Why You Will Like the Samsung Galaxy S7

A new "world" has emerged adding to the collection of discovered galaxies on the Samsung's flagship mobile phone universe! Exciting and full of promise like a new born, would this newly discovered galaxy has the charisma to make us focus our spotlight and take a closer look? Or has the alluring quality that make our wallet come out of the pocket and splash every cash and card content to make a purchase?

The New Samsung Galaxy S7 Family:

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge 32GB UK SIM-Free Smartphone - Black

Samsung Galaxy S7 32GB UK SIM-Free Smartphone - Gold

 One thing for sure, the S7 is a stunner. It is one of the most beautiful phone in 2016. With it's 5.1 inch size(5.5 inches for the edge), it fits comfortably on your hands and pocket. The curved shiny metallic-glass backing makes it slide easily in the back pocket so therefore, before accident happens, it is better to invest on a good case to protect this expensive gadget.

Accessories for S7

Caseflex Premium Samsung Galaxy S7 Case Genuine Leather Slim-Line Stand Wallet Cover With ID / Cash / Card Slots - Black

It features the always on screen, that allows to show the date, time and the remaining battery life which is helpful to know if it's time yet to charge the unit. It also notifies missed calls and messages. This feature saves you from turning the unit's screen on and off. Although it is always on, the battery is conserved because of the way the super AMOLED screen works. It only illuminates the needed pixels! And also, the battery is beefed up with a massive 3000mAh (3600mAh for the edge) power which doesn't let you down even when you use it for 24 hours or more.

The S7 also boasts 4GB of RAM that makes all tasks as fluid as possible, and more applications to run at the same time without noticing a lag or a drag in performance. Not to mention the 32GB native storage, you can now extensively expand its memory of up to 200GB. The removable storage and battery remained a strong point in owning a Samsung rather than the competition.

If you are up for crisps photos and selfies, it also upgraded it's camera to a 12MP rear and 5MP front facing snapper, coupled with a bigger sensor to accommodate more light specially when shooting in the dark. The work horse is also 30% faster than it's predecessor with the more powerful 2.3 GHz, Samsung Exynos processor. And good news to everyone,  the bloatwares has been trimmed down to minimum, meaning there is less clutter of apps that you'll never use.

Ready to explore the new galaxy? See best and latest deals below.

Galaxy S7 £36per month.
Galaxy S7 edge £36 per month

Control Your Laptop Using Eye Movements

Ever feel frustrated when you turn to the next page of a musical score stored on a tablet  whilst playing the piano or guitar overshoots to the last page ? Or want to play a video backwards as you missed an important ingredient whilst your hands are sticky with half done dough?

These are just some scenarios that you wish your digital device, laptop or tablet  would turn into a physical personal assistant even just for a minute or two. Although no amount of magic spells and magic wands can do this in the real world,  this smart assistant can get smarter with an eye tracker device. It can just do what you wish to be done by an additional hardware and a well written software!

The Eye Tribe Eye Tracker

Eye tribe has introduced that device that uses an eye tracker to detect eye movements and written an accompanying code that translates these into tasks like turning a page, playing back movies backwards or forwards, controlling a game without  ever using your fingers to touch the device. 

See more of it at https://theeyetribe.com/

Imagine you can do every activity you usually do to a device with your finger tips just by looking and making gestures using your eyes! It will be a liberating experience specially in the field of gaming. No more inaccurate controller finger slips. It could also mean savings on batteries and misplaced  or broken controllers.


As it is still new, it can only be connected to devices like laptops and tablets running windows7/8 or Macs running mountain lion 10.8.4. It also need a superfast data input interface like the USB 3.

The company is still working to miniaturize it more to fit smaller devices like mobile phones. So we can expect mobile products sporting the new user interface in the future and other devices that can exploit the power of eye movements. As the SDK code comes with the purchase of the device, developers can use it in developing apps compatible for other home entertainment products to make them more interesting to use!

Click to watch video.

Last Words.

This is an another forward leap to user interfaces on how we interact to machines. This technology will be helpful to people with disability so that they can fully experience the enjoyment of having a laptop or a tablet without having the reservation to use them because they are not physically capable to hold the device. It can also make them more independent in some ways if this device is incorporated with other products of everyday living like a wheelchair that moves just by looking at it. This technology could make tasks become simpler and could open a window to a new world to people with difficulties if exploited it's every potential.

Charge Your Mobile In 30 Seconds

Admit it, in the modern world, we are dependent to our digital gadget to live. Our mobile device helps  us juggle everything from waking up in the morning, reminding us to go to work or reminding us that we just forgot it's the rest day for the week. It can make us an 'expert' in everything, say like an instant chef by providing breakfast menu and instructions on how or what to make with the existing food items inside the fridge, this of course with the aid of the sous chef, google search.

Many amazing things to be thankful with this device, it has the ability to solve our problems. It is just a matter of a few touches to download apps that is affordably cheap or free and surprisingly  effective, that was unthinkably possible many years back. The only thing that it is struggling to overcome is , well, it's own problem. Yes it does have a problem in it's 'eating habits' like it's human owners.

 It voraciously feed on every drop of energy that can be thrown on it. But not like it's human counterpart that can store and save for future use, it doesn't think of that but let you do the solving of how and where to quickly get to the mains!  As everything halts whilst waiting and asking  how long will it take until it is fully charged or at least to get to in a working state?

