smartphone

Mobile World Congress 2015: Mockodile Heaven!

As many of the readers of this blog know, I am a fan of fake crocodile on my devices. Whether it is a red mockodile with white finish on my Samsung S5 or an external case on my Nexus devices, the plastic hide is a favourite of mine.

Today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona I came across a thing of beauty. Something that transcends the soul of a spirit mockodile: a device with uncanny resemblance to Vertu devices made out of brown mockodile.
The device in question is the Doogee Titans2 DG700. If you aren't sold on looks and feel alone, you should be. What are the specs? Irrelevant question in my opinion, but here they are anyway:

  • 4.5" qHD 540x960 IPS display
  • MT6582 quad core processor
  • Dual Standby microSIM
  • Android 5.0 (where 5.0 is handwritten in crayon)
  • 8GB storage / 1GB RAM (expandable with MicroSD)
  • 8.0 MP back / 5.0 MP front cameras
  • Mahoosive 4000 mAh battery
Sadly the lovely rep for Doogee, Vivian, could not sell me the demo device which didn't turn on and I'll have to order one online. 

The mockodile jamboree didn't stop there. I came across the stand of Italian accessory makers Celly, who had a mockodile pyramid display.
The future is bright, the future is mockodile.

OnePlus One Invite! Competition!

I am pleased to announce that I have a OnePlus One invite to purchase a 64GB Sandstone Black model.

The competition is fairly simple: to enter all you have to do is follow me on Twitter and retweet my tweet embedded below. Once you have shared the tweet you must paste the link to your retweet as a comment on this blog post. Tomorrow, Wednesday October 1st at 7pm BST, I will randomly choose a comment on this post, verify the entry and then contact the winner and provide them with the OnePlus invite.

Get retweeting people!

OnePlus One

Today my OnePlus One arrived. The expectation was enormous, and it hasn't disappointed me.
My OnePlus One (CM11 Flux Theme)
The OnePlus One unboxing was fun and showed how much design went into the packaging (unlike the Samsung Galaxy S5 one). The overall feel of the device, with its sandstone texture is lovely. The multiple OTA update experience was less pleasant, but the final result I am happy with.
I think I'll keep the CyanogenMod 11S ROM on it for now with the Flux Theme applied. I hope to get the AOSP ROM on it at some point to see how it fares compared to my Nexus 5.
My OnePlus One with its lovely black sandstone finish.
I don't currently have any invites to give out, but I'll be happy to share when I do.
Feel free to leave comments and/or questions, I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have in the Google Plus comments.

Motorola Moto E

This is my personal review of the Motorola Moto E, the budget Android smartphone which is taking the world by storm at the moment.
For those of you who follow me on Twitter and Google Plus, from November 2013 until April 2014 will have been a bit of a Blur of the hashtag #MotoG (Android skin pun intended). I really liked the device and used it as my main smartphone, flanked by the Nexus 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. When my Samsung S5 came along, I passed the Moto G on to a friend who was in need of a basic smartphone and who is now delighted with it and living the Android dream.
Over the last six months at least a dozen of my friends and relatives have been advised by me to get a Moto G (and they did). The Moto G is great device which packs an impressive amount of bang per monetary unit. With the Moto E Motorola are looking to wrap up the budget segment of the smartphone market using a similar recipe to the one which made the Moto G a success.
The Moto E is currently Motorola's budget handset offering, sitting below the Moto G in Lenovorola's product portfolio. For £80 (~$125) you get what would have been a 3G flagship specs a few years ago:
  • 4.3" qHD 540x960 display
  • Dual-core Snapdragon processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 5 megapixel camera (with no flash)
  • 4GB built in storage (expandable with up to 32GB MicroSD)
  • Android 4.4.2, with guaranteed timely upgrade to the next major release of Android
Value for money, the Moto E delivers an excellent proposition: good performance, almost on a par with current flagship devices like the Samsung S5, for a fraction of the price. I must say, in some situations I think it actually outperforms many of the market heavy hitters. As a bonus, you get a smartphone which is also splash and dust resistant which can be particularly useful in Scotland.

