Marshmallow eventually catching up in numbers

As of a week ago, there have been new numbers and Marshmallow has started catching up with its older brothers. Last month, it finally made past 15% of the mass android smartphones, with Lollipop and Kitkat still leading the numbers, but as you can see, not for much long.

The older versions(Froyo, Gingerbread and ICS) are almost long gone but Jellybean still holds a large chunk of the mass and that is combined jellybean of course(4.1, 4.2 and 4.3). As Jellybean, Kitkat and Lollipop still get the latest out of playstore with the help of updates, they are still usable but as Android 7.0 Nougat releases, it'll change everything. Although it still take ages for people to update their phones as most people don't prefer Nexus so fingers crossed for that one.

OnePlus 3: 6 gigabytes of RAM? Let's find out.

You don't have to wait for the invites anymore for OnePlus phones, but you still have to wait for the phone nonetheless. Here's the teaser they put on YouTube earlier.

The specifications are more or less confirmed, but there is a surprise and a huge advancement. This leak has been provided by GFX Bench which lists the phone having 6 GB ram. Amazing, right? Even my laptop has 4 gigs of ram, haha. The ram will be complemented by a Snapdragon 820 chipset.

The screen will supposedly be a 5.5" inch Full HD AMOLED.
Camera: 16 megapixel with 4k video recording.
Front camera: 8 megapixel with 1080p video recording.
Storage: 64 gigabytes.
Software: Android 6.0 with Oxygen OS.

The phone is reportedly going to look like this, with the home button/fingerprint scanner combination as shown and a metal body.

The all new Honda Civic 2016-7

Yes, the tenth generation of the bestselling car from Honda is all set to make an appearance in Pakistan finally but as they say 'better late than never'. While if we will receive the whole set of options that are provided in international market is somewhat of a doubt, it is still going to be a beautiful car. The whole fleet of new features aboard work like a charm, including the new multimedia system, the new meter, the whole new interior which is beautifully designed, and the safety features which might not be available in the Pakistani version afterall.

All you need to know about it:

Well, most of us are aware with the old models, so let's just cut to the deal by saying that you guys are in for a surprise. A whole new model is going to be introduced, yes, the 1.5L turbocharged four engined model. Rest of the models are expected to be the same capacity of engine being 1.8L normal. The whole new features are listed in these comparison.

The new model is expected to launch very soon as the booking has already been opened and people are already receiving texts that booking has been started from Rs 10,00,000 only. While it is a huge disappointment that Honda's(Pak) own website has not been updated as of yet but it will probably be updated soon.

Here are some more shots at the beauty for you;

Pictures courtesy: Pakwheels.

Oppo announces Super fast Super VOOC charging

Last week, during the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Oppo held a special event on 23rd of February and announced the new Super VOOC charging. This super fast charging will be used in the new devices from the company. They did not have a device that could use it just as of yet but they announced that it could charge a whole battery inside 15 minutes. Yes, you read that right!

A battery of 2500 mAh capacity will be charged in 15 minutes. Also, it will be charged 45% in just five minutes. That is huge!

This new tech charging will work with microUSB and USB Type C ports and requires a new Super VOOC charging plus of course, a special USB cable and a connector made from high quality materials. This technology will be added to future devices pretty soon as whenever it is ready for production on a big scale.

The new Super VOOC is capable of directly providing the power to the battery without having to convert the voltage at all. It uses 5V. This means Oppo has achieved 97% of charging efficiency. Good job there!

The Super VOOC is still in the experimenting stages, but we can get our hopes up about seeing it in the near future.

Thank you.

No longer Xperia Z's, no Xperia Z6

We all knew this was coming soon, but not as soon as this. Admit it, no matter how much Sony disappointed us, we all adored the Z family but it longer exists. It is not going to bore any more babies. All of us thought that according to Sony's policy of introducing a new flagship every six months, it was about time the Z6 got announced but instead another big kick in the abdomen came from Sony. Sony just announced a day ago that the Z series is no longer. Instead another series known as the Xperia X series will take over. While this X family is not exactly top notch like the Z series, it is no joke either. They are beautiful, just like Sony always has been and they are innovative. It seems like a good move but only time will tell. For instance, Sony has let go of the gorgeous glass back of the Z's and gone for brushed metal instead. It does look beautiful but we will see. The design language is the same as Z's. Three X phones have been announced and they are cool. While the X series is not going to replace the Z series, it is an entirely new series of phones. But the Z's are gone for good.

Hope you found this article interesting.

Thank you!

Here comes Samsung's deadly duo: The Edge and The Beast!

Well, here we go. You can finally say bye bye to the anticipation of these two brothers. And let me tell you, the wait was worth every bit. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and its edge variant here and they look everybit impressive. They look incredibly gorgeous and while most of them are same as last year's, there's still quite some to boast about.

