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Xiaomi – “The Apple of China”

May 20, 2014 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

The craziness of Chinese towards the tech world, specially their addiction of smart phones turned the China into the biggest mobile market of World over night. Xiaomi the standout local smart phone market leads the market segment overnight and sells more phones in China than Apple. “The Apple of China” is coined for the Xiaomi.

xiaomi-2

According to a research firm IDC, tablets haven’t quite taken off in China and Apple still led the market with a 28 percent share during the second quarter last year by selling just 1.48 million units, the 10% of all of Apple’s iPad sales during the period, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.

Xiaomi at the very right time entering the tab’s market and unveiled its first tablet in Beijing yesterday. According to Mr. Jenny Lee, who is an early investor in Xiaomi and a Shanghai-based managing director at GGV Capital, “Chinese are starting to adopt tablets over PCs, particularly in offices. Xiaomi will have to chase Apple and Samsung, the market leaders in tablets globally and in China. That’s a race Xiaomi is all-too-familiar with”.

xiaomi-1

The Global ambitions of Xiaomi have not yet materialized and its success at home town China has not interpreted to other markets yet. Only 3% of Xiaomi’s sales are out of the China and rest of the Xiaomi’s smartphones have been sold in China. Hugo Barra, a vice president at Xiaomi responsible for international expansion stated that, “The new Mi Pad tablets will be available in China starting next month, and will eventually be offered in other markets, including Southeast Asia, India and Latin America”.

The doubts are not very big that Xiaomi could repeat its smartphone success in tablets.

Filed Under: Headlines, Tech & Science

HTC One Mini 2 Release Date, Specification and Price

May 19, 2014 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

The rumor gets life after HTC official announcement of HTC One Mini 2. It is a latest and smaller version of flagship HTC One M8, one of the best smartphones in the world.

htc 2

On the official announcement, Mr. Peter Chou the CEO of HTC Corporation stated that, “The HTC One Mini 2’s size and tapered edges fit perfectly in a hand, pocket or purse, making it look great and feel even better to use. It’s the perfect choice for those who love the iconic design of the HTC One (M8) yet want something more compact”

The HTC One Mini 2 condenses the essence of HTC’s flagship into a 4.5-inches form-factor and prominently it espouses the same premium unibody design otherwise it is often the case a few of the smartphones features have been toned down in order to force everything into a smaller chassis by many mobile companies but surely not in the case of HTC One Mini 2.

Specifications:

General – 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC
Unibody aluminium design, offered in the Gunmetal Grey, Glacial Silver and Amber Gold shades.
It’s a little thicker than the HTC One M8 (10.6mm v 9.4mm).
Weighted 137g.
4.5-inch display
Resolution – 1280*720 pixels
Quad-core, 1.2GHz Snapdragon, 400 processor with 1GB of RAM and16GB of on-board memory (with micro SD support).
3 mega-pixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and is capable of recording full 1080p video, while the front-facing 5 mega-pixel snapper.
OS – Android KitKat 4.4.2
Release Date & Price:

At the end of May, the HTC One Mini 2 will be available across Europe, the Middle East and Africa While, North-Americans can have it in June.

The price wasn’t revealed, but it’s expected to retail for around £330.

Filed Under: Headlines, Tech & Science

Truth Behind Google’s and LG’s Nexus 4 Smartphone

May 19, 2014 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

If you were to ask many people what they think about Nexus 4 smartphone, they would say that it was the design of LG and they could be right on this one, since the device is manufactured by LG. However, its design belongs to Google and it counts as the latest release on the market from these developers while being solid competitors to HTC 1 and Samsung Galaxy S3.

nexus-lg-google
In fact, one can say that by the time this one was released it managed to top up its rivals through the following features:

* It presents hardware and software that you can solidly rely on. You have to agree that these two elements in a smartphone are very hard to bring them both to the same level of perfection. But Google and LG have managed to do this with their device. As a result you will find Nexus 4 with a power pack processor, a front camera with a high resolution, a functional design and a support from Google Play Store when you need to locate applications. Speaking of which, the majority of these apps are provided for free unlike their rivals.

