Blue Bugle: Mobile, Desktop & Web Technologies

Apple has unveiled two underwhelming products with iPhone 5S and 5C . That was the major news for the last week. Although the devices completely lacked any inspiration, they have included two very important things—the touch ID sensor for security and the 64-bit architecture for better computing. Earlier we also mentioned what Apple should have done . In Android devices, we have a huge number of innovations too that we got to see in the past few months. In this article, let me discuss a few innovations that you have to look for in your next smartphone. 1. NFC Near Field Communication has always been regarded as a cutting edge technology. You can’t throw a stone now without hitting an Android device with NFC technology. It is a secure way that devices can connect by simply bringing them together. Right now, NFC has yet to find applications in the current smartphone market. The technology is not new, although it has yet to have any big applications. However, NFC has its importance....

Rumors have been floating around about the next flagship BlackBerry 10 model, successor to Z10 , called A10. It is rumored that the new smartphone, along with certain other models may arrive by the end of the year. The first indication of the A10 model that is rumored to be codenamed ‘Aristo’, came in an interview with Thorsten Heins, the CEO of BlackBerry with CNET. Last year, a UK fan site of BlackBerry published this image of what seems to be BlackBerry A10 specifications, leaked. From the image, you can see the A10 device probably has a larger 4.6 inch display, the same quad-core Snapdragon processor as in Z10, 2 GB of RAM, etc. The specs are not quite different from Z10’s. Recent rumors however talk about a larger 5 inch BlackBerry A10 that involves the next version of BB10 OS, possibly version 10.2. Also, some say the RAM will be higher at 4 GB or so. We don’t yet have any clear indication of what the specs will be of this model. Also, in CrackBerry forums, earlier, th...

One of the biggest news of the last two days is the release of yet another smartphone in the Samsung Galaxy family, a phone of no especial features, with 720p 233ppi TFT screen, Android Jelly Bean, 1.5 GB RAM, 8/16 GB internal storage, Exynos 5 1.7 GHz dual-core processor, etc. The smartphone, known as Galaxy Mega is peculiar due to its screen size, of 6.3 inches, which makes it the mammoth of the smartphone market. Samsung was the first manufacturer to lead the way to phones of unusually large screen sizes. Soon enough, other manufacturers followed, and some even managed to go a few steps further. Is this rat race for large screen sizes come to an end? Is it time for customers to really think about the display technology, rather than the screen size? Let’s find out. The year was 2011 and the place, Berlin, home to the Berlin Radio Show. Samsung announced a legendary product in its Galaxy family of devices—the Galaxy Note. The product is in its second generation now , with sales g...

Let’s take a look at the prying open of two devices in the current market— Sony Xperia Tablet Z and BlackBerry Z10 . Teardowns of some important, flagship devices reveal the technology, design, and innovative new parts that constitute that product. It is not only a way to understand the inner workings of our popular gadgets, but also a way to find out how tough they are. iFixit’s teardowns, which we looked at other posts as well seek ways in which you can fix an electronic product at your home. Let’s check out these teardowns. Sony Xperia Tablet Z If you read our review published earlier of the Xperia Tablet Z, you may know how slim and well-packed this lightweight Sony tablet is. It has been already touted as having one of the finest constructions—waterproof as well—in the market today, and the teardown reveals how painstakingly each part is assembled. More than that, who tore the device down? None other than Sony itself! Sony’s TV show-cum-YouTube channel, SGNL posted this vid...

Have you noticed the tech CEOs and top executives are constantly engaged in bashing the competitors’ products? Our favorite tech companies and their executives badmouth the competitor products almost all the time, especially when the competitor is winning on several aspects. It is not peculiar, but quite a bit distasteful (on the part of the bashing company) considering that the winning company not only bashes back, but enjoys being silent in a debonair sort of way. BlackBerry & Apple One of the recent so-called opinions was from Thorsten Heins, CEO, BlackBerry, about—the obvious competitor, Apple iPhone. Australian Financial Review conducted a minor interview  with Heins, in what he mentioned this: Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market ... They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that. History repeats itself again I gues...

A lot of changes have come about in the smartphone market since the release of iPhone in 2007. Apple’s entry has paved way for other OEMs to innovate in smartphone design. This particular graphic from BBC shows it pretty clearly. On the other hand, since its inception in 2003, BlackBerry has been quite a unique force in the professional world, with mostly business class users. Its technologies, including BBM and the signature keypad have been instrumental in its success. However, after 2007’s full-touch iPhone, BlackBerry slowly gave the market away to Apple and other companies like Samsung. The comeback that BlackBerry made this year with the release of Z10 is probably proving to be profitable for the company. Here, we will review the features of both the current iPhone and BlackBerry Z10 and see which is the better smartphone. Tech Specs Comparison First of all, let’s compare the technical specifications of both these devices. Feature Apple iPhone 5 BlackBe...

There are a few instances when factory-resetting your smartphone is a necessity. Virus attacks, compromised data, device getting extremely slow, etc., are some of the reasons. It goes without saying that factory-resetting should be done only if there is no other go. The reason is that it will completely erase any information you have on your device—your contacts, files, apps, music, videos, settings, etc. In effect, it simply takes the mobile back to how it was when you bought it. If you are in dire need to reset your device, simply follow these guidelines. 1. If Your Phone Is Android You can simply follow the menu option, Settings->Personal->Backup & Reset . Over there, you will find the Factory Reset option at the bottom. This is for Android versions 4.0 and onwards (Ice Cream Sandwich and later). The devices supporting this include Nexus 4, Samsung Galaxy S3, Nexus 7, etc. If you are still using an older version of Android, such as Gingerbread 2.3 or 3.0 Honeycomb,...

Time when we were buying SLR and digital SLR cameras for capturing various moments in our lives is gone. Now, those special moments are captured right from within your smartphones. Most of these smartphones have evolved to the point that it is right to say the best camera in the world is the one in your hands. The time of puny 1 MP and 3 MP cameras is gone, and now it is time for 8 MP, 12 MP, 13 MP, or 41 MP cameras among smartphones. In this article, let’s look at the major technologies used in the cameras of our favorite smartphones. According to research firm NPD’s statistics, in 2011, over 27 percent of the photos were taken by smartphone cameras. Also, this zest for camera phones is negatively affecting the point-and-shoot camera market. The Basic Technology Digital cameras have these—a lens, an image sensor technology, and the image signal processor. When you are taking videos with these digital cameras, one additional component called video encoder also comes into pl...