The Moto E runs an almost stock version of Android 4.4.2 KitKat at the moment, with very few very minor extras which are unobtrusive and actually useful (like Motorola Assist). In my day to day use, I haven't suffered from any issues with the software or apps I usually use. If anything the stock Android experience makes me more likely to reach for the Moto E than the Samsung Galaxy S5. 
Pocket Casts, Google Play Music All Access, Audible, Gmail, Twitter, Google Plus and Hangouts are the apps I use the most and the Moto E runs them flawlessly. As long as you remember to change the settings in the media heavy apps to use the MicroSD there seem to be no storage issues either.
The Moto E has a 4.3" qHD (540x960) screen which is bright and clear. Use in direct sunlight, although not really an issue here in Scotland, is excellent. The auto brightness settings haven't created any annoyances for me and watching video on the screen is great.
The thing difficult to describe and that you won't see on a spec sheet is the feel of the handset in the hand. Just like the Moto G, the curved soft touch plastic back is really pleasant to hold, and sits in the hand very comfortably. This SKU of the Moto E, from Tesco Mobile, comes with an extra red shell in the box. Accessorising has never been easier!
The 5 megapixel camera on the back of the Moto E was a huge let down. No flash, slow and sometimes unresponsive I didn't like it. There is another disappointment in the camera department too: no front facing camera means making Google Hangouts or Skype calls with face to face video is impossible. I suppose some trade off had to be made to bring down the price of what is a great handset overall for the price. Or was it all a cunning ploy by Motorola to try and curb the number of selfies on the internet?
Sample: weak camera doesn't perform very well
Battery life on the Moto E is great. The 1980 mAh battery lasts me more than a day in heavy use, even on days when I play Threes and Voxel Rush a lot. If I used the phone less, it would probably quite happily last a couple of days in between charges.

The Moto E is a great device, which delivers a great smartphone experience for an affordable price. The weak points are definitely the camera and the lack of a front facing camera, but in every other department the device excels within its category. Considering that the Moto E is up against the Samsung Galaxy Fame and the Nokia Lumia 520 in the same price range, I think Motorola have a clear winner in their product portfolio.

A word of warning if you are considering buying a Moto E: the standard retail box does not have a mains charger, just a micro usb cable.

Feel free to leave comments and/or questions below, thanks!

Ubuntu Edge

Yesterday Canonical, the commercial entity which backs Ubuntu, launched their Indiegogo fixed funding campaign to raise $32m for the Ubuntu Edge project.
Shiny Ubuntu/Android smartphone. Want!
The Ubuntu Edge is going to be a dual boot smartphone running my favourite OSs Ubuntu and Android, with what looks like beautiful and powerful hardware. Initial specs are of a device with 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD. The device will be able to be connected to a keyboard/mouse/monitor and run a full desktop environment as well as deliver a powerful smartphone experience.

The Indiegogo fixed funding campaign kicked off yesterday and a day in has already passed 10% of the total goal. I dilly dallied too long and seem to have missed out on the $600 option to get the device in May of next year for a discounted price. I will be making a token $20 contribution and will wait until the device is available through traditional commercial channels to get one.
The idea of a smartphone that acts as a more traditional computer when docked is not new, Ubuntu for Android has been pushing the idea for a while now. I like the idea, almost as much as the Chromebook/Chromebox one.

The smartphone/tablet/desktop computing world is going to be very different this time next year, lets see what Google, Mozilla, Samsung as well as Canonical get up to before then.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Source:  Indiegogo

I've reached Level 4 on Ingress!

For those of you who didn't know, I've been playing Ingress for a few weeks now. Ingress is an augmented reality massively multiplayer online game for Android smartphones. Today I reached level 4!
I have chosen to side with the Enlightened faction (green) in the game and have been a bit demoralised in the past month to see the Resistance faction gain more and  more of a Mind Unit advantage over the Enlightened. Today I was doing my bit to bolster the Enlightened presence in Edinburgh, Scotland and managed to take a few portals.
Deep in Resistance territory...
To celebrate and to warm up, I'm now sitting in the Waterstones Cafe on Princes Street sipping a white hot chocolate and writing this post. While I type I'm getting GMail notifications on my Chromebook to let me know that my entities are being taken down by GelatinousBlob, I'll need to head out back into the field soon.
If you are in Edinburgh and part of the Enlightened faction feel free to message me in the faction chat and we can see if we can strategize a tactic for turning Edinburgh green.

