A Guide on Choosing the Smartphone Right for You: Hardware Edition

Smartphones literally come in all shapes and sizes. With a lot of choices available on the market, it’s just so difficult to make a perfect pick. The possibility of dreading over your phone choice is always there. Nowadays, we don’t get to see diverse hardware differentiation anymore with nearly every smart device being a compact slab with touchscreen input method. But implanted in the innards of those phones are pieces of electronic components that make the smartphone a cut above the rest. Without further ado, take a look at the most common hardware considerations on choosing a smartphone.

Screen size. Mobile computing these days has become more focused into convergence. People with their fast-paced lifestyles opt to do their personal and business-related stuff through their smartphones. Definitely, a phone with a bigger display makes a better contraption for multitasking. But bigger isn’t always better; when it gets too big, it becomes difficult to handle. Specifically in the Asian markets, a device with close to a 5-inch display is preferred. It flashes a big-enough, clear display that still fits in one hand and in one’s pocket. So, if screen size is your primary consideration, then you certainly can’t count on Apple because the largest iPhone it has ever created only measures 4 inches diagonally. Prospective devices are those from Samsung, HTC, or Motorola that runs on Android.

Camera. The camera is one of the most useful and sought after features in a smartphone. With it, more innovative functionalities can be incorporated into the phone. Furthermore, snapping images with the same device that you use for connecting to social media makes uploading more convenient. Of all brands, Apple and Nokia (with its mobile phone division recently purchased by Microsoft) have their own collection of phones with absolutely commendable camera. Nokia pushed itself in coming up with a 41-megapixel camera that is capable to capture even the minutest detail. Meanwhile, the iPhone 5 has received various acclaims with its camera, and now that its successor the iPhone 5s is equipped with more camera enhancements, like the True Tone flash, it has become the perfect tool in capturing real-life images.

Extra features. This is certainly a case of last but not the least because it is found out that the “extra,” innovative features are what drive sales the most. Take for example the Touch ID in the iPhone 5s; its unprecedented presence in the device—together with its other features—made it one of the fastest-selling iPhone models to date. In a nutshell, if something is new, it will be an attention catcher for sure.

These factors are the most important among the aspects that make a smartphone. But perhaps, we tend to look past loyalty. There are people who have developed a sense of affinity to a particular brand, and for as long as that brand understands you personally even though it is not the best there is, you just might want to stick to your comfort zone for as long as it can deliver within your expectations. Be that as it may, the decision is still yours to make; get the smartphone that suits you just right.

Gained Some Weight Past the Holidays? Lose Those Extra Pounds with the Help of These Apps

The holiday season is a relatively lengthy occasion full of an assortment of festivities. We take delight of all the sights, sounds, and tastes in celebrating the over-a-month-long merriment that give way to a season of joy. And whenever we have a good time, we bond with our loved ones, harmonize the atmosphere with great music, and of course, indulge in sumptuous food. But sometimes, indulgence becomes tantamount to binging until we gain not only the joys of the season but an additional line or two on the weighing scale.

As we bid goodbye to this season with the coming of a brand new year, we start the year right with our New Year’s resolutions. And ever since these resolutions have become a tradition, weight loss has reigned as one of the most popular in the list of things to change and accomplish. To achieve the weight of your desire, let these apps help you to make you look and feel fit.

Lose It! Losing weight is hard work. It takes more than simply dieting or plain working out to reach your desired weight; it requires the synergy of both. With Lose It!, you can be able to keep track of your weight loss goals. Just enter your current weight and your desired weight, and the app will provide you with a fitness plan that is easy to follow. It will tell you the maximum daily calories you should consume, and it can compute your calories burned according to the activities you do. At the end of the day, you can see a line graph to view your progress since the day you started your fitness plan.

Daily Workouts. Gym memberships can cost you a fortune, so why not work out at home instead? Not only that this free app can save you money; it can also save you time. Once you have downloaded the Daily Workouts app in your smartphone or tablet, you can be able to view a vast anthology of workout videos that are broken down into five-or-ten-minute routines. Because of their fairly short length, they are simple to do and follow. With it, you can get your butt, arms, abs, and legs in shape as the workouts in the app are as effective as your local fitness class.

