iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Impressions from an Android fanboy's perspective!

Apple announced the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on the 10th of September and almost 20 days later, here are the impressions from an Android fanboy's perspective.

The iPhone 6 has a 4.7" display and the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5" display. Both feature a new "Retina HD" display. iPhone 6 has a resolution of 1334 by 750 with 326 pixels per inch. The 6 Plus has a 1080p display. 1080p in late 2014? This is a low. Even for Apple.

As always, Apple tries to trick it's 'dumb' users by emphasizing on useless numbers. For eg: "The iPhone 6 Plus has 2 Million pixels on it's display." If a normal person reads this, they think that it is the highest ever on any device. What they don't know is that 1080p phones are available since 2 years. 

The A8 chip has up to 25% faster processing power and up to 50% faster graphics than the A7.

Many Apple fans deny this but there is a general allegation that Apple re-introduces already established technology and the users think that it is an Apple innovation. The biggest examples are a 4.7" screen and 1080p resolution, which are both pretty normal since 2 years.

Okay, pretty much all of the new features are already in some phones so I'll just list all of them and which phones had them before.

"New" technology in iPhone 6   :   Phone which already had it

Wifi 802.11AC : Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One M7 and pretty much all flagships of 2013/4

Barometer : Samsung Galaxy Nexus(2012), Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S5

Optical Image Stabilization  :  LG Nexus 5, LG G2, G3, HTC One M7.

I think that the new back looks ugly. And this is not because I am an Apple hater, I liked the back of the iPhone 5/5S.

Camera:

The iPhone 6 has a 8 MP rear shooter with f/2.2 aperture, 1.5 micrometer pixels and OIS. What Apple users don't know is that the HTC One M7 has a 4 MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture, 2 micrometer pixels and OIS. 

Processor:

Apple users tell about how everyday app opening speeds are much faster in iPhones than Android phones. Here is a video by +Chris Nacca comparing the iPhone 6 with the Nexus 5.

Before watching the video, note that the Nexus 5 is a year old with ART disabled (ART increases app opening times drastically) and the processor has more than twice the number of pixels to process as compared to the iPhone and STILL, the Nexus 5 is at par with the iPhone 6 and even faster in some cases.

Pricing and availability: 

Introducing a 128 GB iPhone is pretty much the only good thing the Apple has done but not to mention, it's stupidly expensive. The prices above are for a 2 year contract. Yup...

"OMG Apple made a new technology called NFC. This is so cool, you just have to tap to pay." Don't worry Apple users, you won't be able to transfer files by using a feature similar to "Android Beam" as the iPhone's NFC chip will only work with Apple Pay devices.

This is not a shocker to me because you can't even transfer files via bluetooth on iPhones, transferring files via NFC should be beyond Apple's imagination. Btw, Android Beam only uses NFC to authenticate the devices and Bluetooth to transfer the files.

The payment system is called "Apple Pay". Shouldn't it be "Pay Apple"?

Super buggy iOS 8.0.1 update:

Soon after the iPhone 6 launch, Apple released 8.0.1 that broke TouchID on all phones and also, network was unavailable.When you pay SO much money for a device, you expect at least not to receive a buggy software update. After 2-3 days of the 8.0.1 update, Apple released iOS 8.0.2 resolving the bugs caused by 8.0.1 but still, this is unacceptable...

Bendgate

Most of you would've probably heard about the bendgate. If you haven't, I'll explain it to you. On 23rd September, Lew from +Unbox Therapy uploaded a video showing how the iPhone 6 Plus "bends" when pressure is applied at specific points on the back. Not only this, even the display comes out of the 'unibody' of the 6 Plus. This video went viral and as of writing of this article, has 45 million views in 5 days!

After the launch of this video, many Apple fans claimed that the video was edited and Lew swapped devices in between shots. To entertain this nonsense appeal, Lew went out in the open and did the bend test in the open without editing in front of an audience of 4-5 people.

Samsung and LG were quick to mock Apple for this controversial structure of the 6 Plus.

