The Application Itself and Installation

Facebook Home while being a launcher (some folks even wrongly call it a skin) is basically an app at core. It simply taps into Android’s open nature to get system wide access that grants it permissions to take over your phone’s lockscreen, totally do away with any homescreen widgets and launchers (not totally as such but it replaces them temporarily until you revert) and messages. So if you want Facebook Home and your phone is supported or if you’re interested in using a hack on your unsupported model then all you need is install the app directly from Play Store or the .apk file from your internal/external storage.

In my case, I was testing Facebook Home from the Galaxy S4. Recently Facebook updated Home to include support for the Galaxy S4 but upon hitting the Play Store I could not find it. What did I do then? Simple. I ported the version intended for the Galaxy Note II to the Galaxy S4 and voila! It worked. I’ve gone on to use the app ever since without any glitches.

Not to be discouraged, I expected this so I carried on.

Cover Feed

Actually at first when Home was announced I thought of Cover Feed as just another demon that will invade your awesome lockscreen that now has even widgets since Android 4.1.2 rolled out. If you’re on the Galaxy side of life then your lockscreen is the preserve of the ripple water effect. If you love tinkering with your Droid like some of us do then your lockscreen is even more awesome. So why would you ditch all that for status updates from all your Facebook pals? I have no idea but I also now realize how awesome or annoying it can be at the same time.

The Good

Cover Feed allows you to simply swipe from right to left on your lockscreen to see more and more of your Facebook friends’ and page updates. It is quite handy for Facebook junkies. Actually it was foresight on the part of Facebook to include Cover Feed as part of Home since after installing it, for the 24 hours that allowed Home full access to my Droid, it got me to use Facebook in ways I have never done for the last two years. It keeps you hooked to all that is happening on your Facebook feed. By just double tapping you can like a status update just like you do when liking those photos on Instagram. Commenting also isn’t much of a pain. Just a tap and you can read through all the comments and also add your voice too.

The Bad

Cover Feed loads your friend’s profile picture or cover image as the background to their status updates. For those with high quality photos for cover images and profile pictures then it is actually a breeze reading through their status updates. For those with low quality, grainy cover images and profile pictures this is where all hell breaks lose. The grains even become worse and unless the status update is lengthy so that Home gets time to condense the image as it does with every image displayed in the background on Cover Feed, it will be a horror. You won’t like what you’ll see.

Chat Heads

I have no complaints here. While some will see the round pop up that alerts you of any new messages as an intruder, I view it as a savior of sorts. Tired of the message pop up apps that many a times only drain your battery and look cumbersome on a 5 inch display, I found the tiny circle on the edge of the screen quite handy. It updates every time you get a new message and makes accessing such messages very easy.

It can be easily tossed around the screen so that it does not obstruct anything or get in the way of things. I really like it. Actually I have since disabled Facebook Home in favour of my phone’s default launcher but maintained Chat Heads.

Messaging

There’s no way I can like Chat Heads and hate on the messaging functionality of Facebook Home. I like the idea of a unified messaging system and I am looking forward to this feature becoming better and better as newer versions of Home roll out.

Text messages from your phone contacts and messages from your Facebook friends are all unified.

The App Drawer

Not that Facebook has a feature called App Drawer I am simply referring to Android’s inbuilt app drawer. If you’ve realized it is the app drawer that provides a complete distinction between Droids and other smartphones like those running iOS. The app drawer creates the distinction between where you access your apps and where you can place your widgets (and also app), what we fondly call the home screen. Interestingly, in a somewhat disappointing move, Facebook Home kills this core of Android. There is no app drawer on Facebook Home. Straight from the lockscreen (Cover Feed) you don’t land on the homescreen as is customary. Rather you are taken to an inferior page with a widget similar to the main widget of the Facebook for Android app with three options of updating your status, updating your location or uploading a photo. Simply put, Facebook removes all interactions with the Android system as you know it and impose on you their whole product to interact with. Sliding left is what will reveal to you the jumbled up clone of the app drawer as we know it. In there you find all the apps installed on your phone and it is your only, sickly, home.

The “App Drawer”

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Since Facebook Home fetches updates every now and then so as to keep the lockscreen eer Cover Feed engaged you’ll think that it will drain heavily your two most treasured resources: data and battery. Actually it doesn’t. There was no difference in the S4’s battery consumption when I had Home activated and when I had it turned off.

I tested Facebook Home extensively on the Galaxy S4 over 24 hours and left it to run the show as I went about my daily usage of the phone for the 24 hours thereafter. In total, over the 48 or so hours that it was my main launcher, Facebook Home didn’t disappoint. It does what it is supposed to: get you hooked to Facebook and its related services. I tried to place myself in the shoes of an avid Facebook user and I am sure to them, Facebook Home is very welcome. On a general scale, however, Facebook Home is undesirable in every particle of its element. It gets in the way of enjoying the Android experience and totally limits you.

It is no wonder that sales of the “Facebook Home Phone” HTC First have been very disappointing Stateside and it is being pulled down from AT&T stores. Still, the app continues to earn a very low star rating on the Google Play store. Being just in its toddler stages, I believe it has a future if only it will get better as time goes by. That is if it survives its infancy since there is speculation that Google may kick out Home from its mobile platform. Till then, I would only recommend Facebook Home for those Facebook addicts; the sort who get hangovers of they don’t “Like” a status update every two minutes. For every other person, avoid Facebook Home like a plague. You’re better off installing other launchers or sticking with your default options.

If you have the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the HTC One X or the HTC One then you can find Facebook Home waiting for you here.

I took quite a number of screenshots. You can check them out on Facebook.

The post A Day With Facebook Home: It Isn’t That Bad appeared first on echenze™.

There were a lot of expectations that we’ll see very many Android goodies unleashed but as the developer conference comes to an end in a few hours, there isn’t much to excite the ever excited and speculative tech press. However, thanks to a leak and one official announcement, for all the Android fanboys out there, there’s something to be excited about: Android 4.3 and Google Galaxy S4. Let’s look at the two and what they mean for the ecosystem in general.

