Kickstart this security camera app for your old Android phone

You probably have at least one old smartphone or tablet lying around. In my case, it's a whole drawer full of gadgets that I have no idea what to do with. Now one company has a pretty clever solution for turning your forgotten Android devices into a smart home security system. This is Olmose, a new take on the smart camera that's a lot cheaper than the competition.

Olmose consists of two main parts: there's the Guardian app, which turns your old Android device into a home security camera, and there's the Remote app for iOS or Android, which lets you control everything from your current smartphone. The company also offers an optional stand called the Dog Station, which adds a few extra features but isn't required.

Guardian, which can run on any device running Android 4.0 or up, offers video surveillance, motion detection and even night vision. The company also provides cloud storage so you can review old videos, along with the option to stream whatever's happening live with the Remote app. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection, which shouldn't be an issue if you're trying to protect your home or office.

You can also use Olmose to keep tabs on your car. Just hide an Android device with Guardian installed in the glove compartment and then track them using GPS if your car is stolen.

Olmose on your phone should be enough for most people but, if you want to be extra safe, it's worth buying the Dog Station stand as well. It features a built-in camera with infrared detection for advanced night vision. If also takes care of charging and securing your device.

You can pre-order the Guardian app for a single Android device on Kickstarter for $21.50, or get the app and the stand together for $64.50. Both options include a year of free cloud storage. You can renew for $26 per month to keep using that feature after your free year expires. You can also order multiple copies of the app at once for a small discount if you plan on setting up multiple cameras, since each Guardian license only works on one device at a time.

That may sound like a lot of money for some software and a phone stand, but Olmose is significantly cheaper than the competition. The Nest Cam and Canary both cost just under $200. for example. Nest also charges for cloud storage, while Canary offers that service for free. Either way, Olmose is a lot more affordable.

The company says everything should be ready by April. The hardware and software are pretty much complete, though the launch could be delayed by a month or two if demand is extremely high.

Source: Kickstart this security camera app for your old Android phone

Broomfield paramedic develops emergency app to assist in crisis care

Noah Harkless, uses the Biophone app at the Fire Rescue Station at the Good Samaritan Hospital Campus. Mike Kobneck, a paramedic and creator of Biophone - a smartphone app used by first responders to send images and video from the field to the ER. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)

Minutes count in the time between ambulance sirens sound and when patients are wheeled into emergency rooms — a maxim Broomfield resident Mike Kobneck saw first-hand.

Kobneck was a paramedic for more than 10 years before he started up Novum Concepts and created the Biophone app with Kevin Scardina, a fellow paramedic and software developer.

The smartphone app is used by first responders to send images and video from the field to the emergency room.

"I kept seeing a lot of issues around the transition from pre-hospital care to getting people to the hospital and making that transition smooth," he said. "It's incredibly unsmooth right now."

David Toth walks by a US Flag made from fire hose at the Good Samaritan Fire/Rescue Station in Lafayette. Mike Kobneck, a paramedic and creator of Biophone - a smartphone app used by first responders to send images and video from the field to the ER. The app has been live at Good Samaritan in Lafayette since August and has sent information of more than 300 patients. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)

A comment from an ER doctor — expressing a wish to see what medics see in the field — furthered his resolve to build the app, which was done with a fellow medic and program friend.

The two worked nights and weekends for about 10 months to develop the app, which has been live in Good Samaritan Medical Center since August.

Since then it has transported information for more than 340 patients — a task that can be done on site, at the scene of a crash or in someone's living room, or by using a hotspot inside the ambulance.

Lafayette's two fire stations average about seven calls a day for the 12-square-mile jurisdiction, Lt. Noah Harkless said, and more than 80 percent are medical calls.

Approximately 10 of the city's 18 paramedics use the app, said Harkless, who is a proponent and one of the most active users.

"I think the big key is on the critical incidents. Say someone's having a stroke or a heart attack, we can send the info to the hospital and then they can get the right people into the room and the patient entered into the system to allow quicker treatment," Harkless said.

Kobneck offers training to departments, but paramedics in Lafayette simply downloaded the app and began using it.

An icon on the app's main page brings up a comment section so firefighters can submit questions from their phones.

The six-step process takes seconds to compete — paramedics snap a photo of a patient's drivers license, select a medical complaint and a severity level, pick a medical facility and an estimated time of arrival. They hit the send/call button and their part of the registration process is complete.

Photos are saved to the app, which is HIPAA compliant, and not on phones, Kobneck said. Currently only IDs are sent, but in the coming months he hopes photos will also include photos of patient ailments.

So far the app has not had any issues relating to security, Kobneck said.

Most common calls — cardiac alerts and arrests, strokes and major trauma — are listed at the top of the app's 25-30 complaints, which include chest pain, hip fracture from a fall, diabetic or abdominal pain. Paramedics also have the ability to text a medical issue if it's not listed.

Biophone is free for paramedics who can download it on department-owned or personal phones. The app is available for iOS, Android and iPad.

So far medics with Mountain View Fire Rescue, Louisville Fire Department, Lafayette and Rocky Mountain Fire have downloaded the app.

Hospitals that use the app pay a monthly subscription fee and receive the incoming information on an iPad.

Noah Harkless, uses the Biophone app at the Fire Rescue Station at the Good Samaritan Hospital Campus. Broomfield resident and paramedic Mike Kobneck, developed the Biophone app.. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)

The quicker a patient is registered with the hospital, the faster diagnostic tools, such as CAT scans, lab tests or X-rays, can be ordered, Kobneck said.

"It seems to streamline the patient hand-off from our perspective," firefighter and paramedic Travis Rohde said.

Kobneck handles much of the demographic input, which takes the registration portion out of medics hands and lets them focus on the patient, Rohde said.

Last week the app was used in a trauma scenario where a bicyclist and vehicle collided. It also speeds up registration time with cardiac patients at a nearby nursing home. Because the facility is so close to Good Samaritan it leaves the hospital little prep time.

"It makes it a lot easier for (paramedics) to focus on patient care and not the registration component," Kobneck said. "That was kind of our number one goal."

Jennifer Rios: 303-473-1361, riosj@broomfieldenterprise.com or Twitter.com/Jennifer_Rios

Source: Broomfield paramedic develops emergency app to assist in crisis care

12 Ways To Use Your Android Smartphone More Efficiently

Android tips are a little trickier to offer than iPhone tips, for a couple of reasons. For one, it's often up to carriers or manufacturers -- rather than consumers -- who have control over which version of Android your phone is running. Furthermore, there are so many more kinds of Android phones, which have their own neat little features. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S6, but menu options may be different depending on what type of phone you use.

I've tried to keep these tips as universal as possible.

Customize, customize, customize: In my opinion, the very best part about being an Android user is the fact that you can mess around a lot with your phone to make it your own. Many readers wrote in to say that they like using custom keyboard apps on their Android phones.

But there's a whole world of customizing apps out there available exclusively to Android phones. For example, you can choose to change the way your very home screen looks, or how your apps are organized by using something called an app launcher. I personally use Yahoo's Aviate, which automatically organizes apps by type, time of day and location. So if I'm at work, for example, it won't put Netflix on my short list of apps. If it's time to commute, travel apps may get a more prominent billing.

