Android Wear is Flawed and Here's Why

Android Wear is Flawed

Here’s why

     RIP smart watches. The reality is that both iOS’ wear and Android wear operating systems have a core mistake that make us misuse technology, unless we find a real use for the monstrosity we pack in these accessories. We have to rethink the reason we buy smart watches – or ordinary watches - from the very beginning.

they look nice

     This all started when I was giving a speech to new people on what the watch I am using is, since many people are curious about “the mini-phone toy watch” as they call it for having the three buttons and Sony on it, also having no depth unlike real watches. Despite not many people fully understanding it, they have mixed reactions on how useful it will be. I find it very useful because at least I can call and not lose my phone, with my Bluetooth headsets, I can call and do almost everything remotely, and thanks to the updates of the SW2, I can prewrite custom messages in different languages too, and the new watch faces are a lot better in features and customizability.

my watch I've had since launch

    But when I looked at the next generation of watches, and the present one, sure some of them look fantastic, but there are two big mistakes with all the next generation. The first is the insane processing power, and the second is the insane price tag. Read on to know why.



   As I mentioned in the second paragraph, smart watches are not for everyone. Some people find it unnecessary, some people just don’t have arms big enough (it’s true) and some people would rather buy gold or Swiss watch rather than a computerized watch. In fact, even though I am dependent on my watch, I don’t pull it out all the time, and to be honest it sometimes attracts attention when it beeps and shines thanks to the application ( Notification for SW2 ) . And when I call from it/answer a call, people think this is my phone rather than a watch. And when I use it to time someone, or set the timer, people think it is an advanced watch. It does almost everything I need to do while outside except make internet calls. There is no notification I miss, etc.

 variations are unique

    But with the phone disconnected, my options are limited. It is a Bluetooth accessory after all, so I can mainly only open to read texts, use the calculator and all the time apps, etc. Sony limited the options of third party apps to work without the pair. This is because the watch is inferior in processing and memory than all its peers, but with all you see above, does one really need more processing to do this? And when you consider the battery, and the open-source OS that Sony made?



    Android Wear is an OS that requires 4GB memory to exist, and a lot of RAM to run. Does that sound familiar? This is the reason why the price tag will keep it too high to be a popular item, and too low for a luxury item. It is the price of a high-end phone back in the days of 2011-2012. History is repeating itself!

image copyrighted not mine

    One more reason why I do not like the standard Android Wear is that it is also Google, and thanks to Google’s experiments on Google play services, with the introduction of Wear and L developing is made easier on the part of the GUI. Obviously, that is a good thing, but the worst part about this is what I wrote in a previous article that if the Google version of Android is the most dominant then alternate OS and Android Stores will not help this Linux-based OS we all know and love when each takes a different path. Luckily, there are many alternatives, and there are phones that run Android without Google, but how many of us are willing to switch to that? 



    Personally, I am using a different store than the Play Store, and while I can never live without the Google backup services, At least a watch should have reasonable price, a variant OS, and all the features I need. Like the fitness and camera variants, not all watches are suitable for everyone’s needs. So I believe that an OS with minimal hardware requirements is a beneficial OS because it allows the watch to have more important features like battery life and water protection.



   I admit, The LG Watch R looks fantastic, but I am still proud of buying the SW2 and do not believe it is outdated yet. 

The biggest mistake you are doing right now

The biggest mistake you are doing right now

old unrelated photo, XD sorry but I like it

    We are all doing this crucial mistake that if you avoid can change your life forever. It took me more than 2 years to realize the solution to this, and now that I have been successful.

    I remember my first android phone was an LG P970, which for all you newbs, is a 512MB RAM and a 1GHz flat-cored processor, and the android version around that time was 2.3, and it certainly was seeing an exponential decrease in quality from the very beginning. Clearly, android at the stage it got popular was still not a good phone to entirely replace your Nokia phone and laptop social media lifestyle, was it? 

this was my first, after 1 month I dual-wielded this and an S2

   Well, yes and no. Back then, nobody really used a phone correctly, not even the companies packaged the proper equipment to care for your smartphone properly. But what is correctly? Simply put, we need a way to keep the phone in a good condition as good as it came, i.e. no lag, no “viruses” and more battery life. But it is as if Android is an alkaline metal that comes out of the oil as soon as you open it, and the air just rusts it away so quickly. Even having a SIM card in the phone was an issue!

here's a picture of a car battery because I desperately want you to laugh at my joke even though it isn't funny.

   To counter this, some people started using it as a Nokia phone: aka only stock apps, not even linking a google account to the play store. However these people overcharged their phones and eventually reached the 6-month syndrome only 1 month late. Personally, I’d never do that to any phone I get. YOLO all the way; why would you waste buying a smartphone if it would become a light brick? And even then, it was always prone to overcharge, and the transformers that came with the phone had the output current as low as 0.7A even at the Galaxy Note (Android 2.3.5 era) which made charging slow and discharging fast because the current was bad. Since the battery always gives the phone a different voltage depending on percentage, performance of applications and particularly widgets was affected on a permanent level, and third party replacements for everything stock android should do from home to lock screens to SMS and dialers (root of course for the full replacement). Custom ROMs, that were dangerous at that stage, began to surface and even I used one for cooler widgets and lock screens. 

only 2009 kids remember this. or wait..