* Another thing that makes Nexus 4 a smart release on the smartphone market, is the operating system – Jelly bean created for Android phones being equal to iOS 7 that belongs to Apple’s new products.

* You can find this device on the market sold for a cheaper price as compared to other smartphone devices. For instance, you can get it for as les as $350 which is definitely more affordable than others of its kind. However, many consumers are intrigued by its durability because it is manufactured from plastic unlike the other devices that come with aluminum or polycarbonate material. This can make it more prone to damages once it is dropped by accident. But with the many durable cases available in the market it shouldn’t be a problem.

* Another feature that can be enticing for smartphone users who need this device for a minimal use is the battery lifespan which in these situations can last for 18 days. But when you use internet and many apps, it will only last for 15 hours, so one can say that the battery life is average with Nexus 4.

The downside of this smartphone, let’s be fair on this one, is the secondary camera’s performance because it shoots pictures at 1.3 pixels while working with 5.25 Mbps as compared to others that shoot up to 12.5 Mbps.

Filed Under: Tech & Science

LG G3 Release Date, Specs and Price

May 19, 2014 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

LG G3 is set to be released on 27th May 2014, LG confirmed the size of its screen that is 5.5″ inch with QHD resolution, it supports 2560 x 1440 pixels which will provide awesome pixel density to its users.

lg_g3

The G3 is going to be released with the latest version of Android, v4.4.2 (Kitkat) as well as with the Quad-core CPU power of 2.26 GHZ krait 400 with a power of 3GB RAM.

The built in storage ranges from 16 GB to 32 GB with a capability to add microSD card of up-to 128 GB. It is powered up with microUSB 3.0 too.

Furthermore, The battery life is said to be long lasting too, as it runs with Li-ion 3000 mAh battery.

The primary camera of G3 is 13MP that supports 4160 x 3120 pixels with an advantage of auto focus, LED flash and optical image stabilization, however, the secondary camera is just set to be 2.1 Mexa Pixel with a frame rate of 30 per second.

It supports HTML 5, GPRS, EDGE, 2G, 3G and 4g Network with LTE and LTE-CDMA version too.

It is a very lightweight smartphone, around 160 g and the dimensions are 145 x 76 x 10.5 mm.

The worth of this smartphone is not yet confirmed, so anything you read about the actual worth of this phone must be not official.

Filed Under: Tech & Science

Google Buys Twitch In Billion Dollar

May 19, 2014 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

Google to acquire the billion dollar giant Twitch to take their next big step in the gaming industry. It is mentioned by the few sources that this acquire will be merged with YouTube to increase its potential.
google-buys-twitch
Twitch is a network that allows people to upload their gameplay videos from famous gaming consoles such as PS and Xbox for others to watch, it has over 45 million active users and around a million uploaders.

This thing is a very trendy, it is used to turn the console games into spectator sport. Services offered by Twitch also runs game events, redistributes content from Gamespot, Joystiq and Destructoid, MansvsGame, LiveonThree, and Day9.

Filed Under: Headlines, Tech & Science

Species – HTC One X+ Smartphone

May 19, 2014 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

If you have been a fan of HTC smartphone devices, you will be interested to learn that with its new generation – HTC One X+ you discover a unit that is not only good looking and soft to touch, but it has a lot of personality.

It presents a 4.7 inch screen with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution for its S-LCD type of display revealing the easy to use buttons positioned at the phone bottom in a minimal number of three. In my opinion, I think that it is this minimalist design and appearance that turns this smartphone in a device with its unique personality.

On the top edge you will find the power button and the volume can be operated from a right hand side of the device. When it comes to the camera features, you will find that both Samsung and HTC provide users with the best tool in regard to photography shooting.

htc-one-xreview

As such the camera is powered by 8 MP offering best results on your photo taking passion. You will have access to camera apps including the mostly used ones: flash and filter effects. There is the Sense interface which again adds to the personality of this smartphone through its plenty of software features.

