Kenya has been ranked third in domain-name registration in Africa after Egypt and South Africa.This is such a good news since its a move in the right direction for businesses and consumers in the Kenyan market. It puts Kenya in the tech map as an upcoming giant from Africa
This means that companies and Kenyans in general have started appreciating the power of the internet and are comfortable accessing services online.
Mr Abdalla Omar, the general manager of the Kenya Network Information Centre (Kenic), said Kenya has about 46,000 domain names.
Mr Abdalla said Kenyans are losing millions of shillings by not registering their domain names.
The losses occur in arbitration, where other international firms take up their brands.
"We plan to have 90 per cent of Kenyan firms on domain. Pricing has now changed to Sh1,000," he said.
Kenya has been facing insecurity challenges that have led to loss of life and seen some sectors such as tourism get crippled prompting the country to come up with means to counter them the latest being getting an American company to monitor information exchanged between citizens.
The Business Daily reports that over the next two months there will be a roll out of digital personal identification cards and a telecoms surveillance network to remotely intercept voice and text messages between people.
Yesterday Interior secretary Joseph ole Lenku said Kenya is negotiating with American firm Richmar and Associates for the supply of Biometric Identification Cards as well as portable data centre technology that will hold a person’s biometrics including voice.
“The technology has the ability to strategically and tactically track all forms of communication (cellphones, SMS, satellite and Web, helping security agencies to pursue criminals,” Mr. Lenku said during a briefing on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s recent trip to the US.
It is however unclear how this will be carried out without contravening the rights of privacy of citizens and if the matter is not addressed it could have telecoms being exposed to legal suits as the constitution provides for right to privacy in Article 31 that also includes “the right not to have the privacy of their communications infringed.”
Yesterday the government set the stage for the issuance of digital IDs and everyone is expected to acquire the cards within a year of its roll out failure of which they will not be able to transact in banks, make utility payments or travel out of the country.
When you analyze how we initially screen job applicants, something becomes obvious: it is all about what the applicants have done (or said they’ve done), instead of finding out who the people really are.
Think about it. Looking at a resume – 80 percent of which contain misleading statements, and 53 percent of which contain outright lies, according to ERE.net – is little more than looking at a self-reported work history that is likely embellished. It does little to answer the critical three questions to hiring: can the person do the job, does this person really want this job and will they fit in culturally.
Instead, candidate screening should be all about discovering who the person is. And that’s done through capturing behavioral data.
Just ask Warren Buffett.
How Buffett Hires
Buffett is a great example of someone who cares more about behavioral data than a resume. During his hiring process, he aims to find out three things: is the person smart, does the person have energy and do they have integrity.
Buffett’s interviewing process isn’t just someone sitting and answering questions. Instead, it is full of hands-on activities to see how the person is really going to act if they are hired,according to CBS News.
To find out if the person is smart, Buffett gives them puzzles or a tough situation to see if they can figure out a solution. To find out if they have energy, he asks candidates to give a 10-minute presentation and, after they are done, gives them two minutes to figure out a new way to present that same information in a five-minute presentation.
Integrity is harder to uncover in an interview, so Buffett relies more on background checks,according to CBS. But the point is that Buffett puts his energy on discovering who the person really is and not what they did.
How Will It Scale?
Buffett’s process is great if you have to pick between three applicants. But what if 100 people apply for a job? How do you get behavioral data on them without working 24 hours a day for a week?
The answer is technology. Use candidate screening software to ask candidates tough situational questions to see how they react and to determine if they have the mental aptitude to do the job. Use gamification to see how they handle stress and if they can adjust on the fly.
These investments can be invaluable because they are investments into the people who will eventually work for your company. And, ultimately, those people are going to determine if your company will continue to grow or get run over.
Today, Safaricom Business and Kenya’s Virtual City, a mobility solutions developer announced the launch of M-Distributr an application to help FMCG sector firms to track their orders, sales and deliveries.
M-Distributr is set to enable sales teams and businesses generate sales transactions, place orders, collect returns and enable mobile money payments on the go. Available on Google Play store for Android devices, M-Distributr monitors every sale from the initial point of contact with a customer to close and also from the sales agent in the field to the distributor and back to the guys at the warehouse or store.
The app aims to help sales teams track orders and deliveries in real-time over their phones. It also aims to speed up the ordering process and minize any losses of both money and time.
Speaking to TechMoran, Sylvia Mulinge, General Manager-Safaricom Business said, “M-Distributr was developed by Virtual City and aims to enhance service effeciancy in the FMCG sector. It runs on our already existing platforms such as our cloud infrastructure, data services, M-Pesa among others. We have entered into a revenue share agreement with Virtual City to make M-Distributr available to the FMCG sector.”
Already firms like PZ Cussons and several Safaricom Airtime Dealers are using the service which has been integrated into the pre-existing ERP solutions to help them map their sales teams, distributors and orders or returns.