You can also download a variety of dialers and caller ID apps, for example, to further customize your phone. Really, the world is your oyster.

Embrace all of Google: Another key advantage of the Android life is tha t there's a lot of integration if you're a Google user. The core apps such as Gmail, Calendar, Photos and others should work seamlessly with your phone. Google's voice assistant is just an "OK Google" away.

A particularly nice feature in the latest version of Android (Marshmallow) is Google Now on Tap, which sort of acts as a Google-powered footnote to whatever you're reading -- tap a word and you'll get a Google search about it.

But even if you don't have Marshmallow, you can run a Google search on any phrase on any website in Chrome by highlighting text. A small window should slide up from the bottom of the screen, and tapping it will initiate a search. You don't even have to leave the page you're on. You can also turn this off in Chrome's settings. Just head to Setting> Privacy > Touch to Search.

Know what you're sharing: One question I get often about apps is how you can see what you're sharing with them. You can do this by going to your Settings menu and finding your Applications Manager. Selecting any particular app should give you a list of permissions, along with an explanation of what they mean.

If you happen to have the latest version of Android, you should also be able to get a little more control over the app permissions. So if you want to, for example, share your location with an app but aren't that happy about sharing your contact list, you may be able to switch that off. It depends on the app, as well, so this may not work for every program.

Mess around with your defaults: Another major perk of being an Android user is that you can change the apps that handle certain functions automatically. So if you have a browser you prefer, or a PDF reader you really like, you can use it automatically. If you'd rather always see YouTube videos in the YouTube app instead of on the mobile web, you can do that too.

It's pretty easy to do this; most often, your phone itself will ask you if you want to set a default app w hen you perform various functions. If you change your mind, you can go into the settings for whatever default app you've chosen through the Settings menu and choose "Clear Defaults."

Some phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6, also have a menu called "Default applications," which will list all the defaults you've selected on your phone.

Track your data use: Worried about exceeding your data plan? Android phones should have a built-in data tracker that lets you keep tabs on what you're using. This should be in your Settings menu, under the heading such as "Data usage."

You can also customize this feature so that it fits with your billing cycle.

Disable useless apps: You may not be crazy about every app that comes with your phone; often carriers and manufacturers add apps that you simply won't use. But while you can't always uninstall these apps, you can often keep them from running on your phone. On Android, you can disable these apps to keep them from running in the background. Just head to your phone's version of the application manager, tap on the app you want to sedate, and hit "Disable."

If you ever want to re-enable the app, you can do that by following the same steps.

Conserve your battery life: If your phone has a power-saving mode of some kind, you can choose to have it automatically kick in when your phone's battery hits a particular charge percentage. Head to the "Battery" section of your Settings menu. If your phone does have a power-saving mode option, go into that feature's settings and set it to kick in automatically when your battery's at various power levels. (On my Samsung Galaxy S6, the options are 50, 20, 15 and 5 percent.) That could get you an extra hour or so of battery life when you're running low.

Become a developer to make things run more quickly: If you want to make your phone move a little more quickly, you can enable its developer options to speed it up. The process to turn on this option is a little funny; you have to head into the "About this phone" menu in your settings, then find the section that says "Build number." Then -- and I'm completely serious about this -- you tap that item seven times.

Congratulations, you're now a developer! At least, according to your phone. You should see a new item pop up in the About menu, called "Developer options." Within that menu, you can change a few options -- namely "Window animation scale," "Transition animation scale" and "Animator duration scale" -- to .5x or lower. This should speed up your phone by reducing the time it spends animating transitions between windows and apps. This does make things feel a little more abrupt when you're switching between windows. But remember: you can always put it back if you have problems.

Swipe down for quick access to settings: Need to get quick access to your flashlight? A one-touch option for Airplane Mode? Locking the screen rotation? Swipe down from the top of your phone an d you should find the Quick Settings menu. This is a pretty basic tool for navigating your phone, but you'd be surprised how many people either don't know about it or forget it.

---

Many readers also wrote in to note that you can rearrange which notifications appear in this drop-down menu on various phones -- I heard from Samsung, HTC, LG and Nexus users on this one.

Reader tips

Try out multitasking: Several Samsung owners wrote in to say that you can run two applications at the same time on many of their newer devices. To trigger that, you can tap and hold the Recent Apps button on your phone, which tends to be to the right of the physical home button. That will prompt it to go into split-screen view.

Use the Gesture search app: One reader wrote in to rave about Google Gesture Search, an Android-only app that lets you navigate through your phone with a number of gestures.

"If you need to find almost anything on your phone, you can usually find it with just a couple swipes of your finger," the reader wrote. The app works with a wide variety of Android devices and versions of the operating system.

Get quick access to the camera: Another Samsung user wrote in to share a tip about getting to the camera app faster. "The Samsung Galaxy 5's excellent camera is just a swipe away thanks to a shortcut that saves a few seconds normally spent on unlocking the device," she wrote. You can enable the shortcut on that device by heading to the "Lock screen" menu in your settings and selecting "Camera Shortcut."

Other phones may already have a camera shortcut on the lockscreen by default -- take a look! Some phones may have their own ways of getting to the camera fast. Some HTC phones, for example, will launch the camera if you hit the volume up button. Other phones, such as the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5x, have options to launch the camera with gestures.

© 2016 The Washington Post 

Source: 12 Ways To Use Your Android Smartphone More Efficiently

Coolpad Note 3 Lite Review: Great performer at a great price

The Chinese manufacturer Coolpad received accolades for its Coolpad Note 3 handset last year. The smartphone got a lot of appreciation for its specifications and performance. Keeping the trend in mind, the Chinese giant launched a toned down version in the Indian smartphone market called Coolpad Note 3 Lite. The handset offers high-end specifications at a price of Rs 6,999. We bring you the detailed review of the smartphone, which promises to deliver exceptional performance at a pocket friendly price.

Design and DisplayThe Coolpad Note 3 Lite looks quite similar to the Coolpad Note 3 in terms of design. The handset flaunts round edges and a golden coloured metal rim that give a stylish and premium look to it. The major difference is in the size. Even though the Coolpad Note 3 Lite is a 5-inch device, it fits perfectly in one hand. The front panel of the device houses three capacitive keys, which are not backlight, and a 5MP front-facing camera at the top with a set of sensors. The smartphone comes with a textured back panel giving a pleasant and comfortable feel to the user. The rear panel houses a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and a fingerprint sensor.

One needs to remove the back panel to insert the 2 sim and the microSD cards. There is also a 2,500 mAh battery that cannot be ejected. The power button is placed on the right side, while the volume rocker keys are placed on the left side of the Coolpad Note 3 Lite. The 3.5mm headset jack and micro-USB port are placed at the top and bottom edges, respectively.

Coolpad Note 3 Lite features a 5-inch display with 720x1280 pixels resolution. The display of the handset has better pixel density when compared to its sibling (the Coolpad Note 3). The display offers vibrant colour reproduction along w ith good level of brightness. The display is also responsive and gives good visibility under bright sunlight. You can also adjust the colour temperature of the screen, which benefits a lot while reading something in the night. The viewing angles are also nice making movies and playing games experience a real delight. The display is also protected from scratches with a coating of scratch resistant glass.