Android 4.3

There’s no official word on what the next version of Android will be. Sticking with Google’s conventional use of dessert names for its mobile operating system versions, many expect that the next major Android version to be released featuring major changes that include a total UI overhaul and system wide tweaks and enhancements will be named Key Lime Pie and will be the fifth version. That is yet to be seen.

However, thanks to some sort of internal lack of control, excitement or hawk-eyes on the side of the folks at The Verge who discovered this, we know that chances are so high that it is Android 4.3 that will be rolling out soon to the millions of Android handsets out there.

Android 4.3′s existence as uncovered by The Verge.

Android 4.3 according to me is what should really come. It is quoted to pack just a few enhancements like support for Bluetooth Low energy (BLE) to help conserve our Droid’s terrible battery life when connected to peripheral devices and OpenGL for Embedded Systems 3.0 graphics specifications to allow for advanced visual effects in games and graphics-intensive applications. There’s also talk of Bluetooth Smart functionality online. It should be noted that Android does not support Bluetooth Smart in its current state and thus all the Bluetooth Smart applications that devices like the Galaxy S4, the HTC One and others have been able to accomplish is due to additional custom drivers by the manufacturers. Blackberry, Apple and Microsoft already support Bluetooth Smart hence it is a no-brainer that Google will be tempted to join the party with official support for Bluetooth Smart deep in Android’s core. Which one eventually makes it to the next Android update is something we’ll have to wait and see.

Why would I prefer Android 4.3 to Android 5.0? Simple: fragmentation. While naysayers tend to blow the Android fragmentation debacle out of proportions, we all know that Android 4.x has been gaining a lot of ground since the start of the year 2013. Latest numbers show that Android 4.x accounts for 55% of all Android devices at the moment. To keep the Android 4.x line alive by releasing Android 4.3 with minor tweaks and enhancements is to boost the number of devices that will be upgraded to Android 4.x and also to ease the pressure on OEMs and carriers who take forever to push updates. They can now make new devices running at least Android 4.0.x without them or consumers worrying of the impending rollout of Android 5.0 while they are yet to even see Android 4.1.x leave alone Android 4.2.x. Releasing Android 5.0 in November or thereabout is the best route to go. If you have noticed, almost all low end and mid-range Android devices being launched in various markets now come with at least Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. A good number is now coming with Jelly Bean goodness. Of course the top of the range Droids have no choice but to have Jelly Bean.

Android Adoption Numbers as at May 1st

When should we expect Android 4.3? It’s hard to tell now that all we are working with is rumours and leaks but if Android 5.0 is to come in the fourth quarter then by August owners of Nexus devices should be savouring a new dessert from Mountain View.

Google Galaxy S4

If you had any doubts about the popularity of Samsung’s 2013 flagship then Wednesday’s announcement of the Google Galaxy S4 should have helped calm your nerves. The S4 is here to stay. It’s hard to run away from it now. If you don’t like all the software enhancements that Samsung packed with its version of the S4 then you can get the Google version that runs pure Android. There are many Android purists out there and this is where the excitement starts. The S4’s spec sheet is enough to make anyone wet themselves (ok, the geeks amongst us, not everyone) and having vanilla Android on top just makes it even better. Talk of a Nexus in a glorious shell and this is it.

Apart from the open fact that it won’t run Samsung’s TouchWiz custom UI, there isn’t word on whether all the features that the Galaxy S4 comes with will be stripped off the Google version or if they’ll still be available though supported solely by Android at core. Chances are we won’t see Air Gestures and Smart Scroll on the Google Galaxy S4. There won’t be any change in the hardware so expect the same 5” Super AMOLED full HD display, the Snapdragon 600 (or Exynos 5 Octa for some markets it’ll be available) clocked at 1.9 GHz or thereabout, 2 GB RAM, 13 megapixel shooter, 16 GB internal storage and the same 2600 mAh battery.

Though there are rumours that various Nexus devices will be rolling out soon like the Nexus 11, a refreshed Nexus 7 and a Nexus 5, chances are Google’s version of the Galaxy S4 could be the angel that will herald the coming of Android 4.3. We could see the Nexus family unveiled later towards the end of the year. Still those are mere speculations but the underlying fact is that the Google Galaxy S4 will arouse some excitement. As CNET aptly captures it, “if some people buy the Google version of the GS4 instead of the regular version, it’s still sales for Samsung.”

The Google Galaxy S4 will be unlocked and will be available for sale from June 26th through the Play Store. Our friends Stateside will have it through their carriers AT&T and T-Mobile. It will sell for $649 off-contract and slightly less with contracts through the two American carriers.

Other Google I/O 2013 Android Goodies

• A music streaming service to compete with the likes of Spotify and Pandora: Google Play Music All Access. Unfortunately this is only available to those in the US. Will it be rolling out to other countries? There’s no word on that but you can bet it will.
• Google Play Games Services. For those of us with multiple android devices this is a Godsend. Imagine playing Temple Run 2 on your Android smartphone and then being able to pick up where you left on your Android tablet just before the temple monkeys strike. Cool huh? Before you salivate remember that with this announcement Google has released the APIs for game developers to build into their games so that cloud syncing of game progress and a shared leaderboard on Google+ is possible. I have used an Android tablet and an Android smartphone in my example above but that should not be taken to mean that the new APIs have support only for Android. Far from it. Support is enabled for iOS and the web hence making gaming using the Play games service cross platform. So you can play on your PC and resume on your Droid or on your iDevice and still resume on an Android device.
• An updated Google Hangouts app. A new icon and a UI revamp and other changes like grouping interactions based on conversations rather than contacts.

The post Android Goodies From Google I/O 2013 appeared first on echenze™.

