Apple admitted that they intentionally slowed down older iPhones with weakening batteries to prevent the handset from shutting off abruptly. This caused an outrage among the consumers. Hence as an apologetic move, Apple offered to replace batteries of iPhone 6 and other latest models at $29. For customers who can now extend their iPhone’s battery life at a low price and get better performance, it’s a win.
Barclays analysts predict that Apple’s offer to replace their flagging batteries at $29 could be problematic for sales in 2018. There are at least 675 million iPhones in use and that 519 million are the models that require the battery replacement. This could have an immense impact on the company’s finances.
However, Barclays analyst says that thought its a good PR move. Unless the iPhone users resolve upon taking this offer instead of upgrading to a new device. Apple’s recent iPhone battery controversy and the apology could be a good PR move. However, it will hit iPhone sales, affecting around 4 percent reduction in revenue.
As Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz predicts, there are 519 million iPhones eligible for the $29 battery replacement. This would create about $1.56 billion in revenue. However, the company could get a potential loss of $10 billion from the estimated 16M iPhone sales.
Why battery replacement could affect iPhones sales.
“Even a small percentage opting for battery replacement over upgrade could have an immense impact on iPhone sales,” the Barclays analysts warn. According to him, the $29 offer incident has caused significantly higher public awareness of Apple’s behavior. As $29 is an affordable price it will provide a significant boost in speed from 600MHz to 1400MHz for an iPhone 6. Being a great opportunity, some customers may prefer battery replacing over despite the diagnostic test.
On December 20th, Apple revealed that iPhone software slows down some the devices with aging battery. Hearing this, the consumers have been very disappointed. This led the firm to face several lawsuits from customers in states, as well as customers in Israel and France. So to smooth over this issue, Apple announced that it would offer $29 iPhone battery replacements in 2018.
Apple now has to hope that iPhone users don’t decide to take a $29 battery over a $999 iPhone X.
IT Meet 2018 was recently held as a two-day event on January 5 and 6. It was one of the biggest events that cumulates much of the happenings in Nepal in the field of information technology. The event showed its colors at the serene environment of IT Park in Kavre. It was organized by Kathmandu University Computer Club (KUCC). It was the 7th iteration of this meetup which is organized yearly. The event was targeted mainly at students who could tickle their fancy with the different domains of IT one could find on the common ground. It also gave an overview what the field of IT would be this year and upon observing the event I would put my two cents on AI.
Highlights of IT Meet 2018
Career Fair
Career Fair consisted of booths from some of the top and emerging IT companies in Nepal. The motive of career fair was to let students interact with the companies directly. Companies discussed technology, provided guidance, and opportunities at their institution. The best thing about career fair was students could come and drop their CV at any of the available booths. Company from there would consider applicants and further procedures would begin. It was not ideal for students who are currently pursuing their study in IT as most of the companies internship would begin from 9 AM to 5 PM. However for the pass outs, career fair was a great opportunity to drop their CV for multiple companies at once.
Meetups
Noticeably there were 2 meetups in IT Meet 2018, Python Meetup and Virtual Reality Meetup. Python Meetup was all about how python enables the use of AI. Different libraries of python were showcased along with approaches one could use to get started with AI. It was a great event for anyone who wants to get started with AI.
Virtual Reality Meetup was an interesting one. Game Developers and designers from different companies showcased how to get started with creating VR contents. They showcased different technology and approaches one could use to do so. The meetup ended with the demonstration of VR and Mixed Reality games with the use of HTC Vive and the Acer Mixed Reality Headset.
Competitions
The event was filled with different competitions and I was pretty much sure a lot of people found their cup of tea.
Coding competition:
Here participants had to solve mathematical and algorithmic problems with their programming language of choice. It was a true test of their programming skills.
Hackathon: 40 hours long hackathon took place where participants had to develop a product based on a certain theme or idea.
NepHack:
NepHack was an interesting competition where one team would have to hack the another by exploiting the vulnerabilities.
Design Competition:
Design thinking is an integral part of product development and here participants had to come up with an easy to use and interactive UI/UX.
Photography Competition:
Photographs were exhibited on the walls along the stairs taken by various participants. Photographs revolved around landscapes, culture, and life. The picture that got the most votes would win the contest.
IT Quiz:
IT Quiz was targeted for the +2 students where different questions related to IT. The motive of this quiz was to encourage students in the field of IT.
Gaming Competitions:
This included both mobile games and console games. Participants competed on games like Fifa 1, Dota 2, CS GO, Mini Militia.
