TOP SMARTWATCHES OF 2015

TOP SMARTWATCHES OF 2015

 

Top smartwatches of 2015 are some of the wearable computers we think that would dominate the industry next year. Smartwatches have come of age with custom made mobile operating system and mobile apps. Some smartwatches models, also called watch phones, feature full mobile phone capability, and can make or answer phone calls. Others are ‘sport watch’ with features such as activity tracker. Designed to be worn on the wrist with usually a touchscreen display, its main benefit is the ability to constantly keep one updated with smartphone activities.

1) Pebble Steel

Pebble Steel is still a strong contented in our top smartwatches of 2015 pending the advent of the Apple watch. As part of the wearable pioneers Pebble works with iPhones and Android phones. The screen is visible in broad daylight. The waterproofing is confidence as it is swim and shower friendly. It has a built in pedometer, so for fitness lovers this is an additional bonus. Upto 8 apps can be installed in it. Battery is also nice as it needs charging only twice a week and its on sale for £179 online. All such features have made this product everyone’s favorite and so its still one of our favorite top smartwatches of 2015.

2) LG G Watch R

For people wanting a trendy attractive watch piece, this may be your first choice. With its round design, angular metal frame and selection of gorgeous watch faces, the LG G Watch R is the most attractive Android Wear Smartwatch around. This product’s pricing is varied depending on your region. The battery life of this gadget is reasonably standard but can be made better for heavy users. The watch’s design is sleek, so if you are looking for ‘Back to the Future’ type of smartwatch this may not be for you. If you want a decent smartwatch with an attractive look then you can fetch this one. During the just concluded International CES 2015, LG impressed us tremendously with quality of their displayed smartwatches. The LG G Watch R is a top smartwatches of 2015, selling on amazon from £179.

3) Sony Smartwatch 3

Sony’s efforts to give the market a decent smartwatch has failed in the past. But the company has never stopped trying. The Sony Smartwatch 3 is however different because it was designed with flaws from previous watches in mind. The waterproofing feature has also been improved to a large extent. The straps are now interchangeable. Another important development is that it runs on Android Wear. Android Wear is the software developed by Google that provides a unified platform for companies like Sony, Samsung, LG and Motorola to load on to their products and allow developers to create apps that can run equally well across all devices. Sony has made a great effort with this wearable device and truly deserves a place in our top smartwatches of 2015.

 

 

4) Samsung Gear S

Samsung has produced a wearable phone in with its new Samsung Gear S. It has a big, bright curved display and catches everyone’s attention. The battery life is also decent. The best thing about this Gear is that you do not need a phone nearby to access 3G network. This gear supports 3G connectivity. Its appearance is a bit large but this does not become an inconvenience. It is a complete on-wrist phone. This gear too requires a few developments. It does not pair with the latest Samsung phones and its standalone features do not work with all apps and notifications. The Gear S app library is still weak as compared with Android Wear. It may fail some people’s expectations but is still a gadget worth trying. We had a preview during CES 2015 and can’t wait for full review but its already in our top smartwatches of 2015.

5) Motorola Moto 360

Moto 360 is a classic timeless smartwatch designed with quality craftsmanship. It is powered by Android wear so you are rest assured of timely update at a glance. Its round design and premium materials look sharp. It is very comfortable to wear because of its sleek leather band and its light weight. The inductive charging cradle makes it convertible into a bedside clock as well. Its battery life is not that impressive. Its Android wear software is also lacking in many aspects but with the new updates like Moto Body activity tracking just got better. The weird black bar at the bottom also seems like an inconvenience. With a few improvements, Moto 360 is definitely one of the top smartwatches of 2015.

6) Martian Watches

Martian Watches, a California-based developer

of fashionable smartwatches, recently unveiled new designs which includes the Martian Commander, Aviator, Electra and Monarch. These smartwatches are stylist wearables with smart functionality like dual mode functionality, that includes voice command via Classic Bluetooth. Martian Watches are water resistant and compatible with both iOS and Android operating systems. The notification alert can be customized with over 1000 apps and programs available. Its available in stainless steel and rugged resin and designed for active individual. This means you can talk, listen and watch from your wrist. Martian’s has team up with watch designer Guess to release some fashionable smartwatches.