Sony Xperia Z

You’ve got to give it up to Sony for bringing such a capable and standout flagship in 2013. For the first time in as many years we finally have a Sony smartphone that we can outrightly point out that it takes on the big boys without hiding in the shadow of a sibling device or a hastily crafted successor. In 2012 we had a whole bevy of Sony smartphones and all packed good specs coupled with the great hardware that Sony is well known for. What lacked? A clear standout flagship device. We did have the Xperia S but could it stand up to the single leader identity that became of the Galaxy S III and by far HTC’s One X? Not really. 2013 was going to be different and we could all see that from the fact that the Xperia Z was the first high profile flagship announcement of the year. We may see a repeat of this though. While the Xperia Z is regarded as the Sony flagship smartphone of 2013, the Xperia ZR could soon challenge it for the top honours since it is already getting very many admirers thanks to its additional IP58 certification which makes it a darling of the water guys as it can be submerged upto 5 feet under water; a bigger feat than the Xperia Z’s IP57 certification which only translates to being able to be submerged upto 3.3 ft. Not a big deal if you ask me and I’m sure the same is the case for many other consumers (save for those who live in Japan) but hey, it’s about bragging rights these days isn’t it?

Does it stack up to the competition? It does. I’ve been lucky to have a brief hands-on with this device I’ve cheekily nicknamed The Swimmers’ Companion thanks to its waterproof nature and I was not disappointed. Despite my misgivings with a few software tweaks thanks to Android OEMs’ infamous and persistent skinning (Sony’s UI, eer Timescape? is one of the least modified though), you can’t take anything away from this device. Plus it has all the desirable specs to boot.

The Xperia Z’s standout specs:

• Elsewhere the fuss is about the AMOLED displays, their true blacks and all that. In some quarters it is about the IPS displays and their clear whites and great viewing angles. While the display tech hardly ever varies, Sony threw a lot of its own tech (as well as technical jargon to explain it) into what the Xperia Z’s display has. This is what they say: Full HD Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2. Of course like the competition it is 5 inches. Having used Sony’s mid-range devices for a limited time, I know that the BRAVIA Engine does make a difference but I’m not sure how improved it is here since it is BRAVIA Engine “2”.
• Camera with Exmor RS camera. Of course it is a 13 megapixel back shooter, just like the competition. The Exmor RS also powers a better Mobile HDR video experience. Still, we really can’t question Sony’s camera (Cybershot?) prowess can we?
• One touch mirroring. For sharing on larger displays by just a single tap.
• Water resistant. Dust proof too. Thanks to its IP55 and IP57 certification.

Full specs here.

I’m not sure if what I’ve listed as standout specs really makes it standout considering that some other elephant in the room *cough* has a whole list of features but if they don’t wow you at least there’s consolation in the design for my friends in the “anti-plastic brigade”. The Xperia Z has glass both at the front and the back. I know that increases the risk factor should the device fall but aren’t you after “premium feel and finish” these days? Yeah that’s what you live with then. Oh and those smudges, fingerprints, paw prints on the back glass.

I look at the Xperia Z as an Android device chiefly for those deeply hooked into Sony’s ecosystem especially for Playstation Mobile but hey, that’s me!

There’s something I like about Sony that is likeable to most of us who love tinkering with our Droids. It is currently the only OEM who has greatly come out to support the open Android developer community. You know what I mean? Custom ROMs… Sony releases all the source code of its device’s essential drivers to the community and working closely with them thus making it easier to have 99% bug free custom ROMs. Though I’ve not fallen in love with the Xperia Z (I’m not a swimmer, deep sea diver, a Japan national or ever had my phone fall into the kitchen sink anyway), this fact is at least some consolation.

The Xperia Z launched retailing at around Ksh 65,000-70,000 but since that was many days ago, the price has peaked at Ksh 55,000-60,000 in most outlets locally. At least that’s what I’ve seen so if you have a better deal count yourself lucky and make the most out of it.

Will you buy the Xperia Z over the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One (which I don’t know how many months or years it will take for it to show up in most outlets locally if it ever will that is)?

Photo: Sony

The post Underwater Champ: Focus on Sony’s Xperia Z appeared first on echenze™.

A mock-up image of the expected Galaxy Note 3

According to rumors, the Galaxy Note 3 will feature a 5.9-inch full HD screen with the highest pixel density that we have seen in any Galaxy device so far. It is widely speculated that the Note 3 might come with a flexible and unbreakable OLED display. It will be identical to the current generation Galaxy Note (II)  but with slimmer and lighter design.

The company showcased its flexible and bendable displays named youm at CES 2013. Samsung managed to bend the phone screens but it will be difficult to bend the whole device because of materials used in the manufacturing. If it is at all true then the Note 3 might be the first bendable smart phone in the market.

The Galaxy Note 3 will surely come with the latest Android version and might be supported with Exynos 5 next gen ARM processor. Exynos 5 is designed with 8 cores and it is the successor of the more popular Exynos 4, which is a quad-core processor that powered Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II. Samsung explained that for light applications like music playback & internet browsing, its processor can switch off the powerful Cortex A15 core and will be able to use the Cortex A9 cores (the S4′s four low power cores are the Cortex A7). Samsung might also add a quad core GPU (recent rumours go even further to suggest an octo-core GPU) in the Note 3 for the best quality graphical performance in the games. The powerful processor will be accompanied by 3 GB of RAM.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 might come with a 13 megapixel rear camera capable of HD video shooting. Some rumors suggest that it will also come with the S Orb panoramic feature. It is similar to Google’s Photosphere feature that allows you to take multiple shots and add them in 360 degree view to share on Google Plus. Samsung S Orb will let you do the same and it will be integrated with Facebook.

Samsung launched some unique features like Smart Scroll, Air Gestures and Air View in the Galaxy S4 and reports suggest Galaxy Note 3 will be having the same. These are some unique next generation features that will enhance the experience of smart phone users in many ways. It is expected that wireless charging support will be a mainstay of the device.

Keep in mind that all these speculations are based on the current rumors in the market about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 3. All these features suggest that it will be having a much higher price tag than the Galaxy Note II which is quite expected of any smartphone (eer phablet) upgrade. All we can do is to wait till this year’s IFA in Berlin and Samsung might toss some official word on the device. With the increasing popularity of the galaxy Note series, who knows, maybe Samsung will even hold its own Unpacked event to announce the next generation Galaxy Note device.

This is a guest post written by Sanjay Kumar Negi. Sanjay is the brain behind 91mobiles.com, a leading portal that lists various mobile devices and their pricing in India. Interested in writing a guest post for emmanuelchenze.com? Check this blog’s guest posting guidelines and get in touch using the contact page.

