Through the use of several interesting techniques, 5G Wi-Fi (as marketers like to call it) should theoretically increase the maximum throughput up to nearly 1 Gbps for a single transfer stream and accomplish even more when multiple links are aggregated. Imagine these insane speeds bringing high-quality content directly on a smartphone from a local Starbucks shop, without any charge from carriers. But how are all of these accomplished?

How Does Wi-Fi 802.11ac Work?

There are a couple of interesting new concepts brought by 802.11ac, in addition to existing standards (a/b/g/n). Perhaps the most important of all is the mandatory increase of the channel bandwidth, from up to 40 MHz in Wi-Fi/n, to a minimum of 80 MHz in the fifth generation. Optionally, users can also enjoy streams running on 160 MHz channels, depending on the coverage quality and a range of additional factors, which will be discussed later on.

What needs to be remembered at this point is that a larger channel permits more data to travel at the same time, pretty much how a bigger train would carry more passengers when compared with a smaller train. In our case, we are talking about up to four times more “passengers”.

Secondly, the concept of MIMO, the same one used by LTE Advanced, has been upgraded to accommodate greater speeds. In MIMO, a single device can have multiple antennas which can be used at the same time for the same transfer stream. Until the moment, 802.11n took advantage of maximum four streams, while the future 5G Wi-Fi can accommodate up to eight.

Moreover, MIMO has been easily transformed into MU-MIMO, which is a fancy term for multi-user access over the same medium. In plain English, this means that with only one access point, several stations can transmit or receive independent data streams at the same time, even with multiple antennas to gather data.

This technique is then combined with beamforming and null steering, two other principles which improve coverage and increase signal strength, while decreasing noise for other users in the same area.

As showed in the figure below, our access point transmits data to a station situated at “User 1” through the help of a blue-colored beam of bizarre shape. This process is known as beaming, and provides signal for a moving user, as long as is within a predefined area. A rather important observation is that this beam is stronger near the targeted user, and almost zero near other users – a technique called as null steering.

Another important factor is a new modulation scheme, which has migrated from the classic 64-QAM used in 802.11/n to the best-effort 256-QAM. Basically, this means that on the same medium, the upcoming Wi-Fi standard can theoretically transmit up to four times more bits, without affecting connection stability. We say theoretically, because five out of six bits transmitted using this new modulation will be used for the desired information, while the last will be saved for signaling (establishing and maintaining a proper link).

5 GHz – a faster frequency

The 5 GHz spectrum was first deployed in the early stage of Wi-Fi, more precisely by 802.11a. Used predominant in the States, its popularity rapidly faded due to its shorter coverage, sensibility to common obstacles (walls, leafs, trees, windows, etc.) and increased noise weakness. Not long after its release, this spectrum was replaced by the 2.4 GHz frequency, which proved a better candidate for crowded environments, even though it was slower and could have been disrupted by sources that function in the same interval (such as microwave ovens).

When 802.11/n came out, it gave users the possibility of tweaking their machines into functioning with both frequencies, depending on the environment. When there was a good reception, the trend was to use 5 GHz to accommodate greater speeds and when the signal proved to be weak, jumping to 2.4 GHz should have done the trick. Thanks to the fifth generation of Wi-Fi, this is not needed any more.

By combining all those features presented above, any 802.11ac equipment will solely rely on the 5GHz spectrum to deliver information, without having to worry so much about harming factors. Walls and other protective elements will be successfully penetrated thanks to beaming and whenever the reception proves to be bad, changing to a more robust coding scheme, such as 32-QAM, will prevent the connection from failing while providing decent transfer speeds.

Taking in consideration that 5GHz is a less-crowded spectrum, with most legacy devices running on 2.4 GHz, including conventional house-hold items, interface will be kept at a minimum. Moreover, there are only three orthogonal transmission channels in the 2.4GHz band, which can ensure a distortion-free communication between two devices. This means that in theory, if we have four users online in the same area, at least one of them is going to disrupt another. The downside fades in 5 GHz, where a total of 21 channels vouch for independence.

The End-user Impact

From an array of possible scenarios, we’ve found that 5G Wi-Fi will mostly increase transfer speeds for bigger devices, such as conventional computers, laptops and TVs. This is the category which can aggregate multiple antennas for a singular information stream, dividing the stream into multiple links and re-assembling everything at the destination (a proper MIMO implementation). In the best-case scenario, one constructed with a high-end access point that has 8 antennas and high end station with 4 antennas, the maximum theoretical speed will be 3.39 Gbit/s.

Moving the discussion towards the mobile segment, tablets will probably accommodate up to 2 antennas, and the maximum speed resulting from this configuration should be around 1.69 Gbit/s. When it comes to smartphones, only one antenna will be implemented, a presumption which will result into speeds up to 867 Mbit/s.

Another interesting aspect is that power-consumption has been optimized and several credited voices say that future chips should consume six-times less juice than existing versions, which may prove to be a fantastic benefit for mobile devices. Moreover, backwards compatibility with older standards such as 802.11 a/b/g/n will be guaranteed, at least in the first period.

When will 5G Wi-Fi be Available?

Actually, it sort of is already. The 802.11 ac standard has been completed and a full-state worldwide release is expected this year. Manufacturers are waiting to standardize products and the rift should hit sometime this summer. Even more, we can see signs of this upcoming tide in existing products.

For example, the first 802.11 ac chipset for retail routers was released in late 2011, while the first Broadcom-enabled router was launched in April last year, by Netgear. Most importantly, the first product to ever see true clients surfaced last summer, when Asus unveiled the ROG G75VX gaming notebook.

When it comes to smartphones, Android especially, HTC made the breakthrough this March with their famous One. Shortly after that, Samsung followed the queue with the Galaxy S IV and we are certain that even more will arrive in the following months. On the other camp, Apple has been known of working hard to integrate 802.11 ac technologies into several products this year, including AirPort base stations, Time Capsule, Apple TV and why not, the next iPhone.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post What is 802.11ac, the Future 5G Wi-Fi Standard? appeared first on Technology Personalized.

But, besides that, the devices themselves represent quite a value – many of them having a price well above $500. So, this brings up the question: should or should we not have a cell phone insurance to protect our valuable gadgets? The answer is not a definite one and doesn’t apply equally to everybody. It’s all about money, needs and expectations.

Cell phone insurance: what you need to know

If you’re a businessman who carries a lot of sensitive information, then you put a lot of value on your device. While there are slim chances that a cell phone insurance will help you recover the precious data inside, at least you can be sure that you will recoup the money you paid for the smartphone. Let’s analyze and see what are the best options and if they are really worth the effort, time and money put in.

Deciding whether or not you need a cell phone insurance is not a question that we can answer straight away, but we can perform an analysis to see how the entire thing actually happens. Here are some important things that you should know before getting that mobile phone insurance.

The devil is in the details

If there’s one word that can describe insurance companies very well, then it should be this – details. Recently, my car got hit by somebody and I had to make use of the CASCO to repair it at the shop where I first bought it. Only then did I learn that if after an accident, the door gets jammed, you should not open it, because you’re going to increase the damage done to the car. Of course, this is nonsense and it’s nothing more but a clever trick done by the insurance company to reduce the evaluated damage.