Project Demonstration
There were a lot of project demonstration at the event. Mostly web-based technologies could be found on various booths which included Roomfinder, Birth Record Keeper, Scoreboard, and so on. Mobile-based technology included an AI-powered app that could detect a Blast disease from the photo of rice plants leaf. Another one was a blood donation app that kept active records of blood donors who can be connected with the ones in need.
Hardware Projects included a traffic control system with the use of AI, gesture-controlled wheelchair and a remote controlled vehicle with a tripod for filming some of the events.
We generally understand healthy as the state of being well. And having a good health is inarguably the greatest wealth any living being could possess. However, many factors come along the way to diminish the health condition of people. But with a mere conscience, a little bit of the precautions and with few healthy habits, any individual can preserve their state of well-being for a long time. And here are some free health and fitness apps that can help an individual to be healthy for an extended period of time.
BMI calculator
BMI calculator specializes in calculating the BMI and BMR. The acronym BMI stands for Body Mass Index, the value of which is derived with the help of the weight and height of an individual. And this index is used to identify the condition of the well-being of an individual in terms of weight. The BMI Calculator app takes note of the age, sex, height and weight of a person, calculates the BMI and deduces the weight condition of the person viz. normal, underweight, overweight, and obese.
On the other hand, BMR stands for Basal Metabolic rate, which means the number of calories a healthy person burns at rest. These calories are burned for the naturally basic tasks like breathing, digesting, keeping the heart beating and all the other physiological tasks keeping a human alive. Alike the calculation of the BMI, the app demands the age, sex, height, and weight of a person and presents the BMR. With these data, one can take the required actions to bring their body weight to the normal state and get a step closer to a healthy lifestyle.
There are many BMI calculator app in the App store and Play store. The main focus here is only to check the BMI and BMR value. So any trustworthy app can be used for the purpose. Calculate the BMI here in this link.
Google Fit
While walking, jogging or running, it is difficult to track the amount of calories burnt. And without the actual data, the journey to the fitness sometimes deviates from the way planned. Under such scenario, the use of Google Fit proves to be helpful.
Google Fit app primarily requires Gmail account to get logged into the app. The app then counts the number of footsteps during the exercise and deduces the amount of calories burnt. Users can also set the goals in terms of steps after planning the amount of calories to burn on any given day. The app also tracks the activities as the exercise like walking or jogging, running, cycling, etc. To see the distance traveled or the actual amount of calories burnt during the exercise, filling out the weight, height, and gender at the beginning is mandatory.
Accuracy may bother its users quite often. So to help the Google Fit to track actual calories burned in the process, after turning the GPS on, users need to press the ‘+’ button in the app, click the ‘start activity’ option and then mention the type of activity before proceeding to the exercise. And for the most accurate calibration during the activities, it is better to keep the smartphone in the pocket or in the backpack (if any).
The activities along with the amount of calories burnt in the process are saved by the device. These values can be accessed later and a general overview of the exercise pattern can be known.
Water Drink Reminder
The role of water in the human body is indispensable. The human body needs to be hydrated timely for the fluent operation of the metabolism. However, because of the busyness due to the chores, people often forget to refill the body with water. And such habits drive the body towards fatigue, muscle cramps, spasms, dizziness, headache, constipation, increased anxiety, etc. And the persistence in the dehydration invites horrific diseases like chronic fatigue and depression, migraine, arthritis, stomach ulcers, kidney stones, etc. To avoid such aggressions, Water Drink Reminder app was conceived.
The app asks for body weight, sleeping time and time to wake up. Accounting the body weight, amount of water required for a human body is determined. And with the sleeping and waking up time, working time is deduced. The app then reminds the user with an alarm precisely every hour during the working time. The users can set the amount of water drunk on every reminder and reduce the daily goal. If the quality of water meets the prescribed value, the app notifies the user about the reached goal. The app hence will not buzz the user for rest of the day.
Twilight
In this tech-savvy world, our exposure to the blue light is increasing more than ever. The use of digital devices like smartphones and computers, watching TVs and playing gaming consoles has increased at an unprecedented rate. These habits are increasing our exposure to the blue lights and pushing towards an unhealthy ecosystem.
Sun is the natural source of blue light. Exposure to the natural form of blue light regulates the natural sleep and wake cycles and this process is known as Circadian Rhythm. In addition to the regulation of Circadian Rhythm, the natural blue light increases the alertness, heightens reaction times, damps the mood swings and improves the state of well-being. However, the exposure to the artificial blue lights is unhealthy to the human body. Exposure to the artificial blue light contributes to eyestrain, retinal damage and ultimately leading to the macular degeneration. Researchers have proved that the blue light also disrupts the state of hormones in the body. Furthermore, the blue light can trigger cancers, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. To defend such horrific diseases, Twilight app was developed. This app filters the harmful blue light oozing from the smartphones and saves the eyes.
