Should You Upgrade? Samsung Galaxy S6 Vs Galaxy S5 Reviews

You’ve heard the rumors; you know everyone thinks the Galaxy S6 is great. Despite this there is one highly disgruntled group, the one audience Samsung doesn’t appear to have considered when making the Galaxy S6: Galaxy S5 owners.

In a nutshell the Galaxy S6 seems to be everything Galaxy S5 (and Galaxy S3 and S4) owners hate. A phone which prioritizes style over substance does away with practical features they loved lauding over iPhone owners and – perhaps worst of all – goes out of its way to copy key iPhone design elements. It might even feel like Samsung just sold you out.

All of which creates a dilemma: is the Galaxy S6 so good it is worth swallowing your pride or should you boycott and hope weak sales make Samsung return to old ways in 2016 with the Galaxy S7?

Having had the Galaxy S6 for some time now, I think I have some answers…

Design – Beautiful Versus Sensible

For long term Galaxy S fans I’m afraid there’s no way to sugar coat this: the Galaxy S6 is indeed a case of style over substance. Gone from the Galaxy S5 is an expandable storage, a removable battery and water resistance. In return you wave goodbye to plastic with real aluminum edges and a glass back.

Galaxy S6 – 143.3 x 70.8 x 6.9 mm (5.64 x 2.79 x 0.27 in) and 132 g (4.65 oz)

Galaxy S5 – 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm (5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 in) and 145 g (5.11 oz)

Is the trade up in build materials worth it? For me, no. But this needs to be qualified: I think the Galaxy S6 needed a step up in build quality, but Samsung got the materials wrong. As it stands the glass back and aluminum edges are slippery so it cannot be held as comfortably in hand and the glass back is a fingerprint magnet.

What I would have preferred to see were textured aluminum edges for better grip and a removable aluminum back to keep the flexible battery and storage options. Why every phone maker thinks removable backs can only be made of plastic baffles me.

Then again it is equally important to acknowledge what is good about the Galaxy S6 because the whole phone does feel far better built than the Galaxy S5. Power, volume and home buttons are more solid and responsive, every edge and corner is meticulously machined and ports are better positioned.

Notably the speaker moves to the bottom from the back and is much louder and clearer as a result. It is also joined there by the headphone jack – a long overdue switch from the top of the phone and it means headphone cables don’t get in the way of the screen while you use it.

Ultimately for me neither the Galaxy S6 nor Galaxy S5 designs are perfect, but there is a near perfect phone somewhere to be found in a better merger of the two.

Display – Great Meets Over The Top Brilliance

If the designs of the two phones are going to split opinion, where there will be a universal and highly positive consensus is the new Galaxy S6 display. Why? Because while the Galaxy S5 once had the best phone screen on the market it has been replaced by – you guessed it – the best phone screen currently on the market:

Galaxy S6 – 5.1-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixels (577 ppi), Super AMOLED panel

Galaxy S5 – 5.1-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels (432 ppi), Super AMOLED panel

There are no two ways about it, the Galaxy S6 has a screen so jaw droopingly bright with colors so wonderfully rich that it almost feels like it is in 3D. There remains nothing wrong with the Galaxy S5, but this is a complete level up.

It is worth pointing out these improvements are nothing to do with the bump in resolution. Consider that a 50-inch 4K television has a pixel density of 88 ppi and you’ll see just how far phone makers have gone past practical resolutions.

On paper this shouldn’t matter as the new Galaxy S6 display is actually more efficient than the 1080p panel in the Galaxy S5, but the reality is different and I’ll discuss that later when we get to battery life…

  

If Samsung deserves some flak for the way the Galaxy S6 apes design cues in the iPhone 6, then the company also deserves huge credit for the bravery it has shown in copying another Apple AAPL +1.82% play: using its own internally designed components:

Galaxy S6 – Exynos 7420, Quad-core 2.1GHz and 1.5GHz CPUs and Mali-T760 GPU, 3GB RAM

Galaxy S5 – Qualcomm QCOM +1.45% Snapdragon 801, Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400 CPUs and Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM

It is a well-trodden story of how this came to be: rumors spread that Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 810 chipset was allegedly overheating and – despite repeated Qualcomm denials – Samsung threw gas on the flames by opting for its own Eynos chipset for global shipments for the first time since the Galaxy S2.

Drama aside, the long and short of this is the move pays off. The Galaxy S6 feels blisteringly quick. In fact it not only leaves the more stutter performance of the Galaxy S5 in its wake, it is leaves behind every Android handset to date – including Google GOOGL -1.32%’s stock Android Nexus 6.

But not all credit can go to the hardware. In fact it is what Samsung has done to its Touch Wiz software that should really get the headlines: it is lighter, more agile, far slicker to look at and it makes the Galaxy S6 purr.

Then again it is important not to confuse speed with reduced bloat because the Galaxy S6 actually has more bloat ware then any Galaxy phone ever made – including the Note range. No less than 56 apps are pre-installed and, while some can be hidden from view, very few can be uninstalled:

Of course there’s good stuff: S Health gets better with each incarnation and split window modes are handy for leaving videos playing while you get on with other things. There’s also finally a top notch fingerprint reader that’s every bit as good as Apple’s Touch ID and Samsung has built fingerprint authentication all the way through TouchWiz – an area where stock Android is lacking.

Then again the bad also raises its head and there’s no way Samsung can look itself in the mirror and think users really need or want three email clients, two calendar apps, two apps stores, two voice assistants and much more. Being fast is great, it solves one side of the equation, but the crapware needs to go.

Camera – Overrated Meets The Real Deal

I’m just going to spit this out: the Galaxy S5 camera wasn’t great. It was vastly overpraised by many at launch but it is slow, prone to blur and in the last 12 months most major rivals have flown past it.

This all changes with the Galaxy S6:

Galaxy S6 – 16 megapixel Sony IMX240 F1.9 sensor, OIS, LED flash, 4K video. Front facing 5MP camera, 1080p video

Galaxy S5 – 16 megapixel Samsung ISOCELL F2.2 sensor, DIS, LED flash, 4k video. Front facing 2MP camera, 1080p video

The photo samples above and below speak for themselves: the Galaxy S6 is sharper, clearer, has better colour reproduction and is far, far faster.

