Triplicate Thoughts

Nexus 5 coming on October 28th! Not. Image: Pocket-Lint If 2013 taught us anything about the mobile industry, it's that when someone has a good idea an idea which people perceive as good, competitors will follow. Some of these ideas really are good, like HTC's front-facing BoomSound speakers, or Motorola's near-stock skin which allows for quick updates, but for some reason, nobody else seems to be following these ideas. But other ideas, which turned into trends within the industry didn't really make much sense to me. Which is why I wish they would stop as we enter 2014, or at least be changed in a way so that they do make sense. Most of these trends are " me too" trends, where OEMs do what others are doing just so they can say "we have that too!" , without actually putting much thought into their products. I hope OEMs actually think for themselves in 2014 instead of carrying on with these trends.

Image: Team-Android I've been very critical of Apple in my blog. It started out when I shared the reasons why I fell out of love with the iPhone and iOS . I then followed that up with my thoughts on how WWDC 2013 was more of the same , vindicating my decision to leave the platform. I then wrote what was to be my most popular and most +1'd post, which highlighted the reasons why I think Apple are one of the most hated tech companies in the world . On the other hand, I've written nothing but positive articles when it comes to Android. Like my favourite announcements from I/O 2013 , and the top 5 things I love about Android . So to prove that I am not a blind fandroid , and I am indeed aware of the shortcomings and weaknesses of my favourite platform, this post will be about the top 5 things I dislike about the best mobile platform in the world. Yes, this will be difficult to write.

Image: Howard Forums A few days ago, LG blew past current display technology standards and introduced the world's first QHD (Quad HD) smartphone display; a 5.5", 2560 x 1440 display, which comes in at a mind-blowing 538ppi. Current flagships boast only 1080p displays with ppi around the 400+ mark. Saying only 1080p seems a bit weird to me. I mean, 1080p displays on a pocket-sized device is an amazing feat of technology. Just last year, the standard was 720p, which on a smartphone display, is already beautiful. Then 1080p displays became the norm, and the consensus was that you will only notice the difference between a 1080p display and a 720p display if you put them side-by-side and look really closely for differences. Most people will be quite happy with a 720p display, including me. Up to a certain threshold, more pixels just don't make a difference. This is the concept behind Apple's Retina Display. A display that has enough pixels that the human eye can...

Image: ZDNet I've only been using Android for just over a year now. During the first few months I was mostly on my own, until a few months ago when I started being active on Google+ and in Android communities, joining discussions (and often debates) with other Android users, helping out with answering questions, asking a few of my own and so on. During my time in these communities, I've noticed some patterns in what we as a community of Android users tend to say over and over again. Stuff that gets repeated so many times it's almost like we should have permanent posts in each community so users won't post the same stuff again, like sticky threads in forums . I like to think that Android users are of a higher  level than users of other platforms, but with hundreds of millions of Android users in the world, there are bound to be some goofballs. Here's some $h!t that Android users say.

Are you a douchebag when it comes to your smartphone? Image: APC Smartphones and tablets have become common sights in society today. What started out as a premium market thanks to Apple's expensive iPhones and iPads, has now become a market that is much more accessible to the average Joe thanks to more affordable alternatives from the many Android partners. Unfortunately, as more and more people are using mobile devices, I find myself getting more and more irritated with certain habits. I'm sure everyone gets annoyed with people using their phones in the cinema, talking loudly in public or forgetting to put their phone on silent in a quiet environment, but those are not the habits I'm talking about. Those are cellphone habits. The pet peeves I'm talking about are specific to modern smartphones and tablets, post-2007 since the original iPhone was released.  So I got this idea to write a post about smartphone and tablet habits that are particularly annoying to me. At...

When is a phone too big to be a phone? Image: CNET Over the years, w e have continually changed our definition of what an acceptable screen size is for a smartphone. The original iPhone with a 3.5" screen was the gold standard in 2007, but in 2013 a 3.5" smartphone is just pitiful (sorry iPhone 4s-and-earlier owners). 4.3" was then the accepted size, then it grew to 4.7"-4.8", and now most flagships come with 5" screens and are well accepted. Samsung pushed the boundaries with the original Note, which surprisingly was a great success. Samsung proved that there are people who enjoy using large phones.  As a result of this, many other manufacturers have joined the large smartphone market, most recently Sony.  They recently unveiled the gargantuan  6.4" Xperia Z Ultra . That's just 0.6" smaller than a 7" tablet. If Samsung blurred the lines between phone and tablet, what Sony are now doing is borderline insanity.  Has the smartphone ma...

Why all the hate? Ever since I started taking an interest in the mobile industry about a year ago, I started realising that a lot of people hate Apple. I mean like, A LOT. I myself have had my fair share of rants and ridicules about Apple. I honestly try my best not to hate, but I keep being reminded of why I do. Does this imply that other companies are perfect and free from any flaws? Of course not. I've criticised Samsung for having too many devices in their portfolio . I've criticised HTC for not being aggressive enough in marketing their products. Even Google has made some really ridiculous mistakes in the past as well. But none of these companies receive as much criticism and hate as Apple.  We wanted Apple to redesign iOS. They did, but it was labelled confusing and inconsistent . We wanted Apple to include more functionality into iOS. They did, but it still wasn't enough . We wanted Apple to make iOS more like other platforms. They did, and were labelled copy...

Galaxy Tab 3. All of them. One of the things Apple is frequently criticised for is a lack of options in their mobile line-up. At the other end of the spectrum however, Samsung are also being criticised; for having too many options. While I admit that choices are good, having too many can be downright confusing! Samsung have done brilliantly to lift Android up as the world's most used mobile OS. Their software customisations to Android although can be a bit heavy and overwhelming, has added great value to an otherwise "plain" operating system. Even so, the amount of devices they are producing is just mind-blowing. All the phones and tablets they put on the market is just crazy! Do you know how many Galaxy-branded phones were made in 2012? 19. Of those 19, how many do you think you can name? The Galaxy SIII. NoteII. SIII Mini. Galaxy Beam maybe? How about the Galaxy Rugby Pro? Do you remember that one? What about the other 14? Who can name them all?

I think it would be safe to assume that almost everyone is on some form of social media nowadays. Even my lecturers, parents and grandmother use Facebook. With that, there has been a lot of emphasis put on safety while using social media. What personal information you shouldn't post online, how to protect your privacy, who not to give information to etc. This will not be one of those posts. This will be more about social media etiquette. The top 5 things you should never do on social media, not because it is unsafe, but simply because many people will hate  dislike you for doing so.

Following up on my previous post on why I like Google+ more than Facebook , there's another reason why I like Facebook less; the content. Unfortunately, the "editors" of my Facebook feed are my friends, which makes public criticism of their posts a taboo subject.