Performance and Camera

The Coolpad Note 3 Lite runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system topped with the Cool UI of the company. It consists of unified app launcher-homescreen navigation and a customised interface, which supports various themes. It also comes with customised system apps along with some third party apps.

There is no app drawer in the phone's UI and all the app icons are placed on the phone's homescreen. The phone comes preloaded with a number of apps including WeChat, WPS Office, Facebook, SwiftKey, among others. Some of these preloaded apps were specifically designed for Coolpad including FP Lock, CoolShow, Rock Wallpaper, and Cool store. The user interface is very smooth and works fluidly without any lags.

The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is powered by a 1.3GHz 64-bit Mediatek MT6753 octa-core processor, the phone is the only one in this price range to come with 3GB of RAM. It offers 16GB storage expandable up to 64GB via microSD card. Regarding connectivity, the dual-sim phone comes with support for 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Both sim slots support 4G LTE, too.

As per its specifications the Coolpad Note 3 Lite performs very well and it lives up to its expectations. The handset handles all apps thrown at it pretty well and we were able to run ten applications simultaneously without any lag or hiccups. We did not face any heating issues while playing graphic intensive games such as Dead Trigger 2, Spiderman Unlimited, Asphalt 8 and others. The non-removable 2,500 mAh battery lasts a day under moderate usage. The call quality was also good and the device performed well even in low signal areas. Coolpad Note 3 Lite also delivers clear and crisp sound quality both over the headphones and loudspeaker. All-in-all the Coolpad Note 3 Lite scores well in the performance department.

Skipping to the cameras, Coolpad Note 3 Lite flaunts 13MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP front camera for selfies. The camera can focus quickly on various objects and there is no shutter lag. The photographs taken during daylight came out well with good amount of detailing and colour reproduction. However, the pictures captured during low light looked average. The camera app is clean and easy to use and has various features, and modes for photography. There is also a Pro mode that lets you control the aperture, ISO level, brightness and colour settings.

The 5MP front camera produced some good quality selfies. You can also make use of the fingerprint sensor to click selfies, which makes it much easier to capture some of your great selfies and groupfies. The fingerprint sensor works like a shutter release button and you just need to tap on it once for clicking selfies.

VerdictThe Cooplad Note 3 Lite comes with a price tag of Rs 6,999 and offers high-end specifications such as octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM, HD display, 13MP rear camera and a fingerprint sensor. It is a good option for the people looking for a complete package of high-end specs and budget price.

We also considered some alternatives of the Coolpad Note 3 Lite, like the Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime or the Intex Aqua Power Plus, which fall under the same price bracket, but lack some of the features available in Coolpad.< /p>
Source: Coolpad Note 3 Lite Review: Great performer at a great price

8 essential Sony Xperia Z5 Premium tips and tricks

Sony's super-sized flagship is great, but some of its best features aren't obvious. / © ANDROIDPIT

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (Unlocked) - Black

$637.59

Amazon.com

1. Use Stamina Mode for longer battery life

The Z5 family benefits from an improved version of Sony's Stamina Mode, which is designed to prolong battery life. If you're running Android Marshmallow, Sony reckons you'll get 400 percent longer battery life with Stamina Mode engaged.

It achieves that by reducing what your phone gets up to, so, for example, background data traffic is reduced, notifications are quietened and apps won't sync in the background. These are all little things but collectively they make a huge difference to how long your Z5's battery lasts. If you're really short of battery there's a second, more severe mode called Ultra Stamina mode that turns off everything but the most basic phone functions.

You'll find these modes in Settings > Device > Power Management.

The Z5 Premium has an improved version of Sony's Stamina Mode. / © ANDROIDPIT 2. Get some sleep

There's a growing body of opinion that believes the blue light from mobile devices is messing with our bodies' rhythms and ruining our sleep. If you suspect your Xperia is part of the problem you can change the white balance to make the screen less blue.

The bit you need is in Settings > Display > White balance. It's also useful for getting better color reproduction if you feel your photos appear a little too cool or too warm on the Sony's otherwise excellent screen.

3. Get rid of unwanted stock apps

Sony isn't the worst offender on Android when it comes to stuffing smartphones with apps, but there's a good chance that you won't use some of the apps it provides such as the PSN Network or Lifelog.

Getting rid of them is simple enough: open the app drawer and press and hold on an empty space. Little X crosses will appear in the icons of the apps you can uninstall, and you can tap those Xes to get rid of the apps you don't want.

If the Sony apps aren't all removable using this method you can disable them in Settings > Apps > All. Find the appropriate apps and then tap the Disable button to turn them off.

It's easy to remove or disable any apps you don't want. / © ANDROIDPIT 4. Get more pixels from the camera

The Z5 Premium has a 23 MP sensor, but the camera app is set to a default of 8 MP. That's because the camera app uses a technique called oversampling to try and get the best shot under any circumstances: it takes extra pixels so you can zoom in on an 8 MP image without losing any quality.

If you'd rather get all the megapixels, you can set 23 MP in the camera app by tapping the three-dot settings icon.

The Z5 Premium has 23 MP but shoots 8 MP by default for lossless zooming. / © ANDROIDPIT 5. Reorganize the camera options

The various camera modes in the camera app are handy, but it's likely that the ones you use most won't be the ones at the top. You can move tiles around by long-pressing them and dragging them, and you can also delete the ones you don't want: long-press and then look for the trash icon at the top of the screen.

6. Avoid blurry photos

As we explained in our Xperia Z5 camera tips feature, the Xperia Z5 has stabilization all over the place. So make use of it.

In Auto mode, hit the settings and head to the video tab and turn on SteadyShot for stabilized video. In Manual mode, hit the settings and flick the switch for Image stabilizer. In 4K video mode you have a SteadyShot option, so turn that on too. If you get a blurry photo or video after all this, you need to ease back on the caffeine.

The camera has image stabilization for smoother shooting. / © ANDROIDPIT 7. Make your ringtone less frightening

You want your ringtone loud enough that you can hear it when it's in a pocket or purse, but you don't want it so loud that when it goes off you jump out of your chair and spill your coffee. What to do?

On the Xperia, there's a brilliant feature that makes your ringtone start relatively quietly and build in volume with each ring. You'll find it in Settings > Call > Increasing Ringtone.

8. Turn on the special modes

The Z5 has some useful display modes, some of which are off by default, but you should turn them on and start making the most of them.

Glove mode is designed to help you use your phone while using gloves, which is handy in cold weather; smart backlight cControl uses sensors to decide if you're reading, in which case it doesn't turn the screen off; and Tap To Wake Up enables you to wake up your Z5 by tapping twice on the screen. You'll find all of these options in Settings > Display.

Smart Backlight Control is a useful feature, but it's not activated by default. / © ANDROIDPIT

Do you have any other top tips you'd like to share with your fellow Xperia owners? Let us know in the comments.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (Unlocked) - Black

$637.59

Amazon.com

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (Unlocked) - Chrome

$639.39

Amazon.com

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (Unlocked) - Gold

$638.75

Amazon.com

Source: 8 essential Sony Xperia Z5 Premium tips and tricks

GoPro video footage can now be broadcast using Twitter's Periscope app

Periscope attracted 10 million users in its first four months, and GoPro has produced a diverse mix of viral videos. Photograph: Alamy

GoPro action camera users can now broadcast their daring adventures live through Twitter's Periscope app, opening the door to a whole new dimension of real-time video sharing.