BBC Mobile Homepage Beta Is Sleek!

The BBC has released the testing version (beta) of its new mobile website homepage. As with the relatively recently renewed BBC homepage for traditional computers, the design is cleaner, more dynamic and whiter.
BBC Mobile Homepage Beta On Stock Android Browser
You can get the new BBC Mobile Homepage Beta on your mobile device by visiting the following link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/mobilebeta . You can also scan the following QR code with your mobile device:
This QR code is for the new BBC Mobile Homepage Beta
I quite like the new BBC Mobile Homepage Beta, I find it to be clearer and easier to use comnpared to the current/older version.
The current/older version of the BBC Mobile Homepage on the stock Android browser
As the "beta" label suggests, this is not the finished product, and it is far from perfect. On the stock Android web browser it works fine at the moment, as with the version of Internet Explorer on my Windows Phone 7 device. It renders fine in Opera Mobile and Opera Mini for me too. Sadly the new BBC Mobile Homepage Beta does not render perfectly on the stock WebOS browser (it is useable, but some bits go missing) and the Chrome Beta for Android 4.0 just doesn't like it.
The New BBC Mobile Homepage Beta on the stock WebOS browser
The New BBC Mobile Homepage Beta on Opera Mobile on Android
The New BBC Mobile Homepage Beta on Chrome Beta for Android 4.0
(Beta + Beta = Fail)
I look forward to this homepage becoming the standard one for mobile devices. I hope the clever people at the BBC also manage to make it more dynamic and scalable so that it adapts to larger screens such as those on BAPs and tablets as well as phablets. Well done to the chaps and chapettes involved in the development and deployment of the page, I still feel like it is worth while paying my TV License.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Bada OS To Be Folded Into TIZEN

Samsung's Tae-Jin Tang (Senior Vice President of Samsung’s Contents Planning Team) has revealed that Bada OS will be folded into the Tizen open source project. Bada OS is Samsung's own mobile operating system, which has not been as successful as Android globally. 


Tizen is the new name for the MeeGo open source Linux based OS (itself formerly known as Moblin and Maemo). Backed by Intel and Samsung among others, Tizen may be found on some Samsung handsets released by the end of 2012. Interestingly Tae-Jin Tang indicated that Tizen would be used on Samsung's lower end smartphones, while the higher end ones would be running Android or Windows Phone 7.


Source: Forbes.com

Shock And Awe Tech News!

This has been an amazingly busy week in the technology business world. I'm bowled over by these two major earthquakes in the tech industry.


Google and Motorola's boards of directors unanimously agreed to the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google. Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”


Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”


So Google will be taking over Motorola. I think the combined company should be called Googorola.


Today there news that was equally as earthshaking to the industry: HP will discontinue operations webOS devices.


I'm personally sad to see the end of WebOS because of how much I love my Palm Pre 2. Oh well, it's not personal, it's just business...


Here are the sources: 


I'm off to weep under the duvet.

INQ Cloud Touch [Review]

As many regular readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of budget Android devices. Google's Android OS is an open source operating system that manufacturers (and users) can modify to their liking and adapt to needs and/or devices. Many of you may have heard of or seen HTC Sense, HTC's take on Android's UI, or Motorla's Motoblur, or Samsung's TouchWiz. In a similar fashion to how these major players in the smartphone market skinned and adapted Android for their smartphones, INQ did so to create a new Android experience on the INQ Cloud Touch.



