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Almost all the major smartphone companies are primed to come up with the new releases throughout this year. Not unlike 2017, the bezel-less screen and powerful cameras will continue to be in vogué and the latest released Snapdragon 845 will also be sought after.

Here is a list of the ones you should look forward to:

1. Samsung geared up with foldable screen:

It is no news that keeping secrets is not Samsung’s USP. If the major rumours in the tech world and hints dropped from the Company are to be believed, the next flagship, Samsung Galaxy X can come with a foldable OLED screen. The CEO has, as tom’s guide suggests, already sanctioned the new project. Moreover, the official Samsung website last November even came up with a support page for a similar model. This phone might actually land in the market in the first quarter of 2018, as Axon M from ZTE already features this technology and the Korean will not want to be too late to the party. Also coming this year would be Galaxy S9 with the tried and tested curved Infinity display and dual rear cameras.

2. One Plus getting better of the best:

The One Plus is what every start up dreams to be. The Pete Lau- Carl Pei company has already established itself in the big league with some ground breaking smartphones with the best value for money over the last four years and there is no reason to not expect something similar from One Plus 6 – unless it decides to skip a number again this time. Having already mastered bezel minimisation and dual camera with 5t and 5, this brand of powerful phones may actually feature Face Recognition System with on screen fingerprint sensor and even stronger battery and QHD screen this time.

3. New iPhones X plus and X2 in times of falling trust:

The digital market research firm TrendForce has indicated that Apple would be coming up with iPhone X plus and X2 by September this year. Also mooted to make an appearance is the SE series, after the two year hiatus. The company majorly will be focussing on enhancing the size this time, with the all the three iPhones plnned to have a screen size exceeding six inches. However, the company will be making it a point to resolve the trust of their customers by cutting down on most notorious updates and also by making them more transparent over the issues of performance and battery life starting with iOS 11.2.5.

 

Feature Image Credits: Appleinsider

Nikhil Kumar
[email protected]

Smartphones and increasingly convenient apps have made it very easy to connect with long-distance family and friends. However, texting or calling them regularly can worsen things.

Mobile phones have now become as routine a gadget like any other. A product that was once deemed as luxury good has become a basic necessity over the years. The good and bad about this gadget is often debated upon. The one good thing which everyone might agree upon is that it helps us connect with family and friends anytime. However, recent studies suggest it might not be the case.

An article published on the Business Insider consisted reports of a study conducted by CHARGit which showed that out of 2000 participants, 65% claimed to feel anxious when they are low on battery, and 42% felt vulnerable if the battery is zero.

Consistently talking to friends and family makes us more dependent on contacting them and this transfers our coping skills from the self to someone else. We have access to friends and family 24/7 which means that we can share our highs and lows whenever we want to. Being able to talk to our loved ones makes us feel accompanied and helps us to lighten the burden by sharing it. The problem comes in when we look for their support in order to fight our battles. All they can do over the phone reassure us which makes us feel better. And because we are in desperation, we find solace in their words, but we miss out on two things here. One, we still have a situation to sort, and two we lose the will to handle things on our own. The loss of the latter trait is deadly in the long run.

Everything, when done in excess, is harmful. The tendency to share our problems and the need to talk to the people we love in order to feel better soon becomes a habit. And as a result, we are in more need to talk to the people we love, and ultimately we have a greater urge to use the cell phone. Talking to our friends and family after a certain point becomes our only coping skill. It’s no surprise the aforementioned study showed so many participants feeling vulnerable and low.

However, by no means does this mean that we shouldn’t text or talk to our loved ones. After all, it is very necessary to talk when we are away from home. It’s no less than a boon to be able to share our problems and to have the support of our loved ones in times of need. But we are here to live life our own way, and we need to fight our battles and cope up with our struggles all on our own.

 

Feature Image Credits: Association Adviser

Karan Singhania
[email protected]

 

In this fast pacing age of timeless technology, it is almost inevitable to entirely disassociate oneself from gadgetry and ingenious devices. Our acquired (or maybe, innate) dependency on the same is what has led us to become slaves to our own creation. While it would be absolutely bizarre to say that we can do without it, it does make sense to insinuate a counterbalanced usage. A mobile phone is one contraption that we are tied to endlessly, owing to the virtual reality that we are all a part of today. Be it informal communication via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger or formal interaction through e-mails, the virtual world has us hooked in more ways than just one.

