Author - TechWire

2 min read

On the 1^st of November Google unveiled its latest offering in the Nexus line up, the Nexus 5.
The specs and the shape were known well in advance, due to various leaks leading up to the launch. We have lined up 5 good reasons on why you should make this your next smart phone.

Processing power – With the powerful Snapdragon 800 quad core processor and the Adreno 330 GPU, the Nexus 5 has been bench-marked as the best current Android gaming phone.

HD Display – The Nexus 5 boasts a HD display of 4.95 inches, with resolution of 1080×1920 pixels. This gives a pixel density of 445ppi which is just above the pixel density of the Samsung Galaxy S4 (441ppi) and way better than the iPhone 5S (326 ppi). The high pixel density will result in crisp graphics and text.

Value for Money – This is surely the top reason to buy a Nexus 5. Being loaded with some awesome specs(given below) the 16GB model is modestly priced at $349 and the 32GB model at $399. If your getting the Nexus 5 through Kapruka it would cost you around Rs 57,000 in total. When comparing with the prices of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One which are both in the Rs 80,000 range, the Nexus 5 is obviously a steal.

KitKat OS – The Nexus 5 runs on the latest Android version 4.4 (KitKat). With features such as improved Google Now integration, printing capability, faster multitasking and immersive display, the Nexus 5 would provide a richer experience than its other Android counterparts.

Feature packed camera – The 8MP camera might not be the best phone camera out there, but with HDR+, Photo sphere and its advance editor, it just might exceed your expectation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ0XTJqFLIE

The full specifications are given below

Network: GSM, WCDMA, LTE

Display: 4.95-inch Full HD IPS (1920×1080, 445ppi), Gorilla Glass 3

OS: Android 4.4 (Kit Kat)

Camera: 8MP rear facing with Optical Image Stabilization (1.3MP front)

Battery: 2,300mAh (17 hours talk time, 7 hours internet on LTE)

CPU: 2.3Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (quad-core)

GPU: Adren 330, 450MHz

Weight: 4.59oz (130g)

Dimensions: 69.17 x 137.84 x 8.59mm

WiFi: Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

GBG Colombo: Mobile for Business – Live Blog!

October 24, 2013

Events

1 Comment

1 min read

Welcome to the Live blog of Mobile for Business event organized by the GBG Colombo.

UN Women Ad campaign uses Google Search to send a powerful message

October 21, 2013

Web

1 min read

UN Women recently launched an Ad campaign using Google Search to show the extent of gender inequality which exists today. The posters shows a predictive search to the prefixes Women Shouldn’t, Women cannot, Women need to and Women Should. The predicted searches show just how bad the situation is. For example the top predictions for Women Shouldn’t are “Women shouldn’t have rights”, “Women shouldn’t vote”, “Women shouldn’t work”. Take a look at the posters below.

So Techwire checked the same predictive text on local google.lk while also comparing the results between women and men. Women had only one positive search prediction while Men got only one negative prediction. Thus showing the inequality issue existence at a local level as well.

Women shouldn’t work

Men shouldn’t wear flip flops

Out of the lot, there were few amusing ones as well. Seriously who searches for “Men should wear Sarees”. Check out the entire google.lk predictive searches below. Kudos to UN Women for the creative Ad campaign. (Image Credits – unwomen.org)

Dialog branded K35 and K45 phones with ICS now available

October 15, 2013

13 Comments

1 min read

Following up to their i35 and i45 low cost smartphones, Dialog has recently released their latest offerings the K35 and the K45. The Dialog K35 which is priced at Rs. 9990 sports a 3.5 inch display, a 1GHz processor and runs ICS. With its specs the K35 can be placed as one of the best valued low cost smartphones.

Dialog K35

The K45 with its 4.5 inch display is priced much higher at 24,990. The design looks similar to the Galaxy S2, and boasts a 1.2 GHz Dual core processor and 8MP camera. At this price though, users may be tempted to go for a Samsung or Sony branded phone with a bit lesser specs.

Dialog K45

Both phones seem like a good deal considering the price and specs. However we need to get a first hand experience with the phones to give a final verdict. What are your views on the phones?

Smartphone Battery Life Benchmark – Infographic

October 15, 2013

Infographic

1 min read

Year after year, smartphones continues to impress us with brand new features and their big displays. However one concern users have always had with smartphones is their battery life. You would be lucky getting enough juice to run an entire day. If you are concerned mainly on battery life, the below infographic would be useful for you.

Samsung Galaxy S4 has the highest talk time with 1051 minutes, while the Apple iPhone is on the low end with only 499 minutes. Even considering data the S4 performs the best with 405 minutes of internet usage. The tables are turned however on charging time with the iPhone taking the least time to charge with 141 minutes while the HTC One takes the longest to charge.

However there are phones such as the Motorolla Droid Maxx which is not feature below, which has far superior battery life. Also by sticking to good phone usage habits you would able to get the most battery life of your phone. (Infographic credits : www.which.co.uk)

Smartphone Battery Life

Hasun – A Sinhala SMS Messaging App by Bhasha

October 13, 2013

Apps

2 Comments

2 min read

From the creator of the popular SETT browser (Bhasha) comes a new app Hasun, which enable users to communicate through SMS in Sinhala. This android app lets users type the SMS message in Sinhala through the Helakuru phonetic keyboard. The receiver should also have the app to view the message in Sinhala as the message is delivered in Unicode. (Unless on phones such as Samsung Galaxy S4 where Sinhala unicode is embedded.)