Storedot's Nanodot. 

Well, the bothering situation of finding cables and sockets and hours of waiting time to charge may one day be a thing of the past, as one company playing with nano technology has discovered that they can also amaze our mobiles with 30 seconds charging time, that's from completely flat to fully charge. This amazes owners too, as we can be fully charged, geared up to battle in less than a minute.

This is a good news for everybody from the Israeli based makers. The technology is called  storedot which utilizes a bio-organic peptide molecules called nanodots, that are environment friendly unlike the present technology using toxic chemicals. When used in batteries, it cuts the amount of time to charge from hours to just a mere 30 seconds. Although it doesn't help in extending battery capacity, the fast charging time will be sufficient to attract mobile owners to buy the product sometime in late 2016 to 2017.

Watch video below.

See how the NanoDot powere'd battery charges this Samsung mobile in 30 seconds.

Watch here.

New Year, New Phone Gimmick!

Discover More!

It's 2015! With the saturated mobile world, what would be the next thing to entice fans to spend another dollar or pounds to buy a new one, whilst the new apple 6 has just making it's way to the top of the basket checkout  list? So after the battle of big screens,which apple decided and have been subdued that this really an important game tactic for users, and totally incomprehensible list of functions that in the real world we do not have use of, what's next?

Here's a phone manufacturing company that thinks differently from the other top brands. Although their product has been around for a year or  two, it has not been properly globally introduced, but to certain countries. But I bet the top brands are already studying it's design if it causes another threat to mobile domination, that could make their engineers in thinkering what to do better with this new phone concept. What's special about this phone is, it has two faces!

Yes it does, face A is a normal typical smartphone and when you turn it over, the B side is an extension of the smartphone's notification center. And the trick bit in here is it uses electronic paper display (EPD) like those found on e-book readers. EPD's are known for energy efficiency and readability even when under a bright sunlight. This new generation of smart phone is called Yotaphone. The name may not be the coolest you have heard of and can mean something to "ilocanos" like me, but here are the practical reasons why I would like to buy it.

Being Android.

It does operate under google's android mobile operating system, which has it's advantages over the competition. Like the ability to install third party applications that is banned by other OS unless you pay a gamble to freely cut off the ties on it's operating system that most users have never thought of it doing. Paid for Android apps, as far as I can remember, are cheaper than other OS, and would not worry about the shortages but the capacity of the phone's memory. And not just apps that it has the advantages of, the user's interface can be customized to make the environment lokkk like an apple, blackberry or windows phone. Not to mention than it also supports cross flat form development that means developers using other codes can easily release a version of android faster than other OS.

Battery life.

This is the first thing that struck my mind, as my phone has developed a strong affection to the mains. I usually charge everyday, as I want the battery to be at least 80% full when I go out. This is also because of my oncall duty to make my mind at peace knowing that I can be called 24hours. The second screen of this phone is made up of EPD which is efficient in using power resource.

Running an android operating system can be battery hungry but transfering the  phone function to the EPD screen  and turning on yotaenergy  mode will add at least 4 more hours to use smartphone functions. This is brilliant. This also means you can finish what you are doing or not to prematurely terminate a call because of low battery.

Readability.

Smartphone acreens are all lovely specially with new models, but the one thing I hate about them is the difficulty of reading under the sunlight. No matter how much squinting, the bright sunlight takes over the show. With the EPD, it's just like reading a print from a newspaper. So under bright sunshine, just turn it over and use this screen. Although it is in monocolour, this does not matter as reading the message or accessing the phone book with ease is more important.

Watch video.

Summary features.

Operating System	Android Kitkat
Core	QuadCore	Speed	2.3GHz
Screen	5 inches	Camera	8 & 2 Mp
Int Memory	32GB	RAM	2GB
Ext Memory	Not supported

The Smarter Smartphone

Most smartphones do have the same features and capabilities.Though others have more advanced specifications and hardware improvements, the Sony Experia range has gone further interms of practical and essential feature.

Distinct Feature

The introduction of waterproof on smartphones has been the most noticeable feature of the Sony brand.  Sony has gone further with a higher  waterproof and dustproof rating of IP65/68 on the new Experia Z3 unit.

The rating of the  phone means it can be kept at a depth of  1.5meters under water  up to 30 minutes without causing water damage. This is it's feature to beat with other big name companies. As other smartphones are shying away from the beach and other places with water involved, Z3 owners has no problem splashing and waddling  to record or snap away mementos on beach holidays or underwater shots.

 

Other interesting features.

5.2 Inch Screen

The bigger screen the better. It's becoming a norm to have a big screen smartphone. The Z3 is made of a 5.2 inch viewable screen. This is a massive screen that is better to show snaps, movies and be entertained. And also a friendlier screen to accomodate bigger fonts and buttons for easier navigation. Strained eyes can feel more relaxed with bigger screens.

Full HD

Big screen needs more pixels to keep the image looking good.The Z3 is no exception. A mesmerizing 1920x1080 pixels that equates to 424ppi will keep the still photos sharp and colourful. And with the incorporation of the latest and exclusive Sony diaplay technology meant for high end TV's , the triluminous display has been applied for the Z3 screen. It is coupled with the X- reality picture engine to give users a crispier and more colourful viewing experience.