The live-streaming app announced on Tuesday that it was now integrated with GoPro, meaning that the sometimes insane footage captured on wearable cameras can now find a much larger audience – one that is drawn to the attraction of watching events on their phones as the action unfolds.

With the new feature, people with GoPro cameras can connect their devices to WiFi, open Periscope on an iPhone, tap the "broadcast" button and immediately go live. With a double tap, users can switch between broadcasting from the GoPro and the smartphone camera, and the GoPro will continue to record the footage while it streams.

Periscope – the app that attracted 10 million users in its first four months last year – has enabled journalists, entertainers, politicians and others to broadcast live to the public directly from their phones.

Reporters armed with Periscope have live-streamed coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis. Presidential candidates have submitted to Periscope interviews and live-stream campaign blitzes, allowing smartphone users across the globe to watch raw, up-close footage of celebrities in action.

GoPro technology has produced a diverse mix of incredible and comical viral videos that would have seemed unimaginable years ago.

Animals have had GoPros attached to their bodies, in some cases providing a spontaneous bird's-eye view of flight. Base jumpers with GoPros have enabled viewers to experience frightening feats from the viewpoint of the jumpers. And GoPro has given astronauts an opportunity to share their spacewalk missions with the world.

The marriage of Periscope and GoPro will likely give users of both technologies creative new ways to share their videos and experiences.

On a basic level, the integration means that some of the very precarious uses of the video streaming site will become a lot easier for GoPro owners. As Periscope noted in its announcement, users who were previously attaching their iPhones to drones and balloons – or submerging them under water – can now switch to GoPro as a much more reliable option.

The opportunities for live-streaming extreme sports are also extensive. The GoPro team said it plans to broadcast live with Periscope at the upcoming X Games in Aspen, Colorado.

The new feature comes on the heels of Twitter's announcement that it has integrated Periscope directly into Twitter feeds, meaning 'scopers can easily get their streams in front of their followers and Twitter users can watch live footage without leaving the app.

Alex Khoshnevissan, head of business operations at Periscope, said on Tuesday that the partnership could create new streaming tools in a number of industries. "We know that adventure broadcasts will be more immersive; we're also looking forward to what the multi-camera setup will enable in journalism, comedy and in new areas we have yet to consider," he said in an email.

It's easy to imagine how journalists with drones, GoPros and Periscope accounts could someday be able to provide real-time footage from major events in a way that uniquely enhances live storytelling.

Cute pets could dramatically grow their audiences with live streams that let viewers experience the world through the eyes of dogs and cats for hours on end. Drunk scoping could become much bolder.

And the most terrifying, heart-stopping GoPro videos – ones that offer a window into the lives of extreme athletes and tend to blow up on social media – could also draw significantly bigger crowds via Periscope. After all, the stakes are much higher when a daredevil stunt is streaming live in your Twitter feed.

Source: GoPro video footage can now be broadcast using Twitter's Periscope app

We may soon see a bunch of new iOS apps from Samsung

Already, Samsung has close to 50 apps on iOS, most of which serve as companion apps to the South Korean tech giant's range of smart devices. But according to a new report by the Samsung-focused site SamMobile, that number is about to get bigger with the imminent porting of more companion apps for Samsung's line of connected health and home devices from Android to Apple's mobile platform.

Smart watch

Earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show, Samsung announced that it would be adding iPhone support for its Gear S2 smartwatch.

But In addition to that, Samsung is said to be working on Gear Fit Manager for iOS for pairing a Gear Fit fitness wristband with an iPhone. Moreover, there's a forthcoming S Health app for iOS for tracking workouts, sleep, and other activities.

Smart home

As for Samsung's smart home offerings, there's going to be a new iOS companion app for the Samsung Galaxy View: Remote Control, which will enable users to control the 18.4-inch tablet remotely from an iPhone.

SamMobile also mentions that Samsung is developing a new Family Square app. But as it turns out, that app has been available on the App Store since a week ago. Samsung Family Square allows users to stream content such as photos to the Galaxy View.

Samsung is also said to be developing a companion app for Level, Samsung's line of audio devices including headphones and speakers. "The Level app will enable iPhone users to use these devices and make use of various effects and an official way of control," SamMobile notes.

Smart move

Finally, Samsung is reportedly working on an update to its Smart Camera app for iOS, which will probably introduce a redesigned interface. Samsung Smart Camera App enables users to link their Samsung smart cameras with their iOS devices for automatic sharing and remote viewfinder-enabled shooting.

Samsung's plans to bring its companion apps to iOS are expected, as rightly noted by SamMobile, to "increase the adoption of its connected devices," even if it means continually supporting the mobile platform of its chief competitor.

Of course, Samsung is far from alone: Microsoft and Google also maintain strong presences on iOS.

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Source: We may soon see a bunch of new iOS apps from Samsung

What it’s like to spend a year with an app-powered security camera

Canary

For about a year I've been using Canary's all-in-one home security system to monitor my apartment. I live in New York City, and it's already saved me from a possible rat infestation.

Canary bills itself as an all-in-one home security system for $200 and no required monthly fees. The New York startup's sleek, cylindrical piece of hardware features a 1080p video camera with infrared night vision and a motion detector. It also has a (quite loud) siren and the ability to detect the room temperature and air humidity.

Where Canary really shines is its mobile app, which lets you look through the device's camera from anywhere via your home internet connection. You can't pan or zoom as you watch, but the camera's wide-angle lens should capture most of any room you place it in.

CanaryThe Canary iPhone app.

When the camera auto-detects activity in its field of vision, it sends you a push notification and starts recording. Upon viewing the footage or a live feed of what's happening, you can sound the internal siren and call your local police department.

Alex Heath / Tech InsiderMy Canary sits on the fireplace mantle in my one-bedroom studio apartment.

I have to admit that my experience with Canary has been a mixed bag. It worked ok for the first few months I used it, but the camera was ultra-sensitive and would send me a notification for literally any motion or light change it detected. That meant any time a curtain moved from the breeze or a cloud would pass by outside, my iPhone would be buzzed.

In theory, a notification from Canary should be the most important notification you ever receive. It's meant to be acted upon immediately because it could mean that you're being robbed or your home is burning down. But when the app constantly sends notifications, they lose their importance in the user's mind and their effectiveness is lost.

To Canary's credit, the company's engineers have largely fixed this issue with app updates in July and November 2015, the latter of which added a much-needed sensitivity slider for how many notifications you get.

The Canary has three mode settings: alarmed, disarmed, and privacy. The first will send you a notification when activity is detected, the second will record motion without alerting you, while the last mode completely shuts the device off.

The app's auto-mode switching uses your iPhone's location to determine when you leave and arrive home and adjust your Canary's mode appropriately. You probably don't want yourself recorded at home, so you can opt to have it shut down when you arrive and arm itself when you leave each day.

The Canary app can support different members of a household, which lets it recognize multiple people and log when registered users come and go.

Alex Heath / Tech InsiderYes, that's a rat in my apartment. Thanks for the heads up, Canary.