7) Polar M400 GPS

The Polar M400 is a GPS watch that combines activity tracking. It supports wireless heart-rate monitor and also has an automatic sleep tracking. So, when you think that you are not sleeping well then just give a glance to your smartwatch. This device has a good battery life and the best thing is it will sync with your phone. Charging it is also not a big deal. It uses a normal Micro-USB for charging. It includes GPS and activity tracking. It has a permanently on display with a backlight, inactivity alerts and is waterproof. The Polar M400 was recently updated to support the Footpod and smartphones notifications. It does not support Android at the moment but will later in 2015. The GPS signal was fluctuating and is not strong enough but the new update fixes most of these issues. It is well waterproofed at 30 meter and delivers a decent 8 hours on GPS mode.

8) Basis Peak

The Basis Peak is a fitness and sleep tracker. It passively measures heart rate and steps with little intervention from the user. It has an excellent battery life that enables the user to use the gadget for days after a single charge. Its swipe based interface is almost too smart for its own good. The upgrade was unveiled during CES 2015 from the solid design update and fantastically responsive display to the hardware responsible for data collection. The design comes with five sensors with a touch screen display. Basis Peak is available on iOS and Android platform available in matte black, or brushed metal and white at $199. It is best for its fitness focused features but comes with a contextual software that actually knows when you are busy or still.

9) Garmin Vivoactive

The Garmin Vivoactive is a smartwatch designed for athletes, a multifunctional sports tracker with GPS. Its not as rugged as some other Garmin watches but very user friendly with a colour LCD and upto 50m water resistance, the Viviactive is a serious contender.  It supports for heart-rate straps, GPS tracking, log running, cycling, swimming and golf, as well as everyday activity tracking. It also connects via Bluetooth to receive notifications from your smartphone and has a three weeks battery life on activity mode compare to 10 hours on GPS mode according to Garmin. You can download third party apps and get more fro Garmin’s new IQ connect app.

 

10) Withings Activite

The Withings Activite is arguably the most fashion forward smartwatch in the market. It is an analogue looking watch but a fitness wearable that you will actually want to wear. This Swiss-Made watch was designed to encourage healthy lifestyle while looking stylish and classic. Designed with stainless steel and sapphire glass, it has a great battery life. Withings Activite has a fantastic fitness app and honestly beautiful. Although it works with only iPhones at the moment through Bluetooth connectivity. It has no Android support yet, the Health Mate app can only handle one Withings activity tracker and sleep tracking temperamental.

 

11) Samsung Gear Live

The Samsung Gear Live is one of the first android wear smartwatches. It has a clean metal body which gives it a very sleek and stylish edge. The gear live has an attractive design, comfortable to wear with exchangeable straps.  It can work with many Android phones (4.3 or later) and has an impressive Google Voice Recognition. Some disadvantages are its terrible battery life and its bad display quality in daylight. A strange card based notification system does not always pop up with the info you want. The Snap-On charger is also very annoying. With slight modifications this device may top the market.

12) Apple Watch

Apple Watch is first and foremost an incredibly accurate timepiece.You won’t just send and receive messages, calls and mail more easily and efficiently. You’ll express yourself in new, fun and more personal ways.Apple Watch is designed to keep you more efficient, organised and productive, it’s also made to keep you moving. Because being active is vital to living a healthy life.Everyone’s style is different, as is everyone’s wrist. So Apple Watch comes in two case sizes: 38mm and 42mm. Both of which can be set up to work on either your left or your right wrist.Every new product we’ve introduced has been defined by a unique input device. With Apple Watch, it’s the Digital Crown.  One of the best features on Apple Watch is the new Apple Pay System. The launch will be a turning point for Apple as well. For now we just have to wait and see!

All these smartwatches are brilliant in some ways and lacking in a few. After CES 2015 we are convinced that wearable tech is here to occupy and smartwatches are leading the way.

TOP SMARTWATCHES OF 2015

MERCEDES AT CES 2015

MERCEDES AT CES 2015

Mercedes at CES 2015 unveiled what they believed as the future of automobile transportation in the F 015 car. The F 015 car was launched at this year’s CES with an incredibly moving presentation from Dr Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes-Benz cars, who said the car “is developing exceedingly beyond its purpose as a basic agency of transport which will hopefully transformed into a mobile living space”.

That’s the reason why the cocoon-like self-driving vehicle, hosts the best interior which is suitable to easily seat four personal swivelling chairs. The occupants go into the car through rear-hinged doors that opens to 90-degrees as well as sit opposite one another to make sure Mercedes aspirations will rejuvenate the social interaction examined by our remote relations.

As the challenging process of driving a car is sorted out, the interior will be coated in sophisticated technology with the purpose of enabling persons travelling inside to act jointly with the vehicle on a number of phases. Each entrance panel provides a wide display screen that is controlled by eye-tracking devices and gesture switches.