The app basically has three modes to adjust the blue light filter. The first way is by controlling the color temperature, which can be adjusted at a value between 1000K to 5000K with an interval of 500K in between. Keeping the temperature to lower values is good for eyes, they sooth the eyes and prevent eyestrains. However, lower color temperatures invite the reddish tint in the screen. On the other hand, higher color temperatures bring blue tint on the screen. Setting the color temperature to high values induce eyestrains and cause sleep disorders.
Other additional two modes of the app are intensity and screen dim. As the name implies, the intensity controls the amount of reddish or bluish tint on the screen and the screen dim mode allows the user to adjust the brightness. There are also numerous ways to automatically toggle the blue light filter on and off in the app. According to the user choice, the blue light filter can be activated always, during the user-preset time or between the sunset and sunrise time.
Some smartphone comes with pre-built Blue light filter app or possesses modes like Night display mode or Reading mode. If these features are inbuilt in the smartphone, Blue-rays through the smartphone displays is zero or minimal when activated and the Twilight app is not required.
Sleep Bot
Inadequate sleep is often proclaimed as a slow poison. It greatly pulverizes the physical and mental state of well-being. Sleep deprivation causes diminish in memory, emotional outburst, paranoia, chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, etc. So a good amount of sleep is highly essential to a human body. And Sleep Bot app is a qualified tool for sleep tracking and to drive its users to a healthier lifestyle.
The user needs to set the app to “Going to sleep” mode before going to bed. The app also asks to check smart alarm, track motion and record sound mode before the sleep. The smart alarm mode awakes the user somewhere in between thirty minutes prior to set time to set time judging the best time to wake the user. Similarly, track motion option tracks the movement of the smartphone during the sleep. If the smartphone is kept close to the user, the app can trace the motion of the user and any discomforts during the sleep or somnambulism can be realized.
There is also the record sound option, which records sound during the sleep. This mode helps to keep track of difficulties during the sleep like uncomfortable breathing, snoring, and the somniloquence. In addition to the sleep tracking, there is education material regarding the sleep, healthy ways to induce sleep, ways to stay awake, etc.
Headspace
To be healthy, an individual should possess not only a fit body but also a sound mind. In the surrounding full of turmoils and emotional distraughtness hitting frequently, no person can escape the depression. Such mental stresses develop inhumane behaviors in people and also encourages the social crimes. So having a calm mind free of tensions is another important to have to be healthy.
Headspace app is basically the mindfulness app offering a guided meditation. The app requires registration in the beginning, which can be done using email or with Facebook ID. After the registration, the users can always head to Audio or Visual mode to calm their mind. It contains numerous audio speech and animations to tranquil and cheer its users.
Headspace contains numerous categories Heath, Brave, Happiness, Work & Performance, Students, Sports, etc. If the stresses are related to any of the aforementioned categories, one can always go through the sessions and relax their mind. However, Headspace requires connection to download the speeches and animations prior to the session. And this can be frustrating to the people, who lack the reach of Wi-Fi or cheap mobile internet.
For the ones, who lose the track of time and are prone to miss the meditation session, there is also a reminder mode, which beeps at the preset time.
Pokemon Go
Scheduling every day for workout and exercises is pretty daunting. And even more awful is to do it. To defy such mindsets, Pokemon Go game was developed, which discourages passivity and obesity by luring people into exercises playfully.
The game primarily is a treasure-hunting app with the characters in the scenario based on the popular anime Pokemon. The app emulates an augmented reality world with map and Pokemon characters in it. The main focus of the users will be to reach different Poke Stops and hunt different Pokemon. On catching every Pokemon, users are rewarded and that is what keeps the player going. Pokemon are scattered in different locations, so get rewarded in the game user motion is essential. The app uses pedometer and GPS to track the motion of the user.
Since the app essential requires connection to the server and movement is crucial in the game, users need to turn on their mobile data connection, which will not be feasible if the tariffs are higher.
Hamro Doctor
Prevention is definitely better than cure. But since the life is full of uncertainties and sickness and accidents happens without a prior notice. So to suppress the damages in such scenarios, consulting Hamro Doctor App proves to be helpful.
The app is divided into different sections like Hospital, Doctor, Blood Donor, Ambulance, and Medicine. As the name implies, the hospital section contains the information related to the hospitals. The app encapsulates numerous hospitals of Nepal with their location, contact number, number of beds in general, ICU and Emergency wards. The hospital section also contains the name of the doctors working in the hospital with their designated specialty. The information of the doctors can also be obtained in the Doctors section, where the name of the doctors is sorted in alphabetical order.