WhatsApp, the supposed mother of all evils, stems from a very ingenious idea, ideally introduced to facilitate cross-platform instant messaging between two parties or more, in the shortest possible time and without any additional tariffs as against the ones incurred on carrier-billed text messaging. It is immensely useful and rightfully serves the purpose for which it had been materialised in the first place. However, with over 1.3 billion active users, WhatsApp yields as many media junkies as does cocaine. Instagram, the abode of wanderlust and a platform for artsy dispositions, ranks first in the list of the most detrimental applications for the youth, closely followed by Snapchat on number two, according to a new report by the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK.

In a society, driven by those who monopolise the economy through media, it would not be particularly wrong to suggest that a mobile phone serves as the catalyst in reworking a downward spiral. Smartphones, as we are all equipped with, come with its myriad features, aimed at generating revenue through its applications. This especially holds true in today’s time and age where everything is digitalised — from grocery lists, e-retail orders, web articles, PDF formats of scholarly books to online newspapers, e-fitness routines and basic utilitarian applications. Whilst the increasing fundamentalism of the digital age can also be viewed under the fancy radar of tantalisation, it is far more important to trace down its ill implications. Apart from being specifically harmful to the visual faculties of an individual, it also visibly demonstrates a negative impact on the mental well-being of people.

FOMO -the Fear Of Missing Out, is a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent”. This social anxiety is characterised by “a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing”. It is a legitimate phenomenon that urges people to frequently check their news feed on their social media handles and instills a sense of perpetual apprehension in addicts. It looms large over their insecurities and distorted identities and uses it as an assemblage to emasculate thinking minds. The need to check one’s phone regularly within short time intervals, regardless of any profound agenda and falling prey to false intuitions about activity on the same, are certain influences that a gadget as enslaving as a mobile phone can have on its customer.

Dr. Sally Andrews, a psychologist at Nottingham Trent University, told The Huffington Post that young adults use their smart phones twice as many times as they think they do which implies that its usage transcends the realm of consciousness and is a habitual pursuit of an average individual. Once imprisoned into this insurmountable lair of validation, it gets utterly difficult to break free from it. It will eventually start hindering an individual’s personality as well as professional life. As they say, old habits die hard, it is important to not let this tech-madness garner uncensored proclivity.

With both its pros and cons outweighing each other, it is the responsibility of its able users to tell right from wrong. As we are moving towards a progressively digital epoch, it is our duty to use the resources available at our disposal, fittingly.

Image Credits:  LinkedIn

 

Lakshita Arora

[email protected]

Every New Year our expectations from technology grow more with the question “What’s next?” in our heads. The existing tech, however innovative seems stagnated fueling our desires for a newer generation which is usually termed as “need of today” by the marketing folks and advertising people. Whatever may direct the course of development; there are some moments throughout the year which stun the wits out of people into realizing the epitome of innovation achieved by the technology sector. Some of those spectacular moments expected to put a trance in consumer’s heads in 2016 are:

1.) IoT(Internet-of-Things)

IoT
Image source: http://dataxoom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IoT-Featured-image.jpg

Internet and things are among the most common words in English language. Two hyphens and attaching an ‘of’ in the middle of the two words gives rise to a completely new and upcoming field of technology. So what exactly is it?

You may not noticed the most recent ad from Philips where ranbir kapoor impresses shruti hassan by changing the color of his house lighting via his mobile app. Seems so fancy and unnecessary. Now imagine that control over your washing machine, microwave, TV, fridge and every other electronic device or appliance in your home with your personalized mobile app. And by control, I don’t mean changing colour of the appliances. That connectivity between your devices creating their own network is Internet of Things (IoT).

2016 will see major tech conglomerates focusing on convergence of their devices and working towards IoT to bring customers with one device, to well, “rule them all”.

2.) Apple watch and iPhone

Apple Watch
Image source: http://www.apple.com/in/watch

Building up to one of the strongest brands, Apple devices have become among the most anticipated products of any year. 2016 will not see any break in that trend as Apple will be releasing two of its major products: Apple Watch 2.0 and iPhone 7. While Apple Watch 2.0 will be more an upgrade over this year’s newly released Apple Watch, iPhone is expected to bring about some new and exciting features. Rumored to be equipped with fingerprint sensor on screen, wireless charging capabilities, multiple camera and USB-C port instead of power or headphone jacks it is anticipated to be one of ‘THE’ devices of 2016.

3.) Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality
Image source: http://aerometrex.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/AR_aero3dpro-1024×664.jpg

“Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality”.