An Apple event is never complete without irony, is it? Gather around kids, it's time to see how Apple changes it's statements ONCE AGAIN! 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 vs iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display

Also read my other article on the Sony Xperia Z2 tablet vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 here. Also, read my thoughts on the new iPads here. Google Nexus 7(2013) vs iPad Mini 2 here.

Anyways, let's get started on this one! 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4

• MicroSD card support.
• Better cameras (8 MP vs 5 MP and 2.1 MP vs 1.2 MP).
• IR blaster.
• Physical home button along with capacitive multitasking and back buttons.
• 3 GB RAM.
• LED flash.
• 14% thinner (6.6 mm vs 7.5 mm)
• Higher pixel density (359 ppi vs 324 ppi)
• 13% lighter (298 gm vs 341 gm)
• 6% larger display (8.4" vs 7.9")
• Notification LED.
• Fingerprint Scanner with multi user suppport.
• Open source Android.
• Voice calling facility.
• Slimmer bezel.
• Wi-fi 802.11AC.
• Back has superior grip and great feel in hand.

Apple iPad Mini with Retina display

• 32% larger battery.
• OS updates are faster.
• 64/128 GB options.
• Aluminum body.
• 64 bit processor

Conclusion:

Is there anything more left to say? :P

Samsung for me all the way. Let me know in the comments which one you prefer!

That's all for this comparison! If you liked this article, please +1 and follow us on Google+, the link is on the right side. You can find more articles that you may like by using the labels on the right hand side. Keep reading! :D

Tech roundup: Android 4.4.3, iOS 8, Mac OS X and more!

Today was a very busy day! First of, this is a new style of writing I am trying and I don't think this will be done frequently. That said, you can tell me about anything you want to know on Google+ or in the articles and I will try my best to explain in an article!

Android 4.4.3!

Google didn't quite announce the 4.4.3 update but instead, they started rolling out OTA updates to Nexus devices which you can download here, unlike some companies who tend to announce their NEW and INNOVATIVE OS months before the actual release and give their customers buggy betas ;)

The update squashes a few bugs in 4.4.2 related to the CPU usage and the Nexus 5 camera along with a newer Phone app with Card UI for Speed Dial. Further, Google is said to bring few more fixes with its new Android 4.4.3 update which include fixes for data connection loss, random reboots, missed calls and various camera bugs.

iOS 8.0 and Mac OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" :

Before starting, please excuse me for a moment for being satirical. I think Apple just waits for Android features to be a success and then implements it in iOS, giving the feature it's own UI touch and then talks to the world as if they invented it and nobody else has done it before. As an example, Tim was saying in the Keynote how Android is behind time and a few moments later, he started explaining the "new" features in iOS 8 that have been in Android since GB or ICS days. Also, does EVERY new Apple product has to be the "biggest change to the iOS/iPhone/iPad yet"? In fact, there is an whole article showing how most of the new features in iOS are already on Android. You can read it here.

iOS 8 allows all your iOS devices to sync photos. The messages app allows you to send audio and video, shortcuts in notifications and recent apps, a new keyboard that has swype typing and some more things. You can read about them all in detail over here.

Mac OS X 10.10 has a few visual changes regarding translucent bars and connectivity with iOS. Apple users can now accept calls and read/respond to text messages on their iPad or OS X machine.

As every year, Apple has announced betas for both the OSs and will be finally rolling out in September.

New Chromecast capabilites:

Google announced today that the subscribers of ESPN on their TV and having the WatchESPN app on the Android phone will now be able to cast ESPN videos onto their Chromecast.

Starting today, you can now also cast photos and videos from your Google+ page using the Photos app on your Android device, iPhone and iPad or on the computer by clicking on the "Cast" button while on Google+.