   The life of the phone was short, then it turned into the laggy pop up-infested phone that takes forever to load WhatsApp and open the stock keyboard, and then you’d leave the WhatsApp session to once or twice a day, giving out a little sigh and mentally reminding oneself to google an android emulator to use WhatsApp from before using. Luckily, people caught on that Android phones need to have more durability and that is not by not being able to personalize them like iPhones, which feel like I am borrowing a friend’s phone and cannot use to their fullest.

danmaku death was running smoothly though, even during heat

    Phone Manufacturers and eventually Google realized this, and began to change their policies. The manufacturers started first by adding “slow charging” notifications, then increasing battery life, adding battery saving modes, more settings to disable background apps more effectively, adding “fast charging” ability to their hardware, increasing POWER OUTPUT FROM THEIR CHARGERS FINALLY (sorry for caps) which allowed their more useful lock screen widgets to take effect and not eat battery unlike the custom ROMs sometimes. For stock Android to surpass mods is a great achievement, it is just like Minecraft vs Tekkit (oh… we still didn’t reach the industrial age in Minecraft yet, have we?) Nevertheless, it is a terrific feeling to an extent.

I'd hire you creepers :3

    Google’s response to the growth of Android was actually a bad one, but I have already talked about that in a previous Choose Your Death article (if android dies, I die). With the increasing Google Play services that apps depend on, in the future, apps will have less permissions unless they utilize Google’s services, which give G more control over your device. I’ll leave that for you to check the article yourself, else I geek out here.

from the forums of Androidcentral

   So, what does this have to do with your present day phone? Should you be safe and not use it at all?

    Actually, split the expected 3-year life of your phone into a few stages: new, 6-month syndrome, a year and above. It is not actually 6 months or a year, depending on your usage.

   New is when no matter what damaging pop ups, hundreds of spam apps you install, and malicious widgets you load along with the live wallpapers you use, your phone will always be new. At least at the first 3 months and then you will get the 6-month syndrome. At this stage, it is always best to restrict background data of the game apps only, and just explore the Play Store to your heart’s content, do not overcharge it, and your phone may make it before the 6 month mark.

yay a new picture!

6-month syndrome is when your phone apparently feels worn out, but the process is actually reversible. If you had been misusing the charger, replace the battery. At this stage it would be advisable to only start replacing home screen and keyboard from now (not when it was new) because  it can tolerate it still. You should continue to explore the Play Store, but do not hoard items in your storage (I had over 300 apps at this stage, reduced them to 254). You can still use the apps to their fullest while running, but the fitness or GPS apps will be a hindrance unless absolutely necessary.

  After 1-1.5 years, you will slowly start to open less apps, so feel free to uninstall. Because at this stage, the stock keyboard takes time, the malicious software is a bit too much. A factory reset at this point will get it close to a 6-month syndrome so whether or not you should reset is still unknown to my experiments, though I’d stick around for longer. This stage is a bit mixed into different stages, such as the 2 year mark where Samsung devices must replace their batteries or some models can completely electrically disconnect batteries like Lenovos, and there is too much to write here, and if I write it all in one sentence Word gives me a blue line which is annoying. Just Google an old device before you buy it (if you are into buying old/mid-ranged devices) because the forums everywhere can be accurate.

  It is important to note that software updates are bad at late stages because they do not get understood properly unlike when the phone was new. You might say that phones do not get software support for so long, but remember that if you misuse the phone you can quicken its life cycle.

   Did you know all these before? It took me a long time to investigate, and I haven’t been writing for the blog for so long that my sentences are too tall. So if you are still sticking around, thank you so much. I bought a mid-end phone recently just to test my theory (namely the S duos 2) and I just bought a high-end phone which I will compare and review quite soon.

How to sync Outlook Calendar to Google

How to sync Outlook Calendar to Google

This is an extremely frustrating idea that updates take humanity a few steps backwards by stopping the different services from talking to each other. Flash isn't supported for Android 4.0+ anymore, and now Google calendar refuses to sync with Google Calendar app on Android? What is this?

  Luckily for you, I am here to tell you how to fix that, and also mention a few useful quirks for Google Calendar App in case you have too many "calendars" loaded at the same time (you'll see why soon). I used a Samsung device for this, and it does not screenshot. Without further ado, let's dive in.

  So you probably used the app Outlook.com for your mail, right? In this tutorial, it is completely useless. It's sync calendar doesn't work. But you can keep it. I know I am.

 Well first step is to install the Google Calendar App. Don't open it.

exactly the Samsung one. from totalchoicehosting.com

  Next you need to go to the stock android app called "email" that looks like the stock SMS app too (depends on manufacturer) for comparison purposes, this app looks like this and is definitely pre-installed.

no sync for you, bad app

  Now if you still want to use Outlook.com for email, make sure you uncheck email sync from the next step.

  Open the stock email app, click the menu button, add exchange activesync account, go through the steps, make sure sync calendar is checked. After you are done with the process, go to settings, account settings, sync settings,  go to sync schedule and set it to five minutes.


  Close the email app, then open Google Calendar app, and it should be synced. If you have a problem you can again add the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync account but that's just repeating yourself.

