Triplicate Thoughts

Two cameras. Feature or gimmick? Image: Android Central Last year, I asked what's the difference between a feature, and a gimmick . In the end, I differentiated between the two by saying that a feature is practically useful, while a gimmick is not. I shared my thoughts on some of the current features offered by various flagships at the time, including BoomSound, Touchless Control, and wireless charging. As Android hardware is plateauing on the specs sheet, OEMs are forced to try to innovate in other ways, be them software additions to Android like Knock Code, or unique hardware additions on their phones like Duo Camera. I have some thoughts on some current "features" of smartphones in the market, and not all of them are useful if you ask me.

Image: Engadget Google have made it a bit of a habit of theirs to suddenly drop surprises out of nowhere that kinda leave us shocked. First there was the sudden announcement of Android 4.4 KitKat , when everyone was sure the next version of Android was going to be 5.0 Key Lime Pie . Then there was the much anticipated launch of the Nexus 5, which happened "silently" online without any prior invites from Google (though many people were trying to act smart and  decipher the "clues" , only to look kinda silly in the end). Next there was the totally unexpected sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo . And most recently, Android Wear . Android Wear has gotten all the tech geeks excited. This is probably the most excitement we've felt since the Nexus 5 was finally released. Wearables, smartwatches in particular are still a relatively "new" area of mobile tech, despite smartwatches having already been around for a few years, like from Sony , Pebble and eve...

What do you want in 2014? Image: Talk Android With the product cycles for this year's mobile devices coming to an end, many are already looking forward to 2014. We've heard rumours of a metallic Galaxy S5 , rumours of a larger iPhone , and even seen leaks of the alleged  successor to the HTC One . I've shared with you what I think we will see on spec sheets in 2014 , from an OEM perspective. But this time I'm taking a different approach, a more consumer-centric approach. Once a new device has been launched, we normally say things like "I wish they made this like this" , or "I wish they didn't include this" when reviewing devices. As consumers, we have our own preferences, hopes and dare I say, expectations with regards to the mobile devices we carry on our person at all times. This post won't focus on one particular device or brand specifically, but on the industry in general. Things that I hope I'll see more of (or in one particula...

Air View - a gimmick, or a legitimate feature? Image: Dial A Phone Over the last few product cycles, the word "innovation" has seen its significance dwindle quite a bit. Almost every "new" feature is said to be an innovation by OEMs trying to sell their product. But when it comes to journalists, reviewers and consumers like you and I, we tend to say that "features" nowadays are not innovations, but merely gimmicks.  When is a feature a gimmick? Are all features gimmicks? What's the difference? If we were to look at textbook definitions, a feature is " a distinctive attribute or aspect of something ", while a gimmick is " a  trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business ". Now if you ask me, as far as smartphones go, these two definitions are practically synonymous. All distinctive attributes of a smartphone were put in there by the OEM with the sole purpose of attracting attention and business, right? So...

Google sure has grown as a company. What started out as a research project conducted by two Stanford University students is now quite possibly, one of the largest forces behind the internet today. What started our as merely a search engine, is now the driving force behind one of the most successful companies in history. It's quite astonishing how a company who got its start in just one area - providing an internet search engine - now has so many different products for all different types of purposes. If you ever need an online service, chances are Google have your back. Need an e-mail client? Gmail. Need to learn how to cook? I'm sure there are videos on YouTube. Want to see what the fastest route is from A to B? Google Maps. Need a tool to help you and your colleagues work on collaborative documents? Google Drive. Chat service? Hangouts. Internet browser? Chrome. And as always, if you need to find information, Google Search is the best way to go.  The list just goes on.  I p...

Image: Live A few weeks ago, I was in my office minding my own business when these two ladies came in. They were salespeople and so I reluctantly allowed them to give me their pitch. If they were selling something I actually wanted, I might have actually paid attention. Instead, I spent the 15 minutes they spent talking thinking of how I would politely decline their offer after they were done with their pitch. After it was all said and done, I learned that I wasn't the first victim of the day. Several of my friends also had visits from the same salespeople, and they too were unmoved by their sales pitch. It had been a while since I had to deal with salespeople, so this was like a reminder as to how I feel about salespeople in general - I find them annoying. Now this isn't anything personal I have against the people themselves, it's the profession that I find annoying. Forcing themselves into your daily schedule, sometimes even bothering you at home, trying to sell some...

I switched to Android in mid-2012 after almost 3 years of using iOS. I wrote about the reasons that prompted my switch and after seeing what Apple unveiled at this years WWDC, I'm more convinced than ever that I made the right decision. iOS has remained largely the same for 6 years. It has improved of course over the past 6 versions,  adding a few features here and there along the way  but it still looked the same. iOS 7 addressed that issue with a completely new design. New lock screen. New notification centre. New icons. New app interface. New colour schemes. A system-wide design revamp. If you're a long-time iOS user, you will definitely welcome the new design. Quite frankly, I'm glad Apple decided to chance the look of iOS. I would feel sorry for all iOS users if they were stuck with the same design for another year. Of course, if iOS was customisable like Android , this wouldn't be a problem, but I digress. Even with a complete redesign and added functionality l...

The horror. Image: The Oatmeal Initially I was going to ask "Could you survive without the internet?", but then after thinking about it I realised, that question didn't make any sense. It would be similar to asking "Could you survive without oxygen?". The internet has become such an integral part of our lives, our businesses, our economy and our society that if the internet were to one day  suddenly  "disappear", I feel like the whole world would fall into anarchy. Some people like me are more dependant on the internet than others. The first thing we do in the morning is go online. The last thing we do at night before going to bed? Go online. What do we do when we're bored? Go online. Those who are less dependant could maybe survive a few days without the internet. A friend of mine recently went 5 days without internet access. It wasn't by choice, but he survived nonetheless. But could anyone survive longer? A month? A few months? A year ...

Google Search is amazing. With the amount of data Google have collected, all the world's information is just a few keyboard clicks away. But we may not always be near a computer when we have a question; and we may not have the time to go through a list of links to find an answer. Sometimes, we just want to know when someone was born, or how tall a certain building is. This is where the Knowledge Graph and the Google Search app makes life so much easier. Ask a question, and get a direct answer. No links to filter through, no need to load up a website to get an answer. And with the app on our phones and tablets, we can get answers no matter where we are. But most people I think still rely on typing their questions. People may not be aware of how amazingly accurate the voice recognition in the search app is. So I'll share with you some questions you can ask verbally to the Google Search app, and you might be amazed by what the app can do.

Image: TechCrunch Google I/O is probably one of the most, if not the most anticipated developer conferences in the world. Ever since I started using Android 10 months ago I've been a huge fan of Google and their products. Naturally, I was excited to watch my first ever Google I/O via livestream on YouTube. It didn't matter if it was from midnight to 3am, I wanted to see what Google had in store for all of us. Yes, I am a little disappointed that we didn't see a new Nexus device (no, the Galaxy S4 doesn't count) or a new version of Android, but what Google did give us made up for that and so much more. Here's my top 5 favourite things from the Google I/O 2013 keynote .