Tuesday 27 January 2015
Tuesday 9 December 2014
Tuesday 25 November 2014
iPhone Users are tempted by BlackBerry with $550 Incentive
BlackBerry is targeting iPhone users with an offer the company hopes they can’t refuse. A new trade-up program is aimed at convincing Apple smartphone owners to try the new BlackBerry Passport -- and the firm is offering up to $550 for the experiment.
Starting December 1, Apple iPhone users can choose a BlackBerry Passport and get up to $400 back on their iPhones, plus an additional $150 from BlackBerry. That offer is good through until February 13, 2015 in North America and is available to owners of the iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, and 6.
The BlackBerry Passport has a 4.5-inch square screen with a 1:1 aspect ratio, 1440x1440 pixel (453 dpi) HD display and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The device totes the BlackBerry 10.3 operating system, with features like BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry Blend and Amazon Appstore. “The BlackBerry Passport was created to drive productivity and to break through the sea of rectangular-screen, all-touch devices,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO at BlackBerry.
A Risk-Free Experience
We caught up with Roger Entner, principal analyst at Recon Analytics, to get his take on the BlackBerry promotion. He told us he doesn’t think the company will get too many takers on its potentially costly promotion.
“BlackBerry’s problem is that it has dropped out of the consideration mix. People don’t even talk about them anymore. People don’t consider them a viable option,” Entner said. “BlackBerry needs to get devices in the hands of average consumers who will hopefully rave about the device and get people excited about it again. BlackBerry basically wants to make buying its device a risk-free experience.”
Still, Entner is not holding his breath on BlackBerry’s behalf. Most consumers are still buying Samsung and Apple devices. Entner said that’s because these two companies have successfully captured the consumer’s imagination even in the presence of better devices.
Killing the Opposition
“For a while the Nokia devices were the best product out there. The HTC One was the absolute best device on the market for a while,” Entner said. “Both devices got completely shunned by consumers, who just bought an Apple or a Samsung device. You have to admire those two companies for terrific marketing. They completely killed the opposition.”
Logic would seem to defy consumers picking an inferior product and feeling good about it. But Entner said that’s the power of marketing -- and that’s where other device manufacturers have fallen short to Samsung’s and Apple’s efforts.
“Blackberry had for a while poor products on top of poor marketing, which usually kills you and it almost did,” Entner said. “Now they are trying to get the word of mouth going again.”
Source : toptechnews.com
Monday 24 November 2014
How to Turn Off In-App Purchases in Smartphones and Tablets
We've all heard horror stories about people running up massive bills while playing so-called "free" games. Regulatory bodies in Europe have taken note of complaints, such as one case where an eight-year-old girl spent $6,700 while playing games such as Smurfs' Village and My Horse. The issue has recently returned to the spotlight as it may have been the reason why Apple re-labelled the Free button on its App Store to Get.
The easy way to deal with the problem is to disable in-app purchases altogether. Here's how you do that, on all the popular platforms.
iOS
Go to Settings > General > Restrictions
Tap Enable Restrictions.
Set a Restrictions passcode.
Re-enter the passcode.
Scroll down to In-App Purchases and flick the switch to Off.
Android
Open Play Store and tap the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) on the top-right. Note that the icon could be on the top left instead, depend on which version of the app you're using.
Tap Settings.
Tap Require authentication for purchases.
Select For all app purchases through Google Play on this device.
Enter your Google account password and tap OK.
You can't disable in-app purchases alone on Android, but this will ensure that you will have to enter your Google account password before buying anything - this covers both paid apps and in-app purchases.
Open the Store app.
Tap the three dots icon on the bottom-right and tap Settings.
Tap PIN.
Tap the button next to Wallet PIN to turn it On.
Enter a 4-digit PIN twice and tap done.
Check Use Wallet PIN to protect music, app and in-app purchases. Now in-app purchases won't be completed unless the wallet PIN is entered.
BlackBerry 10
- Go to Settings > Security and Privacy > Parental Controls.
- Flick the switch next to Parental Controls to On.
- You'll be asked to create a parental controls password if you haven't already. Type in the password and press Okay.
- Scroll down to Purchase Content and toggle it to Off.
Source : gadgets.ndtv.com
Jurassic World
Jurassic World is the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park film series. The film is scheduled to be released on June 12, 2015. Colin Trevorrow is directing a screenplay he co-wrote with Derek Connolly, Patrick Crowley and Frank Marshall producing. Steven Spielberg, director of the first two films in the series, will act as executive producer as he did for the third film.
Take a look at the first teaser of Jurassic World
Take a look at the first teaser of Jurassic World
Sunday 23 November 2014
Will next Iphone have the ability to capture in DSLR quality?
The recently cracked apple rumor says about the chances that the next iPhone will possibly be using two lenses to produce DSLR-quality images.
The rumor comes from John Gruber of Daring Fireball via an episode of The Talk Show podcast. Gruber is a well-connected Apple-focused commentator and is highly respected in the Apple ecosystem. He usually measures his words carefully and isn't known to make wild predictions.
He made a joke in August, in a short post about Apple announcing its "wrist wearable thing" in September, as a way to poke fun at Motorola's "flat-tire display shape" for its own smartwatch, which sparked a flurry of coverage claiming that Apple would reveal its watch in September. Gruber's phrasing could have been read to indicate knowledge of the matter, but Gruber quickly clarified that it was all just a joke.
Either way, Apple revealed its Apple Watch in September.
The point is, Gruber has to be aware that his comments -- even those in a podcast -- have the power to spread fast.
No Laws Broken
Most of the rumor coverage so far has quoted just this basic statement:
"The specific thing I heard is that next year's camera might be the biggest camera jump ever. I don't even know what sense this makes, but I've heard that it's some kind of weird two-lens system where like the back camera uses two lenses and ... somehow takes it up into SLR quality imagery."
