Author: chris eilers

After nearly 2 years of omission, now Nokia wants to resurrect Microsoft Lumia McLaren, which was the most awaited smartphone….

Lumia McLaren: comes to life again

Microsoft Lumia McLaren was the next flagship after Lumia 1020 that Microsoft and Nokia wanted to work on. It was supposed to be the great success with innovative features including 50MP PureView camera. What a pity! This Lumia smartphone never showed its “face”, even though there were so many leaked photos, developers and testers. It has become the legend of Windows Phone till now.

Fortunately, lately Windows Central brought out a near-finished Lumia McLaren unit. Moreover, a Chinese site recently posted many photos of McLaren. Among such photos is a metal unibody with curved edges, which make Nokia smartphone design stunning and dazzling. The Nokia smartphone comes with a 5.5-inch full HD screen with LCD capacity, which deliver premium feeling.

Besides that Lumia McLaren specs also include a Snapdragon 800 CPU clocked at 2.3Ghz, 2GB of RAM. People love Lumia phones not because of their spec sheets, they are famous for combination of Nokia’s quality and Microsoft-developed hardware and software solutions. Lumia McLaren was intended to be ‘Lumia 1030’ and was probably have an upgraded 50MP camera. Some of the videos also showed off the phone 3D Touch feature which allows users to interact with the display without actually making contact with it.

Lumia McLaren: the truth is…..

Such camera information was the past. Now, the “today” Lumia McLaren was checked and confirmed to have a 20MP Pureview snapper, but it will never hold a 50MP one like what we hoped. There’s also the intriguing hover touch functionality. As your finger hovers over the screen, such feature will appear with shortcuts and data. The functionality is enabled by various sensors in the display and sides of the McLaren. Lumia McLaren release date and Lumia McLaren price are still kept in secret. Hopefully, we could meet it soon. Stay tuned.

Each of the phone makers has their own signature phone which mounts the brand’s outstanding features, let’s see which ones are on the list?

1. Nokia Lumia 1020 (41MP Pureview)

Nokia has been so popular with its high-end feature: PureView technology and Nokia Lumia 1020 is not an exception. Nokia Lumia 1020 is truly Nokia’s signature phone with a truly spectacular 41MP camera. Lumia 1020 is not the first phone comes with 41MP primary camera and PureView technology, it was Lumia 808. But 1020 version is the first one with stylish design and of course the PureView lens is still kept placing on its back.

Nokia Lumia 1020 also flaunts a 4.5-inch HD display and AMOLED capacity. Nokia smartphone runs on Windows 8 and sports dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz sitting on Snapdragon S4 Plus chipset. A 2GB RAM and 32GB of ROM also belong to Lumia 1020 specs. This smartphone also carries a non-removable battery with 2000 mAh capacity. Lumia 1020 price is $443.

2. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (curved edges+super AMOLED)

Curved edges and super AMOLED screen are Samsung Galaxy smartphone features for so long. So does Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, which is the upcoming signature phone of Samsung. The Galaxy phone flaunts a 5.5-inch 2K display with super AMOLED screen. The handset packs SND 820 chipset and dual-core processor along with 4GB of RAM. It has 2 models of ROM: 32/64GB, which are expandable up to 256GB. A combo of 12MP/5MP cameras and 3600 mAh battery also belong to Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge specs. $687 is Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge price.

3. Sony Z5 Premium (waterproof+camera)

Sony-branded smartphones are well known with water resistance and 23 camera features. This time Sony’s signature phone is Sony Z5 Premium. The phone flaunts 5.5-inch display with 4k resolution. The phone runs on quad-core processor sitting on SND 810 chipset. Sony Z5 Premium specs also include: 3GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory expandable up to 256GB, 3430 mAh battery. Moreover, opposite to 23MP primary camera is only 5.1 MP selfie snapper. Sony Z5 Premium prices at $721.

