Tuesday 20 December 2016
Wednesday 26 November 2014
Apple iPhone 6 review: One of the best smartphones available right now
Price
₹53500..
With the iPhone 6,
Apple has finally addressed the need for a larger screen on its
smartphones. To many, this may look as if Apple is playing catch up with
Android – it’s difficult not to, considering the stark similarities in
the latest iPhone and Android (*cough* *cough* Samsung) devices both in
terms of hardware design and software. Irrespective of what critics
think, Apple continues to enjoy a huge fan following and its latest
iPhones have only added to those numbers.
The iPhone 6 is the smaller of the two models launched this year,
which sports a 4.7-inch display. The iPhone 6 Plus, sports a larger
5.5-inch display for those who need that extra real estate for getting
work done. Apart from the larger screen, the iPhone 6 is quite similar
to its elder sibling including the design and features.
The 4.7-inch Apple iPhone 6 comes with nifty improvements with a
price to match, but is it the right smartphone for you? Read our
detailed review to find out.
One of the biggest changes Apple has given to the latest iPhone is
perhaps the design overhaul, which now makes room for a larger screen
and marks its move from the straight-edged design. The iPhone 6 is great
to look at given the sleek, fully-metal body design and edge-to-edge
glass. At first glance, it could easily pass of as one of Android’s many
candy-bar shaped devices from Samsung or HTC.
The iPhone 6 features an edge-to-edge glass design with 4.7-inch display
The 4.7-inch screen is easy to get used to and, thanks to the
edge-to-edge glass design, the iPhone 6 manages to fit a larger display
without increasing the width of the overall phone by too many inches.
The phone still manages to fit inside pockets, though they don’t fit as
snugly in the hands as the dinkier iPhones. We like the slim bezels on
both sides.
We are not sticklers for diminutive screen sizes; in fact, it’s
refreshing to see the iPhone finally come with a larger screen, as
typing, reading and web browsing is a lot easier now. The screen size
should be adequate for most people, but if you are used to a large
“phablet”, the iPhone 6 Plus might be a better option.
The all-metal design looks fabulous, though you may miss the the more solid iPhone 5s’ look and feel
It’s really thin at just 6.9 mm and feels great to use – if a little
slippery because of the curved edges. As with most super-thin phones,
the camera of the iPhone 6 protrudes out slightly and there’s a ring to
protect it. This means the phone does not sit evenly on its back. While
the phone is still all metal, the iPhone 6’s body feels flimsier in
comparison with the iPhone 5s. This could be a result of Apple trying to
reduce the weight of the device.
The button to lock the display has now been moved from the top to the
right edge of the phone, so that your fingers don’t have to reach out
too far. The volume buttons are recessed and the ringer switch is now
smaller to make the phone look as skinny as possible. It’s also lighter
now, which you may or may not like.
Unlike other flagships, such as Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z3,
the Apple iPhone 6 does not come with rugged features such as
water-proofing and dust-proofing.
Features: 7/10
The Apple iPhone 6 houses the Apple A8 system-on-chip which is backed
with 1GB of RAM. The Apple A8 SoC is based on the 20nm manufacturing
process and houses a dual core Cyclone ARMv8 processor with support for
64-bit OS. It has Imagination’s PowerVR GX6450 GPU. The 16GB version
comes with around 11.5GB of free space for saving apps, music, photos
and other downloads.
The 8MP iSight camera comes with a dual LED flash and improved optics
for better low-light photography and action photography. Also, you can
now capture photos and videos simultaneously. Note that with iOS 8, you
can integrate additional photo-editing apps to the default Photos app.
Learn about more iOS 8 features here.
The iPhone 6 comes with improved camera features
The camera now has a slow-motion mode, which lets you capture videos
at either 120 frames per second or 240 frames per second. In addition,
iOS 8 adds the time-lapse feature that lets you get creative with your
videos. And then there’s the usual panorama mode and the ability to
focus specific areas by touching the screen.
