Windows Phone 8.1 or Android L : The Ultimate OS War.

Both Microsoft and Google have brought big updates to their mobile operating system to strengthen their market. In this article we will be focusing on Microsoft's latest mobile OS Windows Phone 8.1 and Google's Android L.

Both the operating systems have enjoyed quite some attention and users are excited and buzzing around to know which one is better or which one is catching up.

How do Android L and Windows Phone 8.1 compare? Which one is better? What are similarities between them? are some of the questions that every user is eager to know. So without wasting some more time (giggle :p) lets start with what these two amazing operating systems offer.

User Interface and Customization  

Both these OS provide a completely different User Interface. Android L have a home screen with apps shortcuts, widgets, folders that can be completely customized. A user can pick between static or live wallpaper, add widgets, shortcuts as per their liking or even use a third party theme to completely change how your Android smart phones looks.

Now talking about Windows Phone 8.1, the operating system has a unique UI with the neat and clean tiles organised all over the screen. The Windows Phone allows you to change the size of the tiles or completely remove a tile from the home screen. In place of widgets in Android you have live tiles that updates very minute (In WP 8.1 update 1) to give you latest information/notifications like weather, mails, messages etc. You can select between white and black theme and also set wallpapers which appears behind the live tiles(tiles which are transparent). They just look gorgeous and completely changes your WP look.

Notification Center/ Action Center

Both Android L and Windows Phone 8.1 have a similar approach to the notifications. Just swipe from the top to access the notification bar or say the action center(in WP) to see all your recent notifications. There you see all your mails, messages, updates available and everything else the OS thinks you should have a look on. Both let us dismiss a notification with a swipe to left while a tap to trigger the respective app. 

Yes, Android L is more mature in this department while Windows Phone is new to it. Android L pushes non important notifications to the bottom while high priority ones on the top. It also allows users to reply to texts, mails from the notification bar without opening the respective app. What's not cool is that in Android L we don't have a way to clear all notifications at once while Windows Phone 8.1 allow us to do so. WP 8.1 has a more clean and well organised action center with more functioning expected in the future updates.

Google Now and the Cortana

If you are not aware of these, both are the names of the personal digital assistant which you get on Android L and Windows Phone 8.1 operating system respectively. 

Android's virtual assistant is an intelligent tool that attempts to provide relevant information at the right time. It does that by analyzing the user's search habits and integrating them with the Android's core apps and other services.

In Windows Phone 8.1 Microsoft have introduced Cortana, your very own personal digital assistant that responds to natural languages like Google Now. Cortana sounds more natural and is much more interactive with users and have a good sense of humor too. It also provides you with relevant information from all your mails, texts and applications you have on your phone. It does almost everything and I consider it much better than Google Now. Microsoft is still working on it and improving it to make it even more better.   

What to Expect?

Windows Phone is catching up, once regarded as the underdog in the smartphone arena is now much more bolder, better and more functional and should give some worry to other platforms to look after. It has reached this state by adopting a number of features from its competitors, and improving on them. At the same time, Windows Phone 8.1 does not stray away from the platform's roots. It is still that simple to use and minimalist OS that adds some welcome variety in a market dominated by Android and iOS. 

Yes its true that we can’t consider WP 8.1 superior to Android L. We'd rather call it different. It isn't as customizable as Android, but it has a unique, modern look. It isn't as functional as Android, but all that it does, it does it well. There are still areas to improve.

Those were some of the features (not all) that both these amazing mobile OS provides.

Personally, I love Windows Phone. i love the flipping of live tiles, the new action center and well organised apps on your homescreen.

What’s your preference. What are those features you consider best on either of the platform. Do comment :)

and Keep visiting Techzoot.com for more tech stuffs.

Xiaomi Redmi One S Review : Is the Xiaomi Redmi One S worth it?

I won't be lying when I say that Xiaomi is one of the most-talked after brand. The Chinese company has not spent even a single rupee on advertising and in fact they seem casual about all the wave they have created by selling feature packed phones at shockingly low prices.

Although its unique strategy of using online flash sales has really paid of with a few customers, we must remember that Xiaomi is still a startup and is in its initial phase and it doesn't have the financial or logistical might that the Samsung and Apple has.


Now, on the second note Xiaomi has temporarily put sales of the Mi 3 on hold to concentrate on an even lower priced offering, the Redmi 1S. As with the Mi 3, this phone boasts of specs that are usually found in phones that cost at least twice as much, such as the much-loved Motorola Moto G.
I personally feel that Redmi 1S has all the potential to once again change the dynamics of the smartphone market.