But you’re probably thinking that the insurance for a cell phone should happen in much more simple and “human” terms. Wrong. Whenever you see the word “insurance”, be 100% sure that you have read everything there is to be read and analyzed. And a phone insurance contract can be as long as 9 pages. You should be paying a lot of attention to the following points:

• Whose fault was it? Just like with cars, where you have compulsory insurance that covers up the damage done by others, you have the choice of using CASCO to repair the damage inflicted by yourself, thieves and even natural disasters. With cell phone insurance, you should check to be sure whether you’ll get back the value of the phone even if it was your fault. Because, otherwise, it doesn’t really make sense. Dropping your phone on concrete, water or stepping on it happens so many times
• Carrier, dedicated or a regular insurance company? This is another trick that you need to master prior to signing the documents to insuring your phone. Most of the time, your carrier will offer you a separate insurance plan. Don’t rush and accept it right away. What you can do, is to compare what your carrier might be offering with what a regular insurance company or dedicate phone insurance one has for you. Sometimes, you’ll be surprised to notice that regular insurance companies might charge you less.
• What does it cover? You also need to carefully check for what causes of damage the insurance company will be willing to give you back the value in money of your phone or give you another one. Ideally, your phone insurance should cover the following: accidental damage (whether you or someone else drops it); worldwide cover (very useful if you travel often); theft; loss (check some other methods you could try to recover a lost iPhone). If you’re really looking for that phone insurance, then carefully read to find the best and cheapest one.
• Money or another phone? Just like we mentioned above, you need to check from the beginning what do you want in return – the full amount of the insured device or another one in return? Sometimes, the insurance agency will most likely give you just a replacement phone which, might not be the one you insured. I know it sounds stupid, and that’s exactly why you need to be prepared.
• Maximum cover & standard excess. Maybe you don’t have a regular phone, maybe it is covered with a gold case and filled with diamonds. Or maybe it just represents the latest and the greatest there is in the mobile industry. You need to know what the maximum cover is, which represents the maximum amount of money you will be entitled to get if an unfortunate even happens. Another “trick” that the insurance company uses is the “standard excess“. In plain English, this is the part of money that you will pay prior to the insurance plan. Some phone insurance companies will have an excess that will be different from phone to phone; therefore, while the majority will charge around $50 from your side, some might even request $100, if we’re talking about premium phones.
• Repair days, shipment, handling. When something is broken, the last thing you want to do is to spend a lot of time with your gadget here and there. You need to have it taken right from your door and repaired as fast as possible. Look for a mobile phone insurance company that promises to solve fast and responsibly your issue. We’ll be sharing a few of them lower in the article.
• Number of claims & increase of monthly rate. What if, during a single year, all of the following happens to your phone: it gets stolen 2 times, you lose it once in that wonderful park, your daughter cracks it screen and your dog partially destroys is. The insurance company is obviously losing some money with you, so it’s expected that they’re going to charge much more when you come the second or the third time in a short period of time, like one year. Also, some might even increase your monthly rate if you had any unfortunate events the previous year. Do look out for these important details.
• Should I insure my tablet, as well? Phones are not everything we have. Actually, most of us now have smartphones. And chances are, that if you have a smartphone, you might already own or looking for to get a tablet. You could insure that, as well, and probably get a discount with the insurer.

Let’s do some math

I hope that I didn’t scare you too much by outlining just how many things there are when trying to insure your mobile phone. And you’d think that $5, $10 or even $15 per month is not such a big deal, but when you think in terms of years, you’ll realize that you’ll probably end up paying quite a lot. It all boils down to your own needs, preferences and … luck. As I see it, a phone or tablet insurance, if you will, is efficient as long as you lose or have your device broken in the first months.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that some phone insurance companies might work with your carrier, so you could have your lost or destroyed phone replaced and without having to deal with the carrier at all.

Therefore, when picking up a phone insurance agent, carefully check if it supports your carrier, even if it might be a local one. Depending on where you live, different phone insurance plans might be present, but we’ll take USA standards as a reference.

Before selecting your cell phone insurance plan, you need to carefully calculate how much you’ll end up paying for this useful service. There are 2 big options: a one time single payment or a monthly, recurrent payment. Just for the sake of the example, let’s say that you’ve found that right insurance plan that is OK according to all the above mentioned points. You will be required to pay monthly $8, which means you’ll end up paying in 2 years almost $200. And, let’s say that you have the latest iPhone, so let’s add to that $100 more. Therefore, if after 2 years, your phone is still with you, safe and sound, you’ll end paying $300 for a service that you had never used.

There are cheaper alternatives, though, that consumers might start to like – a one-time payment. No monthly bills, no excess fees or other shady details. The disadvantage with this method is that you have to pay more from the start. But they also have a trick – you’ll have  to pay a deductible fee every time you file a claim, which ranges usually from $75 to $150. But there’s a much more simple, yet useful solution.

Make your own emergency fund

photo credits: RealEstateWagga

I sometimes fail to understand why people give so much money each month to private or governmental pension funds. I guess they’re doing it for their peace of mind, but I, for one, see more sense in putting aside money that you will control. Why not just create a deposit account and put there all the money, instead of handing it over to others? You could do the same thing when it comes to insuring your phone. Putting aside $10 dollars every month can do wonders if you lose your phone, at least for your own peace of mind.

There are obvious drawbacks, of course, such as the hassle with your carrier. But, at least, you know that you’re not giving your money to somebody else and if nothing happens, you don’t lose money. If fate is on your side, you could very well insure your phone your way and not paying up for a service that, as I have already said, might not help you at all.

Reliable phone insurance companies

The decision is all yours, we’ve only tried to bring up all the pros and cons of this ardent question – “should I have phone insurance?”. Of course, you need to take a look at some of the best offers that there are in the industry. But at this moment, you already know what you should be looking for and how to avoid the commonly used tricks in the insurance field. Let’s have a look at some cell phone insurers that seem to be la crème de la crème.

• Asurion – this is called by many as the leading and most popular company in the phone insurance business. Perhaps that’s why they have added extra features to make those craving for security flock in – protected privacy, antivirus, anti-malware and anti-phishing. Besides that, you can also find and lock your phone if it gets lost or stolen. However, if you’re only interested in insuring your phone, do check out their offer and request a personalized quote.
• Square Trade – I first heard about Square Trade on Youtube, where they used to drop smartphones in order to see which one is more durable. A real nice way to get promotion among consumers. It has a very good rating, but it won’t cover you from loss or theft, which is  a big drawback. The 2-years protection plan requires a one-time payment of $125 or $7 per month + a $99 deductible fee applied to all claims. The plan covers the following: drops, spills, mechanical, electrical, touchscreen, wi-fi, antenna, display failures and problems with the connector port and power on button.
• Ensquared – Ensquared is another reliable phone insurance company that promises to take care of your devices. It has different insurance plans, according to the type of your device: iPhone, iPad,  plan for smartphones and tablets. A 2 year protection plan for smartphones (no iPhone) will also cover loss and theft. You will have to pay a one-time fee of $100 and a $75 deductible fee per claim. You can fail as many as 3 claims (an additional amount of $25 is applied) with a maximum cover of $1000.
• GoCare - this is another insurance company that deals with phones, tablets and laptops. You need to head to their website to get an exact quote for your model of phone, but the company says that prices start from $59 per year. Insurances from GoCare also have the role of extended warranties.
• ProtectYourBubble – you will have to select from the drop-down menu to find out what’s the monthly quote for your exact model, but it should be around $8 per month.  You will also have to pay a deductible claim fee, as follows: $75 for basic phones and tablets, $100 for smartphones. $120 for iPhones. The reason why iPhones are more expensive is probably because they are harder to repair and have non-removable batteries.

There are many other phone insurance companies that can do a great deal protecting your phone. You can also check with your carriers and see whether their terms might suit your not. Depending on where you are living, you might have similar or even better insurance plans for your phone. But now, you are armed with the most useful gun there is – information. Good luck in finding the right insurance plan or the no plan at all!

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Should You Have Phone Insurance? appeared first on Technology Personalized.

Windows XP (especially SP3) is so sophisticated in itself that Microsoft – which usually gives its products around 10 year life span for support and services – kept on extending the support for Windows XP. But now, they have decided to call it quits, so on 8th April 2014, Microsoft will be finally ending its support – deserting security revisions, critical patches and assistance.

Rising and Shining Windows XP

The first few months of sales weren’t overwhelming as Windows XP failed to strike the right chords. Even when compared to Windows 98, XP in its days of inception couldn’t match that pace. Howard Dyckovsky, an NPD Intelect analyst suggested back then:

It’s a sign of the change in the market that operating systems relatively aren’t as important in the retail market.