Moto Stream announced:

The Moto Stream is Motorola's attempt to fix the Nexus Q. If you don't know what the Nexus Q is, I don't blame you :P

The Moto Stream is a icosahedron shaped device which is aimed to make ANY speaker bluetooth enabled. It's as simple as that. It has Bluetooth 3.0 capabilities with upto 300 feet of connectivity. It is NFC enabled so you can just tap your phone/tablet and connect.

A maximum of 5 Bluetooth devices can be connected at one time and there is a queuing facility available. The Moto Stream is available for 50$ from today on the Motorola website and in RadioShack from 6th June.

That's all for today's tech round up! If you liked this article, please +1 and follow us on Google+, the link is on the right side. And also, all our other articles are listed on the right side. Keep reading! :D

Why Android and Windows Phone Devices DO Need More RAM!

I'm pretty sure this conversation will be familiar to most of you.
You: "My new XYZ phone/tablet has 2 gigs of RAM. How much does your iPhone/iPad have?"
Random friend: "What are you going to do with 2 gigs of RAM on your mobile device?"
And then, no matter how much you try to explain them, they just sit there, understanding nothing, like typical Apple users.

Well, now you have an answer.

Most of the Android and Windows Phone devices come with 1080p (1920x1080) displays and 2 GB RAM nowadays. But, some phones like Vivo Xplay 3S, LG G3 and Oppo Find 7 come with 2K (2560x1440) displays. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to make this deduction that all phones with 2K displays come with 3 GB RAM. Do you see where I'm going with this?

More pixels means more RAM required by the GPU. The Nexus 10 was announced in 2012 and was pretty much the first mobile device to feature a resolution of 2560x1440. I remember being disappointed that the Google event was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy but just watching the specs of the Nexus 10 more than made up for it! It boasted of a Cortex-A15 dual core processor, 2 GB RAM and a 2K display. Those specs rock even today!

When I first booted my Nexus 10, I was surprised that it showed a total of only 1.5 GB RAM. After the 4.2.2 OTA update, it went down to 1.1 GB! I was mad. But, then I read somewhere on XDA that the GPU requires DEDICATED 900 MB of RAM for the enormous resolution.

The iPhone 5S has a resolution of 1136x640 and 1 GB DDR2 RAM. Less pixels on iPhone means less RAM required. It also has a little to do with the manufacturer bloat of Android devices but I am considering only stock Android/Google Play Edition devices here.

And this is the exact same reason why the Moto G and Moto E can run smoothly with 1 GB RAM. I hope now you understand why Android phones need more RAM and can shut your iCrap friends as well! :P

That's it guys. I hope you liked this short article. You can read our other write-ups which are listed on the right hand side. Please follow us on Google+ from the right side of this blog to be one of the first ones to know whenever we write a new article!

Have we reached tech saturation or are we expecting too much?

Everytime, the same thing happens. A manufacturer announces it's newest flagship and the tech world goes gaga for that particular device, until, it is slowly forgotten and thrown into the tech oblivion.

HTC announced it's new flaship, the HTC One M8 in March and to be honest, I was yawning during the keynote. I mean, if I can get the old HTC One for even 3/4th the price of the new one, I would not think for even one second. I think that HTC hyped the phone too much on YouTube and Twitter and raised people's expectations far from what the M8 could actually deliver. You can read my overview of the HTC One M8 here.

HTC's newest flagship. the One M8, compared to it's predecessor

The case is similar even with the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2 and many more flagships of leading manufacturers who seem to just refine their last year's phone with a newer processor, a higher quality camera and in a little bigger chassis.

Samsung Galaxy S5 and S4

Don't get me wrong, I think they are all great phones but as compared to one year old models, they are only a fraction better. According to me, Nexus 6(?) > Sony Xperia Z2 > Oppo Find 7 > Samsung Galaxy S5  > Oneplus One > HTC M8 >>> iPhone 6(:P).

The beauties of the Android world: Sony Xperia Z1 and Z2

These facts make us wonder whether we have reached saturation or our limit of innovation. The fact is that, as we are going forward in time the changes in phones become more and more subtle. You could easily tell between a Samsung Galaxy S3 and a S4 but the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S4 look almost identical. Also, I think that the fact that the HTC One M8 and the Samsung Galaxy S5 have lesser pixel density than last year's models support my point.