20.7MP camera

The massive 20.7mp camera brings an exceptional photo details even after heavy cropping. The large 1/2.3” Exmor RS image sensor and the first mobile to have the highest ISO 12800 rating  ensures lesser noise with your snaps and outputs a smooth and much detailed still image even at dark without the aid of a flash. Moving image can be captured with a  4K Ultra HD resulotion,

Processor, Memory and Sim

The Z3 is powered by 2.5GHz quad core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 801 processor. This speed ensures faster processing need specially when engaged with games. The faster the processor, the smoother and lag free your game is. The massive 3GB of RAM makes it possible to multitask with ease. It also comes with a native 16GB of storage and can be expanded upto 128GB with a micro SD card. If you are buying it SIM free, this phone takes a nano card.


PS4 Remote Play

Take advantage of it's fast processor and massive RAM by playing your favourite PS4 games without the need of a TV. Just pop your game on the PS4 console and using the same Wi-Fi connection, you can use your Z3 as a monitor to enjoy your game for as long as you are in the Wi-Fi range.

The Note 4

The countdown in waiting for the new Note 4 will stop on the 17th of October. On this date is the scheduled distribution of the pre-ordered devices, which will come in 3 colours; charcoal black, frost white frost and bronze gold.

Comparison from previous version

Screen

Sporting the latest in screen display technology, the Note 4  has a Quad HD display compared to the Note 3's Full HD. Although the screen size is similar at 5.7inch , the Note 4 is more dense at 551 ppi compared to the 386 ppi design.  This means a sharper image even when you zoom it into the maximum. Better for image manipulation.

Camera

To take advantage of the generous screen pixels, Samsung also beefed up it's rear camera from the earlier 13Mp to 16 Mp. Even the front camera is overhauled from 2Mp to 3.7Mp, and has incorporated a Wide mode for selfie addict users.

Connectivity

All of the usual and new mobile connectivity is present with the Note 4. It has  4G,  802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, DLNA, MHL, a 3.5mm headset jack and Micro-USB.

The combination of 4G and Wi-Fi feature can download at a speed of  400Mbps. Although this is impressive, users need to watch out not to over spend  their data allowance.
OS, Processor and Ram

Kitkat is the latest Android operating system and it's been unusually around for quite a time. Although the Note 4 is flashed with this operating system, I bet that it would be the first Samsung phone to get the newest Android OS which name will start in L, if you logically follow Android's name pattern.

Samsung embedded the latest 2.7 GHz processor from it's favourite chip maker, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 model. The graphicc is also faster with the Adreno 420, however, it did not touched the capacity of it's 3GB RAM from the previous version.

Sim Card, Battery, Storage

It is surprising that the Note 4 remained loyal to the micro Sim (3FF) card form factor. It has a slightly better 3220mAh battery and an Ultra Power Saving Mode that can stretch a 10% battery into an impressive 24hours of life! Another impressive feature is it's fast charge mode that can top up 50% of battery  in 30 minutes from 0%. The Note 4 ships with 32GB of internal storage and can add some more with a micro SD card.

Price

It is expected to be pricey at it's first introduction, but it will go cheaper after a while. The cheapest cost of ownership for 2 years is to pay £129.99 upfront with £33 per month. The lowest tariff without any cash out is £43.50 but this sums up to £1044 in 2 years.

Click to see the cheapest tariff

The Largest iPhone Ever

The world is welcoming iPhone 6, the first leap of the cuppertino guys to brew a larger mobile which is a contrary to apple's single hand design . With a 5.5 inch screen size display, apple is showing it is ready to race head to head for the phablet arena which is at the moment dominated by android. It might have sensed that the trend is going towards a bigger and larger devices. Or have got the clue to  users, being more practical that they choose larger screens as they are more user friendly with a tasks, or simply more entertaining than smaller screens.

The variants

There are two models to choose from, one has a display of 4.7 inches and the other 5.5 inch model. The later is called iPhone 6 plus which the extra size might have contributed to the name. Both models could make the iPhone 5(4 inch screen) looked very small when compared side by side.

What to expect

Aside from the size, the new iPhones have 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB models. Having added the extra storage in terms of internal memory, apple still is not keen of installing slot for external storage. It also sports the new IOS 8 which apple claims as having more exiting features. It also claims  to have a faster dual core processor using the latest A8 64-bit specification with a clock speed of 1.4GHz, and a 1GB of RAM. This specs might look short compared to other mobiles but the real speed is affected by the efficiency of how the device handles its resources.

It might seem too late for apple to introduce NFC feature, but will be more functional than other phone's with the introduction of Apple Pay application.

The 8MP rear camera might sound disappointing to fans, but the incorporation of  the new iSight lense has a faster autofocus and a better noise reduction feature than promises better photos from it's predecessor. The front facing camera has a new sensor that collects more light specially in dim environment to give you a better focused and sharper image.

With it's bigger size, it is surprising that the new iPhone is thinner that the older versions. The 4.7 model is only at 6.9mm thickness, and the 5.5 is thin at 7.1mm compare to the 7.6mm iPhone5 model.

A bigger battery is also matched for longer usage.

Where to order?