In terms of software and hardware coupling, it had made significant improvements over all its predecessors. It was lightweight, in fact it was so light on system resources, that the only few things you needed to run its home version was:

• 64 MB of RAM
• 233 MHz of processor
• Around 1.6 GB of hard drive space.

Notably, it was also the first OS to introduce the concept of activation.

As sluggish and outdated Windows XP has become, still there is a huge chunk of people using it. The reason for this is that although Microsoft thinks it’s time to unplug its cord, most software firms make sure to get their apps compatible on Windows XP. And why shouldn’t they? Windows XP is still the second most used Operating System and even after the arrival of Windows 8, 38% people on earth still boot Windows XP to work. In fact, it is so all-inclusive that according to some websites and forums, even after the launch of Windows 8, for the past few months there were only 0.09% people who migrated from Windows XP.

Notwithstanding with the destiny Howard Dyckovsky was expecting, Windows XP gained momentum and went ahead to sell 600 million copies in its 110 month of ascendancy. These are just statistics though; nothing is linear in computing realm.

It will be inane of us to oversee this from the consumer perspective. One of the other reasons why people are still using Windows XP is sort of vindicated by the fact that there are still around 2 million people on earth who use Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and even Windows 3.x. So, it is very hard to predict when will be the time when people will stop using Windows XP.

How about making Windows XP open source?

Microsoft has made it clear that they are abandoning Windows XP, but will it make sense if they decide to make it open source? Well, they can’t actually.

One of the reasons is that Microsoft has been using some of the codes that they used in Windows XP to develop Windows Vista, and every other OS that they released after it. So, allowing people to get a look at their recipe is a total no. Also, Microsoft has used some codes in XP that they don’t have the rights to produce to the public, hence it doesn’t seem this temptation will ever be able to present itself.

Living with Windows XP

Microsoft has been rolling out various discounted offers to make their old users upgrade to the latest version. In a world where Windows lovers can live happily ever after with Windows 7 (yeah, Windows 8 isn’t doing all that well, I hope Windows Blue heals that wound), we know for a fact that 38% people are still using Windows XP, so presuming that all of them will leave that coalition just because Microsoft has given up on XP doesn’t make much sense.

But sadly, the end of support management will tail more loopholes in security among other equally concerning areas. Bearing in mind the number of people who use Windows XP, I don’t think security companies will stop providing and building their products for our archaic OS just yet. Hence, to resolve these security issues, one is advised to install 3rd party anti-virus and firewall. Once that has been taken care of, you are obviously required to install a better browser, thankfully Chrome and Mozilla Firefox hasn’t stopped tendering Windows XP.

You can install several other 3rd party apps to strengthen the further imperative functionality such as search, device management, Media Players and several other productivity and multimedia tasks. Having issues finding the compatibility of the new printer you just plugged in? Well, get it fixed soon. This is the jumbling part of all this chaotic sight that Microsoft has laid; we are not sure how it will deal with the activation mechanism once this all is done.

Activation, if you remember, is the limited days (usually, 30 days) period after successful installation of most Microsoft product. You have to get your license verified over the internet to ensure whether or not you are using a genuine copy. If Microsoft decides to pull that plug off completely, the only way you will ever be able to make your computer run again after reinstallation of your operating system will be to use a crack, which again has legal issues.

Long live Windows XP

In almost every industry, IT is the department that is considered to be a drain on resources. To cut short on it, and thanks to the hilarious hiccups in Windows Vista, people didn’t mind sticking with their age old confidant, Windows XP. Not to forget that replacing or upgrading thousands of computers in any computer network will take years to be properly planned and executed. There have been lots of surveys doing rounds that suggest that people don’t want to leave Windows XP after all.

The other reason why Windows XP became so popular is that you don’t really need much internet access to make it work. Thanks for the lesser crashing experience and longevity, Windows XP went on to become the perfect machine for the places where there is trouble or shortage of internet availability. I know from my personal experience, since my dad works in post office, that most of the computers there are still running Windows XP, so this sluggish office environment has made Windows XP their lifetime companion. And remember, it wasn’t until the 4th quarter of the last year that Windows 7 became the most popular operating system for desktops.

Another reason why Windows XP managed to canon the computer world despite the presence of Apple’s OS, is the humongous application ecosystem they have. Unlike Apple’s app-store centered sphere, Microsoft gives you the ability to use their OS the way you so desire. Microsoft succeeded to port a sophisticated collaboration between hardware and software (extensive USB support and plug-n-play functionality) and kept the openness in its agreement intact.

It is also true that Windows XP was the first OS of its kind to give far-reaching administrative commands to its users. Something that Microsoft has maintained since then. This made it even more popular at the heart of mischief makers. It indorsed everyone play and tweak with its software’s settings and get to know the working of it.

Why Windows XP isn’t dead yet

Microsoft wants to make more profit, imagine if your first phone could have had all the features, and all you had to do was make an update. Of course the hardware keeps uplifting itself, but you get my point, right? When Microsoft released Windows Vista eight years back, they also directed all the resources to it. Then came two more operating systems: you can fill the blanks. Thing is that this is a consumer driven market, people decide what they want, so if millions of consumers still wish to use Windows XP, ending the support isn’t going to help Microsoft.

If they were doing the traditional migration — which people have done to get to XP from Windows 95, for example — then on our analysis if there have anything more than a couple of hundred PCs, they really haven’t got time to do that. Not unless they throw an absolute mammoth amount of manpower at it

says Roy Illsley, Ovum principal analyst. By abandoning its own products, killing all the support, Microsoft is pushing its users to other platforms.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Why Windows XP Won’t Die so Soon? appeared first on Technology Personalized.

Even if we tried to be as objective as possible, and not create a list of our own favorite shows, one might think that some of these TV Shows should not belong on this list, or that others might deserve a spot. Nevertheless, these TV shows for geeks will be to your liking. And, just as always, use the comments section to suggest more.

More than 30 of the best TV shows for geeks

These TV shows have gathered thousands of fans and some of them have been around for as much as 50 years. Nevertheless, they are some of the best TV shows ever created and geeks from around the world have watched them with joy.

The Big Bang Theory

Two Caltech physicist are who are socially awkward, but excel in the laboratory find that their new neighbor is great looking, socially active woman. She tries to help out the guys with advice on how they can have a social life, but her advices tend to fall on deaf ears.

Genre: Comedy
Release Date: 2007

Chuck

Chuck is a simple geek, working as a tech support guy fir a retail chain. His life takes a turn when secret government information gets downloaded into his brain and he is turned into a spy. Nevertheless, he is still the old geek, but with some added benefits, and when trouble come, he relies on the real spies to help him out.

Genre: Comedy | Action | Drama
Release Date: 2007

Breaking Bad

After receiving the news that he has terminal lung cancer, extremely overqualified professor of chemistry at a local high school, Walter White, puts his skills to work and creates the world’s best crystal meth. However, the life of a drug cook/dealer is not easy, and there are lots of competitors.

Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Release Date: 2008

The X-Files

Two FBI Agents, Fox Mulder, the believer, and Dana Scully, the skeptic, are investigating a series of unexplained phenomenon. In their adventures, they come across countless entities and bizarre apparitions, each weirder than the other.

Genre: Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Release Date: 1993

Firefly

Captain Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds is the captain of a crew that flies into dark corners of the Universe, trying to make a living. The story of this TV show takes place 500 years in the future, and the life of renegades like Captain Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds is hard. He and his crew take part on all manner of difficult missions.

Genre: Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 2002

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a genius scientist who is traveling through time in his TARDIS, a device that is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. His adventures takes us from the very beginning of time and all the way to…a new beginning of time.

Genre: Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi
Release Date: First Released in 1963

Quantum Leap

Doctor Sam Beckett has an idea: to invent time travel, and he would not stop at anything to succeed. However, when his funding was gone, the only choice he had was to test his machine on himself. He entered it and when he woke up, he was in a different body, in a different time. Now he tries to find his way back.