Aside from the upgraded horsepower, the main reason behind this transformation is Samsung’s move to the vastly superior Sony F1.9 sensor. F1.9 lets in up to 60% more light than the previous Samsung ISOCELL F2.2 sensor and it means photos are not only taken more quickly and reliably but the Galaxy S6 also annihilates the Galaxy S5 in low light and shadows.

The same goes for the front facing cameras, as again Samsung has wisely used an F1.9 sensor and bumped it to 5MP. I’d advise dialling down the default ‘Beauty’ mode which leaves selfie snaps looking overly photoshopped, but again it is a great improvement over the unreliable front shooter on the S5.

Beyond the hardware, Samsung has also made two key changes to the Galaxy S6 software to further cement this victory. First is the improved UI layout with convenient shortcuts to slow motion and time lapse modes – both excellent thanks to the new Optical Image Stabilisation – plus a ‘Pro Mode’ which allows for more granular control over almost all areas of the composition.

The second key change is far more simple yet equally great: double tapping the home button launches the camera – from anywhere. This could be the lockscreen or from any app and since the camera opens in under one second (Samsung quotes 0.7 seconds) it means you could go from playing Candy Crush to taking photos faster than any phone on the market.

This is a feature I love and, by this time next year, I hope to see all rivals using physical camera shortcuts.

Battery Life – Big Step Backwards

But here is the bad news you all knew was coming: battery life on the Galaxy S6 leaves a lot to be desired.

Yes the Galaxy S6 will get you through a day with light usage and the screen brightness turned down, but this is a far cry from the Galaxy S5 which had both excellent battery life and a removable battery.

And this is perhaps the most infuriating thing about the Galaxy S6: Samsung ditched the removable battery and reduced the battery capacity:

Galaxy S6 – 2550 mAh capacity battery

Galaxy S5 – 2800 mAh capacity battery

Of course the counter argument should be simple: the Galaxy S6 has a more efficient display and chipset and – yes – this sort of works if you don’t plan to do anything with your phone. The problem is whenever you do use it the CPU and GPU have to work far harder to drive all those QHD pixels and when gaming (native QHD or not) you can watch the battery percentage drop like a countdown timer.

In all it makes Samsung’s 2014 anti-iPhone ‘wall huggers’ marketing campaign look ridiculous:

It also doesn’t help that, despite promises to the contrary, Android 5.0 Lollipop remains a more demanding OS than Android 4.4 KitKat and Google really needs to tidy this up. Android 5.1 helped but didn’t fully get the job done and at the time of this review the Galaxy S6 remained on Android 5.0.2 in any case.

But here’s the good news: you will find the Galaxy S6 doesn’t last long, but it doesn’t take long to charge up either. Using the supplied quick charger, you’ll get 35% battery life back in just 15 minutes and the phone breaks new ground in supporting both major wireless charging standards: Qi and PMA.

None of this will help when you’re away from a wall socket – and Samsung should’ve made the phone slightly thicker to fit a bigger battery – but it is something.

By contrast the Galaxy S5, has no such problems. Even with reasonably heavy use you’ll get a full day’s use out the phone and the light usage needed to see the Galaxy S6 survive would get 1.5 to 2 days from the Galaxy S5. Should you go flat there’s also that removable battery.

What about the wireless charging? Granted the Galaxy S5 needs an optional replacement back cover to support that, but it’s still an option and means the Galaxy S5 easily takes this round.

Speakers – Improvements Still Lag Behind Competition

With the Galaxy S6 Samsung has finally moved its speakers from the back of the phone to the bottom edge… just as rivals are moving speakers from the bottom edge to the front bezels.

Consequently the Galaxy S6 is a notable step up from the Galaxy S5. It’s louder and clearer and, vitally, you don’t need to put the phone face down to hear it – but it still lacks bass, distorts at maximum volume and can’t compete with the front mounted stereo speakers of class leaders: the HTC One range and Motorola Nexus 6.

As for call quality, the variables involved (carriers, location, handsets on the other end of the call) mean it is tough to make hard and fast judgements on the Galaxy S6. Certainly in good signal areas call quality was loud and clear. Then again I also experienced several unexplained disconnections.

With further research this doesn’t appear to be a widely reported problem so I’m willing to give the S6 the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore with its support of calls over 4G (with limited carrier support at present) it means the Galaxy S6 should pull ahead of the otherwise perfectly satisfactory Galaxy S5 over time.

Value – Change At Great Cost

Those still unconvinced by Samsung’s design changes with the Galaxy S6 will be even more annoyed to see the impact this has had on price:

Samsung Galaxy S6 – 32GB ($680), 64GB ($780) and 128GB ($880) off contract – prices may vary by carrier

Even with its larger storage options, this still makes the Galaxy S6 the most expensive mainstream smartphone Samsung has ever made and around 15% more expensive than the Galaxy S5 at launch.

More to the point the Galaxy S5 is now heavily discounted and can be found for far less both off and on contract. Given you can buy a 16GB Galaxy S6, a 128GB micro SD and a spare battery for about $550 this will have some potential upgraders thinking twice.

Bottom Line 

In many ways the Galaxy S6 is the biggest upgrade Samsung has ever given to the Galaxy S line. It is better looking, better built, much faster, has a truly brilliant camera, top notch fingerprint print reader and greatly improved software. That’s almost a full house…

…but not quite, and what the Galaxy S6 lacks is perhaps what the most loyal Galaxy S fans love more than anything: practicality. Consequently the S6’s build materials are slippy, it’s battery life is poor, there’s no removable battery, no water resistance and it has a hefty upfront price tag for anyone who needs a lot of memory capacity because of the lack of expandable storage.

All of which leaves me in something of a dilemma as the Galaxy S6 is a clearly superior phone to the Galaxy S5, but also quite hard to recommend to S5 and S4 owners.