Although it is not in the shelves yet you can pre order it from the retailers below:

Carphonewarehouse £43.50/month

Dialaphone (price match promise plus free first month tariff)

Phones4U(with price match promise plus free first moth tariff plus trade in)

Both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus comes in 16B, 64GB and 128GB models - See more at: http://hiphopwired.com/2014/09/09/11-new-features-iphone-6-photos/2/#sthash.tUswU08S.dpuf

The Fire Phone

The latest buzz is official, the amazon's phone flagship has sailed, bearing the familiar name of a variant of it's successfully launched tablet. The Fire Phone, is set to compete with the big names of the mobile industry like apple and samsung. Will it set fire to the high tech departments apple and samsung already hold  or bring a new battle ground for amazon has been known for, price to beat functional and practical products?

So we skip the boring the same "standard" features of a smartphone and jump to the interesting "practical" things the Fire Phone is starting to set fire and aims to lead!

Dynamic Perspective

Loved 3D but do not want to wear glasses and head ache afterwards? First of it's kind, the dynamic perspective feature changes the "perspective" view of a picture by adopting to the location of the viewer's eyes. The phone has 4 camera sensors in front of the phone to do this trick. So the image moves in relation to the viewer's angle of view.

A better alternative to the existing 3D displays that makes the image alive by offsetting two image sources, a "stereo image". But if you close one of your eyes whilst viewing a 3D, this becomes 2D because the other  receiver (the other eye) is not conveying the other signal to the brain.

With the dynamic perspective, it can show you the same output, either you use one eye or two!

Dynamic Perspective Video

Free Unlimited Amazon Cloud Drive

Another outstanding freebie of the phone is the unlimited photo cloud storage. Amazon understands that a smartphone can not live on being smart alone. It needs an ample supply of storage to keep up with everyday use and snapping.

With other mobile brands, you may need to spend arms and legs to get this freebie. No doubt that snapping photos is usually the reason why internal phone storage is easily filled up. And free cloud storage is very limited. This is a selling point to frustrated smartphone owners that are having a problem with low capacity internal and free cloud storage.

Firefly

This is a feature of the fire phone's camera that can recognize anything. It's visual recognition ability can recognize a painting and tells you something about it by drawing data from wikipedia. Or scan an item and it tells you how much it is. Then directs you to Amazon marketplace in case you are enticed to buy it. It's voice recognition feature can give you the title of a song and other information. Text's are also recognised from an image, like a phone number or name and address. It also scans the usual barcodes, QRcodes and URL's.

See Firefly Button at Work

MayDay Button

This is the customer service of the the Firephone. If other phone manufactures let you ring a number for their customer assistents, this one is different. It let's you see the advisor in real time using a oneway video chat. This means you can see the advisor but she can not see you. You can ask any question relevant to the device and expect to be connected to an advisor  in at least 10 seconds or less.

The Mayday Customer Advisor

The Magic of iOS 8

Here's good news to apple fans, the new iOS 8 is coming to your devices. It will be compatible to apple products from iPhone 4s, the iPod 5th generation, and iPad 2, to the newer versions. Improvements and enhancements are surely would enchant apple users because they are new and are just the things they really are missing out from other smartphone users.

More Open

 Apple is mean in terms of keeping away non-apple recognized applications and very reluctant of integrating third party apps as one of its native apps. Users can not really choose but to helplessly use the one provided by the company. This time, iOS 8 gives you the freedom to pick a non apple keyboard input style which has been long enjoyed by the android market. "Swyping" rather than typing is at last in the list of tricks. And as the gate is partly opened, users can anticipate more apps and improvements from the already millions of  existing application catalogue.

Camera Magic

iOS 8 will be a charm to use to take photos with the new features and powerful edit functions away from a desktop computer. This will let the captured moments as perfect as possible even though captured awkwardly. Perfectly cropping and adjusting a loop sided photo will no longer need a full photo software but the native app within the phone's camera. The software also took advantage of the touch interface to easily re orient photos with the aid of a compass like tool. Aligning the horizon this way is more accurate than tapping a button or entering number angles.

Auto settings for photos will make a photo beginner feel like a pro with adjustments at real time. The changes it makes whilst moving the slider help the novice see the difference at every increment and help determine the best result. And with the aid of built in filters, a masterpiece is just waiting to be discovered.

First in the history of mobile phone camera comes the time lapse function which you can only find at a high end professional camera. Users can now experience how to take an accelerated view of the sun from rising from the east and ultimately setting to the west.

 iCloud Magic

Understanding what users need is one of the ingredients of a successful product. Apple did know, that with the integrated powerful camera will impact the use of the phone's storage. As the iPhone is still not ready to  embrace the use of an external storage, it made a practical move of creating iCloud Photo Library. This do not just remedy the limited internal storage but to integrate more apple products in the same library to access the same file. This means while a user will be taking a photo in his iPhone, he can go home and edit the same photo on his iMac, and view the photo on his iPad while laying lazy on his bed.

Handoff feature does more when connected to iCloud. It picks up user's activity from one device to another. This means a user can start surfing from his iPhone and can continue the same link from his iPad. Other synchorized applications include  Mail, Safari, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Maps, Messages, Reminders, Calendar, and Contacts.

Connected devices to the same wi-fi network as the user's iPhone now can be used to answer or make a phone call. There is no longer a need to run upstairs where the iPhone is charging as the call can be picked up from iMac, or iPad. Long text messages can be composed easily at an iPad or iMac and can be sent directly to any contact without using the iPhone.

