android
User survey shows Windows Phone close to iPhone
In a user survey conducted by PCMag about mobile OS’, Apple which was expected to make a clean sweep of the award was faced with stern competition from an unlikely opponent. No, it isn’t Android OS. It actually turned out to be Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS. Windows Phone were neck and neck in nearly every category and both ended up with a score of 8.7 (on a scale of 1 to 10) in overall satisfaction to share PCMag’s 2012 Readers’ Choice Award for smartphone platforms.
Although both platforms scored 8.7 overall, Apple led the way when it came down to categories like customer satisfaction, quality, availability of apps and music player. However Windows Phone users rated their experiences with the device for reliability, text messaging, web browsing and gaming higher than what Apple received. So as you can extrapolate from the data, the competition between the two platforms was intense and it seems like once the Windows Marketplace has started catching up to Apple’s App Store in terms of quality as well as quantity, we may be faced with some stiff competition.
At the end of the survey, the participants would ask how likely it would they recommend their devices to someone else looking to purchase a smartphone and while Android and Apple users rated the likeliness very high, it seems like Windows Phone users are still waiting to be convinced if this device is here to stay but for now they are extremely happy with it as they rated the likelihood of a recommendation 0.1 points higher than its overall satisfaction rating.
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.
OnePlus did make an announcement in the previous month that the Ceramic variant of the OnePlus X will be released on November 24. True to their word, they did exactly that – although only a pitiful number of units were made available, and not only that, this was through a charity auction. Thankfully for the rest of the masses who are on the lookout for this device, it has gone on sale officially already.
Needless to say, this particular variant is available only by an invitation, although do bear in mind that standard OnePlus X invites are not good here – you will still need to snag yourself a specific Ceramic variant invite before you make a purchase. OnePlus is also on the lookout to offer additional methods of picking up this smartphone, although no further details were revealed.
The OnePlus X Ceramic will be available only in select markets, where among them include Europe, India, and Hong Kong. To date, we do know that OnePlus had made only 10,000 units of the handset available. A case of the early bird getting the proverbial worm here?