Overall, the Canary is a good marriage of hardware and software. Setup is easy, and the camera is reliable at picking up activity. I wouldn't have recommended buying a Canary this time last year, but the last few app updates have fixed most of the software problems I experienced during my early days of testing.

If you're in the market for a home security system, I would consider a Canary. There's also the Google-owned Dropcam to consider at the same price, but I don't see the same pace of innovation happening with Dropcam right now. Canary is working on adding a speaker to its device so you can talk to people and a web version of its app for accessing on any device.

Canary as a company is flush with capital and its executives have assured me that there's a long term vision in place for the product. If anything, the investment in buying a Canary will pay off if it ever catches a burglar, which has been known to happen.

CanaryThe optional paid subscriptions you can get with Canary. You get access to the last 12 hours of your video history and up to five saved videos with the free plan.

You can buy a Canary for about $190 in black or white on Amazon with Prime two-day shipping.

Read the original article on Tech Insider. Follow Tech Insider on Facebook and Twitter. Copyright 2016.

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Source: What it's like to spend a year with an app-powered security camera

Xiaomi Mi 4C Review – The Android That Feels Like An iPhone

It's mere weeks until the release of the next in the Xiaomi Mi line – more specifically Xiaomi Mi 5 – and what better time to spare a glance to its predecessor, the Xiaomi Mi 4C? Every time a new device is released, the previous one in the hierarchy is more likely to receive a reduction in price, making it more affordable and a decent option, even if it's not the hippest or newest.

The Xiaomi Mi 4C is yet another production that comes from China and hopes to breach into the western market by employing decent mid-range builds and particularly low prices. But like so many other smartphones that attempt to do the same, it comes with its own ups and downs. Being easily comparable to the Nexus 5X in terms of power and capability, but at about half that unit's price, it would be highly understandable why the Xiaomi Mi 4C would appeal to anyone.

However, given the fact that it is, after all, a Chinese production, getting yourself one of the Xiaomi Mi 4C phones may prove to be difficult via your usual stores. There's no way to find it in stores, leaving you with the only option to order it online. But seeing as most of the reliable sources will not be a place where you can find this particular smartphone, you may have to rely on a Chinese website that can deliver to the US.

That will, however, mean you should expect quite the shipping fees and a bit of hassle to get your hands on it so let's see if what the Xiaomi Mi 4C has to offer is worth the wait.

Pros:

Affordable

Great display

Upgradeable to Android 6.0 Lollipop

Sleek design

USB Type C Charging

Cons:

Not stock Android OS

No microSD slot

Difficult to get

Missing some useful features you may not realize you need until you use this phone

Xiaomi Mi 4C Design

While the Xiaomi Mi 4C is not the first successor of the original Mi 4 that was launched in July 2014, it could very well be considered so. Even though the Mi 4i was the first official upgrade that was brought to this particular line of smartphones, the 4c ended up as the true successor to the original Mi model, featuring a lot more capability.

Even though the Xiaomi Mi 4C isn't that far off from being called a brand new release – it was first launched on the market in September 2015 – it fares very well from a design perspective. And I find that a difficult feat to achieve when you use polycarbonate plastic to build the entire exterior of the phone. Still, the Mi 4C manages to look very much like a well rounded and polished device.

Even though the manufacturer didn't opt for metal in its build, Xiaomi Mi 4c's design is defined by a matte finish. That comes with a great grip whenever you hold the phone, preventing it from slipping and making it feel extremely comfortable to the touch. Overall, the build feels sturdy and surprisingly, premium, while not skimping at all on compactness and reliability.

In terms of size, the Xiaomi Mi 4C measures 5.44 x 2.74 x 0.31 inches (138.1 x 69.6 x 7.8 mm). To give you an example that you can scale it with, it is very similar to the LG Nexus 5X. Alternatively, it's considerably larger than the iPhone 5S for example, but has about the same thickness. The Mi 4C also weighs 132 grams, which is near identical to its LG counterpart, making is quite light and easy to hold.

There are a few questionable downsides for it – for example the non-removable back cover and the lack of a microSD slot. But other than that, the minimal design choices of the Xiaomi Mi 4C offer you great accessibility. The back of the device is where you'll find the rear camera, with 3 rows of punctured speaker holes all the way at the bottom, right below the Mi logo.

The right hand side of the smartphone hosts the power button and the one-piece volume rocker. The latter seems to have also gained the ability to be used to snap photos which is slightly unusual for what one would normally be accustomed to. Meanwhile, the left hand side is where you'll find a dual-SIM card tray which can prove to be particularly useful for anyone who finds themselves always having to run around with multiple phones.

The dual-sim feature is one area where the western market doesn't manage to do a great job, whereas for the Chinese manufacturers it's quite common and often heard of. The top is where you'll find a regular 3.5 mm headphone jack, as well as an IR blaster in case you ever need it. The bottom is home to the Type C USB port, which is still something yet to be adopted in all of the new mobile devices, so it's a good reason to look forward to it.

Still, the Xiaomi Mi 4C seems to lack many of the other newer features that are becoming standard for smartphones in the eyes of the customer. Things such as near field communication, fingerprint scanners or support for contactless Android Pay. This is very likely to be caused by the fact that while these features may be popular in the western market, in China individuals barely make use of them so manufacturers don't bother to put them in their phones as a result.

The Xiaomi Mi 4C comes in 5 different color variations, which strongly resemble the color palette that was used in the iPhone 5C line of phones. While the plain black and white variants will most likely be to anyone's liking, it's safe to know that it also comes in pink, turquoise and yellow shades.

Xiaomi Mi 4C Display

The great design of the Xiaomi Mi 4C is complimented by an ISP LCD display that doesn't skimp on size or quality. At 5 inches, the screen is marginally smaller than the one incorporated in the LG Nexus 5X. regardless, the display stretches nicely from edge to edge, giving the phone a 71.7% screen to body ratio.

Considering it has a maximum resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, that accounts for a 441 ppi pixel density value, once again offering a slight edge over its LG counterpart. Covered in a layer of oleophobic coating on top of the classic protection that the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 offers makes for a great backup against fingerprints and other types of smudges. However, it would appear that all that protection does not do an amazingly great job at preventing screen scratches so you may want to consider investing in screen protectors or cases if you are to purchase the Xiaomi Mi 4C.

Some users may find that the display is a little shinier and reflective than they would wish for; certainly, it doesn't do an amazing job at staying clear and crisp when trying to view content in broad daylight (and worse, direct sunlight) but the phone has a sunlight mode that can ease viewing things in brightly lit conditions. Even so, the experience won't be amazing unless you crank up your brightness levels to the maximum.

The Xiaomi Mi 4C display scores 450 nits on the brightness scale and a 1609:1 contrast ratio, accounting for satisfyingly deep blacks. At an average deltaE for primary colors of 6.6, the Xiaomi Mi 4C has been called on not producing the most accurate colors out there. While the natural tendency of the colors on this phone is to go towards bluish hues, the Mi 4C offers a slider option that will allow you to change the colors to warmer if you like to do so.