According to John Waibochi, CEO Virtual City, the firm that has developed and tested M-Distributr for a few years before launch, “Technology’s role in this day and age is to make our lives easier. A lot of opportunities however remain unexploited. Our role is to create a bridge between these two divides.”
Though only available for Android smartphones and tied to Safaricom’s M-PESA, Waibochi told TechMoran M-Distributr can be inegrated to any mobile money platform or configured for any mobile operating system.
“M-Distributr now uses Lipa Na M-PESA which is nearly 99% used by businesses. As a technology firm, we can integrate any mobile money payment platform to it.”
If the uptake is as high as the two firms expect, M-Distributr can be launched in as many country’s in Africa as possible because of its scalability. Before Safaricom believed in M-Dstributr, Nokia saw its potential and supported the firm to develop it further.
According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index
Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2012 to 2017, in the Middle
East and Africa (MEA), there will be 849,226,090 mobile users in 2017.
The expected steady increase in mobile traffic is partly due to
continued strong growth in the number of mobile Internet connections
(personal devices and machine-to-machine applications), which will
exceed the world’s population (United Nations estimates 7.6 billion) by
2017: 2017 VNI MEA Highlights:
In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will grow 17-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 77%.
In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will reach 861,298
Terabytes (0.86 Exabytes) per month in 2017, the equivalent of 215
million DVDs each month or 2,374 million text messages each second.
In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will account for 17%
of Middle Eastern and African fixed and mobile data traffic in 2017, up
from 8% in 2012. (An official Cisco VNI fixed IP traffic forecast
through 2017 will not be released until June 2013.)
Business Mobile Traffic in MEA:
In 2012, Middle East and Africa’s business mobile data traffic grew 1.7-fold, or 69%.
In Middle East and Africa, business mobile traffic will grow 11-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 60%.
Business will account for 12% of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic in 2017, compared to 19% at the end of 2012.
Video in MEA:
In Middle East and Africa, mobile video traffic will grow 27-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 93%.
Video will be 72% of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic in 2017, compared to 47% at the end of 2012.
Video reaches half of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic by year-end 2012
Consumer Mobile Traffic in MEA:
In 2012, Middle East and Africa’s consumer mobile data traffic grew 2.1-fold, or 110%.
In Middle East and Africa, consumer mobile traffic will grow 19-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 80%.
Consumer will account for 88% of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic in 2017, compared to 81% at the end of 2012
During the 2012 to 2017 forecast period, Cisco anticipates that
global mobile data traffic will outpace global fixed data traffic by a
factor of three. The following major trends are driving global mobile
data traffic growth:
More mobile users: By 2017, there will be 5.2 billion mobile users (up from 4.3 billion in 2012).
More mobile connections: By 2017, there will be more than 10 billion
mobile devices/connections, including more than 1.7 billion M2M
connections (up from 7 billion total mobile devices and M2M connections
in 2012).
Faster mobile speeds: Average global mobile network speeds will increase seven-fold from 2012 (0.5 Mbps) to 2017 (3.9 Mbps).
More mobile video: By 2017, mobile video will represent 66 percent of global mobile data traffic (up from 51 percent in 2012).
Impact of Mobile Devices/Connections
Smartphones, laptops, and tablets will drive 93 percent of global mobile data traffic by 2017.
M2M traffic (such as GPS systems in cars, asset tracking systems,
medical applications, etc.) will represent 5 percent of 2017 global
mobile data traffic.
Basic handsets will account for the remaining 2 percent of global mobile data traffic in 2017.
In 2012, 14 percent of all mobile-connected devices/connections (1 billion) were IPv6-capable.
By 2017, 41 percent of all mobile-connected devices/connections (4.2 billion) will be IPv6-capable.
Traffic Offload from Mobile Networks to Fixed Networks
To address the rise in demand for mobile Internet, and to address the
lack of available new mobile spectrum and the expense and complexity of
adding new macrocell sites, service providers are increasingly looking
to offload traffic to fixed or Wi-Fi networks. 4G Adoption and Mobile Data Traffic Growth
Many global mobile carriers are deploying 4G technologies to address
consumer and business users’ demands for wireless services. In many
emerging markets, carriers are creating new mobile networks with 4G
solutions. In mature markets, carriers are supplementing or replacing
legacy (2G/3G) networks with 4G technologies. The Cisco Mobile VNI study
now projects the growth and impact of 4G.
Japanese electronics giant, SONY has sounded a profit warning
indicating that it is booking a $1.08 billion annual loss as it cuts
5,000 jobs and sell off its overpriced but stagnant PC unit. The maker
projects that it will save about $5 million through the jobs cuts
starting in early 2015.
The VAIO units have not managed to register much success despite
SONY being a giant in many verticals of the electronics market. SONY is
selling the PC unit to Japanese Investment Partners for between $400
million and $500 million. Not much financial information on the deal was
announced.
