Apple did major design changes in iPhone 5 such as fully aluminum construction and larger high resolution display. In parallel to that iOS is also getting improved with several features. It’s been almost 6 months after iPhone 5 launch and we are hearing rumors about iPhone 5s. Here I’m going to round up all those for you.
Shape of iPhone 5
When it comes to design, many of the sources are saying that there going to be a wide choice of colors. Yes, that’s highly probable and Apple gave us a hint about it with latest iPod touch. And some say that Apple is going to release cheaper plastic built iPhone which is very unlikely. Apple was always been a name for super-priced gadgets, they won’t like to change it.
The size of display will continue the same, but there is a chance for them to increase resolution. Its the era of 1080p mobile displays. Although it’s too late Apple might join the party. Rumors say that Apple will drop IPS technology and adopt latest, less power hungry IGZO display from Sharp.
The major difference between iPhone 4 and 4s was chipset and camera. So there is a high probability to expect an update in chipset. How about a quad core CPU?
iPhone 5 already has a great camera, but a long shout, we can expect 13 MP camera in iPhone 5s. RAM and storage options will continue the same as previous version.
iPhone 5 came with all the possible combinations of connectivity technology. What we can expect from iPhone 5s is Wi-Fi ac and NFC.
Wireless charging is already here and there are several handsets utilizing it. There is a high chance for iPhone 5s to come with that, maybe with preparatory charger.
The device is expected to launch in 2013 2Q, we are just few months away. I hope Apple will surprise us with some innovative tech, rather than just join the party.
Google released their reference model devices for Android 4.2 back in October 27th. This time it’s not only a device but a family of Nexus devices. Previously I was talking about Nexus 7 and super revolutionary Nexus 10. Unlike before they attracted lots of customers and all units sold out within a matter of minutes putting Google in huge trouble.
Before the product launch of LG manufactured Nexus 4, I rounded up all the rumors about it around the WWW. Now the device is out there and thousands of people are using it. If you are also looking forward to buy one, here I go with detailed insight for Nexus 4, it’s features, specification and drawbacks.
Insight for Nexus 4
Design
Dimensions: 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm
Weight: 139 g
Making a major design change for Nexus branded phones, this time it comes with front and rear gorilla glass finish. Only the surrounding band is made with rubberized plastic to give you a better grip. It’s not the lightest or thinnest, yet has a good feeling in your hand.
In the first look you won’t see much difference between Galaxy Nexus and this device. They follow the same design concepts. In the back panel you will find nice glittery texture. All the hardware buttons are properly placed and all the other operations are handled by on screen buttons.
Display
Size: 4.7 Inches
Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Technology: IPS Plus
Resolution: 768 x 1280 px
Sharpness: 318 ppi
The display is not showing much improvement compared to previous Nexus. The size, resolution and sharpness are almost same, but display technology is different. In the first look you will notice super bright display with slightly washed off colors. It’s well expected for any IPS display.
So the display in Nexus 4 is actually a step back compared to Galaxy Nexus. If you already have a Galaxy Nexus and planning to go for a latest Nexus 4 consider this fact. You will definitely miss high contrast colorful display that perfectly blends with surrounding bezel.
Processor and Storage
Platform: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064)
CPU: 1.5 GHz Quad Core Krait
GPU: Adreno 320
RAM: 2 GB
Internal Storage: 8/16 GB
Expandable Storage: No
The hardware platform makes this device a monster. Snapdragon S4 Pro, the most powerful chipset available configured with best CPU and GPU is definitely unbeatable. 2 GB RAM completes this setup. If you are looking for Smartphone with stronger hardware muscle to handle multimedia and 3D games, here is your device.
Internal storage options are not so impressive. I’m not sure anyone would like to go for 8 GB model. It could have been cooler if they offered 16/32 GB options. This is a major concern since you have no way to expand the storage.
Software
OS: Android Jelly Bean 4.2
UI: Original
Nexus devices always give you pure android greatness. This device comes out with Android 4.2 Jelly bean with lots of brand new features. The best part is, if you have a Nexus 4 you will be the first to receive next iteration of Android.
Camera
Primary: 8 MP // LED Flash // 1080p@30fps
Front Facing: 1.3 MP
The camera is another major improvement compared to previous version. The definition level has been raised to 8 MP and sitting side by side with all the other latest Smartphone. All the other features are not the best, but good enough.