Messaging Magic

First thing that comes to mind in terms of messaging is text messaging, where user type what he sends and the recipient read at the other end. The iOS 8 made messaging exciting by the ability to send voice messages. This is useful when the recipient is behind the wheels or it is imposible to take a glimpse at the screen. Users with disability will also find this useful.

Staying in focus whilst doing something is brought possible by being able to read and reply to messages without leaving the application you are on. This is a form of multi tasking that is practical and productive.

Family Magic

Apple fan family has something to smile about specially the one who did the i-Pay part of the iPad, iPhone, iMac and iPod. After setting a Family Sharing account, everything is shared, from music, videos, and apps  except user names and passwords. So the premium applications of mum and dad can be used by anybody in the family circle. Dad can now forget about shocking bill from a family member tied to his credit card as he can see every invoice directed to his card. \It is just a matter of tapping the necessary button for dad to authorize the purchase.

Why You Will Like The HTC One Mini 2

Buy Now From  £25per month!

Here's the smaller version of the metallic premium looking mobile sensation, the HTC One Mini 2. With the front facing speaker to wow you with your favourite mp3's and a friendlier size of 4.5 inch screen for a comfortable grip while doing a selfie, this smartphone is a contender and can steal the spot light from top selling models. Why not?

Size and Handling

Although it is a mini, it is still longer and wider than the iPhone 5 with 137.43 x 65.04 x 10.6 mm dimensions. If you are used to apple products then the size could be noticeably big when held but the bigger screen is an advantage during multi media playback. I personally favor wider screens as they have ample space to play with and can save you from pinching out the images and texts. It's size is not a problem getting in and out of my pocket. It's aluminum body gives the confidence of surviving a tight jeans pocket.

Multimedia and Entertainment

It has an amazing sound like no other, thanks to the HTC Boomsound stereo feature to it's tiny but powerful front facing speakers. The refinement in audio playback is brought by built in software control and amplifier complimented with well crafted speaker chamber to make every sound  crisp and powerful. In my opinion, you do not need a speaker dock to enjoy your movies and music inside your room.

One significant feature is the selfie mode that uses the front facing 5MP camera and useful selfie tools like timer, on the fly editor like the "make-up" feature that can turn blemished skin as flawless as possible.

Connectivity, Memory and Performance

This phone takes the nano size sim card. This means you need to purchase a compatible sim if you have a plan to use your old phone number on a regular or micro sim. The battery is built in but unlike the original HTC One, the mini takes a micro SD to expand it's memory to a total of 128GB! More than enough to carry all of your MP3's or  movies.

It's computing power is brought by a quad-core processor from qualcomm running at 1.2GHz speed, coupled by 1GBof RAM, enough to run a program smoothy, but may struggle with more application opened at the same time.

It has the usual bluetooth, wi-fi, NFC and the latest data protocol 4G! This means with the correct data tariff, you can experience the fastest mobile internet connection available. You do not need to be in a wi-fi area to stream videos or engage in video calls. Just do not forget to get the right amount of data according to your need.

Why You Will Like the Sony Z2

The company that offered the first water resistant smartphone has comeback for the second time with some refinement from the first. It come with something that might entice customers depending on their taste. Though sony couldn't please everyone, here is the list of improvement

Performance

This is another android phone with the latest Kitkat 4.4 operating system and sporting a  quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor that are both known to be energy efficient. Performance wise, the phone is fitted with a massive 3GB of RAM, the biggest I have seen so far from the newest phone flagships. This makes sure everything runs smoothly no matter how much application is opened at one time. It promises no lags and fluid performance.

Power

The machine's 5.2 inch screen is a power drainer but sony knows how to handle the situation by shipping it with a high capacity 3200mAh battery and a software that can be activated to save battery.  The stamina mode conserves power starting one minute after the screen has been turned off. The data traffic is automatically blocked and background activities are prevented from waking up the system which usually the culprit of low battery performance.

Entertainment

The Xperia Z2 is one of the largest smartphone of today. It has a screen size of 5.2 inches, bigger than most of the new model flagship of  HTC and Samsung. It is perfect for viewing photos taken from it's 20.7 MP camera that has an Exmor RS sensor on it. This means it can take high definition photos even in low lit locations. The noise reduction feature does not only apply to still photos but do well in video mode. In fact it can record clips at 4K resolution. Perfect to project into a 4K TV that is DLNA capable or use MHL adaptor for older TV versions with HDMI port. On it's own, the phone's front facing speaker is capable of 3D surround, which might be sufficient not to use a docking speaker. It is also the first smartphone to introduce built in digital noise cancelling feature that makes you can enjoy noise-free sound with the use of the included MDR-NC31EM headphones.

Video

Rumours On The iPhone 6

History of the iPhone suggests that a new unit emerges every couple of years, and variants(same model) are enhanced every year. It's been almost two years when the iPhone 5 was first released on September 2012. Many mobile trend analyst are betting the new model will be coming out very soon, and speculations on how the new iPhone will look like intrigues every apple fan. Here is a list of what we might be looking at.

Bigger screen size

The iPhone, despite one of the most successful model, has continued to retain it's one hand operation philosophy. Whilst most manufacturers have already ventured into using phablet size screens to entice customers, the iPhone has no problem of selling it's models with smaller ones.