Market analysts, Moody’s recently downgraded SONY’s
credit rating to junk, saying that the giant electronics maker had more
work to do in repairing its battered balance sheet. SONY expects to cut
3.5% of its global work force some of whom might be hired by the new
owners.
But SONY is not facing a gloomy outlook alone. Sharp and Panasonic
are facing more diminished returns,as foreign rivals such as Apple and
Samsung outperform them in the smartphone and television business.
Microsoft has announced that starting January 12, 2016 it will only
support the most recent copy of Internet Explorer (IE) for the various
versions of Windows. Any individual using older versions of Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer browser will in the near future no longer receive bug
fixes and security updates for the software.
The move puts an end to a long existing strategy of offering support
for various IE versions. According to Microsoft, the move would improve
security and assist developers who would only be required to support
newer browsers.
Microsoft explained the changes in its blogpost stating that
commercial clients who had “standardized” on previous IE versions should
begin making plans to migrate to the latest releases.
Microsoft promised to offer resources and assistance for customers to
make sure web-based programs and applications made for older IE
versions continue to function with newer versions.
“The change should assist developers since they will no longer be
needed to support the old technologies in those older browsers,”
Microsoft said.
The change implies that Microsoft will be only supporting versions 9
and above of Internet Explorer. Users of various Window editions will be
expected to use the most recent copy for that release.
Microsoft has also moved further to improve security on its browser.
Starting August 12, 2014 Explorer will block outdated add-ons, called
ActiveX controls, for the program.
“Outdated add-ons are often targeted by cyber-thieves as a way to
destroy browsers and steal information. The regular monthly IE update
will make the change that blocks outdated add-ons,” Microsoft said in a
statement.
East Africa will soon have a data sharing centre that will help to
accelerate generation, analysis, management and archival of scientific
data to support its development plans.
The standard reports that the Centre will be based at Jomo Kenyatta
University of Agriculture and Technology who will partner with the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Committee on Data for Science and
Technology ( CODATA) and the United Nations.
According to ICT Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred. Matiang’I, the centre
will facilitate creation of people-centric, inclusive, open and
development oriented information society where people can create,
access, utilise and share information and knowledge.
“There is a clear demand for new data sets, manifested by the recent upsurge of request,” said Matiangi. In
his speech Matiang’i at the United Nations Offices where he opened an
international workshop on open data for science and sustainability in
developing economies
Matiangi also said that the government will be tabling a draft
legislation on access to information and data protection in parliament
that will guide collection and management of information in Kenya.
While speaking at the same event JKUAT Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mabel
Imbuga said Kenya is yet to draw useful insights from such data due to
knowledge gaps and inadequate infrastructure despite large data sets
permeating various sectors of the economy.
Internet has become an integral part of our lives and the society at large so much so that we can't live without it. if the network is down all own problems begin, you will think part of our heart has seized to function, people depend on internet on almost everything nowadays. for you to have an internet you need to subscribe to an internet service provide for a convenient package that suits your need, you need a constant supply of power , if you want to share among several users, then you will need something called a router for sharing out the internet, you may decide to use Ethernet or wireless in order to use the internet amongst users.
when you have all this under one roof that is in a single device then you're safe with a mobile wireless internet that can connect 20 devices together this is the concept in BRCK pronounced as brick , an idea by Ushahidi founder and now iHub founder ERIC a techpreneur..designed in Nairobi but made in the United States of America. a
wireless, battery-powered modem i.e using GSM network that aims to help users connect to
the web no matter where they are in the world. Described as "the backup generator for the internet", BRCK can
support up to 20 devices connected at once, has a tough exterior
shell and an eight hour battery life so it can sit out any
blackouts, it can connect to the web via Ethernet, WiFi, 3G or 4G, shifting between them dependent on
service. This is device is a noble thing especially in remote areas like villages in Africa and Asia where access to internet was a nightmare, with most part of this areas having a GSM network now internet is no more a problem they can connect 20 devices to BRCK and get to have internet. BRCK is a noble idea but the cost of internet in our telecom companies are so high that it might render the noble idea useless until later times, i guess the government through the right authorities should bring laws and regulations curbing the high cost of internet in our GSM networks.
-Business-IT
alignment is a dynamic state in which a business organization
is able to use information technology (IT) effectively to achieve business
objectives - typically improved financial performance or marketplace
competitiveness. Some definitions focus more on outcomes (the ability of IT to
produce business value) than means (the harmony between IT and business
decision-makers within the organizations).
-Business-IT alignment is the
correspondence between the business objectives and the Information Technology
(IT) requirements of an enterprise. These two factors often seem to contradict,
but many economic and technical experts agree that alignment between them,
maintained over time, is crucial to the success of an enterprise.
-Business-IT alignment involves
optimizing communication between executives who make the business decisions and
IT managers who oversee the technical operations. The implementation of
flexible business plans and IT architectures, as well as effective cost
allocation, are critical components of any business-IT alignment effort.