Xiaomi Mi 4C Specifications & Performance

In comparison to the previous iteration of the Xiaomi Mi 4, the Mi 4C is a huge upgrade to say the least.  With pieces of hardware at least a few generations ahead than the ones found on its predecessor, the latter offers great performance and capability. Even so, however, the Xiaomi Mi 4C should not be considered more than a mid-range device as it won't come very close to the flagship devices companies such as Samsung or Apple make.

Still, this is the short list of what you can find inside the Xiaomi Mi 4C: Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992 chipset, a hex-core CPU, Adreno 418 graphics processing unit, 16/32 GB of hard drive space and 2/3 GB of RAM. There seems to be a slight difference between the specifications you'll get on the 16GB version than the ones you get on the 32; a bit odd but the differences are far from major.

The hex-core processing unit consists of a quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53, along with a dual-core 1.82 Ghz Cortex-A57. The Adreno 418 GPU that comes with it is what I would call a little old but still loyal piece of technology. There will be a very clear limit to what games you can and cannot play, and the limit is set somewhere around the late 2014 mark. The games that came out up until then should run on high quality with no problem. Take it up a notch with later releases and your experience may not be equally great.

The storage options on the Xiaomi Mi 4C are sadly limited, only offering you either a 16 GB or a 32 GB version. In the absence of micro-SD based storage expansion, things don't look very well if you're looking for more. While you do get 1 extra gigabyte of RAM on the 32 GB version, you should take into account the fact that it only really comes into action when you stress the capabilities of your phone.

Unless you're running an unfeasible amount of apps at a given moment, the 2 GB phone will perform decently throughout the day no matter what you choose to do.

Xiaomi Mi 4C Software & Features

The Xiaomi Mi 4C unfortunately doesn't use a stock Android operating system, but then again that's the case with most devices manufactured by Chinese phone makers. While the phone comes with the Android 5.1 Lollipop base OS, Xiaomi uses a custom designed user interface known as MIUI 7. Before we delve into the custom interface in detail, you should know that the Xiaomi Mi 4C can be updated to the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow now, so you should be able to enjoy what that has to offer.

If there's anything turns out to be a bit of a hindrance on the Mi 4C, it's the fact that you won't immediately have access to the standard Google apps such as the Play Store as soon as you take the phone out of the box. However, it's no end of the world as you can easily download them right away and start setting up your new smartphone home just as easily.

MIUI 7 is a relatively clean user interface that changes the way things look a fair amount, resorting to icons that highly resemble the Apple iOS design. Not only that but the mere way things look when you interact with the operating system also feels a lot like navigating around an iPhone. Not only that everything runs smoothly, but the way the phone responds is very fluid (think about scrolling down through menus on an iPhone).

The MIUI 7 doesn't employ the use of app drawers like regular Android phones do, and instead chooses to arrange your apps and shortcuts on your homescreen. Once again highly resembling the iOS model, the user interface will display tiny badges to let you know certain apps have unchecked notifications on them – such as unread messages, missed calls and so on.

But while the entire operating system may feel like it's downright copied after what makes iOS what it is, it still adds a great amount of Android user favorite features. To name a couple, that would be a high degree of customization and the entire notification system.

But MIUI 7 has its own say in the matter as well, bringing a few neat tricks for you to make use of and transform your experience using this phone into an easy to use and comfortable one. What Xiaomi calls 'Edge Controls' is the particular feature that allows you to perform different action by tapping on the side of your phone a certain number of times. The phone also allows you to change the default application of the edge controls the way you like it, opting out of using them for things such as moving back through the interface or snapping photos when the camera app is open.

Last but not least, you should know that MIUI 7 allows you to unroot the phone. If you choose to flash the global stable ROM, all you need to do is download the file to the phone's storage and then run the MIUI 7 Updater. This will remove your previously installed non-core apps along with the original bloatware that comes with the system, but you can easily get them back afterwards via a program that you can find on the Mi Market.

Xiaomi Mi 4C Camera

Although I realize it's purely biased of me to say that the presence of cameras on phones has become purely trivial and not something that people still give too much credit to. It's common knowledge that good photos will never be the result of a phone camera, and yet – seeing that it's more likely that wherever you go, you'll have your phone on you and not your professional DSLR, chances are you'll use the Xiaomi Mi 4C camera at least several times.

And that is one aspect where you should feel relieved at least. The way that Chinese manufacturers manage to reduce the price on their units so much is by cutting corners on particular pieces in their builds; sometimes it's the display, other times it's the chipset or even the materials used in its construction. More often than not however, it's the camera that gets the brunt of that. Well, not in Xiaomi Mi 4C's case.

The quality of the photos taken with the 13 megapixel rear camera was surprising to say the least, featuring rich colors, a great amount of detail and sharpness. To compare it to its western brother, the LG Nexus 5X, the camera on the Mi 4C is greatly superior in almost every perspective. Starting with the time it takes for the autofocus to kick in, even in harsher light conditions and ending with the fact that it can shoot in 1080p, its performance is top notch given the price class of the phone.

There's a whole lot of editing and control packed in the camera software that the Xiaomi Mi 4C offers. On top of the regular shooting modes and filters, you also get to adjust white balance, ISO and much more.

Xiaomi Mi 4C Battery Life

Although it's non-removable, the battery pack that comes with the Xiaomi Mi 4C is surprisingly powerful. The 3,080 mAh battery will keep your phone going for outstanding periods of time if you're a light user. If you just use it to reply to texts, make an occasional call, check your email and maybe look something up on the internet, the phone could easily last almost 2 days on a single, full charge.

Video playback can last you up to 6 hours on default screen brightness. There is a number of software features that allow you to reduce your battery usage; while reducing the brightness of the display is your easiest, go-to option to save up some battery, you can also set the phone to cut down a little on performance in order to also consume less.

And of course, because the Xiaomi Mi 4C uses a Type-C USB cable that is capable of fast charging, you can actually get a full charge going in 1.5 – 2 hours.

Xiaomi Mi 4C Verdict

So far and by all means, almost everything contained in this phone is definitely a good reason for you to purchase it, especially if you're not looking for the high end flagships and the state of the art devices on the market. The manufacturer seems to have managed to pull off creating a great device without cutting too many corners, that is both responsive and quite sleek.

The problem with the Xiaomi Mi 4C is, however, the fact that it is after all a device designed for the Chinese market. That being said, it may have some features that you're not very accustomed to and at the same time lack some things that you feel like you can't live without in 2016 anymore. Not to mention that in order to get things as comfortable as you can, you will need to do some manual tweaking.

You can purchase the Xiaomi Mi 4C for roughly $229 from select retailers in both the United States (when in stock) or, alternatively, from Chinese online stores.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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When I was younger I used to spend almost all of my free time playing computer games. My mom and dad would go mental over this. "You're never going to do anything with your life if you are going to play games all day" they used to say. What was even more unusual was the fact that I played more games than most of the guys in my friend group. Looking back, I have to admit that I probably played a bit too much, but I also learned a lot of great things. When I turned 20 I decided that it was high-time to make some money of my own, but the only jobs I could get were that of waitress or cashier. How exciting. After several excruciating months of serving tables I had a great idea: since I love gaming so much, why don't I write about it? That's when I started doing small writing projects on Elance. Eventually, I got an offer for a part-time job. During that time I learned all about content marketing strategies and how search engines work. I started writing about various topics s uch as technology, health and lifestyle and discovered that I was actually good at it. On November 24, 2014, I became part of the ArgyllFreePress team.

