Wishlist for tech-2014!

(-Sahil Satishkumar, @SahRckr)

There are many wishlist option available in the accounts section for all the online electronics store. But then there is a wishlist of my own in my head about the current technology that rings everyday in my head, so here they are listed. (They're not in any order!)

1. Invisible Earphones:      

     

     There cannot be any demonstration for this variant but the name has all the specifications. And you read it right "Invisible" earphones. But this doesn't involve any surgery. Current generation PMP, Smartphones, gives us the freedom to keep them somewhere not visible to others, and again, we never have to reveal which song is on at the moment.  But the earphones always gives out a hint that we are listening to something. Which maybe irritating at some social gatherings that you have to attend (forcefully?).

2. Lower end smartphones: 

     

     This is not something I came up with. I've heard this from one of the Pocketnow Daily, videos by Jaime Rivera (Follow them. They're awesome). Where he suggests, Instead of selling us cheap and stupid smartphones, Why not sell us the previous generation smartphones at a lot cheaper rates!?

My opinion, Sounds illogical? Well it is not! Its lot cheaper for the OEMs to manufacture previous generation phones, with older components, than the newer one's with newer components.

3. iPhones: 

     Okay! Apple fanboys. I agree Apple has one of the best designed phones in the market. Also the camera optics are simply fantastic, And i personally like the stock keyboard on those tiny device. But they don't come cheap, and they don't come flavoured with Android.

Taking all the possible combinations with Apple phones my bag of wishlist has:

•     high resolution 1080p 5 inch Apple iPhone, 
•     4.3 inch 720p Apple iPhone running on Android 4.4, And 
•      4 inch 32GB Apple iPhone 4/4S sold for 100-200 USD (in India).

4. More Qwerty phones: 

     If you've read my article Eclipse of Qwerty, you'll probably know how obsessed I'm with the qwerty form factor. Many of us are. But then the touchscreen smartphones have made a big dent on the Qwerty marketshare. The only cuurent generation Qwerty smartphones which are available(in India) are from the BlackBerry. And not everyone likes BB OS. So in my wishlist bag there are Qwerty phones, Android Qwerty phones, Apple Qwerty phones, Windows Qwerty phones, Qwerty Tablets, bluetooth Qwerty keyboard, and then the bag bursts.

5. Unbreakable displays: 

          

     Your 700-800 USD Smartphone/Tab says "Corning Gorilla Glass 3", it doesn't mean that your device will survive through anything challenged to it. Gorilla Glass does a decent job of protecting your device from scratches and some level of shock resistance, But OnePlus One says "NEVER SETTLE". Wish displays on our handheld devices were actually shatter resistant, After all they are the second most expensive components if you were to sort them in cost/density. 

P.S.:I don't intend to evolve the current generation phones to weapons.

6. The need of a new universal port for the handheld devices: 

     Assuming that the 3.5 mm jack is reserved for audio output, the micro usb port reserved for charging and data sync. Where do I connect my other peripherals? Probably the one's that do not eat up the battery. Let that port interact with external keyboards, card readers, extra charging port, other phones running on same OS?

Well this idea is more of an experimental than it being practical. But then it's compelling factor.

7. Let android devices talk to each other: 

     Everything mentioned above was more of the hardware side, this one tends more on the software side. To those of you who don't know. I've a Nexus 7, 2012 tab and a Lenovo A516 phone signed in from the same Google account. When i'm outdoors, my nexus is deprived of the Internet connection, same doesn't apply for my phone. Also even for minor file transfers I've to rely on 3rd party applications. Which is actually not so comfortable provided the face that both of the devices are belonging to the same account. Not every city in any country of this world has access to open WiFi network. So there should be a level of offline hand shake alliance between Android devices.

Well these are few of the things on wishlist I wanted to share with you guys! Let me know if something that you know has some weight to it!

Sahil Satishkumar for SahRckrTech Weekly

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Editor's note: Since all of our writer's are currently unavailable, the number of posts/week is going to reduce for a month. Blame the examination season.

Review - Karbonn A12+, A glimpse on the inferior market

( -Murali Aggithaya )

Well Well Well. A review on the Karbonn branded phone! *Hmm* That sounds "Cheap". So, is this phone that obviously so marked down??

After having the phone for about 4 months , I am proud to say that its a "Bang for the Buck" considering the price is well around ₹4800 (Less than 100 USD).