4. iPhone 6s Plus (physical button)

Apple has not changed their devices much since iPhone 4. Thus physical button seems to be their sign, which is assembled in iPhone 6s Plus specs as well. Such smartphone mounts 2GB of RAM along with 3 base internal storages with 16/64/128 GB. This handset also sports a dual-core processor clocked at 1.84 GHz sitting on Apple-made Apple A9 chipset. iPhone 6S Plus has a 2750 mAh battery coupled with 12MP primary camera capable of taking great shots and 5MP secondary shooter. iPhone 6S Plus price for 16GB model ranges at $754 (PHP 34999), 64 model: $881 (PHP 41999) and the last 128GB: $850 (PHP 40000).

5. Huawei P9 (dual camera)

Ending up the list is Huawei signature phone – Huawei P9.  It sports a 5.2-inch Full HD display and a 3000mAH battery life. Let’s take a look at Huawei P9 specs to see how decent they are. Under the hood, you’ll find an octa-core Kirin 955 SoCC processor and runs on Android Marshmallow. The device comes with 2 versions: 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM and 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM. These memories is expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card. Huawei P9 release date will be on 17th August with $445-$595 (Rs. 30-40,000).

Top signature features on signature phones

Here is the list of top signature phones with highlight features which are so amazing. Thus, they are not budget friendly. So in case you love one of them, it is time to save money.

On the day when Xiaomi Mi NoteBook Air was launched, Lenovo also launched its new laptop- Lenovo Air 13 Pro. What interesting is that Lenovo device is the same to the one from Xiaomi, from specs, design to price. 

Lenovo Air 13 Pro: 4GB RAM+ Core i5

Yesterday, Xiaomi launched its first laptop – Mi NoteBook Air. The device immediately blew everyone’s mind by the powerful specs and a super slim stunning design. A few hour after that, big brand Lenovo showed the world that Xiaomi is not the only Chinese company can manufacture an ultra-thin laptop. Lenovo launched Lenovo Air 13 Pro which is o.6 inches thick.

About the hardware, Lenovo Air 13 Pro specs are not so different from Mi NoteBook Air. Lenovo product has a 13.3-inh IPS display with the resolution of 1080 x 1920 px. It is powered by an Intel Core i5-6200U processor and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics card. There is a 4GB of RAM paired with a 256GB of inbuilt storage. It also features a fingerprint recognition functionality which doesn’t exist on Xiaomi laptop.

Besides, Lenovo new laptop sports a 46Wh battery life, a backlit keyboard, a 720p webcam and an SDXC card reader. A USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, and a USB Type-C port are also housing on this device. Lenovo Air 13 Pro doesn’t have a huge RAM like Mi Air, its processor is slightly less strong than Mi NoteBook’s. However, in the exchange, it has a bigger capacity.

Lenovo Air 13 Pro price and release date

Similar specs, similar look, now even the price is the same. It seems like that Lenovo and Xiaomi are having a race. Lenovo Air 13 Pro price are exactly the same to the price of NoteBook from Xiaomi. It’s about $750. However, this is just the price for the pre-registrations in China. After this pre-sale, the price will go up to $825. Well, now you all know the specs and prices of two laptops. So, which one you’ll choose?

Lately Microsoft has just released a new photo editing app called Microsoft Pix that is written for … iOs platform! Let’s take a look to see how “miracle” this app is and why the two giants are cooperating with each other!

Microsoft Pix: Brilliant photo editing application!

Before we talk about this “weird” cooperation between Microsoft and Apple, let’s see how powerful this app is! Microsoft Pix is promoted to be a pro photo editing app for iOs smartphones. This app is capable of selecting the best frames, enhancing each photo and tweaking settings automatically! Pix also captures pictures before users even tap the shutter, so that no good moments is missed!

Another wonderful feature of Microsoft Pix is that it focuses more on the people in the picture! When the face is detected, this app automatically adjusts it settings to make the face look better, regardless of how difficult the lighting conditions are! It also comes with a proprietary multi-frame de-noise technology, which helps the face as well as the background look as life-like as possible.

Microsoft Pix even uses multiple technologies to produce the most accurate, truth color of skin tones, food, and foliage. This app also adjusts its exposure to make both the shadow and the highlight areas in the photo look clear and noise-less! Moreover, when interesting movements are detected, Pix automatically produces a short video called Live Image! So users can capture their precious moments!

Microsoft Pix: What is behind this cooperation?