Genre: Action | Adventure | Drama | Family | Mystery | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 1989

Supernatural

Sam and Dean Winchester are two brothers who battle the forces of evil in order to keep mankind safe. They are hunters and their prey are supernatural beings that have of a habit of eating humans. Demons, angels and pretty much everything in between are part of this world, and its salvation lies with the Winchester brothers and others like them.

Genre: Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Release Date: 2005

Warehouse 13

Two U.S Secret Service agents are investigating strange objects in South Dakota. They find out that these objects are supernatural and that they are kept by an organization, called Regents, which operates outside the government.

Genre: Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Release Date: 2009

Freaks and Geeks

It’s the 1980s and things were different back then. At McKinley High there are two main groups, the Freaks, who are the cool kids, and the Geeks, who are subjected to bullying and are considered outcasts. The show follows their lives, as they battle with the dangers of youth: drugs and drinking, among others.

Genre: Comedy | Drama
Release Date: 1999

Sanctuary

Mutants are walking among us. They look just like regular humans, but they have powers beyond our understanding. Dr. Helen Magnus is the head of the Sanctuary network, a place where these special people can be safe. And when Dr. Will Zimmerman comes into contact with this world, his life changes in more ways than one.

Genre: Crime | Mystery | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 2008

Stargate Series

Stargates are ancient devices that allow people to open Wormholes to pretty much any place in the Universe. These portals come with the possibility for Universal exploration and dangers beyond comprehension. A military team is sent to explore the Stargate’s secrets.

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
Release Date: First series in 1997

V

Alien ships come to Earth. At first, they seem peaceful and they are willing to share their technologies with us, but this only on the surface. Their true agenda is hidden and it is up to the Resistance to show the world what the aliens are really after.

Genre: Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Release Date: 2009

MythBusters

This Discovery Channel documentary has lots of fans around the world. The hosts, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman set out to bust all the urban myths they can find. The show is both funny and educations, which is the best combination possible.

Genre: Documentary | Mystery
Release Date: 2003

Babylon 5

In the year 2258, after the Earth-Minbari War, Commander Sinclair is the commanding officer of an spaceship that is orbiting a neutral planet. However, tensions are high at the fringes of the giant galactic empires and keeping the peace is harder, especially when they have to consider the interstellar commerce.

Genre: Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 1994

The IT Crowd

Moss and Roy are two very talented IT specialists who work for a big corporation. They provide tech support and their employer, at Reynholm Industries is not at all tech savvy, so they have a hard time at work. Nevertheless, their adventures at their workplace are very amusing.

Genre: Comedy
Release Date: 2006

Eureka

Jack Carter is a US Marshall and a pretty ordinary individual. Things take a turn when he enters a town called Eureka where the world’s best minds have created a utopia for scientists. He becomes Sheriff of Eureka and has to keep things running smooth, even when the science experiments go out of hand.

Genre: Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 2006

Battlestar Galactica Series

Battlestar Galactica is a series that has won the hearts of the people time and time again. The different adventures that each tv show has kept users in front of the TVs like nothing else. Even after so much time, fans are still watching it.

Genre: Sci-Fi | Action | Adventure
Release Date: First Series appeared in 1987

Jericho

After seeing a mushroom cloud nearby, the people living in a small town in Kansas are left in the dark, wondering what has happened. Everyday life becomes a fight for survival and they have few answers about what caused the explosion and how to survive.

Genre: Action | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 2006

Futurama

Futurama is an animated series, in which the action takes place in the future. A pizza delivery guy, Philip J. Fry, who is not happy with his job is frozen in capsule for 1000 years and is woken up to find that the world has changed in a dramatic way. He is assigned a job in package delivery for his last living relative.

Genre: Animation | Comedy | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 1999

Lost

After getting stranded on a deserted island, the survivors of the plane crash are trying to stay alive and wait for rescue. When they realize that no one is coming, they start exploring the island, but things start turning for the worst, as they discover that the island is not normal and strange things are happening all the time.

Genre: Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Release Date: 2004

FlashForward

Everyone on Earth has blacked out for 2.17 minutes and saw visions of the future. Now, a special task force of the FBI is charged to investigate the incident and figure out what it all means. They have to put the puzzle together to see what the future holds.

Genre: Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Release Date: 2009

Revolution

A mysterious event caused all the world’s electricity to disappear. Nothing electric is working any more and all over the world, Militias and Dictators have seized control. The Resistance is trying to get things back to normal, but the odds are stacked against them.

Genre: Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 2012

Star Trek Series

On the board of the star-ship Enterprise, Captain James T. Kirk and his crew are constantly getting in adventures that take place all around the Universe. They have ventured where no man has gone before: Space, the final frontier.

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
Release Date: First Series was launched in 1966

Fringe

The FBI’s Fringe Division is in charge of investigating strange phenomenon in the city of Boston. The team is lead by Special Agent Olivia Dunham and one of the best scientist that ever lived, Walter Bishop, who was working on top secret projects that were considered science fiction.

Genre:Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi
Release Date: 2008

Notable Mentions

Of course, there are other very popular TV series that you might consider geek-material, and the choice depends on everyone’s taste in cinematography. Even so, we feel like they deserve a mention on this list.

• Game of Thrones
• True Blood
• Heroes
• Dexter
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• The Walking Dead
• Dragon Ball Series
• The Legend of Korra
• Grimm

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post 30+ Entertaining TV Shows for Geeks appeared first on Technology Personalized.

At the end of the day you should notice the advantages of employing an intelligent marketing team and that no matter how modest a device is, selling figures can be boosted by a smart presentation and the other way around.

Samsung and the Galaxy S4

The latest Galaxy smartphone has been successfully launched through several countries since its official announcement in New York City. Back then, Samsung hired an entire orchestra to stage a theatrical performance, in which actors displayed each important feature of the blazing-fast smartphone. Though many found the performance silly, it was aimed to inform the entire world how well Samsung can perform and how the phone can help users each day.

Later on, Samsung took the show to Britain, where a concert was held in the honor of the fourth generation Android king. This may seem like a pile of money wasted on the young, but who wouldn’t come to a free concert to listen to free music, while being informed about Samsung’s brightest creation. The Korean company took advantage of the chance and made most of it.

The story continues with a rather surprising move for those unfamiliar with the matter; while introducing the Galaxy S4 handset in Romania, Samsung flew two units with a helicopter and presented them to the local press on a roof-top, in a James Bond style. Not a lot of money was spent for this gig, but the news was picked up by several publications and produced quite the media tide. Thus, even more exposure.

And who can forget plugging in the Galaxy S3 launch with London Olympics 2012? That was a masterstroke as well.

Microsoft and Windows Phone

I’m more than sure that you’re already acquainted with Microsoft’s growing efforts to promote Windows Phone, even though they have dimmed in the last period. Back in the days, when the first generation of bright Lumia devices came out and the 800 was a device with innovative design and promising future, Microsoft came out with the “Smoked by Windows Phone” challenge. Its rules were pretty simple: participants only had to prove that their current handset is faster than a Windows Phone at a specific task, such as taking a picture and posting it on Facebook.

Those who succeeded, got a $100 check but as you may well guess, this didn’t happen so often. Actually, Microsoft won around 98% of challenges, because all of those tasks were handpicked by MS executives to be bullet-proof against other mobile platforms. Thanks to a range of dedicated buttons, Windows phones could out-speed the likes of Android and iOS, creating the beautiful illusion that the targeted phone was better. That’s like saying a Renault van is better than a BMW M5 at carrying cargo – it’s true, but we’re not interested only in that.

Interestingly, the challenge created quite the impact, mostly because several Microsoft employees took it to the streets of London and each week, more and more users were tempted by this beautiful illusion. Even more, ads with the contest surfaced on TVs and seeing iOS moving slower than WP 7.5 is not a thing you would expect.

Moreover, developers were attracted to create applications for the rather unseen platform with incentives, which was rumored to even hit staggering figures for important names. Thus, Microsoft managed to port some big names on the other side and people started buying more phones.