For those not wedded to what the Galaxy S6 ditches you should upgrade ASAP, but for those who love their Galaxy S5s because of their do-it-all nature, I suspect the only real option for you will be to size up and hope Samsung makes less change to the upcoming Galaxy Note 5…

Which ultimately brings me back to my original question: everyone thinks the Galaxy S6 is great, but is it great for existing Galaxy S5 owners? I’m not convinced.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/04/27/samsung-galaxy-s6-vs-galaxy-s5-review/4/

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Selfie-camera ready for action : HTC One mini 2 Review

The latest HTC smartphone is not exactly “mini”, but condenses the best bits of the 5-star flagship One M8 into a smaller, more manageable package.

Despite its questionable name, the HTC One mini 2 replaces last year’s One mini and continues the Taiwanese company’s focus on metal phone bodies with solid build quality, which won it a GSMA Global Mobile award for best smartphone in 2013, and critical acclaim for the larger HTC One M8.

The One mini 2 is designed to fill the demand for a smaller premium phone. It's a good looking Android smartphone, but not as big as the current crop of 5in-plus flagship smartphones like the One M8, Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2.

The One, just shrunk

When HTC calls this the “mini” HTC One it’s not kidding. It looks like a slightly smaller version of the Taiwanese manufacturer’s new One M8 smartphone, which is definitely a good thing.

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It may look the same, but it doesn’t quite feel the same. HTC has had to use cheaper manufacturing processes to produce the body, which although it is clad in metal, isn’t one solid piece of aluminium and therefore doesn’t feel quite as nice. It still feels premium, though, which marks it above quite a few of its mid-range competition.

The curved back fits in the hand nicely, and it is still very solidly built with no flex or give in the body. It weighs 137g, and is 10.6mm thick, which makes it thicker than and slightly heavier than the iPhone 5C or Sony Xperia Z1 Compact – two of its rivals.

The 4.5in screen is hardly “mini” but it does mean the device is significantly smaller than the larger 5in HTC One M8. The One mini 2 is 9mm shorter and over 5mm narrower which makes it much easier to hold and use with one hand.

The screen is bright and pin sharp despite being only 720p (compared to the 1080p of the One M8), which makes it match Apple’s iPhone 5C on pixel density, with good viewing angles making sharing video and photos with others easier.

HTC’s signature Boom Sound speakers bracket the screen, and while slightly smaller than those fitted on the One M8 are much louder and clearer than most other smartphones and make watching YouTube videos a joy.

Specifications

Screen: 4.5in 720p LCD

Processor: 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

RAM: 1GB of RAM

Storage: 16GB with a microSD card slot for expansion

Operating system: Android 4.4.2 “KitKat”

Camera: 13-megapixel rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera

Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fi (n/ac), NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 with BLE and GPS

Dimensions: 137.4 x 65 x 10.6mm

Weight: 137g

The One mini 2 is a smaller, lower cost phone than its bigger brother, but that doesn't mean its slow or sluggish.

Its quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor is a step down in raw horsepower from the One M8’s beefier Snapdragon 801, but in general use you simply won’t notice the difference.

The phone feels fast and responsive, with apps launching quickly, simple games running smoothly and with enough power to handle everyday tasks like emailing, browsing and watching Netflix without a hiccup.

Some graphically intensive games will not run quite as well on the One mini 2 as they would on some of the more powerful phones, but gaming is generally not the focus for smaller Android phones.

It is significantly faster and smoother than almost any phone from two years ago, making it an upgrade you really will notice.

The One mini 2 has 16GB of storage built in with a micro SD card slot for adding up to an extra 128GB, although that space cannot be used to store apps.

HTC like to pride itself on solid battery life for its smartphones and the One mini 2 is no exception. The company claims the same all-day battery life as the One M8; my testing saw the phone last over a day and half of heavy usage with emails arriving all the time, about 20 texts sent and received, 2 hours of browsing, a bit of mapping and listening to music over Bluetooth.

Most people should get two days of useful usage out of the One mini 2 between charges, and that’s without activating any of the power saving features, which can add days of standby time – a very useful feature if you need a phone to last on extended trips away from a power source.

Small useful tweaks

HTC creates a version of Android called “Sense”, customizing experience on top of the core Android software. For the most part the changes are minor cosmetic differences, which will still be familiar to anyone who has used Android in the past.

The One mini 2 uses exactly the same version of Android as the One M8. HTC’s quick settings buttons under the notification draw are particularly useful, with many more than normally available on standard Android and covering almost any most-used setting.

Among the small tweaks, the most obvious addition is HTC’s social news aggregate app, Blink Feed. It is stored on the very left pane of the home screen, and pulls posts from your social media accounts, information from your calendar and some of the built-in apps, as well as news and entertainment from a plethora of sources of your choosing.

Blink Feed is essentially a slick version of Flip board that isn't available across multiple devices; one of those features users will either take to and find useful, or instantly find a burden. Thankfully users can remove Blink Feed from their home screens entirely.

Camera

The One mini 2 has a decent, traditional 13-megapixel main camera, instead of the HTC One M8’s 4 Ultra pixel Duo Camera. It is capable of producing solid but not outstanding photos with good detail and color.

They images are arguably clearer than those produced by the One M8’s DuoCamera, but the low light performance is not quite as good and it cannot perform any fancy focus-after-capture effects.

Selfie-cam

A 5-megapixel “selfie” camera is mounted on the front of the phone with a wide aperture lens that is capable of capturing great shots. Even if they aren’t that great on shooting, HTC’s built a load of fancy photo editing effects into its gallery app that can do automatic “make up” modes or enlarge and enhance a subject’s eyes, narrow their chin and smooth their skin. They’re easy to use and often things that would take the average user quite a bit of time in front of an image editor like Photoshop to achieve.

The impressive front-facing camera also makes Android’s built-in Face Unlock feature work very well, unlocking the smartphone by recognising the user’s face and handling the difficult lighting conditions generally found while trying to use the phone on the move or outdoors.

The One mini 2 won’t be available until the end of May and official pricing wasn’t available. It is expected to cost around £300 without a contract, and should be free on most contracts with mobile phone operators. It will be available in three colors.

Verdict

The HTC One mini 2 takes the best features of the top rated One M8 and condenses it into a smaller, more manageable frame.