We all know that Apple has invented wonderful camera sensors for its smartphones! Photos taken by iPhones are stunning and flattering! Now with the assistance of Microsoft, we’re pretty sure the combination will make a bit hit in the world of smartphone photography! The question is, why do the two rivals decide to work with each other? The best explanation so far is that both of them are tired of standing behind Google Android in terms of popularity! Microsoft Pix also signals many future cooperations between these giants! If the battle keeps going on, we’re happy to say that users benefit the most!

LG is making its big step to invest an amount of money in OLED display, which is expected to replace LCD for smartphones and other devices in the future.

OLED display: new age of flexible devices

Almost all the smart phones today support 2 main types of screen capacity: AMOLED and LCD that I mentioned in one of my articles. According to that, AMOLED is sported inside most of the high-end phones such as Samsung. Meanwhile, LCD is suitable to average and low-end handset. Now LCD’s manufacturer – LG Display Co., one of the world’s biggest makers of display panels used in smartphones and televisions, seems to make a move in the right direction to invest in OLED display.

So what is OLED display? And why is it so hot that everyone seems to be investing in these days? OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) is a flat light emitting technology. When electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. Because OLEDs emit light they do not require a backlight, thus they are thinner and more efficient than LCD displays. They can also be made flexible, even rollable and transparent. If you use Apple Watch, you will experience marvellous OLED, which is capable of producing brilliant color and contrast.

Although OLED display is not new, such technology has been used since 2001. Samsung made it wildly available with the introduction of the first Galaxy S in 2010. Years later, most high-end Samsung flagships appears with OLED technology, which allows the screen to bleed to the edge of the handset and to be curved. OLED technology, specifically OLED display is expected to replace liquid crystal displays (LCD) for smartphones as the standard technology in a few years.

OLED display: is it a wise investment?

In a press release, LG just announced that it will be investing 1.99 trillion won (approximately $1.75 billion) in a new 6^th generation flexible OLED display production line in Paju, South Korea. The investment in a new production line will give LG Display, a supplier of mobile phone displays to Apple Inc., the ability to boost production in the second half of 2018 since Apple needs to make a major change or get stuck to liquid crystal display panels for its iPhone screens.

Here is our list of ” Top Lenovo smartphone from $100-$250″ :4GB RAM, 4050 battery,…and affordable price! Let check all them out and find your best Lenovo phone. 

Lenovo Vibe C

Lenovo Vibe C was launched recently in May 2016. The phone owns  a 5.00-inch display with a resolution of 720 pixels by 1280p. Under the hood, there is a quad-core CPU supported by 1GB RAM and 8GB ROM (expandable). The camera on this phone is set in 5MP on the back and 2MP on the front for selfies. Besides, there is a 2300mAH battery along with Android 5.1, GPS, 4G LTE. As for Lenovo Vibe C price, it could be the cheapest one from our “top Lenovo smartphones” list at $104.

This is not the first time we hear about explosion caused from smartphones. Xiaomi phone now is the case, what happened there?

Xiaomi phone explodes: Which one?

Last week, a Xiaomi user whose name is Ajay Raj Negi‎ posted to the Mi Mobile Facebook page about his incident. He told that an incident happened with him when he was like usually using his Xiaomi Mi4i phone. Such incident happened on July 16, 2016 while he was in his office surrounded with his colleagues. Attached to his Facebook post is a video of the phone exploding, which shows a man drops his phone in panic and scuttles off as the device bursts into flames on his desk.

Fortunately, everything was under control and no one was hurt during the incident. Ajay mentioned that his Xiaomi phone of the Mi4i was purchased through Flipkart. Thus, it is unlikely that this incident is Xiaomi’s fault. Recently, Xiaomi has responded Ajay’s concerns regarding the incident with an official statement, which said that they were currently investigating the incident to find out a specific cause. Moreover, they offered another phone to their customer, but is it another Xiaomi phone or not? and Will the man still want a Xiaomi phone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuoPeuuLbbc

However, it is still good to hear that from Xiaomi and even better to hear more about what might have caused the explosion in the first place. In many past cases the cause of the accident is usually blamed on the use of non official accessories or chargers. Exploding cellphone now should be paid attention. It is not so strange to hear stories about people who lost their ears or a couple of fingers, while talking to a friend or browsing the Internet on their smartphone.