Look and feel

Unlike in the days of the Nokia Xpress Music and 7280, which looked like a lipstick case, phone companies are no longer experimenting a lot with design. Smartphones today come pretty much in the same  candybar shape, and most don't even really give it a second thought.
Though we had curved phone LG G Flex and Samsung Round but that is yet to be explored.

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S is yet another candybar smartphone with a same old prdictable look that does not attract that much attention. It's somewhat unexciting, but that may not matter to a lot of people.

The Redmi 1S measures 137x69x9.9mm and is definitely not slim. Moreover, its 158g weight makes it heavier than a lot of other phones in this price range. The rear cover is removable and Xiaomi is expected to offer colourful replacement panels just like Moto Shells. The Redmi 1S is sold with a matte grey rear.

A 4.7-inch screen, which has thick plastic borders. The three capacitive button labels which sit below the screen are red in colour with the the LED indicator is below the home button.

Specifications and software

For a phone priced so low, the Redmi 1S has jaw-dropping specs. Housed inside the body of the Redmi 1S are some top-quality hardware components including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.6GHz with an integrated Adreno 305 GPU. There is 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, of which 6.14GB is available to the user.

The Redmi 1S come with an 8-megapixel BSI camera with flash which can record 1080p videos. It also has a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera. and Redmi 1S is powered by a 2,000mAh battery.

The 4.7-inch LCD has a resolution of 720pixels, which is phenomenal compared to other phones in this price range.. It is protected by AGC Dragontrail 2 glass.

The Redmi 1S runs Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) with Xiaomi's MIUI v5 skin on top of it which is a dissapointment considering a lot of phones in this price range come with Android 4.4 (KitKat) pre-installed. Xiaomi has promised a software update before the end of this year that will bring MIUI v6 on top of Android 4.4 KitKat.

MIUI goes farther than most Android skins when it comes to customisation. It offers a lot of depth and a ton of features. It is incredibly responsive to touch and, unlike stock Android, has all the app icons lined up on the homescreen itself. There are also tonnes of useful software tweaks. We noticed that Xiaomi has included a 'Lite Mode' which resembles Windows Phone's UI. The most important and frequently used apps are available in the form of large easy-access tiles.


There are a ton of themes which is great for customisation, but in our opinion they all look really cartoonish. In fact, MIUI itself is very colourful. Ultimately, this boils down to preference.

You can read more of our thoughts on MIUI in the Xiaomi Mi 3 review.

Camera

We want to get one thing out of the way: the primary 8-megapixel camera on the Xiaomi Redmi 1S is the best anyone can find for a phone priced below Rs. 10,000 right now.

In our daylight shots the camera managed to capture some really good images. The only problem we noticed was the software processing worked overtime to reduce noise in the images by smudging details slightly. Otherwise, colours were natural. Even in macro mode, the phone performs really well. We were shocked after the low-light performance test. The camera managed to capture some details which even more expensive smartphones generally fail to do. The quality of the 1080p video is also fairly decent.



The camera software does a lot of processing after images are captured by the 1.6-megapixel front camera. This smudges details in order to beautify a person's face.

The camera app looks like a slightly tweaked version of the default app from Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). However, it is easy to use.

Performance

There is no other phone in this price range that performs as well as the Xiaomi Redmi 1S. If someone puts a gun over my head and forces me to come up with one problem, it would be that only 400MB of RAM is available after the OS and other services have loaded. As long as you don't open tons of apps together, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

For the most part, the phone works very well and it didn't face any heating issues either. According to sources Dead Trigger 2 can be easily played in Ultra High settings, just to push the GPU.I don't think prospective buyers will be disappointed with the gaming performance.

Now coming to synthetic benchmarks. The Redmi 1S scored
21,439 - AnTuTu 5 and 10,752 - Quadrant,
which are leagues ahead of phones competing in this price range. In our graphics benchmarks 3D Mark Ice Storm and GFXbench, the phone scored 5274 and 10.4fps, which are both comparable to scores of much higher priced phones.
I also played some sample videos to test if the phone could handle them and found that the 1080p sample video encoded at 40mbps won't run, which was a bit of a letdown - 1080p videos encoded at a lower bit rate ran fine though. The tiny speaker can get really loud but at its highest volume the sound distorts.

Xiaomi doesn't bundle earphones in the box and for testing purposes so I used our our headphones. The sound quality was really good. .