First the 'normal' Galaxy S6, well, the phone is almost the same as last year, at least physically. It comes with the same 5.1 inch QHD SuperAmoled screen which still stands out of the competition. It measures exactly the same as Galaxy S6 and weighs 152g.  What changes is that the body is more curvier now and it looks more like Note 5 than S6. Also, a 2.5D effect on all four sides.

The Edge takes the proceedings a big step ahead and adds another dimension to the mix. It is even 0.2mm more thinner than the normal version which is quite an achievement. It weighs 157g.

Both of the handsets rock either Snapdragon 820 chipsets or Samsung's own homebrewed - Exynos 8890. RAM is more than adaquete at 4 GB and memory is 32 or 64 GB, expandable through microSD.

Now here comes the totally new hardware, the camera. It is a dual pixel 12 MP camera. It holds a bright f/1.7 aperture and a new technology which Samsung is calling Dual Pixel. The new Dual Pixel technology helps the phone take blazing fast photos and amazing low light photos with a lot of detail. Most of you know about HTC One M7's camera so you can say that Samsung has went some way on that road but being the perfectionist company here, Samsung has mastered this art too. There is a great new panorama option called the Motion Panorama. Last, but not the least, the camera has OIS too.

The batteries are 3000 mAh for simple S7 and a big 3600 mAh for S7 Edge. Both of them support fast charging wired and wireless. Although Samsung has gone for the same USB 2.0 instead of 3.0, the rest is pretty much traditional.

Now, here comes the surprise, both of the beastly phones possess IP68 rating, which means both of them are totally waterproof. Quite an achievement, Samsung.

Software is the latest at Android Marshmallow 6.0. Also, the Edge users can enjoy a whole lot more variety of edge apps now.

Pricing is different in different parts of the world.

Hope it was helpful. Thank you! :)

The beast, the myth. LG G5 Unveiled.

First of all, I want to say sorry to everyone. I have not been able to post on the blog as much as I and you guys would have liked but I am here now. Not digging too deep into my reasons, here we go.

It has been a really interesting battle between LG and Samsung over the years about who reveals their flagship first and when, about whose flagship model beats whose, about how much the model sales and about how the two tech giants rank. While LG has always tried their level best to compete, Samsung just has been one step ahead always. So there'll be two articles. One will be about the LG G5 whose mask was taken off on 21 february and the second will be all about the sleek Samsung Galaxy S7 about whom I will talk in the next article.

So, let's kickstart this blogspot. To be fairly honest, I liked the design of the LG G5 far better than anything that has seen light lately. LG continues to innovate the world and the exciting new designs it keeps bringing. Breaking the design strategy of the previous G's, LG brings something new to the table here, a modular design. A phone that can be divided into two pieces, and that too, fairly easily. Good job LG!

Okay, most of you would not understand what do I mean by modular design. Fair enough. I, myself, was very confused on hearing about the breaking news as I was not lucky enough to witness and experience this peach of a thing created by LG in real. God, would I ever be that lucky. Anyway. Modules means to divide a thing, hardware or software into pieces. Different pieces. Just like that, LG divides the phone into pieces. Pieces which can be interchanged. The bottom of the phone, shown in the pictures can slide out of the phone and give access to the card slots and the battery. It is called the modular component.

It is quite exciting, as LG has introduced two add on accessories which can be installed with the modular component. These modular add ons/accesories are something LG are calling its 'friends'. First is the LG Cam Plus. It consists of a 1100 mAh of extra battery and gives hardware components to the camera, a hardware shutter key, a video button and a zooming option button. The second accessory is the Bang & Olufsen DAC for even better audio quality than the already available stereo speakers provide. While more add ons from other companies would follow.

The Camera:

"The dual selfie camera idea from the V10 has migrated to the G5 too, but as a main camera. One camera has 75° Field of View (FoV) and 16MP sensor, the second camera is much wider, 135° and 8MP sensor. Images from both cameras can be merged with various effects and a real-time preview." - Gsmarena. 

Specifications:

Finally, here we go with the regular specifications which are deemed at regular because of all the hype created by the camera and the modular design.

• An always on 5.3 inch QHD LCD, which possesses a dedicated memory and a secondary power sipping chip so that the main processor and chip goes to sleep while the secondary chip remains always on.
• The chip eats only 0.8 percent of battery per hour.
• A snapdragon 820 chipset
• 4 GB RAM
• 32 GB on board storage + SD card slot
• 7.5-8 mm thick
• A 'small' 2800 mAh battery
• A fingerprint sensor(Located at the back below the camera)
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
• Weighs 159g.
• 16 MP + 8 MP dual camera with OIS and LED flash
• Laser autofocus in camera
• 4K video recording
• 8 MP front camera
• Colors available: Silver, Titan, Pink and Gold

Hope you guys enjoyed the article. This is just like a geek's wet dream. This absolute beauty of a device made my LG makes me a proud fan. By far, the most exciting device I have wrote about. Thanks to Gsmarena for the news and the pictures.

