iPhone 6: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

New Nokia Lumia 920 - adds 12x optical zoom to the PureView camera

If that 8MP PureView Phase II camera on the Lumia 920 just doesn't cut it for you, then it means you have unrealistic expectations towards smartphones. Nevertheless, there is now a unique accessory that will allow you to achieve something far more extraordinary than what the Lumia 920's camera was meant to be.

Fellow shutterbugs, allow us to present to you this... case, which is much more than a simple case, because it also features a 12x telephoto lens and even a small tripod to exterminate those unpleasant shakes. In order to use this intriguing accessory, you simply have to insert the phone into the case, and you're ready to go! Who said you can't use optical zoom with your 920? Those 808 PureView fanboys laughed at you when you said you want a real smartphone, but who'll be laughing now?!

All joking aside, if you actually happen to be such a shameless enthusiast, it might be useful for you to know that the accessory is fairly cheap at $31.99. So, who's buying it?

Nokia - Is planning to invest in Lytro-like camera technology for smartphones

Nokia is planning on making an investment in U.S. Pelican Imaging, a California startup developing Lytro-like camera technology for smartphones and other mobile devices.

In case you are not familiar with the Lytro camera, it basically allows you to focus after you snap an image. This frees you from worrying about where to focus and basically means your whole picture will always be in focus. You can choose to selectively focus on an area after you have taken the image.

To achieve that Pelican Imaging is developing an array of sensors that capture the same picture and adds a sprinkle of software magic on top to achieve the Lytro-like effect quickly. We have also seen a software-only approach in apps like FocusTwist but those come with a lot of limitations - objects in the picture should not be moving and it takes a while to shoot the image. Pelican’s technology is more advanced in that sense.

Nokia has the longest history in cameraphones of all handset manufacturers. Most recently, it released the industry leading 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView, a Symbian smartphone with a huge sensor, and theNokia Lumia 920 with best-in-class optical image stabilization and enhanced low light performance. Nokia’s upcoming cameraphone is said to feature a mixture of the advances made in those two devices.

Nokia to invest in 'array' mobile cameras that use small lenses to capture big images

If the name Pelican Imaging rings a bell, it's possibly because we covered the company's array imaging camera prototype back in 2011. The technology uses multiple lenses that are relatively tiny in terms of how much space they take up in a mobile device, but which work together to capture an image of the same quality as a much larger camera -- just as array telescopes replace the need for one huge telescope.

Now, it appears we weren't the only ones taking an interest, because Nokia's investment wing has revealed to Bloomberg that it's been watching the startup since 2008 and is currently planning to invest in it.

Bo Ilsoe, of Nokia Growth Partners, describes Pelican's technology as "on the cusp of being commercialized" -- so who knows? One day, a future Lumia might house 41 megapixels, image stabilization and the voodoo known as plenoptics. In the meantime, there's a video after the break which sort of explains how the technology sucks in enough data to allow for focus to be adjusted after a picture is taken -- a trick which also sounds rather familiar.

iOS 7 Expected Features

As we all know “Change is the nature of the universe”, we always want something new that make our lives more exciting, provide more gestures, fill colors and put extravagant pixels on our finger tips, that our eyes can’t differentiate them. World’s leading smart phone giant is about to launch its most advance mobile operating system that will run on i-Devices called iOS-7.

In this era of robust mobile devices, operating system plays huge role for success of the device. Several unique feature provided by operating system can attract crowd to purchase the device along with design and hardware residing the devices.

Here we are going to enlist those entire features, which will boom the market of i-Devices as well as iOS 7.

Application Enhancement:

1) Screen Sharing Feature

All mac users must be aware of Screen sharing feature provided by Mac OSX. We mac users always want each thing present in Mac OSX should be inside your tiny mac (iPhone / iPad).

2) Camera App Enhancement
There is a separate category for photo editing app on app store. People are always seeking for the app using which they can show-off on social portals by applying Sepia, Negative or Vintage theme. But these are old-fashioned way to edit your photograph or images.

Some innovative ideas are expected to be integrated with Camera app that can excite users to take picture only using device running on iOS.

3) Customizable Theme, Lock screen and notification Bar
“Real Power lies in the customization”. Sometimes there are too many restrictions for iOS users being unable to customize few settings. To overcome this restriction people are tempted to do Jailbreak, which voids warranty from Apple.

Apple should provide little freedom to their users in this version of iOS by enabling them to customize their Theme, Lock Screen as well as Notification Bar.

Apple should also provide API to their iOS application developer to bring more innovative customization.

4) “i-Creative”
One app is still missing in core apps provided by Apple or built-in apps for iOS, that is app for creative people who always want to produce some artistic object by playing and integrating Photos, Music, Text, Drawing and other creative stuff altogether.

5) Facetime Enhancement for Group Chat
Apple has always improved on Facetime and iMessage. In this iOS upgrade we expect further enhancement of Facetime to provide group videoconference.

6) iCloud + Music
In iOS 7, we expect some portion of iCloud will be extended to Music Library, where user can save his favorite music track. From iCloud user will be able to stream music to ‘N’ number of devices where he/she uses same iCloud account.
This enhancement will save few devices’ memory that is to be utilized for some other purpose.

7) Emergency Weather Buzzer
This will act as an emergency alarm for users. It can be either core OS feature or a separate app for specific advance weather dependent functionality.

Hardware Enhancement

1) RFID technology integration with iOS
If Apple integrates RFID technology and configurable Tag Detection using iPhone, then user can operate Car, Garage door and Door-lock system simply by showing iPhone to the sensors.

