Category Archives: Android

Alcatel announces the Idol 4 series – Full Details & Hands On

Android, Tech News, ,

alcatel

Alcatel held a pretty cool press conference earlier. It launched 2 smartphones, the Idol 4 and Idol 4S. It is rebranded itself from Alcatel OneTouch to just Alcatel.

Alcatel Idol 4 Key Specs –

– 5.2 inch 1080p IPS screen
– Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 Processor
– Cat 6 4G LTE
– 13mp rear camera – 6P lens with PDAF
– Dual Tone Camera Flash
– 8mp front camera with flash
– HiFi sound dual speakers up to 3.6W
– 16gb rom 2/3gb ram
– 2,610mAh battery
– Quick Charge 2
– Metal Frame, 6.9mm thick

Alcatel Idol 4S Key Specs over and above the standard Idol 4 –

– 5.5 inch QHD Amoled Screen
– Qualcomm Snapdragon 652, GPU Adreno 510
– 2.5D Glass Front and Back
– 16mp f/2.0 rear camera
– 1/2.8 sensor size
– 32 rom 3gb ram
– 3,000mAH battery
– 6.9mm thick

So the above is the key specs of the phone, but Alcatel have really looked closely at the overall experience. For a start, the packaging is a Cardboard VR. That’s brilliant. Next there is dual speakers on the front and back which alternate depending on how you’re holding the phone. And they go very loud. Brilliant again. Both phones come with Android 6.0.1. Both phones have a user programmable physical key, called Boom Key. The Boom key can launch the camera for example. The loudspeaker audio is tuned by Waves. The headphone audio is tuned by JBL. In addition both phones contain extra software to match the enhanced audio and multi media experience.

Pricing 279 to 479 Euros, on sale in April 2016.

Update -Android Authority has done a quick hands on video.

Source – Alcatel, androidcentral.com, android authority

Hold Fire – Some important news on the new flagships – S7, G5, Mi 5 and more

Android, Tech News

Tomorrow is the day Samsung and LG go head to head and announce details of their new flagship phones.

At this stage it seems a lot of information has been leaked about the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge as well as the LG G5. These leaks are more than likely deliberate releases of information by Samsung and LG to garner interest in their new phones.

But whatever you do, hold fire!

Samsung is going to get their flagship phone to market first, along with the ability to pre order the S7 tomorrow with delivery around 11th March. The LG G5 will arrive around early April. Both of these phones will be special but there is a chance there is something else worth waiting for from other Chinese manufacturers.

For example, you may want to see what Xiaomi offers with its Xiaomi Mi 5. ZTE is gearing up to announce a new phone tomorrow as well. And there are other Chinese companies with a few surprises in store. HTC’s One M10 will actually have a rear camera with larger pixels than the Galaxy S7.

So my advice, if your current phone is working just fine, hold fire to see what the full options are and then decide.

I will be obtaining the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5 as a minimum to review and can’t wait to see how the blend of hardware and software combine to create the overall user experience.

If you really must buy something, then head over to Amazon UK, and check out their latest deals – CLICK HERE FOR DEALS

Has Samsung really left out USB-C on its new Galaxy S7 Flagship phone? – Plus more bad news

Android, Tech News,

The internet is awash with news that the new Samsung Galaxy S7 will not have the new USB standard, USB-C. Surely not.

Well it looks like Samsung has decided to stick with micro USB. This is a real shame as USB-C contains so many benefits. As an example, USB-C is reversible, just like the Apple lightning connector. It also has faster data speeds and much much more. This omission will give Samsung’s competitors a chance to score brownie points if their new flagships do include the more advanced technology.

Personally, this is somewhat disappointing.

On top of this disappointment, there is rumour that Samsung will only be selling a 32gb storage model in the USA.

Makes me wonder if Samsung is really trying to cut costs?

Taking Android Photography to the next level – Editorial

Android, Tech News,

Over the last week I have shown examples of 2 camera apps from iOS, ProCamera+ and Nightcap Pro. Both these apps produce excellent results. Nightcap Pro makes light work of long exposures to create silky water, or shoot the stars and much more.

Scenes around Dartmeet, Dartmoor #iphone6splus #LongExposureMode

ProCamera+ is all about multiple exposures to get the perfect shot, from 3 to 64 exposures to create that perfect photo. It works best shooting buildings. Below an example of a black and white HDR shot.

Architectural Porn #TamarSciencePark #iphone6splus #HDRBracketed

So many of you use android and have asked me what are the equivalent apps for this platform. The bad news is that I cannot find any app that is identical to those above. However, I am testing a few that show promise.

A Better Camera – I have a Huawei G8 and with A Better Camera I was able to produce much better quality photos than using the standard camera app. A Better Camera does have a HDR mode along with a host of other options. These include –

* HDR+ photo and video
* Panorama
* Multishot: Group portrait, Sequence shot, unwanted moving objects removal
* Night mode
* Video recording + pause
* Time lapse (video and photo)
* Pre-shot: negative shutter lag
* Burst and Expo-bracketing
* Self timer
* RAW capture (depends on device)
* Timestamps
* Manual controls (focus and shutter speed priority)
* full access to all Camera features

I will be receiving the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 soon so will wait to reveal my results once I can test this app with these new flagships to see what benefit a flagship phone can bring to A Better Camera. Currently it is on sale on the Google Play Store for £1.99 which is 70% off its normal price.