Adios!

HTC M8 receiving Marshmallow update in Asia.

Back in December, actually not so back, but yes, it's a new year, so back in December, HTC announced that they've finished testing and checking the Marshmallow update they've made for their phones and they'll soon start putting it up for download throughout the world. As for the Asian version of the phone, the unlocked version, HTC has put up the firmware for download. As promised, they have done it within a moment. HTC, who recently have behind the competition in terms of introducing new things and updates have won this competition.

M8 users can now enjoy the firmware update. It weighs about 1.14 GB and will take about 60 mins of installation so keep it charged. New marshmallow features include more definable app permissions and more battery optimization and the security features HTC have added.

Tap the software update check in the settings section if you've not already received.

Thank you.

The old man with the perfect English!

A whole lot of people already know what I am talking about. The old man who is circling the internet in Pakistan these days. The guy who speaks better English than 99% of the people in Pakistan. Heartbreaking posts like these are what open our eyes and make us realize how messed up we are. People who have seen the video are now aware that the man complains that he doesn't have a job. It makes us feel sad about it but wait for it.....

Here's the actual video:

Life is unfair!
Posted by The Humorists on Friday, January 8, 2016 

Now, the actual news, which is a great one and I can't wait to share it with you guys. An IT company named amtech systems have recently offered a job to this man and they have expressed their love. See for yourselves..

Some tweets by amtech systems:

Kudos to Ahsan Khan for finding a gem. We would be giving an appointment letter with accommodation to the gentleman. pic.twitter.com/LrNsxR3plb

— amtech systems (@amtechsystemspk) January 8, 2016

We finally gave him a job with a warm accommodation. It's not how much we give but how love we put into giving. pic.twitter.com/Rr7FTS3arz

— amtech systems (@amtechsystemspk) January 8, 2016

Ahsan Khan shall be giving this appointment letter to our friend in #Karachi in couple of days. #PakistanisAlive pic.twitter.com/kWvoc1y2mQ

— amtech systems (@amtechsystemspk) January 9, 2016

You see, things like these restore our faith in humanity, make us sow our seeds more often for the love of humanity. Pakistan was based on the principle of love, it still possesses that. Thanks to Amtech Systems Pk. The details of the job are still not disclosed but at least it is confirmed that he has been appointed and will soon be working.

Here's the link to their official website:
www.amtechsys.com

They are an IT company based in Pakistan and one of the largest in the country. They offer different services. Check out at the website mentioned above!

Green line appearing on the screen of Motorola Droid Turbo 2

These days, a lot of mystery cases have been coming around involving the Motorola Droid Turbo 2. This is the Verizon variant of the device, just in case anybody is not aware. Some users have reported that they dropped their phone once or twice and others are just saying that they didn't drop the phone at all but the outcome of both the cases have been same: A strange vertical green line appearing on the phone's gorgeous display.

As you can easily see in the upper photo, some people went over to Verizon to have this issue solved but it didn't help much. At last they contacted Motorola, and being a cooperative company, they replaced the faulty unit with new ones.

Good job Moto!

Infinix Hot 2: The Review.

Okay, first of all, I don't want to say this, but I am really surprised by the quality and performance of this phone. I really did not expect such precision from a phone worth merely $110 or PKR 11,500. I know it's a big statement, but the phone is a part of the Android One Programme launched in different countries. For those of you who don't know what Android One Programme is, check out my next article. As of yet, let's talk about this phone. The specifications of this phone are as follows:

• Dual sim
• 1.3 Ghz Quad Core Processors
• 1/2 GB Ram (Optional with a difference of 2 thousand in price)
• 1 year Brand Warranty
• White, Black and Gold are the color options.
• 5 inch screen with no confirmed resolution, most probably WVGA or near it.
• Runs on Android Lollipop 5.1
• 8.0 MP back camera with HD video recording
• 2 MB front camera
• 16 GB storage with optional memory card
• 2G/3G
• 2200 mAh Battery

Sold by Daraz,pk, one of the most popular shopping websites in Pakistan, mostly known for the clothes they sell are now making a name in the technology department too. Introduced by Daraz,pk a few months ago last year was this company Infinix in Pakistan with full brand warranty and assurance of quality. While of course, there are doubts before buying from such a company and taking such risks, especially in Pakistan, let me assure you, it is totally worth it. The phone came inside two days from when I ordered and was the same thing as promised.