Connectivity
Mobile Network: GSM // HSDPA
Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n, Dual Band
GPS: A-GPS
NFC: Yes
Bluetooth: 4.0
USB: microUSB 2.0
The major disappointment is Nexus 4 is not coming with LTE connectivity. There is a valid reason for that however. LTE technology is highly fragmented and they can’t design a universal device for all carriers. Due to this reason some of Galaxy Nexus users had to wait for months to get Android updates. So I think this is a wise move and after all HSDPA connectivity works up to 42 Mbps which is good enough.
The other connectivity features are pretty much standard and complete. Dual band Wi-fi is a great addition of value.
Battery Life
Type: Li-Po
Capacity: 2100 mAh
Battery Life: 15 h talk time
The battery is non-removable so they have to include long lasting high capacity battery. The spec is good, capacity is high and Li-Po batteries have more charging cycles. The talk time in official spec could be deceiving. Nexus 4 will survive a whole day for most people with 3-4 h screen on time. You may already know that there is a major battery life issue in Android JB 4.2. Once Google fix that, Nexus 4 could live for much longer.
Wireless charging is one of the most attractive features here. It uses the same Qi wireless charger as many of the other phones.
Wrapping Up
If you ask me the question what is the best android phone in the market, my direct answer would be Nexus 4. It has all the latest and greatest features, great built quality as well as unbelievable price tag. The 8 GB model comes for $299 and 16 GB model comes for $349. There is no way for you to find this awesome phone in that price range, not even in $600-700 price range.
The only disturbing things here are display, non-expandable storage and non-removable battery. This could have been the best Smartphone ever if built with a high contrast Super AMOLED display, microSD card slot and removable back.
Some people might classify glass back as a drawback. It’s a fingerprint magnet and if you drop the phone, it will easily crack. But at the same time it adds a nice finish to the device. I like to enjoy the great finish and take the responsibility of not dropping it.
This is available in US and few other countries via Google play, but there is a serious shortage of supply. I hope Google will fix it soon and take steps to spread this around the world.
Tell me how you feel about this great device as a comment below. Subscribe to our email list and stay connected.
Samsung Galaxy Note gained an unbelievable popularity in Smartphone market. It was a new experience to users. It’s bigger than a phone and smaller than a tablet. This hybrid approach opened a still unnamed new category in mobile devices. You may call it a “Phablet”.
The huge display and smart-pen that still fit in to your pocket made Galaxy Note very popular among multimedia professionals. Lots of Galaxy Note lovers expected Samsung to release next version this year. And they did it. Few weeks ago in IFA, they introduced new Galaxy Note 2 to the world.
I was talking about Samsung Galaxy Note 2, before the release. There I tried to filter out rumors and express what I expect for next Galaxy Note.
Last time I checked it was under FCC approval. Soon you will be able to buy your own Galaxy Note 2 with all major mobile carriers. Before you go for it, let’s find out what are the attractions and disappointments in Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
Attractions
Design is sleek and much better than previous Galaxy Note. If you have used a Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note is following the same design concept. Still it’s using physical capacitive button and having improved smart-pen.
Hardware muscle is essential to this kind of device. Understanding that Samsung packed, 1.6 GHz Quad Core Cortex A9 processor on Exynos 4412 chipset. Surprisingly they added another GB to RAM and made it 2GB. Storage options are 16/32/64 GB and expandable via microSD as usual.
This amazing hardware are powered with the latest and most advanced mobile operating system, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. This combination made Galaxy Note 2, the most powerful android device ever released.
Battery life, one of the critical success factors for any phone. I expect them to pack Galaxy Note 2 with 2750 mAh battery. But Samsung took it further by packing 3100 mAh battery which is amazing.
Connectivity and multimedia features are almost same as previous Galaxy Note. No much surprises there and nothing to be disappointed as well.
Disappointments
The major disappointment in Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is it’s display. True, its 5.5 inches and SuperAMOLED. But resolution is same as previous Galaxy Note. No point of having bigger screen unless it’s having bigger resolution. All you are going to get is less pixel density which leads to less sharper images.