Technical department managers can formulate and submit proposals that can be
tailored to ensure the optimum return on investment (ROI). Business executives
can attend IT department meetings and seminars to improve their understanding
of the technical capabilities and limitations of the enterprise.
-This alignment is in contrast to what is
often experienced in Kenyan organizations: IT and business professionals unable
to bridge the gap between themselves because of differences in objectives,
culture, and incentives and a mutual ignorance for the other group's body of
knowledge. This rift generally results in expensive IT systems that do not
provide adequate return on investment. For this reason, the search for Business
/ IT Alignment is closely associated with attempts to improve the business
value of IT investments.
-This is justified by lack of IT
leadership in Kenyan organizations.
-Ignorance by managers and head of
departments.
-Many Kenyan IT service provider
companies are technology driven and therefore do not consider the business
needsof their clients can not translate
business needs into technology solutions.
-Cultural barriers, Kenyan companies view
IT as an expense center than profit center.
METHODS
-The research covered two Kenyan
companies , talking to some of the employees identify randomly.
importance
-Companies should adopt business-IT
alignment because of the following reasons;
-Reducing complexity
-Helping small and mid-sized
businesses become more competitive
-Increasing the agility of
organizations
-Boost customer satisfaction
-Making the workplace a more
collaborative environment
-Delivering IT systems on-time and
within business expectations
Long ago during the times of our forefathers, there were thing that never existed and were considered a taboo, but in our current world because of modernization alot has changed and evil has come of age,immorality is common now-a-days, it started with advertisement of condoms and telling people yes u cn do it but pliz use condom...this has infiltrated into the society such that even celebrities have started having a condom-line and worse stil sing abot sex and such words that were unmentionable, this xaxa xwry generation is headed for destruction if an urgent intervention doesnt happen. Recently there has been this commercial playing on kenyan TVs about a married woman confessing about a mpango wa kando and another elderly lady encouraging her to use condom with the mpango wa kando.....wat do u cal this...i call it gross...why is our morality fading? Why is evil overtaking the good? Can't this organs such as NASCOP advocate more for abstenance rather than encourage use of Condom...the question that begs an answer is ..is Condom the solution???
Microsoft have announced plans to launch a Zune video and music store to compete with iTunes.
The store, which is due "within weeks" according to Microsoft, will
also feature a subscription service for Xbox 360, Windows PCs and
Windows Phone 7.
The subscription fee for a "Zune Pass"
will be $14.99 per month for unlimited downloads and streaming. Craig
Eisler, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Interactive
Entertainment Business Group, said of the launch:
The integration between Zune, Windows Phone 7 and Xbox
Live is an exciting advance in our entertainment offering. Zune enables
users access to the entertainment they want, wherever they want it - and
now, more people than ever will be able to enjoy the freedom and
flexibility that the Zune service offers.
Zune has been upgraded with new features and functionality and will
serve as the Windows Phone 7 synchronization client. Microsoft say the
new software
(version 4.7) will be available to download for free in more than 20
countries, including the U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Spain, to
allow management of movies, music, podcasts and photos.
Android is an operating system for mobile phones and tablets, in much
the same way that PCs run Microsoft Windows as their operating system.
It's maintained by Google, and comes in a few different versions, which are;
Version
Code name
Release date
API level
Distribution (December 3, 2012)
4.2
Jelly Bean
November 13, 2012
17
0.8%
4.1.x
Jelly Bean
July 9, 2012
16
5.9%
4.0.x
Ice Cream Sandwich
December 16, 2011
15
27.5%
3.2
Honeycomb
July 15, 2011
13
1.2%
3.1
Honeycomb
May 10, 2011
12
0.4%
2.3–2.3.2
Gingerbread
December 6, 2010
9
0.2%
2.3.3–2.3.7
Gingerbread
February 9, 2011
10
50.6%
2.2
Froyo
May 20, 2010
8
10.3%
2.0–2.1
Eclair
October 26, 2009
7
2.7%
1.6
Donut
September 15, 2009
4
0.3%
1.5
Cupcake
April 30, 2009
3
0.1%
The difference
between the versions of Android is mainly in how they use
the screen space provided.for example because Android 3.x is designed to run on
tablets, its apps have been altered to be able to fit more information
on the screen at one time. It also puts all buttons for navigation in
the interface, while Android 2.x devices tend to include some physical
buttons (usually Home, Back, Menu and Search keys).
Android's
standard layout is to have a series of Home screens, which can contain
shortcuts to launch apps, or can contain widgets, which are small
programs that serve a single function, such as controlling your music or
displaying Facebook updates. ANDROID 2.3: This is the standard Android 2.3 Home screen, as seen on the Google Nexus S
From
the Home screens, you can bring up a menu with all of your other apps
on. Very little is done from within the Android interface, but instead
you launch an app for what you want to do, including dialling the phone
or browsing through your contacts.
Android itself contains the
functions that are vital to using a mobile phone, including the phone
dialler, text messaging client and phone number storage. Google also
provides some additional apps, including a Gmail email client, Google
Maps (which features free turn-by-turn satellite navigation) and
YouTube.