The post Samsung Galaxy Note 3: All Rumours Round Up appeared first on echenze™.

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At times I stop and think how life in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s was like for those around us who are 40, 50, 60 or thereabout. These are mostly our fathers, uncles, lecturers, seniors at the workplace and such. They fall in that age bracket. Can you imagine how these guys survived through college? With no laptops, no smartphones, no tablets, no Wi-Fi, no 3G connectivity, no satellite TV, no YouTube, no nothing. Ridiculous isn’t it? That’s how I see it because I can’t imagine my life today without any of the advantages that technology has brought over the years. Heck I would not have been able to even type this. Thanks to all the applications of technology around us (even you reading this are included), we’ve developed some queer mannerisms.

We no longer trust people

Remember the last time you and your roommate were arguing about Franck Ribery’s age? You said he was 30 and your not-so football conversant roommate said he was 36 right? How did the argument end? Google. Assignment? You were in a hurry to hand in the latest term paper but seemingly you did not trust all the answers filed by your discussion group members. How did you get over it? Google. Wikipedia (yeah there are students who live off Wikipedia. Don’t act surprised).

Today, everything you say to anyone who at least owns a device with internet access is subject to confirmation through Google. I’ll admit it; I am victim numero uno when it comes to this. I always crosscheck anything that someone tells me is a fact. Of course I don’t do my crosschecking from the library. Far from it. I just reach out for my back pocket, get my phone, head over to Android’s ever handy search widget and query Google.

You just told me some breaking news? Thanks but if I login to my Twitter account and your breaking news isn’t trending then obviously it is not news. Such is how we live today. Technology has taken the place previously reserved for trust between friends, relatives and co-workers. Some neighbourhood mole comes to you with news that your ex-girlfriend is seeing someone else now. Before you react your first instinct is to look up her Facebook profile for any change in relationship status or any new intimate photos. If there are none then your hopes of a reunion or doom spell on her are rekindled. Call it stalking 101 or whatever you want but that’s what we’ve become.

Overdependence on gadgets

Shopping, relationship advice, movie suggestion. What do they all have in common? Gadgets. Yes today all you do is go to your favourite online store(s) and hover from one tab to another reading other consumers’ reviews and comments about certain products and comparing prices. Amazon, eBay, Google Trader, those Facebook buy-sell groups, website p, website q, online shopping portal x et al. It is all we have become. And there’s no stopping.

Your relationship has been on the rocks lately thanks to that “bad weave comment” and the first place you flock is internet discussion groups offering relationship advice, relationship advice blogs and the likes. Let’s not even get to how many times you have tried to find love on the internet. Unlike in the 60s and 70s when stalking girls as they came from the river to fetch water and went about their daily household chores like cutting firewood was what men did, nowadays it is checking the timestamp on Whatsapp that does all the magic. Last seen at 2100. That is all.

Relying on gadgets for more polished and reliable information is a good thing but it is getting out of hand. The lack of human element in all this makes it look and sound cosmetic. I’m only falling short of saying cartoonish. We’ve stopped asking family members and friends for the best movies to watch, the best novels to read and the best shoes to shop because we trust some faceless guys using pseudonyms to make comments on most review sites and blogs more.

We’ve killed face-to-face conversations

We are not yet there but I am sure not long from now we’ll be having this conversation with some kids: “Long time ago people used to talk to each other.” When was the last time you were at what was supposed to be a social gathering or an interactive session and all you ended up with was a bunch of new followers who only followed you after noticing that you were in the same room as them at an event and were actually tweeting using the same #hashtag? Yeah, the only thing you have in common is a mere hashtag and you’re not just following each other but rather “friends” too. What of our friends who’ll spend the first minute of being served a meal not praying to the Lord the Giver to bless the meal and thank Him for providing it but rather busy instagramming the food?

Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Viber, 2go (hate it or love it, 2go has a sizeable number of young Kenyans) and the list goes on. The strong combination of social networks and instant messaging clients has made us social zombies. We aren’t really interested in meeting people but in just conversing with them online. We are slowly finding it difficult to maintain real life conversations beyond the first two minutes of meeting each other. Unfortunately those first two minutes aren’t even spent exchanging greetings as should be the norm but rather enquiring what the other guy’s handle on Twitter is. Sigh. Anti-social beings.

Addicted to screens

In class or at work? You’re glued to a monitor all day. The few minutes break you get over coffee or lunch are spent checking corporate emails on your old Blackberry and “liking” some rather strangely named page on Facebook on your Galaxy [insert any name here] smartphone.

Weekend? More screens. The English Premier League and gaming for most guys in my age group is what defines any recess we get from our various weekday engagements. I don’t know much about the old folks and ladies but I’m sure they are not that far away from us.

Actually there’s much more to being addicted to these screens (they no longer glare as much unless you’re still using a 1991 Sinclair computer monitor) than meets the eye. Doctors and researchers who study such matters will give it some rare names but the truth is, most of us are victims. Just a few hours away from the gadgets you’re always glued to and you start developing some “withdrawal symptoms”. It’s that bad.

Overspending on airtime

Not long ago a survey noted that Kenyan youth spend billions on airtime alone (actually Ksh 3.4 billion as per a study done by Consumer Insights whose results were released in 2011. In 2012, Youth Dynamix put the figure at a mind boggling Ksh 23.6 million). We can’t get enough of social media platforms. We are always trending something or uploading memes or joking about the latest grumpy cat pic. Even with bundles, our texting and browsing habits at a personal level are getting out of hand and telecommunication service providers are having a field day. It is good to communicate but in the process we’re overdoing it and milking ourselves dry. What did young people spend all their money on in the 70s? Buying tropical mint?