Even you can eliminate smart key in 5-Star Hotel, just by replacing it with Hotel/Motel specific an iOS APP.

2) Magnetic Chip integration with iOS
If Apple integrate configurable smart magnetic chip with iPhone in upcoming model and provide a way to use iPhone as passes used for Bus, Train, Tram and many more.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Leak Reveals Possible Design

After some concepts of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, we came across a leaked picture of the device, that we should take with a grain of salt. The image appeared on the web today and apparently pictures a model called the i9500. Usually a Note device has an N in its name, so that’s why we tend to believe it’s fake.

There’s also a bunch of specs included in the leak. Those include a 5.99 inch Full HD display, the Exynos 5410 Octa processor, an 8 core CPU with a A15 2 GHz quad core ticker and an A7 1.7 GHz ticker. The interesting bit is that we’re supposed to get 3 GB of RAM here, instead of the usual 2 GB of RAM from the last years.

Galaxy Note 3 runs Android 4.2.2 and I find it strange that its Home button is so tiny. I have to say that this product is expected to be unveiled at IFA 2013, sometime in August or September, if everything goes well. I expect Wacom to include an even more evolved stylus system, perhaps with new apps and a new way to multitask.

Nokia Mirror is Shiny Splendid and Powerful

Edgar Mkrtchyan sent us a brand new Nokia concept called Nokia Mirror, a splendid piece of machinery. It’s glossy, but in an elegant and good way and it also has innovative features, that are listed below. The handset is slightly curved and it has a glossy area on the side, like a mirror.

The back is also mirror-like, but the gloss is metallic, not glassy/plasticky like Nexus 4 or Xperia Z. Nokia Mirror can connect to a printer, TV, computer, projector, stereo station and external hard drive via a special USB key with NFC technology and Bluetooth. The same key has 16 GB of storage. The specs of the new Nokia handset are very good and include the Windows Phone 8+ OS and a dual core setup (1+1) 1.2 – 1.8 GHz.

Nokia Mirror features 2 GB of RAM, measures 10 mm in thickness and at the front there’s a 4.7 inch Full HD Puremotion HD+ screen with ClearBlack 2 technology and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. At the back there’s an 18 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, Pureview technology, Xenon and LED flash, as well as rich recording. The battery inside a 3200 mAh unit and we also get 32/64 GB of storage, plus NFC, Bluetooth a 3 MP front camera.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Concept is a Folding Device; 3D Detailed Render Here

The folks of mobileaks.nl have published a fresh render of the Samsung Galaxy S5, the 2014 flagship from the South Korean company. With the Galaxy S4 already launched on major markets and the Galaxy Note 3 being part of the rumors already, we can start dreaming about the Galaxy S5, I guess.

The source claims that Samsung has been exploring various innovative technologies, like flexible and bendable AMOLED screens. Those are expected to go into production close to the year end, so expect foldable smartphones to come soon enough. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is one of them, with a screen that can be folded in and out, without requiring a hinge or a cut through the middle.
The render here involves a 7.5 mm thick handset, that once folded around amount to double that thickness, but also half the length. The Galaxy S5 abandons the curves of the past two generations and goes back to the Galaxy S II styling, something that many people have been asking for. Are we truly ready for a phone we can bend in two?

Sunday, April 28, 2013

5 Apps to Improve Work Productivity

We all want more time. Time to finish our work, handle tedious errands and check off items from our ever expanding to-do lists. The problem is, the day's not getting any longer and our responsibilities seem to never stop growing.

The only thing we can do to work more efficiently is to know some very helpful shortcuts and pro tips. And whether you're working form home or remotely, there's a cheat sheet — so to speak — for any setting.

When it comes to apps to help along the way, take a peek at these tools to assist you in everything from remembering important data, scheduling meetings, handling payroll and even virtual assisting:

Evernote: Remember everything. While you probably can't remember what you ate for lunch, this free service stores all of your notes, ideas, plans and photos in one easy-to-access platform. More right-brained? It even let's you draw, with its skitch tool. It's really simple how helpful this tool is: Store anything, acces it anywhere. Not enough for you? Well, the year-old business version of the app features all of that on a scale big enough for a whole company to use. And for all you security-heads out there, two-factor authorization is coming soon, so you can feel safe about where your data is stored.
GoToMeeting: Host unlimited meetings, webinars or training from your iPad, iPhone or Android device. You can even share documents and your screen, and if you have a webcam, face time, too. Meetings hold up to 25 attendees and no matter your location this service offers conference calls from anywhere with an Internet connection. It's not free, but at as little as $49 per month or $468 per year, it might just be a worthwhile investment if you're looking for an upgrade from Skype.
Cloudon: This iOS and Android app is a free cloud experience that basically gives you the power of Microsoft Office, Excel and PowerPoint to create and edit files on your tablet or smartphone. You can also access files you already keep in the cloud with Box, DropBox, Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive. This is a one-stop hub to create, manage and share your work with employees.
Expensify: Remember those god-awful TPS reports from Office Space? That experience was so painful for the characters in the film that they ended up going AWOL on their jobs. Expense reports suck, so meet an app that makes that process sail a whole lot more smoothly. The software imports any bank or credit card statement, billable items like gas mileage and time, and neatly organizes expenses with custom categories and tags. You can even import receipts from services like Evernote. And the best part of this expensing service? It's not expensive. It's free and available on the iPhone, iPad, Windows Phones and even BlackBerry.
Dragon Mobile Assistant: Everyone wants an assistant, but most can't afford the expense. But a free assistant, with you at all times on your iPhone or Android device? Yes, please. The service is voice-directed dictation wherein you speak to text, make calls, schedule appointments, search or update social media accounts. And just like a real-life assistant, you can customize this tool with a name that, when called (or yelled), wakes the dragon. But fear not, Game of Thrones lovers, in this case, it's a very good thing.