Beyond that, you can also buy or download for free many
other apps to enable your phone or tablet to do more. You can get these
apps from the Android Market, or from other sources, such as GetJar or
Amazon's Appstore. They can also be loaded onto an Android device
manually, without using a store.
These apps can include ways to
use Facebook, create documents, access online storage services such as
Dropbox, or there's a huge range of games available. Some social
networks are integrated into certain Android phones by default, enabling
you to connect someone's contact information in your phone to their
Facebook account, for example, and automatically pull through details
such as their birthday.
Android is open source, meaning that
manufacturers don't have to pay Google to use it, and that they're free
to modify it. This means that it's used in a wide range of hardware
varying in price from small budget phones to large-screen high-end
handsets.
Because manufacturers are able to tweak Android, it can
look quite different on phones from different companies. HTC uses an
overlay it calls Sense to add its own apps and social networking
features to phones such as the HTC Desire S. It even adds a flashy 3D Home screen on the powerful HTC Sensation handset. HTC SENSE:HTC makes subtle changes to the standard Android interface
Samsung uses an overlay called TouchWiz on its handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S2, which makes its Android phones look a lot more like the company's non-Android phones. SAMSUNG TOUCHWIZ:The Samsung Galaxy S2 runs TouchWiz 4.0, the latest version of Samsung's interface
Currently, it's not possible for Android 3.0 tablets to be tweaked by the manufacturers, so tablets such as the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 look almost identical. HTC actually uses Android 2.3 on the HTC Flyer tablet so that it can still add the Sense overlay to it. ANDROID 3.0:The Android Home screen on tablets offers more space for widgets and apps, and has the navigation keys in the bottom-left
Android
has many media features built in, so it's easy to load your music and
movies onto your device and play them without problems. Most common
audio file formats are supported, as are some of the most often-used
video formats. Many manufacturers also add support for some of the
less-common formats.
There's no official iTunes-like media syncing
client for Android (though there are some third-party tools to do this,
such as doubleTwist). In most cases, when you connect your device to
your computer, it will show up as external storage, in the same way a
USB flash drive would. You can then simply drag your music and video
files to it to copy them over. When you disconnect your device, it will
scan for media, and it to the music player app.
Google regularly
releases updates to Android, which are downloaded straight to the phone
or tablet without having to connect to a computer. These updates often
bring speed and battery life improvement, as well as other new features.
However, not all devices get these updates at the same time, and many
won't receive them at all. If you want to stay up to date on when the
latest Android update is coming to your device, keep your eyes on www.thekenyanme.blogspot.com
Not sure whether to spring for an iPhone or go the Android way? Well, there’s more to the decision than just flipping a coin.
My advice? Don’t pick a new iPhone or Android smartphone until you answer six crucial questions for yourself, starting with…
1. Do smartphones scare you?
When you fiddle with the latest and greatest phones at your local carrier store, do you feel like a deer in the headlights?
When you fiddle with the latest and greatest phones at your local carrier store, do you feel like a deer in the headlights?
Afraid you’ll break something if you tap one of the little icons on the screen?
If so, think twice about Android. Personally, I’m a sucker for all the settings and personalization options on an Android phone, but the thicket of menus and sub-menus may feel bewildering for beginners, or anyone easily frustrated by tricky phone interfaces.
The iPhone, on the other hand, boasts (if you ask me) a clean, simple interface that’s perfect for smartphone novices, while also jettisoning the extra “menu” and “back” buttons that make navigating the standard Android interface such a chore.
2. Do you want a physical QWERTY keypad?
Tapping out lengthy messages on a virtual keypad can be royal pain if you have clumsy fingers, and even those with nimble fingertips may prefer the feel of actual keys to a slippery glass touchscreen.
So if a physical QWERTY keypad is a must, go with Android. Several makes and models of Android phones with roomy, full-on keypads are available. In some cases, the keyboards slide out from behind the touchscreen (like so), while others sit on the front of the phone, just beneath the display.
Apple, on the other hand, shows no signs of making an iPhone with a physical keypad—and while it is possible to connect a wireless Bluetooth keyboard to, say, the iPhone 4S, you’d also have to tote the keyboard accessory wherever you go.
3. Do you depend on Gmail and Google Calendar?
One of the beauties of Android is that the initial setup process is a piece of cake—for Google users, anyway.
If you have a Google account, you can take your new Android phone out of its box, power it up, sign in with your Google ID and password, and presto! All your Gmail messages, mailboxes, Google contacts and calendars will start syncing to your handset automatically. It’s a beautiful thing.
Dedicated Google users who go with the iPhone won’t have too tough a time setting up their Gmail or calendars; dealing with Google contacts is another story, however. A secondary service called Google Sync will help keep all your Google contacts synchronized with the iPhone Address Book, but setting it up is a rather lengthy, tedious process.
