All About Smartphones

With the barrage of android smartphone released almost daily in recent times, it has become increasingly difficult for consumers to make choices as to what smartphone to buy. While some consumers can only buy a particular brand of smartphone e.g Samsung, LG, Nexus etc, majority of smartphone shoppers do not have any special preference to maker of smartphone but are more concerned by what the smartphone has to offer with respect to meeting their needs. Thank goodness, Google seek to solve that problem with this new nifty tool found on the www.android.com website.  The Google Android smartphone suggesting website gives a smartphone shopper suggestions of the kind of smartphone the shopper might need based on the tasks and activities the shopper would be performing on his or her smartphone. We've tried this for ourselves and for a highly productive, gaming and email jumbo like me, it was suggested that I get a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, LG G4, or Nexus 6.  What wou...

J for Jelly Bean, K for KitKat, L for Lollipop and now it's M for whatever-it-will-be-officially called. Android has evolved and grown substantially to be one of the most popular mobile operating system in the world today and Google, in the helm of affairs is definitely doing a great job at making sure that it gets better with new releases if the android operating system. Yesterday at the Google I/O 2015 event, Android M, the latest android version was unveiled along with its salient features. Android M as we know it won't be a radically new OS but it's one that's sure to bring a better user experience. This is because Android M is more about stability and enhanced user experience.  David Burke, Vice President of engineering at Google took to the stage to describe the 6 new major features expected from Android M which you will find out after the break.  App Permission One of the most welcomed features that captivated the audience when it was announ...

Google started building virtual reality headset using cardboard papers recently which have caught the attention of many due to the materials being used and the affordability of the built cardboard VR headset when compared to the likes of Oculus Rift and the Sony project Morpheus. The cardboard VR headset is simple to make and for those that will want to just save themselves the stress of making one, you can buy the unit for as low as $10 in various online stores. For builders, you will need the following items: 1. Cardboard Use the corrugated E-flute cardboard sheet for the viewer. Flute thickness should not be less than 0.06” (1.5mm), otherwise the viewer itself will become unstable. This typically manifests in bending when opening/closing the top flap. For Cardboard envelope assembly (best for die cutting), use at least 24” x 30” sheets. 2. Lenses Use the 45mm focal distance lenses. Asymmetric biconvex lenses work best as they prevent distortion around the edge...

Google have released a new Gmail app that look almost like the new Inbox app that was released a while ago for iOS.  The new app has the same look and feel like the new Inbox app that was released for iOS. The new Gmail app is very intuitive and helps in categorizing mails and making it easy to see mails that are important and the ones that qualify as spam. The new mail changes the color from the usual Red to Blue now so everything loos less loud. You can download the new Gmail app from the link below in case you can't find it from your Play Store. Download new Gmail apk here Like or Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for more news.

Finally, Google have deemed it fit to change the UI of the Google Maps application for iOS.  Not only is the UI changed, the app icon now also have a new flatter look.  One of the new features for the Google maps is that there is now a support for Uber pickup times and fares for those that use that are Uber costumers.  Finally, there is a Google's Explore option at the bottom of your map for fast and easy access to nearby local hot spots or Nearby Places which you can access by tapping on the search box and swiping up to reveal Nearby Places .  The new Google Map can be downloaded now from the Apple App Store.  Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for more smartphone news.  

With every release of a new Android Operating system comes a new Nexus smartphone and tablet and this year is no different.  Google earlier yesterday released the new Android 5.0 Lollipop to the world and the first set of the devices to come with the newly released Android OS is the new set of Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 tablet owned by Google and designed by Motorola. The Nexus 6 is a beautifully well crafted and designed smartphone which resembles to an extent the Moto X smartphone. Design The shape, feel and look is not so far from the same design we saw with the new 2nd generation Moto X smartphone. The only difference here is that it is bigger in terms of screen size. Hence, the Nexus 6 is a bigger but similar version of the Moto X in terms of physical design. Screen Displays can't not be overlooked when it comes to smartphones especially with the high resolution displays that Samsung and LG are packing in their smartphones these days. The Nexus 6 didn't...

When it comes to the choice of using maps navigation, Google Maps is still the number one followed perhaps by Nokia Here. However, with the latest update to Google Maps few days ago, Google added a very vital and important information to navigation that you won't find on any other competing navigation system.  The latest Google Maps update which is version 3.00 now gives you Turn by Turn navigation with lane guidance and quick access to route overview.  Sometimes one passes and exit because of staying on the wrong lane and have to proceed to the next exit which is quite unpleasant, having to spend more on gas and time consuming too. However, with lane guidance, you will be well prepared in advance an move to the proper lane before entering and exit. This way, navigation would be more efficient and precise.  Among other updates included in the new Google Map update is the ability to save offline maps to a custom list in case you are trave...