ShopWell. There has been a debate onto whether which between dieting and exercising is far more effective in losing weight. And as further studies are being conducted, the odds seem to favor dieting. Your caloric consumption as compared vis-a-vis with your daily activities is the most important parameter to watch out to ensure weight loss. And so, if you want to track everything from carbs to gluten, let ShopWell help you establish your dietary needs. Whenever you’re at the grocery store, scan the barcodes of food items, and the app will tell you if the product you have scanned meets your requirements. Otherwise, it will suggest another similar product that does. Not only that it works best for dieting; it also helps you set a diet plan for those suffering from allergies or diabetes.

With apps now available to help you lose the weight you gained from all the sumptuous dinner parties the past holidays, you no longer have an excuse not to shed those extra pounds and be back to your fit self again. All you have to do is download them to your handheld device and you’re on your way to health and fitness.

Nokia Joins the Android Line-up with the Normandy

The tech giant Nokia has manufactured quite a number of mobile phones ever since it has ventured into the telecommunications industry. It had pioneered a multitude of innovations that paved a way to make advanced mobile computing a reality. However, Nokia wasn’t able to maintain the momentum and keep up with the standards of the growing industry; to no avail, it resorted in selling its mobile division to Microsoft in order to prevent further losses and restore the empire it had once built.

In the light of the purchase agreement between the two, many Android fans have had their spirits broken, thinking that there will never be a way for Nokia to release a smartphone powered by Google’s open-source OS Android. Once the sale has been realized, it’s but expected that all handheld devices that will be coming out the works carrying the Nokia brand will have Windows Phone as their mobile platform.

Let’s not shut the doors of possibilities just yet; for as long as the merger isn’t yet legally acknowledged, Nokia still has absolute control over its handset business. In fact, speculations from multiple sources have sprouted like mushrooms that the Finnish smartphone manufacturer is planning on releasing its first-ever Android-powered mobile phone, and the said device will be codenamed as “Normandy.”

Given the fact that this move by Nokia is unprecedented, what reasons could there be for the company to come up with an Android device now that the merger will soon be made official, not to mention when it had always relied on the Windows Phone to run its devices? Apparently, the Normandy aims to target the market of low-end phones as an equivalent of the Asha to further push low cost devices to potential first-time smartphone users. As it turns out, the Asha struggled to achieve widely acclaimed fame for its target consumers allegedly due to its Series 40-powered system. The limited app ecosystem where the Asha is built into was perceived as a major shortcoming; thus, an Android device will be able to address this issue where the Nokia Asha line-up failed to triumph.

However, even if this rumor is true, there is yet no assurance that the project will ever see the light of day. The people behind the Normandy project were informed that the device is planned to be launched on 2014, with one insider describing the efforts on the project as “full steam ahead.” Timing is crucial. If Nokia manages to release the Normandy before the Microsoft acquisition is completed, we will be able to get hold of the first and last Android-powered Nokia device. Otherwise, if the Nokia-Microsoft deal overtakes this project’s release, it may not ever come into fruition, for Android is a conflict of interest for Microsoft over its own Windows Phone operating system. Let’s just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

And the Word of the Year for 2013 is...Selfie!

Language is arbitrary in nature. It changes depending on a variety of factors. It’s so common nowadays that we get to encounter peculiar words that we never have heard of nor used in the past. As it turns out, words just come out of nowhere. For as long as a word achieves global fame known with a unanimous definition, expect that it’s going to become a legitimate word in the dictionary in no time.

And yes, this digital age has become a catalyst to this trend. In text messaging for example, instead of taxing yourself in typing “talk to you later,” you can just say TTYL, and the person on the other line will definitely get what you’re talking about. And not to mention neologisms; they are like mushrooms sprouting out of every nook and cranny of all corners of the world. Surprisingly, their meaning can get to people of every race and creed faster than a speeding bullet. Well, with the internet used in a widespread extent, this should never be a surprise.

And as we talk about new words and whatnot, may I introduce to you Oxford’s word of the year for 2013. And the winner goes to ...Selfie! *claps* The credit goes to all the narcissistic duck-faces who incessantly raise their app-enhanced camera phone up in the air to snap a picture of their faces and nothing else. Just scan your favorite social media site like Instagram, and you’ll see what I’m talking about—the many faces of a single person. I bet you’re guilty on being one of them; well, we all are.

The selfie movement was immortalized in the blog of Oxford Dictionaries. The verdict, according to the blog, was unanimous. The word selfie was a part of Oxford’s “Words on the Radar” feature in 2012, and just earlier this year, it has been officially added to the extensive roster of words in the English language. The word of the year is defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.” Although its usage has been made popular by smartphone addicts across the globe, Oxford notes that the term can be traced back to an Australian message board post in 2002, where a writer said, “And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.”

