2017) game inspired by the popular Japanese Film (2000) “Battle Royal“, where survivors fight to death till last-man-standing. Fortnite was released after PUBG by Epic Games, it relatively has the same overall concept but with different gameplay, with a common hero feature, the “Battle Royal” concept.

In short, players start the game by jumping out of a plane and landing on a terrain to fight up to 100 players and survive the battle. The terrain changes, it shrinks, it shifts and it gets harder to maneuver as the game progresses.

Both games have around 30 million active players daily and a growing community of around 200 million players. Fortnite made USD 3 billion in profits in 2018.

These games are paid on some platforms and free on others, but what is surely costly is the in-game accessories and battle-passes that you will need to purchase in order to have a successful gameplay.

What Can Parents Do?

These Games Contain Extreme Violence:

If your kids are too young for these games (13 years or less), then there are other alternatives like Splatoon 2, Minecraft, Plants vs Zombies …

These Games Are Fictional:

You have people jumping out of airplanes, rooftops, getting shot etc, all without getting hurt. You need to explain to your kids that if this happens in real life you will get hurt badly and may lead to death.

Play Only With Friends You Know:

The most dangerous part of these online games is the fact that these players chat to one another, so imagine your 13-year-old chatting with a 28-year-old pervert that you don’t know who is living in a different country.
Make sure the friends they play with are real friends, ones that you know and approve.

Keep The Game Console in the Living Room:

It is better if you keep your console in the living room or any other open space in the house. This way you keep an eye on what is happening.

Keep The Audio Loud:

The main feature of these games is the fact that players chat to one another, try to avoid headphones and have your kid play the audio from TV/Computer speaker. This way you will hear the conversation and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is taking place. Just beware that there will be plenty of shouting in the process, this is normal.

Screen-Time Addiction:

What makes anything dangerous is when we get addicted to it, and screentime is actually the most dangerous element here. Limiting screen time to kids can surely help. When talking about screen time, it’s not just about the time playing the game, it is also about the time they spend on youtube watching pro-gamers play the game.

Overall:

Kids are vulnerable and are easily affected by anything and everything around them, it is our duty as parents to stay aware of what is happening with them, keep talking to your kids, try to understand their issues, worries, and try to support them as much as you can. Maybe with the younger kids, this is easily done, but it surely gets harder with the older teenagers.

We have no other way as parents than to keep the communication alive with our kids. It is probably the best protection we can give them.

Thank you Samar Maalouf for raising the topic, had the pleasure discussing it on your morning radio show, Here’s the audio (arabic) interview:

The post PUBG & Fortnite Guide for Parents appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

The main camera is a 24MP set for the automatic shooting mode

The second camera is an 8MP wide angle

The third camera is a 5MP depth-sensing camera 

The fourth is a 10MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom capability.

The design of the device is slick and quite appealing. I love the lemonade blue color, it changes colors depending on ambient light conditions. It also comes in two different colors, pinkish and blackish.

The device comes with a 128GB built-in memory and supports an external Micro SD card up to 512GB.

It has a 6.3-inch FHD + Super AMOLED display, the process is the Snapdragon 660 Octa-core processor, and has a decent 3800mAh fast-charging battery. This product also supports the Samsung Pay mini. 

The device is available in shops with a market price of around $549 including taxes.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A9 “medium plus” level smartphone, it gives you many high-end specs and features that you can find in the higher-end devices at a less expensive price.

The post Samsung Galaxy A9 – The Quad-Camera Phone appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

1- Google Home / Home Mini

$130 / $50

2- Google Wifi

$130

3- Bose SoundSport Free true wireless headphones

$249

4- Fitbit Alta HR

$99

5- Nintendo NES Classic Edition

$59

6- Apple TV 4K

$179

7- DJI Osmo Mobile 2

$139

8- Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

$129

9- Apple Airpods

$159

10- Anker 60W 5-Port Desktop Charger

$49

The post 10 Last Minute Tech Christmas Gift Ideas appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

1- 40 MP Leica Triple Camera:

Delivering amazing 40MP photos and 4K UHD video (check sample photos on my Instagram account)

Rear Camera: 40 MP (Wide Angle Lens, f/1.8 aperture) + 20 MP (Ultra Wide Angle Lens, f/2.2 aperture) + 8 MP (Telephoto, f/2.4 aperture)

Front Camera: 24 MP, f/2.0 aperture. Support 3D Depth Sensing Camera.

2- In-Screen Fingerprint Sensor:

As much as I find Face ID a practical feature, a lot of times you need to unlock your phone without having to hold the device and place it in front of your face. The In-Screen Fingerprint Sensor is quite innovative and practical. You still have the fingerprint experience without losing screen real estate.

3- Multiple Users / Accounts:

This is a feature that social media managers will fall in love with. The ability to set multiple users on one device is just heavenly. I manage multiple business accounts; now, every account has its independent profile (emails, social media, photos gallery, etc.) content never gets mixed up

4- Long lasting battery life:

The device packs a 4200 mAh battery that outlasts most smartphone batteries, even though it has a large 6.39 inches OLED display.

5- Reverse Charging:

This is probably one of the coolest features in the device; it can technically act as a wireless charger on the go, you can charge any other device that supports wireless charging. Simply hold the two devices back to back and it will start charging.