Beyonce Shuts Press Photographers Out of World Tour

Press photographers need not enter. That's basically the message organizers of megastar Beyonce Knowles' ongoing "Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" have reportedly told the media.

According to photography blog Fstoppers, Beyonce's tour guidelines for photographers stated: "There are no photo credentials for this show." Instead, media was directed to use pre-approved images for their editorial coverage.

This closed access is likely the result of the "Unflattering Beyonce" memes that spread earlier this year, as explained in the video above.

Following the singer's highly-acclaimed performance at this year's Super Bowl, BuzzFeed published images of the "33 fiercest moments" from the halftime show—some of which were certainly awkward moments. Beyonce's publicist was reportedly not happy with some of those awkward photos and asked BuzzFeed to take them down.

Despite the professional photography ban for this tour, one wonders: what about the fans who attend shows with their camera-enabled iPhone and Android smartphones? It may be difficult to really stop them from distributing or selling those phone pics to the public and media.

Beyonce's tour organizers are not the first to implement such restrictions: According to Poynter, The Killers have not allowed outside photographers at a concert, and Lady Gaga has asked some photographers to sign photo release forms with certain stipulations.

How to Erase Your Data From an Old Computer or Phone

If you're disposing of old documents such as bank statements and tax forms, security experts recommend shredding the paperwork so it can't be used by identity thieves.
It's a practice everyone should be familiar with, since it may be the top recommendation for preventing identity theft.
However, many consumers and organizations are turning to a paperless world, and records once held in filing cabinets are now stored on computer hard drives.
But computers eventually get replaced, and old computers are donated, recycled, handed down or refurbished — often with personally identifiable information (PII) still on the machine.
Pick up any old computer being tossed out on the street, and odds are its hard drive will have a wealth of information on its previous owners.

The Basics

Simply deleting the data by emptying the "trash" folder won't totally wipe all that information away.
Before you dispose of an old personal computer, the experts recommend that the very least you do is reformat your hard drive and reinstall the operating system. A better bet is to wipe your hard drive clean.
"With computers, it isn't difficult to wipe data, if you understand what you are doing and do it correctly," said Greg Kelley, chief technology officer with Vestige Digital Investigations in Medina, Ohio.
"The most important thing to consider is that to be certain that you got all of your data, you need to wipe the entire hard drive," Kelley said. "Programs such as BCWipe and Eraser can perform this work."
An even easier way to do this, provided the user has Windows Vista or better, is to create a system repair disk and then format the hard drive using the standard format command, said Matthew Kinney, executive vice president of research and development with staffing-software maker BWSI in Phoenix.
"This also uses the write-zero approach, overwriting each block with binary zeroes, and is super easy," Kinney said. "I have recommended this to many of my friends who aren't tech people and have them use the instructions on About.com."
However, not every attempt to clean off the hard drive is 100% successful. If that's the case, and if you want to keep the hard drive with the computer, Kelley recommended taking the machine to a qualified computer technician to perform the work.
"Make sure that the computer technician is one [who] understands that deleting a file, formatting a hard drive or reinstalling an operating system doesn't render the data unrecoverable," Kelley said. "Those technicians will know enough to identify the proper tools to wipe your drive."
If you're sending your computer to be recycled, or you're donating it to a relative or a charity, the best way to protect your personal data is to simply remove the hard drive and physically destroy the drive.

Off the Premises

Eliminating personal data from personal computers kept at home is relatively easy. The real problems lie with mobile devices and work computers.
Smartphone and tablet owners now store a great deal of personally identifiable information on these devices.
Apps are available to "wipe" the devices if they are lost or stolen, but the technology is still relatively new and these apps leave some data behind.
"Many cellphones have a 'restore to factory defaults' option that will delete data, but in many instances, it has been shown that this does not always work," said Adam Wosotowsky, messaging data architect at Santa Clara, Calif., digital-security firm McAfee. "Additionally, they are not overwriting the data multiple times to prevent forensic equipment from being able to recover it."
If you intend to never use the phone again, the best option is to physically destroy it. However, if you want to recycle the phone, your safest option may be to sell it to a company that refurbishes phones for re-sale.
The reason to follow this path, said Kyle Marks of Retire-IT, a Columbus, Ohio, firm specializing in computer disposal, is because these companies could end up being liable if your personal data is found on a device they refurbished and sold. In this case, it is in their best interest to make sure your data is safe.

Do You Trust Your Boss?