Likewise, in the Blood Donor section, there is a collective database of the blood donors with their name, contact number, district, and blood group. There is also a filter option on the top, where the user can select the blood group required and location of the donor. In addition to requesting blood from the donor, one can also place their interest for the donation by filling name, phone number, address, blood group and date of the last donation. Similarly, the Ambulance sections contain number and address of the ambulance, which can be summoned during emergencies. And the Medicine section prescribes medicines with dosages for different kind of illnesses.
Hamro Doctor is a mobile doctor that travels along with you via your smartphone. In addition to helping the ill people in need, this app also draws health-related articles and encourages its users to practice healthy habits.
Xiaomi MI Mix was a smartphone, which received numerous appraisals for obliterating the unnecessary bezels. Xiaomi MI Mix 2 is the successor to the MI Mix, which too treated the bezels accordingly. The difference, however, is that the MI Mix has adopted 18:9 aspect ratio replacing the 17:9 ratio. The second generation of the MI Mix series was another hit in the global smartphone market. And to receive the same kind of love in Nepal, Xiaomi MI Mix 2 has stepped in Nepali soil. And all thanks to the Vatsal Impex Pvt. Ltd., (the authorized distributor of Xiaomi Mobiles in Nepal), which made it possible.
With an aluminum frame and ceramic back, MI Mix 2 looks premium and classy at the same time. In terms of display, Xiaomi MI Mix 2 possesses 5.99-inch, which is a tad bit smaller than the MI Mix. Possessing a screen-to-body ratio of 80.8% and with an 18:9 aspect ratio, Xiaomi MI Mix 2 has presented itself in a bold avatar. With the Corning Gorilla glass 4 as the shield to the display, the smartphone is less prone to cracks and scratches. The smartphone features Full HD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 pixels) resulting in a pixel density of 403PPI.
On the memory section, MI Mix 2 is rich with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. However, the real bummer is there is no card slot for the memory expansion and one is obliged to be satisfied with the onboard storage of the smartphone. Powering the device is a Snapdragon 835 chipset, which was the flagship chipset from the chipmaker Qualcomm for the year 2017. And there is Adreno 540 GPU taking a major role the graphics department.
To please the photography/videography fanatics, there is 12MP camera embedded in the rear panel of the smartphone. The rear camera seems quite capable with f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus, 4-axis OIS, 1/2.9″ sensor size, and the pixel size of 1.25 µm. To provide natural vibes in the images while shooting in low light and nighttime scenario, dual tone flash has been included in the vicinity of the camera. Up front, there is a 5MP camera dedicated for the selfies, which comes with f/2.0 aperture.
To fuel the processes within the device, a 3400mAh battery resides in the phone. Since the smartphone supports fast charging (Quick Charge 3.0), power injection to the device will be hassle-free. The smartphone is tagged with the price of Rs. 63,999 and interested ones can book their copy on the official website of Xiaomi Nepal.
Xiaomi MI Mix 2 VS Xiaomi MI Mix 2
Specs
Xiaomi MI Mix 2
Xiaomi MI Mix
Display
5.99-inch IPS LCD Display with Gorilla glass 4 protection; 80.8% Screen-to-body ratio
6.4-inch IPS LCD Display; 83.6% Screen-to-body ratio
Resolution
Full-HD+ (2160 x 1080 pixels) @ 403PPI; 18:9
Full-HD (2040 x 1080 pixels) @ 362PPI; 17:9
OS
Android 7.1 (Nougat)
Android 7.1 (Nougat)
Chipset
Snapdragon 835
Snapdragon 821
CPU
Octa-core (4×2.45 GHz Kryo & 4×1.9 GHz Kryo)
Quad-core (2×2.35 GHz Kryo & 2×2.19 GHz Kryo)
GPU
Adreno 540
Adreno 530
RAM
6GB
6GB
Internal Storage
64GB; No SDcard slot
256GB; No SDcard slot
Rear Camera
12 MP, f/2.0, PDAF, 4-axis OIS, dual-tone flash
16 MP, f/2.0, PDAF, EIS (Gyro), dual-tone flash
Front Camera
5MP, f/2.0
5MP, f/2.2
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, A-GPS, NFC, USB Type-C
Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, A-GPS, NFC, USB Type-C
Colors Mobile has been at its work as the company launched some back-to-back smartphones, targeting different consumers of different budget-level price range. It introduced quite a few devices last December and is continuing the trend as it is set to launch a new mobile phone that will be exclusively available online. This is help to make the price competitive in the almost saturated smartphone market of Nepal. The Colors S11 is a device that will be targeted towards the selfie lovers as we have news that it will house dual front-facing lenses up top.