In our rigorous battery test, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S  it lasted a good 8 hours and 27 minutes of video playback on a loop. In everyday usage shuffling between 3G and Wi-Fi, it wasn't significantly better than other offerings, but should still last you a day of heavy usage.

Verdict

Xiaomi continues the trend aggressively in the budget smartphone market and with Redmi 1S they have  sure shot to leave Samsung &  Micromax behind.

Even more expensive phones such as the Moto E and Micromax Unite 2 are no where near to Redmi 1S when it comes to reliable performance, great camera, crisp screen and excellent battery life. The only major drawback we see is the lack of Android 4.4 (KitKat) at the moment.As this one will come with Android v4.3 out of the box.

Looking at this phone's specs, it is easy to make comparisons to the Moto G which is almost available at double the price but I am avoiding that at the moment as Moto G will soon be succeeded by the Moto G2 (or whatever the final phone will be called).

At the moment the Xiaomi Redmi 1S is the best buy with a price tag of just  ₹ 5,999/- on flipkart . According to flipkart ,Xiaomi Redmi 1S will have its first flash sale on September 2 . In the first round, 40,000 units will be put up for sale and we wont be amazed if they all vanish within seconds. I recommend this phone because the price-to-performance ratio is unbelievably amazing - and hope you end up booking one before the time runs out.

How to reduce your DATA consumption?

Ever increasing apps on our smartphones require access to mobile data.And here comes the point which worry all of us when we aren't connected to any wifi network,The mobile data.
We don't get unlimited mobile data from most of the service providers(you may get but for that you have to spare out the money for what you use). So,in order to be able to use our mobile data for our decided interval of time we need to use it wisely.
You can try the following tips to decrease the mobile data usage.

(A). USE DATA COMPRESSION:

Some websites are not optimized for mobile and may use up a lot of your mobile data, while some websites may eat into your data through heavy advertisements.

You can avoid these hassles by using browsers that allow data to be compressed for android phones before it is downloaded on your device or handset, thereby reducing the data usage considerably. Although at times compression might mean compromising on quality, it still goes a long way in saving precious cellular data and thereby help to reduce your monthly cellular data usage. Opera and chrome are examples of such browsers that offer data compression.

 Now if you are open to compromising on quality you better use opera mini as your browser,it uses the mobile data very carefully and hence letting you achieve your objective of saving mobile data.

(B). DON'T CLEAR THE CACHE:

Now this is the most controversial point.I mean to say is we all occasionally keep on clearing the cache memory in our device to let our device perform faster and that is fine too.But the payoff price for this is more data usage because the cache is a component that stores data ready for use. When that data is requested again, by the browser for example, having it in the cache means that it can be provided faster and without requiring it to be fetched from the web server where it was originally held.

So clearing the cache and then browsing again means more data usage.

(C). TRY ONAVO EXTEND APP:

To compress and save your data Onavo Extend runs continuously in the background of your phone and directs all of your mobile data traffic through Onavo's server and compression technology.

Download now: www.onavo.com/apps/android_extend

(D). TURN OF AUTO LOADING OF IMAGES ON WEBSITES

If you are solely concerned with the content/text while you are surfing so it's better to turn off loading of images which will let you save a large amount of your data usage.

Make your Android phone work like a new one

We all use our smartphone allot for every little work and install many useful applications, games in it. But our Android smartphones too become sluggish, bloated and out of shape over a period of time. Our smartphones accumulate so much data, applications, downloads over a period of time that they become overweight just like our body and need some refreshment to overcome those problems and work like a new one.

Here are some of the tips, a quick guide to shape up your Android smartphone.

Dump unused apps

Most of us have so many apps installed in our smartphones that we too are unaware of them. So, straight away go to settings and find your list of apps, under App manager, and uninstall those useless apps. There will be many apps which you don't use now. Just get them out of your Android smartphone. Yess!! dump them.

Download a tune-up app

Download an app to maintain your smartphone. There are number apps available in the Google Play Store, one of them is Power Tune up by Bitdefender. 

Once you install it and open it, you will see four icons for managing different aspects of your smartphone. One of them will keep a control over phone's battery consumption an important element. Keeping a check over you phone's battery life is a very essential aspect especially if you use your phone all day. This app offers low battery notifications, a battery saver mode and many features like this.

There is check mode which helps in keeping a check over log files, helps in emptying directories and duplicate files. You can also clean all your cached data by hitting 'Clean All' tab. 

