Android

Facebook for iPhone a Resource Hog, Removal Boosts Battery Life: Report

Facebook for iPhone a Resource Hog, Removal Boosts Battery Life: Report

December 9, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Home | Apps | Apps News Facebook for iPhone a Resource Hog, Removal Boosts Battery Life: Report by Manish Singh , 9 February 2016 If you're concerned about your iPhone's battery life, you might want to consider uninstalling the Facebook app from it. Tests have found that removing Facebook's iOS app can increase the battery life of an iPhone by about 15 percent. Additionally, getting rid of Facebook can also free up a lot of data on your iPhone, the test results indicate.
Facebook's Android apps were recently found sipping up a substantial amount of battery life and other resources. And now it appears, Facebook's iOS app is no better. The Guardian ran tests on an iPhone 6s Plus to find that removing Facebook's marquee app improved battery life on the smartphone. Of course, this is not the first time that Facebook's iOS app was found to be causing significant battery issues.
The publication claims that upon removal of the Facebook app, on average, it..

Samsung Galaxy [year] Tab

Samsung Galaxy 2025 Tab

February 15, 2019 Richard Gomez 0

We have no idea what's going on inside Samsung, but for some reason the company seems to think we all want to buy new tablets every three months. That's how often it introduces new models, and frankly, it's becoming very difficult to keep track of all of them.
As it stands, there's the main Galaxy Tab line (with suffix numbers going up to 4 by generation and/or additional numbering to denote screen size). There are also the Galaxy Notes (not to be confused with the outsized smartphones of the same name), Note Pros and Tab Pros. That's not to mention a few Lite and Neo variants, amongst others. Some of them make calls, some are Wi-Fi only, some come with a stylus, and some seem to have no specific purpose for existing. In the midst of all this confusion, Samsung has dropped yet another series: the Galaxy Tab S.
The company clearly has quite a few models that sell well because of low prices – The Tab S line is meant to represent what's possible when cost isn..

Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2: First impressions

Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2: First impressions

February 23, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Samsung's new Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 tablet blurs the distinction between a laptop and a tablet computer.
Its on-screen keyboard has capabilities that are more common with laptops, and its screen is larger than what many laptops have. People can run several apps side by side, and multiple users can share the device with separate profiles.
Samsung also tries to make the NotePRO something professionals can use on the road, while leaving the laptop behind. It's packed with business tools such as a WebEx virtual conferencing app, a one-year subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek's digital magazine and one year of Wi-Fi access on airplanes through Gogo.
It's an impressive lineup of features. Unfortunately, it also has a price tag that exceeds that of many laptops – $750 for the base model with 32 gigabytes of storage, and $850 for 64 gigabytes.
If your primary reason for owning a tablet is to consume content, such as video, music, books and magazines, the NotePRO isn't..

Nvidia's New GeForce Experience Makes It Dead Simple to Share and Record PC Games

Nvidia’s New GeForce Experience Makes It Dead Simple to Share and Record PC Games

December 4, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

Far from the chaos of the public at Gamescom 2015 was Nvidia's business booth, cordoned off for members of the press and its partners. The firm's publicly accessible demo zone played host to the European debut of its Shield Android TV console, which offers 4K capabilities, streaming of PC games, and the latest Android games, but the business booth was a little more interesting.
(Also see: Nvidia Unveils Shield Android TV Console With Tegra X1 SoC at GDC 2015)
Behind closed doors, we checked out the new GeForce Experience, Nvidia's companion app for its GPUs, which allows you to keep your drivers up to date, optimise game settings easily, and capture game footage.
Although it's a handy program to have, previous versions were known to have their fair share of quirks. Most notably, there's a perceptible input lag between when the time you invoke GeForce Experience using its keyboard shortcuts, and when it actually starts up. Furthermore, recording gameplay has..

Microsoft Surface [year]

Microsoft Surface 2025

July 30, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Microsoft seems to have gotten the design and form factor right with its new Surface tablet computer. But the user interface, not so much. That's an odd conclusion to make about a device from a software company that usually lets others do the manufacturing.
Still, that's how I felt after feeling the heft of the device, examining it from all sides and making a few swipes at the screen. The Surface has a touch keyboard cover that feels great and, to me, is a big step forward for tablets. The tablet's software interface, however, seems non-intuitive and sluggish.
Microsoft is clearly straddling the uncomfortable divide between the old world of mice and keyboards, where it dominates, and a future ruled by touch screens, where Apple and Android devices prevail.
Although the Surface won't go on sale until this fall, I had the chance to spend a few minutes with some devices in a group demonstration after Microsoft unveiled them in Los Angeles on Monday.
The removable cover..