                                                                                                -Nikos Kazantzakis

Philosophy surrounding Augmented Reality (AR) is very much similar to what Kazantzakis said. AR deals with manipulating perception of the environment surrounding us. It merely supplements the actual reality with computer generated elements such as sound, video graphics by overlaying physical entities with virtual ones. Pokémon Go, the trailer of which created a lot of buzz in 2015, is based on AR. Many companies such Blippar have been working to develop AR so that a greater value to brand user can be provided along with a rich experience. AR has huge implementations in marketing and advertising as it can be used to provide customer with extra information about the product.

4.) Live Streaming

Live Streaming
Image source: http://www.npr.org/assets/news/2015/03/tonedmeerkat.gif

Live streaming videos for apps garnered a lot of attention in 2015. It was a big step forward as it saved a lot of time by eliminating the need to upload video on a host website later than it was shot. Being one of the fastest growing medium, it will give rise to commentators giving live feedback on events in a similar fashion that YouTube stars rose. As 4G enters our country, the prices of 3G are expected to go down creating room for development and deployment of these apps in multitudes. Currently, Meerkat and Periscope are among the two apps that provide live streaming.

5.) Business Drive-in Apps

This year saw a lot of apps which generate business for other businesses. Crown it and MagicPin are among the top two of such apps. As Indian market is warming up more and more to the e-commerce industry, business drive in apps will thrive more as they’ll get small but numerous investments from local businesses to get more consumers to compete with the e-commerce companies.

6.) Linux in 2016

Linux
Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Tux.svg/512px-Tux.svg.png

There is a lot that is going over in the world of Linux. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. mentioned that he will not mind moving iTunes to android which is based on Linux. So there is a chance that a lot of Apple apps might be available for Android.

The release of Ubuntu phone last year didn’t make the expected dent in the market share of other mobile OS. So there’s a chance that Linux apart from android will not move into mobiles.

7.) Upcoming Smartphones

LG-G4
Image source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/digitaltrends-uploads-prod/2015/05/LG-G4-off.jpg

Smartphone war will continue with new versions of many existing models from various companies coming out this year. LG G5 will carry the banner after G4, Xiaomi Mi 6 will take charge from Xiaomi’s side, One Plus 3 will again try to kill the flagship while iPhone 7 will try to defend its flagship. Nokia and Microsoft will launch their new warriors as Nokia C1 and Lumia 940 & 940XL which may be their final line of defense. Sony will put their bids on Xperia Z6. Let’s all see how.

 

Feature Image Credits: http://smartphone2016.com

Have you ever wondered which smartphone is the perfect one? Is it the Samsung Galaxy S6? Is it the OnePlus 2? LG G4? Nexus 6? HTC One M9?

I, for one, can’t pick one of these because all of them have a couple of nagging little flaws. The S6 has poor battery life and no expandable storage. The OnePlus 2 doesn’t have NFC. The G4 has LG’s horrible android skin. The Nexus 6 is just plain huge and also has a subpar camera. The HTC One M9 tends to overheat. Since none of the phones on the market fit my version of ‘The Perfect Smartphone,’ I decided to create my own smartphone. These are the features I would borrow from today’s flagships –

Body

In terms of pure looks, nothing beats the iPhone 6. It looks premium, feels sturdy and is durable enough to survive minor falls.

Screen

The Samsung Galaxy S6 has a beautiful 5.1 inch Super AMOLED 2K display. Viewing angles are great, colours are sharp and vivid, and brightness is more than enough for outdoor use.

Speakers

HTC’s BoomSound speakers are without a doubt the best on the market. Front-facing, Loud, Crisp and Clear.

Battery

I’d take the 3900 mAh, beast of a battery, from the Motorola Droid Turbo which would last for 30-35 hours of regular without breaking a sweat.

Storage

Storage is something we just can’t get enough of, so I’d opt for the 128 GB storage from the iPhone 6 but I’d also throw in an expandable Micro SD card slot to increase storage up to 256GB.

Performance

The OnePlus 2 is probably the best performing smartphone out there, both in terms of benchmarks and real world testing. The octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, coupled with 4 GB of RAM and the Adreno 430 GPU make for a buttery smooth gaming and multi-tasking experience.

Camera

This was a tricky one, and I wrestled with whether I wanted the iPhone 6 Plus’ camera or the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S6. Both cameras are fantastic, especially the one on the iPhone, but it’s only 8 megapixels which means no 4K recording. Gotta have 4K though! So I ended up choosing the one on the S6. However, I’d still want the image processing from the iPhone just to compensate for the over-saturation that Samsung’s sensor is notorious for.

 

So there you have it. My version of the perfect smartphone. What’s yours?
Guest post by Kabir Saxena.