Xiaomi phone explodes: normally because…..

The battery can get too hot for various reasons. For example, using the smartphone while charging it, which is a process that generates heat. Using non-original batteries, not genuine chargers, exposing the device to direct sunlight and other sources of heat extensively can possibly turn your phone into flame.

Today the smartphone industry is full of flagships with premium yet mainstream features. So today we’ll try to bring you something different. Take a look at our list of most iconic phones from each smartphone brand!

1. Apple iPhone

We cannot talk about most iconic phones without mentioning the first version ever of Apple iPhone. The term “smartphone” is possible deprived of this great handset. It is not the first phone to pack a touchscreen, but for sure it is the first phone to become a household name. This first “soldier” from Apple dramatically changed the smartphone industry when it was released in 2006!

Thanks to brilliant marketing strategy in 2006, 6 out of 10 consumers knew the existence of this iPhone even before it attacked the market! The phone had sold over 6 million unit worldwide by the time its successor – the iPhone 3G was released! There’s no denying that after the birth of this smartphone, the word “iPhone” has become a part of our vocabulary!

Recently, Xiaomi has just launched its first laptop-Mi NoteBook Air. This Xiaomi Mi laptop owns powerful specs and a stunning look. However, will this device succeed in the market full of other famous brands?

Xiaomi Mi laptop: it’s hard to compete with others brand

Fist of all, we all can see that PC market is now on the edge of decline. And laptop market will soon follow the step of PC. So, the fact that Xiaomi decided to join in this segment is a little surprised. Not even mention that there are many big brands which already brought the same kind of Xiaomi Mi laptop in this segment. In the 13.3-inch segment, there are MacBook Air, Dell XPS 13 or HP Envy 13. What makes Xiaomi different from the crown is the economical price.

However, we should recall that big brands (Lenovo, Dell or HP) have joined in this market for may years. They have provided many products for various segments. They have their own customers for each segment. And it is not easy for customers to change their spending habits. Besides, the qualities of these products are verified. Xiaomi Mi laptop is not. So, with only two new products, Xiaomi can not compete with the other big companies.

Secondly, the main markets of Xiaomi Mi laptop are China and India. And people in these countries are tending to bypass this kind of product as well as PC. Now, they care more about smartphones. Smartphones go priority. According to an analyst from IDC Research, Chinese notebook market will fall about 10.4% in 2016. This number is 9.3% in the global market.

Xiaomi Mi laptop: another unsuccessful product?

Finally, this is not a first time that this Chinese company involves in a new market. They used to get many new products to the market in order to create a Mi ecosystem. They released Mi Drone with two versions: 4K video camera with Rs 30,200 and Full HD camera with Rs 25,200. Mi Band and Mi Band 2 are also their new products. They even brought a foldable bike to the market. However, these products can’t succeed like smartphones. Well, Xiaomi laptop could probably fail like the other products.

ZTE Axon 7 VS OnePLus 3 are the very first smartphones with 6GB RAM. What are other specs other than their massive RAM capacity? 

ZTE Axon 7 VS OnePLus 3: what else?

ZTE Axon 7 VS OnePLus 3 were released last month with so many surprises for tech geeks. Both are designed with 5.5-inch display and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 for protection but different resolutions. ZTE Axon 7 comes with flawless 2K screen with AMOLED capacity. In terms of OnePLus 3 design, it is full HD optic AMOLED display. These two flagships run on the latest Android Marshmallow and mount dual-core processor clocked at 2.15GHz and 1.6GHz sitting on Snapdragon 820 chipset, which is powerful.

While OnePLus 3 specs include only 6GB RAM version, ZTE Axon 7 specs are more variant with another model: 4GB RAM along with 64GB ROM. Alongside 6GB,  ZTE Axon 7 memory is bigger with 128GB ROM compared to 64GB ROM of OnePLus 3. Apart from the same 8MP selfie snapper, ZTE Axon 7 VS OnePLus 3 primary cameras are not alike. The ZTE phone sports 20MP shooter, whereas Oneplus 3 first sensor is only 16MP, but it is still the standard resolution.