You can also find HUD units on the windscreen that display distinctive driving information, a primary driver screen in the dashboard and a screen in-between the back seats, which is located at head level to simulate a rear window

The automobile is in addition deliberate to individuals in the outside society as well as other road users, since the “Extended Sense” sensor system continuously monitors it’s environ in a 360-degree radius. Fancy LED displays at the front and back of the car, also warn others of possible barriers. For instance, if a pedestrian crosses the road in front of the car, LED lamps at the back will track his or her movements and flash up a lighting display to alarm following cars not to overtake.

Certainly the F 015’s trick is its power to project a zebra crossing on the road ahead of it making use of laser-light technology, signalling to pedestrians that it is safe to cross and even audibly greeting them over an inbuilt loudspeaker.

The F 015 is truly designed for the future and will definately dominate our third space. It is a breath of fresh air to see how innovation is changing our lives and spaces and Mercedes is up for the challenge.

MERCEDES AT CES 2015

Dell Venue 8 7000 tablet

The Venue 8 7000 Series, is the world’s thinnest tablet, thinner than iPad 2 at 6mm. It is winner of CES 2015 best of innovation under the tablets, e-readers and mobile computing category. It is fitted with Intel® Atom processor Z3500 series. It features a stunning 2560×1600 OLED infinity edge-to-edge display which is one of the best displays on a tablet anywhere in the world.

The Venue 8 7000 Series is also the first to integrate the Intel RealSense Snapshot Depth Camera, which captures a depth map for every picture taken. Together with the Dell Gallery application, people will have much more flexibility when editing photos with selective filtering and refocus functions to change the brightness separately on a foreground object or background object, or refocus on any part of the picture.

The Venue 8 7000 packs a 2.3GHz quad-core chip, and it has 2GB of RAM. It runs Android 4.4 “KitKat.” Storage is a measly 16GB, but there’s a microSD card slot for augmenting that.

Dell Gallery is the ultimate photo organiser as it arranges your pictures. It can gather photos from multiple sources — including Dropbox, Picasa and Facebook — then organize them into “smart” albums based on time, geography and even facial recognition.

The Dell Venue 8 7000 is available now on the Dell website for $399.99.

Dell Venue 8 7000 tablet

Samsung 34-inch Curved Monitor

Curve is the new flat as Samsung has demonstrated with their 34-inch Samsung’s SE790C Curved Monitor. To be honest it is a beauty and a beast. It has a 21:9 ultra-wide aspect ratio, it’s like having two 4:3 monitors side by side which delivers a stunning immersive viewing experience of the ultra-wide curved screen. Enjoy big, bold and stunning panoramic views while you work and play in this 34″ Ultra WQHD SE790C monitor thanks to its 3440 x 1440 resolution, which is 2.5 times the resolution of Full HD. It has a 3000:1 static contrast ratio makes vibrant, lifelike colours, deeper blacks and brighter whites come to life like never before, so you can enjoy the ultimate viewing experience. Its selling on Amazon and EBay at the moment from $1,199.99.

Samsung 34-inch Curved Monitor:

Samsung 34-inch Curved Monitor

Sharp Aquos Beyond 4K TV

Sharp Aquos Beyond 4K TV:

Sharp at CES 2015 made a bold statement with the unveiling of their beyond 4K Ultra HD TV. It seems Sharp is heading for 8K although we are still getting used to 4K. At the unveiling press conference at CES 2015, this amazing technology blow me away. The specs are staggering with 66 million subpixels, 42 million more than standard 4K Ultra HD. With more subpixels, this TV is able to produce an image up to an effective 7640×4320 resolution. According to Sharp this next generation Proprietary Upscaler unleashes the full potential of this stunning resolution, whether it’s HD or 4K UHD content.

It will be in late 2015 starting at 80-inch (diag.) class screen size. I must say this TV delivers an amazing picture detail with the highest standard of colour and contrast. It is design with latest Quattron technology, which provides a billion more shades of colour, this TV displays more colour than any AQUOS TV before it. High Dynamic Range technology and a full array LED panel with local dimming provide extremely deep blacks and white whites.

As a tech guru, I’m surely excited but as a consumer sceptical considering the lack of native content and probably the heavy price tag that will come with it.