6- Performance / AI:

The device comes with the latest Kirin 980 chipset, that delivers optimum performance and an impressive AI, it can also support 8 GB RAM + 256 GB ROM with the possibility to add a Nano-Memory card that supports up to 256 GB of additional memory

7- Video Cinema Effects / AI Filters:

With the support of an advanced AI system, you can now create video effects on the go that previously needed equipment and professional software to be done. You’ll have lots of fun shooting videos from now on.

Overall this is a solid, high performance and reliable device, I highly recommend it.

The post 7 things I love about the Huawei Mate 20 Pro appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

I got it for around $35, so technically it is something that you keep on your desk, conference room, etc to kill time when your mobile phone is being charged

It is even a good gift item, any geeky friend would appreciate it.

The post Cool Gadgets: Retro Mini Arcade Machine appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

I’ve been testing the 3 popular Gimbals / Stabilizers (GoPro, OSMO, and FeiyuTech) and here’s what I got:

GoPro Karma Grip with GoPro Hero 6 Black:

GoPro has been the industry leader for quite some time now, it has lost it’s momentum a while ago with all the hype around drones but is currently regaining traction in the market. I have been using the GoPro Hero3+ for quite some time now and was reluctant to upgrade to the Hero 6, but, given that I already most of the GoPro accessories and knowing that they would still work on all GoPro models, so I ended up upgrading to the Hero 6 Black + Karma grip.

Pros:
It is as simple as plug and play. All you need to do is to insert the camera in the Karma cover, turn it on, and start shooting. The camera and the Gimbal automatically adjust so that it is in shooting mode without the need of calibration.
The battery of the Karma lasts for more than 2 hours of on and off shooting. The cool part is that you can charge both camera and grip at the same time in one go since they are already connected via USB-C.
The Karma grip is relatively light to hold, although it is a tall device the overall weight distribution makes it a comfortable product to hold.
Stabilization is excellent, I was walking, running, jumping, and inside moving vehicles. The output was always constant and stable.

Cons:
It is a long device and not easy to carry around. It comes in a bulky box that is hard to fit in a backpack most of the times. I had it with me during my travels, I was happy with the pictures I took but got frustrated with the volume it was taking in my bag.
The Karma grip doesn’t have a joystick to maneuver the camera, so you have to get used to physically maneuver the grip to move the camera in all the directions.
Given that you are technically shooting via a third party camera and not your mobile phone makes it not so practical when editing on the move. You will need to shoot, download to your phone and edit. Many times if you are using specific high-speed formats the phones won’t be able to support them, so you will end up waiting to get to a computer to preview the videos.

DJI OSMO Mobile 2 with iPhone X:

DJI has proved to be a trustworthy name in the industry, it has created a niche market for itself and dominated it for a good amount of time. DJI was flexible enough to evolve into the different categories of camera handling and stabilization, from drones to handheld gimbals like the OSMO Mobile 2

Pros:
The device does not need any third party device or camera. It will connect to any iOS or Android mobile phone. All you need is the DJI app for better syncing and handling of the camera and phone.
The DJI OSMO Mobile 2 is shorter than the GoPro Karma Grip, so it will fit in most bags, but on the other hand, it takes a lot more depth, so it is a bit of bulky device when carrying around but it will hold the phone firmly so you will not worry about dropping your phone when jumping around.
The Joystick makes it easier to maneuver the camera direction and tilt.
With this device, you can shoot both horizontal and vertical videos.

Cons:
It is a bulky and noticeable device when using. The battery will not last as long as the GoPro Karma and takes a longer time to get charged. Installing a device is not plug and play since you have to calibrate the weight of the phone every time you install it and this takes a few minutes and is quite frustrating.

FeiyuTech SPG with iPhone X:

I got the FeiyuTech few months ago before I got the GoPro Karma and the DJI OSMO Mobile. I wanted something cheap and accessible. At the time the DJI was expensive and the GoPro was not an option. To be honest I used it a couple of times and dropped it all together.

Pros:
It is a light device to carry, it will fit most of the mobile phones, it charges rather fast and can be easily carried in any backpack or case.

Cons:
It takes a lot of time to adjust and mount the device. Many times it will not sync properly. Movies won’t stabilize perfectly with dynamic movements, the device has a chance to slip from the grip with harsh movements. If you have a large phone size the device will not be able to rotate fully to take vertical videos.

Conclusion:

The DJI OSMO Mobile 2 is the cheapest and most flexible item to use. It delivers high-quality portable stabilization with a video resolution as good as the phone you are using.

On the other hand, the GoPro Karma Grip has a much better delivery in terms of stabilization, a better resolution and wider angle to cover (naturally since you are using the GoPro Hero 6 camera) and a more dynamic/fun user experience.

In terms of portability, cost and less hassle; The winner is the DJI OSMO Mobile 2
In terms of Quality, maneuverability, but with a lot more equipment to carry around and a bigger cost; The winner is the GoPro.

My overall winner and a personal favorite is the GoPro Karma Grip with Hero6 Black

The post GoPro Karma Grip vs DJI OSMO Mobile 2 appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

When Nintendo released the Miniature edition a while back, I could not find any product in store as they were all out of stock shortly after release.

Now, it is available once again in stores. You’d be a fool not to get one of these beautiful devices and enjoy the classic games once again.

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