The rumour of Lenovo wanting to buy Motorola was confirmed few hours ago and the deal finally went through.  Lenovo which is a strongly emerging Chinese computer company was making a bid to buy Motorola from Google few days back when the rumoured leaked. However, at the end of close of business yesterday, the company was able to successfully buy the handset unit of Motorola which also comes with portfolio of patents.  Lenovo paid Google $2.91 billion to acquire Motorola according to the info on Google's website which is really far away from what Google herself paid to acquire Motorola few years back ($12 billion).  Lenovo will pay cold cash to Google up front, which equates to $660 million, along with $750 million in stock, while the rest of the $1.5 billion will be paid out in the coming three years.   This may suggest a kind of loss by Google in this regard, however, Google doesn't see that way. Google had been experiencing difficulties...

We are now in the age of wearable computers, we knew we were coming there since the development of Google Glass and smart watches but now wearable gadgets is going gaga. Just recently, Google unveiled her plan to design a smart contact lens as if the project hasn't began already. The smart contact lens according to the diagram from Recode shows the actual lens with the very tiny chips inside it to allow for sensing of glucose and communication. This smart contact looks of course like your regular contact lens but with a really tiny chip inside it. According to sources, the chip can apparently measure glucose levels in the tear, giving diabetics a better way to measure their blood glucose levels and Google also says that its working hard to embed a LED notification signal on it. Perhaps, connection to Google+ and easy hooking to Android OS will make it a more versatile device.   According to sources, Google is looking for partners in the medical line who are e...

Finally, the old year 2013 is gone, it has become history, one we have to refer to in the past tense.  It didn't go without a lot of notable events either good or bad.  In 2013, there was rise and fall of individuals, products and companies. Some products stood out and some that didn't really raise eyebrows.  In January 2013, BlackBerry unveiled its BlackBerry 10 range of devices, the Z10 and Q10 which at first seemed like a flop but quickly gathered momentum and steadily rising to its success stage, Nokia also started with the Lumia series with Lumia 520 releasing in February. Samsung didn't waste time in announcing their Samsung Galaxy S4 in March while Google announced their Moto X for August and one of the most anticipated release of 2013 was the iPhone 5S which was announced in September.  Also in September, October and November, Infinix Mobility, the French company released the Infinix X570 and Infinix X520 smartphones respectively ...

Internet is here to stay in Nigeria and more people are joining the internet world daily in this precious country Nigeria. One problem though is that, the cost of accessing the Internet is high and not too fast in this part of the world. Consequently, some people are reluctant to stay on the internet or use it to increase business reach. Well, Airtel Nigeria and Google have teamed up to offer a small simple solution to at least try to cushion the effect of high internet cost. This they have done by jointly initiating a cost free access to the internet. This was tagged as the 'Free Zone' Program. Free Zone aim is to empower more people to have access to the internet and also encourage new folks to join the internet world for no cost. To gain access to this free zone, one is expected to text 'Free Zone' to 881 or navigate to this URL http://g.co/freezone or www.freezone.google.com on a mobile phone browser. Have tried it on two smartphones an...

Surveillance is a big issue that has been making headlines in recent times. There had been reports that the US government, specifically the NSA constantly gaining access or forcing its way into servers to gain access to people's data stored on Tech giant servers. In other to address this issue of surveillance, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook along with seven other tech companies  wrote a open letter to the US president Barrack Obama and members of Congress urging them to look into reforming the government surveillance tactics being used according to the Wall Street Journal. The letter, which was endorsed by the tech companies can be found in this website . It is expected to appear today in full-page on different  publications such as the New York Times and Washington Post. However, an excerpt of the letter is shown below. "Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress, We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer’s...

Google Voice Search app have been limited to English language for a long time. However, more languages have been added. Google have added German, French and Japanese to the languages that Google Search app can understand  and display results based on the spoken languages.  This is a good thing as this would boost the numbers of those using the app especially in these countries. Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for more smartphone news.

These days, information is rapidly being delivered electronically compared to how it was formerly delivered; Thanks to social media and smartphones. Possibly, this was what made Apple Newsstand app to flourish and gain popularity as more people read their news and magazines on the iPad, iPod and iPhone. Well, guys over at Google have released their own Newsstand app which will give Android device owners opportunity to read their magazines, news and favourite articles. Google's Newsstand app is a 6.6MB file which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store on your device. The interface is simple and clean so it would be simple to grasp how to use it. Categories like Arts & Photography, Technology, Politics etc are there for you to explore and read all your articles. To download Newsstand for Android, click on the link   Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for more great stuffs like this

There had been rumors of Google and BlackBerry having talks on how to allow the execution of Android apps on BlackBerry devices officially.  It is "officially" in the sense that normally, one could easily side-load, that is, install android apps into BlackBerry phones unofficially. For example you could convert some apk files into bar files and then install them on BlackBerry PlayBook. However, with the emergence of BlackBerry 10 OS, it became even easier to side-load these Android apps on BlackBerry 10 devices due to the Android runtime environment baked into them with substantial restrictions; Most of these side-loading of android apps are done non-officially. Now, with the emergence of BlackBerry 10.2.1 update, it seems that BlackBerry is taking these limitations off the Android runtime baked into BB10 OS. Thus its easier to run android apps. Perhaps, one of the reasons for this is because there is talks between Google and BlackBerry to officially allow ...