The INQ Cloud Touch is a relatively inexpensive Android smartphone which has social media and the mobile internet at its core. Facebook passes from being an application (and/or web app) to an integral part of the device. People who use/live on Facebook will feel right at home with the INQ Cloud Touch as it is probably more of a "Facebook Phone" than the HTC Cha Cha or the HTC Salsa in my opinion.
The Main Homescreen - Facebook Rules!
The main homescreen of the INQ Cloud Touch is comprised of a group of custom Facebook widgets: a large Facebook News Feed (browsable) and above it a widget of your favourite Facebook contacts, one of your integrated Facebook and Google Calendar, one for your Facebook notifications and one for Facebook Places (Facebook's answer to Foursquare and/or Google Places). At the bottom of the homescreen there is a static dock that appears on the other homescreens you can slide through. The other homescreens are customisable but come pre-populated out of the box with a Spotify widget and the most popular pre-installed apps (Twitter, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook Messaging, Youtube, GMail).

Facebook is not the only service that INQ wove into the DNA of the INQ Cloud Touch. I was pleasantly surprised to find Spotify as the default media player on the INQ Cloud touch. As well as playing media files stored locally you can also stream your Spotify playlists if you have a Spotify Premium account.
Spotify Playing TWiG (local file)
Plugging my favourite headphones into the INQ Cloud Touch wasn't a problem as the device has a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. In the funky box you also get a very iLike white set of headphones with microphone. I definitely liked the headphones that come with the INQ Cloud Touch as they are earplug style ones. They even come with size adapters for the plugs!
The INQ Headphones Bundled With The Cloud Touch
Sadly I can't afford Spotify Premium at the moment, so all my cheesy Spotify playlists have been there in the Spotify media player reminding me of their existence (and teasing me as well as tempting me to subscribe to Spotify Premium).
Tempting, oh so tempting. Spotify Premium Needed!
Battery life was pretty good on the device. In my day to day use it lasted long enough to get me through the average day. Mainly I use the device for social networking (Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter), Email (GMail), IM (GTalk) and as an mp3 player for listening to podcasts while I walk to work. Managing battery life was easy with the power and service monitor launched by the dedicated button on the left hand side of the phone.
The Power Control Screen (Launched by Info button)
As well as everything that comes set up and ready to go on the INQ Cloud Touch, it is an Android phone, so installing your favourite apps and games from the Marketplace is easy peasy. Angry Birds played smoothly and was entertaining on the INQ Cloud Touch. I must admit that I have almost stopped using Facebook and reduced my usage of Identica and Twitter since the launch of the Google Plus field test. As well as the Google Search widget, I installed the Google Plus widget and a few more apps such as Foursquare. Performance of all these apps was great and I didn't really have any problems with them.

I have now been using the INQ Cloud Touch for more than two weeks as my primary smartphone and have not really had the want (or need) for anything more powerful (or expensive) than the Cloud Touch apart from in the camera department.
The shiny red back of the INQ Cloud Touch with 5MP camera.
On the shiny red back of the INQ Cloud Touch there is a 5 Mega Pixel snapper (without flash of any kind). I didn't like the results of the camera and the lack of flash for it is definitely a negative point. The nightclub frequenting iPhone or Blackberry user (who Frank Meehan mentioned...) wouldn't be able to take very good pictures if they were to upgrade to an INQ Cloud Touch. Sharing and sending the pictures would be extremely easy with whichever service you please. Google Plus Instant worked a dream with the pictures taken, but sadly not many were worth sharing.
A Picture of @fatoldgingercat taken in optimal light conditions with the INQ Cloud Touch
Here's the geeky technical paragraph of the review you can skip if tech specs don't rock your boat: the INQ Cloud Touch runs on a 600 MHz processor, which is pretty smooth and responsive on Android 2.2. The crisp 480x320 screen is encased in solid feeling plastic and the chin at the bottom of the screen has three buttons (Menu, INQ Home and Back). The smartphone comes with a 4GB MicroSD card and you can expand the storage on the INQ Cloud touch up to 32 GB (I tested it with my card and it worked fine). The smartphone is a quad-band GSM device so it will happily work in the US of A on GSM networks too, and it also does HSDPA (3.5G for us Europeans, 4G for Yank marketers...). The speaker on the back and speakerphone performance are excellent. The INQ Cloud Touch is available in red (as my review unit is), white and black.