The power of HTC One X+ is ‘fueled’ by Tegra 3 processor allowing the users to smoothly browse whenever they need to. Other details related to its operating system reveal this smartphone running on Android version 4.1 software while the performance is conveyed by 1 GB RAM showing it a pretty fact device into operating.

As to the battery, HTC One X+ can be used for two days with a moderate use after you have charged it once. Another thing about battery: is non-replaceable but it has a reasonable talk time and standby. The screen can be customized in any way you wish while the software keyboard is aptly used for Swype input.

When you want to use the applications, they are instantly accessible due to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, making HTC One X+ highly desirable. Do you plan on using this smartphone for games as well? Then you don’t have to worry, because they are easily accessible and functional with 3D graphics that are envied by many smartphone developers. Connectivity options are all there (well, almost all) to include as well LTS, Near Filed Communication and Bluetooth, only to count a few.

When compared to other smartphones in matter of memory storage capacity, you will find it performing also better at this chapter: up to 64 GB capacity, which is definitely something, don’t you think?

Filed Under: Tech & Science

Blackberry Z10 Review In Depth

May 19, 2014 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

If you compare the design of smartphone Blackberry Z10 type to other devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy S3, Apple’s iPhone 5, etc., you will find it presented as a solid competitor to these ones. It is designed in black and white colors with round corners and flat sides almost as thick as the Galaxy S3 model.

The display comes with snappy, clear colors making it attractive to the eye and quite visible even with a sunlight projected on it. This means that the viewing angles are also quite well contained in the display. The easiness of using the touch screen makes it very friendly since you can type the text without any inconveniences. Another feature of this model is the lack of keys on the front side since everything is operated through the touch screen feature.

z10-review
The microphone is located at the bottom of the display right under the logo and the top edge features a front facing camera status LED and speaker. This smartphone includes plenty of HDMI and micro USB while the camera interface is easy and simple to use. In case you want to edit the pictures you take with this device, you have to make use of the built-in feature ‘photo editing’ through which you can adjust the brightness while adding cropping, filters and what not!

As to the performance of Blackberry Z10, you don’t have to worry because web pages and various applications that you might need are fast downloaded while the battery lifespan is longer than it is with Samsung Galaxy S3, for instance. It contains a built-in browser that you can use while surfing the internet, but this one is not as nice as Chrome browser is. However, this should be the least of your concerns, so long as it does its surfing job pretty fast and with ease. Not to mention that it has a powerful Dual Core 1.5 GHz processor supported by 2 GB of RAM.

Some of the applications that are already loaded in your device are Blackberry Calendar, Blackberry Hub, Story Maker, Docs to Go, and so on. Once you are in need of applications that are not within the device, you can always surf the Blackberry World and download them as needed. The operating system is Blackberry 10 OS, which is pretty new and in case you want to have it synchronized with your computer you have to use the Blackberry Link to help you synch the data files and media files.

Filed Under: Tech & Science

Lumia 1530 Review

May 18, 2014 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

Last year Nokia has started a broad range of phablet named Lumia 1520 and this time they upgraded the previous one and made a new lumia 1530.

It is regarded as an excellent substitution of Nokia Lumia 1520. It is designed by Sheikh Imaduddin who presented one of the most famous I phones, I phone 6. It has a 6” phablet with 1080 p Ips display. It has 3 GB of RAM, 32GB of storage 20Mp camera on the rear of it prepared with OIS.

Like all the other phablets it is dust and water proof which would not let you worry about the minor problems related to usual phones. Its appearance and format is more like the Lumia1520 apart from the different spacing of Windows phone tiles. It has top and bottom covering, which is a bit unusual for Nokia Lumia series, of luxurious black colour along with a line of red colour. As far as its cost is concerned it is certainly heavy on the pockets of the customers.

Filed Under: Tech & Science

MOTO X Review

May 18, 2014 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

Google acquired Motorola several months ago and few months back Motorola under Google released its first mobile the MOTO X. The MOTO X looked totally different from the way we have seen Motorola devices before and it worked way different and much better. Still is Moto X really a dependable phone fit to be in the competition in the android race? Let us analyse.