Feature Image credits: pedrocaso.deviantart.com

 

It has been a month since college reopened, and you’re facing the following problems: 1) You’re trying to mentally calculate how many classes to attend this semester to achieve the minimum criteria for taking the examinations; 2) There are times when you save an important file on your hard disk and the computer gets corrupted. You lose the data along with the hope of ever getting it back; 3) Bunking classes leads not only to short attendance but also to lack of notes. Copying notes is too time-consuming and pictures sent over WhatsApp are of low quality; 4) During the exams, everything distracts you, the phone being the biggest culprit of them all; 5) It’s a beautiful day, you and your friends decide to skip classes and go out but before leaving, you take a look at your wallet and it’s empty.

To tackle all these issues and make your college experience simpler and tech-friendly, QWERTY brings to you the following apps:

1.Timble and Attendance Manager
Screenshot_2015-08-01-14-24-39                                                

Your heart will bless the creators of these apps once you use them. At the end of the semester, you won’t have to stress your brain over recalling whether you attended classes the day your friend had her birthday. Both the apps are equally good and have a user-friendly interface. There’s a walkthrough when the app first launches, so it’ll take no time for you to learn how to use it.
Screenshot_2015-08-01-14-24-48
Platform: Android


2.Google Drive and Dropbox
Screenshot_2015-08-01-14-25-50

Losing data of any kind is very frustrating, especially important projects and assignments. These two apps use cloud technology to not only protect your data from getting lost when your physical hard drives fail, but also to make it easier for you to share it with other people. The apps are very straight-forward and easy to use. If you want to share your files, both the apps let you generate links from which the file can be downloaded. Internet connection is mandatory for upload and download, so the downside is that if the file is large, then it might take a lot of time if your connection isn’t good.

Screenshot_2015-08-01-14-25-40
Platform: Android &iOS

3.CamScanner
Screenshot_2015-08-01-14-25-06

This is one app that will help you save money on photocopies of bundles of notes for just some important pages. The app works in a very simple manner: you click the picture of the page, trim the unnecessary edges, and enhance it through the in-built editor and voila! You’ve got a picture which is as good as a scan of the page. You can also create notebooks to package notes of a particular subject. There is also an option to share the notebooks and scans through third-party apps like Dropbox and Gmail by generating a link or sending as attachments.
Platform: Android &iOS

4.Self Control
Screenshot_2015-08-01-14-24-56

A phone to us during exams is like a moth to a flame. Even a notification for app updates makes us lose track of the topic we’ve been reading for the past two hours. This is one app that’ll help you avoid those moments of temptations and deliver you from the evil distraction of phones. The app lets you make a time table and during the time that you’ve kept for study, it turns all other apps off. There is an option to add apps as exceptions which will run even during study time. You can even set the app to prevent you from using the home page during study hours and put your phone on airplane mode. This is one app that you should definitely put to safeguard yourself from your phone during exams.
Platform: Android

5.Toshl
Screenshot_2015-08-01-14-25-26

Money is one thing that should be handled very carefully in college. Spend recklessly and get lectured by parents; spend too less and get called a miser. Balance is the key and this app will help you maintain that balance. The app lets you add any expenses you make at any time. You can enter the amount, set a tag for similar expenses and add a description to help you remember. You can do this every time to make an expense or set a time for the app to remind you daily to put in your expenses. You can also set a budget basis which could be monthly, weekly or daily. Your expenses get deducted from the budget and the app notifies you when you’re close to exhausting your spending limit. You can also add incomes.
Platform: Android & iOS.

Kavach Chandra
[email protected]

Image Credits: networkindia.com

As mobile applications are becoming more and more popular, tons of apps are flooding the market everyday. These apps are not only developed by billion dollar companies, but also by individuals like us. You no longer need heavy investment of money and time, neither do you need any programming skills to develop an Android app. All you require is an internet connection & some advice!

But remember, this article is NOT gonna teach you how to make the next Instagram, Flipboard or Candy Crush! Nope.  But it can help you create and distribute simple apps based on existing web content –  An app for you college’s  fest, your video channel, a website,  basic mobile games and much more without spending a buck and learning any coding language.  Ever wanted to have your own Android app? We’ll show you how!

Quite a few websites allow you to create your own applications. One the most popular & efficient one, is AppsGeyser. It is incredibly easy to use and has generated more than  5,00,000 applications! Moreover, it allows you to distribute your apps for free & provides monetization as well.