According to Judy Pearsall, editorial director for Oxford Dictionaries, “Social media sites helped to popularize the term, with the hashtag selfie appearing on the photo-sharing website Flickr as early as 2004, but usage wasn’t widespread until around 2012, when selfie was being commonly in mainstream media sources.” In fact, the usage of the word has increased a whopping 17,000 percent over the past 12 months, said Oxford Dictionaries. So, if you want your gibberish to be officially legit, then now is the time to spread the word. Best of luck to you!

A Guide on Choosing the Smartphone Right for You: Platform Edition

There are a lot of factors that can influence one’s choice for the operating system of his phone. Aside from apps, services, and responsiveness, aesthetic appeal is a significant indicator as well. The three dominant mobile platforms today are Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone, which are rank-ordered respectively. Android officially comprises 80 percent of the global platform market share in the 3^rd quarter of 2013, while iOS is still second in line with 12.9 percent, down from 14.4 percent a year ago. On the other hand, Windows Phone is slowly but steadily growing in number, being locked in the third spot with 3.6 percent. Given the figures, let’s just focus on the big three of smartphone platforms. So, read on.

Android

The reason for the significantly impressive market share of Android is its availability to the smartphones of multiple manufacturing companies. Its widespread utilization in smartphones of all sorts, three-inchers to 6-inch phablets, makes it the most popular by a wide margin. And why won’t it be? Android features an easily customizable OS that hardware manufacturers and users themselves can drastically change by just a few simple tweaks. If you don’t like the current virtual keyboard, download another from Google’s Play Store. If you want the most recent tweets in your timeline on the homescreen instead of the clock, then customize it. Android lets its users get a more personalized experience with their handheld devices.

And since Android is Google’s very own, it offers Google’s vast number of innovative services, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Google+, Google Drive, Google Hangouts, and Google Maps. The most noteworthy drawback of Android is what kept it the leading mobile platform in the first place. Because it’s available to a myriad of smartphone brands, third-party app developers find it labor-intensive to develop apps for Android; as a result, cutting-edge apps make their debut in iOS first because of the said factor. In addition, the quality of apps available in Play Store isn’t always up to the same standards set by in iOS.

iOS

iOS can be solely found on all iDevices. As a matter of fact, its exclusivity makes it more appealing and interesting. However, with that kind of situation, it has to prove itself as something worth having, and that is exactly what Apple has accomplished with iOS.

Among all mobile platforms out there, iOS is branded as the most user-friendly. It is generally the simplest to use and learn. Indeed, even toddlers have been able to master every nook and cranny of the iOS. But with its easy-to-use interface, comes a very stringent limitation for personalization. And talk about apps; it is a tradition that third-party software developers choose to target iOS first because of the ease of releasing an app on only limited types of devices, even though the iOS market share isn’t that much as compared with Android’s. The disadvantage is just is if you’re not much of a fan of the hardware specifics of iDevices like a limited 4-inch screen with its smartphones, then you might want to consider another OS.

Windows Phone

The mobile platform from Microsoft is the youngest of the three. Due to its considerably small share in the global platform market, it’s just but expected that its app ecosystem isn’t rich enough when compared to Google Play and iTunes. This might be the very reason why you yourself may think twice before getting smartphone that runs on Windows Phone. But make no rash decisions just yet, for the devices that run this OS are of good quality. Most of them are Nokia products. And now that the mobile phone division of Nokia has been purchased by Microsoft, we can definitely see more improvements with the upcoming handsets to be produced by Microsoft with the current technology of Nokia.

Choosing the operating system of your next smartphone could be the most important consideration you’ll have to ponder on. The platform is essentially the soul of every device, so think carefully and choose properly.

Smartphones: Source of Your Stress

What’s that nifty, self-luminous rectangular thing in your hand? You probably use it to be connected socially. And let’s not drift our thoughts away for the amusement it brings by any means possible—apps, accessories, features, or just being the phone itself, they are just covered with neatness in every inch.