It’s no doubt that Motorola has turned much better than it was before after it was acquired by Google. Google closed a lot of Motorola’s branches around the world kept the company in a low profile and by the middle of 2013, came back to the market with a new device the Moto X.

Although the Moto X’s components were not a match to the then best smartphones in the market like the Samsung galaxy S4, Google introduced the phone claiming it as a high-end smart phone and marked the price at around $199. The phone’s resolution was not a match to the high end phones and the screen size was just content and it had a 10mp camera.

 

SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro

CPU: Dual-Core 1.7 GHz Krait 300

GPU: Adreno 320

Display: 4.7-inch HD SuperAMOLED

Memory: 16/32 GB

RAM: 2 GB

SIM: Nanosim

Main camera: 10 megapixels + LED flash

Secondary Camera: 2 megapixels

Weight: 130 grams

Dimensions: 129.3 × 65.3 × 10.4 mm

Software: Android 4.4 KitKat

 

The features are no different and are less standard than the high end devices except that the Moto X can be customised with the MotoMaker.

Preliminary analyses of the device indicated clearly revealed that it has followed the steps of Apple’s iPhone where user interface is given the main importance.

Moto X though using an android OS has some additional features like active display and touch less control making it stand out from the other android devices.

Many devices have been released since the Moto X’s release upgraded with the latest versions of software and other features. Is Moto X still worth a user’s money and performs well enough to be in the race? Let’s find out.

 

Design

     As we discussed earlierMoto X is the first phone after being acquired by Google and the hence the design has been carefully done. Moto has followed iphone steps in deciding the size of the phone, neither too compact nor too big. Moto X’s has dimensions 129.3 x 65.3 x 10.4 mm. This is a little longer then the iPhone 5S and the phone weighs about 130gms.

Owing to its small compact size and the design, the Moto X is really comfortable both in the hand and the pocket.

The volume control, power button, camera, headphone jack are in the usual position. The one most important thing that Google has added is the motomaker with the use of which uses can customise the colour of their MotoX. But this facility is only available in the US.

 

 

 

Screen

    Moto X has a great and attractive display but it is not simply the best we could see in a smart phone. The phone use super AMOLED technology display and grants many advantages and of course disadvantages too.

The maximum brightness of the Moto X is much lesser than the other Smartphones like the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy 5s S4.The screen offers good viewing angle but a blue hue appears when you exceed 180 degrees. The same issue prevails in the LG flex too which is not a surprise since both the phones use AMOLED technology.

Performance

     As far as the performance of the Moto X is concerned there can be no complaints. Moto X performs smoothly and the apps open to speed. Thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 SoC Pro and there are two more cores which are responsible for the touch less control and quick camera.

Camera

      Camera is one of the major disadvantages of the phone. Moto X has only a 10 mp camera with clear pixel technology. In good lighting conditions the camera is capable of taking good pictures but after a particular point of zoom the clarity in the images is lost.

The camera is almost of no use at all in low light. It is not worse but the camera in other smart phones is far better when compared to this.

On the whole Moto X’s camera is good but is not even close to the smart phones in market.

Software

Moto X comes with the latest version of android. Software is one place where Motorola has put more thought into. No disadvantage can be put forward in terms of software in the Moto X.

In addition to this Motorola also offers additional features like the active display and touch less control.

Touch less control

    This is one of the best features of the phone. It uses Google voice search. The phrase ‘Google ok now’ activates the control. The best part is that the voice control recognises only to one voice.

Active display

With the use of active display users can see notifications without even having to unlock the device, similar to the one found in the iPhone. The AMOLED screen displays only a part of the display lights when the notifications are displayed saving battery power.

The best feature would be the Moto assist. This assists in controlling the profiles and other controls for example when the user has added a business appointment Motoassists takes a note of the appointment and the phone is placed in the silent mode automatically.

Autonomy and sound

Moto X uses a 2200 mAh battery and with moderate use the battery holds for the whole day. But with extensive use of the phone the battery does not stay for the whole day.

The battery life of the device is good but it does match the battery of the high end devices.

The sound system of the Moto X is pretty good with good quality but still does not match to the high end devices.

 

Advantage:

Software: The phone uses the latest version of the OS.