We don’t want to miss out

The internet seems to be good at bringing just the best of everyone. Unless it is a hilarious photo, how many times have you seen your Facebook friends upload photos in which they look like they are dying the next minute? Unless it is that time they were “very wasted” at the Jameson party, which is a good thing these days anyway, chances are that you’ll never ever see such images. In fact should such images where you were caught off guard in a weird situation or in a state that seemed to imply that you were facing certain hardships in life ever leak on the internet, you’ll be made fun of for over 24 hours, trend locally on Twitter and finish the day either very bitter or very disappointed thanks to the taunting and uncalled for bashing that you’ll get. There’s an unwritten rule: unless it is the death of a loved one (which some punks will still find a leeway to make fun of), you are not allowed to be sad, gloomy [insert all other adjectives that describe such a state here]. You should be happy. Or at least pretend you are. You know what we miss by succumbing to this social media nonsense? We stop being human. We trade the aspects that make us human for some form of primitive robotics controlled by shares, likes, favourites, tags and retweets.

So what do we do? Act as if our lives are the most perfect. Pose for snaps in the bathroom as if it is passport photos for entry into the US Diversity Visa Lottery Program (Green Card). The end result? Everyone on the internet (read social media) seems happy. Infact happier than you.

How did they pretend in the 70s and 80s without posting fake mood statuses on social media and photoshopped avatars all over their online profiles?

Simply put, as much as technology has revolutionized the way we live, interact, connect and share the most important aspects of our lives, we’ve lost it along the way. At least for a good chunk of guys my age. For those who haven’t they’re trying really hard to and they’ll soon lose it. With laptops being dished out to standard one kids soon then the threshold for “losing it” is even set to get lower. Much more young souls will be lost after a year or two of excitement and “enlightenment”.

Lost souls.

The post Queer Manners We Seemingly Can’t Stop Thanks To Technology appeared first on echenze™.

Not long ago Samsung released its first batch of Galaxy S4 ads just before the device was available in the market and this latest ad by Samsung Mobile USA is the first since the device debuted in the American market and also in all the other markets worldwide.

Let us not go into the usual tired lines like “the iPhone is not better than device X”, I’ll leave that for trolls but unless you’ve been living under a cave for the last couple of months, you know very well where to get a superior experience. Nuff said.

THEN: The 2012 Galaxy S III ad that made fun of the “uncool” guys queuing to buy Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone 5)

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The ad shows Scott and his friends at a graduation pool party. He goes ahead to take photos of what I presume to be his parents at the barbeque and the parents (iPhone owners) are amused at the camera capabilities of Scott’s phone (a Galaxy S4). In typical exaggeration the father retorts that he can even smell the ribs from the captured image. My favourite moment of the ad is from the 0:36 to the 0:40 mark where an iPhone user after seeing Galaxy S4 users exchange just captured pictures by bumping phones via S-Beam also wants to do the same but is reminded by her friends that she can’t. Poor thing.

“I wanna share, can I share too?”

“No, yours cannot do that.”

I haven’t laughed like I did after seeing that ad in a while. Seeing it after a disheartening 0-1 loss to Chelsea by Manchester United, it was quite a relief.

Let me not spoil the fun for you. Check the ad that is surely going to ruffle all the feathers of the trolling community and raise the emotions of some obsessed individuals below.

NOW: The new ad that keeps the Apple bashing momentum alive

Go repair your ribs on time, tomorrow is Monday

The post New Samsung Galaxy S4 Ad Continues the Apple iPhone Bashing appeared first on echenze™.

Pre-orders

Safaricom

Safaricom had offered its customers and any other interested parties a pre-order deal whereby one would pay Ksh 15,000 at the Safaricom Shop at Westgate and pay the remainder as soon the device is available then pick it up. The total cost would be Ksh 57,999. The deal also included 4.5 GB of data bundled with the device for free (to be delivered in bits of 1.5 GB monthly for 3 months). Sadly, if you didn’t rush to pre-order the new beast then you are out of luck as far as pre-orders go. Safaricom has closed the pre-orders as can be seen on the pre-order microsite.

Airtel

Get over the shock that you have been locked out of Safaricom’s pre-order deal. If you are an Airtel customer or just about any other guy interested in landing the best Galaxy S4 pre-order deal then you’ll like what Airtel Kenya has to offer.

Just pay the Airtel Kenya pre-order microsite a visit, fill in the required details, pay using the payment options provided and then walk into any of the below listed Airtel stores once the Galaxy S4 is available to pick your new Life Companion. It will cost you Ksh 56,999. However, this could fall back to Ksh 52,999 (or Ksh 4,000 less) if you pay using Airtel’s mobile money transfer service, Airtel Money.

The Airtel Kenya pre-order deal comes with 21 GB data bundled.

As also noted, you can use the Pesapal checkout option on the Airtel Kenya pre-order microsite to pre-order and pay using Airtel Kenya’s rival Safaricom’s mobile money transfer service, M-PESA.

Official Retail Price

If you miss out on the above listed pre-order deals from two of Kenya’s largest telecommunication service providers by subscriber base then you’ll have to buy the Galaxy S4 at the recommended retail price of Ksh 65,000 anywhere in the country where the device will be retailing.

Specs & Other Info

I got you covered long time ago. Check the specs here.

If you have second thoughts you can check why I think you should really consider the Galaxy S4 here.

I’ll be sharing more details about the Galaxy S4 in due course (including a full review of the device).

**UPDATE** 6th May 2013

The Galaxy S4 is now available in all Safaricom shops in Kenya. It has been in stock since Saturday, 4th May 2013. I have no information about availability in Airtel shops but after the official Kenyan launch tomorrow (7th May), the device should be available everywhere in the country. Also the pre-orders should all be closed by now so your best bet is getting the Galaxy S4 at the recommended retail price stated above.

**UPDATE** 9th May 2013

The Galaxy S4 was officially launched locally at a colourful launch event at the Nairobi Serena hotel on the morning of May 7th by Samsung East Africa’s COO, Robert Ngeru.

Hot on the heels of the local availability of the Galaxy S4 is a series of goodies and offers from Samsung. You can now get a free flip cover with your purchase of the Galaxy S4 at specific locations. I don’t know for how long this offer will be there but kniowing that the flip covers will set you back a couple of bucks, you better hurry up and grab your Galaxy S4 with its new free flip cover. Go to the Galaxy S4 microsite and enter your details i.e name, ID number, phone number and select the shop where you want to buy your S4 and also pick the flip cover.

