Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Surface Pro 3 vs iPad Air 2 – Which One Do You Prefer ?

4:46 AM anna harris No comments

iPad Air 2 tablet is a great gadget, but is more powerful and more beautiful than the Surface Pro 3? The iPad was one of Apple’s best sold devices in 2014, occupying 29.7% of the market share in Q1 of 2014.

Surface Pro 3

Compared to the previous model is 33 percent thinner, it has a 12inches display with 3:2 aspect ratio, supporting applications that were created for desktops. Internally, the Surface Pro 3 has three variants of configurations, being powered by an Intel processor –i3, i5 or i7, whose prices start from 800 dollars.

The disadvantage of this tablet is its weight: 1.76 pounds, which makes it heavy, like two iPad Air 2 devices together. Although the Surface Pro 3 doesn’t come with built-in 4G connectivity, you are able to add a USB adapter to use this service.

iPad Air 2

Compared to the first iPad Air, this model is 18 percent thinner and it’s an extremely sleek device. Its display measures 9.7inches and supports a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels, a bit lower than Microsoft’s screen resolution – 2160x1440pixels. Under its aluminum hood, the Air 2 has a non-removable Li-Po battery (27.3 Wh) with ten hours of multimedia usage, and under it was placed a 64-bit Apple A8X processor.

The iPad Air 2 has a big disadvantage: it doesn’t support all the Windows desktop applications, like the Surface Pro 3.

Gesture Beta App by Microsoft for Windows Phone Users

4:09 AM anna harris No comments

Microsoft on Monday launched the Gestures Beta app for Windows Phone, showcasing the company's advances in the particular field. The app is available only for Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1.

The app lets users answer calls, put incoming calls on silent and do more tasks via simple gestures. Gesture Beta, which is sized less than 1MB on the Windows Phone Store, will however have limited functionalities on Lumia 630, Lumia 635 and Lumia 530, says the firm.

With the help of Gestures Beta app, Windows Phone users can pick up the handset and place it on their ears to answer the call; mute the mic during a call by placing the handset on a flat surface with display down; put the call on speaker by keeping the smartphone on flat surface placing the display up, and silent the incoming call by flipping the handset on a flat surface with display down.

It was reported that Microsoft's future flagship handset codenamed McLaren will feature gesture support which will let users navigate on the phone without touching the display, and will be released on a range of US carriers later this year.

The sources close to Microsoft plans added that the new gesture support feature is being internally referred to as 3D Touch or Real Motion, and has been developed by Nokia.

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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Google Decides To Cease The Production of Nexus 5

4:13 AM anna harris No comments

Google Nexus 5, which was one of the flagship handsets in 2013, may run out of stock soon. The availability of Nexus 5 by LG has already been disabled on Google Play Store, as the current status mentions ‘out of inventory’.

TechRadar also reported that Google doesn’t plan to manufacture any additional units of Nexus 5 in 2015. The tech giant will focus on increasing the sale of Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 next year.

The 4.95-incher Nexus 5 device by LG, sports a full HD IPS display having a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It is powered by 2.26GHz quad-core processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, runs on Android 4.4 KitKat operating system and comes with 2GB of RAM. The handset also features an 8MP rear snapper/1.3MP front-facing camera and is also fuelled with 2,300mAh battery.

Media reports also state that the 16GB and 32GB Nexus 5 handset will be available on other shopping websites like Flipkart, Amazon and eBay, but only till stock lasts.

Peek-a-boo On The Leaked Specs of Samsung Galaxy A7

4:19 AM anna harris No comments

So far, Samsung has only officially announced two smartphones in its new A series - the Galaxy A3 and the Galaxy A5. But they're going to be joined by the Galaxy A7 at some point, as has been made evident by a myriad of leaks over the past weeks.

This time around we're told that the A7 will sport a 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front snapper, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, and a 2,600 mAh battery.

The interesting bit is that we shall apparently see the Samsung Exynos 5433 chipset at the helm, which will come with an octa-core CPU with four Cortex-A57 cores clocked at up to 1.8 GHz, and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.3 GHz. This is the same SoC used in the Exynos variant of the Galaxy Note 4, so it's quite surprising to see it in the supposedly midrange A7 as well.

Past rumors and leaks had us believing that we'd see a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 in this phablet, which would fit better with its aspirations. But that was either scrapped or we'll see two different variations of the device, one with each chipset. If that's the case, though, then the Exynos iteration should be a lot more powerful than the Snapdragon model.

Because of the SoC used, the Galaxy A7 won't be a bargain. Like the other handsets in the A line, it will have a metal construction. It will run Android 4.4 KitKat when it launches. Its dimensions will be 150 x 75 x 6.3 mm, and it will weigh 150g.

With so many leaks about it arriving week after week, the Galaxy A7 may be made official soon.

Google Unveils VR Reality viewer SDKs & Specs

3:53 AM anna harris No comments

Google released open hardware specs and Android and Unity SDKs for its “Google Cardboard,” which turns smartphones into a low-cost stereoscopic VR viewers.

Now, Google has released Google Cardboard’s first fully formed Android SDK, as well as the first SDK for the Unity gaming engine. The open source kits let you modify applications, videos, and images to appear in 3D on the device, or build new ones.

The Android SDK enables applications with features including lens distortion correction, head tracking, 3D calibration, and side-by-side rendering. Other features include stereo geometry configuration and user input event handling.