The metal body feels great in the hand, while the screen looks just as crisp and the speakers are just as loud. It is easy to fit in the pocket and use one-handed, while the all-day battery life means you don’t have to worry about recharging it during the day.

The battery saving features mean the One mini 2 will easily last a long weekend away, and the camera is good enough to mean you can leave the point-and-shoot camera at home. The selfie camera is impressive, and the wide-angle and high resolution pic make it easier to take better group pictures of friends and family.

The only small down side is that its slower processor and only 1GB of RAM (where most premium smartphones have at least 2GB), may hamper its performance in graphically intensive games and makes it less future proofed over two years.

If you’re looking for a well-made, smaller android phone then the HTC One mini 2 is arguably one of the best. It would make a solid upgrade from smartphones bought around two years ago, while not being truly hand stretching like most of the other premium smartphones with 5in or larger screens.

Pros: Metal body, decent camera, solid battery life, pocket able size, good screen

Cons: Slower processor, 1GB of RAM, relatively thick, screen may be a bit small for some

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/26/htc-one-mini-2-review-selfie-camera-ready-for-action-smartphone

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Post By Ramiz Ali Khan

7 cool new tricks every Apple Gadget user should know

Apple's latest updates to both its mobile operating system (iOS 8.3) and its computer system (OS X Yosemite) not only give your iPhone, iPad and Mac computer new features, they also make it easier than ever to use them all together. Apple calls this integration between mobile gadgets and Mac computers as "Continuity." In one obvious example of these new connections, some users have been startled when their Mac computer suddenly rings with an incoming phone call. More than once a friend has answered my phone call with, "I didn't know it could do that," the first time her iPhone handed off a call to her Mac computer.

But Continuity does a lot more than just send phone calls to your Mac. In today's Apple Tip, I'll step through 7 top tricks to using Apple's new operating systems both together and separately. From having all of your photos available across all of you gadgets, or starting an app task on one gadget and finishing on another, there are a lot of cool things you can do with these new capabilities.

1. Handoff

Apple's Handoff feature allows you to seamlessly work on the same app and the same task on different Apple gear. For instance, if you started writing an email on your iPhone, you may now finish and send it from your iPad or Mac, provided they are within Bluetooth range of each other. Open a Safari webpage on one gadget and there it is available on your other devices.

Handoff works with your native Apple apps like Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Maps, Messages, Notes, Reminders, Safari, Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Some third-party apps including New York Times and others are now or soon will be using Handoff.

To use Handoff, your Mac must have OS X Yosemite, and your iOS devices must have iOS 8. All of your gadgets must have Bluetooth turned on and be signed in to iCloud using the same Apple ID.

To turn on Handoff:

On your Mac: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click General, then select “Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices.” (If you don’t see the option below “Recent items,” your Mac doesn’t support Handoff.)

On your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch: Go to Settings > General > Handoff & Suggested Apps, then tap to turn on Handoff. (If you don’t see the option, your iOS device doesn’t support Handoff.)

2. SMS text messages on your Mac

Apple's iMessage has long allowed you to message other iPhone users from the iMessage app on your Mac. Now with OS X Yosemite and an iPhone running iOS 8, you can send and receive SMS text messages right from your Mac. So when friends text you, regardless of what brand phone they are using, you can now read and reply from your Mac as well as your iPhone.

All the messages that appear on your iPhone now show up on your Mac, too, so your conversation is up to date on all your devices. You can also start an SMS or iMessage conversation on your Mac just by clicking a phone number in Safari, Contacts, Calendar, or Spotlight. Group chats are now enabled, as well. Click Details to name a group chat, add or remove someone, and see friends who’ve shared their location on a map.

3. Make your pictures pop with Photos' powerful new edit tools

In last week's Apple Tip, 5 reasons you must update your iPhone or iPad now, I mentioned as one of the reasons to upgrade was that Photos is now on all of your iOS and OS X devices. I have been using Photos this week and it really is amazing. If you've ever had to email photos from your iPhone to your Mac when a sync cord wasn't handy, having all of your iPhone pictures just instantly appear on your Mac is pretty incredible.

Also included in the new Photos are powerful new editing tools to fine tune your pictures. Apple Photos edit tools are not on the level of the professional standard, Adobe Photoshop, but it does pack an all new punch. You can make precise edits by enabling the histogram, adjusting levels, adding definition, and more.

Bonus Tip: Want to email more than just a few of your favorite photos? Follow along to see how you can now send up to 5GB of photos (or anything else) in just one email right from your Apple Mail app.

4. Answer your iPhone on your Mac or iPad

As I mentioned above, some users are surprised when their iPhone calls ring through on their Mac. This also works on Wi-Fi-only (non-cellular) iPads. However, to use this feature, all of your Apple gadgets must be on the same Wi-Fi network and signed in to the same iCloud account.

Phone calls on your iPhone will appear in the upper right corner of your Mac offering you the option to accept or decline. To make a phone call on your Mac or iPad tap or click a phone number in Contacts, Calendar, or Safari.

Bonus tip: Want to change your Mac’s default call ringtone? To set a different ringtone, choose FaceTime>Preferences, then click the Ringtone pop-up menu.

5. No Wi-Fi? No problem!

You can use Personal Hotspot on your iPhone to provide Internet access to your iPad or Mac. You'll need to sign in to iCloud using the same Apple ID as your iPhone. Also, your cell provider needs to support Personal Hotspot, but Apple's website lists 46 U.S. providers, including the majors, that support Apple's Hotspot.

To get Internet access from your iPhone:

On your iPad, go to Settings > Wi-Fi on your other iOS device and select your iPhone or other iPad that has a cellular connection.

On your Mac, go to the Wi-Fi menu at the top of your screen and select your iPhone or iPad that has a cellular connection.

6. Mail gets some great new features

Apple Mail gets a major step up with two new features that I really like. I've written before about the explosion of smartphone photography all over the world as we all shoot more pictures than ever. Once you shoot your amazing vacation, graduation, birthday or other photos, chances are you'll want to share them with family or friends. But there's just one problem. As photo quality goes up, so does the file size of the photo.