Businesses also have an interest in making sure personal data is kept secure. But Marks pointed out that while most companies have a strict record of incoming inventory, they are more lax when it comes to disposal of equipment.
If your computer is being replaced, or if you are leaving the company, you will want to make sure that you have at least deleted everything that holds your personally identifiable information, including temporary files and browsing histories.
You can also ask your IT support staff about what happens to old equipment, and whether the machines are wiped clean or the hard drives are reformatted.
"A mature, well-run company should have a formal procedure in place for computer disposal," Marks said. "But you have every right to be concerned if your IT support takes a 'we'll take care of it, don't worry' attitude when you ask about computer disposal."
Unfortunately, there might be nothing you can do about that.
"Once that data is on the computer, depending on company policy and local laws, you may no longer have ownership to that data," Kelley said.
Instead, Kelley said, leave your banking, personal emailing and social networking to your home computer. That way, you can control what happens to your personally identifiable information when the time comes to get rid of your old equipment

LG Optimus F5 mid-range LTE smartphone hits France

LG's F-series handsets may not be in the same class an HTC One or GS4, but we can't help to appreciate the solid specs and LTE-goodness baked into these mid-range devices. Following a debut alongside its F7 sibling at MWC, the F5 will begin trickling out to retail April 29th in France. While there's no mention of US availability -- despite a recent leak pegging it for Verizon -- LG will also be soon be pushing it out to parts of Asia and Central / South America as well. Aimed at markets new to LTE, the smartphone packs a beefy 2,150mAh battery, five-megapixel camera, 1.2GHz Dual-Core processor and a 4.3-inch screen to display LG's skinned version of Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2. If you're curious to give LTE a go with LG, you'll find the full press release after the break.

Following its successful unveiling at the 2013 Mobile World Congress, the Optimus F5 - the first device from LG's newest Optimus F Series - will make its world debut starting in Europe on April 29. Launching initially in France, LG will roll out the Optimus F5 in South and Central America, Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) over the next several weeks.
The Optimus F Series is a new family of Android smartphones for consumers who are ready to experience the blazing speeds of 4G LTE without the high costs that normally go with such a device. As a key component of LG's strategy to make 4G smartphones as ubiquitous as they are fast, the Optimus F5 features LG's advanced LTE technology and enhanced user experience (UX) features.
As display size and battery life become increasingly important among smartphone consumers, the 1.2GHz Qualcomm Dual-Core Optimus F5 addresses user demands by featuring a 4.3-inch IPS display and a largest-in-class 2,150mAh battery. LG engineers
designed the Optimus F5 to deliver longer battery life without creating a larger battery. And the 4.3-inch IPS display offers clear, lifelike images for a superior viewing experience.
The Optimus F5 includes the latest Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 operating system and the best of LG's innovative and exclusive UX features:
• QSlide allows users to open multiple apps at the same time in full screen mode with the ability to change the size, position and transparency of the windows.
• Live Zooming lets users zoom in on videos so they can get a closer, detailed look at any specific area.
• Video Wiz lets users play movie director by giving them the power to edit videos and enhance them with sound and music right on the phone itself.
• QTranslator function instantly translates not only words, but also entire sentences and phrases by simply using the camera to scan the text. QTranslator accepts 44 different languages and can translate them into any one of 64 languages.
"LG has consistently set the standard in the mobile industry with technology that com-plements, not complicates, users' lives," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "The Optimus F5 is a natural exten-sion of LG's lineup of strong LTE devices, offering the lightning-speed of 4G LTE and UX features of a premium phone. With the Optimus F5, we're confident we can capture an untapped market of new and upgrading smartphone users who crave a feature-rich, LTE device."

Key Specifications:
• OS: Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2
• Processor: Qualcomm 1.2 GHz Dual-Core
• Display: 4.3-inch IPS (256 ppi)
• Battery: 2,150mAh
• Size: 126.04 x 64.46 x 9.30mm
• Memory: 8 GB / 1 GB RAM / microSD (up to 32GB)
• Camera: 5.0 MP AF Front / 1.3 MP Rear

Google Smartwatch Render Looks Realistic, Minimalistic

Let’s take a break from high end concept phones and check out a Google Nexus Smartwatch, a device that’s supposedly in the making right now. Every big company out there is supposed to be making a watch, from Apple’s iWatch to similar products made by LG, Samsung and even Microsoft.

The folks of T3 published this render of a Nexus smartwatch from Google, one that has a minimalistic look and a square screen. It has Google Sync, allowing you to get contacts, messaging and alerts on your small screen. There’s also the typical 3 buttons (Back, Home, Multitasking), but they’re not displayed all the time.

The Google Smartwatch has Google Now integrated and probably a lot of voice commands. It also comes with a comfy belt, multiple color versions, probably a front camera and the ability to place calls from it. Pair this up with the Google Glass and you have a winner!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Nokia Lumia 750 Has Pureview Technology, Lumia 720 Design Inspiration

Deviantart member DutaAV created a new Nokia concept, the Lumia 750, that’s inspired by the design of the Lumia 720. As you probably know, the Nokia Lumia 720 is some sort of a cheaper version of Lumia 920, that keeps some of its goodies.

Back to the Lumia 750, the device adopts a squared look and it comes with a camera centered at the back, a Pureview camera actually. The device is much less wider than the Lumias we’re used to. If you allow me to speculate and include some specs, I’d say that this smartphone comes with an IPS LCD display with a 4.3 inch diagonal and HD resolution, plus a dual core Snapdragon CPU, a slightly superior version to the one of the Lumia 720.

There’s also 8 GB of storage, 512 MB of RAM and a microSD card slot, plus an 8 megapixel Pureview camera instead of the 6.1 MP cam of the Lumia 720. The OS of choice may even be Windows Phone 8.1 Blue, since it’s coming in about two months. What do you think of these slight enhancements? Doable?

