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....

In a recent talk between Microsoft and Nokia, the two companies contemplated a merger. WSJ reported the story  yesterday, and for quite a while, industry leaders have been cogitating on this move. Since 2011, Nokia has been in tie-up with Microsoft to use Windows Phone operating system on all of its major devices, notably the Nokia Lumia series ( Lumia 920 , 928 , etc). This has helped both companies in great ways. Here is an analysis as to whether the merger could pave way to success to these companies. Nokia Nokia, the Finnish smartphone maker, has been quite big in the market up until Android and iOS destroyed the stronghold of its Symbian OS. Nokia subsequently fell from the top and now has the tenth position in global smartphone market with about 2.8 percent of the market, according to research firm Gartner. Nokia lost its stock value considerably, and the strong stock, which some time in 2007 was trading at a peak rate of 40 dollars, now trades at around 3-4 dollars...

Nokia’s Lumia 920 is arguably the best smartphone in the market today due to a number of reasons. It’s major disadvantage is that it is a Windows Phone device, and hence, less number of apps. If Lumia 920 ran Android, it might have proven to be a much greater success. It has the best camera, great display (although smaller than Galaxy S3 and HTC One), and amazing build quality. It is simply the best Windows Phone device out there. Now, Nokia is all set to release its upgraded handset in the Lumia 900 family—Lumia 928. My Nokia blog  recently discovered a billboard of Lumia 928 (location unknown), shown here. We are also not sure if it’s real or faked. It could well be a billboard for Lumia 920 that someone doctored. The rumors of a higher-end Lumia 920 device for Verizon Wireless started appearing at the start of the year itself. It has never been officially confirmed by Nokia, until now. Nokia has a new 928 page here  that talks about this device. Updates on the announ...

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...

I am not talking about the smartphones that will be released in the coming months or days or the ones that are no longer available, but the ones that are in the market right now. You, as a smartphone customer, are looking for various factors to determine your purchase. Some of us want to get our work done quickly and effectively. Some of us want to read books and watch movies, and are looking for amazing screens. Some of us are interested in amazing build quality. Some others want to have their phones work everywhere, in all networks, in all plans. Well, there is a recipe for each requirement, but not one that satisfies all, I am afraid. Let’s take a look at the best of the lot in this post. Also, one thing to note, these smartphones are the ones with highest configuration out there. We have left out the low performance models completely. 1. The Most Productive The answer is simple. Apple iPhone. With over 750,000 apps available, iPhone has the one app ecosystem that has everythin...

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...

There are a number of factors affecting the purchase of a smartphone, such as the display, operating system, processor power, and price. Among them, I believe durability is also pretty important. There are protective cases for all types of smartphones, although they more or less make the phone look weird. I have never used protective case on my smartphones, although some of them have really needed them. A few days ago, I picked up one of the most popular smartphones in the industry— Samsung Galaxy S3 . I was impressed by the amazing hardware features it offered. However, when I picked it up, I could immediately feel the cheap plastic build of the phone that turned me off a bit. Many of Samsung’s phones lack in build quality, and that is the reason why none of the Samsung smartphones is there in this list. In the low end, probably the only Samsung device that can withstand any wear and tear is X-Cover Xtreme. The same is the case with Sony. Xperia line of smartphones contains device...

If you are looking for a Windows Phone 8 device, look no further than Nokia Lumia 920 (Check at Amazon or Best Buy ). Two of the major handsets running Windows Phone 8 are Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X. Here, we will have a deeper look at Lumia 920 and see why it is a very good buy. The Technical Specifications We will begin with the technical specifications of the device. Feature Value Notes Display 4.5 inch LCD (IPS) Capacitive touch; 768x1280 pixels (WXGA HD+) Larger than Windows Phone 8X Pixel density 332ppi Better than the iPhone's Retina Display Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 2 Highly scratch-resistant Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus (MSM8960) at 1.5 GHz (dual-core) The same processor used in Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE version, and HTC Windows Phone 8X GPU Adreno 225   RAM 1 GB   Storage 32 GB ...