    Now to the important thing: Calendars to display. On your Calendar app, click the menu button and then on calendars to display.

from makeuseof.com

   If you are using Outlook.com as well, you will find two of the same email: the one with many different calendars (such as "birthday calendar" and "USA holiday calendar") is your working calendar, and the other one is from Outlook.com. Make sure you uncheck that one, and then toggle the check of the working one. The calendar should be synced.

   Now that you are synced, go to the email app, and in the sync schedule settings and set it to push, because now you are good to go.

   If you have any issues, make sure that you toggle the email app settings before the Google Calendar's sync. There is a manual sync button at the email app. Try the email app first before you try the Google Calendar.

from thegeekdaily.com

    I hope this has solved the issue, and I find it really frustrating, as exporting and importing calendar to my Google account instead made me lose a lot of data, and I only needed to view it in the app rather than have it on my Google account.

Choose Your Death: The Future of Android

Choose Your Death: The Future of Android

This is the third entry in a series. Read the previous one here.

Is android dead?

   It may not look like it, but android is dying, and we can prevent it. But before we can come to that conclusion, we first need to dive into the history of Android.

   A simple Wikipedia search would tell you the open source software that originated from a camera software, but that is not the history we need to conclude evidence. It's the behind the scenes' little clues that rarely appear to the public. These clues were around us all along.

froyo wasn't good though

    Nowadays whenever you hear android, you hear Google. Google adopted android and created the Play Store. So there is pre-2.2 and post-2.2 for android store. Then the android fragmentation issue starting increasingly spreading, so Google countered that with Google Play services and a bunch of a few more API to help developers reach a wider audience, and save people with old phones from splurging money unlike the iPhone. Now, the Android site has the API for android L and the Wear even before the first android L software is out. 

Good interface, bad intentions

    Looks like Google likes working on an android software, right? Especially since it recently acquired Motorola and all of its future nexus devices and wearables will be on it, it seems like Google wants to continue forever, right?

Just put "phone" in-between the two words

    Wrong. Android was only a platform for Google to test its ground in. Then, after it becomes completely professional at it, it will launch Chrome OS for smartphones and eventually abandon Android, leaving someone else to care for it.

    Actually, the fact that Google wants to impose more Google apps to be built-in to the new android phone is just to have enough test subjects for more statistics and bug-fixing experience. Google is taking it slower than ever though, because it will go on for a longer while.

    These APIs for Google play services are also a test for its own OS, so instead of an android OS upgrade, you get to use Google's code instead. Take good note of this because this is the seed of Chrome OS.

    But so what? Android is open-source, and there are enough developers in the world ready to replace the play store with dozens when Google abandons it.



     Well, what about the hardware manufacturers? Things aren't looking too good for us there either. Samsung, the main competitor against Apple in the western market, is also making its very own operating system: Tizen OS. With Samsung's stunning success to android exclusive updates and having a big global market share, for it to leave the Android market is to leave a real big gap. Luckily, there is no point in worrying about that as there are many other manufacturers that have the potential to adopt devices. I am not talking about Sony, HTC, or all that, but rather any local vendor.

    Honestly though, I am not worried as much in the near future about main supporters of android abandoning it. There are Huawei phones that exist without the Play Store that run android, as well as various Nokia devices. However, the threat is there, and will continue to grow in the next few years, and it will be alarming.

very creative and innovative and artistic logo.

On the other hand, Google is not only gaining benefits from open source then planning to abandon it; the search giant is also trying to take this migration in steps, and ensure developers would want to switch over to Android One, which Google controls. I know it’s tempting as a developer or as a phone manufacturer to switch there, but it’s sad and destructive.

Above all else, remember to choose open source software, because you can. Nobody wants a world where we can’t be programmers or engineers because everything else has been patented or owned by someone else. Especially that software can be owned, patented, and privatized. It’s duplication isn’t always as successful either.

Mini Speaker: Mini Bees Hands-on Review

Mini Speaker: Mini Bees Hands-on Review

  Found a cute Chinese office toy of your favorite droid and decided to splurge money on it blindly without understanding the controls? Well, fear not, because I have included a video that figures out how to start it up and use it.


 Now, I didn't explain the Radio feature because I realized it afterwards. Just adding the audio jack alone will serve as the antennae.

   Turning it on will automatically turn it to radio mode where it will keep scanning the FM channels. After it's done, you can briefly rotate his head back and forth just like the MP3 version.

  The only different controls are the play and pause, that just re-initiate the scanning of the radio channels.

  The speakers do have clean sound, but every time you press on and off, everything resets, which isn't good. Also, the maximum volume is great but not fantastic. Every time the device is turned on, all settings reset to default, and radio mode is on.

  I hope that these are enough instructions for you to not feel ripped off and try again. This speaker isn't cheap: it really does as advertised.

Voxel Racing Game: Android vs. iOS

Voxel Racing Game: Android vs. iOS

It's time, android fans, to prove your worth and make your mother proud. Voxel Rush, a racing game, is testing your skills, pitted against iPhones, iPads, and iPods in our endless tilting game. Will you let your device down? Will you let us all down? You won't, so grab every smartphone in the house and make sure you beat my score. I am competing with three android devices, including this one that I am blogging with. I won't share the names of the other two. Competition starts on 1 pm EST so practice well before then.

As a motivational picture, I drew a little poster. Since this is my first drawing on the World Wide Web, I'll go with the initials B.C.Z. just as my youtube channel.

iOS users: make sure you download the game too. Don't go easy on us either, so that you get crushed fair and square.

