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New Tricks with Old Technology at Mobile World Congress

By Paul B. Kaiser on February 19, 2016

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona starts this weekend and the new phones make their entrance for the year. Not expected to be a stellar year in breakthroughs, the manufacturers are digging deep to make little improvements look like magical technology. It could be we have reached our peak in smartphone technology. There will be some cool enhancements but no major shifts. Let’s take a look at the big guys.

mwc 2016 dudes

LG G5 is ON for Launch

The new LG G5 will be announced in its flagship smartphone line. It will have an always-on display, like smartwatches. They will play nice with some new touch-enabled flip cases. LG’s mobile division posted the GIF below on Twitter but didn’t say to much. We only know the flagship phone will have a screen that is literally always on. 

lg g5 animated

Huawei Dual-Boot Tablet

Rumor also has it Huawei is planning a Windows/Android dual-boot hybrid tablet. It’s an idea we’ve seen and heard of before, though previous attempts by other companies were gashed by stringent policies from Microsoft and Google. ASUS tried launching a similar tablet and because of the licensing issues it never launched. Let’s see if Huawei somehow found a loophole to make it happen.

huawei-hybrid-laptop-dual-os-raqwe.com-00-640x400

Samsung S7 and S7 Edge

Samsung will launch the next phones in their line. The Galaxy S7 will not sport a different look but it will have a few new tricks. The Galaxy S7 will have a retina scanner and a MicroSD card slot. If the retina scanner actually works and is reliable, maybe passwords will be a bad dream. In true Samsung spirit they will launch some “Apple-like” features: its own version of 3D touch and Live Photos.

You can now pre-order at Best Buy.

samsung_galaxy_s7_edge_evleaks s7 and edge

Videos on the LG G5 and Samsung


Android Wear – The Other Watch.

By Paul B. Kaiser on May 7, 2015

We all know that Apple is making watches now, but Android wear has been in the market for 2 years already. How have they been performing, and what is the Android wear strategy moving forward – AAW (After Apple Watch)?
many watches on wrist

Among the many different Android wear watches available, Samsung, Moto 360, ASUS, and LG, are the most popular. I have only researched them, not worn them,  but looking at them online, in person, and on paper, the LG watches seem to be the ones I would purchase. That is not to say the other ones do not have their positives and do great things. I love competition.
popular android watches 1

 

And look at the bands they have – so many colors and textures.

Android watch bands

 

The new LG Urbane is a pretty cool looking watch. I mean, it looks like a watch, but does so much more.

LG Urbane 2015
LG Urbane 2015

AN UPDATE WILL MAKE FOR BETTER APPS

A few weeks ago, Google announced Android Wear 5.1.1, and while the version number doesn’t suggest major improvements, the update will make third-party apps much more useful.

One notable change extends Android Wear’s always-on display capabilities to third-party apps, so they can leave information on the screen in a low-power, black-and-white mode. Prior to the update, Android Wear would always revert to the clock screen after a few seconds of inactivity, regardless of what you were doing.

“With the new always-on feature, we can bring this hands-free experience to the next level,” says Benedikt Lehnert, chief design officer for the task management app Wunderlist. “Simply select your grocery list and have it visible the entire time you’re shopping. No need to constantly touch the screen or move your wrist, so you can focus on juggling all the goodies you want to buy.”

android_wear_wear_what_you_want_watch_faces-630x315

Google will also make it easier to open smartwatch apps in the first place with a launcher that users can open by tapping on the main screen. When Android Wear first launched, Google seemed to deliberately hide the launcher, preferring that app makers focus on actionable notifications. But developers say Google may have gotten ahead of itself with that plan.

“My guess is they went a bit too fast going notification-only, and they found users are confused by the lack of structure,” says Q42 developer Taco Ekkel, who created an app for controlling Philips Hue lightbulbs. “The notification-instead-of-apps model is the future, but people (both users and many app developers) need time to get there.”

In the meantime, the launcher will give users easier access to functions that might not come up through notifications alone. Aaron Sarazan, who leads Android development for the personal finance app Level Money, says notifications are great for showing a record of recent transactions, but not so much for letting users look up how much they can spend. “Just by virtue of removing the number of taps to get to the app list, that helps a lot,” he says.

Android watch apps

The feature was born out of a company hackathon, and is also included in the Android Handwriting Input app Google introduced last week. The Android Wear team decided to turn the one-off idea into a feature, but needed help in making it work for potentially millions of people. It ended up turning to other Googlers who were used as guinea pigs to figure out a kind of common handwriting language for things like thumbs up signs, hamburgers, and yes — even poop.

Probably the most fun part of the update is the new support for drawing emoji characters. Instead of replying with a canned response or awkwardly speaking into your wrist, you can draw an emoji character and Android Wear will do its best to recognize it and convert it to an actual emoji. In practice, it ends up being entertaining, both when it gets it right, and when it fails horribly.

VOICE COMMANDS ARE ABOUT TO GET SMARTER

Even as Google backtracks on some of its original ideas for Android Wear, it’s also taking a step forward by opening up more voice commands to third-party apps.

Top things you can do with your watch.what can you do android apps

Whats Next?

THE STAGE IS SET FOR IOS SUPPORT

Despite these improvements, Android Wear is still held back by the fact that it only works with Android phones. With the average Android phone costing less than $300, and smartwatch prices starting at $200, chances are that many Android users aren’t going to bother with a smartwatch anytime soon. Meanwhile, studies have shown that iPhone users tend to be younger and more affluent, suggesting that they have more money to spend on smartwatches. Google likely realizes that it can’t ignore this group, which is why we’ve seen so many rumors of Android Wear support coming to iOS.

At the end of the day, you are either an Apple person or you are a Android dude. Both watches have pros and cons, but Android wear has many options among several manufacturers. Im sure this is only the beginning of wearables.

 

Here’s a biased Android Wear vs Apple Watch comparison – Enjoy! 

 

Samsung S6 – Just The Facts

By Paul B. Kaiser on February 25, 2015

 Six Appeal

Labeled “Six Appeal,” the new Samsung S6 is shaping up to be the phone to beat in 2015. There are a lot of rumors and speculation surrounding the Galaxy S6, so we’ve put together a quick list of details on what to expect from Samsung’s next Galaxy.

  • Releasing in March/April 2015
  • Latest update: Expect a full metal uni-body this time around.
  • There will be a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with a curved display.
  • Wireless charging
  • Galaxy S6 will come with a QHD 1440 x 2560 display. Super AMOLED displays.
  • Camera – It’s looking to be a 20MP snapper. Holy crap!
  • Galaxy S6 will feature a 2600mAh pack
  • Lollipop 5.0 Operatings system
  • Exynos 7420 processor
  • MicroSD card up to 128gb
  • Internal memory: 32 GB, 3 GB RAM
  • Expect a lot less bloatware this time around
  • Cost: Samsung Galaxy S6 32 GB: €749 (around £560, $855, AU$1100)

“Six Appeal” which is expected to debut at the Mobile World Congress trade show on Sunday, will excite and delight.

 S6 The Movie

More photos.

S6 corners

s6 curved screen

samsung 6 appeal yellow

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