Camera FV-5 is another app I have been testing with some success. The key features of this app include –

* All photographic parameters are adjustable and always at hand: exposure compensation, ISO, light metering mode, focus mode, white balance and program mode.
● DSLR-like viewfinder display: see exposure time, aperture and stops display with EV and bracketing settings, in real-time!
● Full fledged exposure bracketing: from 3 to 7 frames, unlimited stops spacing, plus custom EV shifting.
● Built-in intervalometer: make stunning timelapses (even bracketed/HDR timelapses) and time-controlled picture series.
● Program and Speed-priority modes.
● Long exposure support: take beautiful night photos and light trails with long exposure times up to 30 seconds**.
● JPEG, true 16-bit RAW in DNG format*, and lossless PNG photo capturing formats, perfect for post-processing.
● Manual shutter speed: from 1/80000 to 2″, or the range available on your device*.
● All camera functions assignable to volume keys. You can adjust EV, ISO, color temperature and more using volume keys. Devices with hardware camera shutter key are also supported.
● EXIF and XMP sidecar metadata support.
● Autofocus, macro, touch-to-focus, true manual focus* and infinity focus modes. Autofocus lock feature (AF-L).
● Autoexposure (AE-L) and auto white balance (AWB-L) locks in Android 4.0+.
● In background photo and RAW developing and processing allows a smooth, uninterrupted camera operation.
● Digital zoom using multitouch pinch gesture. Also shows 35mm equivalent focal length!
● The most advanced electronic viewfinder: live RGB histogram, 10 composition grid overlays and 9 crop guides available.

Again, testing Camera FV-5 with the Huawei G8 improved upon the quality from the default camera app, but again I really want to test this app with something better and so will put this through its paces with the new flagship phones.

There is the possibility that these apps will not function with the new flagships due to the manufacturers not providing the proper camera API support. Fingers crossed this is not the case.

So my question to you all, can you name any of android apps that offer the functionality, or part of, to that of Nightcap Pro and ProCamera+ on iOS?

Xiaomi Mi 5 – Full Specifications leaked with some interesting observations – details

Android, Tech News,

mi5

Xiaomi is due to launch the Mi 5 flagship phone at MWC 2016 but GizChina managed to get hold of some of the slides being used for its presentation.

So what have we got with the Mi 5 –

– 5.2-inch Full HD display
– Snapdragon 820 SoC clocked at 2.15 GHz
– 3 GB version with have 32gb storage and a 16MP camera with OIS and laser auto focus
– 4GB ram version will have 64gb storage and a 23 MP camera with Phase-Detection Auto-Focus, super-fast 0.05 focus speed, f/1.6 aperture.
– USB Type-C
– microSD expansion
– Cat. 10 LTE, dual-SIM
– Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
– NFC
– 3,000 mAh battery

What is interesting is the 4Gb ram version with a 23MP camera with a f/1.6. This could be incredible is true. NFC and micro SD support is included along with USB Type C. Samsung is rumoured not to be using USB Type C with its new S7 flagship.

Could the Chinese now produce a flagship that is better than the competition? From my time with a Xiaomi Mi 4i and Mi Note Pro, not only was the hardware top notch but the software and software support was excellent too. I am excited to see this phone in the flesh!

Source – GizChina

Apple takes a stand against the FBI & Your Privacy – My Viewpoint – Updated

Android, Tech News, ,

Apple went on record to publicly inform its customers in writing about its position on your privacy and the request from the FBI to unlock an iPhone. The iPhone the FBI want unlocked belongs to a terrorist who let off a bomb.

Below is an extract from Apple’s letter to its customers –

A Message to Our Customers

The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand. This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake.

The Need for Encryption

Smartphones, led by iPhone, have become an essential part of our lives. People use them to store an incredible amount of personal information, from our private conversations to our photos, our music, our notes, our calendars and contacts, our financial information and health data, even where we have been and where we are going.

All that information needs to be protected from hackers and criminals who want to access it, steal it, and use it without our knowledge or permission. Customers expect Apple and other technology companies to do everything in our power to protect their personal information, and at Apple we are deeply committed to safeguarding their data.

Compromising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at risk. That is why encryption has become so important to all of us.For many years, we have used encryption to protect our customers’ personal data because we believe it’s the only way to keep their information safe. We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.

This case is a case on principle and it has far reaching implications if the FBI win. The FBI are trying a new tactic. Rather than asking for legislative action through Congress, the FBI is proposing an unprecedented use of the All Writs Act of 1789 to justify an expansion of its authority.

It is a difficult situation. Emotional thoughts say this phone belonged to somebody who killed people with a bomb. Maybe in some circumstances there might be a justifiable reason to break and unlock this iPhone?

However, that is not what the FBI want. Specifically, the FBI wants Apple to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.

What if Apple made this an exception for the FBI. Next step would be countries demanding the same. So my view is Apple are correct to stand firm regardless of the emotional angst that might be attacked to this case. Apple aren’t ignoring the FBI either, They have assisted the FBI with information requested by legal means and assigned Apple engineers to help them. But what Apple won’t do is create a special version of iOS for the FBI. I agree with Apple’s stance.

Update – Google has gone on record supporting Apple.