Tears results rigged? Or unintentionally produced?
You might recall that late last year, it was found that Samsung had been boosting the benchmark scores of several of its flagship devices, not least of all the Galaxy Note 3 (read about those accusations here). This definitely isn't the first time that it has been revealed that Samsung had been tweaking its device's performance in benchmarking apps, however it appears that HTC may have been caught doing exactly the same thing with its brand-new smartphone, as shown in a HTC One M8 benchmark.
As the story goes, the HTC One M8 was benchmarked in the slightly older AnTuTu 4 benchmarking app and scored 38815, far above the 34898 the Samsung Galaxy S5 got and the 32768 the Sony Xperia Z2 was able to achieve. Interestingly, when tested on the newer AnTuTu X benchmarking app, which is designed to eliminate performance boosted scores, the One M8 only scored 27171 whereas the Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 scored very nearly the same scores as they did on AnTuTu 4. It was later discovered that HTC has implemented a "High Performance Mode" on its Asian variant of the One M8, soon to be updated on the American version.
Yesterday, Archos CEO Loic Poirier gave us an entertaining, but unfortunate example of how imprecise information can deceive smartphone owners. You, too, might be boasting left and right that your phone is "dust-resistant" and "water-proof". But, are you aware of how much protection your phone really has? If you are, good for you. Otherwise, you are in danger of being misled by the liberal use that both smartphone ads and journalists make of such classifications.
Marketing 101
Water-proof or water-resistant? Can your new Galaxy S5 or Xperia Z2 truly swim, or is secretly afraid of the water?
See, what ads usually do is simply state that the phone is dust and water-resistant or -proof. They also specify which IP-rating the device complies to - often in small print, and in a place you won't be necessarily looking at. We presume this information is included out of courtesy to legal obligations, otherwise smartphone ads practically assume that consumers can instantly decode what "IP57" stands for.
Of course, user manuals usually specify the exact usage scenarios and conditions you should avoid if you want to keep your phone alive. Alas, this is done only after you purchased a "waterproof" phone that actually might be afraid of the water. And besides, user manuals are anecdotal for going over people's heads for some reason.
Yet, with more and more of today's flagship smartphones gaining attention for their toughness, we fear this misinformation could result in many "drowned" devices. If Archos' CEO himself couldn't figure out how much he can push his company's IP54-certified phone, what chance does the average user have?
Obviously, we can't make marketing people change the way they present information. Their task is to sell, not educate. Also, we are not an authority that can "coin" the difference between "water-proof" and "water-resistant", because that's something the International Electrotechnical Comission, which published the IP standard, should do. For some reason, it still hasn't, and that's growing into a problem.
The problem
Water-proof or water-resistant? Can your new Galaxy S5 or Xperia Z2 truly swim, or is secretly afraid of the water?
See, although the IP standard provides a clear system for rating the toughness of electronics, it is essentially left open to interpretation. For example, let's say a marketer is writing copy for a phone that's IP54-compliant. This translates to "ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it doesn't interfere with the operation" and "water splashing against the enclosure shall have no harmful effect". Although the IP54 certification isn't entirely immune to dust, and is completely helpless against immersion in water, its presence and the lack of regulation lets the marketer boldly call the phone "dust and water-proof". Or "-resistant". Or "-tight". Whatever!
Likewise, here's a real-life example: last year's Sony Xperia Z, which is rated IP57, is known as "waterproof". But, according to the IP standard guidelines, the "7" in "57" means the Xperia Z is good to survive 30 minutes immersed in up to 1m of water. Anything beyond this doesn't guarantee an outcome in which you won't be better off feeding your dead phone to the fishes.
The solution
To help you be absolutely sure that your new extra-tough smartphone is really up for the challenge, we'll introduce you to how the IPxx code works. Don't worry, it's actually very simple:
IP stands for Ingress Protection
The first digit indicates the level of dust protection
The second digit indicates the level of water protection
If there's an "x" in place of the left digit, this means no dust protection, only water protection
If there's an "x" in place of the right digit, this means no water protection, only dust protection
Use this scheme with the information from the tables below, and you will know exactly how much your phone is protected. For example, you can figure out that the new Samsung Galaxy S5, which is rated IP67, is "dust-tight" and good for "immersion of up to 1m". Likewise, the Sony Xperia Z2 is rated IP58, which stands for "dust-protected" and "immersion beyond 1m" with no time limits. Turns out this one's a tough swimmer!
Microsoft brings Office to iPad, makes iPhone version free to all Mar 27 2014
Editing requires a subscription on iPad, but Office for iPhone users don't need one.