The purpoted flagship-killer of the newly found Chinese manufacturer, Oneplus

So... What does this conclude? We do have great new and innovative technology like Phoneblocks, Moto 360, Google Glass and many more devices. But, the problem is that we really have achieved too much in the recent years and that's why we don't get surprised by anything nowadays. The HTC One M8 and the Oneplus One are the perfect examples for hyping a device out of it's abilities. No doubt that they are both beatiful phones but they just couldn't live up to the hype. But we can still count on Google and the next Nexus manufacturer that we will again be awed by the it's brilliance. A few months ago, I told my co-writer, +Jay Shah, that the perfect phone for me would be built by HTC, have the software of Google and hand-picked features from Samsung and Motorola!

With all this, there is one thing we know that Android power users like me can always count on ROM makers like +CyanogenMod  and +Paranoid Android that they will come up with something awesome!

Other articles:
Oneplus One overview here
Samsung Galaxy S5 overview here
Oppo Find 7 articles here and here
Oppo Find 7 vs Sony Xperia Z2 here
HTC One M8 overview here

All our other articles are listed at the right hand side. Add us to your Google+ circles to be one of the first to know whenever we write new articles!
google.com/+ultrafiniteblogspot

Xperia Z2 Tablet vs Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 vs iPad Air

Sony announced their new Xperia Z2 tablet at MWC and it is looking pretty solid to me. I think Sony has a winner in their hand because they kept all of the good features of the Xperia Z tablet (glass back, waterproof etc.) and upgraded other features to keep up with the new wave of performance hungry apps (processor, RAM etc.). In this article, I compare it with two of the best tablets today, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 and the iPad Air.

	Sony Xperia Z2	Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1	Apple iPad Air	Winner
OS	Android 4.4.2	Android 4.4.2	iOS 7
Announced	Feb-14	Jan-14	Nov-13
Display Size	10.1"	10.1"	9.7"
Resolution	1920x1200	2560x1600	2048x1536	Samsung
PPI	224	300	264	Samsung
Weight	439 gms	469 gms	469 gms	Sony
Thickness	6.4 mm	7.3 mm	7.5 mm	Sony
Camera	8.1 MP	8 MP	5 MP	Sony
Secondary Camera	2.2 MP	2 MP	1.2 MP	Sony
Water/dust proof	Yes	No	No	Sony
Processor	2.3 GHz quad core Snapdragon 800	Quad-core (1.9 + 1.3) GHz Exynos Octa 5420	Apple A7 64-bit
RAM	3 GB	2 GB	Not announced	Sony
Expandable Storage	Yes	Yes	No

Conclusion

In my opinion, Sony has created the best tablet of 2014 (so far, I am looking forward to the Google Nexus 10 2) and would recommend anyone to buy it disregarding the pricing which hasn't been announced yet. Being an Android power user, the software is no issue for me because I can root it anytime and install a custom ROM or even stock android. Obviously, this isn't possible for everybody but, it's still an option whenever you buy and Android tablet!

So that's it guys, hope to see you soon. If you liked this article, please also read my other articles which are listed on the right and share it with your friends who love Android too! Also, if you want to make sure you are one of the first persons to get notified when we write more awesome stuff like this, add me in your circles, +1 or follow the blog via e-mail!

Qualcomm announces its first 64-bit processor, the Snapdragon 410

It's always the same. One company comes up with something "different than usual", it's rival company calls that feature a gimmick and the next thing you know, that "gimmicky" feature is present in the second company's next product!

Same is the case with Qualcomm. When Apple announced back in October that it's A7 chip has a 64-bit architecture so that apps can handle bigger amounts of data, Qualcomm's Ex-CMO, Anand Chandrasekher, called it as a "marketing gimmick" and that it has no additional benefit to the customers. Although I agree with him (:P), he was removed from his post for leading exploration of other initiatives. 