If the speculations circulating around are considered, the Colors S11 will be a fairly priced budget smartphone that will come with the price range of Rs. 12,000 – Rs. 14,000. It will most probably sport an HD display in a frame of 5.2-inch. The Colors S11 could also be one of the devices in its price range to come with 3 GB RAM.
Since that last couple of devices from Colors have featured Android Nougat right out of the box, we can expect the same with the S11. This version of near-stock Android coupled with 3 GB of RAM will certainly help in a lag-free user experience. The device will supposedly be backed by a battery of 3,000 mAh capacity. Now, do note that all these specifications are speculated, and they might vary once the S11 is launched. Colors Mobile Nepal is launching the S11 on January 12.
Colors had most recently launched an entry-level device – the P65 which is currently priced at Rs. 7,995. It comes with a 5-inch FWVGA display and runs on Android v7.0 Nougat. The device is also a selfie-centric smartphone as it has a 5-megapixel secondary lens with Triple Screen Flash.
Android phones have gotten affordable than ever. You can get 4G enabled phones for as cheap as $100. But that was last year, Welcome to 2018, where smartphones are about to get cheaper than ever! On 26th January, Micromax in partnership with Google is set to launch the very first of Android Go smartphones in India. This phone will be priced at $32 which is close to around INR.2000 or NRs.3,200. At this point, it is almost unbelievable to imagine a phone for three thousand as all we can get is basic bar phones for that price. Apart from knowing that it’ll have a touchscreen and runs on Android Go (Lite version of Android Oreo), other specifications are still unknown.
Other Indian smartphone manufacturers are also on the same track but haven’t given a clear date for the launch of their products. Followed by Micromax, companies like Intex, Lava, Karbonn, and others are launching their own Android Go smartphones at a similar price point. So now we will have an extra category apart from budget, namely, Super Budget phones. Initializing with the Indian market, Google is aiming into other markets in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and Latin America.
The current number of active Android users is over two billion. And so, Google wants to expand that to another billion by focusing those with a low budget. Half of the feature phones that the manufacturers sell in India are all below the $32 mark. The Go phones, however, will have the advantage of a true and pure Google experience. And being the first manufacturer Micromax may have its upper hand on the market than other following companies.
So, this project is great for those consumers who switch to Chinese brands in search for low priced android phones with good specifications.
So what is Android Go?
Android Go is the lite version of Android Oreo which will run on lesser hardware. It will run on devices with RAM as low as 512MB-1GB and devices with 8GB of storage. The inbuilt apps will consume less storage because of the optimised apps such as Google Go, Youtube Go, etc. These slimmed down apps use low space and give maximum performance even on low RAM. Nevertheless, it will retain the same taste and feel just like the original Androids. The phones will contain Qualcomm and MediaTek processor chip inside for the best performance. Android Go contains a built-in data manager which will help the user save and control more data.
“These phones get all the optimizations that come with Android Oreo (Go edition), including a better performing OS with built-in data management features and security benefits.There is also a new set of pre-installed Google apps, including Google Go and the Google Assistant for Android Oreo (Go edition), designed to be lighter and more relevant to the unique needs of the next billion users” Caesar Sengupta, VP, Next Billion Users team at Google had said in a blog post.
Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphones also come with a version of the Google Play Store that allows people to download an app highlighting the apps designed to work best on Go edition devices. Despite that, in the end, user’s will prefer the Android experience that has fewer data cap overages and seamlessly cause fewer performance hiccups. And it may improve since there is still a stigma around using phones with less memory.
Energizer is a well-known company when it comes to making batteries. It has launched quite a few mobile phones over the years, but they haven’t really made their way to the top. However, this time though, the company has launched a smartphone, the Energizer Power Max P600s, that comes with some modern features.
Since Energizer is a battery-manufacturing company, it is obvious that the manufacturer has focused on the battery of the Power Max P600s. It houses a 4,500 mAh battery which if the claims are considered, provides a stand-by time of up to 400 hours. However, this has resulted in an extra thickness of 9.8mm. This battery can be juiced up via fast charging with a USB Type-C connector.
The Energizer Power Max P600s sports a tall 5.99-inch display with Full HD+ resolution which simply translates to the device comes with an 18:9 aspect ratio display. Right below the screen sits an octa-core Helio P25 processor which is paired with 3 or 6 GB GB RAM and Mali-T880 GPU. Energizer has included Android 7.0 Nougat in this mobile phone.