Performance: Performance of the device is good it works fast and fluid.

Sound: Motorola known for good sound and has shown their standard in Moto X too.

 

Disadvantage:

Display: Though it uses a super AMOLED screen much improvement is necessary.

Conclusion

On the whole the Moto X is a really good phone and is fit to be in the race with the smartphones. But a lot of improvement is necessary to meet the standards of the really good smartphones ruling the market.

 

Filed Under: Tech & Science

Best Educational Apps For iPhone/iPad

May 18, 2014 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

Learning on iPhone is fun as well as informative. Here we present the best brain-feeding apps

educational-apps-for-iphone-ipad

ABC Spy

ABC Spy is certainly a little different from many education apps aimed at early years, in that it actually encourages activity as a source of learning. Through the app, children are challenged to use the iPhone’s camera to take a picture of something for each letter of the alphabet. As well as being a fun activity that keeps kids on their toes, it serves as a great way to consolidate knowledge of the alphabet. On top of the alphabet-based challenge, kids are encouraged to show off their creative side by choosing a frame for each photo and sizing the picture to fit, with trophies being awarded for every photo challenge completed. All in all, this is a great app, with plenty of bright colors and easy-to-use controls to keep children entertained for hours. There’s plenty to do and for the price, it’s incredibly great value – a worthy download for teaching the basics of letters and the alphabet.

Price: £0.69/$0.99 Developer: Stealth Education

Microsoft Office 2010 Pro

Microsoft Office 2010 Pro provides a great resource of video tutorials to help you master Microsoft Office without the need for hefty manuals or long-winded step-by-step instructions. Upon launching the app, you’re presented with a somewhat limited set of tutorial categories. Tapping on any of the different categories will bring up a playlist of videos that form an entire tutorial, conveniently these are split up into sections for more focused learning, but it would be nice if they were a little more comprehensive.

 

There’s a few options within the app to purchase additional tutorial files, but for the cost of the app, it would have been better to see a little more included in the first place. That said, the video tutorials are clear, concise and easy to follow, making this a great app for beginners and novices alike. Well worth downloading if you’re looking to learn and understand Office in a flash.

 

Special Words

Special Words helps children with learning difficulties get to grips with words, pictures and sounds, and the thought that’s gone into the app really shows. Everything from the plain background (children with Down’s syndrome and autism can be distracted by colorful or moving backgrounds) to the lockable options bar has been purposefully designed to aid in the learning process, and the result is something that’s effective, easy to use and fully featured. There are four different games to choose from, involving matching pictures to pictures, words to words, pictures to words and vice versa. All of these can be customized by adding, deleting or editing entries to the universal words list, meaning that the opportunities to expand this great learning tool are endless.

The app may seem simple to most, but its simplicity allows it to be universally accessible to children with all manner of learning difficulties and levels of development, and that’s something that only a few educational apps can boast.

 

Interactive Telling Time – Learning to tell time is fun

A fair few methods can be employed when it comes to teaching kids to tell the time, and Interactive Telling Time has certainly included a number of them in this great app. Making full use of the iPhone’s touch screen interface, ‘Set The Time’ allows you to move the clock’s hands to the time that’s displayed, whereas ‘Tell The Time’ requires you to read the time and set on the standard iOS barrel-option wheel. These two methods combined would be enough to teach most children the basics of telling the time, but there are also three different games to choose from that make the process a lot more fun. The app itself is bright and colorful yet clear and easy to use, meaning little adult supervision is required to get it set up. There are plenty of options to increase or decrease the difficulty of the tasks too. Few apps offer so many features in this price bracket.

 

Chirp! Bird Songs Europe +

Chirp! Bird Songs Europe + provides an interactive, audible encyclopedia of birds and their birdsongs from all around Europe. Fire up the app and tap on a country to get started. From here you can preview sounds by bird name in alphabetical order or even by commonness. There’s an attractive slide show of bird images and sounds to entertain, and a birdsong quiz to test your knowledge. On top of this, a single tap takes you to the Wikipedia page for each bird

Filed Under: Tech & Science

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