Microsoft's Build Developer Conference is next week, but the company isn't saving all of its announcements for that show. CEO Satya Nadella took to the stage in San Francisco today to talk about the company's future, putting an emphasis on the company's "cloud first, mobile first" agenda. To drive that point home, the company today announced the long-rumored version of Microsoft Office for iPad, which trails the iPhone and Android versions of the software by about nine months. The software goes live in the iOS App Store at 11am Pacific Time today.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad can all create and edit files created in other versions of the software, and they feature the same OneDrive integration as the Windows and mobile versions. The tablet applications appear to be more substantially capable than the phone versions, and Microsoft boasted that the apps will preserve the formatting and visual fidelity of documents created on other platforms (the company even poked fun at the existing OneDrive application, which can view Office files but often displays formatting incorrectly).
Microsoft said that the applications would be available for free, though as usual this comes with strings attached. Anyone can download the applications from the App Store, but without an Office 365 subscription you'll only be able to view your files, not edit them. We'll give Office for iPad a more thorough review in the coming days.
Update: Microsoft has also issued a quiet update to Office Mobile for iPhone. Version 1.1 of the software updates the application for iOS 7 and removes the Office subscription requirement. Viewing and editing of documents stored in OneDrive is now free to anybody with a Microsoft account, regardless of their subscription status. The Android version of the app still requires a subscription as of this writing, but we'd expect an update soon.
Gionee launches world's slimmest smartphone in India Tuesday, 1 April 2014
To hit retail stores by April 27 at Rs 22,999, Windows version to be launched in Q3
Gionee ELIFE S5.5
Gionee, an 11-year old Chinese handset brand, on Monday launched the world's slimmest smartphone, Gionee ELIFE S5.5 in India at a price point of Rs 22,999. Considering India a growing market for rising smartphones sales, the company's smartphone is set to hit retail stores from April 27, the second launch market after China.
The smartphone will additionally be launched in 40 countries globally.
Gionee ELIFE S5.5 has features like the world's thinnest full HD AMOLED Screen at 5.5mm, thinnest PCB board with a 0.6MM and 0.4mm glass rear cover, full metal body finish, octacore processor, corning gorilla glass 3 unibody, 13 megapixel rear camera and 5 MP front camera, and 16 GB memory. However, unlike most dual SIM smartphones available today, Gionee's ELIFE S5.5 has a slot for single just single SIM.
Only the third model to be unveiled in India, after the Gionee ELIFE E6 and E7 last year, the Chinese company, valued at $2.3 billion, has already reached a turnover of Rs 500 crore within a year of its Indian operations that began last February, capturing a 2% market share with eight lakh handsets sold.
According to Arvind Vohra, India head Gionee, "Gionee expects to reach a target of Rs 2,500 crore by the year end, with a turnover of Rs 125 crore per month. We are also looking at becoming the number 6 player in India, with India sales of 6 million smartphones out of the 35 million global sales target by end-2014 from 15 models.
We have also set a target to increase our current India market share from 2% to 5% by the year end. To achieve this we will be spending Rs 150 crore on branding and marketing. We believe we will even beat Samsung to become the number one smartphone player in Rajasthan by June 30."
The only-Android OS smartphone player, Gionee has tied up with Microsoft to launch smartphones with the Windows OS to be made available from the third quarter of this year.
Gionee is also in talks with major 4G players looking to launch operations in India this year, and is ready with 4G enabled handsets from China.
Continuing with the ambitious strategy, William Lu Weibing, president of Gionee said, "In the next five years, we aim to become the number 5 global smartphone brand and number one brand in India, beating market leader, Samsung."
Dismissing speculation about competition with local Indian manufacturers like the extremely popular Micromax and Karbonn handset players, Vohra said they don't compete on a global level with Gionee. Gionee may look at setting up a local R&D unit in India in the next few months and already has a team of 12 in India that conducts app testing, etc.
However, it has not tied up with any telcos in India for handset bundling as of now, although it has a lot of Indian content partners for local apps like Hungama and Saavarna.
Finally, on why Gionee believes it has the right recipe for success that its other Chinese peers in India lack, William concludes, "Gionee has stood out from other Chinese brands in India because we are the only company who understands technology, supply chain, manufacturing and the Indian market."
How to improve your Android phone's battery life in 10 seconds
By Zach Epstein
Thursday April 3, 2014, 3:12 PM
Battery life remains one of the most frustrating things about modern smartphones, which could do so much more if battery technology ever manages to progress as quickly as tech does in other areas. But alas, the battery barrier remains. Making matters significantly more frustrating is the fact that our�smartphones are often plagued with bugs that cause excessive battery drain. One such bug was�identified recently in Android, but luckily there's a simple, though annoying fix to improve your battery life with the press of a single button.
As noted recently by ZDNet, there is a bug in Android processes as well as third-party Android apps�that causes rapid battery drain. In a nut shell, some�background processes used by various Android apps can hang, causing what ZDNet refers to as�"Sudden Battery Drain Syndome." To most users, there's really no rhyme or reason because the drain begins seemingly without cause, and it can happen at any time.
But as the site points out, the solution is simple: Reboot your phone.
Annoying and frustrating though it may be, rebooting the device will clear the device's cache and kill any Google services or third-party processes that might have been hanging and causing excessive battery drain.