Previous Galaxy Note was having 800 x 1280 px resolution in 5.3 inches screen which gave you 285 ppi of pixel density. In Galaxy Note 2, there is a bigger screen, but same resolution dilute down pixel density to 267 ppi.
Wrapping Up
Samsung Galaxy Note 2, a great Smartphone/Tablet hybrid device. Hardware muscle is amazing and it’s combined with latest Android. This would deliver a great Android experience like never before. This combination will take its multimedia application possibilities to next level.
Camera is same as previous version, display is only bigger not having higher resolution might disappoint users. But still Galaxy Note 2 will be a good upgrade to its previous users as well as new adopters.
If you are using Gmail you must have come across with the feature tasks. There you can enter your task list and mark once they are done. In addition you can set due date and notes. In the case you have complex classification for tasks you can maintain several task lists.
When you are reading an email, under more button in tool bar you can find the option Add to tasks. Using that you can add a task with email subject. All the tasks with due date will display in Google calendar as well.
This is a very important tool for many people to manage their tasks and this will be more useful in your Smartphone. Google have come up with seamless integration for most of their service with Android mobile OS. But unfortunately it’s not for Google Tasks. So you can use tasks only with the web interface and using web interface in Smartphone is not that good option.
Good news is there are several applications you can use for sync Google tasks to your Android Smartphone. Best one I have seen so far is GTasks developed by Dato.
How to Use GTasks?
Go to Google Play GTasks page.
Install the application on your Android Smartphone.
In the first run it will ask you to grant permission to access Google Tasks.
Once you open the application you will be able to see the already added task in the interface.
At the top, you have sync button and Add new task button.
By visiting Options -> Edit Task Lists you can include Google Calendar to same application as well.
You can swipe left and write to switch between all tasks, task lists and calendar.
When you are adding a new task you can enter your note in the text box.
By clicking on due date and priority you can access those options.
If it’s a repeating task you can set the frequency there.
When you are in a task list, long press an item to go to quick edit mode. There you can make it’s a sub task, move to another list, set due date or delete.
Here you can do multiple selections as well.
When you are edit more you can drag and drop to organize tasks in the list.
By visiting settings you can add many list and many accounts to work with. In addition you can alter the application behavior the way you want such as reminder ring tone and snooze time.
There is a search facility for you to access tasks easily and it’s giving you suggestions based on task you already have.
Wrapping Up
Though the application is not coming from the original Google development team it’s very careful designed to deliver a great user experience like any other Google product. Interfaces are clean, all the relevant data in proper place and performance level is optimum. User-friendliness is awesome and easy access to all the functions with minimum effort.
There is a widget comes with the application you can include it in your home screen. There you can have once click access to your tasks. In setting you can buy the premiumlicense of the application and then you can change the application theme, enable background auto sync and application lock.
This is an application which should be developed by Google developers but Dato has done a even better job seamlessly integrating Google Task and calendar in to one palace. Try this application, give your valuable feedback to developer and share your experience with us.
If you are using Android Smartphone you must have already experience the value of data synchronization. The entire Google product including Gmail, Google Reader and Google Calendar, Not only Google products you can user many other services such as Twitter, Facebook and DropBox in Sync.
After setting up proper syncing once you edit content in Mobile it will be reflect in all the other places including web interface and desktop client if present. This will of course save lots of trouble and time for you.
Recently I talked about a way to set up sync for Google tasks with 3rd party application, GTask.
Chrome Sync
I am a big fan of Google Chrome browser and I believe I’m with the majority. Recent stats saying that Google Chrome has been surpassed the popularity of previous market leader Microsoft Internet Explorer and just a thin line behind the Mozilla Firefox.
There is a cool feature in Google Chrome that you can sync all your browser data with Google account including open tabs, settings, themes, password and even bookmarks. Once you log in to another chrome browser it will simply become your browser with synced data.
You can sync the same data with your Android Smartphone. No surprise it’s always synced with your Google account. So you should be able to access all your browser data in your Android Smartphone browser as well. But for most of the people that’s not the case.
Problem with Android Browser Sync
When you go to Android browser it only shows your local bookmarks. Whenever you try to go to settings -> accounts and sync it says that there is a problem in Sync Browser, yet it doesn’t say what exactly the problem is. If you have faced this problem here is the solution you were continuously looking for.