[DISCLAIMER: The review device - Karbonn A12+ was used for more than 3 months. ]

There has been a lot of instances where one of my classmates or a strange co-passenger sees the phone and asks, "Is that a new Sony Phone?" and I pathetically node my head and say "No, its Karbonn A12+". As soon as they hear the name Karbonn, they just take their eyes off the phone and pretend the conversation was never made. But let me assure my readers here, the phone doesn't empty your pockets if you are buying and does an excellent job as a daily driver.
Let me say this, this is not a review of detailed explanation of each and every aspect of the phone. Rather a writeup of my thoughts regarding the phone.
Okay, here goes the Textbook Specifications.

• • Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
  • Connectivity Options: Dual SIM: 3G/2G, WiFi, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth with A2DP
  • 1.3 GHz Dual Core Processor (ARMv7)
  • Mediatek MT6572 Chipset , Mali 400MP GPU
  • 512 MB RAM (470 MB User Available)
  • 4 GB Internal Storage (671 MB for System partition, 1.36 GB for applications, 1.33 GB for internal sd card)
  • 4 inch IPS Display with 480x800 (WVGA) resolution
  • 5 MP Rear camera with flash, snaps photos in 2560x1920 and videos in 720p resolution
  • 2 MP front camera, snaps photos in 1200x1600 and videos in 480p resolution
  • 1400 mAh Battery
  • G-Sensor, Proximity Sensor

So some of you may surely be underwhelmed by the technical specifications here when you might have got your hands on to those "Flagship" devices. But let me question you this, Is it necessary to have a phone of such great specifications in your pocket and, and don't use it efficiently. So, just use a phone that is cheap(in terms of price) does a reasonably good job of manipulating whatever task that you throw at it.

HARDWARE:

So let me come to the hardware part of the phone. The phone has a power button in the top right section and the button is pretty much clicky. There is a volume control button in the top left side of the phone and right section of the phone is absolutely empty. The phone looks much better some other brands at the price. One of the small drawbacks which i have found out is that in-order to insert or remove memory card, the battery must be removed

The 4 inch screen may not seem big considering the flagship standards where any phone under 5 inch is a small phone. But i can just say this, I have watched more than 50 hours of Movies and Series and yet my eyes work pretty much the same. I have never experienced any pain or glitch in my eyes. The screen is really bright considering the IPS display panel and the viewing angle is one of the best for any under 100 USD smartphone. You can very well read texts through the display at full brightness under direct sunlight.

I seldom talk through phone, but when I get calls from home, the quality is moderately high. You can pretty much hear everything the other user has to say and as per their feedback, the mic also receives the voice pretty clear.

MEDIA:

I can pretty much assure you readers that the phone can play any graphically intense games such as Asphalt 8, Real racing 3, Modern Combat 4 etc without a lag and that is truly amazing for a phone at this price point.

The Internet Experience has been really up to the mark considering you have a 3G connectivity and your work can be done without any hassle. You can look into Gaming reviews in youtube and make yourself believe what this little piece can handle.

EVERYTHING ELSE:

The battery life as I consider is well above average and it you just need to give a quick full charge once a day and the phone will just handle itself well. One thing I have noticed is, the phone charges faster than my previous Samsung device. It charges around 1% in less than a minute.

The only downside I have notices are the cameras. Well, it rather disappointed me in that section and I use it rarely to snap photos. The 5 MP camera is good for nothing. Even under daylight, the Photos look over saturated and you might get hesitant to look the pictures you have captured for the second time. But, it didn't affect me much since I use my BlackBerry Bold for that purpose.

So, concluding my write up here, the phone really excels in the performance section. Really this is a Beast when you consider the price but lacks a good camera. This phone will pretty much serve you a good companion for your Chatting, Browsing and Gaming and as I said it is a great "Value for Money" smart-phone.

What is your opinion on the current generation low range devices that available, Do you think after the launch of Motorola Moto E will this segment exist?

Murali Aggithaya for  SahRckrTech Weekly.

Check out the same uploads on SahRckrTech.wordpress.com

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Editor Recommendations:

Motorola Moto E

Nokia X (If services mean a lot to you!)

