Samsung Galaxy S7

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge leaked from every angle - VentureBeat http://nzzl.us/WWtterP via @nuzzel

Dead capacitative keys solution for Android.

I recently had a tiny accident with my phone, and as with all things glass and fragile and please do not drop me, it immediately started acting up and my handy capacitative keys died on me.
Naturally I was quite distraught as getting a new phone or even replacing the screen was a viable solution for me. The geeky curious side in me got into gear and before long I had some viable solutions.

1) Easy touch.
This is my app of choice and offers a plethora of options and customization. Not only does it provide the minimum home, back and recent tasks keys, it throws in a few extra slots that can be customised for either calls, tools, favourite apps and the like. You can get it on the play store here

2) Soft buttons.
Soft buttons provides the essential capacitative keys access and not pretty much else. It also works only on rooted devices so it's not one for the faint hearted. You can however still check it out here incase you have a thing for trying out softwares that void your warranty.

3) Handy soft keys.
This app also offers the basic functionalities and not much else. It however appears more polished and minimalistic if you into that. It doesn't require any rooting and is as such a better option if you crave the functionality offered by Soft Buttons and less clutter than Easy touch. You can grab it here.

Feel free to check out the above three and they are available for free on the Google play store.

Nokia X

Nokia X; a phone for the masses?

Nokia once ruled the roost when it came to emerging markets thanks to its cheap yet functional phones whose main selling points were color screens,mp3 ringtones, at least 10 MB of on board storage, the occasion torch appearance here and there and the ability to make calls and well, send messages( limited to a 20 message inbox of course). however, along came Samsung with its plethora of affordable android flavored and "affordable" phones which could do much more than just call, text and serve as an emergency torch for those famous Kenyan blackouts and almost overnight Nokia's grip of the market began to wane.
pressure was now on Nokia to deliver a cheap yet functional phone and the first tentative step into this direction was the Lumia 520 which though not particularly "affordable" to the majority of Kenyans was a success of sorts perhaps egged on by Safaricom's bonga point reward scheme which had it selling for as little as ksh 8000.
However, people were still not convinced about the windows phone OS and thus the Nokia x was born. retailing at an introductory price of ksh 13000 in safaricom shops, it offers value for the price point. buyers in particular will be happy with the 4 inch LCD display, access to the play store and its diverse ecosystem of applications, its 1 GHz duo core processor as well as 4 GB of on board storage. the rather glaring sacrifices however include the rather below average camera at just 3 megapixels as well as the battery rated at just 1500 mAh. another concern will be the user interface which requires some getting to. the verdict is still out there on whether this will be Nokia's Windows crossover success.

Moto G

Moto G

Overview

Good phones do not come on the cheap. The notion has been bandied around with much success apparently but as previously witnessed with the Nexus range of phones, you can indeed deliver premium at much lower costs. While the Moto G can hardly be classified as a flagship or even premium, it does deliver some pretty mid-range features and specs for the price of a budget and could drive up sales in emerging markets.

Out of the box, the Moto G comes in black which however can be customized with a variety of colors (7 to be exact). The form measures 129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6 mm all of which appears to be screen at first glance owing to the absence of any physical keys on the front panel and minimal clutter save for the Motorola logo, LED notification light, motley of sensors, speaker grille and front facing camera. The 4.5 inch LCD screen instantly comes to life when the phone is switched on and manages to knock above its weight pulling in an impressive 326 ppi density at the price range obviously and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for added protection.

Delve deeper into the Moto G and you will find an impressive array of hardware and software features. in keeping with the Google design language of less is more, the Moto G comes with minimal bloatware running near stock Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) which is great for customization and memory efficiency but sadly leaves out some pretty cool software tricks seen on more premium Motorola phones. The software is powered by a Snapdragon 400 Quad core 1.2 GHz processor backed by 1 GB of RAM which enables the phone breeze through most everyday activities but could see it taxed by much more graphics hungry games.

On the media front, the Moto G comes with a standard issue 5 MP primary camera whose picture quality is rather poor and a secondary 1.3 MP camera. The primary camera supports video capture at 720p. the Moto g comes with 8/16 GB of onboard storage which is however not supplemented by the option to expand memory via microSD.. This could be a limiting factor especially if you store plenty of media on your phone as well as limit the number of applications you can logically download.To compensate for the likely reduced music storage capabilities Google throws in an FM radio to keep the listener “busy”. The 1.2 GHz Quadcore processor coupled with the Adreno 305 GPU and 1 GB of RAM should ensure most games play smoothly but again the limited onboard storage severely limits the number of quality games that can be installed. The battery is pretty decent at 2070mAH which should keep the phone running for a while.

The data speeds are pretty decent 2G and 3Gconnectivity but LTE support is lacking. There is Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot support but given the price range NFC is rightly missing. For media transfer and battery charging there is the standard microUSB slot.

At a glance

Network

2G Network                                                        GSM 900/1800-RM-899

               850/1900-RM-900

3G Network                                                        HSPDA 850/900/1900/2100

SIM card                                                               Single SIM

Display

Dimensions                                                        129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6 mm

Weight                                                                 143 g

Display                                                                 LCD capacitative touchscreen

Size                                                                        720 x 1280 pixels4.5 inches

Loudspeaker                                                      Yes

3.5mm jack                                                         Yes

Memory

Memory card slot                                            No microSD support

Internal memory                                             8/16GB,1GB RAM

Data

GPRS                                                                     Yes

EDGE                                                                     Yes

HSDPA, 21Mbps

Wireless                                                              Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth                                                           Yes

USB                                                                        Yes, microUSB

Camera

Primary                                                                5 MP

Video                                                                    Yes, 720p @30fps

Secondary                                                           Yes, 1.3 MP

Radio                                                                    FM radio

Music player                                                      Yes, MP3, MP4 player

Features

Operating System                                           Android OS v4.3 (Jelly Bean)

Chipset                                                                                Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

CPU                                                                        Quad-Core 1.2 Cortex A7

GPU                                                                       Adreno 305

Battery                                                                 Li-Ion 2070mAH battery

GPS                                                                        Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS

Available colors                                               Black, interchangeable back covers