Seeing and experiencing all the functionality of this gadget from bits to pieces, anyone could all get attached to it instantly. And almost anyone—if not all—would freak out if these smartphones can be found nowhere else near them. Talk about Nomophobia—fear of being out of mobile phone contact, or simply put, No Mobile Phone Phobia. I’m sure these people would be all so stressed out if they lost their phones, but did you know that having these phones can render you all stressed more even? Yeah, well, check out these stressing factors that you might haven’t noticed yet:

 #1: That feeling that you have to respond immediately to a message

Have you ever been in a situation where it’s so important that you need to treasure every moment, and then suddenly your phone beeps? What do you then? Forget that it beeped and just savor the moment? Yeah? I don’t think so. Most people would pull their phones out of their pocket, and would even try to reply even if they are in the middle of something—or in this case, the wedding. Text messages interrupt us from what we are doing. We then have to reply immediately because it has been in our behavior to be compulsive. Some would even keep their portable chargers with them at all times because of fear of their phones dying out. In my case, when I’m about to do something, I’ll tell the person on the other end politely that I have to do something first. And then I’ll text him or her afterwards once I’m done. In this way, neither the relationship nor your chores will suffer.

#2: That feeling when you thought your phone beeped

You thought you heard a beep, or you felt a vibration inside your pocket… you pulled it out just to find out that there are no any reasons for all the fuss since no new messages are being displayed. Do you know what you are experiencing? That’s what we call, Phantom Cellphone Syndrome—and this is a clear sign that you have been so attached with your phone. Don’t worry; you’re not alone, a lot of people have been experiencing this, too—and that includes me.

#3: That feeling when you don’t want to miss out anything under the sun with your close circle

Have I already said that smart handset has become the means of people to be socially connected? Well, they also use it to be updated. Being updated with what’s new with your close circle is something that is kind of acceptable, but there’s a fine line between “I just want to check on you” and “fear of missing out” or FOMO for short. This is when anxiety strikes you as you missed out all the fun events other people do. You feel you have the need to be updated on what they are doing so that you could join them. I bet you can’t even close the iPhone back case cover of your phone because of definitely, the fear of missing out. But I guess you must learn how to combat this. Do something that you want; not what other people tell you.

Do you already feel the stress? Then, I suggest you disconnect with your smartphone from time to time. Wean yourself away, and try to connect with people rather than your gadget.

Why Too Soon with the Galaxy S5, Samsung?

Samsung is one of the major players in the smartphone industry. It has managed to stay alive and kicking amidst the myriad of adversities it had and is still consistently encountering. Due to Samsung’s constant innovation, it has overtaken Apple in terms of number of units shipped. Today, Samsung is regarded as the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world.

Just recently, it had announced its first ever smartphone that utilizes a bendable display, which is called the Galaxy Round. The said handheld device is incorporated with a virtually unbreakable screen that can withstand all sorts of physical insults. Despite the fact that the Galaxy Round per se isn’t a flexible device, Samsung still pushed through with the concept. Many analysts and lay people alike deem that having a bendable screen in a hard shell, together with non-bendable internal components is absurd. It’s simply useless. It’s just like having any other smartphone available on the market but with a concave display.

According to Sascha Segan, a mobile analyst at PC Mag, “I don’t think this particular model is going to be a big deal on the market.” But the South Korean tech giant never did doubt its concept. The Galaxy Round will be a jump-start to the bendable screen technology that will benefit its future smartphones. And this is what mobile consumers find admirable with Samsung; it sticks to finding ways to innovate regardless of the risks associated with the technology to be adopted.

Well, that was quite a lengthy introduction; better yet, let’s go to what we’re supposed to talk about here, and that’s about the allegations of the premature date of announcement of the Galaxy S4’s successor. The Samsung Galaxy S4 was just announced in March of 2013, and rumors are already circulating that the Galaxy S5 will be unveiled sooner than expected. Some say that it will probably be scheduled in January of 2014.

Just like me, I suppose that you are wondering as well on why the hurry. As it turns out, the disappointing sales of the Galaxy S4 prompted the company to launch a new flagship device earlier than usual. Every battle becomes fiercer in the ongoing smartphone wars, and Apple seems to be enjoying a short-lived victory with the impressive sales of the iPhone 5s. And of course, Samsung will never let this pass by without a fight. So, to show that its really means business, it has decided to shorten the gap of its phone releases from 11 months to 9 months that be succeeded by an advanced smartphone that can outperform each and every handset on the market.

Samsung had kept in mind its tightest competitor, Apple, with its flagship phone powered by a 64-bit processor. Given this, it plans to sport the Galaxy S5 with a 64-bit, octa-core Exynos 5430 chip. With such striking processor, it may be the most powerful handset there is. In addition, it will feature a 16-megapixel camera with an enhanced low-light performance and Optical Image Stabilization. Anyway, these are merely rumors. Don’t get too excited just yet. There are a lot of things that can happen in a span of 3 months, so watch out.