Time Travel with Nexus 7, 2012

 

(Sahil Satishkumar, @SahRckr)

 

Nexus 7, codenamed grouper, was the first device to feature the Android 4.1 JellyBean OS. Being blessed with Project butter this 7" Android tablet was the best under 200 USD tablet available in the market. This Nexus tablet was bought during the late Nov 2013. I traded my HTC One S C2 for Nexus 7. This may sound bit crazy, also consider it fits my usage. I use it as my primary device. I spend most of the time with my tab than my other slower option Lenovo A516. That was how Nexus 7 entered in my arsenal. So after 6 months of usage and 2 years from launch how does the device excel.

 

Hardware:

Nexus 7 came with a Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.3 GHz and a gig of RAM. My usage I would say is higher than average. I conquer the web, Social Networking, lots of messaging, downloads, media consumption, and what not!? Battery life is quite okay on the device and I use the age old, Developer abandoned Juice Defender to extend my battery life to approximately 16 hrs a day. Wish there was at least a 3 MP camera on the rear of the device, but still its acceptable to date. Imagine a guy taking photographs on a 7'' device , W.E.I.R.D. ! As of the display its a 7'' , 1280x800 px decent IPS display which has Gorilla Glass 2. I will conclude that the display is Scratch-Resistant and not scratch proof as the company claims. You're better off with a scratch guard in exchange of some juice. My device has minute scratches. The buttons and the side details are fine to this date. Also the dimpled back design of my tab was protected by an Amzer Pouch.

 

[DISCLAIMER: The review device - Nexus 7, 2012 was used for more than 3 months for this post. ]

Software:

 This the part where the device excels , the device has received all major android version upgrades from Android 4.1->Android 4.2.2->Android 4.3->Android 4.4(KitKat). The device currently boasts Android 4.4.2 which is the latest Android version available, even after 2 years from launch. More over the hardware in the device allows us to mostly every application in the play store. Including graphic intense games. There are no compatibility issues because of the hardware. There is a bit of Android lag on the device after using it for a long time, which can be seized by few restarts after few days or so. I always found the Font boring, so i've installed Ubuntu Font on my device( with root permission you can use iFont for non-Samsung devices )

And everything else:

The unnecessary Google applications which cannot be used because of country issues (Google Earth, Google Wallet which don't work in India) cannot be uninstalled. It's just that allowing some stupid applications that don't do anything for me cannot take space from my device. Limited storage always is a negative point. I also have root access. Hence trying out new applications is a breeze. There is crazy issue I face sometimes, The device gets too heated up when kept inside my backpack at times. Which becomes bothering, But then it chills off when kept outside.

Conclusion:

With time devices do age well, but Google along with Asus has proved that a device need not be 500 USD for the specifications to be high end without missing out features. Devices don't need that extra metal wrapping around them to live around consumers for a long time. Nexus 7 is a No Nonsense device that does what it's meant to even after a time hop of 2 years. Every part of this device is worth the 200 USD tag.

The new iteration of the Nexus ditches the Tegra for Snapdragon, more RAM, Display Resolution, a back camera. But the price difference between the two devices is ~168 USD (in the Indian Market), But the later version has the longer Google supported services!

 

Review score:9.2/10 So tell us what do you feel about the first Nexus Tab. Also let me know the common problems faced by the Nexus 7, or the newer version.

Sahil Satishkumar for SahRckrTech Weekly Check out the same uploads on SahRckrTech.Blogspot.in

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Personal Recommendation:

Bluetooth Keyboard that comforts your typing style- Increases productivity of your tablet ( evolves to semi PC )

Nexus 7/Nexus 7(2013)   Update (5th June, 2014) : Guide to upgrade nexus 7(or any other nexus device) to Android 4.4.3 using Linux can be found here.

Featured Application Review - QuickPic

(-Yathish MJ)

If there's always been one stock app that most of the people are obsessed with, it's the gallery. For those users who are dissatisfied with the native image browser on their Android gadget, QuickPic is just meant for them.

INTERFACE:

Instead of the slick pictures which the stock gallery app gives you, QuickPic has a very simple interface, with not much of bells or whistles. As its name states it displays images quickly without any hassle. QuickPic's clear photo displays and sorting categories makes viewing experience a lot smoother, quicker, and more enjoyable. It provides smooth experience which one witnesses in iPhone.

The images are grouped in the main opening window by category, including camera files(DCIM), downloads, Whatsapp images, received files, UC downloads and images from other programs. Each category also has preview images to show the user which photos are in the grouping. You can include or exclude the specified folders to make more efficient scanning.

The user can change the overview of the albums by changing the view mode to stack, grid, list and explorer.