First, you must log on to the AppGeyser website and click the green ‘Create Now!” button.  A list of various app templates to choose from would be displayed.  Each template has a distinct function, and a layout to facilitate that function. You can create basic applications from websites, html code, YouTube channel, documents, etc. There are 30 different layouts available. If your app requires more than one function, don’t worry, you will later be able to add these as tabs.

Next you need to add in the source, which depends on the type of app you are creating. For example, if you are converting a website to an app you need to add the URL. Similarly, if you wanna add your own page you may attach the doc; if a photo app then images & so on.  You can see the finished product simultaneously on the “Preview” pane situated on the right side of the screen. Also, fill in other basic details like app name, version, icon, category, app background etc. Once done, click ‘Create App’.

Next, fill in your  details & create an account on AppsGeyser which would redirect you to your dashboard. Here, you can tweak your app further by clicking ‘Edit’ on the menu above. You may tune up your advanced settings such as App Permissions, Thumbnails, Loading Screen and a host of other settings.

If you want to add more content to your app, go to “Tabs’ section, click on “Add Tab” & select ‘more options’ to see the complete list of features to choose from. You can add a Homepage to your app, which would stack all your Tabs in a beautiful shelf-like layout.

Download the APK file and check it for yourself. Once you are satisfied with you application you may wanna share it with the world or use it yourself. You can share the download link for anyone to download the appe. You may also wanna browse the ‘Distribute’ section for further sharing options.

AppsGeyser also lets you earn through your apps. If your app gets downloaded 100 times (No ads will be displayed otherwise), Click on ‘Monetization’ from top menu and opt in for a Revenue Program. Half of the profits will be shared by you (50-50)!

Thats it! This whole procedure should take you less than 5 minutes & without any technical knowledge you successfully created an app, on your own! So go ahead & create apps – show off, flaunt, share, learn & earn!  

Sidhant Malhotra
[email protected]

Want a premium smartphone that doesn’t hurt your pockets?

Well, it’s no news, that today’s smartphone market offers customer more choices than ever before – there’s one for everyone! Not only the high-end phones, but with the arrival of various Asian brands on the scene the budget phone sector has also boomed. ZTE, Gionee, Intex, Maxx and many more manufactures have entered this market now. This has divided the market into two broad categories: “premium” and “cheap”. But what about a cheap premium phone? Introducing: Moto G.

The Device

Google decided to do what Apple failed at doing with the iPhone 5C – a cheaper alternative to the flagships.  However, it took the game to a whole different level by introducing the Moto G. It is not only a cheap viable alternative to the popular low-end smartphones, but more…

With an ergonomic design & an exquisite aesthetics, it’s a beautiful device, weighing about 146 grams with a girth of 11.6 mm. To spice things up, Motorola offers 7 different colourful back-shells.

The phone features a 4.5 inch screen, with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, with a ppi (pixels per inch) density of 326  a.k.a the Retina Display boasted by the iPhones. The screen looks rich & vibrant and a great viewing experience is assured.

Instead of using a mediocre single core processor or an acceptable dual core processor, Motorola has gone all out, featuring a Quad core Snapdragon processor at the heart of this device. The device would be able to carry out the routine tasks of calling, messaging, web browsing, etc with ease while playing graphic intensive games would be a joy. Packed with a gig of RAM, it seems a great deal.

The 5-megapixel, 720p camera, may seem a letdown coupled with lack of a micro-SD card slot. However, it seems like a fair deal, keeping in mind the budget constraints. A secondary camera is present for video calling.

The Android phone runs on the newest version of Jellybean 4.3, with an available update, to the latest android version i.e. KitKat.

The user also gets 50 GB of cloud storage via Google Drive, free of cost. The phone should last through the day, considering the presence of a 2070 mAH battery. The Motorola Moto G also features water-resistant nano-coating on the inside and outside.

The Impact

Released in the international markets 3 months back, Moto G has already received rave reviews from critics around the world. The phone seemed underpriced at $179 (8 GB) considering the specification it has to offer!

The device can prove to be a game changer in the Indian market and give a tough time to leading the Sino-Indian smartphone makers such as Karbonn, Micromax, etc, more so because of the powerful legacy of Motorola (first company to produce a handheld phone!).

Also, this is the last phone developed by Motorola under Google, before Lenovo took over the brand. Its India launch got delayed and was introduced on 5th February 2014. In an exclusive tie between Motorola and Flipkart, the 8 GB version is available for Rs. 12,499 while the 16GB version (presently out of stock) is priced at Rs. 13,999.

Sidhant Malhotra
[email protected]