And to my surprise(being sarcastic), yesterday, Qualcomm announced it's first 64-bit chip, the Snapdragon 410. The Snapdragon 410 is aimed for mid-low end Android and Windows phone devices with a price tag of below 150$. The newest Snapdragon processor will also support multiple LTE bands known as "LTE World mode". In addition to 64 bit and LTE World Mode, the Snapdragon 410 supports a 13-megapixel camera, 1080p HD video playback, and the new Adreno 306 GPU.

Such chips enable faster apps that can juggle large amounts of data more efficiently. However, most mobile operating systems and apps don't currently support 64 bit. This means that now Android and Windows phone manufacturers can overcome the limitation of 4 GB RAM by using 64-bit processors instead of ARM or 32-bit ones. Although, I don't think mobile devices with more than 4 GB will come before Q3 of 2015.

Okay, now the important part, "When will I see a device with the Snapdragon 410 in stores?". According to Qualcomm, this chip will be displayed in Q1 of 2014 and will be available for mass production in Q3 2014.

In my previous article about the Oppo Find 7, I talked about the Snapdragon 805. If you want to read that article, click here. I talked about 64 bit processors on my Nexus 7(2013) and the iPad Mini with Retina Display article. You can read that one here. Read Qualcomm's original announcement here.

If you liked this article, please also read my other articles below and share it with your friends who love Android too! Also, if you want to make sure you are one of the first persons to get notified when we write more awesome stuff like this, add me in your circles, +1 or follow the blog via e-mail!

Google Nexus 7(2013) vs Apple iPad Mini with Retina Display

With black friday and cyber monday coming up soon, you can expect electronics sales to go through the roof. And that is the reason I will help you buy the best portable tablet for you. Today, I will be comparing the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini, 2 of the best devices in the 'mini tablet' category.

Size

The tablets are both 7.9 inches tall, but that's where the similarities end. The Nexus 7 is 16 percent narrower, giving it a very different look and feel. The Nexus' little bit more thickness doesn't matter too much as it is not fat.

Weight

The Retina iPad mini is actually heavier than last year's model. It isn't a huge difference in hand, but it also doesn't feel quite as feathery as the 1st-gen iPad mini. The extra heft has it coming out at 14 percent heavier than the Nexus 7.

Build and feel in-hand

We're looking at a familiar aluminum construction for the iPad mini, and a matte plastic build for the Nexus 7. The back of the Nexus 7 is quite similar to the LG Nexus 5. Neither tablet is uncomfortable in hand, but if you are used to using devices with one hand, the Nexus 7 should be better for you given its narrower design and lighter weight.

Colors

You have two color options for the Mini, and a standard black for Google's tablet.

Display

If you mostly use your tablet outdoors, I would suggest the Nexus 7 as I noticed a higher brightness level and that would help for reading in bright sunlight. The 2012 Nexus 7 and 1st-gen iPad mini both had a terrible display resolution. But no worries there anymore, as these latest models are razor-sharp. The Nexus 7 does display a wider range of colors but the iPad mini has a tad high pixel density. But don't worry, you won't be able to notice ;)

Software

iOS and Android each have their fans. The Android 4.4 KitKat update is still in the process of rolling out to the Nexus 7. So if you buy one today, you might still be on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean for a little while. The iPad mini on the other hand, comes with iOS 7 out of the box. An extra note for the Android critics, the Google Play Store underwent an update on 23rd November that will help widen the app library for tablets easily before you all start yapping :P

Storage

The iPad mini offers two extra storage tier options. Neither tablet has a microSD card slot.

Wireless

Both slates are sold in both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + cellular models. The cellular models in both devices support LTE.

Battery

The above numbers show battery capacity, but we have some much more telling numbers. In our hands-on test, where we stream video continuously (with Wi-Fi on and brightness at 75 percent), the Nexus lasted 5 hours and 33 minutes. In the same test, the Retina iPad mini lasted 10 hours and 50 minutes. We wouldn't call battery life a huge concern on the Nexus 7, but it also doesn't compare to the excellent uptimes from the Mini.