 **UPDATE** 19th May 2013

For the past one week, Orange Kenya has joined Airtel and Safaricom in offering the Samsung Galaxy S4 through their Orange shops in major towns in the country.

Orange has a promotion as of now whereby you can buy the Galaxy S4 for Ksh 57,999 from Orange shops in Nairobi (Orange Mega Shop opposite All Saints Cathedral, Sarit Centre, Westgate Shopping Mall and T-Mall), Mombasa (Orange Shop on Moi Avenue and Nyali) and Kisumu. You’ll also get a free Orange SIM card preloaded with 2 GB data split over 2 months i.e. 500 MB data per month.

Alternatively, you can get the Galaxy S4 at the recommended retail price of Ksh 64,999 from Orange in the above stated outlets and get more data i.e an Orange SIM card with 10 GB for 3 months.

The promotional price of Ksh 57,999 is valid until 24th May so hurry and get a good deal if you may.

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The King: The Samsung Galaxy S4

Assuming you have just bought the Samsung Galaxy S4 (this should be possible in a few days’ time), and downloaded the security enhancements from the Samsung Apps Store (That is always the first thing I do) what apps should I install?

BROWSERS

Browsing the internet is the first thing on everyone’s mind. It’s typical to have Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and all other mobile browsers on your phone but on the S4, Chrome will be the best choice.  Chrome is fast in response, and easily handles tabs and lets the user to switch between the desktop and the phone and manages bookmarks and user’s most visited sites for ease of access.

Link: [Chrome]

Alternative:  Users can also download Dolphin Browser, which offers a closer experience to Google Chrome (and has multiple plugins for added functionality).

EDITOR’S NOTE: The stock Android browser on Android 4.0 and up has been given a face lift and is one of the best mobile browsers you’ll ever come across. Besides, it supports flash whereas Chrome does not. It is still a very solid app and stands neck to neck if not even towering above its competitors like Chrome.

I am not sure if the Galaxy S4 will come with Chrome as a stock application or you’ll have to download it from the Play Store. Whichever the case, you’ll surely need it.

KEYBOARD

I have always had problems with the Samsung keyboard and the decision to have the S4 come with the SwiftKey Keyboard, as the default was futuristic.  SwiftKey Keyboard is faster, easier and more accurate.  It also learns the words and the phrases commonly used and how one interacts with the keyboard.

Alternative: Hackers Keyboard it provides the layout used on computers and offers an equally better experience. It is also free on the playstore

Link: [Hacker's Keyboard]

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Galaxy S III was the last flagship Samsung Android smartphone to pack Samsung’s stock keyboard, which is a slightly customized version of the Android stock keyboard. Starting with the Galaxy Note II, Samsung has partnered with SwiftKey to integrate the SwiftKey keyboard’s algorithms into the stock keyboard for an enhanced Keyboard experience. this is exactly the case with the Galaxy S4. Though it was never much publicized, the Galaxy Note II has one of the best stock keyboards on any smartphone. Actually during my short stint with the device, I never got to install a third party keyboard. Expect an even better keyboard on the Galaxy S4.

GAMES

The Galaxy S4′s Gamepad. The device will surely be a gamers’ paradise. Reminds me of the Project Shield.

With the 5-inch display and quad-core/octa-core processor, gaming will be a top agenda for most S4 users.  Top on the S4 accessory lists is the Galaxy S4 Game Pad that uses Near Field Communication (NFC) to allow the user to play their games.  Among the games Galaxy S4 users can enjoy include Dead Trigger that lets the player shoot zombies over various levels under a basic progression system where players upgrade their arm assortment as they progress.  Popular games such as Temple Run, Angry Birds and Cut the Rope need minimal introduction.  With the gamepad, racing and sports gamers are out for an experience. The likes of Asphalt 7, FIFA 2012 and FIFA 2013, should offer the player quite the thrill.

Link: [Dead Trigger]

NEWS

Keeping up to date with all the news and information is no longer about reading 7 newspapers daily.  Flipboard not only makes reading news fun and casual, it makes wholesome. If you do not fancy politics, users can easily edit that and read what they like.  Sharing information is also easy with links to Facebook and twitter.  Appy Geek is also another platform that delivers the latest news in the tech world and keeping you knowledgeable. Additional applications a user may need to make the news experience better include Pocket and Instapaper where users can post articles and read them later on.

Link: [Flipboard]

Alternative: Alternative applications for Flipboard, Include Pulse, which offers users a chance to choose topics they are interested in and a feed for the same is delivered to them via the application. Currents and Material Beta also offer the user such an experience.

Links: [Pulse] & [Currents]

EDITOR’S NOTE: With Google shutting down its Reader service in a few days time and on a device as gallant as the Galaxy S4, you’ll want a slick app that aggregates news feeds in a much better way and in an attractive format. That is what Currents and Pulse exactly do. Besides Pulse has a simple way of migrating your RSS subscriptions from Google Reader. Another news aggregating app worth a mention is Feedly. It also has a straightforward way of transferring your RSS subscriptions from Google Reader. News 360 app for smartphones is also a good one.

ANTIVIRUS

It is common knowledge that there is an influx of malware on the Android platform. Actually, the number has tripled and subsequently quadrupled meaning security is key. I would advise that you use McAfee and Norton antivirus but they will not be as effective as the Mobile Antivirus Security Pro, a product of AVG.  I have used the antivirus on various android devices and it has not only been effective but also does not eat into your RAM. It also lets block call and texts, protects from spammers and warns you of impending threats.    

Link: [Mobile Antivirus Security]

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an open question. Whether you really need an antivirus or any other security app on your Galaxy S4 is up to you. As I earlier stated, this is all about how well you take care of your Android device. besides the Galaxy S4 has the Knox feature. This makes sure there’s a “wall” or a separation between your usual smartphone usage experience and your corporate/office stuff. Actually, security should be the least of your worries on most 2013 Android and the Galaxy S4 won’t be an exception.

Additions APPs

There are also those must have applications on your phone. Some of the applications which are a must have on the S4 include Google Keep provides a unified remainder that is integrated with your email, with the 5” screen, Side Bar Pro will aid in switching apps, Google Googles this application allows you to search via photos or images. With the 13MP camera, there is just so much Google Googles will Google.  MA3Route an application that will keep you aware, on the traffic situation in Nairobi, PesaDroid to help you manage your M-pesa balances better.

