Sunday, May 26, 2013

The iPhone Reaction

It has been about a year since i dove into the mobile phone industry and in the past year i have learnt quite a lot and enjoyed my research time. Fairingly enough, i'm still not ready to switch topics as unlike computers, mobile devices is a ever changing thing and i'm keen that evolution is just around the corner, so i'll stay by for about a year more. In today's topic i'll be talking about something which has always bugged me in and out when i hear about it. The topic is the iPhone reaction; it seems that today, everybody at least knows something about a smartphone and take for example is you ask about a smartphone the 'iPhone' phrase is sure to pop out into the conversation. In that same context, the iPhone has become to mainstream and has become as house phrase and people tend to say iPhone rather than saying the Galaxy S4. Another thing which i have been noticing when i am walking around and looking at people's phone and how they use it is that there is somehow a trend which android users are using an app similar to Apple's assistive touch. I really do not know why anybody wants that, in my conjencture these users think that their android phones will have the similar problem like the iPhone 4 in which the home button will stop responding. Its really ridiculous to even use that as i've never heard anybody broke their home button on their android device. Another thing is that, people seemingly want to theme their device like the iPhone and that is another #facepalm issue, really?!. Additionally last month when i tried the Galaxy S4 for the first time there was a new feature on the device which is similar to the assistive touch feature on iOS, so i asked the salesperson and he replied saying 'like the iPhone touch thing'. 

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Nvidia's Geforce GTX 780, Underpowered GTX Titan ?

Well, today is the launch date of the GTX 780 and the card will be available for purchase starting today with a base price of $649. This card will replace the previous gen GTX 680 and will be Nvidia's flagship card for this year and is also the first 700 series card to be announced. The GTX 780 still utilises the kepler architecture and has the GK 110 core; similar to the GTX Titan and the Nvidia Tesla. Moving on, the specs of the GTX 780 include the GK104 core with 2304 cuda cores, 3GB of GDDR5 memory, 48 ROP units, 7100 million transistors, a 384bit wide bus, and the core is clocked in at 863MHz at stock. After reading some of the reviews and watching a couple of videos showcasing the cards, my impressions are that Nvidia may not have created a new card but what they are trying to do is to bring better performance to a more affordable price. This fact is true because not everybody has the money to spend a hefty $999 to buy a Titan. With the GTX 780 Nvidia's bringing 60% the performance of the Titan and bringing it at a price point which is affordable to people. In the SLI reviews, i've seen the GTX 780 is similar to other cards ever made as the price to performance ratio is similar as 2 cards does not mean double the performance. In the design of the card, Nvidia did a great job by bringing the awesome design introduced on the GTX 690 down to the GTX 780 which includes an aluminum frame and a plexi-glass window as well as a blower style fan. On to the temperatures and i averaged out a few of the reviews i managed to go through and 35-37 degrees seem to be the idle and under full load the temps are at about 80 degrees. Overall Nvidia has provided users with an upgraded version of the GTX 680. Other than new hardware, Nvidia alongside the GTX 780 has announced shadowplay which will record you gameplay and will give you sort of a gameplay video of about 20 mins for your complexity to show people. 
'You could call it the GTX Titan Le too'
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The Droid Guy Will Be Our Alias In Tech News

Back in April i announce version 2.0 of this blog and one of the big changes hitting is that since then i said that i would not be posting about news content and i redirected you to the social networks under our network. Additionally if you have been following me on twitter and facebook then you would have noticed that in the week following to this day i've been teasing of a new launch with the hashtag #GreenDROID. Well today i'm proud to announce that we will be partnering up with thedroidguy.com to provide you, our readers with tech content. Well, we weren't able to partner up with big site but this is a start. This site is the first of the few which we are partnering with and more will coming very very soon. This site is based in the US so, it'll be more informative for users there. Jumping into that, i'll also be writing there from time to time also so watch out for that.
And another thing, their articles will also be widespreaded over our whole network so all of our page will be featuring up to date news. For the readers not in the US, rest assured i'm ready to announce our next partnership by the end of this month, get ready readers from india... Click the link below to start reading news.
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Monday, May 20, 2013