All connections are placed at the bottom, as with all iPhones
Like the iPhone 5s, the fingerprint scanner works well and is useful
for quickly unlocking the screen and authorising payments on the App
Store. The latest iPhone comes with Apple Pay for cashless payments,
though the service is not available in India yet.
Software: 9/10
As with most Apple devices, the iPhone 6 is extremely easy to use,
even if you are a first-time iOS user. The iPhone 6 comes with iOS 8,
which you can update to iOS 8.1. While some users have reported issues
with the new update, we had no trouble with the device we tested. iOS 8
lets you add widgets on the notification screen, install third-party
keyboards and with features called Handoff and Continuity, you can take
off from where you left on another Apple device. This means, if you
started a game on the phone, you can finish it on an iPad, or if you are
working on a document on a Mac or iPad, you can carry on with the same
on your phone. This worked well when we tried it, though you will need
to have a common iCloud account set up on all the devices to make use of
this feature.
The iPhone 6 comes with iOS 8, which you can update to iOS 8.1
With Reachability features, you can bring down the screen by
double-tapping the home button. This helps if you are not used to a
large-screen phone, so you don’t have to stretch your fingers too far
when using apps.
The device runs smoothly and can even take on heavy app use and
graphic-heavy games. However, the phone tends to get noticeably warm on
intensive use. This could affect the battery life during the course of
time, unless Apple rectifies this in its future iOS updates.
The iPhone 6 maxed out in the 3D Mark benchmark test, while the
AnTuTu benchmark test showed that it is faster than the iPad Air and
considerably faster than the iPhone 5s, though you can’t really tell the
difference in regular use case scenarios.
In terms of processing speed, the iPhone 6 is quite a stunner
Call quality is excellent whether you are receiving or making calls.
If you are already an iOS user, there’s little you’ll need to adapt
to in terms of getting media on to your device. With the iOS 8 update,
you can now delete songs and create playlists directly from the app,
without having to connect it to your computer. You can transfer songs
and movies by installing the iTunes app on your Mac or PC. Once
connected over Wi-Fi or via the microUSB slot, you can quickly sync
apps, transfer music and videos or create backups on iCloud. You can
also download movies, songs and music albums from Apple’s comprehensive
iTunes Store after creating an iTunes account.
You get the same set of Apple’s signature Earpods that are designed
to fit perfectly in your ears. Sound quality is very good compared with
most earphones that are supplied with mobile phones. You can always
switch to your own good pair of headphones with the 3.5mm headphone
jack. There’s no FM radio and iTunes radio is not available in India.
The iPhone packs all the necessary accessories – a USB charger, headphones and a quick start guide
The iPhone 6 supports all modern frequencies and connectivity options
including 4G LTE. There’s support for NFC, but only for making
purchases via Apple Pay.
Display: 9/10 
The iPhone 6’s Retina HD display produces crisp images and text
Apple has spruced up the resolution in the iPhone 6 going from
1136×640 on the iPhone 5s to 1334×750 on the iPhone 6, but the pixel
density is the same at 326ppi as the screen is now larger. It looks
fantastic nevertheless and images and text look very sharp. Apple has
included some not-so-obvious changes to the display – it’s now less
reflective under bright light, has a shatter-proof glass and an
oleophobic coating to minimise fingerprints.
Camera: 9/10
The iPhone 6’s 8MP iSight camera comes with some nice improvements
from its predecessor. While the resolution is similar to the iPhone 5s,
you get a major boost in the autofocus department. The iPhone 6 supports
phase detect pixels which help in faster AF acquisition. You can now
adjust the exposure while shooting, focus faster for capturing
fast-moving objects and take better low-light photos. You can also lock
the auto focus and auto exposure of a specific area by holding your
finger on the screen for a moment. This is very helpful in instances
when taking a picture in bright light where you need to mange shadows.
New
camera features (left to right): simultaneous photo and video capture,
advanced photo editing and auto exposure and focus lock
The iPhone 6’s camera is among the best we’ve seen on a smartphone.
Not only is it really fast at capturing photos, but it’s also accurate
with colours and come out crisp and detailed, especially in bright
outdoors.