Sony and the Xperia Z

Sony’s Xperia Z, perhaps one of the most promising handsets we’ve seen from this company in the past decade, has a hidden trick underneath its glowing surface. Besides top-notch specs and a display to amaze, the handset is resistant to decent amounts of dust and also, waterproof. That last aspect has been marketed very well by Sony, and in every possible occasion.

This year at CES, Sony had a stylish booth filled with smartphones and tablets to amaze the crowd. The interesting thing is that every ten meters or so, the Xperia Z was presented in a sealed water tank with an exterior aluminum button, which could be used to deep the phone into water. Simple, effective and curious, I should say. I watched how people walked near the booth to simply press that button and see what it does, without even caring about the phone’s technological capacity.

At the official T-Mobile launch, Sony hired two models to take a shower while using the phone. Again, curiosity struck, as more people were interested about the bizarre scene than in any other occasion.

Apple and the first Macintosh Computer

Back in 1984, when the world was pretty much a human mechanism automatized to build components for different industries, Apple came up with a brilliant marketing team and a great idea. The first ad of the first Macintosh computer was entitled 1984, and presented a world of people doing the same things over and over again. Moreover, all the beings present in the ad were somehow controlled by a brain-washing entity, which held speeches everyday.

Marketing their original ideas and showing how much Apple differs from other companies, the firm took the form of Anya Major, a heroine which breaks the bounds of mind slavery by trowing a heavy hammer in huge display that was broadcasting the “master”. The video simply ends with a message, stating how Apple will change the world with this new computer.

The ad was quite impressive, successfully managing to plant the seed of curiosity inside human minds and to appeal to all those that were bothered by their daily routine. Even though the commercial is pretty old and people did not have access to advanced tools, we’ve selected this entry for the imagination part.

Apple and the first iPhone

Back in 2007, when Android was not even released to the market, people needed a phone to do all those important things that we now call basic: find a restart quickly, map your way through cities and dial people you find online in just a few actions. Well, the first iPhone came with all of these and a lot more, but its success could have been smaller, if Apple had not used a brilliant marketing crew.

First of all, the iPhone ad was broadcast over national television and the simple, clever ad featured above was followed by several others, presented on TV and in major cities. Even though the video itself is not pretentious, it showed people exactly what were they missing and in that current market, where the competition was formed pretty much of bulky Nokia & Motorola phones, the iPhone was a sure hit.

After release, the campaign continued with a bald move. AT&T was the only US carrier permitted to sell the smartphone, an exclusivity which the former Cingular paid big bucks for. Although this may seem as hurtful for sale numbers, it did exactly the opposite, forcing people that were with Verizon or T-Mobile at the time to switch networks just to get it. It intrigued buyers by making the chase harder.

Once the iPhone made his way through the hands of several people, most of them saw it as a bragging tool, one which they could use against friends or relatives. I dare to say that this factor managed to increase sales as no other element, mainly because it was something born from the human nature, and something that persisted even through the times of the latest generation.

Beyond Campaigns

Besides specific occasions, intelligent marketing people also chose to present devices using specific features, which they know will highlight an important aspect of the phone and usually, one that outwits everything on the market. For example, Nokia now touts the newest Lumia line as having the best camera for low-light scenarios. While this is certainly true, some people usually stop at the first three words of that sentence and then spread the word.

On the other hand, companies also know when to disapprove certain statements. For instance, when the Galaxy S4 was launched, it came with wireless charging. Nokia immediately took advantage of the occasion called Samsung a copier, because they were the first company to introduce wireless charging in a retail handset and a screen which works even with gloves on.

Samsung did the same thing with Apple when they launched the iPhone 5, in a not so subtle-manner. While the iPhone 5 was still unannounced, a rather brutal commercial appeared online, showing how Samsung fans enjoy their new Galaxy S III and mocking those who stay in line several days for a phone which basically, promised so few improvements. It was not a nice thing to do, but Android fans enjoyed it and I am sure that the video turned some heads in the Apple camp as well. The video can be seen here.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post 5 of the Most Clever Marketing Campaigns for Smartphones appeared first on Technology Personalized.

It isn’t that Google has failed; I think it will never fail, but some of its products aren’t something the company will be proud of. Google is known for creating impeccable products; it has revolutionized the way we search, no matter what Microsoft says. Bing is not even close to what Google search engine is. Google also industrialized the online adverts developing personalized ad – catering you with the ads which are more relevant to you.

But, things have changed, not everything they dish out is gold, anymore. Here are some examples where Google failed to hit the bull’s eye.

The pirate treasure hunt AKA Google X

It all started back in 2005, when Google Labs released a project named “Google X”, only to shut it down within a day. It was sort of a tribute to Apple’s OS X. Google software engineer Chikai Ohazama put dock look-a-like icons which on hovering, used to magnify. On the bottom it said, “Roses are red. Violets are blue. OS X rocks. Homage to you”.

Back in those days, Google and Apple weren’t competing for any service. They weren’t arch rivals fighting for domination in smartphone world. Neither there was any Chrome OS, nor was Google working on sneaking in making computers. You can still see how the product looked and worked on this page.

Google Web Accelerator which failed to accelerate on the interwebs

In 2005, Google launched Google Web Accelerator, a desktop tool that was intended to speed up browsing for people running on slow internet connections. It used to grab the content and download its cached pages from Google’s servers to your Windows computer. This way it would take significantly less time when you visit a page which has been cached into your computer before.

The software had tragic bugs and did some horrendous slip-ups. It was reported to send the credential of users back to Google servers and then distribute that data to other users. Though Google patched the issues, the tool had already become infamous. Moreover, it lacked support for Firefox users, and nose-dived at playing videos on YouTube.

Google Answers didn’t had answers to its own existence

Do you use Yahoo! Answers? Well, if you do, then you should know that back in 2002, Google too tried something similar, only that it wasn’t really free. You write your questions, pay some price for it, and, then you had to give the researcher who helped you with your question some money as well. The process was quite simple though, how often do you hate it when you can’t find the exact thing you are looking for? So, this was nothing but hiring people to do that job for you. By December 2006, Google decided to shut down the service for good.

Google Wave couldn’t predict the tide

It was rather sad to hear Google Wave’s demise. It was one of the most anticipated, overhyped and yet another approach from Google to reinvent email, instant messaging, and social networking. In a sense, it was putting all the social media and our other villas into one single apartment. Launched in 2009, maybe it was way ahead of its time, maybe had Google tried it last year, or this year it may have worked. It was so complicated for most users, add the invitation requirement to access it, Google blew it. Before anyone noticed, Google handed over the project to Apache Software Foundation.

Google Buzz, something which failed to buzz

The idea was quite novel, seeing the dominance of Facebook and Twitter, Google, which has shrill repute over blogging platform Blogspot, in 2010, made a micro-blogging and social sharing service, Google Buzz. Google had learned an important lesson from the fiasco of Google Wave, where it couldn’t do justice with over hyped voice and limited user readiness. Google made this service available to every Gmail user, only to witness another setback.

The problem with Google Buzz was that it tampered with people’s privacy without their consent. People didn’t like the idea of sharing everything they see on the internet with their friends, colleagues and family. With that said, the attitude to impose this service on every user only made things worse. Google soon saw it on dialysis and in December 2011, had no choice but to pull the plug off.

Google Plus, minus.

Finally, a fully-fledged, re-mastered, intuitive approach from Google to build a giant social network, something that was intended to shoo Facebook and Twitter, Google Plus has failed to make a good impression on people. Though it has its own essence at how we want to share our things. But, it all comes down to adaptability and where our friends are. Google again enforced the service to its every Gmail user.

Google Plus integrates many of its services like Google Talk, YouTube, and Blogger with your Plus account. It also has some unmatched services like Google Hangout. But, again, people don’t see much use of it. It has become a tenacious obsession of Google to not let things go. Google in the last few months has done so many things to make it work, but at this point it only seems as a dead end.