It also has a camera button for easy access of camera.

QuickPic also allows them to be uploaded to social media. The share button gives you easy access to the sharing world. You can share images via whatsapp, email, Bluetooth and many other photo editing apps.

[DISCLAIMER: This application was exploited on a Motorola Atrix 2, Nexus 7, and all available features were used for the testing period of 15 days (more in this case).

Also all pictures are screenshots presented by the developer in the Google Play Store.

The Writer or the The Company 'Do Not' own any of the images uploaded for this article ]

FUNCTIONALITY:

The albums as well as the images can be sorted by name, date and by path, whichever the user wishes to.

A Click on each group, gets you the insight of the album where thumbnails are displayed. Individual photos can be viewed by clicking on them. The main menu provides options like sort, add, and show hidden. Long pressing on a gallery from the main menu gives you the option to see a slideshow, hide the gallery, exclude it, delete it, link to desktop or rename it. You also can see the exact location of the gallery from the main menu. You can hide any album by just long pressing on it and selecting the option “hide album”(with or without password). After which any hidden album cannot be viewed in any other gallery- application . Similarly Long pressing on an image gives you the options to edit, delete, rename, copy to and see its details. The same applies to batch of images. Editing, of course is basic level.

Once you have opened a picture, the scrolling is like butter from a left or right swipe, and a double tap will give you not just one but two levels of zoom. A third tap will give you back your original size pic. There's also pinch-to-zoom.

It has a basic photo editing capability. Photo editing apps like aviary, snapseed etc. can be availed directly from the app using edit options. One can also set the images as one’s Whatsapp profile pic, make contact pic, and as wallpaper.

GREAT FEATURES:

It has the ability to rotate photos which most image browsers fail to provide. For devices with low internal memory, this app is a boon. Not to forget it can display animated-GIFs unlike other apps. For me the coolest thing about this app is its size (which is too less when compared to the apps of these kind) without compromising the need of every user. QuickPic interface works in landscape if you have automatic rotation enabled.

CONCLUSION:

It is a wonderful replacement to many of the lazy gallery browsers which are spread out in Play store. Also QuickPic is available for free in the Android Market. The best part about this app is the speed and its size which is obtained by optimizing the graphics. QuickPic aims to be the ultimate gallery replacement when compared to the stock gallery app. It is free and no ads with great overall performance.

Review Score: 4.3/5

QuickPic : Download 

You can contact us through Social media : Facebook , Twitter.

Yathish MJ for SahRckrTech Weekly.

Check out the same uploads on SahRckrTech.wordpress.com

Editor Recommendation:

DicePlayer : Download (For those video's which QuickPic cannot play! Review will be posted soon.)

May I Help You? - Google Now

(Praful Chandra, @prafulchandra58

-Sahil Satishkumar, @SahRckr )

Mobile operating systems have evolved exponentially in the recent years. Apart from basic operations consumers now tend to use more often ," intelligent personal assistant " as described by wikipedia. One such option being Google Now. And NO its not a Siri-killer, other competition being newly announced, Cortana.

There is more than what we think its going on around us, the mobile operating system has developed so much that we can do the work sitting at a place without even stretching a muscle. Likewise there Google Now, and now everyone is aware of Apple iPhone's siri which is user friendly and performs all voice commands and we don't even have to type or search for a particular application in the phone!                                                                                                                                               

Try saying: "What's the weather like?" and you will be presented with a weather card of the city (according to the GPS location provided).

[DISCLAIMER: This application was exploited on a Nexus 7, and all available feature were used for the testing period of 15 days (more in this case). ]

Let's get to the to the part when Google now goes technical!

Accessibility is very easy, Say OK Google on the homescreen of Google Experience Launcher, or hit the quicksearch bar or swipe up home button.

Layout mimalistic and features . . . . . Infinite.

Google Now is one of the best feature what Android has to offer. To those of you who've tasted many flavours of Android are familiar with Google Search. Google Now, to it's roots is Google Search with added functionality!

-Most familiar feature, Cards:  These are information sets presented neatly in cards, which also contain predictive search results (elaborated later) or some may be from the emails which may have dropped in your associated mail account. There are various types of cards, ranging from conversion cards, birthday notifier cards, special cards, shipment shipped cards (works in India) and more, Also these are expanding regularly. Google had introduced more and more cards.