Opticians: Smartphone Overuse Might Be 'Hazardous' To Your Eyes
I suppose it makes perfect sense - if you were to push parts of your body to the extreme or over the edge, there is bound to be pain, discomfort or injury which will happen, such as when you overexercise, or did not perform a proper warm up before exerting yourself in some physical activity. Your eyes are sensitive organs, and opticians have already shared their concern that one's eyes could be over-exposed to light from modern day devices such as smartphones and tablets, which in turn could develop into long term eye problems.
The very same opticians with such a concern did mention that ordinary folk have become so addicted to their smartphones, that the risk of eye damage down the road would have increased by a whole lot. A survey of 2,000 people did suggest that those aged under 25 check their phones thirty-two times a day on average, and optician Andy Hepworth weighs in, saying, "Blue violet light is potentially hazardous and toxic to the back of your eyes."
Merge that situation with not blinking enough and having the smartphone closer than you normally look at objects adds more strain to your eyes, and across a long period of time, it might prove to be damaging. Over-exposure to blue-violet light does carry an increased risk of macular degeneration, which happens to be a leading cause of blindness. First we have WhatsAppitis to worry about, now this!
HTC One is probably the best smartphone from the Taiwanese company till date, however, even with its high end specs and interactive software features, the company has not been doing so well. HTC reported three straight quarters of operating losses and the company is desperately looking for ways to improve its financial standing.
But things might change in favor of HTC in the coming months as Bloomberg confirms that HTC hired Paul Golden, the former head of marketing at Samsung. It is said that Paul was one of the key individuals who developed and marketed the 'Galaxy' brand which has helped the company sell millions of smartphones worldwide.
With this hiring, HTC has strengthened its marketing team which may improve the company's overall marketing efforts.
HTC's Ineffective Marketing Strategies
In the past, HTC has not really focused on the marketing aspects of a product, which has adversely affected the company's sales. Its market share and the overall sales have declined steadily showing that the company's marketing efforts have not really been effective.
However, the company realizes this particular flaw and they have already hired famous actors like Gary Oldman and Robert Downey Jr. to promote their high end flagships.
"We just have to communicate well with our customers," said Cher Wang, HTC's Chairman in an interview at HTCs Taipei headquarters. "I believe if we can communicate better, we will do better."
So, the company is looking to improve its overall sales by improving their marketing efforts.
Paul Golden's Role in the Rise of the 'Galaxy' Brand
Golden was with Samsung from 2008 to 2012, the crucial period where the company transformed into the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. According to his LinkedIn profile, he created and launched the Galaxy brand name for Samsung. So, having an individual with such varied experience may help HTC strengthen its own brand name.
According to HTC, the company will appoint him as an advisor to Chairman Wer Chang and he will report directly to him on all matters. However, the appointment is not a long term one and currently, he is hired on a three month contract basis.
Samsung has always been two steps ahead of HTC in terms of sales and marketing. Hence, with a great product like the HTC One M8 in their hands, the company would be trying hard to improve their marketing efforts to bridge the gap between the two companies.
Finally! Apple to replace faulty power buttons on the iPhone 5 for free following TWO YEARS of complaints
Two years after customer complaints began appearing online, the Cupertino-based company has launched a free replacement scheme for any users affected by the power button issues.
Apple has said it will replace the sleep/wake button on iPhone 5 handsets - two years after customer complaints started appearing
The group claims a 'small percentage' of iPhone 5 handsets - typically manufactured after March 2013 - have faulty mechanisms that can lead to problems with the switch.
The fault prevents the device from being turned on and off, or locked in the usual way.
This has caused some iPhone models to stop working intermittently.
While Apple hasn't placed a number on the amount of handsets affected, the term for 'iPhone 5' on Google has the query 'iPhone 5 sleep button not working' as one of the top searches.
Forums are also filled with complaints dating back two years - before the time Apple claims the manufacturing error occurred. 'The sleep/wake button is very unresponsive,' one user wrote on the Apple forum in April 2012.
Apple has now launched a dedicated website where users in the U.S. and Canada can submit their serial number to see if they qualify for the replacement scheme.
The firm claims a 'small percentage' of iPhone 5 handsets, manufactured after March 2013, have faulty mechanisms that can lead to problems with the switch. The fault prevents the device from being turned on and off, or locked in the usual way, causing some iPhone 5 models to stop working intermittently
Affected users can then send in their iPhone for inspection through the post, call in at an Apple Store or visit another authorised service provider listed on the site.
If affected users decide to take their handset to an Apple store, they will receive a 16GB iPhone 5 on loan while theirs is fixed.
Those who have paid for an out-of-warranty replacement to fix the problem may also be eligible for receiving a refund from Apple.
Broken iPhones, such as those with cracked screens, do not qualify until other issues are addressed.
The replacement process is currently limited to the U.S. and Canada, but there are plans to launch in other countries on 2 May.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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