Move your apps to phone's sd card

Free your phone memory and move your apps to sd card  (if sd card is supported :p ).

Move multimedia stuffs to your sd card or upload them to cloud storage and free up the phone memory helping the phone to use the free memory in smooth functioning of the apps, games you run.

Factory reset your phone

This is the last option to make your phone what it was on the day you first used it. Yes, the factory reset will move your phone to its original condition. Keep in mind once you factory reset your device it will loose all its data, apps installed, downloads, passwords saved, email ids, multimedia stuffs everything. So, it will be better to save your stuffs first. Make a backup first before hitting to the factory rest option.

And yea

Start fresh !!

:)

Source: InfoWorld

Google Secrets : Search tips and tricks

Everyday we use Google for getting information on absolutely anything. 

In this blog i am going to tell you those things or you can say the tips or tricks that will make your search on Google more accurate, specific and more productive. 

                     

Yes, there are many secrets that Google have and you will be finding some of those as you go through the article. Excited ?? so lets start.

1. Using Operators   Be specific and Google will provide you the best results. Use operators to search anything, like for example enclose a phrase in quotation marks, like this, "Google tips and tricks". This searches for that specific phrase only. Adding a minus sign will exclude that word, for example xyz recipe - tomatoes.

2. Searching A Particular Site   Restrict your search to a single site by using site: operator. For example, you want to search about Windows on Techzoot then you might type Windows site:techzoot.com.

3. Define It   Using the define operator gives the dictionary definition of search and synonyms. For example define:entrepreneur will give you the definition of entrepreneur. 

4. What's Going On   Want to know what is going on in a particular city or like fancying a movie? Then type movie times Delhi, this will show what's particular with that city. Find more specific results by typing movie times PVR rohini will show what's on in that particular cinema.

5. Translate Languages    Need to translate something and you are really in a hurry?? Stop worrying Google is there. Just type translate language A language B and there you are with a translator positioned right on top of  the page.

This is all for now, will be updating soon with more tricks and tips to make your Google..ing more fun and more accurate.

Till then happy Google Searching :)

Source: TOI

QUAD CORE V/S DUAL CORE PROCESSOR

After analyzing the physical dimensions of any smartphone what we compare is it's performance.
Performance of any smartphone basically depends on two factors
(a). Processor
(b). Memory
We will mainly focus on Processor in this post.
Smartphones nowadays come with DUAL CORE or QUAD CORE processor.
According to any normal person,more is good.But that's not true always.
Take a look at following points.

PROCESSING SPEED:

QUAD CORE processor means more processing speed and that's true.But most of the apps aren't programmed keeping quad core processors in mind,and hence not utilizing the power of quad core.
You can switch between more applications simultaneously and smoothly by using QUAD CORE processor.But for normal usage DUAL CORE processor won't disappoint you at all.In fact unless you are playing a high end game you will not recognize the difference.

BATTERY USAGE:

Quad core processor use battery lavishly even if you aren't multitasking because the unused cores are kept on standby.So,if you want to have a good battery backup,then do avoid Quad core processor.While
in comparison Dual Core will do a good justice to your battery back up.

HEATING:

Quad-core processors, even when optimized, threaten to use more energy than their dual- or single-core predecessors. This is due to more electricity-consuming technology packed into the same size package as a dual-core processor.Mobile devices,don’t have the room for large copper heat sinks, liquid cooling pumps or fans. As a result, tablets and smart phones may experience significant heating issues when overworked.

PRICE:

The price of any smartphone packed with quad core processor instead of dual core processor will have higher price despite having the same features.And the reason is but obvious.

But some smart phone manufacturers are giving away Quad core processor packed smart phones at cheaper rates,but be aware nothing comes for free.Those manufacturers are giving away cheap architecture.In short it's a sort of trade off.

DO COMMENT YOUR REVIEWS AND QUERIES.

HTC One : The upcoming Windows Phone

HTC One is the upcoming Windows Phone with latest 8.1 Operating System. The device is expected to be announced officially on August 19 and head to Verizon a few days later.

Here are the suspected specifications for the beautiful device:

• Windows Phone 8.1 
• 2GB RAM with 32GB internal storage and a micro SD card support upto 128GB
• 2.3 GHz quad-core processor with Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
• 5-inch Full HD, Super LCD3 display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 441 ppi
• 2600 mAh battery
• HTC UltraPixel camera and a 5 MP front facing camera
• Nano SIM
• HTC Boomsound
• U-Focus
• HTC Dot View case

The best feature that this HTC One is rumored to have is the DOT VIEW case with Cortana integration in it. A feature that we are expecting to be very cool. The DOT VIEW case lets user to directly interact with their phone with the case closed.