Nokia Lumia Dawn Features Touch Volume Buttons

From Mohammad Mahdi Azimi comes a new Nokia concept phone called Lumia Dawn. It’s pictured below and it’s based on a new concept: touch volume buttons. Recently I’ve heard that the LG Optimus G2 will be so thin that it will have the volume buttons on the back. Well, not it happens on the Nokia Lumia Dawn…

As you can see, there are volume gradations on the back, in an area that you’ll surely touch. We’ve also heard that the Motorola X Phone is supposed to have a touch area at the back, maybe a button. It appears this is a fad that may quickly be adopted by major device makers. And with handsets becoming thinner and thinner, placing a button or two on the back may become necessary.

Nokia Lumia Dawn looks like a change in design direction compared to the usual Lumias and it kind of reminds me of the beautiful HTC HD7. That was a massive phone, but it was well built and had a solid feel to it.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Rugged Mobile Phones 2013

If you work outdoors or you spend a lot of time taking part in outdoors activities and sports, you may prefer not to carry an expensive, top-of-the-range smartphone such as the iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus or Nokia Lumia. Although some of these top smartphones include chemically toughened glass such as Gorilla Glass which provides some protection against drops and scratches, they are still at risk of being damaged by dust particles or contact with water (for example during heavy rain or dropping your phone in the toilet!).

For people who want mobile phones which are protected against impact, dust and water, there are a class of “rugged” mobile devices. These devices are certified to be waterproof and dustproof and often feature specially designed glass displays which are guarded against the force of drops and impacts. These rugged handsets can either be used as a replacement for your primary phone or can be kept as a secondary phone purely for use when outdoors. In this article, we look at the range of rugged mobile devices available on the market. We also look at how to assess the level of protection they provide against the elements.

IP Certification: Classifying rugged phones

Rugged handsets differ from normal mobile phones in that they are additionally certified by the level of protection that they offer against the elements.

The standard certification method is called the Ingress Protection Rating (an IP Rating for short). An IP rating consists of two numbers, the first of which measures the level of protection against dust and the second of which measures the level of protection against water.

Most rugged phones are IP67 certified. This means they score 6/6 on dust protection (they are fully dust tight) and 7/8 on water protection (they can be immersed in water up to a depth of 1m).

Rugged Android Smartphones: Motorola Defy, Samsung Galaxy XCover & Sony Ericsson Xperia Active

Almost all rugged smartphones available on the market run on the Android operating system. This is due to the flexibility of Android which allows it to run on a range of different form factors.

Popular rugged smartphones include the Motorola Defy+, the Samsung Galaxy Xcover and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active. All 3 devices cost around £200 and are IP67-certified providing complete dust protection and water protection up to a depth of 1m.

Compared to mainstream smartphones, rugged handsets tend to feature slower processors, smaller amounts of memory and lower resolution displays. This means they’re not as good for web browsing and viewing multimedia, but it’s the trade-off that needs to be made for the phone to be rugged. All 3 handsets provide torch and GPS functionality, both of which can come in handy in the outdoors and all 3 handsets will run the majority of standard Android applications.

The three handsets compare as follows:

All three devices are compatible with giffgaff and some great savings can be had by buying these devices upfront and using one of our giffgaff goodybags.

Note that although these phones are designed to be used outdoors, their batteries have much the same capacity as mainstream smartphones. This can potentially lead to problems when constantly using GPS functionality as it can consume a lot of power. If you plan to use the GPS functionality on long hikes or runs through the countryside, it may be worth investing in a portable external power pack.

Basic Rugged Handsets: JCB Toughphone & Samsung Solid X-Cover

If you’re looking for a more basic rugged handset to be used as a second phone rather than to replace your main phone, it may be economical to opt for a more basic model such as the JCB Toughphone or the Samsung Solid Immerse. Although these phones lack advanced features such as GPS, the two phones are available for around £80 and can offer better battery life than their rugged smartphone counterparts. The JCB Tradesman Toughphone also has the unique distinction of floating on water.

Can I switch my SIM card between a normal handset and a rugged handset?

Yes. With giffgaff, it is easy to switch your SIM cards between handsets at any time, providing both of your handsets are unlocked. This means you could use your normal smartphone in the office during the week and switch to a rugged handset when visiting music festivals or taking part in sports at the weekend. If both of your handsets run on the Android operating system, it is simple to keep your phone book, calendar and e-mail synchronised between your two devices through your Google account. For a basic non-Android rugged handset, you must copy your phone book between handsets manually.

Your thoughts…

In this article, we’ve looked at mobile phones which are designed for the outdoors and provide greater protection against the elements. For people who regularly spend time outdoors, rugged smartphones provide most of the features of standard smartphones whilst providing greater protection against drops, dust and water damage. For people who only occasionally spend time outdoors and are looking for a second handset, a range of basic rugged handsets are available for around £80.

Have you ever had an unfortunate accident with your mobile phone? Have you broken a mobile phone by dropping it on the pavement or flushing it down the toilet? Do you think a rugged handset would come in handy or would you prefer the technology to be built in to mainstream smartphones? We’d love to hear your thoughts: drop us a comment below.

Best rugged and mobile

Are you the kind of gadget lover that tends to get wet and dirty on the weekends? Does your iPad travel with you when you go hiking and camping? Have you ruined a smartphone with dust and water?

Most technology is designed with a sedentary lifestyle in mind, but if you prefer to be active, there are a few products to look out for. Rugged products can weather a downpour, a sandstorm and a drop from a height, far better than non-rugged models. However, you do tend to trade-off power and performance when you choose a rugged phone, and tough computers can be expensive, but at least you can rely on to still work when you do finally get them home.