Google Reader is going down

As a blogger and a reader nothing of the above listed things ever mattered to me, yeah, well Google Plus could have been better, but something that was completely dreadful and bigoted from Google’s behalf was to kill its super awesome minimalistic yet dominant RSS feed managing software, Google Reader. It ruled the RSS space for years. People were angry, they all went mad. MG Siegler from TechCrunch wrote about the role of Google Reader at driving traffic to sites. He explains,

On my own site, I’ve always been surprised to see Reader constantly in the top five of traffic referrers day in and day out. If I tweet out a link or share one on Facebook, it leads to large spikes, but Reader is my rock. It’s steady traffic each and every day.

Google says that there has been a decline in the usage of Google Reader. This is totally absurd. Google removed Adwords for feeds out of RSS, signing out of any monetary gain; they didn’t push any new feature to it in last couple of years. Still, people howled to see it go, what would be the reason Google? Sure, there are alternatives, but I don’t think any of them will ever be able to spike that status.

Sadly, this isn’t all; apart from dozens of other services where Google failed to make sense, there are many other places where this tech giant isn’t doing well, Last year, due to the mounting pressure from international rights-holders, Google decided to not promote any pirated content in its search result, yet, many months to it, a simple search will flourish you so many paths to that polluted space.

Google still has to figure the right algorithm for mobile friendly Search Engine Optimization. And at last, as awesome and enthralling Google Glass could be, it has already made some privacy fear into many hearts. ”You won’t know if you’re being recorded or not; and even if you do, you’ll have no way to stop it,” says Mark Hurst of doom-cries.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

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What surprises me is why his videos aren’t as popular as Gangnam Style? Okay, so it is music, people love music. What about Harlem Shake then? Okay, I get it. But why the video of two cats talking has more number of views on YouTube than his chef-d’oeuvre?

Some content will go viral, you find something cool on some web page, you share it with your friends, they share that with their friends, and the chain keeps on building. Once the snowball has started rolling, it will continue rolling. But this isn’t restricted to just video content. It is happening with almost every form of data you find on the internet. Let me give you another example, the one that appeals more to me.

A while ago, TheVerge ran a long piece on “For Amusement Only: the life and death of the American arcade“, and then Huffington Post featured the same piece titled “The Life And Death Of The American Arcade” where they put a short snippet of TheVerge’s article and a link to the source as well. This is customary; almost every publishing website links each other sites to drive more traffic to their content. Everything went fine, except, HuffPo’s piece made the top search result when you googled “the life and death of the American arcade”.

Joshua Topolsky, the editor-in-chief of the The Verge wasn’t happy with this. In his opinion, HuffPo was stealing The Verge’s thunder. The technical explanation of why this all happened, why HuffPo’s mirrored piece managed to get more traffic is Search Engine Optimization. In short, SEO is using smart keywords that match with what others might be searching (trend), and if your analysis is right, you will gain Google “juice”. While Joshua’s point of view and Twitter rant may look a little stroppy, at the same point, it does make some sense. If you are running a website whose primary income comes from ad revenue, this matters, because when any website passes on your content they get some share in your advert profit.

Having good content is not enough

No matter how cool and informative your content is, the platform you are on, the algorithms you use, your approach to marketing and several other factors help determine whether or not your material will attract large traffic. This is where Metcalf’s Law kicks in. Metcalf’s law says that the number of possible cross links in a network grow as the square of the peer computer increases. For as long as your content is worth sharing, it holds good for content virility as well. Problogger’s infographic suggests the following mantra for content success.

• The content must be undeniably hilarious, a comic relief if you will, helping you snitch a break off your busy schedule.
• Make an appeal to its audience. Unless the viewer will find a connection to the content, it is very unlikely that they will ever praise it.
• The content may have some social value inept in it – could be an embarrassing side of a cringe worthy moment, for a guilty pleasure.
• The content should not offend anyone, and speak the opinion of mass. The content could be stimulating and even risky for that matter, but it should be something that one doesn’t feel bad sharing.

Hire the right people

What’s the secret behind the success of marketing of movie studio 20th Century Fox, network carrier Virgin Mobile and the soft drink producer Pepsi? The answer is Mekanism. Mekanism is a creative agency which takes care of your brand’s advertisement, brand entertainment, and several social media programs. They promise to make your content viral, and unlike majority of their competitors, they make it happen. Forbes reported a fascinating story of their success. Where even after getting the desirable success, they kept on striving for more.

Besides this, one also needs to be sharp with the timing of the content delivery, and must know their audiences. Categorizing the content is equally important. Tag a contest, fanfare a giveaway, put enough visual content. Kiri Blakeley from Forbes shares a very interesting story of how she managed to gain 100,000 viewers on one her post with some strange luck. She argues how a specific kind of domain can help you drive good share of audience. But, 100 friends won’t be able to get you to a rich place. Your content will always end up being viewed by the same people. Nothing is going to happen unless you gain some real attention.

There are a few things which are in your hand and for the rest you can only pray or seek help from others. There are numerous services that will do anything to make your product rise and shine. They will take care of the traffic, they will share your pieces or content on larger platform. That momentum, that rise is very necessary.

Also, it won’t be really licentious of me to put this idea in your head. Believe it or not, at the verse of the interwebs, fake followers are being bought and sold. You can have paid organic traffic, and before they know it, they will find themselves lost in the awesomeness of your products. People are creating fake deceptive brand value for their products. And, once your product has scored the full house, get out of that deceptive aura – dispense with the formalities.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Science Behind Making Content go Viral Online appeared first on Technology Personalized.

Although progress is needed no matter what, I sometimes miss my old phone. Even in this advanced age, some good old features lack from conventional smartphones and in some occasions, this is enough to make me leave it home. In favor of cutting edge-technology, I’m afraid that simpler things were left behind.

Downsides of Intelligent Cellphones

Hoping that technology would evolve even more rapidly in order to adapt at least some of the following disadvantages, we’ll start analyzing a very simple question: why in a world where a smartphone can do so many for its owner, there is still a need for a classic, back-up phone?

Reduced battery life

Perhaps the most embarrassing aspect of my smartphone is the short battery life. On a regular basis, with medium-to low use, I barely get through a full day’s time. When I start playing, turn on the Wi-Fi and browse the web, it takes around 3-4 hours for the juice level to drop dangerously low. My battery is fully functional, has not been damaged through time and I even got it tested to be sure. The motive is actually simple: the more juice you need, the more you consume.

Unfortunately, batteries as units have not evolved so much in the past couple of years. To further aggravate our disappointment, manufacturers have failed to integrate bigger batteries inside newer cellphones (especially Apple) and so, we’ve end up with a big problem: increased demand, without technological bases. On the other hand, my proud Samsung GT-E1230 gets me through a full week without complaining about energy. Even when the phone let’s me know that it’s Saturday, and the battery is rather low, it still gets through another 24 hours until I remember to charge it.

Low Durability and high maintenance

Another big disadvantage is material strength and of course, durability. I am not afraid of carrying my legacy phone when I go skiing, to the beach, or for a ten-hour mountain-hike. There’s no way I could critically damage that phone, even though it’s a Samsung, and not a die-hard Nokia.

On the other camp, I’m sad to say that I broke my Samsung Nexus S screen three times: twice when playing pool by leaning on the table with the wrong pocket, and once on a snow sledge. This happened mostly because of the high amount of screen exposure (it has a 4-inch wide display) and of course, because I do not use any additional protecting cases. Even sadder is the fact that I had to pay around $400 to replace the display three times, which is approximately the same amount I paid on the darn thing in the first place.

This would not happen with a conventional phone. Its smaller display makes it less vulnerable against damaging factors and even though the panel is not fabricated with a high-end protective technology, such as Gorilla Glass 3, it feels way safer. When it comes to shocks, or high falls, the same thing applies. Seeing my old phone dropping from two meters would be a regular thing but if that happened with my smartphone, I would probably be scared, because I would have to pay a lot more to replace its broken parts.