How to Fix Sync Browser Problem in Android?
I identify this problem as a bug when interfacing different Google products. The root cause of problem is Google desktop browser supports encryption for all data types while Android browser supports only for passwords. If you have already encrypted entire data only thing you can do is clear all the data and start it again with only password encryption. Here is how to do it and sync Chrome bookmarks with Android browser.
Go to Google Dashboard confirming your password.
Scroll down to section chrome sync and click on Stop sync and delete data from Google.
This will delete entire synced browser data in Google account and it might take few minutes.
Now open Google chrome, go to Settings.
There you can find sign in section. Click sign in to chrome. Here you will have to generate Application specific password if you have enabled Two Step verification.
Then it will take you to Confirm sync settings window.
Click advance and make sure you have selected encrypt passwords only. If you encrypt all synced data android browser won’t be able to work with them.
Click OK to proceed with syncing.
In your android Smartphone go to Settings -> Apps -> All -> browser and Clear data.
Now go to Settings -> Accounts & sync. You will be able to see Sync browser is working fine now.
Open the browser and go to Bookmarks. Now you can see all the Bookmarks that you have in desktop browser in your Android Smartphone browser as well.
Hope this solved one of a major problem you had with your Android Smartphone web browsing. Try this out and share your experience here with NOG community.
When you are designing a website how many times have you attempted to design the menu navigation on your own? Most of the time you will either use the same menu design that came with the template you downloaded or simply copy + paste a code found through the internet.
But today I’m going to show you how to create a 3D drop down menu using ONLY CSS! Yes, you will not need any Javascript or jQuery libraries for this.
Getting started
As the first step of the design, we have to create our menu structure in HTML. Here I will be using the
tag.
Menu 01
Sub Menu 1/1
Sub Menu 1/2
Menu 02
Sub Menu 2/1
Sub Menu 2/2
Sub Menu 2/3
Menu 03
Sub Menu 3/1
Sub Menu 3/2
Sub Menu 3/3
Sub Menu 3/4
And the outcome will be as follows:
Applying Styles
Now let’s add some styling to the design.
Open a tag within your section.
First of all I will add a background color, remove the underline of the links and do some formatting.
These two lines make our unordered lists appear horizontal.
Then I am going to specify a different color for the menu items when the mouse it pointed. This is called the ‘Hover Effect’.
#menu-bar li:hover{
background-color: #cc33cc;
}
Finally I am going to hide the sub menus and make them visible only when the mouse is pointed.
#menu-bar ul ul{
top:0;
visibility:hidden;
}
#menu-bar ul li:hover ul{
visibility:visible;
}
And voila! We have created a simple drop down menu.
Adding the 3D Effect
You can always use the simple menu as it is. But wouldn’t it be so much better if we can add some 3D effect to the menu? It would provide a much better user experience.
The best part is, you can get an amazing 3D effect by changing just 01 line of the stylesheet!
First create an image of size 150px X 50px (the size of a list item) with an image editor. Add some embossed effect or a glow.
Save the image in Portable Network Graphics (png) format. (In my example I have saved the image as ‘menu-bg.png’ in the ‘images’ directory)
Then comment out the code in ‘#menu-bar li:hover’ and add the following:
There are various To Do list apps in Google play. Out of all those I was looking for the most easy to use, simple and fast one. I tried many apps and figured out that their strength is diluted by lots of unnecessary features.
What I’m expecting from a To Do list app is, I should be able to enter a task and access it in a matter of seconds. Most importantly the app should remind me about the tasks without troubling me too much.
Finally I found exactly what I was looking for. Let’s go and get hands on.
Getting Started with Notable
Go to Google Play and install Notable
Tap on the icon and launch the app.
In the first look you will notice the difference. App doesn’t have a full screen view. It’s only a popup.
Type the task or note, set the propriety and hit arrow. That’s it! You just made a task.
Now the next big question. Where is the task list?
App doesn’t have a window to show you task. But they are in the notification tray. It’s the best way to remind you, without troubling you too much.
There you can edit tasks or mark them as done. If you are on Android ICS or later you can use swipe gesture to make as done.