Samsung X-Cover Extreme

Samsung's rugged X-cover should survive most outdoor activities, with an IP Rating of 67. It is a bit underpowered for an Android smartphone though, with only a single-core 800MHz processor and 512MB RAM.

This model is difficult to find in Australia, with none of the major telcos ranging it. Strangely, Optus offers the X-Cover on a business plan only. But if you're keen on this model, you can pick it up through an online store, like MobiCity.

IP rating

The ingress protection (IP) rating is a universally recognised system for determining how rugged particular machinery is. The rating is a double-digit figure, where the first figure indicates solid particle protection, like dirt and dust, and the second number is for liquids.

Most rugged smartphones, for example, have an IP rating of 57. When you compared this will the chart of protection, this indicates that the phone will survive being immersed in up to 1-metre of water and is strongly dust resistant, but not absolutely protected.

Check out the gallery below for our suggestions on great rugged phones and laptops, and some excellent rugged cases for protecting your fragile Apple devices.

Google April Fools’ 2013 roundup: Google Nose, Gmail Blue, Google Maps Treasure Hunt

The Google April Fools’ 2013 list of jokes seems the most comprehensive one so far, and it looks like Googlers have gone out of their way to make this April Fools’ Day the funniest one possible. Here’s what Google did for April Fools Day this year.

YouTube shutting down

One of the first jokes was the one about YouTube shutting down after it selected the best video ever posted. According to the video, the site would no longer accept submissions, and, when it would come back online in 2023, would only feature the video considered to be the best one ever uploaded.

Google Nose

One of the most interesting ideas that Google has been touting today is Google Nose. This new Search feature allows users to actually search for smells in the Google Aromabase, which includes 15M+ “scentibytes” of smells. The feature is said to be still in beta mode, but uses some of Google’s existing services to make things more precise, including “Android Ambient Odor Detection”, which uses “the world’s most sensible operating system”. While you can’t argue with that description of Android, the feature is still a great joke.
The page describing Google Nose has some links to related services, like AdScent for Business and Scratch and Sniff Books, which allows you to smell the books, too, when you preview them. Funny as this may sound, smell-related features may become possible in the future.

Google Maps Treasure Hunt

The Google Maps team announces on its official blog (link below) that Google Maps now has a Treasure mode, which users can explore, in order to find pirate William “Captain” Kidd’s treasure. The treasure mode can be accessed , and a very funny video explains the whole process. It seems to be functional, so it will be most interesting to see what’s hidden at the end of it.

Gmail Blue

For those with a dryer sense of humor, the Gmail Blog is introducing Gmail Blue. This new feature, one the Gmail team wanted to incorporate in the email service ever since the beginning, makes everything in Gmail blue (what a surprise!), without really changing everything. The video simply says it all.

Google SCHMICK

Coming from the Google Australia Blog, this April Fools’ joke is one of the funniest – it promotes the all-new Simple Complete House Makeover Internet Conversion Kit (or Google SCHMICK). It is advertised as an add-on to Google Street View, which allows users to pimp their houses with a variety of themes and features. While Google SCHMICK doesn’t actually work (or exist, for that matter), if it would, it could make your house look like this:

google schmick april fools day

Google Analytics – visitors from outer space

One of the more hidden Google April Fools 2013 jokes comes from the Google Analytics team. If you check out Real Time visits to your site today, you’ll notice in the Location section that you’ve received visits from the International Space Station (as you can see in the screenshot below).
For instance, there were supposedly 41 visitors from the ISS’ Control Room on our site when this article was written.
Locations - Google Analytics 26

Google+ photos +emotion

As Google Staff Software Engineer Erik Murphy-Chutorian announced on his Google+, Google’s social network (which has an updated app), now allows users to use emoticons to express the feelings in the pictures they upload. This is done using a new icon that appears in the photo viewer screen, and clicking it will generate an emoticon based on the image. The funny thing is that this feature, called +Emotion, actually works. It will be interesting to see whether it will remain active after April Fools Day.

google april fools 2013 +emotion

Google Fiber Poles

While everybody in Kansas City must love Google Fiber, nobody must have thought that they can actually get connected to it through utility poles. The truth is that they can’t, but it would be pretty nice for this April Fools joke to come true. You would just use the Google Fiber app to download whatever content you may need on the go, from a utility pole. Maybe an indicator of things to come?

Google Apps: Levity Algorithm

Last but not least, the Google Apps team introduces the Levity Algorithm, which makes boring office tasks, like presentations, meetings and email memos, more fun, using material from 50 years of comedy. And with it being endorsed by Rick Wesley from a company called Bohr & Ringge CPA Group, who are we to argue?

Of course, none of the “new features” above are to be taken seriously (although our April Fools article about the reason why we love the iPhone 5 is very serious).

Hitachi Maxell develops battery technology that promises 60% more energy from the same volume

Imagine getting 3,200 mAh of capacity out of something the size of a 2,000 mAh battery. That’s exactly what Hitachi Maxell’s new battery technology can do. This isn’t the first time we’ve been promised battery technology that can revolutionize the mobile world, but what sets Maxwell’s new tech apart is that it really exists and isn’t just a theoretical technology. However, before you get too excited, we don’t have a commercial product yet, nor a roadmap for commercial deployment.

Besides delivering 60% more battery capacity, Hitachi’s new process is also said to slow down the battery degradation process. The end result is that batteries won’t just stay charged longer, they will last longer, too. No this isn’t black magic at work, it’s science.