A full resolution iPhone 6 photo can easily be as big as 3mb or more. Why does that matter? Many email systems will not accept email attachments over 10mb, meaning you can only send about 3 iPhone photos per message. Often your only options are to be very picky about which few photos you share, or bombard your relatives with lots of separate email messages, carrying only about three pictures each. And forget about emailing a video! Depending on the length, videos can span hundreds of megabytes, far too big to ever email.  That is, until now.

Apple Mail now offers a way to send large attachments. Or maybe I should say huge, enormous, gargantuan attachments! You may now send attachments up to 5GB in size. How much is 5GB? How about thousands of photos, or at least 3 to 4 full HD movies! It is probably safe to say that 5GB email limit will cover just about anything you might need to send.

Apple calls this new feature Mail Drop and it is built right into Apple mail. Mail Drop automatically uploads the attachments to iCloud. If recipients use Mail in OS X Yosemite, the attachments are automatically downloaded and shown in the message. If recipients use other email apps, they will see a link to download the attachments from iCloud. Your attachments stay in iCloud for 30 days and they do not count against your iCloud storage limit.

Bonus tip: When scrolling through a long list of Mail messages, skip the mouse and use your space bar instead. Use Shift-Space bar to scroll up through email messages or Space bar to scroll down.

Another cool new feature in Apple Mail is called Mark Up. When sending attachments, say photos or PDFs, you can now add notes, circles, arrows or even your signature right on the file without having to open it in another program.

To use Markup on an image or PDF, just hold the pointer over the attachment, click

More button, then choose Markup. The attachment will open with a basic tool bar across the top. To add a signature to your file, click on the signature icon (below) and choose from existing signatures or upload a new one.

7. Share your screen or see someone else's Mac screen

Besides all the topics on my national radio show, newsletters and this website, I also often get asked by family and personal friends for one-on-one tech support. Based on my experience, I know beyond a doubt that actually seeing the other person's screen or showing them how to do something on my screen cuts through 90% of the frustration of trying to explain something just verbally by phone.

Now sharing your screen or requesting to see another user's screen is a cinch in Yosemite. The first step is to ensure that both you and the person you’re trying to share with are using Apple’s Messages app. Open your contact’s message window and select the Details button on the top right hand corner.

The Details button is circled in red below.

A new window will pop up where you will see the Share Screen icon. It is the overlapping blue rectangles next to the camera icon above. To share your screen, just click the Share Screen icon and you can send a request to your contact to either share your screen or ask for access to theirs.

Source: http://www.komando.com/tips/305017/7-cool-new-tricks-every-apple-user-should-know/all

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Post By Ramiz Ali Khan

Sony Smart Watch 3 Review

The SmartWatch 3 SWR50 is a device from Sony that lets you see notifications from your smartphone — including emails, calls, texts and even GChats — right on your wrist. The smartwatch, which runs the Android Wear operating system, also responds to voice commands, so you can ask about the weather or send emails just by speaking.

One feature that separates the SmartWatch 3 from many other smartwatches is that it has built-in GPS, so you can track workouts without needing to bring along your phone. And if you want to listen to music on your run, you can download songs to the smartwatch itself, which pairs to headphones via Bluetooth.

But the device also lacks some features that have become common in wearable devices — it doesn't have a heart-rate monitor, and it doesn't track sleep by itself. (However, you can download apps to the SmartWatch 3 to track sleep.) In addition, it works only with Android phones, so you're out of luck if you have an iPhone.

Overall rating: 6/10

If you're specifically interested in fitness-tracking features, you'd be better off with another device. Although the SmartWatch 3 tracks the total amount of time that you are active every day, and your daily step total (which you can view on the watch itself), it offers little in the form of motivation and, as previously mentioned, lacks a heart-rate monitor.

But if you're looking for an extension of the experience on your phone, the SmartWatch 3 is not that bad. The ability to search the device with voice commands is a plus, since there's no button pressing. The watch vibrates when you receive a notification, and you can reply from your wrist. And if you're eager to track your workouts without needing to carry a phone along with you, then the SmartWatch 3 may appeal to you.

Still, the device is quite big and heavy, which is something to consider before you buy. In addition, the apps that you download need to be managed separately, which can make things complicated.

Design/Comfort: 6.5

I found the Sony SmartWatch 3 to be a rather large device with a clunky feel. The display on the watch face is 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) along the diagonal.. Because I'm a petite woman, the device looked big on my wrist. It feels as though it's designed to fit an average-size man. (This is a problem with many smartwatches that come in only one size. In contrast, the Apple Watch will come in two sizes.)

The SmartWatch 3's strap is adjustable, but it also has a clasp — its design ensures the two ends of the strap never come apart. (The Samsung Gear 2 uses a similar clasp.) It makes for a secure fit, but I had to fiddle with it quite a bit to get the watch on and off, which I didn't like. There's really no need for a watch strap to be so complicated.   

But despite these design flaws, the SmartWatch 3 also has some great features. It has a color screen, and there are a number of background displays to choose from, which allows you to personalize the device. And you can even pop the watch face out of the strap and put it in a different strap — right now, the strap comes in black and lime, and the company says a stainless-steel strap will be available soon.

Another plus is that the backlight on the screen turns on when you twist your wrist to look at the watch, so there's no need to press any buttons to see the time. And the screen is "transflective," meaning it can reflect and transmit light — I found I could read the screen easily even in bright daylight.

The watch is also water-resistant, so you don't have to worry about getting it wet, as long as the charging port is closed. You can even take it in water up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) deep. However, Sony recommends you limit the device's time in the water to 30 minutes, so this isn't a device you want to use to track your swimming workouts.

The SmartWatch 3's battery lasts only two days, though this not uncommon for smartwatches. (Some fitness trackers, on the other hand, get at least a week's worth of battery, and the battery on the Basis Peak, which has a heart-rate monitor, lasts four days.)

User-friendliness: 6.5

Before you start using the device, you have to download the Android Wear app to your phone, and the app then walks you through how to use the watch. This walk-through explains all of the swiping and tapping you need to know to use the watch. Although I found this feature to be helpful, I was still sometimes a little confused when using the watch itself.

You swipe up and down to scroll through notifications or other features, swipe right to "dismiss" notifications and swipe left to see more information about a particular notification or feature. This swiping pattern takes some getting used to, and you might find yourself getting lost with all the swiping.