Outdoor shots in bright light
It’s great for taking low-light shots, too. Noise levels are well
controlled even in shots taken in the dark, and the camera focusses
quickly and accurately enough most of the time. This makes it great for
capturing blur-free, fleeting moments.
Indoor low-light shot with flash
Using flash at night time does not give a very pleasing output
Indoor shots come out well
Despite the tricky lighting, the iPhone 6 managed to show details in the shadow region. Also the noise is well controlled
The fine yellow pollen details in the macro shot are well captured
While the main camera has been updated, there’s no big improvement in
the front camera. Self-shots taken from the 1.2MP front camera appear
quite pixillated and colours look slightly smeared. However, compared
with the 5s, it does tend to do a better job at taking selfies in dim
light. In addition you get more control over selfies, as you can now
adjust the exposure, time your clicks or take multiple self-shots by
holding down on the shutter button.Battery life: 7/10
There iPhone 6 packs a 1,810mAh battery, which may seem paltry
compared with other phones in its league. However, its battery life is
above average, if not the best in its class.
In our tests, the iPhone 6 managed 14 hours of calls on the 3G
network with the auto-brightness set on and location access switched
off. When left on standby, it managed nearly six days without charging
with mobile data and location access switched on.
On average use,which consisted of about an hour of calls, moderate
web browsing and app use (WhatsApp, Facebook, Messages and Music), the
phone lasted for a full day and a few more hours before we had to plug
it back to the mains. While these are not outstanding results, it should
be able to get you through at least 12 hours of heavy smartphone use.
Verdict and Price
The iPhone 6 starts at Rs 53,500, which is around the same price at
which the iPhone 5s was launched last year. Considering the limited
storage and the fact that you can’t expand the memory with a memory
card, the price may be a deal breaker for many.
Apart from that, the iPhone 6 surpasses most areas, which makes it
one of the best smartphones you can buy right now. It has a brilliant
display, one of the best cameras you’ll find on a smartphone, excellent
call sound quality and it’s super-fast to use. It’s definitely the best
iPhone you can buy, but if you don’t mind the massive screen, you may
like the iPhone 6 Plus more.
On the downside, the iPhone 6 lacks in features compared with rivals.
For example, it’s not waterproof, you can’t expand the storage and you
can’t use NFC for transferring data. Also, despite the improvements in
iOS 8, it’s sill not as flexible as Android. If these are things that
matter to you, consider other alternatives such as the Galaxy S5 or the
LG G3.
If you are already an iPhone user and are unhappy with the screen
size, the iPhone 6 is worth the upgrade. But iPhone 5s users, in
particular, won’t find much of a conceivable difference in terms of the
overall performance.
10 tricks in Apple’s iOS 8 that you probably didn’t know
If you’ve recently upgraded to iOS 8,
you’ll find no major changes in the look and feel in the latest version
of Apple’s mobile OS. The interface is exactly the same as iOS 7, while
some new apps have always existed on iOS devices. Why then are so many
people swearing by the new update? The truth is, many features have been
added in the most unassuming fashion that take some rummaging to find.
Save yourself the time and effort as we reveal some of the coolest
features you may not have noticed yet.
With support for a variety of widgets, you can gain quick access to
often-used functions just by pulling down the notification screen.
Widget apps such as Launcher, Quick-Tap and Wedge give
you on-tap access to your favorite contacts, music and apps. Once
you’ve selected which shortcuts you need from the app, Select Edit on
the Notification Center and simply click on the green “+” button next to
the widget’s name.
To open Apple’s voice-assistant Siri without using your hands, just
say “Hey Siri”. However, this works only if your phone is plugged to a
power source. So if you’ll be using it while driving, you’ll have to
first plug your iOS 8 device to the car battery. To enable this feature
go to Settings | General | Siri and toggle Allow “Hey Siri”.