Too complicated

I remember my team coordinator’s first day with a brand new smartphone, a quad-core from AllView, received as a gift (this happened two weeks ago I believe). Even though she’s only 27 years old and has around 13 people to guide through difficult tasks, that 4.5-inch wide black phone was nothing but a brick to her. She was so confused about Android, and how the phone can be guided through various tasks that she actually left it on the desk for around 2 days, until figuring out the mystery.

For some, Android is far too complicated and difficult to maneuver. That’s why simpler people tend to opt for iOS, where the operating system is a bit friendlier. But what happens to those that want a phone, but cannot handle either platform? Basically, they stay out of smartphones. I know a person or two, my aunt included, which although has a successful business underneath her wings, she still survives with a Nokia 5000. In addition, remember that all intelligent systems must be updated once in a while, and such simple tasks (for those who know a thing or two) will be seen as cliff edges by many.

Too big

Smartphones are getting bigger by the day, because they need to have plenty of room to accommodate at least a modest battery, lots of intelligent pieces and mainly, a big display. While the past trend has shown that product makers will not stop at the conventional 3.5-inch wide phone, by slowly crossing the slim barrier towards tablets with 6.3-inch mega beasts, I’d rather leave this fight for another occasion and argue about principles, more than trends.

First of all, that wonderful large display is helpful when the user checks for emails, plays some games, watches a video and any other kind of content consuming scheme I am yet aware of. When someone wants to speak with another, that large display becomes rather useless. The same thing applies when the smartphone is carried from one place, to another. Now imagine technology being so bold that a wonderful, big display will only appear when needed. That would be my thing.

In the end

As stated, there are still some major issues product makers have to deal in the following years. While technology evolves, I cannot wait until my smartphone can truly be carried through all environments, with a battery to survive at least a couple of days – of course, all of these without having repercussions on the form factor.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post What’s Bad About Owning a Smartphone appeared first on Technology Personalized.

Facebook has partnered with HTC to release the Facebook Home for the first time on HTC First (marketing pun?) which we saw how it looks like thanks to some early leaks. The device is not a top of the line smartphone and maybe the preinstallation of the Facebook Home application is just another selling point. We take a look at the first reviews to have a better understanding of both the device and the software novelty from Facebook.

HTC First with Facebook Home Reviews

Facebook and HTC seem to work together pretty well – if you recall, HTC ChaCha & HTC Salsa (which aren’t being produced anymore) were also dubbed Facebook phones. Of course, back then, a simple button that would allow for quick Facebook access was enough to call it like that. HTC First is aimed at those that spend a lot of time on Facebook and use it as their main online communication service. But is this all that it can do? Let’s dig deeper.

Hardware & Design

If you’ll have a closer look at the pictures in the gallery, you’ll see that HTC First’s design doesn’t surprise you at all. It doesn’t have too many things to make it stand out, thus making it a perfect mid-range smartphone. But that’s the conclusion only if you look at it. If you get the chance to hold it, as reviewers have done, you realize that it’s actually pretty nice to hold in one hand. Dieter Bohn with The Verge:

Because of its small size, the First is a pleasure to hold. It nestles comfortably in one hand in a way that few popular Android phones do these days. More so than the iPhone 5, too, thanks in large part to its rounded edges and corners. It’s about 0.35 inches thick, which doesn’t put it into the world of crazy-thin phones, but neither is it chunky.

Dieter goes on to observe that HTC First is somewhat similar to the iPhone 3G/3GS, which is like a delayed compliment. The rounded edges and matte plastic usually makes one say a certain device feels cheap, but not this time. Another thing that you notice (or don’t?) is the light weight – only 124 grams (4.37 ounces). Brad Molen with Engadget says that HTC First’s design and build makes it seem like a playful device, even somewhat similar to the Nokia Lumia 620:

The First is by no means a “premium” smartphone, especially when compared to the aluminum beauty of the iPhone 5 or the HTC One. Still, it feels almost classic in its simplicity without coming off as too cheap. Best of all, again, it comes pretty close to the ideal size for a phone that you’d want to use in one hand.

Here are the full specs of the HTC First:

• Dimensions: 125.99 x 65.04 x 8.89mm (4.96 x 2.56 x 0.35 inches)
• Weight: 4.37 oz. (124g)
• Screen: 4.3 inches, 1,280 x 720 (341 ppi), S-LCD2, non-PenTile
• Battery: 2,000mAh Li-Polymer (non-removable)
• Storage:  16GB internal, no external
• Camera: 5MP, BSI, f/2, 28mm lens rear; 1.6MP, BSI ultrawide angle front
• Video: 1080p / 30 fps (rear); 720p (front)
• NFC, LTE, Bluetooth v4.0, WiFi
• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, CPU 1.4GHz dual-core, GPU Adreno 305
• RAM 1GB LPDDR2
• Android 4.1.2 (stock) + Facebook Home
• Micro-USB, Micro-SIM

The HTC First comes with the traditional touch-sensitive keys: back, home, and menu. As for the physical buttons, we have a volume rocker on the left side, power button on the top where we also find the 3.5mm jack. The speaker is on the bottom and the microSIM tray and microUSB port are to be found on the right edge. Josh Constine with TechCrunch :

The glass screen seems to curve down at the thin bezeled edges into the surrounding plastic case and its matte finish. There’s not a sharp edge to be found, nor any cold glass or aluminum. Rather than a triumph of industrial chic, the First feels cozy — dare I say sensual. It’s thin, and the plastic helps keeps the weight down despite the 4.3 inch screen. Between the rounded edges and sleek figure, it’s a breeze to slide into your pocket.

Display & Camera

What’s really good about this phone is the display: at 4.3 inches, it has a 1,280 x 720 resolution which means it has a 341 ppi density, even bigger than the iPhone 5. Dieter observes that the HTC First comes with the right color balance, having no complaints about it. However, under bright sunlight, the screen might become difficult to see. Viewing angles are also quite good, even at almost 90 degrees. Therefore, you shouldn’t have too many complaints with regards to the 720p resolution Super LCD display.

Don’t expect any UltraPixels in the HTC First’s cameras. And when it comes to rating the experience with the 5 MP camera, the opinions of reviewers are shared. While Florence Ion with ArsTechnica is satisfied with it, saying the following:

Although most manufacturers play up the high megapixel count on their handsets’ cameras, the HTC First makes do with only five megapixels. The phone took great pictures where there was proper lighting, but it had some issues in lower-light settings, especially with dull or incandescent synthetic lighting.

Brad is definitely expecting for more:

In terms of performance, color representation on the rear camera was incredibly accurate, but every other aspect of the module was subpar: low-light shots didn’t live up to the expectations set by the specs, many daylight images suffered from soft focus and the level of detail was less than pleasing. Again, we’re trying to keep in mind that this particular device isn’t meant to be performance-driven, but we were really hoping to upload some spectacular shots from the First and share them via Home. Unfortunately, this activity was kept to a minimum.

All in all, if you really intend to take picture and to share it instantly on Facebook, then the quality of images this camera offers is just about right. And considering that you’re paying $100 to get it on a 2-years contract from AT&T, it’s not such a bad deal, after all. But for those looking for their next smartphone to be uber-fast and to take super awesome pictures this just might not do it. For those that don’t mind too much about crisp quality in their images, it will prove to be alright.

Performance & Battery Life

On the performance chapter, the HTC First comes with pretty decent specs, being powered by a 1.4 Ghz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor. Also, because it has LTE capabilities, it makes the most of AT&T’s 4G LTE network. Jessica Doulcourt with Cnet had no problems at all with the browsing and processing power of the device:

Real-world tests also yielded speedy results, with Web pages loading expediently, and apps downloading from Google Play in a few seconds. I was also able to stream music and video seamlessly over 4G. On the processing side, the phone’s 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon chipset seemed to handle itself well, certainly well enough for the category of phone. Apps loaded quickly and gameplay, while not the most crystal clear or finely detailed I’ve even seen, was immersive and smooth.