Spectators: Watch the twitch stream. Make sure you tell everyone about it, and also, if you are android user, stop watching and get your head in the game!

September Smartphone 2014

September Smartphone 2014

thanks to this blogger for transparent eyes

    
   Every beginning of an academic year, and most people do a back to school shopping spree, nerds do their own hunting. This year we’ve got a lot of smartphones that just load more numbers and more digits into their processors but what we really need to limit ourselves with here is functionality.

  Although I say that and here is a specifications comparison of the four flagship native KitKat phones, namely the LG G3, the Sony Z2, the Samsung S5, and the HTC M8.

  Before the comparison tables, I was actually reluctant to include the HTC, because their model numbers are simply confusing, and they always try to remake every model they have. They are going to make a Windows Phone model out of this too.

  What’s special is that all these phones were released in 2014, which made me drop the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 out of the list although it should be worth comparing.

   This year around I shall consider the budget phone of the year, which, surprisingly isn’t an android. Let’s introduce it first: The Nokia Lumia 525. As any living human being, I always advise that the RAM of a smartphone have to be => 1GB and no less. Nokia loves to trick you into not getting one of these, and their apparently well-sold Lumia 520 is very similar with the exception of RAM.

   Budget phones are not just about the initial price; it’s also about the lifespan. Generally dual core 1 GHz phones should have a good life span if the OS allows it. iPhones degenerate quickly, and so do Android phones if used extensively, or connected to shady networks. Nokia’s version of any software is usually the safest to go, however it’s best to have a full experience on any phone, so steer clear from the Nokia X and Nokia XL as they do not have proper Google Play stores, while the Windows phone does. Microsoft also has some cool cloud and other services, and if you are an Xbox fan it’s a bit of a plus.

click to enlarge

*=two different models exist with 16GB,2GB RAM and 32GB, 3GB RAM respectively


   Now that Sony decided that increasing phone resolution is not worth the battery life drop, I am really considering waiting for the PS4-game enabled Xperia device. Hooray for smuggling video games into study areas!

  As for the table, this time I’ve went on to do something new and almost completely try to omit the extremely similar features and repetitive ones. Since these flagship smartphones are directly competing with each other, the main focus will be on the differences rather than similarities.

  The CPU, GPU, Chipset, etc., are exactly the same for all. The native OS is as well as Bluetooth, so I only included some of them because they are more important. Mainly, all these Quad-core processors are of equal caliber, and there shouldn’t be a great difference in there, but the LG sure has stepped up its game by including two models, and one of them (the 32GB internal storage one) has a whopping 3GB RAM. 

   Most people consider this a “Shame on you, Samsung” because the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 had 3GB of RAM, and the S5 looks like a downgraded version released in the wrong order of time. But compared to every other manufacturer it doesn’t lose much ground.

  Apparently HTC M8 is planning to rob iPhone of its user base, with no need to change the SIM card or try to fit it into a small adapter in order to use an Android device right now. Speaking of the odd measures of HTC, they have a phone with a dual 4MP? What does that mean? It means it is essentially 4MP, but with better brightness and faster focus on images and videos. If you already have a digital camera, then trying something new is not bad, but it sure is a little bit of a risk to get a flagship phone with the inferior camera. However, for selfie enthusiasts, this phone is better than your iPhone for taking a front-camera selfie with back camera iPhone quality. Have you ever seen a phone with 5MP on the front? HTC really targets the iPhone users this time.

   A sad point to note is that Samsung is using the new charger, which is why I colored the USB field black to contrast. Version 3.0 of the micro-USB is actually something like a micro-USB version 2.0 with a smaller version stuck to it. The micro-USB v2.0 is just the normal one we use on most android and even old Nokia and Samsungs. Of course the Samsung Galaxy S5 is backward compatible, but that just means one more sophisticated cable in your house. You’d want to need it for faster transfer speeds on your laptop, as my 1TB hard drive really goes smoothly with that cable as well, so it’s not a lie, but personally, I believe it’s not worth it unless you live alone. Most people who live in a family probably store their old mobile phones for headsets and chargers, or even other family members are likely to buy from the same manufacturer. Generic Nokia phones had a standard, newer iPhones now have a standard, most Android devices have always maintained their unspoken rule about standards, so why now, Samsung? You were the early adapters of micro-USB v2.0, why are you selling it out now?

  Both Sony and Samsung were competing really hard with the camera specifically. The Xperia has the higher MegaPixels at 20.7 which is magnificent, and the resolution is probably better (more square-ish) than Samsung’s. It is amazing though, that you can record a video on a phone with a resolution higher than the screen itself. Playback is a waste on the cell phones now!

  Things I forgot were that the Galaxy S5 and the Xperia Z2 are both waterproof.

  LG is quite spectacular with the screen this time, completely winning in the pixel density war as well as the resolution. Having a lower brightness on one of the earlier adapters of the Corning Gorilla Glass series is a plus point. Most people assume that brighter is better just because it is a word that mathematically refers to a positive change in a variable, but actually a screen with lower brightness is a lot less stressful on the eye, and also heats up less. Of all my experience, a Samsung phone with an AMOLED display would heat from the front extremely, to the point where the “dust” on your hand would electrostatically become released from your fingertip. An LG device normally heats up whenever the 3G or the screen are on and white light is displayed, but only the upper part where the upper speaker and wifi are positioned. Glad that Samsung is using Gorilla Glass 3 this time around.