Fortunately, you don't have to swipe the screen to access features — you can also use the device's voice search. For example, you can say, "OK, Google, show me my steps," to see your step count for that day, or "OK, Google, what's the weather?" to see the current temperature. I liked this "hands free" feature, and the watch always seemed to understand what I said. You can even send an email just by talking to the watch. (Be careful, though: If you do this, the watch will send the email as soon as you stop talking, so there won't be a chance to review the email or check if you're sending it to the right person.)

To use the device's built-in GPS, you'll first have to download an app for GPS tracking — I used the Google My Tracks app, which lets you track both your distance and your steps. Then, you simply open the My Tracks feature on the watch and start recording a run or walk. You'll be able to see the duration and distance of your workout on the watch itself, but to see any other information (such as a map of your route), you'll have to open the app on your phone after you finish.

I found the GPS worked well, but the My Tracks app doesn't tell you when the device gets a GPS signal, and lets you start "recording" a workout without picking up a signal. When I tested the device, I walked 45 feet before it registered that I'd traveled any distance, and it wasn't clear at what point the watch had picked up a GPS signal.

The SmartWatch 3 doesn't track sleep by itself, so I downloaded the Sleep as Android app, which was the suggested sleep app. I told the app to use my smartwatch (instead of my mobile device) for sleep tracking, and then started tracking right before I went to bed. The first few times I tried to track my sleep, the feature crashed on the smartwatch, but I eventually got it to work. However, you won't be able to see any of your sleep information on the watch itself; you'll have to view it on your phone in the Sleep as Android app. In addition, you can set an alarm on the SmartWatch 3, which vibrates to wake you up, but if you set an alarm through the Sleep as Android app, it will go off on your phone, and not on the watch.

One downside of using a smartwatch that can connect with other apps is that you end up having many apps that need to be managed separately, which can get complicated. The Wear as Android app pretty much let me change only the watch background and the watch settings.

You'll have to open a separate app (I used Google Fit) to view your activity data, another app (Sleep as Android) to view your sleep and a third app (My Tracks) to view GPS data. In contrast, most fitness trackers will show you all your fitness/sleep data in one app, and the Adidas Fit Smart will also show you your route in the same app if you bring your phone on a run. If you're used to managing lots of apps at once, this may not be a problem, but people who like to keep things simple might want to consider another device.

Value of Information: 6

As is the case with most smartwatches, the SmartWatch 3 doesn't do much that the average smartphone won't, though the device is a convenient way of tracking your runs. And having notifications appear on your wrist is useful when you have your hands full or don't want to reach for your phone to read a text.

Still, the device is not intended to get you fit, so it offers very little health information or insight into the data it tracks. The default step goal is 10,000 steps per day, and the default activity time is 1 hour per day. However, the device does not explain why this amount of activity was chosen as the default goal, and does not offer tips or motivation for getting more exercise.

Enjoyment/Inspiration: 5

The device's colorful screen and the ability to read the screen in many different lighting situations make it useful as a watch. In addition, the ability to search the device without pressing buttons may be appealing to some.

But in terms of motivation to get fit, the SmartWatch 3 comes up short. Despite tracking your steps and physical activity, the device doesn't send you alerts when you've been sitting too long (unlike the LifeTrak Brite and the Soleus Go), or notify you when you've nearly reached your step goal.

There are ways the SmartWatch 3 could be improved. For instance, the device could be offered in more than one size, and include a heart-rate monitor and sleep-tracking features. Overall, though, the SmartWatch 3 is not a bad smartwatch.

Source: http://www.livescience.com/50528-sony-smartwatch-3-review.html

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Mac Book News: Apple may have a faster, unannounced MacBook for Friday's launch

Special configuration brings faster processing speeds

A more powerful, but unannounced, 12-inch MacBook is coming to Apple's lineup this Friday, but the build-to-order configuration will cost at least a $250 (£170, AU$325) premium over the base model.

In addition to the announced 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor with 256GB storage in the base configuration and the 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor in an upgraded build with a 512GB solid state drive, Apple will have a build-to-order option with a faster 1.3GHz processor and a 256GB drive. The unannounced configuration is expected to cost $1,549 (£1,040, AU$2,015), a $250 (£170, AU$325) premium over the $1,299 (£875, AU$1,690) base unit.

Apple will also have an even higher build-to-order configuration with more storage. Priced at $1,749 (£1,175, AU$2,275), that configuration will come with a dual-core 1.3GHz processor and 512GB of storage. All models will come with 8GB RAM and integrated an Intel HD Graphics 5300 processor.

The pricing and configurations were initially reported by MacRumors based on information that was published by Apple hardware reseller partner Expercom. Apple's website does not list either 1.3GHz option.

The 12-inch MacBook will become available Friday, April 10 at Apple alongside pre-orders for the Apple Watch.

USB-C

Apple made headlines when it debuted the MacBook as the unit comes with a single USB-C port that handles input, output, video-out, and charging. Given the new port, which accepts a new reversible connector tip, existing accessories will not work without an adapter. Power users will likely need to use an adapter or multiport hub to connect multiple accessories, or even to have a USB flash drive attached while trying to charge the MacBook's battery.

Since the MacBook's release, rival Google also announced an update to its Chromebook Pixel. The new Pixel comes with two USB-C ports along with support for legacy USB ports, making it feel less constrained than the new MacBook.

Given its screen size and slim form factor, the MacBook will compete with Windows hybrids and Ultrabooks, including Microsoft's Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3.
Source:http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/apple-may-have-a-faster-unannounced-macbook-for-friday-s-launch-1290586

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Tourist Convenience or Purely Narcissi-Stick? -Selfie Sticks.

Selfies at tourist attractions are nothing new. But until recently, if you wanted a perfectly composed picture of yourself with Times Square or the Colosseum in the background, you might have asked a passer-by to take the photo.

Now, though, relatively new gadgets called selfie sticks make it easy to take your own wide-angled self-portraits or group shots. Fans say the expandable rods, which allow users to hold their cellphones a few feet away, are the ultimate convenience: no more bothering passers-by to take pictures, no more fretting about strangers taking lousy shots or running off with a pricey iPhone.