Links: [Ma3Route] & [PesaDroid]

The Samsung Galaxy SIV launches on the 26^th. Pre-orders through Safaricom via this link once you lay hands on the beast, be sure to use the Checklist. Wishing you and your “Life Companion” an easy life  .

This post is syndicated from my friend @MrEricWainaina‘s blog and has been edited heavily so as to provide conclusive information. Check out the original post here.

PHOTO credits: [extremetech.com] [SwiftKey photo: theslanted.com] [Gamepad photo: svetandroida.cz/]

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The last time someone talked to me about head mounted displays, it was my high school computer teacher teaching me and my classmates about virtual reality. While I’ve gone on to experience virtual reality applications like high powered 3D gaming and movies, it is time I (and you reading this one too) learnt of some other form of reality: augmented reality. Augmented reality or AR as it is often shortened is actually not a simulation like virtual reality is but rather a presentation in real time of how one interacts with the real world while also being virtual/online. Ambiguous isn’t it? Well that is exactly what Google Glass is all about, in a few words.

Perhaps you have seen the excitement over the last 10 months since Glass debuted at Google I/O 2012 all over. I followed closely the conversations around Google Glass on Twitter with the hashtag #ifihadglass with a lot of interest. Actually, if I had the means (the developer version of  Google Glass will set you back by some $1,500), I would be among the folks eagerly awaiting delivery of their “magical spectacles”.

Today, the Google Glass support page gave us the expected specifications of Glass. Since this is not a device in the form of what we’re used to (like tablets and smartphones), I am not sure what really these specs mean on paper but I am sure those who will try out Google Glass first hand will make sense of them. So what are the specs?

• 5 megapixel camera that is capable of shooting 720p video
• A 640 x 360 display that Google says is the equivalent of a 25 inch high definition display from 8 feet away.
• 16 GB of flash storage. 12 GB is what will be user-accessible. Glass will have the capability to expand on this storage by syncing with “Google cloud storage” (Google Drive anyone?)
• Connectivity options include Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11b/g.
• Google touts one day battery use when not extensively using resource demanding tasks like Hangouts and recording videos.
• A bone conduction transducer (This is not a Physics dissertation so you can look up bone conduction on Wikipedia if you skyved Physics classes for one reason or another ).

Remember the microUSB cable you got after your last smartphone purchase? Google Glass will use a similar one too, though it will be custom made.

Google Glass should be able to sync with any Bluetooth enabled smartphone. There’s also support for the MyGlass app available on the Play Store for devices running Android 4.0.3 and up to enable GPS and text messaging.

Oh one more thing, I don’t know whether to classify this as a spec or not but I know It is important to some people. If you have a broad face and also a big nose (no offence intended), Google’s got your back. Glass’ nose pads are adjustable to accommodate you and the frames durable enough to withstand your several pounds of flesh.

BONUS: There’s a really cool page making fun of Google Glass with hilarious photos, memes and videos. Have a peek here.

**UPDATE 1** 19th April 2013

…obviously, Glass runs on Android, so [Android] has been pretty transportable across devices, and I think that will continue…

Those are the words of Google CEO Larry Page as quoted by TechCrunch. So there we have it guys, Google Glass has an interesting spec that not many expected: it runs Android.

PHOTO: CNET UK

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So, why shouldn’t you root your Android device?

You Don’t Know Why You Want To Root

You have no idea what it is or what you stand to gain from getting root access. Yes Android is the most popular mobile operating system out there and since almost everyone is doing it, you’re also entitled to join the crowd right? I mean, look at all your Twitter followers, all those guys on XDA and Modaco, all your classmates heck even the fat grumpy lady in the office had her college-going kid do it for her so why not? I want to join the cool kids and also upload screenshots of my rooted Droid. Sorry Sir/Madam, rooting is not a me-too camp affair.

Yes rooting is today a very simple process than it was in the early days of Android but your Android device is just cool the way it is. If you have to ask someone, anyone, about what benefits rooting will bring to you or you’ve at one time googled wondering what all the hullabaloo about rooting (isn’t it pulling out cassava roots, uprooting a giant Californian Redwood tree or something?) is then it is not for you. Fire up your browser, play Cut the Rope Experiments and Instagram your lunch, just don’t risk letting the cash you invested in your Android device (anything from $99 to upwards of $699) and the apps you’ve bought from the Play Store go down the drain clumsily simply because you also wanted to look cool.

Malware

Android is insanely popular for being rubbed the wrong way by malware on a scale no other mobile platform experiences. Getting elevated system privileges, which is what rooting does, means certain system processes that are otherwise restricted or contained by the operating system are granted unlimited access to all system resources and data. There are many apps with tens of lines of malicious code that could use such a chance negatively. Whatever they can do with all those privileges can only be left to your imagination and that of a hacker thousands of miles away.

It does not mean that those who haven’t rooted their devices stand a lesser risk; it just implies that the root users are at a higher risk of getting malware than non-root users. You should do this before you activate Android debugging in the settings app and proceed to attach your microUSB cable o your PC.

You’re Already On Jelly Bean

Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is the latest update from Google. Whereas it is only recently that Android 4.x in general has gained traction and started to eclipse the indefatigable Gingerbread (Android 2.3), if you bought your device running Android 4.1.2 or Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean (there’s only the Galaxy S4 that will come with this out of the box as of now) then you need to have a really genuine reason to want to root your beloved Droid. Many root so that they can flash custom ROMs that will upgrade their Android devices to the latest Android version but if you’re one of the lucky few who have Jelly Bean out of the box or your device’s manufacturer was graceful enough to provide an update, stick to it. It is Android’s finest.

You’re Sacrificing OTA Updates At The Altar Of Gaining Root Access

Some OEMs won’t push updates to rooted devices. Others do push over the air updates to rooted devices as long as they’re still running stock firmware. So if you fancy every little firmware update e.g. the incremental update to Android 4.2.2 that has among others, Photosphere, from Android 4.1.2 you need to go slow on the urge to root.