3. Snap a photo to add a credit card
To make online purchases faster, click a photo of your credit card to
save the card details on your iOS 8 device. To do this, go to Safari
settings, select Passwords & Autofill and click on Saved Credit
Cards. The Use Camera option lets to snap a picture of your card, which
then automatically scans the card to pull out all your card details. If
you’re shopping on a website, it’ll give you the option to scan a card
by taking its photo. It detects the card number, expiry date and name,
though you’ll still have to enter in the CCV number.
Though iOS 8 comes with new editing features, some may still find
them to be inadequate. With support for third-party apps, not only do
you have features from different photography apps in one place, but you
can also make changes as soon as you click a photo. Once you’ve chosen
from iOS 8 supported photo-editing apps, you’ll see a tiny option on the
top left of the screen after you take photo. Click on it to see all the
apps in one place and edit photos from right inside the Photos app.
5. Raise to listen to voice iMessages
We know that Apple has added voice to iMessages for sending voice
clips to a fellow Apple user. To listen to them, you can just lift your
iPhone or iPad to your ear. To enable this feature, select Raise to
Listen from Messages, under Settings.
Some mobile-optimised websites can can have several features missing
from the desktop version. While some websites give you the option to
switch to the desktop version, there are many that don’t. The Safari
browser in iOS 8 lets you see the the desktop version using a simple
trick. On the address bar, select the URL and scroll downwards to see
the Request Desktop Site option.
Often, there are emails and messages that you don’t intend to read,
but are afraid of losing something important by deleting them. If seeing
a too many unread emails or messages on your phone puts you off, a
better option is to mark them as “read”. To make this easier, you can
“mass read” all messages and emails by selecting Edit on the top right
and selecting Read All at the bottom-left of the screen.
8. Find which apps have been hogging your battery the most
Now you can see how much power each installed app consumes. Not just
that, iOS 8 will also show you the reason why an app consumed a certain
amount of battery. For example, apps running in the background say
“Background activity”.
To recover photos or videos that have been accidentally deleted,
there’s a new folder called Recently Deleted. This includes recently
deleted apps which you can recover if you need to. Older photos and
videos get deleted automatically from the folder.
Google kickstarts GOSF 2014 pre-party today, online festival to be held from 11th to 12th December
If you are about to buy yourself some new clothes, electronics or household items, hold your horses as Google India has announced the Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) for 2014.
For those who don’t know, GOSF brings together several online
retailers across India to offer discounts on their products. The
initiative was launched by Google in 2012 to boost the adoption of
online shopping in India. Rajan Anandan, VP & Managing Director,
Google India, said, “Great Online Shopping Festival is India’s version
of cyber Monday in the West and is an exciting platform to raise
awareness and consumer adoption of online shopping in India.”
Google has announced that the shopping festival will run between 10 –
12th December, which is just two weeks away. In addition, the GOSF
website has announced a pre-party on November 25, as a prelude to the
actual shopping festival.
Several websites, including Snapdeal, FabFunish and FirstCry have
geared up for the GOSF sale. Coupon Dunia has already listed GOSF
shopping coupons for different shopping websites, while DesiDime has created a special section for GOSF on its website, which lets users see all GOSF deals in one place.
Last year, though the festival attracted lots of interest, it met with several road blocks.
Less than an hour after the festival went live, the site went down due
to a technical error. Google then had to extend the festival by another
day. Hopefully, the GOSF team will be better armed this time to run the
festival smoothly.
GOSF aims to bring more Indians onto the web, while also boosting
sales of various online portals. Google itself has a lot to gain through
the GOSF sale. As reported by NextBigWhat,
Google India’s revenues have skyrocketted by 48% over last year. As the
festival attracts hordes of new online shoppers, Google stands to
benefit with the multitude of advertisements and marketing campaigns
launched by e-commerce portals.
According to the NextBigWhat, “Google makes no money out of GOSF, but
through the entire year, they probably make more money than Ecommerce
portals.”
Google reaches settlement with ex-Morgan Stanley banker over online abuse charges
Google has agreed to a settlement with a former Morgan Stanley banker who sued the search engine over defamatory Internet posts.
Daniel Hegglin, a Hong Kong-based investor, went to Britain’s High
Court to force Google to ensure posts falsely labeling him a murderer,
pedophile and Nazi didn’t appear in search results.