Right then, time to wrap up this long review with some sort of conclusion. I have been a fan of INQ since my experience with the INQ Mini 3G. I liked using the INQ Cloud Touch and enjoyed using it as my main smartphone. Battery life was good, performance was good and once I got used to INQ's UI I forgot I was reviewing a phone most of the time. If you are a Facebook addict or someone who is afraid of technology but are used to Facebook, this is definitely the phone for you. The INQ Cloud touch is easy peasy to use and a fantastic first smartphone. It is affordable, fashion conscious and powerful enough to last a while. I'll be sad to send the INQ Cloud Touch back.

Quick disclaimer: the INQ Cloud Touch I have been using is a review unit provided to me on loan by the friendly people at INQ. I received no payment for this review and remained as impartial as any INQ fan can when reviewing their products. Leo Laporte vs Mike Arrington moment averted...

Find out more about the INQ Cloud touch here.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. If you liked this review please Google +1.

ComScore's snapshot of UK Smartphone Users [May 2011]

Interesting data from Comscore regarding smartphone use in the UK.


"In May 2011, 42 percent of UK mobile consumers used a smartphone compared to only 27 percent a year ago."


Yes, charts and bar graphs make it easier to visualise. Who ate all the pie charts...?

Not only is it interesting to see that more people in the UK are using smartphones, but I think that the growth rate of the platforms is interesting: year on year Nokia's Symbian is down 10%, Apple's iOS is up 46% and Google's Android is up a staggering 634%. If those year on year growth rates are applied to the three months since that survey was completed (in May 2011) it is safe to say that Apple's iOS platform has been toppled as the market leader by Google's Android platform by now (End of July 2011).


RIM, maker of Blackberry smartphones and software, recently announced that it was cutting 2000 jobs in autumn 2011. Analysts are disappointed with the company's growth. The Comscore data indicates that in the UK things aren't that bad with a 59% year on year growth.


Well, I am smiling at the fact that the Android platform is doing so well. As most readers of this blog will already know, I'm and Android fanboy. (Consider this a sort of disclaimer)


Here's a link to the Comscore source.


As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. If you feel like it please Google +1 the post too.

MoDaCo Forums' Facelift

One of the online forums I use most is MoDaCo. MoDaCo is a forum where a lively and friendly community of people such as myself discuss, communicate and exchange information regarding mobile phones (mainly smart ones), tablet computers and their operating systems (both official and unofficial). Founded and run by Paul O'Brien, the MoDaCo Forums have just had a facelift.
  
Android @ MoDaCo's New Board Index.
The MoDaCo Forums' new cleaner inerface is in my opinion much cleaner and smoother than the older slightly clunky interface. The right panel is easier to navigate and search seems to be working better for me.
The HTC Desire New Board Index.
The best part of the general facelift Paul gave the MoDaCo forums in my opinion is the new mobile interface. I can now use the forum from my mobile devices more easily and using much less data than before. The mobile forums interface is optimised for touchscreen smartphones and is simple and clean.
Android @ MoDaCo's New Mobile Board Index

The New Mobile HTC Desire Board Index
Well done to Paul and all who were involved in the facelift of MoDaCo Forums. If you have never been on the MoDaCo Forums and are into mobile technology in general, why not spend some time there? The friendly and helpful MoDaCo community will be there to help you get started.

As usual, feel free to add comments and/or questions here. If my blog template is now fixed, you should also be able to Google +1 this post too.

HTC Wildfire vs HTC Wildfire S [photos]

Today I got a brand new HTC Wildfire S. I will be writing a full review of the device after I get back from holiday in a fortnight.


Here are a few snaps of my black HTC Wildfire S next to Candice's HTC Wildfire.
The HTC Wildfire S is slightly smaller than the older HTC Wildfire, but has a higher resolution screen (320 x 480 pixels vs 240x320 pixels). The camera and processor are the same, while the Android version is 2.3 Gingerbread vs 2.2 FroYo.


Feel free to ask any questions you would like answered in the full review.