Analysts are saying it is time for the iPhone to grow in size literally, as users are more likely using their phones to access the internet on the go rather than tablets. Practicality and functionality wise, you can control a bigger screen better than a small one. And with the introduction of 4G connectivity, the amount of activity you can do with the phone whilst on line is only limited to how fast and how accurate you can tap. Obviously, the bigger the target, the more accurate and faster you can tap.

NFC  Enabled

The near field communication  is already a standard feature of most high end smartphone a few years back, but apple decided not to use it on the iPhone 5. Personally, I find no excitement with the NFC on my S3 at first. But as the technology is being used more specially with simple financial transaction, tapping and going with an NFC card is more convenient and fast rather than inserting and entering the card and access number. With further development of the NFC and the support of application developers, there will be a time that all we need is a mobile phone for any  transactions. Apple need to realise that this is coming and need to do something about it. They need to include the NFC chip on their next model.

Wireless Charging

This is another convenience taken into consideration. Though wireless charging is been around for quite sometime, manufacturers are not really serious in putting the whole system into their products. It still needs a dock and an additional sleeve connector to charge wirelessly. If apple wants to have an edge with this popular technology, it is time to embed this on their new product. Imagine a world free of wires.

Removable Battery

One  of the worries of owning an expensive device is when the battery needs replacing. Specially when the battery is embedded inside a unit that you need a special tool, a lion heart, and a hidden extra ordinary talent to disassemble then put back together again. There are videos on how to replace this, and you just need to follow the instructions, and batteries are cheap on bidding sites. But if you do not posses a strong will then the best bet for you is to take the expensive and long way to apple customer service. It would be nice and more practical to make the battery easily replaceable like most manufacturers.

Expandable Memory

Restriction of memory is also one of the negative factors of owning an iPhone. Although cloud storage is available, the miniscule free storage is not enough for todays smartphone usage, and additional storage comes with a price. Though this feature, like the removable battery, is more likely to be not in the menu, this is worth considering. This will show that apple considers the user's need of storage and the flexibility that it can bring.

Who knows what the new iPhone 6 would look like? As they keep us guessing, the more they keep us more curious. We just hope that there will be a major change for the phone and to consider to add those previously restricted  features.

Why You Will Love the Samsung S5

See Samsung S5 Pre Order Deal

Few days from now, the new smartphone flagship of Samsung will be available in the UK. The Samsung S5 will be ready to amuse you with new tricks and features of a high end product starting 11th of April. Here are  interesting, practically useful and new features of the S5.

Water Resistant and Dust Resistant

This is an important feature for those looking for an extra protection. A high percentage of all mobile phone damage is caused by water. With the new model, you can bring it in the open and do not mind the weather. If it happens to fall and soaked under water, do not worry as test has been made and has survived 30 minutes fully soaked without a sign of water leakage or internal harm to electronic parts. This is a feature came true for the adventurous and meticulous as they can just wash it with water when it comes into contact with mud, dust or sticky fingers.

Security Features

The phone is equipped with Finger Scanner that thwarts theft. It also helps in making secure mobile payments and  an integrated part of the Private Mode feature that locks your photos and sensitive data with your fingerprint in case you left your phone lying around.

On the software side, “Find My Mobile” and “Reactivation Lock” are included to enhance anti-theft features that can track down lost or stolen phone and will lock the phone if there’s an unauthorized attempt to reset it. 

If you are splashing an S5 to younger kids, there's a new Kids Mode with applications tailored for young children to protect them whilst using the device. You can customize it in a way that you can limit the time in a day they can use the phone or choose apps that they can access.

Ultra Power Saving Mode

Squeezing the last drop of power could be frustrating specially when you are out from a mains socket or forgot your charger, but with this feature it can stretch the remaining battery further more by turning all features off except for calls and texts. It will also automatically turn the screen into black and white to save even more. Samsung says that a 10% battery life can be stretched into 24hours when this feature is on.

Download Booster and Wi-Fi MIMO

Is it possible to achieve a 1GB of data in 30 seconds or less without increasing the network's bandwitdh speed? The  Wi-Fi Multiple Input and Multiple Ouput feature uses multiple antennas  that is integrated into the device, significantly increases the data throughput and range without additional muscle to transmit data from the network provider. 

With the download booster activated, both the 4G (LTE) connection from the network provider and the Wi-Fi connection are active at the same time, creating a unified and very fast network and so thus your download!

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Why You Will Love the HTC One M8

HTC One M8

Not all smartphones are created equal. This is what HTC has proven the world of manufacturers that they can be different and can be better than the rest. HTC doesn't simply wants us to buy its phones but to love them and treat them with respect. And here are the reasons why I might be doing that.

Metal body.

Who have thought of designing a phone with one piece of metal then carefully and precisely curved out the necessary ports and compartments to accommodate various parts of a phone? This is clever and would like to believe it has been done with careful planning and painstaking research. And not only the case that needed this but the components so that they will fit perfectly into it.

Most smartphones in the market today are made primarily of plastics. This make them feel flimsy and cheap.Though plastic has it's practical side that it can be easily replaced when it get damaged, but the though of a solid and robust metal casing can give a piece of mind that you will not need to replace any exterior part of the phone during it's lifetime.

Front Facing Speakers.

Why front facing speakers? Are they better that rear facing  ones? The answer is obvious if you would notice audio systems pointing their speakers in the direction of the user. I think the question should be deflected and rephrased "why did they have ever designed a rear facing speaker in the first place"? 