In the optics department, the Energizer Power Max P600s has dual 13-megapixel + 5-megapixel on the rear side which is also engraved with a fingerprint scanner. There is a 5-megapixel front-facing camera that sits alongside a LED flash. For storage purpose, the 3 GB RAM variant has 32 GB of onboard memory whereas the 6 GB variant packs 64 GB of internal memory. The Power Max P600s also supports expandable storage up to 256 GB. There is also another area where the storage variants come into work as the one with 32 GB memory is Black in color whereas the one with 64 GB is Blue in color. Both variants share a carbon fiber finish, though.
The Energizer Power Max 600s will launch in mid-January with prices still not confirmed.
Energizer Power Max 600s Specifications:
5.99-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display
Bezel-less display with 18:9 aspect ratio
Helio P25 SoC
Octa-core processor
Android v7.0 Nougat
Mali-T880 GPU
3 GB or 6 GB RAM
32/64 GB internal storage
Dual Hybrid SIM
13 MP + 5 MP rear-facing cameras with dual tone LED flash
With the increasing dependency of people on gadgets, so are the threats to our privacy and confidentiality. Recently, the security researchers at Google project zero along with some academy and industry researchers have detected and reported a ‘serious flaw’ which can put the confidential information at serious risk. What are these flaws prominent in? Do these affect our PCs? how do they exploit our gadgets? Whether or not can they be detected? How do we mitigate the harm? This article deals with all these questions in everybody’s minds for keeping us informed of such threats to our gadgets.
There are not one but two bugs producing the threat to our device’s security and the information in them. They are namely Meltdown and Spectre.
Meltdown affects the hardware by breaking the isolation that exists between the user application and operating system. The bug melts the security between an operating system and user application. According to Google, “Almost every Intel processor since 1995 has been affected by meltdown”. Referred as CVE-2017-5754.
Spectre breaks the meltdown between user applications. It is also being taken as the hardware vulnerability referred by CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5715.
Meltdown can be found in the device with the chip from Intel whereas Spectre can be found in the device having the chip from Intel, AMD, and ARM. Despite that, both of these make it easy for the cyber-criminals to have access to the passwords and the device memory. However, AMD claims that its chips are not vulnerable.
The probability that these flaws are already present in our devices is high. No operating system right from IOS, windows, LINUX etc. is free from these flaws. But, it’s almost impossible for us to detect whether or not our devices are affected by Meltdown and Spectre as the devices run as they have been running and we can find out no fault.
Not even the anti-viruses can detect the threat as they are quite difficult to detect compared to normal malware. But the antiviruses can detect the malware using such attacks by comparing the binaries.
How to fix the harm for different OS?
Google has come up with some patches. Google has issued a security fix for these
Whereas Microsoft has come up with the patch for windows 10 to be downloaded automatically and for the older operating systems, the patch will soon be available.
Even though Apple has made no public comment as such but one of the researchers suggests macOS 10.13.2 for the Apple devices.
LINUX system has a patch as well but they reportedly slow down the devices. They have issued Kernel patches for dealing with this issue.
Amazon web service has also been patched for Google cloud platform, Amazon web services, and Microsoft Azure. The chrome books have received security from OS63.
If the patches are not available for the devices, we are to checkout with the operating system provider and the device maker then install them as soon as possible for mitigating the harm. Either being caused or to be caused by Meltdown and Spectre.
Highlights
Two different flaws i.e. Spectre and Meltdown
Meltdown found in Intel processors.
Spectre found in devices having Intel, ARM and AMD chips.
Invading of the security barrier to access secret information.
Cannot be easily detected by antivirus.
Companies have come up with their own patches to mitigate the harm.
Updates and installations required to minimize the chances of such flaws from harming devices.
UMIDIGI has produced quite a few phones over time. One of its recent arrivals in the Nepali market is the UMIDIGI Crystal that has been offered at a budget price of Rs, 25,900. The device is one of those smartphones that offers a near bezelless display and 4GB RAM along with 64 GB storage at a low price. The other specifications too look very impressive on paper. Let’s not get carried away by the specifications. What the phone’s performance, in reality, is like? Here is a full review of the UMIDIGI Crystal to help you answer the question.
Glass Body (2.5D curved glass on the front & rear)
Display and Design
Let’s go for the design and display first. I must say that the phone looks very premium for the price. The 18:9 aspect ratio surely does not go out of notice! There is glass everywhere, on the front and even on the back, which is, surrounded by a metallic frame. Apart from the metallic portion, the entire thing is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The only complaint I have with the glass is that it attracts a lot of smudges, as you can see for yourself; my prints are all over the phone. But in terms of scratch protection, it does well.