Back of the Hot 2

Front of the Hot 2

So, starting off with the software, the Hot 2 runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with some slight tweakings done by Infinix to give the phone their own colors and their own difference. While the interface does kind of look like cheap(I tried to think of a better word), it still is pretty snappy and with 2 gigs of RAM, it doesn't lag much. Of course don't get your hopes, it is an entry level device after all. Moving on, the speed is nice and it doesn't get slow much. The camera is pretty much okayish for an 8 MP snapper, but then again considering the price range, it's better than what you get in any other phone. Video recording is something you shouldn't expect from this phone, but it's there if you need it. The front snapper is good for a 2 MP unit and it works really well where the light is good. When the light is not good, it just does pixelate the whole picture but it still is seeable.

It has 16 gigs of storage and it can play HD videos. The storage is expandable through the luxury of MicroSD card slot. The battery is 2200 mAh and Infinix promises two days of moderate use on a full charge. A dual sim phone, with dual standby, Sim 1 is 3G supported and Sim 2 is 2G supported.

Finally, coming to the build quality. The phone is made entirely of plastic, but it does not feel at all cheap or bad. The material of the sides is much, much closer to metal and the feel of the back of the phone is classy too. The feel and the look of the entire phone is a big success and much better than any other phone in such a moderate price range. More pictures of the interface in the next post.

Overall my rating for this phone would be 3.5/5 as it's too early to judge.

Here's the link to buy this phone:
https://www.daraz.pk/infinix-hot-2-x510-dual-sim-5.0-16-gb-1-gb-ram-1.3-ghz-quad-core-8-mp-camera-black-brand-warranty-5412687.html

Thank you, stay tuned.

Guide part 2: Brands to refrain buying from.

Hi, this is the sequel to my last post, which I posted yesterday. I am not going to prolong it. I'll just cut to the chase. As I talked about the best brands to buy from if you live in Pakistan, now I am going to talk about the worst companies and the companies you should not buy from if you live in Pakistan if you want a reliable device. Anyways, here we go...

The brands you should refrain buying phones/tablets from:

1. Sony:

It might be a surprise for some people, but people who've used Sony won't say otherwise. A tech giant and a nightmare for people who can't afford new phones every month. Sony has an on and off affair with controversies.

A company who was one of the kings of the mobile market once recently slipped out of top ten manufacterers and is constantly slipping. While their policy of a new flagship every six months was quite a news for the industry, results are far from spectacular. While they do unveil a new flagship every six months, they pull off all their support from the last device i.e turning their flagships older than they deserve to be. When somebody pays about $550 for a phone, he expects it to be new for at least about ten months and maintain some of the value. Unfortunately, Sony disagrees. What the six month flagship policy does is that it increases the pressure on the engineers at Sony and decreases the value of the last flagship. And the whole waterproof feature is a scam. If you want to go for a real waterproof device, buy a Samsung Galaxy S5 or a Galaxy S6 Active. The Sony phones are not waterproof, but instead water-resistant. It means that the water on the screen doesn't damage the phone, nor do the splashes of liquid on it. But if you take the phone under water, there's a very high chance you are going to screw up and cry later about. Also, they have no warranty support or service centres in Pakistan, so if you break your phone somehow, it is some really bad news for you.

2. Qmobile:

Well, most of us were expecting this brand's name sooner than later. But what made me rate this company above Sony is that

a) They provide warranty on their phones.

b) They have service centres all over Pakistan.

c) They have better support than Sony (at least in Pakistan).

As most of us know, Qmobile is famous for it's ability to turn stupid, bad phones into huge successes and also, huge bollywood stars to feature in their idiotic advertisements. While I've got to give it to Qmobile for the advertisement and the success part, most of the intelligent people don't like to be near even the shadow of Qmobile. Anyways, as for most of the Qmobile phones, they are repairable albeit the fact that they cost a lot, about half of the phone's value.

3. LG:

While there's no denying that the devices made by LG are pure class and monsters, especially the Nexus devices made by LG. They are drop dead gorgeous and beastly. I can safely say that the best phone I've owned so far is from LG too, but there're also some downfalls located in LG phones and their love story with Pakistan. 

The most important weakness located in LG's flagships are the pure classy design language followed by them. There's absolutely no doubt that the design is beautiful and is also very efficient, it's relatively fragile. The G series can't really survive waist/pocket height drops if they fall on their screen. Because there's nothing protecting them. What worsens the fragility is the fact that LG does not provide proper warranty in Pakistan which means that they don't have proper service centres either, at least except the major cities. And if you live in a city other than Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, there's a huge chance of no chance of getting your LG device repaired properly. LG is only recommended if you are filthy rich or you can care about your phones really carefully.

Hope it was helpful. Suggestions are welcome! :)

Thank you. Stay tuned.