Processor

Here, you can see definitely that the Nexus' processor has more potential to work faster. The 64-bit chip on Apple products still doesn't makes any sense to me as 64 bit chips are supposed to provide RAM capacity higher than 4 GB but Apple uses just 1/4th of the maximum capacity.

RAM

The Nexus 7 doubles the iPad mini's 1 GB of RAM, making it better for multitasking.

Cameras

Nothing mind-blowing in the camera department, but since tablets make for awkward cameras anyway, I don't think that's anything to worry about.

Release date

It's hard to believe, but the 2nd-gen Nexus 7 has already been around for four months. If Google sticks with its established cycle, we could see a 3rd-gen Nexus 7 about eight months from now.

Starting prices

The iPad mini gives you a much bigger screen and a little better battery life, but you're also paying for it. It starts at US$170 more expensive than the Nexus 7(we did expect that, didn't we? :P).

Wrap-up

If you ask my personal opinion, hands down, the Nexus 7 is better all over. But, in the end, it all depends on you and which tablet you want. Let me know in the comments section which tablet are you gonna buy this Thanksgiving or which you already have! :)If you liked this article, please also read my other articles below and share it with your friends who love Android too! Also, if you want to make sure you are one of the first persons to get notified when we write more awesome stuff like this, +1 and follow the blog via e-mail!

New iPad Air and iPad mini impressions!

They say that the first impression is the last impression.. Well then, lets discuss my first impressions about the new iPad Air and iPad mini that were unveiled today!

iPad Air:

The newer/upgraded version of the last year's iPad 4 brings in quite a bit of hardware changes. It has the new A7 64-bit chip found in the iPhone 5S which was unveiled in the starting of September this year. As it is with Apple, there is no official statement about how much RAM the device holds. As expected, it will be shipped with iOS 7. Although, everybody was expecting for Apple to release iOS 7.1 which should be a small update including performance improvements and bug fixes. Now we come to the "air" part of the new tablet. iPad Air is just 7.5 mm thin as compared to last year's 8.8 mm iPad. That is a 1.3 mm cut-off. Now, to earn something, you have to lose something. And in this case, battery capacity. Apple has not given us any numbers in terms of mAHs but it says that with the new power-efficient processor and even with lesser battery capacity, the battery life would be 10 hours(same as last year's iPad). It weighs 469 gms as compared to last year's 601 gms. Again, this is only possible due to the cut off in battery. Also, the iPad Air brings in MIMO(Multi Input Multi Output) WiFi. This technology was introduced in the Google Nexus 10 manufactured by Samsung which was announced approximately this time of the year in 2012. Now, over to iPad mini

iPad mini:

The 7-8" tablet market was introduce in the mainstream when Google announced the First Gen Nexus 7 in June 2012. After some time, Apple announced their 7.9" iPad mini in October 2012. These two tablets were pretty much neck-to-neck in terms of performance and specs. But there was one major problem in both these 'mini-tablets', the screen resolution. The screen resolution was horrible. The pixel density came out to be about 150-200. That is too low for even 2012's standards when almost every flagship came with about 300 ppi. To solve this problem, this year, in July, Google announced the Nexus 7(2013) with a newer processor, higher RAM and the most needed, higher screen resolution. It boasted a 1920X1020 resolution with a 323 pixel per inch density. We all pretty much expected Apple to do the same, release an iPad mini with a "Retina display". And today, they fell nowhere short. The new iPad mini has the same A7 chip. BUT, it is heavier and thicker than the original iPad mini. At 7.5 mm against last year's 7.2 mm and 341 gms against last years 312 gms.

So, that's it guys, hope you enjoyed it and please share this blog with your friends and don't forget to follow so that whenever we post more awesome content like this, you will get notified right away!

Btw, if there is any mistake in this post, don't blame me because I am writing this at 1:30 am in India! :P