Apple iPhone 6 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Note 4

In our detailed comparison of
the two giant screen phones
, we pitted iPhone 6 Plus and
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 against
each other. Here are the results…

Smartphone battles won't get bigger than this. At least for now! Samsung's successful premium phablet Galaxy Note's latest iteration Galaxy Note 4 this time faces an all-new, mighty competitor in Apple's iPhone 6 Plus.

For three years, Samsung's Galaxy Note series virtually ruled the top-end phablet segment. But with Apple (rather belatedly) entering the segment, Samsung finally may have to worry about retaining its monopoly. In our detailed comparison of the two giant screen phones, we pitted them against each other. Here are the results...

Design:

Apple and Samsung have taken contrasting approach to design with their respective phablets. While iPhone 6 Plus is all about curves, Galaxy Note 4 is characterized by sharper lines and edges. Neither phablet will, however, win the award for best-designed device of the year.

Like the last two years' iPhones, iPhone 6 Plus is also made of aluminium and glass which exudes a premium feel. However, there are more misses than hits with its design.

iPhone 6 Plus's curved body makes it convenient to operate with one hand, but also makes it susceptible to frequent drops. During the time we spent with the Apple phablet, we found that despite the matte-finish back, it is rather slippery and we had to be extra careful during one-hand usage. The curved glass around the screen makes it quite easy to swipe the thumb from the left of the screen to go one step back in apps.

Apple iPad Air 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 vs Google Nexus 9 vs Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

Apple has made the iPad Air 2 tablet official, offering features like fingerprint sensor, ultra-thin body and faster processor. But the going won't be too easy for the new Apple tablet, as rivals like Samsung, Google and Sony have their own feature-rich tablets in the market.

Here is a quick comparison of the new Apple iPad Air 2 with it biggest competitors, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, Google Nexus 9 and Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet...

1. Design and Build :

 

Design and Build
Apple iPad Air 2 is a slim, attractive tablet with high-quality aluminium build. It is thinner and lighter than its predecessor but overall look is the same. The iPad comes in the standard colour options of grey and white along with a new gold option to bring it in line with iPhones. It weighs about 437g and with 6.1 mm thickness, it is definitely one of the thinnest tablets in the market.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S (10.5 inch) is not too far behind. With 465g weight and 6.6mm thickness it is close to what Apple offers. It also offers colour options in bronze and white.

Google Nexus 9 gets a little thicker with 7.9mm but weighs less that Apple iPad Air 2 at 425gm. The Nexus 9 comes in three different colours — indigo black, lunar white and sand.

The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is 6.4mm thick and weighs 439g. It is half a centimetre thinner than its predecessor. It is also available in standard white and black colours.

2. Display :

 

Apple iPad Air 2 sports a 9.7-inch display with 2048x1536p resolution. In order to give better contrast and colour, Apple has fused the three display layers (touch sensor, LCD panel and cover glass) into one. iPad Air 2 also has the least reflective display of any tablet as it features an antireflective coating.

With 10.5-inch screen and 2560x1600px display resolution, Samsung Galaxy Tab has a display just as good as that of its Apple rival. It features Samsung's Super AMOLED technology that makes colours rich and deep.

With an 8.9-inch IPS LCD QXGA (2048x1536p) IPS display with 4:3 aspect ratio, Nexus 9 is the latest Google tablet. The shift from 16:9 to 4:3 screen makes Nexus 9 look a lot more like the iPad.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet has a 10.1-inch TFT screen and sports 3264x2448p resolution, at with those of the other three rivals..

3. Hardware :

 

iPad Air 2 has the new A8X 64-bit chip and M8 motion coprocessor with 16GB, 64GB and 128GB storage options. Apple does not disclose the RAM used in its products.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has an octa-core processor (quad-core 1.9GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7) with 3GB RAM. It has 16GB storage and allows storage expansion up to 128GB via microSD cards.

The Nexus 9 features a quad-core Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, clocked at 2.3GHz. It packs 2GB of RAM and comes with non-expandable storage options of 16GB and 32GB.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet has a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with 3GB RAM. It comes in 16 and 32GB options, and supports storage expansion up to 64GB via microSD card.

4. Camera :

 

Apple iPad Air 2 features an 8MP iSight camera and 1.2MP front camera with improved low-light capability. Its rear camera can shoot 1080p as well as slo-mo videos and capture 43MP panorama photos. It is also the only iPad to have burst mode.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S has an 8MP camera on the back with LED flash as well as a 2.1MP front camera. It also has features like HDR support, burst mode and video recording in 1080p.

Google Nexus 9 also has an 8MP rear camera with LED flash as well as a 1.6MP front camera and has features such as face detection, touch focus and geo-tagging.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet packs an 8.1MP primary camera and 2.2MP secondary camera, and has features like touch focus, smile detection, HDR and panorama.