  I almost went through everything, and I did not really intend that, but for now I will delay all the other points regarding general phone issues to a later date. Which phone appeals to you most, and are you actually planning to buy a flagship this September? It is the beginning of the academic year, so I’d love quick responses in the comments below. Play More Zelda!

3 Essential Android Apps For Ramadan

3 Essential Android Apps For Ramadan

   Today marks the second, or third, day of Ramadan, depending on where you live. What is Ramadan, you ask? It is a month in the lunar calendar that Muslims fast in. Fasting is not eating or drinking from dawn to sunset. That's a lot of effort. It is also a very fun and engaging experience as it reminds all Muslims to remember their God, encourages good deeds such as charity, praying, reading the Quran, and so on.

  One of the things that set Ramadan apart from solo fasting is that everyone gets to feel what the poor people go through. Some non-Muslims even tried fasting and it is a good spiritual experience too. It's more about morals and a good reminder to us all about how we should share our food with those who cannot.

  Fasting also has many benefits, and not weight loss. It helps to slow down atherosclerosis and even heal heart problems relating to that. The weight loss trick only works with some (very lucky) people.

  That is why I finally decided on the best three android applications for all the Muslims out there who really are spending their time reading the Quran, praying and remembering that fasting is not only refraining from food and drink, but also spiritual commitment. The list is in no special order and their jobs/purposes do not overlap.

1- Quran

"The best interface is lack of it." ~me, just now. Seriously though, this one uses the stock android UI which means it is fast and wouldn't need so much cache loaded at any one time, which is perfect for its very function. It also allows you to download the MP3 files of either the entire Quran, or per Surah, of the reciter of your choice. They have a vast library.

 But it doesn't stop at that. Every Ayah is highlighted when it is playing as an audio. Even with the app running in background, the active notification will always update itself corresponding to the correct Ayah being played.

2- Salatuk

This one has fully functional multiple language modes. It is packed with features and isn't bad at it too. And has outstanding UI for the performance and functionality it has.

Basically this app guesstimates your location when you refuse to open GPS, but it's not bad. Then it locates all the prayer times from the closest mosque, or from your city, and viola! You can get notifications of prayer times complete with custom sound and preloaded serene Athan tracks.

It also has compass with Qibla arrow according to your city, which you can refresh anytime. There is also a widget, and who doesn't want that? Disadvantages are that it has a little too much complex process to find the notification type that you need.

3- Islamic Calendar

it doesn't have the red frame

  This one was recommended by a friend, because it actually differs from country to country. This is a low sized application for converting Georgian dates to Hijri calendar (the lunar months I mentioned earlier) and vice versa via a single click. It follows calculations not observations, which is why it's handy. I, however, do not like it's old fashioned look and the fact that it has not been updated, but it does its function well and has low memory requirement.

  So there you have it. Three essentials for any Muslim, especially ones who actually want to change this Ramadan. Remember, don't be Ramadan Muslims!

  Now on some information on the resource pack, I will not be adding any more blocks and will currently focus on making a low memory version compatible with other resource packs to stack, also I will plan to add the new blocks to older texture pack. If there's any blocks I must change, it's quartz ore. I'll leave the crops and nether crops after I fix the compatibility issues. Sorry about that, because it will be an even longer delay. Play More Zelda!

Google I/O, what does this mean for 2014?

Google's plans for the future

Google's I/O conference in 2014 rather had a hidden message that was hinted on several times. Google revealed many pleasing OS updates, so let's get to them first.

First, Google started with new changes and additional new software on cars, TV, and wearable devices. Only wearable devices sync directly with the smartphone OS.

 from TechRadar

Android L, or 4.5, is the new operating system from Google, said to be the first to support 64 bit, has much enhanced performance and another great addition is the unified UI that optimizes speed. Google also stressed again on speed of apps, and assured that the new UI has shorter lines of code to use but easier and gives a good result. (That's good because I'm secretly and lazily making an android app and wouldn't bother with the UI)

 really looking like a good watch OS even if not square.

Another OS announced is the Android Wear, the OS for your watch. This OS will, like Google Glass, rely heavily on voice recognition, and prioritizes speed of loading text over complicated swiping techniques. Android Wear so far makes every wearable device before it seem like a slight disappointment, as notifications are not to be seen twice on Wear. Overall, it's simple and looks good, also the defaults don’t look too plain so hopefully developers will use them since they do require much processing from the smartphone side. This would also allow low powered and lower priced smart watches to gain an advantage. As I wrote before, wearable devices market shouldn’t get too shiny, fancy, or expensive.

Google really thought this OS through. There is room for customisation but the defaults are not bad.

From these two paragraphs, there is a lot to be implied on Google's future plans. An operating system optimizing performance and speed left gap for heating, heavy battery usage, and overpowered background processes. Google countered that by having a battery safe mode similar to the one the Samsung innovated to limit the number of apps with high system requirements. But what's the point of having a good processor and not using it?

Clearly, Google no longer wants you to make such an investment in a smartphone. Google plans that you use a tablet instead, so you would never take it outside and worry about the battery. This is a step up for smartphone gaming, but not for smartphones. Google does have a plan that tablets advance faster than phones and get more priority in marketing.