-Awesome voice recognition feature: No more you can complain that your Indian-accent English isn't recognised by certain software. This is a fun feature where you need not type what you desire Google Now to do, instead just speak out loud. If recognised correct (most probable event) does the job for you. If the command is Anything from sending mail, dail contact, sms contact, start camera and many more. However features not supported are, Hardware controls. You cannot ask Google Now, "Turn off wifi" , "Scan for nearby bluetooth devices" to do those for you. For a better part, its not supported.

There are some fun commands you would like to see, demonstrated here.

-Predictive search results : Here's the part where Google now is different than it's counterparts. Simply put this is where you find search results ready, waiting for you to be used, of contents you were searching on the web using Google Chrome (on PC/Handheld device).

A small advice to people who use Google Now,

-Use it a lot, I mean for everything. Even the smallest search ever. Google now learns more about you and presents better and useful cards day after day.

-Never search for embarassing things on Google, while you are logged in (Use incognito mode , or simply logout). Specially if your device is accessed by many folks around you.

That's it for (Google) Now, do let us know what do you feel about the this review? Do you wish a Killer-Card that is not featured on Google Now? Please Leave your comments below!

You can contact us through Social media : Facebook , Twitter.

Praful Chandra and Sahil Satishkumar for SahRckrTech Weekly 

Check out the same uploads on SahRckrTech.wordpress.com

Google Now : Download 

Personal Recommendation:

Google Experience Launcher/ Google Now Launcher : Download 

Eclipse of the QWERTY

Eclipse of the QWERTY

(-Sahil Satishkumar, @sahrckr)

QWERTY, the most familiar keyboard layout in the English language. As most of us are familiar that this layout was invented just to prevent a 130 year old problem when typists were used to destroying the key-press of the nostalgic Typewriter. If I were to ask , Something like, "How many of you have typed in a DVORAK keyboard?". Well I wouldn't expect nor blame anyone for not using efficent keyboard, As most of the computer keyboard manufacturer's worldwide don't manufacture this layout.  Any rerrangement of a regular qwerty to DVORAK isn't that easy ( Keys J/F don't normally like to exchange their spots with other keys. )

Well that was a small "Hi-Hello" episode to the computer keyboard. Now let's move on to the evolution of this layout. Being the most popular layout, it was obvious for it to enter new segments. Gaming Consoles, PDA's, Portable Media Players, DVD player interface, and obviously our favourite smartphones. Most of you people must have seen or owned one, BlackBerry? ( I've destroyed one, BB 9300 ). With qwerty keypad on smartphones I mean the physical keyboard. My history with qwerty phones are 4 such phones. Nokia C3-00, Samsung Ch@t 335 (It's still breathing around, in some corner), Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos, and lastly BlackBerry 9300. I didn't have complaints with any regarding the keyboards whatsoever. I will still not mind using any one of them as my daily-driver any day, More over after using so many qwerty phones. My current phone and tab (Lenovo A516, Google Nexus 7) have this layout primarily, but then even after using some of the best keyboards available. The tactile feedback, the comfortablity, or thumb exercise , or any of those feelings cannot be replaced by a soft on screen keyboard.

I really wish there was an Android Smartphone running on KitKat, with a snapdragon 801 chipset, a topping of Adreno 330 GPU, 2k camera, High Res (*unbreakable) Display and camera, and atleast a Slider qwerty/candybar qwerty designed phone. All the manufacturers like HTC, LG, Samsung, Google (Nexus and Play Edition Line up) are missing out a huge marketshare. Currently the only Android phone that has a qwerty is LG Optimus pro C660, other options being Nokia Asha 210,205 and other ones running on the old outdated OS. There are lot of migrators from the BB users that have been flushed to the Android/Apple/Windows market. Wish there was an easy qwerty alternative in each market such that they don't have a huge learning curve ahead to understand the OS + Get used to the not so familiar On-Screen keyboard.

Kudos to Steve Jobs who changed the way we see smartphones these days.

Do comment about what do you feel about the end of an era , end of the qwerty layout. You can contact me through Facebook , Twitter.

Sahil Satishkumar for SahRckrTech Weekly.

Personal Recommendations :

-Google Keyboard : Download (aptoide link, Writer/Blog not responsible for any harm that may be caused to your device by this download)

(Google Keyboard has DVORAK (and more) layout(s) too.

Keyboard & Input methods >Google Keyboard > Advanced Settings > Custom input styles > Add Style ,Choose language and layout)

-Hacker's Keyboard : Download