Florence has a valid point when she observes that albeit the device is definitely not slow, we might feel the difference a year from now, when the processor might become too “old” for some. Brad also praises the processor beind HTC First and notices that it’s the first time such a combination has been used:

This is the first time we’ve reviewed a handset with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset, Adreno 305 GPU and 1GB RAM. As the name suggests, the 400 isn’t quite as heavy-duty as the quad-core S4 Pro, Snapdragon 600 or 800, but as a 1.4GHz, dual-core, 28nm piece of silicon, it seems just about right for something like the First. It’s not meant for power users, but it still needs to have enough oomph to ensure the phone’s performance — or lack thereof — doesn’t harm Facebook’s brand along the way.

A very important part of a new smartphone is the battery. With a 2,000mAh one, HTC First wants to make sure that it will be enough for your daily needs, promising up to 14.3 hours of talk time and up to 18.2 days of standby time. Vincent Nguyen with SlashGear is also impressed with the battery life but he notices a problem with Facebook Home that could be fixed in a future app update:

What you don’t have manual control over is how much often Facebook Home refreshes. Facebook has adjusted the default behavior depending on whether you’re connected to WiFi or cellular data, but there’s no manual override, and as such you’re at the mercy of what Facebook and HTC believe to be the most sensible settings.

Even if the battery might prove to be enough for your needs, Dieter warns to be careful on how you use the phone:

I’m more impressed with the battery life, which shouldn’t be a surprise since we’re looking at a fairly power efficient processor and a smaller-than-usual screen. The First is powered by a fully-enclosed 2,000 mAh battery, which I’ve found more than sufficient to get through a day of regular usage. Under stress, it can draw down pretty quickly, so you’ll need to keep an eye on it. One day I spent about an hour tethering and streaming video with a weak AT&T LTE signal and killed off 25 percent of the battery. That sounds pretty dire, but the phone managed to hang on for another 16 hours after that with regular usage and a stronger signal.

Facebook Home

For many out there, Facebook Home is an intriguing concept and it definitely comes with a few drawbacks. For others, a feature like Chat Heads might be enough to win their hearts away. But now matter how much we will talk about Facebook Home, the best way to say your opinion about it will be to test on your own. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to test the beta build of Facebook Home on your Android phone or tablet.

Facebook Home will also soon come to the following devices: HTC One, One X, One X+, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S4. Wired reviewer Alexandra Chang was also impressed by the Chat Heads feature, saying the following:

An innovative interface that makes messaging a truly multitasking experience. Full-screen Cover Feed images are pretty and won’t drain battery or data. Simple integration of a complicated web service that doesn’t take away from Android’s strengths. Tactile navigation is smooth and sensible. An easy way to spend more time on Facebook.

Also, what’s interesting about HTC First’s software, as Vincent rightly observes, is that the devices comes with a pure, stock Android. Was it done to “welcome” Facebook Home? What’s that Cover Feed they’ve been talking so much, you might wonder? Brad puts is as simple as simple:

Cover Feed is the first thing that pops up when you turn on or wake your phone from sleep (you can change this in the settings if you prefer). And it’s like a surprise party every time you perform either action: the lights come on and you never know what you’re going to get, since the screen dynamically changes to reflect the most recent Facebook or Instagram post.

and he also explains the app launcher and the menu:

The app launcher is a series of panels, each one comprising a 4 x 4 grid of app icons in a minimal Holo-themed box. Facebook tells us there is no limit on the number of panels we can utilize, other than our own app count; we made it up to 12 before ceasing our efforts, and there was still room for more. Unfortunately, there’s no option to add widgets or folders.

The biggest concerns that folks might have with Facebook Home on their devices revolve around two important things: data usage and battery life. Facebook has promised to update the Home application monthly, so they are expecting possible serious battery drainage. But, unless you have an application to monitor your data usage, then it might become a real problem.

Video Reviews

For those that didn’t bother reading all of the above (believe me, I don’t blame you), here are the video reviews, probably much easier to digest.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post HTC First Reviews Roundup: Built Not Only For Facebook Home appeared first on Technology Personalized.

Let’s take a look at some free third-party apps and utilities for the Windows Phone Start screen that help enhance the overall experience.

Group Tiles

Considering Windows Phone 8 doesn’t let you organize your apps into folders, Group Tiles is a pretty useful app, especially if you’ve got tons of stuff pinned to your Start screen. It lets you organize your Start screen tiles under groups by making use of customizable tiles. It supports all three tile sizes, and you can specify the text, style and icon for each. There are a bunch of style and icon options baked in, so you can get the exact match as per the desired layout on the Start screen.

Also see: My Tiles, new group*, Groupy

Battery

Another limitation that Windows Phone 8 has is that there’s no easy way to view battery percentage, and you have to dive deep into settings for that. What you need is Battery, an app that displays remaining battery status as a percentage, and even lets you pin a live tile that gives you that figure right where you want it – on your Start screen. You can also set alerts for low battery, charging completion, etc.

Also see: Battery +, Battery Meter

1 Tile

The premise is simple – to use a single tile to access others and leave more room on the Start screen for other live tiles. The aptly-named 1 Tile is a multi-faceted shortcuts app, providing quick access to speed dials, sending text messages and emails, posting updated to Facebook and Twitter, camera and photos etc, along with connectivity settings. You can also assign two related tasks to a single tile for further convenience and space saving.

Also see: Lightning Dial

Dashboard

Yet another app that makes life simpler if you’re a Windows Phone user, Dashboard lets you pin shortcuts to various actions and connectivity settings on the Start screen. The available actions include new text message, new email, adding a contact etc. The connectivity settings shortcuts include flight mode, WiFi, cellular data and Bluetooth. Handy tools utilities such as system and storage information are also offered within this Swiss Army knife of an app.

Also see: ConnectivityShortcuts, Easy Connect, Shortcut Tiles, WiFi Live Tile

Speed Dial

Windows Phone lets you pin favorite contacts to the Start screen for quick calling and texting. However, Speed Dial goes a step further and helps save precious screen real estate. Just import your favorite contacts into the app, and then pin it to the Start screen for one-tap access. Unfortunately, you can’t import contact photos into it, but you can choose from a set of built in icons.

Also see: SpeedierDial

Webapps

Feeling tied does with the apps on offer and looking for something more? Try Webapps. It offers a curated list of HTML5 web apps that can be added to your collection and pinned to the Start screen. Everything from social networks, utilities, news, games etc is covered. Dropbox, Pulse, Google Calendar, ICICI Bank, ESPN – you name it, and it’s there.

Also see: webapps

Skinery Tiles

If Windows Phone’s lack of customization options are getting you down, you need Skinery Tiles. A custom tile maker that lets you launch third-party apps like Facebook and Whatsapp, it allows you to use wallpapers or your own photos to skin tiles, and change the look of your phone completely.

Also see: Wiztiles

Pin My Photos

A straightforward and no-frills app that does one thing, and one thing alone – allowing you to pin your favorite photos on the Start screen. Keep your little ones, family members, friends, pets and vacation memories in front of your eyes at all time. All three tile sizes are supported!

Tile CheckList

Stay on top of your to-dos with Tile CheckList. Pin your to-do heads on the Start screen as tiles, and choose custom front and back colors for each one. Each tile displays the list of pending tasks / to-dos as specified by you.

My Notes

A feature-rich note-taking app, My Notes has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. For one, you can password-protect your notes. Next, notes can be backed up and restored with SkyDrive. It also lets you create your own note categories and pin notes as live tiles, with the note details displayed on the back. What’s more, notes can even be sent via text message or email.

Also see: Note Tiles, Tile Notes

Live Tile Countdown

Looking forward to the summer vacations? Or the little one’s birthday? Pin the date to your Start screen using this handy app, and the live tile will count down to the specified date. And once you get past that, it starts counting up, so you can also use it to keep track of the says since an event.

Also see: Live Countdown

Use any other app on Windows Phone that you think is a must have? Use the comment section to let us know!

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2013. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Handy Free Utilities for Your Windows Phone Start Screen appeared first on Technology Personalized.