Triplicate Thoughts

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 ...

This will be the start of a new series I'm starting on my blog. As the name suggests, I'll be highlighting one of my favourite apps in each episode. I won't be covering the best apps in the market though, as I don't have experience with each and every one of them. I'll only cover what I feel are the best apps in my own collection, which I have used for quite some time. Also I won't be covering games. Games to me is a whole separate category of apps with its own sub-genres. Different gaming genres will appeal to different people, which would make writing spotlight posts about it difficult. I want to focus on services and productivity apps, which I feel will benefit a larger audience. To get the ball rolling, a category of apps which I feel every Android user should use; custom launchers. My personal favourite, Nova Launcher . 

Image: Family Search Thanks to my constant spamming sharing of information related to mobile tech on Facebook, some of my friends have trusted me enough to ask my opinion before they purchase a new smartphone. It's normal for people to want to gather information before spending a lot of money on something, especially if that something is a phone they plan on using everyday for the next few years. The mobile industry has grown at such a rapid pace that it can sometimes get a bit overwhelming looking at all the choices in the market. This is why I decided to write a simple guide for anyone who is looking to buy a new smartphone. I'll share some basic information about what some terms like quad-core , ppi and mAh mean, what influences a phone's performance and what factors you should focus on when choosing a smartphone. Don't worry, this guide won't be too technical, it'll be very consumer-oriented. A guide for even the most non-tech savvy consumer.

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.

I know what you're thinking, "Another post about Google+ ??". I can't help it. After +Google  I/O and all the cool updates, I can't help but be excited. Google+ has improved so much it's no wonder my friend  +Mohammed Nabil Mahamad  decided to give it another try. A tech journalist I follow,  +Taylor Martin  spoke of how his followers list increased by 300 people in a week. Google+ is growing and it doesn't look like it will slow down any time soon. I've given you 5 reasons before , and here are 5 more reasons why I enjoy the experience on Google+.

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 .

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.

Image: EFY Times When it comes to mobile OSes, there's plenty of choice out there in the market. The most popular at the moment are undoubtedly Android and iOS, followed by Windows Phone 8 and BB10. Then we have the up and coming OSes including Tizen, Ubuntu, Firefox OS and Sailfish OS. Some people would have tried a few until they found one they liked.  I think m ost consumers however, have only ever used one OS and never changed since then. Most iOS users for example, have probably never used Android, and vice versa. This can limit our perception of a mobile OS' full capability, as we don't know the kind of user experience other choices offer. I used iOS for about three years before switching to Android , which I've been using for almost a year. Seeing as how these are the two most popular mobile OSes in the market, I'm going to share what I feel are the top 5 differences between the two. This will just be an informational comparison, not a comparison to show...

Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins recently made a pretty bold statement, claiming  “in five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” . A very bold statement, especially considering the latest statistics . The tablet market has increased by 142.4% since last year. A total of 49.2 million tablets were shipped in the year's 1st quarter, with Android now leading the tablet market for the first time ever with 56.5% market share. It is possible that in 5 years nobody will use tablets, we could all be using Google Glass by then. But at the moment, the market share tells a different story; tablets are becoming more and more popular.