Google also released a new set of hardware specs under open source license, with improved design templates and manufacturing guidelines. In addition, the company has launched a collection page on Google Play containing over a dozen Cardboard-ready apps. Most of them, including Jaunt’s Paul McCartney and Jack White immersive music apps, are free. Some these apps are also available on iOS.

Google Cardboard is simpler than Android-based 3D viewing devices such as the Oculus Rift-infused Samsung Gear VR, which went on sale for $200 this week. It’s also somewhat less advanced than Carl Weiss’s $99 VR One, which is due to ship soon.

Specs listed for the UC VR Headset are as follows:

E-Flute corrugated cardboard
2x Asymmetric-BiConvex optical lenses (25mm diameter, 45mm focal length)
Forehead strip
Ceramic disc magnet (3/4 in.)
Neodymium (rare earth) ring magnet (3/4 x 1/8 in.)
2x pairs of velcro strips
#32 rubber band
Programmed NFC tag (NTAG203 sticker)
Optional head strap (add $4.95)

Particularly impressive is the magnet-enabled switch that lets you trigger actions and select menu items, writes Lee. “It truly felt like I was using an old-school View-Master from my childhood, except now I can do things like watch movies and play games,” adds Lee.

How To Fix Some Common iOS 8.1.2 Issues

4:58 AM anna harris No comments

Apple’s new iOS 8.1.2 update is now live for all versions of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch running iOS 8 and while it doesn’t come with new features it does come with some fixes for iOS 8 problems. It’s also causing some problems for select iPhone and iPad users.

Let's take a look at some of the iOS 8.1.2 problems that have popped up and some of the problems that have the potential to pop up for iOS 8.1.2 users in the future.

How to Fix iOS 8.1.2 Installation Problems

One of the initial iOS 8.1.2 problems that we’re seeing relates to the installation process. It’s not server issues troubling iPhone and iPad users, it’s an inability to get the update installed after the download process begins. This is an issue that plagues just about every iOS update and it appears that a few people are running into this issue right off the bat with iOS 8.1.2. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for the issue.

If the iPhone or iPad gets stuck during the iOS 8.1.1 installation, users will want to perform a hard reset by holding down the power button and home button at the same time for a few seconds until the device restarts. This typically gets the update’s juices flowing again. If it doesn’t continue automatically, it may simply start over.

How to Fix iOS 8.1.2 Battery Life Problems

Per usual, we’re seeing complaints about battery life after the iOS 8.1.2 release. This isn’t unusual, we always see complaints about abnormal drain or various other issues after Apple releases a new iOS update.

There are a number of things that iPhone and iPad owners can try should a device start experiencing heavy battery drain after the iOS 8.1.2 installation or in the days and weeks after the installation process completes. Battery life issues won’t necessarily pop up right at the start and will often times emerge in the days, weeks and months after an update’s arrival.

While there are a ton of things that users recommend, we think there are several key fixes that iPhone and iPad owners should try. These fixes range from small settings tweaks to changes in your daily use. All of them have the potential to fix bad iOS 8.1.2 battery life and we highly recommend looking at them before performing a hard reset.

How to Fix iOS 8.1.2 App Issues

As we’ve noted in our reviews, app performance is strong with iOS 8.1.2 on board. That said, there’s always a chance that some users will encounter difficulties with apps after making the move.

iPhone and iPad users can’t rely on iOS updates for app fixes. Instead, users will need to rely on third-party developers (the makers of the app) and some useful changes to bad habits.

First, make sure applications on the iPhone or iPad are updated. Bug fixes and app updates with support for iOS 8 have been trickling out since launch. iPhone and iPad users who are forgetful or lazy will want to turn on automatic App Store updates because it will keep apps automatically behind the scenes. Auto updates will ensure that they are always on the latest version with the latest bug fixes. To do that, head into Settings > iTunes & App Store > Toggle Updates on.

Gear Virtual Reality Innovator Edition Unveiled by Samsung

3:05 AM anna harris No comments

Samsung Telecommunications America has launched the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition powered by Oculus, made to work with the Galaxy Note 4.

At launch, the Gear VR Innovator Edition includes sample gaming and experiential content like HeroBound, Anshar Wars, and theBlu, along with other titles and demos.

There will also be a variety of 3D 360 degree video content available, such as a specially filmed portion of the Cirque du Soleil show Zarkana. These made-for-VR demos, games, and experiences are available for download through the Oculus platform.

The Gear VR Innovator Edition leverages the Galaxy Note 4’s display to provide 360 degree experiences and visuals, creating an immersive experience. The lightweight device is equipped with a touch pad, back button, volume controls and focus adjustment wheel.

Want To Know More? Check-Out This Video

The Best iPhone & iPad Apps of 2014 by Apple

3:43 AM anna harris No comments

Apple's handpicked list of best new apps of the year has arrived just in time for the holidays, but unlike every gift guide you're likely to find, the vast majority of products on this list are free.

Best app of 2014 went to "brain training" app Elevate, which offers mini games designed to improve memory, focus, and other cognitive skills.

"We're so hooked on its fascinating stats, colorful visuals, and personalized workouts, it's become a daily ritual," Apple wrote in Elevate's product description.

Hyperlapse from Instagram claimed the runner-up spot this year. The app creates time-lapse videos and instantly stabilizes footage that previously required tripods and other equipment.

Check out the full list below. (All apps without prices are free.)