Camera Magic

So you have a shaky hands and focus on the wrong subject before you press the shutter. Now you are not sure to pause for a while, refocus and gamble on the fact that you might miss that one in a lifetime shot. With the M8, you do not need to worry about it, just press the shutter. Even if the subject is not in focus during the shot, the magic(uFocus) inside the HTC one will correct that  whilst previewing the shot.

Night shots can be clearer with the integrated UltraPixels sensor. The more pixels do not mean clearer photos, specially at night but larger sensor does, because the larger the sensor the more light is captured. This is a useful feature specially at a darker environment.

InfraRed Port (SenseTV)

This phone feature has been ditched during the introduction of  bluetooth connectivity.  Little did we know that we will be going back to this feature because of it's useful and practical application like remote control. Most remote controls are served by infrared signals that needs a  line of sight connection. And this what Sense TV on the M8 has to offer.  This is no ordinary remote control as it can be programmed to accommodate different brands and equipments. In theory, with the phone alone, you will not need all those remotes that came with  your devices, leaving you a tidier coffee table and savings on batteries.

MicroSD Card Slot

Not like the first HTC One that does not have an expandable storage, the new model now support a microSD Card of upto 128GB. You can throw in more data now than before!

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What's Up With Whatsapp?

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The rise of mobile phone ownership and the necessity to communicate has brought about the increase of applications coded for message handling. It is no longer enough that mobiles can make calls, but also to take advantage with the existing internet infrastructure to communicate freely. Truly, these apps and software coders are bringing the cost of communicating down in most cases, but can be a source of shocking bills in some cases. Before you get the later, read on!

Whatsapp is one of these apps taking the spotlight as one of the best messaging services for mobiles. It is an alternative for sending SMS, photos, videos and voice messages (not voice calls). The difference is it does not use the usual 2G cellular network to do this, but through 3G, 4G or over wifi. Here's the list of the highlight features, what you can do and tips in using the application.

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Very Easy To Use.

This app is no brainer to use. Once installed, it gets hold of mobile numbers in your phone directory and compares this list to its data base. Once one of your contact is located in it's database, it updates your account of a new contact. 

This means you can not add manually any contact you want to add. They need to install  the application to be your whatsapp contact. Although this is a multiflatform for any mobile operating system, the supported form factor is limited to mobile devices. You can not use this application using a desktop device yet, and do need a mobile phone number that doubles as your user identity. 

Send SMS and Multimedia for Free

If you communicate mostly by text, then using this application could be virtually free. Although you have to pay for the application a tiny amount after a year. The cost is negligible compared to a cellular network's (2G) subscription to send text messages. 

The application can save you more when you use it with contacts worldwide.

Sending of multimedia can also be free. This depends on how much data allowance you are subscribed to. If you are sending and receiving much of this, then remember that you will be using the internet provided by your network when you're out and about. Multimedias, specially videos are huge files and if you ran out of data, excess allowance is expensive. You need to have at least 1GB or even better with unlimited. 

Remember that it can cost you more money when you go beyond your data limits, so home and free wi-fi's are recommended as connection when using or receiving this kinds of messages.

Always on

The application  is always on. This means it is playing in the background and could be using your data allowance whilst it is updating your location, your status, and your contacts. Though the updates could just incur small data allowance, the temptation to hear and answer voice messages or see video messages can use large data. 

Can I Make A Voice Call?

Unfortunately you can not make a voice call, but you can make a voice message instead. A voice message is a recording of sound you can send through whatsapp instead of typing a message. The communication when using voice message is not instantaneous as a voice call, but need to wait until the recipient goes online and hear the message and has the option to answer it or not.

The voice call button when you open up a contact's details is actually the shortcut to your phone directory and has nothing to do with what's up. When you tap(1) a contact from there, whatsapp will transfer the call to your network cellular signal and you will be charged accordingly. The second button(2) is the whatsapp messaging icon.

Could It Be A Permanent Substitute To Cellular Network?

As a substitute to messaging service to contacts with whatsapp installed on their devices, yes. But like any other internet messaging applications, this can not work on it's own. You need to have an internet connection to use it and and also requires a cellular network number to operate. 

The Modular Phone

Samsung and Apple are the company to beat in the smartphone arena, creating trendsetter phone models that can force fold other mobile makers on their path. How could they possibly be beaten on the smartphone market? I can not think of any factor as long as consumers still like what they offer, and I think they will live as long as they introduce something different everytime they make a sequel to their soap opera like top models!

Now, other mobile phone players are venturing into a more imaginative product rather than the solid one piece flat form. It's hard for me to explain in simple words, because I think this new flat form of mobiles is a bit complicated, but the concept is simple. Welcome the modular phone!

The Modular Phone

They called it that way, as the new form will be like lego pieces joined together to make a working mobile phone. The screen, processor, ram, battery, camera and other pieces can be put together like a puzzle. This will be a highly customizable product that a user can build according to his needs. For example, if multitasking is what you require, you can buy a faster processor module, take off the old one and put the new one in place. Or if you are a budding photographer, you can opt for a better quality camera module. This is without the need of buying a new phone model to keep up with the on going tech trend.

Google and Motorolla's Project ARA 

This concept is a good news to those who would like to experiment and have a strong sense of creativity. This could also be a money saver to those who are keeping track of new products, as they will just be buying component modules to do the upgrade. And in a way, can make it simpler to use as users are involved in building the handset. The most significant advantage is, you do not pay for a component you do not use!