Latest posts by Nancy Young (see all)
Source: Xiaomi Mi 4C Review – The Android That Feels Like An iPhone

Top 5 Apps to Enhance Windows 10

Shaun Campbell | On January 22, 2016

Windows 10 makes it easier than ever for users to download apps that enhance the operating system. These five apps will add unique features to make your computer more dynamic and allow you to get more out of Windows 10.

Fresh Paint

Image via Microsoft Store

Price: Free; in-app purchases available between $1.49 and $1.99

If you have a creative side, then you will want to get the Fresh Paint app. It has a range of features that makes it easy to draw, paint, and edit images. Some of the most useful features in the Windows 10 version include:

An intuitive UI that lets you use a mouse, stylus, or your finger to draw

Pressure sensitivity that gives you better control of brush strokes and line thickness

The option to import images from your camera or other sources

The basic version of Fresh Paint is free, but there are plenty of in-app purchases for people who want more from it. You can even buy activity packs that include drawing and painting activities for the kids.

Netflix

Image via Microsoft Store

Price: Free, but Netflix subscription is required

The Windows 10 Netflix app makes watching TV shows and movies easier than ever. Instead of navigating to the Netflix website, you just launch the app from your desktop. It will remember your password, so you don't have to worry about losing access to content.

The Netflix app is specifically designed for viewing TV on multiple devices. This is convenient, for instance, if you start watching a movie on your laptop, you can switch to your tablet to continue watching when you get in bed. As long as you have the app on your other devices, it will pick up where you left off.

Dropbox

Image via Microsoft Store

Price: Free (additional storage space requires payment)

Cloud storage is becoming increasingly popular as people want to share files and access them from multiple devices. With Dropbox, you can share files without attaching them to emails (which rarely works well for large files).

Signing up for the Windows 10 Dropbox app gives you 2GB of free space. You can always purchase more storage space if you need it. This is useful whether you have an expensive desktop computer with 6400GB of storage or one of Lenovo's affordable Flex Series laptops like the Ideapad 100, which has 500GB of space.

This version of the app also lets you download favorite files. This makes it possible for you to view the file even when you do not have an Internet connection.

Drawboard PDF

Image via Microsoft Store

Price: $10 after three-day free trial

Sharing PDFs with colleagues can significantly reduce the amount of paper you use, which can help you save money while reducing harm to the environment. Unfortunately, most PDF readers don't let you edit documents. Drawboard PDF makes it possible for you to edit and even write on your documents.

Adding Drawboard PDF to Windows 10 gives you several useful features such as:

PDF markup history to view changes

Touchscreen sensitivity for styluses and fingertips

Shapes like arrows, ellipses, lines, and rectangles

The option to change colors and stroke width

Drawboard PDF makes your PDF files more dynamic so you can share and edit your work easily.

Flipboard

Image via Microsoft Store

Price: Free

The Internet has made it possible to read and watch the latest news as it unfolds. Flipboard takes that to the next level by letting you create a "news magazine" focused on your specific interests.

With Flipboard, you can:

Save stories you find online

Read cover stories published directly to the app

Search for stories by topic, blogs, hashtags, and names

Connect up to 12 social networks to your feed

Instead of visiting several websites for news and social media updates, you just make Flipboard one of your live tiles.

There are thousands of apps that you can add to Windows 10. Most people will find that these five apps significantly enhance their experiences. If you need something slightly different, though, there are plenty of choices out there.

Source: Top 5 Apps to Enhance Windows 10

Candid camera

Duke University, with sponsorship by the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research, is developing a smartphone app to learn more about childhood autism and even screen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury.

In a press release, the Navy notes that the app, called "Autism & Beyond," is "available for free download from the Apple App Store to families wishing to participate in a six-month medical research study by Duke University."

Using the smartphone's user-facing "selfie" camera, the app records a child's facial expressions in response to a series of questionnaires and videos designed to get him or her to smile, laugh, or be surprised. The app's core algorithm maps key points on the child's face to assess emotional responses.

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"We analyze the video to track position and movement of the head and face, including the lips, eyes and nose—all of which indicate emotions," Guillermo Sapiro, a professor at Duke University who developed the algorithm, said in a statement. "For example, while watching stimuli like a funny video, does the child smile, look toward the caregiver or ask the caregiver to view the video as well? We study all of that. Lack of emotion and social sharing are possible characteristics of childhood autism."

Sapiro hopes to expand the autism study to tailor apps for warfighter-related conditions such as PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and depression.

Source: Candid camera

Huawei Mate 8 Prompt Tries To Scare Users Into Using EMUI Default Apps, Calls Third-Party Apps "Security Risks"

Let me be unambiguous: the Huawei Mate 8 is a good phone. I actually like a lot about it. But when I updated to the latest beta software (and yes, that deserves highlighting, obviously) this morning, I was greeted with a rather unpleasant new prompt in the default launcher settings area. Check this out.

Turns out this message appears when you attempt to change any of the default apps away from the stock EMUI options. That includes the launcher, as above, the gallery, dialer, SMS app, camera, music, browser, and email.

Once more, let me be completely clear when I say this message is basically horseshit. Huawei's claims have no supporting facts, they are unashamed blanket statements, and there is simply no good reason for a prompt like this to exist. I'm not even sure this would pass muster during Google's CTS (certification test suite) checks, which do have provisions explicitly relating to the ability to change the default launcher. While this doesn't stop you from changing launchers or another default app, it's clearly against the spirit of being able to freely do so, and would likely convince inexperienced or wary smartphone users to stick with the EMUI apps just to play it safe. Obviously, experienced smartphone jockeys like ourselves would gladly ignore this prompt, because we know it's bogus. But we're the minority.

Huawei's motives here are unclear, and this is part of why we should keep the pitchforks down, but still make it known this is bad behavior. This prompt could well be the work of a lone software engineer who simply thought they were providing users what they deemed a responsible warning about the [realistically improbable, but theoretically possible] dangers of using a third-party launcher or other default app replacement. It may just totally go away by the time the retail software launches (the Mate 8 isn't out yet). That is the most generous explanation and outcome I can paint. On the other hand, it's also possible this message is more nefarious in nature. I want to emphasize that what I say here is complete conjecture - I have no evidence. Why would Huawei be interested in scaring users into keeping the EMUI apps as the defaults? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they collect at least some usage analytics. If users use a different launcher, for example, that theoretical usage da ta for the EMUI launcher goes away. But again, that's just spitballing, and probably the most incriminating interpretation you could have for this behavior.

So, knowing what I do - that this prompt is annoying and spreads unwarranted FUD - Huawei should remove it. It is against the spirit of Android, it is wholly unnecessary, and it is bound to lead to misunderstandings among many users. There may well be evil, battery-sucking, data-hogging spyware launchers and camera apps circulating in China, I don't know. But what I do know is that the "install unknown sources" toggle makes it clear that any APK you sideload, be it a launcher or anything else, could potentially be dangerous. And I'm not saying the Play Store is a total content safe haven, either. But this prompt sends the wrong message, and I'd dread to see it start popping up on devices from other manufacturers. So cut it out, Huawei.

