Triplicate Thoughts

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...

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...

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.

Image: Android Invasion Apple have gone through a rough time lately. Ever since Steve Jobs passed away, the company has been criticised, ridiculed and mocked from almost every direction. I should know, I've been a very vocal critic of Apple since I switched to Android. But can you blame me? Apple have made it so easy to criticise them. iOS7 while a welcome change for all current iOS users, is nothing more than a theme and icon change (which is something Android users can do on their own), with some added functionality that has been present on other platforms for a long time. Their iOS line of devices has gone from setting market trends to following them. The iPhone 5 was given a 4" screen to compete with the larger Android flagships which people loved, the iPad Mini was released after seeing how successful smaller Android tablets can be, and we might see a mid-ranged iPhone 5c this year to compete with the army of affordable Android smartphones. Apple are no longer leadi...

Image: XDA The Nexus brand is quite unique. It's the most beloved brand among the Android enthusiasts, and despite being the purest brand of Android devices in the market, it's probably one of the least known brands among the global Android community. Being made and marketed by Google, most people don't know what a Nexus is. As a result of that, they don't even know what stock Android looks like. Ask any random Android user what brand of phone they are using, chances are you'll hear Samsung. Ask them what version of Android they are using, they'll say TouchWiz. Jelly Bean? 4.2? They won't have a clue. I began my Android journey with a HTC One X. Before making the purchase, I was deciding between the One X and the Galaxy SIII. I didn't know what the Galaxy Nexus was at the time. Not until about 4-5 months into Android did I discover and understand what a Nexus was, and what stock Android was. Now, after more than a year on Android, I am a Nexus fan....