Strontium Nitro Plus On-The-Go USB 3.0 and Micro SDHC UHS-1 With OTG Card Reader Review

Strontium Nitro Plus On-The-Go USB 3.0 and Micro SDHC UHS-1 With OTG Card Reader Review

February 11, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Strontium seems to have jumped into mobile storage in a big way. After our encounter with the Nitro iDrive for iOS, the company brought our attention to a couple of products aimed at Android devices which support USB On-The-Go. We've seen flash drives with Micro-USB connectors before, but we haven't seen an external card reader.
An increasing number of Android smartphones do not allow storage expansion, and some older ones don't support high-capacity microSD cards. Putting new data onto a card and sharing large files with others is sometimes a pain, requiring you to take your phone apart and pull out its battery or plug your phone into a PC.
USB-OTG can come in handy in some of those situations. While a flash drive sticking out of your phone is no substitute for a tiny microSD card, it can be really handy. You can store large files such as movies that you don't need immediate access to all the time, without filling up your phone's limited storage space. You ca..

Flipkart Digiflip Pro XT 712 Review [year]

Flipkart Digiflip Pro XT 712 Review 2025

January 15, 2019 Richard Gomez 0

Flipkart has decided to throw its considerable brand power behind retail products. Much like other retailers have in the past, Flipkart will sell its own products alongside those of every other brand – with maybe just a bit more promotion.
The Digiflip Pro XT 712 is the first of a promised range of digital devices sourced and sold in India by Flipkart. It's aimed at value-conscious buyers who already have quite a few options to choose from.
For this to not backfire and hurt the company's image, the Digiflip Pro XT 712 should of course work well, feel sturdy, and be reliable. Flipkart has chosen to jump in to the low end of the tablet market, which also makes things interesting. Let's see whether the move has paid off.
Look and feel
The front face of the XT 712 is completely unremarkable. It's basically just a frame around a screen. The device uses on-screen buttons, there's nothing at all to see. The small speaker grille and front-facing camera are the only thi..

Apple iWork [year] review

Apple iWork 2025 review

August 30, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

Microsoft's Office is the go-to software package for creating and sharing documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Google's Docs has emerged as a good, free alternative for lightweight tasks. But what's often overlooked is Apple's iWork.
Last fall, the iWork applications for the Mac -Pages for word processing, Numbers for spreadsheets and Keynote for presentations- got their first major update since 2009 and now work better with iPhone and iPad versions. Apple also developed an online version that can work on Windows computers and let several people collaborate on a single document more easily.
Apple's iWork won't replace Office, and Google Docs is better in some ways. But after using iWork for a few months, I've come to appreciate the ways it simplifies work. It became my primary way of writing news stories at last week's Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain.
The best part: iWork is free with the purchase of new Apple device..

Zync Quad 9.7 [year]

Zync Quad 9.7 2025

July 10, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

While the market is flooded with 7-inch tablets, there's still some space for good quality 10-inchers. The Zync Quad 9.7 tablet promises to bring a high resolution 'Retina' display to the Android world at an unbelievable price. But does it deliver on performance and usability? We try to find out.
Design/ Build
From the front, the Zync Quad 9.7 looks roughly similar to the Apple iPad except that there's no hardware button. The front features a 9.7-inch screen surrounded by a black bezel. Interestingly, the iPad also features a 9.7-inch screen. The placement of the front facing camera is a little unconventional – it's located at the top right corner (looking at the tablet in landscape mode).
The tablet has rounded corners and there's a white plastic frame between the front and the back of the tablet. The back of the tablet has a brushed aluminium finish and while we're not sure of the material that it's made of, it does exude a feeling of durabilit..

Micromax Funbook review [year]

Micromax Funbook review 2025

July 5, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

The last few weeks have seen a flood of low-cost Android tablet launches in India. Known manufacturers like HCL and even the unknown ones, like Zync, have jumped in to tap this lucrative market.
Micromax is one of the vendors to join the mix with its decently priced Ice Cream Sandwich sporting Funbook. Although Funbook sounds like a great deal on paper, is it worth it? We will find out in this review.
Hardware
Like other low-cost tablets available in the market, Micromax Funbook comes with all plastic body with faux aluminium coated back. The tablet has been put together well, but the hardware Android buttons seem unecessary, considering the on-screen virtual buttons introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich.
Among other hardware characteristics, Funbook comes with a volume rocker and power button on the right side, while all the ports including 3.5mm headset jack, TF card slot, HDMI, Mini-USB and charging port are placed on the bottom. The Mini-USB port can be used to plug-in the data card (av..