Bitstrip about when gaming catches on to wearable devices

Your phone, on the other hand, will not be ignored. It will turn into a peripheral Bluetooth device to connect to Wear and/or Glass. Google may not be expecting much from Glass, but it is certain of watches and fitness bands to go into style. Then at the end of the day, you go home and sync all your notifications with your tablet again for no reason, and then you charge your phone for another day to use with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in the street, but you won’t be using your phone for actual applications, just notifications and sync, and call of course. Your tablet will be the real android device to host the heavy applications and games, and with the introduction of phablets thanks to Samsung, why not even call through it? Although that won't be a necessity.



This prediction is backed up by Google's I/O itself, and also by some of their videos on Google developers. Samsung really paved the way for them on Wear, and their unique UI shares some history with windows phones but without looking plain, dull, or ugly. Material Design and Google Now look really good, and I hope they allow older phones to get the OS minus the hardware. Google is aware of performance = gaming math and even introduced a DIY virtual reality kit for your smartphone, making it appear like they do not plan to let go of smartphones yet.

Overall this is good news and also rather peculiar. I am curious to what the future may hold. However, they aren’t fascinatingly positive. In the end, developers will just make their own UI to be considered innovative and waste a lot of processing power on background processes, and no matter how all the regulations that google does on their Bluetooth connection, battery consumption, etc., all the apps will ignore all that and attempt to suck the life and mobile data of your phone. A better processor gives more room for that too.

This is not the first time I make predictions, and they've also not been wrong before, and this one isn't apparent but backed up by what Google said itself. Do you believe that Google will focus on tablets in the near future? Let us know in the comments. And Play More Zelda!

7 Methods for Speeding up your Android

7 Methods for Speeding up your Android

 manually stopping apps is the most long term boost, but not for phones with malware.

    Ever reach the stage of droid rage? Well, I haven’t yet because I’ve been fixing the smaller issues before they fully clog up your phone and you’ll no longer be able to use it at all. Here are a bunch of tips and tricks that I have personally used in the past or am still using/experimenting with them currently.

1- App Cache Cleaner

give it its time, no matter how slow it is for scanning

This application clears around 45-56 MB of cache every time for me. That actually has a noticeable effect on performance. The application is free, but sometimes doesn’t clear all the cache it detects, still, it helped me notice when to force close applications, and which applications are really that suspicious. All in all, it helped me decide on which applications to uninstall, although you should not find yourself using it daily. If you are, then there is a tedious application that you might have to delete.

2- Restart weekly

don;t use this. The point is to surprise your phone and all the suspicious open software. If your phone has a non-removable battery, keep holding the power button until it force closes.

Nobody ever tells you this. Nevertheless, you must restart weekly even if it still isn’t that slow. By restart, I don’t mean close the phone from the button, but rather you should remove the battery and leave the phone to cool for ten minutes. Temperature affects any device, but cooling without a battery is good for it. Actually, the startup may not be that significantly faster, but the performance of apps, and navigation through GUI has boosted a lot, maybe even lasting 3 days after the week before beginning to lag. This is a must-do.

3- Mobo Live RAM Booster

This won’t work unless you use it correctly. Mobo Live is, to be honest, a home application that might spy on you, although this is my guess, but it’s smoother and faster. However, manually closing apps from the settings takes too long, and may even temporarily slow the phone, so it’s not a convenient method to use in the street when in a hurry. The RAM booster, on the other hand, works well. But here’s the trick: use it as the last thing before you lock your phone. Even if you lock it for 2 seconds (but don’t do that), that is the only time when clicking it will be effective. Must I emphasize on this more? The RAM booster doesn’t fully exit the apps, it just makes them restart. That is why, if you open any application while it is sending you the message of “340 MB cleared”, startup will be slow, but navigation won’t be. On the plus side: 

Only effectively works once per hour

• Using it in the first days after restarting leaves a lot of free RAM, so you can effectively open all the “heavy” apps simultaneously with ease.

• When it’s almost time for your weekly restart, you will find that the RAM is always in the 84% and above, and will not be cleared by more than 2%. This will be a reminder to you.

4- Using a computer or Instagram for social media sites

Now, I’m not asking you to throw away all the applications, but social apps tend to take 40-50MB of RAM alone, and what  is worse is that they open themselves by themselves whenever you open Wifi, so which means that the moment you toggle Wifi/Cellular on, you should leave the phone for 5-7 minutes untouched. This is for all phones, and not just android. The startup of these applications in this way renders the web browser useless because you can’t even load Google.com . Luckily, G+ and Google Now can be closed, or even disabled until your next reboot. Hangouts can be disabled too, and Email will not open itself all the time if you don’t sign in. Other applications, though, are a hassle, like Skype, Facebook, Whatsapp, etc. Now I’m not telling you to uninstall them, but rather, limit your use to them. Viber is blocked in some countries, and if only one of your friends have Tango, tell them about Telegram. Telegram uses less RAM and usually all the smartphones that support Tango instead of Whatsapp and Line will support Telegram. All you BBM contacts are on your Whatsapp anyway? Uninstall. Like and application so much that you want to persuade your friends to use it? Uninstall its similar alternative so they find you on the app you want. Haven’t used Vine in a month? Uninstall.

