Saturday, August 15, 2015

What's next for Samsung?

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There's 7 different type of twins and probably the most commonly viewed on is the half-identical twin which basically means that their genes will partly be identical from their mother and the other half will be uniquely different. Why am I talking about genes (or Biology) and what does this have to do about technology. Well, Samsung just unwrapped two new large screened devices namely the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+ which features large 5.7" displays and is categorized under the phablet umbrella.

But as much as how they look is different, they are indeed half-identical twins, their core specifications are very similar but the targeted user base is totally different. The S6 edge+ is aimed towards the mainstream market while the Note5 is targeted at those out there who wants the multitasking prowess of the S Pen. Both the S6 edge+ and Note5 improves on the industrial design introduced with the Galaxy S6 and these devices essentially still feature sandwiched glass on a metal frame.
Samsung's new Galaxy S6 edge+ comes with a big 5.7" curved display — Besides all the hardware and software enhancements, Samsung is also getting ready quite a number of accessories which are uniquely different. Continue reading.
Samsung Galaxy Note5 announced, say goodbye to plastic — The industrial design being showcased on the Note 5 looks a lot like what's implemented on the Galaxy S6 but that's actually a good thing. But Samsung didn't merely enlarge. Continue reading.
With the introduction of these two new phablets, Samsung is rounding up the year with four flagship devices specifically tailored to different kind of users. While it is a debatable whether Samsung needed to release more high end devices, it is clear that the Korean company is no longer harboring the ideas they had last year.

Samsung made a pretty stern statement earlier this year with the introduction of both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge and the recent launch of the Galaxy Note5 merely just reinforces the idea behind the company's new strategy. While the Galaxy S6 didn't manage to rake up record sales, it still managed to convince reviewers that their design team is capable of coming up with sexy looking hardware. So, now that Samsung is making hardware that rivals the iPhone in terms of premium-ness, what is next in the chapter of Samsung's history?

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Windows 10 Day 7: Using Microsoft Edge

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Took a break from writing articles yesterday and today I am back to continue on this series by talking about the new Microsoft Edge browser that replaces Internet Explorer in Windows 10. But before I go on, I would like to take the time to sincerely apologize if you are unhappy with my previous update article which was quite badly written. I can assure you that I will try not to write such an article again, probably the first and last time you will ever see such a thing on this blog and if you have not read the previous article, don't waste you time on that.

But before starting off today's slight debate about the new Edge browser that comes with Windows 10, here's a little Microsoft updates since the last 48 hours. The first one is that Microsoft has finally released a Windows 10 update that is dated to August 5. You should see the cumulative update (KB3081424) being downloaded onto your computer and you'll be prompted to install it afterwards. No official word as to what is actually included in this 300MB KB update but it's probably just some stability updates.

Another big new from the guys over at Redmond is that they have finally released Office Sway to the public and there's now an official application to help you create that interactive blog post. In case you don't know what Sway is, you should check out my initial impressions on the new office program here. Also, today Microsoft is also officially launching a new site called docs.com which allows users to share their Microsoft office documents online as an interactive project.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Windows 10 Day 6: Does Windows 10 suck?

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I am badly running out of windows 10 topics to talk about now and It's not everyday that I am sitting 8-10 hours straight in front of the computer to use all the new features. Frankly speaking I have not closely used some of the new features like the Microsoft Edge browser and also the multitasking features. I have not actually sat down and invest some time to integrate all of these new features into my usual workflow.

So, today I will be talking about a very subjective topic that may or may not offend you as the reader depending on your stance against Windows 10 as an operating system. The topic today is about a trending hashtag on twitter that is called #Windows10fail. I actually stumbled upon this twitter hastag through an article published on Mashable and not because it was trending by any standards. The original article mostly talked about the displeasures that some of the 14 million people running Windows 10 are facing.
Windows 10 Day 5: Using Windows store applications - there are some things that I do extremely love about using Windows Store applications and one of them is the live tiles support. There's just something about the animation of data. Contine reading.
The problems range from simple errors when upgrading to the operating itself all the way to the tiny bugs that cause mayhem to the entire experience. I have personally noticed although the combination of features like the return of the Start Menu and a better experience for keyboard and mouse users does give you that bright smile after installing Windows 10 but that honeymoon period does not last long. Take a look at the trend in my previous Windows 10 update articles, the fact that I have a little bit more bad experiences to talk about windows 10 rather than the good one makes me wonder whether upgrading to Windows 10 this early was a good idea. Or maybe I have talked too much about the good things in my full review of the operating system.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Windows 10 Day 5: Using Windows store applications

In the last few days, I was merely talking about the overall experience of Windows 10 and in this week I will begin focusing on core aspects of the operating system that gives it that unique Windows 10 touch. Sure you have the new and improved Start Menu and Microsoft's personal assistant Cortana, living on your desktop but using Windows is all about being productive. And part of that productive workflow is using applications.

I am not going to bore you by talking about the standard Win32 applications like Chrome and Photoshop that we've been using for a long time. Specifically, I will be discussing about Windows Store applications which has been given a pretty solid upgrade in Windows 10. Unlike Windows Store apps that run in Windows 8/8.1, Microsoft has finally given these applications a window of it's own meaning that these applications will no longer take up your full monitor space when it is actively running.
Windows 10 Day 4: Talking to Cortana - Cortana is Microsoft's very own personal assistant and it has been brought over from Windows Phone and she will be heading to both iOS and Android by the years' end. Continue reading.
However, not all applications will have this characteristics as I have noticed that some games in particular (Age of Empires) still run in full screen and there's no option to resize it to my liking.

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Windows 10 Day 4: Talking to Cortana

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The thing about doing this daily Windows 10 blog entry articles is that I am able to share what I have discovered over the course of a day using Windows 10 to be productive. Often time when I am evaluating something over the course of a week, some important things will be left behind. Microsoft's new operating system has been out for 4 days now and is reportedly now on 67 million computers worldwide and it's time that I went in a little deeper into the operating system. In the upcoming week I will be looking into some of new productivity tools in Windows 10 and try to form a new workflow with the new features like Virtual Desktops and Task View.
Windows 10 review - Formerly called Project Spartan, the new Edge browser looks nothing like IE other than a few similar design cues. It looks somewhat like Firefox with a Windows 10 theme put over it. Continue reading
But to kick off this weekend edition of my Windows 10 blog entry, I think it is time to talk about the ins and outs of Cortana. In case you missed it, Cortana is Microsoft's very own personal assistant and it has been brought over from Windows Phone and she will be heading to both iOS and Android by the years' end. In Windows 10, Cortana lives in the integrated search bar on your taskbar.