This is the most simple, fast and functional To Do list app I found on Google play. It doesn’t have too many complicated features. Only you can do is, add a note and mark it as done.
You might find various different creative usage of Notable. Never forget to share those with us in the comment section below.
Google Chrome lets you to sign in to the browser with your Google account. This is very useful to personalize your browser and sync all your data including bookmarks, sessions, passwords and even extensions to Google account. This comes in handy when you are using Chrome in different devices.
The problem begins if you are sharing your browser with many people. You have two options. Either let them use browser with your account or sign out. In both cases you have to face different problems. Your bookmarks, sessions and setting may get messed up. If you have switched on two step verification, frequent log in and out is also not a good solution.
What you really need is a session management system in Chrome for different user accounts. It was there in Opera and now you can do the same and more in Chrome. Let’s go and gets hands on.
Configure Multiple User Accounts
Make sure you have the latest version of Chrome. Go to Settings -> Help and verify it.
Go back to settings -> Users and click add new user.
Select a picture and choose a name. Adding a desktop shortcut for the user would be a great idea. Finally click Create.
It will open new browser windows. There you can have a separate Google login, bookmarks, sessions etc.
In top left corner of the browser window you can find above selected picture of the user.
By clicking on the picture you can change the user. For every user it will create a new instance of browser.
You can go back to settings anytime and add/edit or remove users.
Yeah! The problem solves. Now you can create separate sessions for different users in Google Chrome. Each user will be able to enjoy a personalized browsing experience with his sessions, bookmarks, passwords etc.
When you are sharing your browser with someone else, always remember anyone can switch in to your user account anytime. There is no any sort of access controlling for user accounts.
Google’s Android has become the market leader in Smartphone operating systems and there is no argument any more. Even if you take a look at the latest iOS 6 almost all the new features introduced was there in android for years. Android gives its amazing user experience from average users to expert geeky users.
But one of the major problems in Android work is hardware. There is no minimum specification, hence most of the manufactures came up with budget android devices and they rune the reputation of Android. In order to solve this problem, when releasing new major version of Android, Google release reference model handset as well. The hardware configuration is having the ultimate optimization for android and of course delivered amazing user experience. Previously they release Nexus one and it happened again when releasing Android 4.0 ice cream sandwich. The device is Galaxy Nexus and it’s under Notes Of Genius spot light today.
This was introduced to the market in 2011 November and attracted lots of Smartphone users. Handset manufacturer was the best, Samsung under given specification of Google. This was the very first handset which came with ICS.
Device Configuration
Processor and Storage
When you take a look at the Chipset and GPU, you will figure out that they are not so common among other Smartphone. Processor here is 1.2 GHz Dual Core Cortex A9 running on TI OMAP 4460 chipset. Graphics are powered with PowerVR SGX540 GPU. Google must have a very good reason to select them over popular Nvidia Tegra series and GeForce.
When it comes to storage Galaxy Nexus is having 1 GB RAM as usual and 16/32 GB internal storage. Surprisingly there is no microSD card slot for you to expand storage, but for a good reason. This device is a reference model and user experience need to be carefully maintained at a optimum level. Most of the microSD card make your whole handset slower, due to very low data transfer rates. That’s the whole reason even iPhone and iPad never allow you to plug microSD cards.
Operating System
This is the very first device came with Android 4.0, ice cream sandwich. The best part is this device is going you pure android experience without customized themes. You will never be able to experience this with any Samsung device due to TouchWiz UI and not with HTC due to their HTC Sense UI.
Display
Galaxy nexus is having large bright display which gives an awesome first impression. Size of display is 4.65 inch with 1280 x 720 resolution make the pixel density 316 ppi. Display technology used here is AMOLED, hence it can display true black with infinite contrast ratio. Samsung have proven again that they are the best display manufactures. This is one of the greatest display I have ever seen on Smartphone and even better than retina display in iPhone.
Due to the higher resolution and pixel density Galaxy Nexus gives a great platform for gaming, web browsing and eBook reading. If you are using Kindle App you will figure out how important to have AMOLED display on your Smartphone.
Connectivity
Galaxy Nexus comes with all the standard connectivity technologies such as 2G, 3G, HSDPA, HSUPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB. One of the most interesting connectivity features here is NFC stand for near field communication. Using that you can transfer files between compatible devices by just placing them back to back.