Last but not least, all such ZTE Axon 7 VS OnePLus 3 specs can be fueled by what kind of batteries? At first, I think they would be massive ones. In fact, they are not that much bulky. ZTE Axon 7 battery is capable of 3250 mAh capacity, which is a bit powerful than OnePLus 3 cell. It is only 3000 mAh battery. Overall, regarding the specs only, I think I will recommend ZTE Axon 7 if someone asks me to suggest a good smartphone. But wait! Let’s see their prices, are they affordable?

ZTE Axon 7 VS OnePLus 3: how much do they cost?

With such specs, ZTE Axon 7 VS OnePLus 3 prices are quite competitive. ZTE Axon 7 price ranges at $499 while OnePLus 3 carries a cheaper price tag of $444. They are perfectly competitors in this battle. So now it is your choice to pick the winner?

Xiaomi smartphone is more and more popular, but they still don’t have some premium features like Samsung, Apple, or its other rivals. However, things can change on the next Xiaomi smartphone 2016!

Xiaomi smartphones 2016: What will be offered?

As you see, Xiaomi brand is getting the biggest market share in China as well as Global market. The company produces many affordable and great device: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, Xiaomi Mi 5, Xiaomi Mi Note 2, …However, Xiaomi smartphones don’t have premium features like other famous brands. Well, don’t worry, you will see the Xiaomi smartphone 2016 which sport a lot of changing. So, Xiaomi is going to engage in the high-end segment this year!

First, Xiaomi smartphones 2016 will sport dual camera. From confirmed information, Xiaomi Redmi Pro is the first Xiaomi device that gets a dual camera. Other Xiaomi Redmi Pro specs are also wonderful : 5.5-inchFullHD display, 4GB RAM, dual 13MP main camera and 4050mAH battery. This dual technology still can’t make Xiaomi Redmi Pro price to be higher. Yes, It lands at only Rs. 17,999. Next, Xiaomi smartphone 2016 are expected to get waterproof. Wow!

Third, many users believe that the Xiaomi smartphones 2016 will sport greater camera with optical zoom. As you know, some Chinese smartphone brands are upgrading their camera technology. For example, to be the biggest rival of Xiaomi, Huawei smartphones are now famous with dual camera paired with optical zoom. As the result, Xiaomi needs to create many better camera smartphones.

Xiaomi smartphones 2016 is what you are waiting for!

Fourth, Dust-proof is the premium feature on Xiaomi smartphones 2016. Last but not least, the next Xiaomi smartphone could own bigger battery. In recent years, Xiaomi has to cut producing costs for price strategy. Now, when they get the biggest market share in Chinese, they could concentrate to produce high-end smartphones. And dust-proof together with the bigger battery around 5000mAH seem to be possible!

There are times Google Play Store not working. In that case, don’t freak out! Instead, take a look at some of the tips below. They may help you put your appstore back to its track!

Google Play Store not working: Reset is the key!

The first and easiest thing to deal with Google Play Store not working is reset your connectivities! Sometimes, it’s the internet that stops Google Play from running properly. Try to reset your phone’s wifi. If it still doesn’t work, switch your phone to airplane mode than switch it back! There are many cases when these simple solutions turn our successful! Also remember to reset your wifi router or connect to another network to make sure whether the problem is from your phone or not.

Second, try erasing the Google Play store cache. If the problem is not in your connectivities, it could be in the memory. Cache memory is the local data that helps reduce the internet data usage and shorten the loading time of your phone. But when Google Play store not working, cache memory could be the trouble. What you need to do is go to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Store -> Clear cache.

The third possible solution is to delete your Google Play Store data. This is the case when clearing cache data doesn’t solve Google Play Store not working. The steps are also simple: You go to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Store. Then instead of tapping “Clear Cache”, you tap “Clear Data”. This step will erase all of your personal data in Google Play Store. After doing this, you will have re-sign in. If this step still doesn’t work, uninstall the Google Play Store is the last resort.

Google Play Store not working: The problem may be smaller than what you think

Last but not least, check your phone’s date/time settings. This may sound silly but in fact, there are cases when your phone’s date/time doesn’t sync with the date/time of the Google Play’s server. All you need to do is re-adjust the date/time to the most exact date/time and then restart your phone.