For those in the know, there’s a small workaround to get these updates while maintaining your root status but to the majority they aren’t (and probably won’t ever be) privy to this. If your OEM provides bug fixes and minor updates every now (remember the infamous Exynos 4 exploit that put many Galaxy S III owners in panic mode not long ago?) and then that you would like to install, think twice before rooting. For the major updates, you can always flash the whole firmware again but I don’t think it is worth the hustle.

Your Warranty Goes Up In Flames

Customer care at any shop or your carrier’s retail outlet or customer experience centre will always be friendly and gladly listen to your tales about how everything is all of a sudden not working on the Droid you bought from them just the other day. They’ll always be willing to assist until either they discover by themselves that you tampered with the device or you drop the R word on your own. I know we rarely ever go through that small booklet containing the terms of purchase and usability and the small guide on how to use the phone but tucked away in all that technical jargon in small font is the precaution that “unnatural” interference with the firmware could result in your warranty not being honourable. Yes by rooting, as you are always reminded before undertaking to do so, you go against most of the OEMs and carrier’s terms of warranty; you thus void your warranty. You know what that means.

Hint: unless your Android device is really screwed up to even boot up, you can always return your Droid to its factory state before heading out to claim your warranty. For those in the know, this is pretty easy, for the noobs, you’ll want to treat this as enemy territory.

Brick

It’s not a red brick, but there’s a certain state of uselessness your device could get in thanks to rooting going sour. If you belong o those guys I refer to as the “anti-plastic brigade” and have a sweet aluminium unibody Droid, trust me after a hard brick you’ll be left with a sweet cold piece of scrap metal.

Most rooting mishaps result in soft bricks. These are reversible i.e. one can get the device back in its ordinary state after a firmware reflash. For a hard brick, not even Thor’s hammer will be of much help.

My friend Ken has quite a testimony to give on this front. From the reactions and sudden gush in traffic his post on his experience bricking the ZTE Blade has attracted of late, I’m very sure very many of my readers have at one time or another bricked their Droids.

Android Is Now More Advanced

Chart showing Android adoption numbers by version as of the start of the year. Jelly Bean’s usage has been on a roll at the expense of the declining Gingerbread.

In its infancy, Android lacked so many things. While riding on the wave of openness and free to customize, it received a lot of flak for not supporting many tasks that more established mobile operating systems like iOS already had.

There was also a huge disparity between the strong hardware that OEMs were churning out right from day one (remember the beautiful HTC Dream/G1? The Humming bird processor powered Galaxy S?). But what did we have on the software side? Something that was awesome and could wet any geek but that was not self-sufficient to take full advantage of the hardware. We had Android smartphones with built-in NFC support but whose tags you couldn’t do a thing with. Times have changed. NFC is now fully supported by the OS and various OEMs have figured out how to make users take advantage of NFC for quick file transfer instead of having it limited only to making mobile payments.

Remember those days when you had to root in order to have the ability to take screenshots? Yes we have come from that far. In fact the very first time I saw my friend @KoGiTroNomy Twitpic a screen grab of his Droid I was elated. I never knew it was possible. He later showed me how to go about getting root access on my Droid and I installed Shoot Me in order to be able to take screen grabs and share with the world. That was my main motivation for rooting and it is what led to me doing my first rooting process. Many have also travelled a lane similar to mine. Not any more. Android as it is today is more accomplished. In fact from the time of Honeycomb (that not so successful Android tablet OS that we prefer not to always talk about) taking screenshots became a native feature of Android.

Still there were apps like Wireless Tether that is still in my list of top Android root apps. We wanted to tether our mobile data to our PCs and other devices so that they can also get a bite of our bundles. The OS didn’t support this natively in the very early versions of Android. From Gingerbread, this became a mainstay of Android. You could tether “wirelessly” without the need of rooting in order to install an application to facilitate the process.

Perhaps you wanted the ability to add that tweaked notifications dropdown menu with quick access to crucial and most used settings like brightness level, data toggle, 2G/3G toggle, auto-rotate toggle, Wi-Fi toggle, GPS on/off and the like that the CyanogenMod group had introduced with ROMs targeting Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices. Those tweaks however small were the in-thing back then. The moment you held a friend’s phone running CyanogenMod 7 you could feel a shiver of excitement when you accessed the notification dropdown. Not anymore, every OEM has gone to great lengths to build on Android’s natively baked notification dropdown (remember Android 4.2 even made them better) to produce some brilliant interfaces. You might not be a fan of custom skins but these come with all these nitty gritties baked in smoothly. Whether you’re using an LG device, a Samsung Galaxy, a Sony Xperia, an Asus Transformer tablet or a HTC device, you all have access to these. No need to flash a custom ROM to get something as basic as a notification dropdown tweak.

I could go on and on citing very many other features that we salivated at their mention back then but are basic in today’s Android versions. In fact someone who just bought their device running ICS will hardly notice that just two and a half years ago only a few geeks could boast of being able to flash scripts without having to restart the device. Heck, some of the things you do today could only be accomplished after two hours of constantly prodding the command line to respond. Then ADB just hangs on you! Sigh.

As far as I know those could be the main motivations for any basic Android user to want to root. For the power users, rooting is always awesome and there are some system level tweaks that can only happen if you’re rooted.

Frequent Updates Nowadays

Unlike in the early days of Android when a newer Android version meant having to go the custom ROM way (yawn, you’ve got to root) or buying a new device, these days, as a result of strong hardware specifications, most Android devices are capable of being upgraded through at least two major Android versions. For devices like the Galaxy S II and the first generation Galaxy Note, this is pretty much evident. So stick around and wait for word from your device’s manufacturer on whether your device will be getting an update to the latest Android version. For those in countries where carriers also act as demigods of sorts before you can get updates, wait for a word from them too. If there’s an official firmware update then you don’t have to risk rooting and flashing a custom ROM that could be very buggy and with an inferior experience.

Now that you know you don’t have to go the “root way” will you still go ahead and get superuser rights? … I thought so too.

Memes: memegenerator.net and troll.me

Photos: File

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