For those wondering how the technology was developed, Hitachi Maxell first set out to monitor the movements of Li-ions in real-time. Using this data, Hitachi Maxell was able to develop a battery structure that can resolve stagnation of Lithium ions. It is this process that allows them to pack more power into a smaller form factor, while also helping improve the length of the battery’s lifespan.

What does this all mean for the consumer? Let’s face it, modern octa-core processors, Full HD displays, and other high-end smarpthone features take a huge toll on your battery. Right now, manufacturers have two choices: give us awful battery life or add extra bulk to their phones in order to give you the battery life you need to make it through a workday. With Hitachi Maxell’s tech, we might not have to give up on thin phones to get the capacity we crave.

Hitachi Maxell has no word on when their technology will start shipping into actual devices, but here’s to hoping we see such tech sometime soon.

Google’s ‘#ifihadglass’ winners are mostly celebs and famous Twitter users

While the Google Glass Explorer competition debacle drags on, and thousands of people go up in arms over Google’s seemingly random choices for winners of its “#ifihadglass” gig on Twitter and Google+, a Stanford CS Ph.D student by the name of Andrej Karpathy put together some data in an attempt to show what Google’s overall plan for this whole thing might have been. As it turns out, Google might have had a clear criteria for choosing competition winners after all.

Based on the data gathered by Karpathy after going through the profiles of all the competition winners on Twitter (by using Python and a little hackery), Google apparently chose mostly celebrities and famous Twitter personalities to win in its competition. These include actor Patrick J. Adams, R&B singer Brandy, and TV host Adam Savage. It’s also clear that an overwhelming majority of the winners had hundreds, if not thousands of followers on Twitter. This is thought to be a clear indication of what Google used for its winner selection process.

When it was revealed that a number of the winners of Google’s “#ifihadglass” competition didn’t deserve to win at all — through either failing to read the competition’s rules or simply demonstrating a clear lack of will to even participate in the first place — many were outraged. A lot of them had submitted entries to compete for the chance to try out Google Glass as well.

Google recently announced that it will rescind some of its Google Glass offers because of the controversy surrounding its #ifihadglass competition. The question now is, will the company own up to what the hard evidence here says, and talk about why it did what it did in selecting the “winners” of its contest? If it does, then it just might be fun to watch.

Battle of the Rugged Android Smartphones: Motorola DEFY+ VS. Samsung Galaxy Xcover VS. Sony Ericsson Xperia Active

I have a dream, and that dream is that a few years from now, most smartphones will be “rugged”, which means being water resistant, dust-proof, scratch-proof, and last but not least, shock resistant. If the phone still looks good, it’s not much more expensive than without those features, then who wouldn’t want their phones to be like that?

Smartphones are becoming such important tools in our lives that we can’t live without, even more so than we can live without our PC’s or notebooks. We have them everywhere with us, and they keep us connected wherever we go. But because of that and because we keep these phones on average about 2 years, it also happens that we drop them by mistake, or we spill the cup of coffee all over them, or we drop them in sand at the beach, and so on, our phones can become damaged beyond repair just from one little random accident like that. We might lose our contact data and any other data and media we had in it, too. So in my opinion, it makes perfect sense to have these phones built like tanks to protect them against the environment and small accidents.
Last year, we saw the first Android smartphone that was built like that – the Motorola DEFY, which besides the tough construction, it had a very good price (around $300) for its features, such as: 800 Mhz OMAP 3610 chip (Cortex A8) with PowerVR SGX530 GPU, 2 GB internal storage, 512 MB RAM, and 3.7″ display with a 854×480 resolution.
This year we actually have 3 contenders in the rugged smartphone space: the sequel to DEFY, the Motorola DEFY+, the Samsung Galaxy Xcover, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active. Let’s see how these phones stack up against each other.

Motorola DEFY+

Motorola DEFY+ is really not that different from the original DEFY. It has a 25% faster CPU, clocked at 1 Ghz, and it comes with Android 2.3. Also the white version now has a complete white frame on the side and front, where the original one still had the front frame as black. These are pretty much the only differences. But it might not be so bad if it comes at the same price the DEFY is currently selling, and rumors say that it will. It should sell in Germany next month for 269 Euro.

Availability: September 2011
OS: Android 2.3
SoC: 1 Ghz OMAP 3620
Display: 3.7″, 854×480, Gorilla Glass
Internal storage: 2GB
RAM: 512 MB
Camera: 5 MP, VGA@30fps, dual-LED flash
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Bluetooth 2.1
Battery: 1700 mAh, Li-Po
Dimensions: 107 x 59 x 13.4 mm
Weight: 118 g

Samsung Galaxy Xcover

Samsung, just like Motorola, has been making rugged phones for a while (their Ruby line), but so far they haven’t made a rugged Android smartphone, so this one is their first. From the looks of it, they wanted to keep a pretty slim design as well, and from its specs we can assume that it’s going to be priced at the lower range, so it will be more affordable to a lot more people. I’m guessing it will be priced under 200 euro/dollars (unlocked).