Hegglin’s lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, said Monday that the case had been
settled. He didn’t disclose details, but said the settlement “includes
significant efforts on Google’s part to remove the abusive material”
from search results and Google-hosted websites.
Google lawyer Antony White said the company was sympathetic to
Hegglin, who had received an “exceptional” amount of Internet abuse. He
said Google wasn’t responsible for policing the Web, but would “continue
to apply its procedures that have been developed to assist with the
removal of content which breaches applicable local laws.”
Hegglin’s case is separate from the European Court of Justice’s
“right to be forgotten” ruling, which allows people in 32 European
countries to ask Google to delete material that unfairly tarnishes their
reputation.
Google said last month it had received 145,000 requests to remove search results since the court ruling in May.
Sony Pictures hacked, corporate systems forced to shut down
Sony Pictures has reportedly been hacked and their entire computer
system is unusable, compelling people to shut their computers and
disable Wi-Fi on all mobile devices.
A thread appeared on Reddit posted a year ago, regarding Sony
Pictures, which had an image that surfaced on all employee’s computers
reading, “Hacked by #GOP”. The message followed was,
“We’ve already warned you, and this is just a beginning.
We continue till our request be met.
We’ve obtained all your Internal data, Including your secrets and top secrets.
If you don’t obey us, we’ll release data shown below to the world.
Determine what will you do till November the 24th, 11:00 PM (GMT).”
The Next Web
said that the ZIP files mentioned in the images contain a list of file
names of a number of documents pertaining to financial records along
with private keys for access to servers. The message shown on computers
mentions “demands” that must be met by November 24th at 11:00PM GMT or
the files named will be released.
A source within the company admits that the hack inside Sony Pictures
is very much real and starting spreading widely when a single server
was compromised.
Sony Rumors also pointed out that the company’s response to the matter was, “We are investigating an IT matter.”
Researchers hope achieve Internet speeds of up to 10Gbps using 5G networks
Researchers are investigating how software-defined cellular
networking might be used to give smartphone users the next generation
of ultra fast broadband – 5G.
Currently, the fourth generation of mobile phone connection
technology, 4G, in as far as it has been adopted provides broadband-type
connectivity for enabled devices such as smartphones, tablet computers,
laptops and other gadgets through two standards: the Mobile WiMAX
standard and the first-release Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard.
Peak speeds were set in the standards at 100 megabits per second
(Mbit/s) for mobile users and ten times that for static, domestic 5G
users, 1 gigabit per second. 100 Mbits/s is three times faster than the
earlier 3G system but users commonly do not see data transfer at such
high rates, downloads are usually at best 10 Mbits/s. As yet, there is
no single standard for 5G although various systems are being touted
based on rebuilding the cellular networks to be super-efficient and
exploiting different frequencies with their capacity for greater data
rates.
The hope is to be able to achieve download speeds of perhaps 10
Gbits/s, researchers said. In practice, this means that a
high-definition movie can be downloaded in less than half an hour. The
research is being undertaken by Ming Lei of Samsung Research and
Development Institute China, Lei Jiang of NEC Laboratories, Beijing with
colleagues at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China in Chengdu, Beijing Jiaotong University and the University of
Kurdistan.
They have assessed the latest developments aimed at 5G systems and
have proposed their own novel end-to-end (E2E) software-defined cellular
network (SDCN) architecture which
they say offers flexibility, scalability, agility and efficiency.
they say offers flexibility, scalability, agility and efficiency.
Moreover, it will be sustainable for providers as well as profitable,
researchers said. They are currently building a demonstration system
that will allow them to utilise several promising technologies in their
architecture for 5G including cloud computing, network virtualisation,
network functions virtualisation and dynamic service chaining.
The approach, they suggest, could overcome bandwidth shortage
problems, improve quality of service so avoiding delays and data loss,
as well as reducing the vast number of error-prone network nodes needed
for such a system. The research was published in the International
Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems.
With inputs from PTI
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