Source: Huawei Mate 8 Prompt Tries To Scare Users Into Using EMUI Default Apps, Calls Third-Party Apps "Security Risks"

Coolpad Note 3 review: The phablet is complete ‘value for money’ at Rs 8999

Coolpad is yet another manufacturer to join the increasing brigade of Chinese vendors in India. However, this company has managed to grab some eyeballs with its competitive specs in the lucrative sub-Rs 10,000 market segment of India. The newest device to come from the company is the Note 3.

While the name may sound cliched as most companies now have a 'Note' series, but superior specs at Rs 8,999 is what makes Coolpad's device stand apart from the rest. On paper, the Coolpad Note 3 seems like a total value for money product with 5.5-inch display, 3GB RAM, 13MP camera and support for 4G. However, lets dig in a little deeper and see how it performs.

Design and build: 6.5/10The Coolpad Note 3 sports a very simple design with rounded edges and a chrome ring visible from the front. On the front, you will find a large 5.5-inch display with ample bezel above and below it. The lower side accommodates three touch buttons while the upper side shows the front-facing camera. The right and left edges accommodate power and volume rocker respectively.

The upper edge comes with a 3.5mm jack and the lower edge gets a microUSB port and primary mic. Just turn around and the backside shows the rear snapper, LED flash and a secondary mic. Below the camera, you will also find the fingerprint scanner and glance slightly lower and you will find the speaker grille. The fingerprint scanner is well placed, just as we seen in some of the recent devices, which makes it easy to unlock the device using the index finger. However, the matte white back looks evidently plasticky.

Overall, the Note 3 is a considerably large device, and do not expect comfortable one-hand usage. It was particularly difficult (for me) reaching the last of the three capacitive touch buttons with one-hand usage. The company claims a metal frame inside, but tends to look slightly cheap.

Features: 8/10Coolpad Note 3 sports a large 5.5-inch HD IPS display, but with disappointing 720 x 1080 pixels of resolution This gives it a pixel density that goes up to 267ppi. The internals include a 64-bit 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor coupled with whopping 3GB RAM. It has 16GB onboard storage, out of which 7.7GB is available for users. Besides, there is a microSD card slot to expand it up to 64GB. However, it should be noted that the dual SIM phone has one of its slot modified to be used as microSD card slot. This isn't something new, and we've seen many phone makers opt for such a design. So, one will have to compromise on a SIM for additional storage and vice versa.

The camera department comes with a 13MP rear snapper, which is a standard among phones these days. It is accompanied by LED flash and f/2.0 aperture. For selfie lovers, it offers a 5MP front-facing camera, which is again pretty standard in phones at this price. It supports 3G as well as 4G, and the other connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, microUSB, among others. Finally, a 3000mAh battery completes the package.

Software: 7/10The Coolpad Note 3 runs on rather older Android Lollipop with a layer of the company's proprietary Cool UI. The UI is nothing unusual, and Coolpad is almost at par with most Chinese vendors that try to offer a forked and more customised version of Android. Like most companies, there is no app drawer and apps are strewn across homescreens.

Traditional UI; Minimal UI; Accessing Preferences

The UI is presented in two forms – Traditional and Minimal. Long press on the homescreen and four icons will pop up on the lower side – Widgets, Wallpaper, Effects and Preferences. Under Preferences, you can select the traditional UI. To switch back just click on the first capacitive touch button and you will find minimalistic UI option under Preferences. Under Effects, you can choose the way the device lets you switch from one page to other. It seems more like a gimmick.

Just slide your finger downwards, and you will find the notifications. Besides, you will also find 16 shortcuts such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, and so on. There's also a feature called the C button, and enabling it will bring additional options that can be accessed from any page. The image below shows some of the cool themes that you can download for free from its proprietary Cool Show app. Similarly, you will also its own Cool Store for apps, games and so on.

Homescreen themes; FP Lock feature

The fingerprint scanner took less than a minute to setup. Interestingly, there is a pre-installed app called FP Lock that lets you lock specific apps using the fingerprint scanner. This means, you can easily avoid access to your private data. It also comes pre-installed with the Xploree keyboard app that has Yahoo search integrated. Then there are smart gesture and smart call options, just like most other Chinese vendors.

In terms of software, the UI is slick and vivid. In terms of features, it will basically depend upon user to user on how convenient they find it.

Display: 7/10The Coolpad Note 3 features a 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixels of resolution. With a pixel density that limits to 267 ppi, the display resolution comes as a disappointment compared to some of its rivals in the same or lower price range offering Full HD display. However, the viewing experience was decent. We tried watching a few videos and the large display and resolution together offer a decent experience, leaving us with nothing specific to complain about. Take a look at the screen grabs below.

Camera: 7/10The device features a 13-megapixel rear snapper with LED flash and f2.0 aperture. The photos taken outdoors in bright sunlight came across detailed and accurate, with good dynamic range. The colour reproduction didn't disappoint either. We also got some decent snaps indoors taken in ambient light. However, we can't say the same about photos clicked in low-light conditions. As you see in the sample below, the photo clicked outdoors in low-lit conditions appears to be very noisy and grainy. The camera is also capable of shooting decent 1080p videos.

PS: Image samples have been resized here. To check the full resolution, please click on the images

For selfie lovers, the Coolpad Note 3 also gets a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with the beauty option, which is almost standard these days but works brilliantly. The camera app is simple to use and loaded with features.

The Camera app UI

Camera and video features

Performance: 7/10

When playing music and videos, the sound clarity was good on speakers as well as with the bundled earphones. We tried playing several videos, and it didn't seem adept at handling 1080p videos, we must add. However, that was limited to the content quality as the video didn't stutter while watching or even streaming. It also managed to ace at the little multi-tasking we did.

Browsing with multiple tabs open alongside some social media, was almost smooth. We played a few casual games, and the experience was again good. The device did warm up slightly, mostly on the upper side where the fingerprint scanner and camera sensor resides, but it wasn't uncomfortably warm.

Battery: 8.5/10

The Coolpad Note 3 is fuelled by a 3,000mAh battery. With replying to emails, social media, some browsing, messaging and phone calls, we easily managed to easily squeeze through the day. The Battery test result gave 10 hours 22 minutes, which is very good.

Verdict and Price in India

The sub-Rs 10,000 phone segment in India is extremely fierce. Coolpad is relatively newer Chinese vendor, but the company has ensured to bring together the best ingredients possible. The Coolpad Note 3 is a combination of feature set and pricing that would make one take notice even in the  inundated budget price segment.

At Rs 8,999, it is a rare device to bring in a large 5.5-inch display, 3GB RAM, 13MP rear snapper and a fingerprint scanner that is actually quick and efficient. The user interface is more or less what most of these Chinese vendors have on offer. If you could let go the shoddy plasticky look and poor screen resolution, the device is a complete value for money package with a decent camera, good performance, efficient finger print scanner and a very good battery life. Some of its closest competitors are the K3 Note and Yu Yureka Plus.

Tags: Coolpad Note 3, Coolpad Note 3 battery, Coolpad Note 3 display, Coolpad Note 3 review, Review

Source: Coolpad Note 3 review: The phablet is complete 'value for money' at Rs 8999