4. Do you use a Mac?
Just as Gmail and Google Calendar users will have an easy transition to an Android phone, so will Mac users glide right into an iPhone—particularly if you’re storing your contacts in the Mac OS X Address Book and using iCal for your calendars.
The desktop iTunes software will quickly sync all your Address Book contacts and iCal calendars to a new iPhone (along with all your apps and music, of course), while Apple’s new iCloud service (coupled with iOS 5, the latest version of the iPhone system software) will coordinate all your desktop and iPhone contacts and events wirelessly, no cords required.
5. Want to play Flash videos?
Ever visit a website on a smartphone, only to see a blank panel on the page that reads “Adobe Flash plug-in required”?
That’s because some of the snazziest sites on the web depend on a technology called “Flash” for displaying videos and fancy graphical menus—and without Flash, those sites won’t function properly.
The latest Android phones do support Flash content, meaning just about any site on the web should render properly—and completely.
That’s not the case with the iPhone, though. Indeed, Apple has been openly critical about Flash technology (the late Steve Jobs once called it a battery hog, a slow-poke, and a security concern) and has essentially declared both the iPhone and iPad to be Flash-free zones.
Keep in mind, however, that more and more Flash-heavy websites offer alternate versions tailored for non-Flash smartphones like the iPhone—a development that may eventually render mobile Flash support a moot point.
6. Are you an app addict?
While Android boasts one of the liveliest communities of app makers around, Apple’s App Store is the undisputed king of mobile applications. Its shelves are stocked with 500,000 apps and counting (compared to a still quite healthy 350,000 or so for Google’s Android Market), and the most interesting and exciting applications and tend to be built for the iPhone first.
Angry Birds, for example, didn’t land on Android until nearly a year after debuting on the iPhone, while Android users had to wait nearly a year and a half for their own version of the wildly popular Instagram.
Still debating whether to go with Android or the iPhone? Let me know!
The new iPhone is here – but is Apple in danger of delivering too little with its latest upgrade?
The
excitement of the rumour mill, the titillation of every leaked photo
led to higher than ever levels of expectation over the iPhone 5
features, and while the announcement was greeted with some derision at
the lack of perceived headline improvements, the record sales tell an
entirely different story.
Given the underwhelming changes to the iPhone 4S,
the iPhone 5 launch really needs to re-energise customers to prove
Apple can repeat the game-changing trick it managed with the iPhone 4.
The iPhone 5 price is predictably high, so consumers will need to bear that in mind too when looking for their next smartphone.
So is the Apple iPhone 5 the greatest smartphone ever, and did it finally see Apple ascend to the top spot in our 20 best mobile phones chart? Or was it a case of too little, too late... and what about those darned Maps, eh?
Design
We'll
begin in the traditional manner: how the thing actually feels in the
hand. With the iPhone 5 there will be many types of prospective buyer:
the upgrader from the 4 (or more-money-than-sense iPhone 4S upgraders),
those tired of their Android handset and those taking their first steps
in the smartphone market and want to get one of them iThingies their
friend/child has. Well,
all of those picking up the iPhone 5 will have the same reaction: this
thing is amazingly light. You've probably heard the numbers by now (20
per cent lighter than the predecessor, as well as beating most of the
opposition too at 112g.)
It's an odd sensation, but it actually
detracts from the experience when you first pick it up. We've praised
the weighty feel of the iPhone in the past, lending it a premium feel in
the face of toy-like phones, and it's almost disappointing that Apple
decided to join that clan.
However, through extended use this
problem quickly disappears, as the overall effect of the phone is still a
chassis designed for strength, it just sits more anonymously in the
pocket.
You'll
obviously see the change in height too – the iPhone 5 stands 123.8mm
tall to allow for the larger 4-inch screen. In truth, those not familiar
with the iPhone 4S probably wouldn't notice the difference, which is
why it's a good move from Apple to include the larger screen if it's not
going put people off that hate larger phones. The
decision to stick at 4-inches is Apple's admission that while it
recognises people are all over the idea of having more screen real
estate to play with it doesn't want to move away from the thumb-friendly
nature of the device.
Through a mixture of moving the centre of
gravity slightly as well as repositioning the screen within the bezel,
it's still possible to scroll your thumb mostly around the whole display
one-handed, which Apple is clearly keen to keep hold of. However,
we're not convinced of that argument any more, and the power button was
still a little out of reach when using the phone normally, as was
anything in the top left-hand corner of the screen. #
This was no
issue in reality, as scooting the phone down a touch in the palm is a
natural action. But if that's the case, then why not offer a 4.3-inch
screen at least?
There's more to a phone than a screen these days
(although increasingly less and less) and the general construction of
the iPhone 5 is excellent to say the least. We've
tested both the ceramic white version and the anodised black, and the
two tone effect on the back of the phone is stunning, both visually and
under the finger.