Jolla Announced Their First Smartphone, Yours For €399

Late last year a group of ex-nokia employees under the N9 and the meego platform formed a new company called Jolla Mobile and soon after that they showed off the OS which will be powering the device from the company which was called Sailfish OS. Fast forward to this day, the company has finally announced their first device which somehow doesn't have an exact name yet but for now i'll just call it Jolla's first smartphone.  This device will be pioneering the new operating system and in the hardware sides' the device packs a 4.5" display of unknown resolution, an unnamed dual core processor, an 8MP camera with LED flash, 16GB of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD slot, the ever so controversial user removable battery is present, and LTE in supported regions. The company said that this device will be yielding support for android apps. Moving to the outer of the device, which includes a two part construction which is the back cover and the phone, the design looks very simplistic and has a certain style to it and to top it off, multiple colors will be available.
"Carrying the DNA of Nokia with Colors"
"Jolla's phone might not have the apps but it's design is surely something to drool over"
I can see this phone really being a popular hit among people which are particularly keen for design because the amount of detail the team at Jolla put is just phenomenal. Personally i really like the design of it with the buttons and the two piece design, this really is the true successor to the N9 or in other words "the N9 reborn". Moving on to the nitty gritty info, Jolla is planning to launch this phone at first to selected European countries and in the near future more regions will get it. The price of the device is set at €399 or about $510, personally i think that the price is pretty reasonable but that is when i overlook the unannounced capabilities of the fresh OS. Additionally, device will be heading to users by the end of the year. It really looks like a tough battle for this new OS as they are not only competing with the heavyweight contenders but they also need to take on the new kids on the block which include Ubuntu, Tizen and Firefox. It seems to be a tough battle but i think Jolla is able to make it if they get the operating system correct because currently hand swiping gestures is pretty popular, so they are on the right track. In the same context they are having 3 pre order options for the device; the first one is a zero cost option which will include you a reservation of the device when it finally comes to your land; the second one is will cost you €40 and will get you a limited edition version of the device, a t-shirt and a priority status for you pre order; finally is the €100 deal which includes an exclusive back cover for the device, a t-shirt, and a €100 rebate off the total price of the device. You can check out more details here. As to more of my thoughts, i can't convey it because the company still has not officially revealed details on the sailfish OS in whole, so this will continue in a follow up article. To check out more photos of Jolla's first smartphone click here 
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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Camera360 Ultimate App Review, The Best Camera App Ever

Preface:

If i'm not mistaken this is my first ever proper review for this year, well moving along this time around i'll be doing things differently. First up is that i've been testing out this app for about 5 days now and i felt that i was ready to do a review. Well as usual i'm using my Galaxy Note GT-N7000 to test things out but i did have a chance to head over to the Nokia store and tried it out on the Lumia 920. Additionally before this i've only used one third party camera app which is the cameraZoomFX app. Personally i'm the type of person which does not like to modify things and i like to keep things to the most stock level. Also at the start i actually felt pretty fed up with the app because of the preview menu after taking each photo.

Introduction:

Camera360 is a camera app which is pretty popular on android as well as iOS. Just recently they announced that they now have 100 million users worldwide. Well in the 21st century where smartphones dominate the world and apps are a key part of the smartphone experience, Camera360 does the right thing as they have an app for the top 3 most popular mobile OS's in the market currently which are android, iOS and Windows Phone 8. In plain sight the UI of the app in all the 3 platforms it exist in might look a bit different but deep down the features are still there. 

Design & Layout:

To be frank here, at first i did find the app a bit frustrating because of the layout and the small icons on the left side of the screen. But i conquered the ordeal by trying to click out each and every button there and then after that i was used to the UI and everything went on pretty smooth. Then after that another problem popped out and it was the preview menu which popped out each time i take a shot. But then i solved this problem by changing the shooting mode to fast shoot. After that ordeal the app actually worked pretty fine and all of the buttons and toggles actually seemed properly placed.
"The UI might look densely populated but actually its not, its just perfect..."

Features:

The camera360 app is categorized as a camera app but actually its features span into the world of photo editing. Well it does not have very in depth photo editing centric features like increasing the brightness or changing the contrast but it does have something more simpler and hassle free. These are called filters and this app has a lot of them and in my period testing it i was unable to try out each and every one of them. But the ones i tried was pretty cool and the best filter by far is the random filter which chooses a random filter for each photo but actually i highly recommend using the random filter because it gets the best out of the image. At plane sight they say that the random filter is random but who knows maybe they have some engine powering it. You can check out the photo above in which i took a single photo and added a few filters to it. As to most third party camera apps, there is also a HDR filter on this app which seemingly works pretty good is some situations. 
"Filter, Filters and even more Filters"

Performance:

In my time using it there was a minimal amount of lag but there is a slight frame drop on my phone when i close the app. Overall i did not experience anything too unbearable and the app performed pretty well. Taking photos are really pretty fast and the loading time of the app is actually a few microseconds faster than the stock camera app on my phone.
"Lag is not an issue here"

Conclusion:

In conclusion i will be making the step forward and from now onwards i will be using this as my main camera app on my phone. I do have to address in a few issues i faced while using the app, the first is the UI which as i said earlier a bit confusing when you first open the app. If the developer could like implement a walkthrough guide for first time users about the whole UI of the app then that would just be amazing. Another thing is that with certain filters it takes a tad bit more time to save, i'm not sure if that's a problem with my phone or the file size is just too big. All in all if i were to give this app a score in a scale of 1 to 10, i would give it a solid 9/10 because the features it brings to the table is just phenomenal and is the only app i currently know which has that much of filters. In addition to that, the UI of the app is actually fairly simple after you use it a few times. Finally if you're just wanting a camera app on your phone, the camera360 is actually a fairly good balance between features and simplicity. In contrast i would like to thank Kerry, my rep from camera360 for introducing this app to me. Check out some of the images i took with the app below...
"Camera360 is a spectacular camera app which can help you capture moments not only in perfect clarity but also with a touch of style, the filters present in this app are really a lot."
[+] Pros:
  1. Has a ton of features
  2. Literally has the most filters i've ever seen
  3. The random effect filter works surprisingly smart, bringing photos to life
  4. App launch time is relatively quick
  5. The stabilizer feature is very nifty
  6. has setting to turn your volume rocker into a shutter button
  7. The tilt-shift and color shift mode is pretty cool
[-] Cons:
  1. lacks the function to share directly to Instagram
  2. UI somehow feels a bit messy and unlabeled on the android version
  3. Takes some time to save images with the implementation of certain filters
  4. Lacks a toggle to change the aspect ratio
  5. Lacks video camera support (only available on iOS via a separate app called Movie360)
What are you waiting for, Try it now!: 

Sample Pictures:

The Magic Color filter allows you to select certain colors to display 
The Sketch filter, gives the picture a nice touch
The Magic Color filter in action, a very nice filter...
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Nokia Lumia 925 Initial Impressions, The First Aluminum Lumia

Earlier today Nokia held an event in London in which they unveiled the long awaited Lumia 925 codnamed catwalk. The device bears similar specs to the Lumia 920 and 928 but one thing which is different on the Lumia 925 is that the storage is only at 16GB and a microSD card slot is still MIA. Well let me recap the specs: a 1.5GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4.5" 1280 X 768 OLED display, an 8.7MP Pureview camera, Windows Phone 8, and LTE support. Well in terms of the design of the Lumia 925, the device tops the chart of being the slimmest Lumia device to date measuring in at a staggering 8.5mm. The weight is significantly lower compared to the 920 and 928. Nokia achieved this with the inclusion of a aluminum band around the device which acts as an antenna for the device and gives the device a bit more rigidity. In the following days i will have a response article about Nokia's flagship WP8 device(s). From the surface it looks like Nokia just redesigned the 920 and that is what they did, but they also made the camera more powerful then ever. The MPx count is still the same but this time around Nokia added a sixth lens which is 1 lens more than the 920 and 928. The additional lens is a glass physical lens which accompanies the 5 plastic ones which are present on the 920. With the inclusion of this sixth glass lens, Nokia says that the ISO can now go up to 3200 and daylight as well as low light images will be more sharper than ever before. The 925 with its 6 element lens is the first in the industry and beat devices like the iPhone5 which has only 5 element lens. Well with the overall thinness of the device Nokia wasn't able to throw in wireless charging but they did provide an optional wireless charging accessory which connects through the 3 pin outs on the back of the device similar to the L720. The Lumia 925 has received quite a lot of reactions and one of them is the color which Nokia failed as they were only offering metalic colors for the Lumia 925 but that can be easily solved with the wireless charging back cover which comes in many different colors. Moving to the software sides, the Lumia 925 still runs Microsoft's WP8 but nokia has added a new app called Nokia Smart Camera Mode which is by default the main camera app and the main feature is its motion photo capabilities which are similar to action mode android devices (sample image below). The app is actually pretty cool and this will be soon be available to other Lumia WP8 devices via the Amber update coming in July. Alongside that Nokia has announced a new app coming to WP8 called Hipstamatic which is currently only on iOS. The main highlights of the app is the filters and the capability to post images to instagram. Overall the Lumia 925 seems to be an underwhelming device. The device will be hitting store next month for about 469euros. In the US this will be a T-Mobile exclusive device and in the UK it will be a Vodafone exclusive. Stay tuned for more content on the Lumia 925 coming your way in the coming days ahead.
Sample image taken on the Lumia 925
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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Google I/O 2013, What To Expect

Google I/O is just 3 days away and this time around don't expect something big to be announced like Android 5.0. The main keynote as always will be held on the first day, which is May 15. So without further ado i'll list out the top things i think will be announced. A new version of android is what i'm firmly putting my hands on and according to the internet, Google will be announcing android 4.3 Jellybean which is just a cover up because v5.0 seemingly is facing some delays. This new android version is going to bring some minor improvements so don't put your hands on something big. Another things which is nearly confirmed is a branch of the Play Store called Play Games which will be a service similar to Game Center on iOS which will record all your game achievements and you can compare them with your friends. Additionally, Google might also announce an update to Google Now which will add more features, also expansion of the service to the desktop site is also a big probability. In the hardware side, Google is set to either announce the 32GB Nexus 4 with LTE or the Nexus 5 or even both. In other speculations the Nexus 7+ is also slated for announcement this wednesday, the new 7" tablet from Google will have a higher resolution screen, a faster processor and will still have that $199 price range. Alright on to the pure speculation, maybe just maybe google might once again give light to the Nexus Q media player. Also Google Glass might be a main topic of the keynote this time around. This is all of my speculations for the keynote happening in 3 days time, stay tuned for the recap article. 