Moving on, the phone has a 5.5- inch 1080p display which is very sharp and bright. It has a good color reproduction meaning the colors are nice and vibrant and the level of contrast it provides is good too. The display is visible under sunlight too and I must say there are no viewing angle problems on this device. The UMIDIGI Crystal does well in the display department.
On the top, we have the 3.5mm audio jack and the proximity and light sensors and just below it, we have a small speaker. Similarly, on the bottom, we have the USB port and two speakers. On the right, we have the SIM/memory card slot and on the left, there are the volume control buttons and the power button. What I have always wanted to say out loud is, the UMIDIGI Crystal has the worst power button placement in the world. I mean, each time, I had to struggle to find it. And mind you, I used this device for more than 2 weeks and I still have the same concern. Well, you can imagine the magnitude of the problem!!
The notification light on the lower side looks cool. Though the looks are elegant, the phone is one awkward device to hold. I think it’s probably because of the edges being too pointed and the phone being a bit thick. Thereby, in the design portion, the phone could have done better rather than only focusing on minimizing the bezels!
Performance
Second, let’s dive into how the device performs. The UMIDIGI Crystal is powered by an octa-core MediaTek6750T processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64 GB of onboard storage expandable up to 256 GB. Out of the 64GB storage, we have 54 GB left for usage, which is okay! App switching on this device is fine; however, app opening is a little slower in comparison to other phones. It’s like the phone panics while we try to open any app in a rush. The phone is not as responsive as it should be. However, the phone can handle many apps at the same time. On my use, the phone has never shut off while aggressively using different apps.
Gaming on this device is a good experience. I have played high end to lower end games and the results are pretty good. No stutters while playing any games and the visuals look good as well. So, no complaints! The only thing that bothered me while playing games is that the speakers tend to be covered while holding the phone with both hands and I could not feel the trill while playing Asphalt 8 and Hakku run. Other than that, gaming is smooth. And yes, long time gaming equals to the device heating up as fire.
The UMIDIGI Crystal comes with Android 7.0 Nougat coupled with a near stock like UI. So, you are not going to find bloatware on board. The UI has some additional features like, customizing the notification bar, changing the position of navigation keys, etc. There is also a guest mode for the ones preferring to use it. Overall, the UI is simple and nothing to whine about.
The GPS tracker is not, however, very accurate. It tends to lose your location time and often. While I am still complaining about the performance, wifi connectivity, in the UMIDIGI Crystal, though it’s dual-band, it’s not good. I mean it loses the signal often if you are not near your router. This is very frustrating.
Moving on, let’s talk about the sound quality. The speakers are loud but it lacks any kind of bass and the sound quality is just average. The fingerprint sensor is at the back and slightly slow in performance, it’s not too bad but it’s not fast as well. Also, it’s like the fingerprint sensor is mixed with the back, so it’s difficult finding it.
Summing up, apart from the gaming and UI experience, the performance is just okay!
Camera
Let’s move on to the cameras. The UMIDIGI Crystal has a 13+5 MP dual camera setup at the rear portion and a 5 MP selfie shooter at the front. The rear camera is one of those that has a fake Bokeh as it is crystal clear that it is the software that is producing the blur.
Normal Mode
Bokeh Mode
The Bokeh is terrible, as you can see in the pictures; it creates a blur only in a circular fashion, bringing together both the object in focus as well as the surroundings.
Normal Mode
Bokeh Mode
I didn’t have the hassle of testing the HDR mode in this device because there isn’t such feature! There is an option to save the raw photo which was quite a waste considering there are minimum camera features.
The images from the rear camera come out average. The images are not so sharp and oftentimes come out overexposed. Similarly, when I zoomed into the camera and took pictures, I was disappointed with the quality. With a dual camera setup, I was expecting more!
Similarly, the 5 MP selfie shooter is not very impressive either. The pictures in broad daylight are mediocre in quality and in dark lighting conditions; the images are dark, blurry and grainy. Also, there was a reddish tint in the pictures that didn’t look good. One major concern with the selfie camera is its placement! In an attempt to have minimum bezels at the top, the selfie camera is placed at the bottom of the phone, which is very awkward indeed. Once you open the camera, you cannot figure out where to look. And every time you have to invert your phone to take selfies, which is a hassle I didn’t like taking.
