All You Need To Know About Smartphone Technologies

Back in November last year, Google announced that it will pull the plug on its Map Maker service sometime March 2017. Inline with that, the crowdsourced editing tool for Google Maps has been retired - the service was closed on March 31. Google... Google says many of the Map Maker's features are being integrated into Google Maps. "To make it easier for all Google Maps users to contribute changes to the map, we’ve started to graduate functionality from Map Maker to Google Maps on both desktop and mobile," a Google support page says. The Mountain View, California-based company also says they'll continue adding "new editing features within Google Maps on an ongoing basis."

Twitter launched today a faster data-saving version of its mobile website. That way it becomes the third leading platform with a step towards data-friendly internet after Facebook Lite and YouTube Go. The company announced on its blog that “45% of mobile connections are still on 2G”. That’s why it optimized the speed and navigation of mobile.twitter.com. Now the site launches 30% faster and navigates quicker while still providing the key features - your timeline, Tweets, DMs, trends, notifications and more. More than 40% of data is saved with the optimized mobile site, and it can go up to 70% when you click on your profile picture and then select Data Saver. If you use Google Chrome on Android OS with the latest version, the browser will ask you to add a bookmark on your home screen   that acts like an app . You can also receive push notifications and alerts. Twitter Lite offers offline support when your connection is weak.

Facebook Messenger has released a new assistant called “Messenger M”. We’re actually quite glad it was not named “M assistant. But anyway, the premise of M is: you can receive suggestions to take actions (right from the message screen) based on the context of your conversation. All this sounds quite familiar… is starts with “Google” and ends with “Assistant”. No, no, M is not a fully-fledged smartphone assistant. It’s more like Google Assistant’s debut in Google Allo when it first came out (The major difference is that Facebook Messenger already has 1 billion monthly active users). M can offer suggestions via a pop-up bubble that can send money to your friends, request a car with ride-share apps, and coordinate plans with friends. The best example of this is: when your friend asks “Where are you?”, M will suggest that you   share your location   with them. Tap on the suggestion bubble, and you don’t have to dig through chat menus to temporarily share your pin-drop. You can als...

After many years of stagnation, Google has finally decided to do something cool with Google Earth. So on the eve of Earth Day, Google has released a new version of Google Earth for the web and Android. Google Earth was always about...

What Is USB OTG? USB drives are convenient, but you can’t use one with your phone. Well, unless you have an Android phone and know what USB OTG is. USB On-The-Go (OTG) is a standardized specification that allows a device to read data from a USB device without requiring a PC. The device basically becomes a USB host, which isn’t an ability every gadget has. You will need an OTG cable or OTG connector. You can do a lot with this, For example, you might connect a USB flash drive to your phone, or   use a video game controller with an Android device .  

USB PD Explained: How Power Delivery Chargers Work There are plenty of different charging methods for phones and gadgets, and USB-PD is one that’s catching on quickly. In fact, very soon, the Android phones you find on the shelves will all be using this technology to charge faster.` What Is USB-PD? The USB part of USB-PD stands for “Universal Serial Bus.” It should be familiar to you because this is the same technology that lets you plug in mice, keyboards, and other peripherals into your computer. The PD part, however, is the new bit that stands for “Power Delivery.” Removing Proprietary Barriers and Reducing Waste The problem with these technologies, however, is that they’re proprietary. The manufacturers made them to charge their own devices, and nothing else. For example, a Qualcomm Quick Charge charger will do a great job with a phone designed to use it, but it won’t play nice with a Samsung device that uses Adaptive Fast Charging. USB-PD Uses Two-Way Charging Now l...

What Is the Difference Between an APU, CPU, and GPU? When it’s time to buy your new computer, knowing the difference between the CPU, GPU, and APU is a considerable advantage. It could even end up saving you money. This is especially true if you plan to build your own PC. The three technologies are often grouped but perform separate roles. Knowing the function of each, and whether you might need it, is crucial. So, what exactly is the difference between an APU, CPU, and GPU? Central Processing Unit (CPU)   The Central Processing Unit, or CPU, is the main brain of the computer. In early computers, the CPU was spread across multiple chips. However, to improve efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs, the CPU is now contained on a single chip. These smaller CPUs are also referred to as microprocessors. Accelerated Processing Unit (APU)     To reduce physical size and manufacturing costs, manufacturers have found ways to combine electronics components onto ...

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a MicroSD Card Whether you need it for a phone, a camera, or some other gadget, shopping for a microSD card seems like a pretty simple thing to do, right? 1. Buying Incompatible SD Cards All microSD cards fit into all microSD card slots, but they don’t all work.  There are four different card formats , as well as different standards, and these determine compatibility. The three main formats, which you’re probably already familiar with, are SD, SDHC, and SDXC (or microSD, microSDHC, and microSDXC—micro and full-size cards are based on the same spec). The fourth format is SDUC. This was announced in June 2018, and it’ll be a while before the cards are available. 2. Choosing the Wrong Speed Identifying the speed of a microSD card is even more complicated than deciphering formats and compatibility. There are no less than six ways to show how fast a card is, and it’s not uncommon for manufacturers to use all of them. Speed Class ...

Understand USB Cable Types and Which One to Use Most computers and electronic devices have some form of USB connection, and many devices also come packaged with a USB cable. What are all these different cables for, and why does it matter which one you use?   6 USB Cable Types and Their Uses USB is supposedly universal, but there are so many different types. Why is this? As it turns out, they each serve different functions, mainly to preserve compatibility and support new devices. Here are the six most common types of USB cables and connectors: Type-A:  The standard flat, rectangular interface that you find on one end of nearly every USB cable. Most computers have multiple USB-A ports for connecting peripherals. You’ll find them on game consoles, TVs, and other devices too. This cable only inserts in one way. Type-B:  An almost square connector, mostly used for printers and other powered devices that connect to a computer. They’re not very common these days...

CAMERA TECHNOLOGY Smartphone cameras are possibly the most frequently-used technology of today, catapulted to importance with the lateral rise of social media. With increasing number of users craving for cameras with superior imaging capabilities on mobile devices, companies have also taken it upon themselves to up the game, innovating in the space of mobile camera sensors, focussing techniques and optical stabilisation mechanisms, alongside using wider lenses and laser-assisted autofocus modules. Here, we take you through some of the latest, hardware-level innovations done in the field of smartphone cameras, to take them forward into the future. To make an important note, most of these technologies were once reserved for cameras only, and are only recently beginning to make their way into the smartphones. Dual-Pixel by Samsung - Phase Detection for every pixel Dual-Pixel is essentially Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) mechanism, only multiple times better (and faster, of co...