But in the podcast, Gruber actually precedes the comment with a qualifying point: "I heard a rumor of a rumor from a birdie who knows a birdie ... ."
He also clarifies that the rumor "can't really mean SLR quality" because cameras with larger sensors and bigger lenses are going to be able to produce better quality photos, simply because capturing light and turning it into an image involves the laws of physics. So he elaborated by noting that the new camera won't best an SLR at a technical level, but it should be a big, practical leap for most consumers.
If you want to hear it from Gruber directly, fast-forward to the 1:12 mark (that's 1 hour, 12 minutes, not 1 minute, 12 seconds).
Not 1st but Maybe Best?
While some coverage of this rumor has taken the notion of SLR/DSLR quality literally, Gruber himself backed away from a technical comparison. The conversation focused on the chance that Gruber -- and other iPhone users -- would upgrade to the next iPhone "early" just to get this new camera.
The iPhone is the world's most popular camera, and many smartphone users have stopped packing around dedicated cameras. A leap forward in the ability of the iPhone camera to zoom or capture objects in motion without blurring could be enough to spark a few million people to upgrade their iPhone 6 to a "6s," certainly. If true, at the very least an otherwise ho-hum incremental upgrade for the rest of the iPhone still could result in excellent sales for Apple.
As it turns out, Apple isn't the first smartphone manufacturer to consider using two lenses -- HTC has already done it: The HTC One M8 has a dual-camera system for better depth sensing, letting you change the focus even after you snap a photo.
Plus, Corephotonics has developed a dual-lens system that uses two different focal length, which significantly improves a smartphone's ability to zoom and produce a clear image. There is no indication that Apple is using Corephotonics, but the company's tech seems to be a leap forward.
Then there's the full-size Lytro Illium, with its light field sensor system that lets you create gorgeous images that also let you change the focus after a photo is taken.
The point is, there is a lot of nontraditional photography innovation going on right now that is catching up with or exceeding the versatility of a DSLR -- while not besting a DSLR for certain types of photography. A dual-camera system on an iPhone isn't much of a leap of faith.
Meanwhile, Gruber posted a short note on his site highlighting the Sony announcement of a new "Stacked CMOS Imaging Sensor" for phone cameras -- the Exmor RSIMX230 -- noting that Apple long has used Sony sensors for iPhone cameras.
As is often typical with Gruber's Daring Fireball notes, he doesn't elaborate.
What It All Means
Obviously, Apple will improve its camera in the next iPhone, maybe with its biggest appreciable leap ever -- likely accomplished with Sony's stacked CMOS imaging sensor system.
DSLR quality? Highly unlikely. Good enough to create significantly better and more versatile iPhone photos that spark a few million people to upgrade? Probably.
No Laws Broken
Most of the rumor coverage so far has quoted just this basic statement:
"The specific thing I heard is that next year's camera might be the biggest camera jump ever. I don't even know what sense this makes, but I've heard that it's some kind of weird two-lens system where like the back camera uses two lenses and ... somehow takes it up into SLR quality imagery."
But in the podcast, Gruber actually precedes the comment with a qualifying point: "I heard a rumor of a rumor from a birdie who knows a birdie ... ."
He also clarifies that the rumor "can't really mean SLR quality" because cameras with larger sensors and bigger lenses are going to be able to produce better quality photos, simply because capturing light and turning it into an image involves the laws of physics. So he elaborated by noting that the new camera won't best an SLR at a technical level, but it should be a big, practical leap for most consumers.
If you want to hear it from Gruber directly, fast-forward to the 1:12 mark (that's 1 hour, 12 minutes, not 1 minute, 12 seconds).
Not 1st but Maybe Best?
While some coverage of this rumor has taken the notion of SLR/DSLR quality literally, Gruber himself backed away from a technical comparison. The conversation focused on the chance that Gruber -- and other iPhone users -- would upgrade to the next iPhone "early" just to get this new camera.
The iPhone is the world's most popular camera, and many smartphone users have stopped packing around dedicated cameras. A leap forward in the ability of the iPhone camera to zoom or capture objects in motion without blurring could be enough to spark a few million people to upgrade their iPhone 6 to a "6s," certainly. If true, at the very least an otherwise ho-hum incremental upgrade for the rest of the iPhone still could result in excellent sales for Apple.
As it turns out, Apple isn't the first smartphone manufacturer to consider using two lenses -- HTC has already done it: The HTC One M8 has a dual-camera system for better depth sensing, letting you change the focus even after you snap a photo.
Plus, Corephotonics has developed a dual-lens system that uses two different focal length, which significantly improves a smartphone's ability to zoom and produce a clear image. There is no indication that Apple is using Corephotonics, but the company's tech seems to be a leap forward.
Then there's the full-size Lytro Illium, with its light field sensor system that lets you create gorgeous images that also let you change the focus after a photo is taken.
The point is, there is a lot of nontraditional photography innovation going on right now that is catching up with or exceeding the versatility of a DSLR -- while not besting a DSLR for certain types of photography. A dual-camera system on an iPhone isn't much of a leap of faith.
Meanwhile, Gruber posted a short note on his site highlighting the Sony announcement of a new "Stacked CMOS Imaging Sensor" for phone cameras -- the Exmor RSIMX230 -- noting that Apple long has used Sony sensors for iPhone cameras.
As is often typical with Gruber's Daring Fireball notes, he doesn't elaborate.
What It All Means
Obviously, Apple will improve its camera in the next iPhone, maybe with its biggest appreciable leap ever -- likely accomplished with Sony's stacked CMOS imaging sensor system.
DSLR quality? Highly unlikely. Good enough to create significantly better and more versatile iPhone photos that spark a few million people to upgrade? Probably.
Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)