Availability: October 2011
OS: Android 2.3
SoC: 800 MHz Marvell MG2
Display: 3.65″, 480×320, Gorilla Glass
Internal storage: 150 MB
RAM: 512 MB
Camera: 3.2 MP, LED flash, VGA@30fps (unknown, but very likely)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0
Battery: Unknown
Dimensions: 122 x 66 x 12 mm
Weight: 116 g

Sony Ericsson Xperia Active

It seems that Sony Ericsson are seeing the potential of these rugged smarphones, too, and they want to enter this market. The specs look pretty good, but without having the price, too, they don’t mean much. I also don’t think this phone will be positioned at the market at large, but rather at a certain market of workers that would find useful carrying the phone around their neck, rather than in pocket. Everyone else, might not like that design “feature” that allows you to do that.

Availability: September 2011
OS: Android 2.3
SoC: 1 Ghz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon
Display: 3.0″, 480×320, Scratch-resistant, Bravia engine display
Internal storage: 320 MB
RAM: 512 MB
Camera: 5 MP, LED flash, 720p recording, front-camera available
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0
Battery: 1200 mAh, Li-Ion
Dimensions: 92 x 55 x 16.5 mm
Weight: 110.8 g

Conclusion

Regardless of pricing, I’d say the Motorola DEFY+ is the best one out of the 3. What I like most about it is that it has a good Cortex A8 CPU, with a large enough resolution (854×480) that allows you to play most 3D games out there, and for its 3.7″, it’s very compact. It’s actually smaller in size than some 3.2″ phones out there. The battery is also pretty huge, at 1700 mAh, and Motorola already has some of the best talk-time in phones, so if you care a lot about battery life in phones, this one is for you.
I also like that it has a 2 GB internal storage. I don’t like how most low-end phones these days only have like 150 MB internal storage. That’s like a crime against the buyer, no matter how techie or non-techie he is. It’s especially bad if he is not a techie, because he won’t even know what to do when he realizes he has no more app space, soon after he bought it. I wish Google would force manufacturers to put at least 500 MB of internal storage in all phones, no matter how low-end.
But if you think you’re ok with that, and you want a less expensive, but even better looking rugged phone, then the Samsung Galaxy Xcover should be a great choice as well. I just hope it will come with a decent battery life as well.
Hopefully, starting next year, we’ll see Motorola and Samsung try to make most of their new devices water resistant, dust-proof, scratch and shock resistant, which basically means they need the IP67 certification, which all of these phones have. This is a real opportunity for them here, and if people keep seeing the phones they bought from them survive many small accidents, they’ll become very loyal customers of those companies, because they’ll think they make very durable and reliable phones. From my point of view, it’s a no-brainer that they should keep making phones like these.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Motorola Nexus X Phone Mockup in Bob Freking’s Vision

The clock is ticking and we’re getting closer to Google I/O 2013 and probably the next Nexus handset. Bob Freking proposes a fresh concept, the Motorola X Phone, that’s shown below and has specs close to the leaked/real ones.

This reminds me a lot of an older Nokia concept and I find it interesting that the entire smartphone seems embedded into a big slab of metal. The device features a 1.8 GHz quad core CPU, most likely a Snapdragon 800, 4 GB of RAM and a huge 5000 mAh battery, although something like 4000 mAh or 3500 mAh sounds more realistic.

The case of the Motorola Nexus X Phone is made of scratchproof stainless steel and at the back we’ve got a 9 megapixel camera with 18-55 mm lens. Upfront there’s a 5 inch 1080p Super AMOLED display and pricing for this model starts at $299 in the 8 GB version, according to Bob Freking. Would you buy this 2013 Nexus?

Samsung Galaxy Air: Concepts Don’t Have to be High End

We’ve had a few concept phones created by Deepak Ahuja on our website till now, but who said that concepts have to be smartphones? Even midrange or lower end units can become interesting mockups, just like the Samsung Galaxy Air shown below.

We’re dealing with a midrange to high end device, that runs Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean with the Samsung TouchWiz Nature UX on top. The screen here is a 4 inch Super AMOLED with a 720p resolution and inside we’ve got a quad core 1.3 GHz processor. At the back there’s an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and upfront a 1.3 megapixel camera with BSI.

Inside we also have 16/32GB of storage, 1 GB of RAM and the handset comes in marble white, majestic blue, garnet red and sapphire black. There’s even a price tag attached to it: $299. Overall, the design is a bit like the one of the Galaxy S4, but with a slightly changed lower front side.

RPhone Design Adopts an Original Format, May Bring Back Pagers

Denny Rayell came up with a very original Windows Phone design, that looks more like an evolved pager than a smartphone. The result is the R Phone concept, where the “R” may as well stand for Rihanna, since she’s present on the screen.

As you can see, the screen is focused on a landscape orientation and the device has a very small width. I’m not sure if you can also view the Windows Phone tiles in a vertical way, but it doesn’t appear that way. The Windows, Call and Search buttons are present at the bottom of the device, or better said to the side and it’s interesting to see them, since one of them should have been a Back button.

I can envision young people wearing this device on their belts, or hanging from their schoolbags, through an extra resilient magnesium case. Nokia would probably make it and market it toward the youngsters. Is there room on the market for a modern Windows Phone pager?

Nokia Lumia Dawn Features Touch Volume Buttons

As you can see, there are volume gradations on the back, in an area that you’ll surely touch. We’ve also heard that the Motorola X Phone is supposed to have a touch area at the back, maybe a button. It appears this is a fad that may quickly be adopted by major device makers. And with handsets becoming thinner and thinner, placing a button or two on the back may become necessary.
Nokia Lumia Dawn looks like a change in design direction compared to the usual Lumias and it kind of reminds me of the beautiful HTC HD7. That was a massive phone, but it was well built and had a solid feel to it.