As this concept is very good, manufacturers are already racing on making their own versions. The worst then that could happen is the incompatibility of modules from different makers. This would produce more electronic waste as time goes. I just hope that there would be a standard module for every component and can be used cross brands, like the lego!

MobileLite Wireless Drive

Here's a clever gadget, the MobileLite, so small, yet can address most of the usual annoyances of having a digital device. This little bundle can keep your device running when you run out of battery and can add GB's of storage to any mobile device like smartphone or tablet that  runs on apple or android operating system and Kindle document readers. It is easy to carry and  can fit into your pocket, making it an exceptional  mobile companion. Here's what it can do.

Wireless Drive

The MobileLite's primary function is to give extra storage to your mobile device. The gadget can use any USB type storage, and memory cards like  SD, microSD (with included adaptor), SDHC, and SDXC. If you have other types of cards, you can use a universal card reader as a bridge.

As it can read and write files wirelessly, you can free up space on to your mobile device by downloading your photos and videos to the gadget. This will not only free up space but will make it run faster.

Video Clip 1

Wireless Streaming

The gadget can stream file contents from compatible data storage to up to 3 users at the same time. Meaning it can also be a central storage for all of your frequently shared and accessed files like photos, movies and music making it possible for one user listening to music, the other two watching movies and photos from  different devices, which is all coming from the gadget as the source.

Even the transferred DRM restricted files bought from iTunes which can not be played usually through the MobileLite network can be played using the safari browser from an apple device. Watch video below on how easy to set it up.

Video Clip 2

Extends Battery Life

The device has a built in battery that can be used as an emergency power to your mobile device when needed. A quick press to the power button will prepare the unit into a power supply mode so it would be ready to take charge giving power with the supplied micro USB cable. You can use the supplied USB of your mobile device for apple and kindle products.

Video Clip 3

Internet Connection Whilst Connected to MobileLite

The connection of a traditional storage to a mobile device,  using wi-fi will disconnect you using from the internet powered (especially wi-fi only tablets) by wi-fi network because the radio transceiver from both devices are engaged. This means you need to disconnect from the wireless drive and reconnect to your home wi-fi to use the internet. Mobile phones can switch to data access.

With the MobileLite, you can make a bridge connection of your home network whilst using the gadget as a storage or streamer. This means you can be online and be able to access files or photos stored from the gadget at the same time. It is like having your own  cloud storage service!

Video Clip 4

Get more info from the link below:

Kingston Technology MLW221 Mobilelite Wireless Reader

The Controversial iPhone 5 Keyboard Case

The Typo apple keyboard is a dual purpose product. It serves as a case and as an attached keyboard for the apple mobile product. This makes your iPhone5 very similar to a blackberry phone, which is well known for an integrated QWERTY keyboard. Whether the iPhone will benefit with this comparison or not, it is obvious that users who usually use email or text messaging application will like this new product.

Physical keyboards are ideal when speed and accuracy is demanded. I myself is deterred to use  touch screens when doing some lengthy notes. Therefore I use laptops instead of tablets in emailing and other writing tasks.

Typo The Keyboard Case

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Compatibility

The device is compatible to the iPhone 5 series but unfortunately do not support the earlier versions. It is composed of two separate top and bottom plastic parts. The Typo is connected to the iPhone via bluetooth, and this means the phone should be on bluetooth mode to use the device. It has a separate power supply. And not like the iPhone 5 that has a lightning connector, the Typo uses a micro USB type charger.

The Feel

When in place, the home button is obscured with the physical keyboard but to compensate for that, there is a home button key in place at the bottom-right corner of the device. As typo keyboard is positioned just at the lower screen's opening of the phone, it could be impossible to swipe up from the bottom of the phone. This means the shortcut screen for airplane mode, wi-fi, bluetooth, screen rotation and so on is not accessible with the Typo on. Nevertheless these can still be accessed via settings.

The separate power pack of the device could last up to 14 days on one charging cycle. The backlit for the keys is also avaailable and it can be switched on and off to save even more battery. Unfortunately, the device can not be a source of secondary power to the iPhone.

Performance

Those who have tested the device noticed the responsiveness and lack of latency in terms of touch input. The overall built is of high quality. They even compare it as the same or better than other full sized bluetooth around. There is just a slight displease in the QWERTY first row level as it is slightly more flexible than the rest of the material. This makes the device less sturdy whilst typing specially from the top row letters.

Controversy

This became controversial when star like Ryan Seacrest is up in backing up for it's development. This is because he feel it's practical use as he usually carry two phones, one for calling and the other, with QWERTY, for messaging. And I am guessing he has his iPhone and blackberry together at the same time. 

This became more controversial when Blackberry filed a case against it over the design. As blackberry argued there is a copyright violation involved. 

Where to buy it?

At the moment, it is only available to pre-order by going to their site. And I would say that at this moment, it is pricey at $99 per piece. However, if there would be a restriction of it's sale because of the law case, then this is the best time to get one.

There are other bluetooth keyboard solutions, like the onebelow, that cost fraction of the price. But if you are desperate to turn your iPhone 5 into something like a blackberry clone then this case will do the job.  

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TYPO PRODUCTS - iPhone Keyboard Case from Typo on Vimeo.