5. Software :

 

The new iPad Air 2 runs iOS 8 operating system and supports Apple Pay, the company's new mobile payments platform.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S currently runs on Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) with TouchWiz UI on the top. It also has Knox security software for business users. This tablet supports PayPal-based mobile payments.

Google Nexus 9 is the only device to be preloaded with the latest Android 5.0 (Lollipop) which is the “most ambitious release of Android.” The update offers a new design and notifications system, better security features and longer battery life to the tablet.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet comes preloaded with Android 4.4.2. (KitKat), layered with a custom UI. It will get Android Lollipop update soon.

6. Price :

 

Apple iPad Air 2 launches in India at a starting price of Rs 35,900 (16GB), Rs 42,900 (64GB) and Rs 49,900 (128GB) for the Wi-Fi models. iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be available for Rs 45,900 (16GB), Rs 52,900 (64GB) and Rs 59,900 (128GB).

With only one variant, Samsung Galaxy Tab S is currently priced at Rs 42,499, online. While Google hasn’t announced the official price of its latest tablet Google Nexus 9, while Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is available at Rs 49,990

Source +Times of India Technology 

Apple Watch

NEW YORK: Apple is a habitual party crasher, but can the company's history of arriving late and making a big splash in various gadget categories continue with the Apple Watch?

The technology company was a late entrant into many of its most prominent product categories: The iPod wasn't the first digital music player and the iPad wasn't the first tablet. But in most cases, the innovation the company infused into its devices ignited previously dormant markets — and Apple products became "must haves."

Smartwatches have been around for a few years, but makers such as Samsung and Sony have failed to make them a runaway hit.

Apple's stated entry into the smartwatch arena this week with a gadget that won't go on sale until early 2015 raises questions: Can the company work its magic as it has in the past and convince people that they really need a smartwatch -or will this time be different? 

Experts say Apple is likely to stimulate interest in smartwatches, but they contend that the company must overcome a few hitches before its device can succeed. 

Wearable devices is a small but growing area that technology companies are hoping to capitalize on as the smartphone and tablet usage grows. Citi Investment Research estimates the market for smartwatches will be $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion this year and could grow to $10 billion by 2018. 

But no company has cracked the formula for a mass-market success. The entire "wearables" category includes sport fitness bands, watches and other apparel -everything from Fitbit's $99 Flex fitness tracker and Nike's $99 Fuelband fitness monitors to Samsung's $199 Galaxy Gear smart watch. Experts say the Apple Watch's real test will come when developers begin to develop apps for the gadget, which is Apple's first brand-new product introduction in four years. 

"What separates Apple from the others is partially the design itself -it's a lot more elegant than other offerings- as well as the Apple ecosystem and (software) developer opportunity," said Susquehanna Research analyst Chris Caso. 

"They made it something you wanted to be seen carrying," he said. "You have (an iPod) just to make people see that you have it. Even people who didn't buy it knew what it was." 

McQuivey predicts a successful launch but not quite as big a launch as Apple's iPad. He believes the company will ship 10 million units by the end of 2016. 

A slow build won't necessarily doom the product. iPhone sales started slow in the device's first year on the market. Apple sold just 5.4 million iPhones between mid-2007 and the summer of 2008. More than 550 million have been sold as of June. With the iPad, Apple sold 19.5 million tablets in the first year on the market. More than 225 million iPads have been sold. 

The Apple Watch faces a few other problems: lt's unclear how long the battery lasts and the watch won't ship until early 2015, disappointing those who were hoping to get or give one as a holiday gift. It also has to be tethered to an iPhone via Bluetooth for some functions, including GPS. 

"The lack of GPS or Wi-Fi natively on the device will require an iPhone to be nearby for most tasks, which both limits some near-term use cases," said Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt. "But it provides ample fodder for upgrade opportunities in the future." 

The long lead time before the product ships could mean the device will be more functional once it's released, since app developers have more time to create apps specifically for the watch. And Apple is loading the device with fitness apps and an Apple Pay digital wallet service that might appeal to some consumers who are on the fence. 

"The intention (of showing the watch months before it ships) is to show the developer community they have an elegant industrial design, but to make it really useable and exciting you have to have apps for it," said Susquehanna Research analyst Caso. "Apple is playing the long game here for sure."

@sourfrom TOI

Apple's 6 worst acquisitions

Over the years, some of Apple's biggest successes have been the end result of the company acquiring another with promise and integrating their technologies with its own in a way that provides real value to users.

Mac OS X and iOS are the result of the purchase of NeXT in 1997. iTunes, which truly set the iPod apart from its competitors, came from the purchase of SoundJam MP in 2000.

Of course, not all of Apple's purchases have worked out so well. Some of the technologies Apple has bought never made it to market and others just didn't seem to fit in with Apple's other products. Here are Apple's six worst acquisitions...

1. Power Computing Corporation:

 Under Steve Jobs, Apple bought a company that was undercutting Mac sales with its clones.