But some travelers bemoan the loss of that small interaction that came with politely asking a local to help preserve a memory. And critics express outright hatred of selfie sticks as obnoxious symbols of self-absorption. They even have a derisive name for them, playing on the narcissistic behavior they think the sticks encourage: narcissi-stick.

Sarah Kinling of Baltimore said she was approached "17 times" by vendors selling selfie sticks at the Colosseum in Rome. "They're the new fanny pack - the quickest way to spot a tourist," she said. "The more I saw them in use, the more I saw how much focus people were putting on selfies, and not turning around to see what they were there to see."



When Kinling wanted a photo of herself with her sister and sister-in-law, she asked strangers to take the shot. "Even when the other person didn't speak English, you hold your camera up and make the motion and they understand," she said.

But some travelers say it's better to stage your own vacation photos. Andrea Garcia asked a passer-by to take her photo in Egypt and later realized he'd zoomed in on her face, cutting out the pyramids behind her. "I couldn't really be mad at him - he wasn't my photographer, I didn't pay him," she said. The experience made her appreciate the selfie sticks she sees tourists using at 1 World Trade near her office in Lower Manhattan. "Take control of your image!" she says.

Selfie sticks are just starting to show up at attractions in the U.S., but they're ubiquitous in many destinations overseas, from Dubai's skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. A soccer stadium in London, White Hart Lane, has even banned them because they obstruct other fans' views.


The Four Seasons Hotel in Houston started making them available to guests last week, "similar to the way many hotels provide umbrellas," said hotel spokeswoman Laura Pettitt.

The sticks range in price from $5 to $50. Simpler models merely grip the phone, so users must trigger the shot with a self-timer on the camera. More sophisticated versions either use Bluetooth technology or connect the phone to the stick with a cord, with a button on the grip triggering the shot.

Jasmine Brett Stringer of Minneapolis writes a lifestyles blog called "Carpe Diem with Jasmine" and uses selfie sticks to record her videos. "A friend brought one back from Dubai and I said, 'I've got to get one,'" she said. Now she doesn't have to rely on others to help shoot her work. The sticks are also an improvement over hand-held selfies because they let you shoot "at better angles, avoid the awkward arm reach and the dreadful half-face shot."

Megan Marrs of Boston, who writes a travel blog called Vanishing Balloons, thought the sticks were ridiculous when she saw them on a trip to South Korea last fall. "It seemed so vain and silly," said Marrs. But she bought one to bring home as a gift, ended up trying it herself and became a fan.

"I don't love intruding on other people's experience, asking them to take my picture - they're there to enjoy their time, too," she said. "Sometimes I feel silly - one more tourist taking a selfie in front of the Colosseum - but I'm more comfortable doing it myself than asking someone else."

Source: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/cameras/features/selfie-sticks-tourist-convenience-or-purely-narcissi-stick-646386

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I Phone 6 on demand - ARM Posts Better-Than-Expected Quarterly Profit

Shares in the Cambridge-based company rose to an all-time high of GBP 12.33 after it posted the figures.

ARM Holdings, the British chip designer favored by Apple, beat expectations for first-quarter profit thanks to demand for the iPhone 6, and said its royalties would grow as its latest technology is used in more smartphones.

Shares in the Cambridge-based company rose to an all-time high of GBP 12.33 after it posted a 24 percent rise in first-quarter pretax profit to GBP 120.5 million ($179.1 million).

That beat analysts' expectations of GBP 115 million, according to a company-provided consensus.

The shares were up 4.6 percent at GBP 12.04 at 0717 GMT.

"In the second half of 2015 we expect to benefit from the increasing deployment of ARMv8-A technology, our latest generation of processors, in the newest smartphones and tablets," Chief Financial Officer Tim Score said on Tuesday.

"These chips typically have a slightly higher royalty rate than the previous generation."

Royalty revenue, collected a quarter in arrears from a record 3.8 billion chips shipped, rose 26 percent on an underlying basis, ARM said.

Analysts at Citi said they expected full-year consensus expectations for ARM's revenue would edge up to reflect the encouraging performance in royalties.

ARM's processor licensing revenue dipped 2 percent, missing market forecasts, but Score said he expected licensing revenue to raise 5-10 percent in the longer term.

Industry-wide revenues had slipped after a busy fourth quarter, in line with normal seasonal trends, which would be reflected in its second quarter, Score said. But overall second-quarter revenue would be in line with market expectations, which stand at $354.6 million.

Source: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/arm-posts-better-than-expected-quarterly-profit-on-iphone-6-demand-683857

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Apple Watch can be a games platform -Gulf News

Source: http://gulfnews.com/leisure/gadgets/apple-watch-can-be-a-games-platform-1.1472477

 From location-based adventures to digital pets that live on your wrist, Apple’s arrival could enliven the idea of playing games on a smart watch

Games are a remarkably agile medium - they can squeeze in anywhere. Whenever a new digital platform emerges, whether it’s a tablet, augmented reality headset or smart home security system, games are never far behind.

Humans, like most animals, are natural players. With the gradual, lumbering rise of the smart watch, however, games have so far played a limited role.

The stores on the Pebble and Android Wear devices are mostly filled with fitness and convenience applications, which is sensible considering the form factor of these things: they’re small, they’re attached to you and they have accelerometers to track movement. Hence, dozens of gamified jogging apps.

There are more games that don’t require running, of course, but so far they have been mostly restricted to simple ports of classics like Tetris, Pac-Man and Tamagotchi.

According to Will Luton, designer of Pixel Miner, one of the most successful Pebble games so far, these are the wrong approaches: “Integrating heart rate and pedometers obtrusively into game loops or attempting to shrink down smartphone titles onto a smaller device may get some traction early on as players explore the device and it’s capabilities, but they won’t be sustainable.”

Love it or hate it, when Apple enters a market, it brings with it an earthquake of hype and an accompanying tsunami of fresh developer interest. So how could things change with smart watch games in the near future?

Blipvert gaming Perhaps the future of smart watch gaming is all about reducing the smartphone “snack-sized” approach even further.