Battery
Talking about the battery, The UMIDIGI Crystal is powered by a 3000 mAh battery. Under normal usage that is for phone calls and using social media the phone’s battery lasts for almost a day. Whereas, while playing games and watching videos, the phone suffers significant battery drainage as a result of which, the battery lasts for around 5 hours. Similarly, the device takes around 2 and a half hour to get fully charged meaning there is no fast charging support and gives a screen- on time of 3 hours. There is a battery saving mode but that does not cover up the average performance of the battery. The only thing that is good about the battery is that the USB is type-C.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the UMIDIGI Crystal did not perform as well as I expected. Yes, the device gives a beautiful near bezelless display at a budget price, but the display is not the only thing in a smartphone. At least with a stock like android, I would expect a better battery life. Latency in app opening is frustrating and even though the UI is simple, the performance is just par. The fake Bokeh adds up to the not so good camera performance. Except for the gaming and the display, purchasing this phone means making a lot of sacrifices. Overall, I think the UMIDIGI Crystal is just crystal by name; it’s not a gem in reality! So, I would recommend you invest some more and get something better.
After the revival by the HMD Global, Nokia has been back on the track in the successful smartphone business. The craze of people for the new Nokia phones reminds us about the old days. And numbers are the proof as the Nokia smartphones have been sold out in minutes on more than one occasions. And among the bunch of smartphones in their lineup, Nokia 6 was comparatively loved more than the rest. So, to fuel that love, Nokia has brought a refreshed version of the Nokia 6 dubbed as Nokia 6 (2018). And the most interesting thing on the newbie is, despite the refreshed looks and improved specs, the Nokia 6 2018 comes at a similar price to its predecessor.
Nokia 6 2018 comes with the aluminum body presenting the same sturdy vibe alike its predecessor. Also, the device possesses the same 5.5-inch display cloaked by the Gorilla glass 3 for the protection. Despite the trend of bezel-less display and 18:9 aspect ratio, the newbie has been persistent with the traditional 16:9 ratio and thick bezel boundaries. However, a small portion of bezels has been chopped off in the Nokia 6 2018 and the screen-to-body ratio improved to 73.2% from 70.7%. And the reduced bezels are to be blamed for the shifting of fingerprint sensor from home button at the front to the back. Also, the capacitive buttons are replaced by the on-screen buttons in this newbie.
Nokia has made a good choice of the chipset in this device. The upgrade from the Snapdragon 430 chipset to Snapdragon 630 is simply exemplary. Also, the presence of Adreno 508 GPU in the device will drive the device swiftly even while performing the graphics-intensive tasks. On the storage side, Nokia 6 (2018) is gifted with 4GB of RAM offering two choices in terms of internal storages viz. 32GB and 64GB. However, the absence of the dedicated slot is quite displeasing here, as one has to sacrifice the second SIM slot to allocate space for SDcard.
On the software front, Nokia 6 2018 comes with a stock version of Android Nougat out of the box. But no worries, the device has been promised with the Oreo update. These days, even the mid-range and budget smartphones come with a dual-camera setup. That is not the case here. It embraces a 16MP camera on the back, which comes with f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus and dual-tone LED flash. Up front, there is an 8MP camera with f/2.0 aperture but lacking the LED flash.
On the connectivity side, Nokia 6 2018 is quite bold with Bluetooth 5.0, Radio, NFC, Wi-Fi 1/b/g/n, A-GPS and USB Type-C. As mentioned earlier, the smartphone possesses the fingerprint sensor, which resides on the back. The device has also embraced other primary sensors like accelerometer, gyro, proximity and compass sensors. To juice up the device, there is 3000mAh battery equipped with the device, which also supports the fast charging. Fueling the device at the pace of fast charging get the battery refilled to 50% in mere 30 minutes.
The device comes in two color variants viz. Black and Silver. Nokia started taking the pre-orders for the device and the sale will commence from the January 10 in China. In terms of price, Nokia 6 2018 demands 1499 Yuan (US$ 230 approx.) for the 32GB storage version, whereas its 64GB counterpart demands 1699 Yuan (US$ 262 approx.).
Launch, Availability of Nokia 6 2018 in Nepal
There was no mention of rolling out the devices in the global market during the official announcement of the device. However, on the talk with Nokia Nepal officials, we were informed that the device would make an entrance in Nepal sometime in the March. And during the talk, the officials confidently stated that the pricing will be close to the international pricing.
Nokia 6 2018 Vs. Nokia 6 Specifications
Specs
Nokia 6 2018
Nokia 6
Display
5.5-inch IPS LCD Display with Gorilla glass 3 protection; 73.2% Screen-to-body ratio
5.5-inch IPS LCD Display with Gorilla glass 3 protection; 70.7% Screen-to-body ratio
Resolution
Full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) @ 403PPI
Full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) @ 403PPI
OS
Android 7.1.1 (Nougat), planned upgrade to Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Android 7.1.1 (Nougat), planned upgrade to Android 8.0 (Oreo)
