Articles about Smartphone

Businesses in the UK, as well as elsewhere in Europe, are not really worried about security, as their employees increasingly use company mobile devices, new research has shown.

Secure identity solutions firm HID has revealed that 77 percent of employees in the UK aren’t concerned about mobile security, highlighting a pretty high level of confidence in they have in mobile security. Looking at Germany, the percentage stands at 82. Overall, 74 percent of European workers are confident about using corporate mobile devices.

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Six years after the release of the iPad, a once booming market is on the verge of a massive shift, one that not many predicted. For those who visited Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile conference earlier this year, you had a better chance of spotting the odd person wearing Google Glasses than any new tablet devices.

According to the recent industry analysis conducted by IDC, the tablet market was down by as much as 10.1 percent, last year, with an estimated 206.8 million tablets shipped. That’s down from 230.1 million shipped in 2014. These stats are a bit better if you look at other research numbers, which estimate that 224.3 million tablets were shipped in 2015, compared to 242.2 million in 2014 -- a decline of only 8.1 percent.

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Quick Charge is a wonderful technology that enables your smartphone or tablet to top up its battery at a much faster rate -- up to 400 percent faster, for its latest iteration. But, to enjoy the benefits that Quick Charge has to offer, you will have to use a compatible charger. One may be provided in the box, but if that is not the case there are some very nice wall chargers that are great for the job.

But if you need to charge your smartphone or tablet while driving you will have to pick up a dedicated car charger. I've been testing Tronsmart's CC1T car charger, which is one of the more-basic options with Quick Charge 3.0 support in the company's lineup, and you can read my impressions of it below.

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Android N is coming later this year and it will introduce some pretty interesting new features. One of them is seamless updates, which makes it possible for software upgrades to be performed in the background without interruptions in the user's flow. As you may know by now, this feature is already implemented in Chrome OS with good results. However, it may not be available on existing devices after users upgrade to Android N.

Naturally, many of you will want to experience it on your devices after they get Android N support, but technical limitations are getting in the way. How the feature is designed, for seamless updates to work on existing smartphones and tablets, some serious modifications would need to be performed beforehand.

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Each new generation of Android flagships seems to push the limits of what we consider high-end hardware specifications. A few years ago we were looking at sub-5-inch displays with 720p resolutions and dual-core processors with 2 GB of RAM, and nowadays larger, 2K displays backed by octa-core chips and 4 GB of RAM appear to be the norm.

While the bump in resolution and processor speed may not be as noticeable when moving to a new-generation flagship, the extra RAM is certainly a welcome addition. Of course, for some companies not even 4 GB is enough in this department, as Samsung just unveiled a larger module, which should be available in its next flagships.

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The ability to view notifications for multiple devices in one place is something that has been tried in various forms before. Now fans of Cortana can take advantage of notifications about their phone on their computer.

The latest version of the Cortana Android app brings the previously hinted at app notification syncing that users have been asking for for so long. First noted by a Windows 10 user on Reddit, the feature is something that we can expect to see included in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update later this summer.

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One of the oldest phone brands is making a comeback. Today, Nokia announces that we will see its name on new smartphones, feature phones and tablets again. And, this time round, the smartphones and tablets will be running Android, the most popular mobile operating system today, as opposed to Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile or another niche OS.

Nokia will not be the one actually producing these devices though, as the Finnish company has given a third-party the right to manufacture mobile handsets featuring its well-recognized name.

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After a successful launch in the US, Google has now debuted its contactless payment service Android Pay in the UK. If you're packing an NFC-enabled smartphone running Android 4.4 or higher, you can now make payments in a number of stores -- as well as Transport for London -- with just a tap.

For payments under £30, there's no need to unlock your phone, and Google says that the number of supported banks and retailers will expand over the coming months. At the moment, support is limited to Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards from Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA and Nationwide Building Society, and if you're able to take advantage of the service from launch, there are also special offers to look forward to.

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Lenovo has taken the wraps off the new Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus at a media event in New Delhi, India. The pair is meant to appeal to phablet enthusiasts, featuring a large display, big battery and competitive specs at a price tag similar to that of the previous generation.

Moto G4 has grown in size compared to Moto G3. For the latest generation, Lenovo has opted for a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1,080 by 1,920, with power coming from a 1.5 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor and 3,000 mAh battery. The Plus model, despite what its name implies, is no bigger, but adds some nice extras.

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You’re really concerned about your battery life, aren’t you? That’s right, when it’s time to travel or go out, you always remember two things -- your toothbrush and your charger! The toothbrush to make your morning fresh and the charger to save you from the irritation of the diminishing smartphone battery during your working day.

Battery life has been one of the most important concerns for users, app developers, and manufacturers. On average, most smartphone batteries last 1-2 days before being completely depleted. In smartphone reviews we see how battery life can outrank other features -- after all, if the battery’s dead we can’t use them for those important calls or emails! While we wait for any latest technology to come to market, let’s look at some easy ways to conserve battery life. These tips will definitely help to make you feel relaxed and anxiety-free till you return safely to your charger.

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Fingerprint sensors are all the rage these days on premium smartphones. You will not find a new high-end device launching without one. Even mid-rangers and low-end handsets are starting to offer this feature. That is, as long as they are not running Windows.

Fingerprint sensors are found on Android handsets and iPhones, but not on Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile devices. That is, in part, because Microsoft has not implemented support for this feature in its operating system. However, that is soon about to change.

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Chinese maker Xiaomi has announced a new Android phablet, called Mi Max, and officially showcased MIUI 8, the latest version of its Android distribution. The handset is large even for its class, featuring a 6.44-inch display that is more typical of a small tablet than of a phablet.

That is not the only thing that is big about it though, as Xiaomi has also added a 4,850 mAh battery inside Mi Max. This is one of the largest capacities we have seen in a smartphone and, with the help of MIUI 8, it should translate into great battery life -- 76 percent better than iPhone 6s Plus, the company claims.

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Both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are starting to ask the questions that Android users have been asking for years: why do updates and upgrades take so long to roll out?

If you're in possession of a flagship or recent handset, the chances are you're in line to receive timely updates for the foreseeable future. But Android's fragmentation means that older handsets quickly drop off the radar, get forgotten and remain unpatched. The FCC and the FTC both want to know why security patches are slow to hit phones, and the agencies have launched separate, but parallel, investigations.

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LG today announced that the US government has certified its G5 and V10 flagship Android smartphones for enterprise and military use. The testing was conducted by the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), which verifies the compliance of products with the "Common Criteria" international security standard, which is said to be recognized by 25 countries.

Although LG is only boasting about the two aforementioned handsets, NIAP's test results show that G4, its flagship from last year, is also fit for use in enterprise and military sectors, when running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. NIAP's stamp of approval was received on April 14.

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In just two months, Marshmallow has more than doubled its usage share in the Android market, thanks to the introduction of new devices and the availability of more software updates for older but popular handsets.

According to Google's latest figures, which are based on data collected during the seven days ending March 7, 7.5 percent of Android devices now run Marshmallow. When I last covered the distribution numbers in March, its usage share was at just 2.3 percent and it looked like its rise towards the top would be a very slow one.

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