telegram is literally like Whatsapp a lot, but is faster

  I’m not saying this because Whatsapp is a good application; it takes more RAM than most of them. But social media is all about having people you know on the network. There are higher chances that you’ll find everyone you know on Whatsapp than anywhere else. Especially Skype, Twitter, Steam, Facebook, since they have fully functional computer alternatives. One good tip is to use Instagram, since it send both to Twitter and Facebook, and is better than Snapchat and Vine combined, so you can post to Facebook and Twitter while saving 110MB (more than 10% of most 2013 phones’ RAM)

5- Auto sync and Notifications Off

I usually need Facebook for the chat, that's why refresh interval is one hour, however the rest of the highlighted is very important

  It saves your battery, and also your internet. It also saves me a lot of valuable time between entering the Wifi range, and actually being able to use the phone, as auto-sync encourages wifi-based applications to open themselves by themselves. I hate that.

  One more thing is to turn off the notifications of individual applications, such as Twitter, Messenger, and Facebook. It will save you from the 7:00-7:01PM minute of doom when the phone suddenly decides to check the Play Store for updates. When these apps are running too, the phone is considerably sluggish.

6- Brightness and heat

Birghtness affects heat, and heat affects performance. This is a long known fact. Don’t use the phone for extended periods on heavy applications without sitting in a cold room because that will make it slow. By extended periods I mean two hours without locking the phone. This is important, as I explained above the significance of locking your phone. Crucial for phones with 512 MB RAM

7- Uninstall and reboot

don't uninstall system services, but if you did, they'll come back once you restart. However, stopping them is fine

Whenever you uninstall 2-3 applications, uninstall them together at once, then restart your phone. This really helps to reduce the lag, and the reason is still unknown to me as I am still experimenting on this method, although the original lag due to uninstalling/installing apps only seems to be a temporary problem (4 hours of struggling after uninstalling if you do not follow this method). Very effective for phones with 512 MB RAM


There are more tips, but maybe I’ll list them later, because I am not sure if they are effective. One method is to open the application and leave it to load then close it then lock then open again. Like I said, since I am still experimenting, I can’t really share results. In the meantime, the results I’d like to share is that this article got a lot of attention, and I love to see that. Maybe I’ll include more articles of that caliber. Click here for top 5 android apps related to Zelda, and here to go to the Downloads page. Play More Zelda!

Galaxy Gear Comparison

Galaxy Gear Comparison  

  Now with more variations of the Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, it seems that Samsung is trying to cover its mistake by making many options for us to choose from. Although in actuality, aren’t they all the same?

  First, and foremost, what is Samsung’s mistake that they are trying to cover? I don’t know either. It’s a hypothetical question. Just kidding. While I may believe the problem is not hardware related, but rather marketing related, I know what measure they’re taking to avoid whatever mistake it was: and that is to add superior hardware and more features which you do not know if you’d use. In fact, it’s the same approach with the new smartphone S5, even though that doesn’t make it a bad thing for the smartphone. For a watch, however, what are the chances that there’d be a huge difference between an 800MHz and a 1GHz Dual-core when you never use it?

  I have a feeling this is just to get a higher price, but let’s talk technically. Here's a comparison of the specs, even though not all the specifications are confirmed.

  I believe that the Gear 2 and the Gear Neo are almost, if not exactly, the same, with the exception of the camera. Not sure what they want here, even though it’s good not to include a camera. Some people are allergic to cameras, no joke. Many places in some Gulf countries are not allowed to have cameras, and it’s good to consider everyone.

  All the generation 2 has a new OS, which is a hybrid between Samsung’s OS that it plans to introduce to the smartphone market, and compatibility for android devices. Again, it’s only for the new Samsung Galaxy devices, with no shame to the square screen, with the exception of the Fit, acting like a banner or a neon sign on the top of a shop with those fearless dimensions of its.

   There is now water resistance, and a heart rate monitor. The Fit also claims to have better battery. That’s very impressive. What isn’t, however, is the better processor, because you won’t need it. I am talking because I bought the Sony Smartwatch 2 so I am not looking for a replacement. The only thing that the Gear 1 has over the SW2 at that time was the ability to emulate full android apps. But the SW2 never lagged with me despite having inferior processing power. Also, speakers are embarrassing, which is a bonus point to the Gear Fit, since it won’t answer your call.

  There isn’t much for me to say after this. I’d like you to examine the table once more. Which part is more significant to you. Which watch would you choose? Tell us in the comments, and Play More Zelda!

P.S. This was written in Word 2013, and it’s quite annoying. Powerpoint is ruined, and Word is frustrating. Don’t even ask for a review.

Just look at all the blue mistakes, because I wrote “I’d” instead of “I would”, or that ending the sentence with from is a little informal. As a gamer, I always want to score perfect. Naturally, I usually like to go for a perfect-looking document, but now I’m nowhere near close to satisfying Word. It’s always suggesting new things to write even when the old ones are 

Smartwatch 2 Review

Smartwatch 2 Review

    

  As mentioned earlier, smart watches are cool. I’ve bought the Sony Smartwatch 2 for four days now, and I have received mixed reactions from anyone who first saw it. Nevertheless, the end of every conversation was, “I want to buy it. Is it worth it?” The reason they failed to judge it themselves was that ALL reactions followed this flow chart:

     Therefore, I hope to answer everyone’s questions. What can the SW2 do and cannot do, what the others can do that the SW2 cannot, etc., shall all be covered. First, my personal experience, and an important note:

I gave up on LG forever

This is a sadistic bastard, but he isn't actually bad at performance.