It doesn't beat the sheer beauty of the HTC One S, with its micro-arc oxidised back and rounded lines, but it's well-set in second place. The
two sections of pigmented glass at the top and the bottom of the phone
add a pleasant effect, and the sapphire glass is meant to be thoroughly
durable, to complement the Gorilla Glass on the front.
Apple
knows consumers get furious when they drop and iPhone, and is clearly
seeking to stop the smashes before they happen with a tougher exterior -
although it seems the anodised black version is pretty prone to
scratching, with a number of users mentioning chipping on the darker
hue.
Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Marketing,
reportedly replied to an email from a user pointing out that aluminium
will scratch and chip in natural use - and we're also hearing that white
iPhone 5 models are being returned through flaking as well.
We
kept our black iPhone 5 in a soft pocket in a bag for much of its life,
yet saw the following chip with minimal key / coin contact in under a
fortnight: For
a device of this premium quality, users will expect it to survive the
pocket test, and especially do so for the first two weeks of life. It's a
big fail for Apple to expect users to accept that a product can be
damaged so easily.
The same industrial band around the outside is
in effect again as on the iPhone 4 and 4S, with small sections removed
where the antenna joins.
Apple has gone for a more advanced form
of antenna here, meaning the days of lost signal are gone, and generally
increasing the power of your call connection and GPS lock on too. There
are other big design changes here too: the headphone jack has moved to
the bottom of the phone, and the iconic 30-pin connector has been
retired in favour of the new Lightning port, giving a headache to all
those that have invested in chargers, docks and other accessories over
their iPhone lives.
You can buy an adaptor, but it's going to be
pricey: £25 or $30 when it lands in October. And unless you want to keep
it permanently attached to the bottom of the iPhone 5 you'll need to
buy a few, which is far from ideal.
However, let's not harangue
Apple too much for this: a smaller connector is not only easier to use
(you can plug the smaller cable in either way round, and the connection
feels more solid), but you're rewarded with a thinner and more compact
phone to boot. There's
also a small chink of light on the top right hand side of the iPhone 5 -
when the screen is illuminated, you can see it under the band if you
really, really look for it. It's been seen by a number of users, but is
hard to actually replicate unless you mask the screen and hold it at the
right angle.
It's again a sign of slightly under-par machining from Apple, but in day to day use it's almost completely invisible.
The
decision to move the 3.5mm headphone jack to the bottom is an odd one,
as while it allows you to slip the phone into the pocket head-first when
listening to music, which is a more natural action, it's a real pain in
the posterior for some apps that will only work in landscape a certain
way up.
Using it this way means your headphones experience will be one of having to jiggle the jack around two fingers.
It's
not the most comfortable way to hold a phone, and even when using the
phone in portrait mode, the jack gets in the way somewhat. Plus it's
miles away from the volume keys, which makes it hard to change the audio
level in the pocket if you don't use the dedicated headphones.
There
are other smaller design changes to the iPhone 5 too, such as the
iSight front-facing camera moving to the middle and the home button
being noticeably more robust to help reduce instances of a broken portal
to your home screen. But
enough about what the phone looks like - the killer question is how the
thing feels in hand. And we'll sum it up by saying: smooth. It's a
little slippery, and we were always worried we would drop the darned
thing.
But that's the only negative thing about the design (apart
from the low weight initially and scratching aluminium) as it sits in
the palm nicely and allows you to do it all with one hand, including
hitting the top-mounted power/lock button with ease.
That lock
button is actually still loose, as it was on the iPhone 4S, meaning when
you shake the phone around you can hear it clicking away, which undoes a
lot of the premium feel Apple is going for.
Make no mistake, the
iPhone 5 is one of the most beautifully crafted phones out there - but
when you're paying £529 up front for the thing, we'd hope this would be
the very minimum Apple would be doing. And
while it looks nice, from the front it doesn't really add much to the
design of the iPhone - it's certainly not the same as the jaw-dropping
design of the iPhone 4 compared to the 3GS... it's another evolution in
the iLine. It's not bad, but for those that hoped the iPhone 5 would be
another step change there's a good chance they'll be disappointed about
the look... until they feel the lovely back on offer.
There was a
real chance here for Apple: remove the bezel and give the front of the
screen a look that's similar to the OLED TVs from the likes of Samsung
or LG… but instead we're treated to the same lines as before.
You
always get the feeling that Apple saves what it can for the next
iteration of the iPhone, and while there's nothing wrong with the
current construction we can see the edge-to-edge screen becoming
something amazing on the iPhone 6 or iPhone 5S.
The Samsung Galaxy SIII - a phone worthy of the hype
RATED 4.5/5. a good rate i guess.
Points For
Excellent battery life
Superb screen
Quad core speed
Top media management
Points Against
Subjective design
S Voice not optimised
The
Galaxy S3 has been available in the market for a while now, but with
the recent update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (the 4.1.1 platform), not
only has the S3 been given a speed boost; there's also a host of other
goodies thrown in as well.