'This case lets you see who is calling, then answer or decline the call without opening it. Just swipe to answer or simply put it to your ear. It also shows you the date and time along with weather and reminders too. You can also instantly access Cortana too by simply swiping down'

In portion over the designed-for-Android hardware, the HTC One for Windows Phone will look to keep all the major selling points as it carries over to Windows Phone.

This all we have for HTC One. Share your views in the comments below.
Do you have some more information? Do share it with us :)

Source: WP Central

Happy 68 th Independence Day ; Offers,Doodle, Modi & More....

GOOGLE DOODLE 

Independent India's first stamp finds its way in Friday's Google doodle on the occasion of India's Independence Day. India is celebrating its 68th Independence Day on 15 August 2014.

The first stamp of independent India was issued on November 21 st 1947. Independent India's first stamp depicts the national flag flying high in the clouds, with the slogan Jai Hind (Long Live India) . The stamp had a blue background and was valued at three and one-half annas (around 0.20 India rupees).

India has a long and proud history of postal stamps that were developed for sole purpose of military and governmental communications.

OFFERS

Flipkart has launched Flipkart’s INDEPENDENCE DAY SALE (12-18 AUGUST).

Promo:

CLICK TO REDEEM

Flipkart

1) Electronics & Gadgets categories (+ Extra 10% Cashback on State Bank Debit & Credit Cards):

• MOBILE Offers
  
  • Moto G phone starting @ Rs 10,499 only
  • Asus Zenfone 5 phone starting @ Rs 10,000 only
  • Alcatel Onetouch Idol X+ phone @ Rs 16,999 only
• LAPTOP Offers
  • Flat Rs 2500 Off on select Laptops
  • Get minimum Rs 5000 Off on Exchange of old Laptops
• TABLET Offers
  • Digiflip Pro Tablets @ Rs 9,999 only
• CAMERAS & CAMERA ACCESSORIES Offers
  • Upto 40% Off on Top-selling Cameras
  • Flat 50% Off on Camera Accessories
• LARGE APPLIANCES Offers
  • Upto Rs 12,000 Off on exchange of your old TV
  • Upto 20% Off on select Microwave Ovens

2) Books category:

• Minimum 25% Off on ‘Independence Day’ Books
• Minimum 25% Off on College,Text & Reference Books

3) Music & Movies category:

• Flat 50% Off on Movies & TV Shows titles
• Flat 50% Off on Music titles

4) Home & Kitchen Appliances category: Upto 60% Off on Kitchenware products

5) Perfumes category: Minimum 50% Off on select Perfumes

6) Toys category: Upto 68% Off + Extra 15% Off on Toys

7) Footwear category:

• Upto 70% Off + Extra 37% Off on Men’s Footwear
• Upto 70% Off + Extra 37% Off on Women’s Footwear

8) Clothing category:

• Upto 70% Off + Extra 37% Off on Men’s Clothing
• Upto 70% Off + Extra 37% Off on Women’s Clothing
• Minimum 30% Off + Extra 15% Off on Infant Wear

9) Watches category: Minimum 40% Off on Watches

10) Fashion Accessories category: Upto 60% Off + Extra 37% Off on Bags, Belts & Wallets

11) Sunglasses category: Upto 80% Off + Extra 37% Off on Sunglasses

12) Jewellery category: Flat 50% Off + Extra 37% Off on Jewellery products

13) Home Furnishing category: Upto 50% Off + Extra 37% Off on Home Furnishings

14) Personal Care category: Minimum 30% Off on Personal Care Appliances

15) Beauty category: Extra 10% Off on select Beauty & Personal Care products.

PRIME MINISTER MODI

The Celebration Ceremony of Independence Day 2014 of India will begin from 6.25 am onwards. This historic moment of the 68th Independence Day Celebrations and Prime Minister’s address to the nation will be available for live streaming at the Official Youtube Page of NIC Webcast.

The video is embedded in this post. Also you can check out  collection of photos from Raj Ghat & Red Fort. Here-  http://nm4.in/1yD6WBv .

Prime Minister's  message to fellow citizens And you can read it in your language http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pmmessage.aspx

TechZoot.com wishes wishes all its Indian readers a very happy Independence Day.