“The correct approach is to consider how the device is used and builds from there,” says Luton. “Smart watches are high frequency, short session devices which have low precision controls. This means that interfaces have to be very simple, such as one touch or menu-based systems. If smartphone games are designed to be played while waiting for a coffee, smart watch games should be designed to be played in an elevator ride.”

There are historical precedence’s here. Nintendo’s old Game & Watch titles - and indeed that whole generation of simple LCD games, from Grandstand’s Caveman to Mattel’s Dungeons and Dragons - were based around simple and amusing interactions, where form was as important as experience.

Casio made basic LCD game watches, as did Nelsonic, with its cute Zelda title. Smart watches could bring this back. Furthermore, the idea of five-second game collections, popularized in the Bishi Bashi and Warioware titles, could prosper on a platform where more demanding experiences can’t jostle them out of the way.

A virtue of simplicity It could be that the limiting form factor and interface capabilities of smart watches will be enough to spark new and unusual ideas.

“One thing that game developers like is new modes of interaction and control,” says developer and researcher Michael Cook. “GDC ran their annual alt.ctrl workshop recently that’s all about new ways to interact with games. Apple’s already emphasising these minimalistic ways of communicating through the watch, like doodling on the screen, tapping another person’s wrist remotely, and so on.

“The small screen and simple interactions also remind me of what Robin Baumgarten is doing in his game design experiments. Baumgarten’s latest creation is Line Wobbler , a game that you played on a single line of flashing lights. Designing games for really small platforms like a single dimension or a screen as small as a watch is a really cool challenge.”

Social persistence

Another idea is that smart watch games could evolve into quick-session social experiences, allowing friends who meet up in the street, to quickly and seamlessly swap data.

“I do actually think there are some great possibilities for ‘persistent games’- games that you are playing all the time, alone or with friends,” says developer Bennett Foddy. “For these games, the watch makes it possible to check in on your progress whenever you have an idle nanosecond, without starting an app or pulling out your phone. These might be games that are played by tapping the phone at certain times, or by being at certain locations: the depth won’t come from the software itself but from the way that it fits in with your everyday life.”

This is already a feature of the Nintendo 3DS console. Its Street Pass app automatically collects simple details from other 3DS-owning passers-by, and then lets you check out their messages and profiles when you have time.

Street Pass also contains a number of mini-games that can only be competed through connection with other users. This could actually be used in a more complex way.

“Developers will have to get better at placing more of the experience in the mind and less of it on screen,” says game developer Moo Yoo, who worked at Moshi Monsters creator Mind Candy until going independent. “I imagine a huge demand for highly interlinked social games and dynamically generated social narratives. You can take the example of a game like Farmville which gave context and a real-world meaning to gifting a virtual animal. A smart watch game could be a system of proposals, acceptances, and rejections - either in a dating sim or a game of diplomacy.”

Full contact gaming Smartphones have accelerometers so they sense movements, and they have wi-fi connectivity to allow multiplayer connection. Add these to a device that you can’t accidentally drop or throw across the room, and you have interesting possibilities for physical group-based games.

“I love making digital games involving running around,” says experimental smartphone and tablet game designer Alistair Aitcheson, responsible for the likes of Greedy Bankers and Tap Happy Sabotage .

“The smartphone is physically attached to your body, so it’s perfect for tag-style games involving slapping each other’s wrists.” This sounds crazy, but it’s actually the basis of the excellent indie title Johann Sebastian Joust , a multiplayer contact game that uses PlayStation Move motion controllers: participants have to try to jog or bash the controllers of their rivals, which removes them from the game.

The winner is the player who survives the longest without being tagged. It’s enormous fun, but difficult for most people to experience, because most people don’t have eight PlayStation Move controllers; and with a smartphone version, they risk getting their handset belted across the room. But a smart watch version would work brilliantly.

“I’ve also always wanted to do something involving hidden information - where players see different things on their personal displays,” says Aitcheson, envisioning a sort of Murder in the Dark experience where players are fed different information about their roles in the game.

“Delivering this through a phone can feel cumbersome and it slows the pace and focus of play. But with a watch, players can absorb new details just by glancing at their wrists, and can continue running around without having had to stop and think.”

The second (or third?) screen Another obvious use for the smart watch will be as a second or even third screen for a console, PC or tablet title - either imparting personal information to the player while participating in the main game, or allowing them to take an element of that game with them wherever they go.

“We have already seen a trend for games that connect out of the main screen, into the real world,” says Tomas Rawlings of Auroch Digital, which has just launched its board game adaptation, Chainsaw Warrior.

“Skylanders and Disney’s Infinity are good examples of this, and this device offers potentials here. Also with persistent games - either online like Travian or MMOs like EVE Online - I can see lots of uses for getting information about events within the game world, always being accessible to the player.

“One area I’m interested is in how this might be used for board games. This form has been undergoing a renaissance in recent years as crowd funding has connected players with creators. You can see the tentative steps in this area with games like One Night Ultimate Werewolf, which uses a companion app to assist the game flow. Linking that app to a player and their movements adds lots of possibilities; think Cluedo played around the house or Hide and Seek 2.0...”

Meanwhile, coder and web developer Adrian Smith sees the smart watch fulfilling the role that science fiction movies always used it for; as an intimate extension to a wider computer network.

“The most unique innovations will be augmentation, as a smart watch is in essence an augmentation device,” he says. “For example, the player’s heart rate could changes the behavior of an intelligent enemy in a larger PC horror game. Or the smart watch could be a secondary screen or interface, for example the onscreen watch used in the N64 game Goldeneye could have been an actual watch.

“In Alien Isolation, the watch could vibrate when the alien is detected on the scanner, or in a Halo title, you could have Cortana on your wrist, available to talk to throughout the game. There is also a hard to define emotional connection with smart watches, which makes the platform ideal for personification.”

Smart watch games, then, may well have an interesting future beyond glorified fitness apps with points systems; it just requires developers to get to grips with the form factor and truly embrace its limitations and peculiarities. Perhaps the hype that will soon surround Apple’s entry to the market will be the boost those developers need.

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Post By Ramiz Ali Khan