Apple gave Power Computing Corporation a license to make Mac clones in 1995 in the hopes that Apple could transition to a business model closer to Microsoft's, which was poised to have a major hit with Windows 95.

When Steve Jobs came back to the company in 1997, he realized that it was simply too late to beat Microsoft at what had become its game and that Mac clones were doing more harm than good by undercutting its own high-margin Macs.

That year, it bought Power Computing for $100 million and shuttered the Mac clone business, an embarrassing but necessary move.

2. Orion Network Systems:

 Apple waited until IBM had 80% of business user market share before buying a company that let its computers network with IBM machines.

Apple bought Orion Network Systems in 1988 in an effort to make buying an Apple computer at a business that already used lots of IBM PCs less of a hassle.

By that time, IBM had already captured 80% of the market, leaving Apple with roughly 6%.

Even with software that made networking easier, there were too many other reasons not to get an Apple: price, other software incompatibilities, and and the difficulty of training workers who had never used a computer in their life to learn a second operating system.

3.  Raycer Graphics:

Apple bought a graphics chip maker before it had even brought the product to market.

When Apple acquired Raycer Graphics in 1999, it also hired Bob Mansfield, their vice president of engineering.

While Raycer's technology may not have been very important for Apple — the company used industry standard graphics chips from ATI and Nvidia in later computers — the acquisition is still seen as a success by many because of Mansfield's later work.

Bob Mansfield went on to lead Mac Hardware Engineering through the release of some of the best-selling computers in the company's history and later became senior vice president of technologies, a role he has since stepped down from to work on special projects.

4. PowerSchool

Apple bought a student information system for K-12 students in 2001. The purchase of PowerSchool for $62 million in shares seems like a very strange decision for Apple to make back in 2001.

Sure, the company has always tried to have a presence in schools via programmes like student and teacher discounts, but PowerSchools software for keeping track of grades and assignments was essentially enterprise software for a niche market — not exactly Apple's style.

That disconnect from Apple's other products and services is a likely reason for why they sold the software to Pearson Education in 2006 for an undisclosed sum.

5. Placebase:

Apple bought a mapping company three years before it released Apple Maps.

When Apple bought Placebase in 2009, some speculated that it would use the company's technology to replace Google's backend from the iPhone's Maps app.

Three years later, Apple unveiled iOS 6 and Apple Maps to less than stellar reviews (to say the least). A lot of the maps were just plain wrong — and the release made Google Maps look awesome.

While many of Apple Maps problems stemmed from data Apple brought in from other sources, many thought that three years of development should have resulted in a better final release.

6. NetSelector

In 2000, Apple bought a company that blocked kids from going on sites other than those approved by a panel of teachers and librarians.

NetSelector differed from other filters by not attempting to blacklist all of the inappropriate sites on the web. Instead, it had a panel of teachers and librarians select sites that were acceptable for children and made only those available.

Of course, the number of sites that could be educational for children is essentially endless. As a result, most found the software more limiting than useful and most schools instead instituted school-wide traditional filters.

Nevertheless, Apple bought NetSelector after two years of including its software on iMacs and iBooks.

@source from TOI

iPhone 6 to Come With an Improved Touch ID Sensor

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5s last year, one of the most notable features that set the handset apart from its predecessor, the iPhone 5, as well as its lower-priced sibling, the iPhone 5c (Review), was the Touch ID sensor. Apple is also expected to bring the same feature to its next iPhone devices as well.

Now, new reports indicate that Apple is working to improve its own Touch ID sensor on the alleged iPhone 6, which is believed to be unveiled to come in two variants 4.7- and 5.5-inch. Nowhereelese has also posted an image that purportedly shows the Touch ID panel of the alleged iPhone 6 compared side-by-side to the iPhone 5s.

MacRumors citing Nowhereelese notes that the new Touch ID component seems to be similar in design to the one found on the iPhone 5s. The most prominent difference is reportedly the relocation of the screw holes that now line-up with the metal housing of the component.

The report also hints that the new Touch ID sensor that will be seen in the unannounced iPhone 6 will be more durable that the one currently fit in the iPhone 5s.

Earlier reports had suggested that the Touch ID sensor tech is all set to go mainstream in Apple devices and is likely to be seen next on the second-generation iPad Air and the new iPad mini with Retina display, apart from the alleged iPhone 6.

Earlier this year, some users reported that their iPhones seemed to forget their fingerprints after a while; however, Apple released an update with improvements to Touch ID fingerprint recognition on the iPhone 5s.

In addition, Uswitch has posted images that are claimed to be of the purported rear shell of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 model, showing the cut-outs on the rear shell as well as internals of the alleged shell that will include the various components of the device such as the antenna.

Earlier this month, a report indicated a September 25 (Thursday) availability date for the alleged 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 models, which is not in line with Apple's traditional Friday launch, while also claiming that the name of the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 variant will be iPhone Air.





@source from NDTV