  Ever since a vital update in the SW2 app extension in the app store, no LG user can connect to the watch, and I searched high and low for the older apk version but with no luck. If you are a just person, and have a readily available server nearby, host an HONEST website WITH NO SURVEYS to archive all the apks on the Play Store. Back on track, this is the last straw with my LG. Ever since the software update, I have to restart my phone weekly, else the RAM will clog up to 84% used up. The memory reading hasn’t improved to the point of the first few months I bought it, and the Home is now ruined. I use Mobo live for its RAM booster just to avoid opening the settings. The worst part of this whole story is that the reason I updated was because 4.0.3 had a dreadfully revolting bug, which I’d not even mention its name. On a side note, after countless days of searching the internet, 4.3 is ominous, which gives me the conclusion that the number 3 is cursed. More proof: Divide by 3, or any multiple of three, and most of the time you’ll get irrational numbers (unless you are in primary school, still unaware of the malicious schemes of sadistic mathematicians).

Oh the horror! This is so stupid though, because they inverted all what they did except adding 6 and dividing it by 2.

    Sorry, and I love math. I am aware that this has no relation to the title, so I’ll stop here (was about to explain error margins in languages). After connecting my Smartwatch 2 to the Samsung – finally - the baby behemoth was running. Running apps from the phone, that is. Which means, most apps you will find in the play store will require you to connect to your smartphone to be able to use them, but if you keep looking, there are good apps out there that don’t require connection. There is also a method to emulate a full smartphone on the Gear, which, in theory, should work with most of the others too, but I’ll keep you updated if I actually try it. It’s important to note that the only method of notification from the watch is vibration and light, so tighten the strap if you want to differentiate between an insignificant Facebook comment “lol” and the fact that your phone is out of range, because there is a significant difference in vibration, which is very practical. I’ve literally had a period of paranoia over objects in my bag getting stolen. You can never be too careful. Imagine the possibilities a smartwatch in general can save.

image from here

      But the smartwatch 2, whats so special about it specifically? NFC? LCD display? 5:4? I like the fact that it is for all android devices 4.0+ , the fact that it is waterproof, wouldn’t spy on my words, wouldn’t suddenly go loudspeaker, has great battery life, and is small. I do want to be notified of important notifications, but at the same time, mobile phones are sometimes too precious to be taken out. I also don’t want to have an expensive delicacy that can be easily identifiable and theft, which is why I decided not to get the Galaxy Gear. However, my mother will get it with the Note 3, so I might review it too. Sadly, I didn’t try connecting successfully via NFC, but I will soon.

image from here

  The battery lives for really long! Being the power-consumption obsessed person I am, to get to hear this from me is something. The unit is a little too big to perfectly fit on the sides of my wrist (OMG my wrist isn’t a cylinder at all! I’ve been deceived!) but they’re easy to get used to, and I’m guessing that all smartwatches will be as comfortable as ordinary watches. I’ve found myself using the smartwatch a lot too, saving many situations where I needed to open the phone, such as checking someone’s phone number, checking the recent SMS of what to buy from the groceries, Setting a timer of when to stop playing Xbox and play on 3DS (you think I study? Ha!) In addition, viewing events from the calendar. The only reason I’d open my phone then would be to make a call. Even the music player is taken care of (but I find myself going back to the phone for that one, SW2 only for I/O toggle).

before the Gear?

      Therefore, the smartwatch has set aside some of the uses of the phone at the street, but still, it’s a smartphone accessory. Which goes back to the vital question: Is it worth buying? Tech enthusiasts would say that its ahead of its time, but those people should try saying that to the Gear. Unless they are looking for things that can measure blood pressure and best way to give you a trauma – defining the Smart Lens – then they are right. However, it is impossible to ignore how many people own this already. It was sold out thrice in a row at my local shop, and that is why I got it late. I wasn’t careful this time. All the tech geeks I met, on the other side, already owned a smart watch, someone having all Pebble, SW1 and SW2. If you own one already, then welcome to the geek boat. 

image from here, and this is what non-geeks are asking for: weapons.

If you want reasons to repel away from buying it, well I don’t know, look at the price of the Gear. It looks like it’s already trying to compete with Apple’s future watch, before it’s even released. Seriously, we shouldn’t be giving them that kind of expectation. Also, it’s a “new” market, but lets all agree on not having tech gadgets becoming very selective on the devices they pair with. The Gear had that as a big minus, unless you so happen to own two or three interchangeable Note 3 devices in your house. We should decide what they’ll tailor for us, not the other way around. 

good one, Samsung.

   All in all, I don't regret this one bit! It feels like the future already, the dreaded future with robots beheading us and all that. If you are a real geek, you must own one of these things. However, the smart lens do feel scary, even if I support the Google Glass. Lets leave dark theories for another article. Caio.

I promise you a really good series of articles about my predictions of the near and distant future pretty soon.

    Do you plan to buy a wearable accessory? Tell us below in the comments. Read more on smartphones here. Play More Zelda!