It's mostly changes to the interface
that have been brought with the new update, but there are a few other
areas that have been updated with the new breed of TouchWiz, so we've
spent a few weeks checking them all out.
Samsung has made a big
deal about this phone, not only choosing to launch it at a big and
glitzy standalone event in London but has managed to top 30 million sales in November 2012 - and given the amount of people we see rocking the handset on the
trains these days, those number seem to bear a hallmark of truth.
The
price is pretty palatable for a top-end phone – some sites are offering
it for around £26 per month with a very low up front cost,
But let's get down to the main question – is this the phone you should be spending your hard-earned cash on?
Design
The
Samsung Galaxy S3 is, according to Samsung anyway, 'inspired by nature –
it sees, listens, responds, and enables you to share the greatest
moments'.
While this is all a little hyperbolic, the nature theme is certainly present when you handle the phone for the first time.
Brushed
polycarbonate – you've got a choice of 'Marble White' and 'Pebble Blue'
– adorns the large device, which runs in with dimensions of 136.6 x
70.6 x 8.6mm, despite still having to pack in a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD
screen.
We'll
lay it out right now: the plastic feeling of the Galaxy S3 won't appeal
to all. It feels very lightweight (despite tipping the scales at 133g)
in the hand, and some people will read this as feeling a little cheap.
However, it's exactly the same sensation as we found on the Galaxy S2,
and given the silly numbers of sales that had, we think there's more
than a market for a phone that you'll barely notice in your pocket most
of the time.
But
we'll be very clear on this - the Galaxy S3 is not a cheap-feeling
phone. It's got a really solid Gorilla Glass 2 front, a well-packaged
interior and a more robust battery cover. It's polycarbonate rather than
bog-standard plastic, although we're not sure some people will like the
more rounded nature of the design.
However, despite being made of similar material, there's no doubt that the HTC One X
feels more premium in the hand. Although the One X is actually 3g
lighter than the Galaxy S3, it feels a touch weightier, which shows the
way texture can affect the way a phone feels in the hand. And there's
something about an object so large feeling so light that some will find
disconcerting in the S3.
There's no doubt in our minds that the
Pebble Blue offering is the much more attractive option, since the
Marble White looks similar to a low-end Galaxy Mini
or similar – the brushed effect is really necessary. And now we've got a
host of extra colours to play with (Titanium Grey, Garnet Red, Amber
Brown and Sapphire Black) so the sky really is the limit here...
although actually, there's no Sky Blue option.
Compared to rest of the Galaxy line, the S3 has more in common with the original Galaxy S
than the S2, with curved edges the theme in the design language. The
home button has also been elongated, although the same menu and back
buttons remain from the prequel.
Overall, the effect is much more like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus than anything else – rounded edges, HD screen but with a more minimal bezel to really accentuate the larger screen in the hand.
The
button design around the phone has been well thought out in our opinion
- for a phone this big it's very difficult to make all the keys
accessible, so putting the lock button on the right-hand side rather
than the top makes a large degree of sense.
The addition of the
lozenge-shaped home button, and its softkey 'Back' and 'Menu' buttons
are great additions in our eyes, as it means contextual menus can be
found easily without needing to mess around looking for the on-screen
icon.
The volume up and down button is parallel to the lock key on
the left-hand side of the phone, and also within easy reach when
holding the Galaxy S3 in the hand.
The
microUSB slot is placed at the bottom of the phone - easy to find with a
charger but it will be interesting to see how it's used when placed in
docks and car cradles.
The
battery cover is also made of the same polycarbonate material as the
rest of the body. Yes, you read that right - the battery cover is
removable. The future isn't all unibody, it seems.
This
means that not only can you switch the battery in and out - a key
consideration for many people - there's also a cheeky surprise in the
shape of a microSD slot next to the microSIM port. Expandable memory?
This just gets better and better.
This means that theoretically
you'll be able to have a 128GB-capacity Samsung Galaxy S3 if you combine
the top spec of internal memory (64GB) with the largest microSD card
around at the moment (64GB)... making it a mouth-watering prospect for
those who love a spot of media. However, we're still waiting to see the
64GB Samsung Galaxy S3 variant make an entrance, as it looks like
retailers are going off the idea of such a high capacity model.
Sure,
there are stats that say only 10% of users regularly go over 16GB of
storage, but there's always the lower end version of the Galaxy S3 for
that. With HD movie downloads becoming far more prevalent, plus the
influx of HD apps, we think more space is an excellent idea.
Overall
the Samsung Galaxy S3 feels superb in the hand. The design contours
well against the palm, and while the screen size may be a little big
for some (you'll need a bit of shuffling to reach the upper section of
the screen) it's definitely more than useable day to day.
So in
short: if you don't mind a slightly lighter-feeling polycarbonate shell
and you like big HD screens in your pocket, this is a phone definitely
worth checking out.
Not sure whether to spring for an iPhone or go the Android way? Well, there’s more to the decision than just flipping a coin.