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Friday, May 10, 2013

The Nokia Lumia 928 Has Finally Been Unveiled

Following the leaks which surrounded the internet in the past month, today Nokia and Verizon finally announced the Nokia Lumia 928 which is the latest Lumia model from Nokia and is an exclusive device for Verizon Wireless in the US. As speculated and leaked previously the Lumia 928 is basically deep down a Lumia 928 but the design of the device changed and interestingly enough the device is actually 0.3mm thicker than the Lumia 920 but looks really thin . Alongside that, Nokia equipped this device with the same 8.7MP Pureview camera and this time around they smacked a Xenon flash on the back. Overall this device deep down is a Lumia 920 with a whole new look. The device still lacks a microSD card slot but wireless charging is still built in. The device will go on sale on May 16 on Verizon for $99 and that is literally a good deal for a 32GB phone. 

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Nokia Asha 501 Introduced, Breaking The Barriers

Well since announcing v2, i've not posted much about news here but today i am doing so because this is really just a breakthrough by Nokia. Going back to the topic, earlier today Stephen Elop went on stage in India and announced the newest member to the Asha family which is the Nokia 501. This device is truly special as it is the first device to usher in the new UI of Asha devices. The specs of this device is pretty blanch and includes a 3" 240 X 320 LCD capacitive screen, a 3.2MP camera, a 1200mAh battery, and a microSD card slot. Well these specs look really underwhelming in the world of quad cores and 8 cores, but what i think stands out the most in this device is the standby time of upto 48 days which is just 'mindblowing'. You have to remember that this device is not a dumbphone and can do nearly as much as a smartphone. On the downside of things this device does not come with 3G and only works with 2G but that can be overlooked by the $99 price tag and the targeted developing markets. In the line of hardware the Asha 501 doesn't come short as the body it comes in really resembles the Lumia lineup with bright and vibrant colors as well as a very close attention to detailing on the device itself. In the software side of things, Nokia is introducing a whole new user interface which include swiping gestures and swiping gestures. The whole navigation of the new software looks to be pretty similar to the swipe friendly meego OS. Apart from that Nokia also brought in their Xpress browser which is capable of compressing up to 90% of your data thus reducing your data usage. Alongside that Facebook and Twitter are also there out of the box and to add up to that 40 EA games are free and downloadable from the Nokia Store. Not coming up short Nokia also announces that popular applications like foursquare, wechat, CNN, etc are in the works for the Asha platform and will come soon. Additionally they also mentioned that HERE maps will be making its way to the Asha 501 by Q3. Well the main star of the software is what Nokia calls the fastlane which is one of the two homescreens present on the Asha 501. Fastlane is basically like a multitasking page for you where your most recent tasks are tabled there. To cut things short here the Nokia Asha 501 is not short of features for that $99 price tag. What it offers really is unbeatable at this price point. This phone might have pa standing chance at swaying users to get this device opposed to cheaper android devices. As i said earlier the year Low end handsets like the asha lineup by Nokia does make impact on this smartphone world. As to Nokia they are doing a very good job and they are following what Samsung is doing by giving their entire lineup the same look. But Nokia does it way better because Samsung merly just resize one device and call it another. Stay tuned for episode 1 of Perspective 101 which i will discuss about this matter in even more contrast.

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4 Vs HTC One, Which Will Come On Top ?


It is come to my attention that in the past few weeks or since i announced V2.0 of this blog i have been mainly writing about Samsung topics. So today i would like to adjourn this matter and in the coming weeks i will write about other topics so stay tuned. Also in the end of the month there are also some very interesting articles which are being planned for. Going up to the statement in hand today, i am here announcing that in the coming weeks i am going to release two in depth articles about both the HTC One and Galaxy S4. Actually at first this article was just a 1 part article but then i thought than between these two device i really can't crown a better device overall so i decided to break the article up and these articles will direct you to why one device is better than the other, so its a win win situation of the fans of both devices. Additionally, before i can write anything out i must have my hands on with the HTC One so it can be fair as i already had my hands on with the Galaxy S4. This will take some time as i will be busy the whole of next week so, i'll just have to sneak some time off to go to the HTC store and try out the HTC One. 

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