GPS connectivity is there for positioning and navigation purposes and A-GPS is also there to give your approximate location by cross referencing cell towers when you don’t have good GPS signals.
Camera
Device comes with rear and front facing camera both. Rear camera is 5 MP one with autofocus and LEDflash. Font facing camera is 1.3 MP one specially designed for video calling. If you take a look at video, its 1080p Full HD with frame rate 30FPS. This is having well functional Panorama mode as well.
When I was taking still with Galaxy nexus, image quality was just awesome, yet sometimes it gave me motion blur compared to other Smartphone. Video quality is great and you can even use that for any semi-professional work.
Battery Life
Galaxy Nexus comes with 1750 mAh standard Li-Ion battery which is giving it 290 hours of standby time. Practically I could use the device for whole day which is average compared to many other Smartphone.
If you need extended battery life there is a 2000 mAh battery and in order to install it you have to change the back cover. Most of the case back cover is also coming with Battery it self.
Wrapping Up
Google Galaxy Nexus is great android handset and one of the best I have ever tried. It’s giving you most of the feature which is there is Latest Samsung Galaxy S III.
Quick Catch-up
Built quality could have been better and it’s feeling sort of plasticky on hand. Back cover is little slippery and not giving enough grip. However the slim design and contour display is delivering great user experience like never before.
When you take a look at hardware and operating system, this will definitely deliver smoothest Android experience you ever had. It’s ideal platform for Business usage as well as Gaming and web browsing. This is the best android handset which is giving you the best value for the price you are paying.
Couple of days ago the latest member of Android family came to stage with lots of interesting features. This is not a major update for the previous version, still a significant milestone in android road map. Android Jelly Bean introduced with Google Nexus 7 tablet as a tablet optimized version of Android. Still it’s ready to run on any latest Android Smartphone.
The one last limiting factor in Android to compete with iOS is its less responsive touch and choppy UI transitions. With Android 4.1 Jelly bean, engineers have found a way to solve that issue as well. Now Android is fit to compete with all the other Mobile OS in the market in every way.
Quick Catch-up
Story of Project Butter in Android Jelly Bean
Other than this major performance improvement there is few other cool features improvement as well. Let’s take a closer look in to them.
Features Spotlight in Android Jelly Bean
Automatic Widget Resizing and Icon Rearrangement
When you were using android ICS, you know how difficult to place a big widget on your home screen. Before you do that you must clear up adequate area for the widget. In jelly bean you will never have to go through that hard time. Whenever you are placing a widget it will get auto resized and surrounding icons will auto arrange and give it space.
Improved Voice recognition and Typing
Google voice recognition is a voice identification tool that actually works even in previous visions. However it requires stable internet connection to work well. Now in Android jelly bean, there is no such a limitation, everything works super fine even without active internet connection. And It has become even smarter, better and faster than Siri in iOS.
It’s not only about voice recognition. Predictive text for android keyboard is also improved. Now it will give you more accurate and relevant suggestions when you are typing.
Improved Camera
Camera functionality has been optimized and once you take a picture you can see a swipe to right effect. By swiping the camera screen you can get the image back to screen. Image editing tools also optimized and made easier like never before.
Detailed Notification Area
Notification area is one of the key features in Android and now with Jelly bean it’s further improved. Now you don’t have to visit the application to see details of the notification. Using two finger gestures you can expand the notification and see more details without visiting app. Further you will be able to perform different actions related to notification right there in notification area very efficiently.
Default Apps
There are various new default applications coming with jelly beans which add extra color to it. In people app images are now in high resolution. If you take a look in to lock screen now there is third icon which is Google now. It can give you more personalized search result based on your location and other data you have entered to Google applications.
Now Google chrome also comes with jelly bean as a default applications and it’s not a beta version anymore. There is no Flash support any more and you have to work with HTML 5 when you are browsing.
Update Your Handset
If you are using Galaxy Nexus Verizon LTE version, the update is already out there. People who are using i9250 international version, you will have to wait for like two more weeks to get the official update.
Get the update in the earliest possible time and people, now Android is fully fit in every way to compete with all the other mobile operating systems. I have a strong feeling that this update will put an end to Smartphone OS war for some time.