Hasun Screenshots

Once installed and ready to compose, you are prompted to download Helakuru if it is not already installed. The interface is nice and simple taking a very minimalistic approach. There is a button in the top right corner to create a new message, and then the content can be written through the phonetic keyboard. Once sent a new thread of the conversation would appear and further messages to/from the receiver would be seen in the thread. There are no inbox/sent/draft folders, only the threaded view to make it simple for the user and consistent with the android messaging experience.

From the Settings you can customize the way you receive SMS globally which is one of its key features. You can configure Hasun to

-receive only messages sent in Sinhala unicode

-receive all messages sent to you (making it your main SMS app)

-for both Hasun and the default messaging app to receive all SMS.

We recommend you keep the settings to one of the first two, as getting the same message in two apps is bit cumbersome if your receiving in large volumes.

For Sinhala SMS messaging there is another app Sinhala SMS from MicroImage which was launched two years back. This app has the issue of dual delivery which degrades the user experience. Bhasha has negated that issue by providing the above options for delivery.

Design wise and functionality wise, Bhasha has delivered with Hasun. Our only concern is that in most cases the receiver requires the android app to view the SMS in Sinhala. However for friends and family this requirement can be easily communicated.

So go ahead and try Hasun here.

Google Translate to add Sinhala translations soon

October 10, 2013

Web

46 Comments

2 min read

Google Translate, another one of Google’s nifty creations, lets users translate text or web between languages. It currently supports translation of over 50 languages. And according to Rohan Jayaweera the Country Consultant for Google Sri Lanka, support for Sinhala on Google Translate will be added very soon.

Getting a new language on board is a long and hard process which comprises of creating required algorithms as well as gathering a large enough databases to tune it. It would have been particularly difficult to collect the data set for Sinhala, as the availability of the exact literature in both Sinhala and English being limited. However seems that the Google team have almost cracked it and would be releasing Sinhala support in the near future.

The addition of Sinhala would be a great boost to the Sinhala community for using the vast amount of information on the web with the ability to read it in their own native language. Their would be some accuracy issues involved as it is hard to obtain an optimum translation algorithm at the beginning.(As seen with few other languages on Google translate.) However those can be improved with further data input and tuning.

We will keep you updated on the addition of Sinhala Google Translation, which will definitely be a major step in the Sri Lankan web space!

15 Years of Google

September 30, 2013

Infographic, Web

1 Comment

1 min read

Happy B’day Google!!! The tech giant, who has changed our way of living, and who will continue to change it, turned 15 last week. From search to Youtube to Gmail, Google has touched every part of our tech ecosytem. We got two infographics lined up on Google, one which shows the dominance of Google in 7 key markets. The second one displays some key facts and stats on Google and also its various apps such as Google analytics and Youtube. Enjoy the read below. (Infographic credits to Mashable and wishpond)

Google Domination

Google Stats and Facts

Samsung Galaxy Gear Smart Watch: Will it Sell?

September 24, 2013

1 Comment

3 min read

Smart watches have been lingering around for some time without having a big take up. However seems like this scenario is about to change with some big industry players making their move on this market. Samsung introduced their offering the Samsung Galaxy Gear early this month and is set to be released in the coming week.

So lets see what the Galaxy Gear has to offer.

Processor and Display

With 800MHz processor and 512MB RAM, the Galaxy gear has processing power equal to a low end smart phone. The Screen is a 1.6 inch super AMOLED display with 320×320 resolutions.

Camera

The 1.9 megapixel camera is placed on the strap of the watch, with auto or macro focus and ability to shoot 10 seconds of video (upto 720p quality)

Interface

The interface actually looks nice with the bright colours and large icons. Navigation from the home screen to apps is done through horizontal swiping. Once you reach the end you come back to the home screen.

Battery life and Charging

As per Samsung, the battery would last you for a day. As we are not used to charging watches, frequently charging the Galaxy Gear would be an additional task and quite cumbersome. Also unfortunately you need a special dock to charge it, and the standard micro USB charger would do you no good.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

What can you do with it?

Smart watches will mainly act as an aid to the smart phone, and would have little functionality on its own. The Samsung Galaxy Gear follows the same trend. Here are some of the tasks you can do with it. More would be possible according to the availability of compatible apps

– Answer and make Calls

– Check notifications on your phone

– Record Voice Memos

– Take Images and videos

– Auto lock when your phone reaches a certain distance away from the phone

– Find your device

– Control your music

– Fitness tracking

Compatibility

Currently only with Galaxy Note 3

Will it sell?

We believe that for people to widely use a smart watch a) It should be reasonably priced b) It should have battery life for atleast a couple of days c) It should provide functionality that makes the experience of your smart phone better.

At a price point of $300 dollars this smart watch would cost you more than a Nexus 4 phone, and also with its poor battery life the Samsung Galaxy Gear definitely falls short on the first 2 of the above factors and since it only works(at the moment) with the Galaxy Note 3, it unlikely to be a hit. And hopefully the next version will be much more improved.

The iPhone evolution

September 10, 2013