Sharp Aquos Beyond 4K TV

Test Post from Ping Magazine

Test Post from Ping Magazine http://www.pingmagazine.tv

TOP TEN SMARTPHONES OF 2015

TOP TEN SMARTPHONES OF 2015

Top ten smartphones of 2015 by PING magazine are the smartphone we project most people will be using before phone-makers unveil their latast gadgets in 2015.  Just when it seemed like they had explored every possible technological arena, phone-makers bombarded the market with numerous handsets, especially towards the end of the year. Seeing the tempo of smartphone evolution, there is constantly some novel idea in the pipeline. The moment you discover one innovation, there is another in waiting.

So here we bring you the top ten smartphones for 2015, the ones which are considered to be the best in all the spheres. Hopefully, this would be extremely helpful in making an informed choice.

1. Apple iPhone 6

Apple finally caught up with the rest of the world in terms of screen size, but iPhone 6 has crossed the horizon in many ways. Starting with the size, it gives us a greater screen space that has been a grey area for iPhone. It might not be the best available resolution, but it definitely has a great display quality. It has a superb finish as far as design is concerned. It is sleek and glossy. It is truly a treat for eyes and a bliss when it comes to use. It has the most effective TouchID implementation, and with Apple Pay in the works, it has features much beyond a normal phone. The camera also is high quality and constant. It is not the highest megapixels camera, but it does give you a great picture quality. And you get all of this in iOS 8. iPhone 6 is simply a great device, and has more potential as the developers sway into action to bring their best to bear.

This is probably the best iPhone from Apple and most amazing innovation of the recent times. If you want to experience Apple in a larger size, iPhone 6 is definitely the perfect choice. It has also been awarded with the Best Phone at the Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
2. HTC One (M8)

This phone from HTC has awed the gadget gurus all over the world. The HTC One (M8) methodically is an improvement over the HTC One, taking the design from the former and bettering it in many spheres. This one undoubtedly is a premium device at the top of the Android pile. It’s efficient, super-fast and the modification of the new Sense 6.0 user interface is a further add-on to Android 4.4 KitKat.

The design is brilliant, with a first-class metal body. This handset isn’t only good looking, it offers a great 5-inch full High Definition display with some of the best visuals you’ll find on a phone at this size. The HTC One (M8) has a great battery life, along with an excessive power saver mode if you need to last even longer.

The camera too has some really smart features. It has duo camera which helps you in refocussing images, as well as in applying a number of after shooting effects. The bottom line remains that HTC One (M8) must be bought for its design, power, modest price and refined user experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
3. Samsung Galaxy S5

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is bas develop much of what the SGS4 offered. The design is quite alike, but there’s improvement at every level. This is still the regular Samsung smartphone you are familiar with, but it’s slender and fast, with ample power, and offers a spectacular 5.1-inch full HD display.

It has the same flexibility as previous devices, thus you can remove the back of your phone to switch out the battery which gives you an all-day performance. The structure might be mostly plastic, lacking the first-rate gleam of some competitors, but that makes it lighter and handy.

The addition of a heart rate scanner is a unique feature from Samsung which brings it closer to fitness bands. But the implementation of the fingerprint scanner is a little discomfited. The camera produces great pictures and is overall of a superb quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
4. Sony Xperia Z3

So, next we have Sony Xperia Z3 which has managed to penetrate into the monopoly market of Samsung. It has emerged as a great alternative to the conventional smartphones. Xperia Z3 has something of all its earlier flagship models. The body structure has been modified to the point where the size has become conformable. The sleek body pays dividends and also refines the edges and construction.

Xperia Z3 has much more to offer. The 5.2-inch display completely complements the powerful hardware that’s speedy in operation of all your tasks. Sony has made a number of sophistications over Android in its own software, but avoids exact replication. Then it has a great pair of cameras, the rear one offering amazing quality, ample of options and some gorgeous results. This is definitely the best of Sony’s handsets, the flagship device where Sony’s persistence is paid off. To sum up, the Sony Xperia Z3 is a powerful, water-resistant, quick shooting, Android handset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
5. Motorola Moto X (2014)

2014 saw a rebirth in the form of Motorola Moto X in this era of second generation devices. It offers a display of 5.2-inches and has a handy built. But the most alluring of all are the customisation features, including leather back.

The Moto X’s unencumbered Android experience is its greatest strength, especially due to the pace of updates as new Android versions come along, but at the same time, it’s contenders are much more equipped, offering more straight out of the box. The battery back-up is fairly good and there is plenty of power on offer at a price that undercuts most rivals.

However the camera is a bit disappointing and isn’t a consistent performer. And there is no micro SD card which is amongst the most basic features of an Android phone. The Moto X would be the perfect choice if you aren’t comfortable with the size of the Nexus 6 and desire for a wholesome Android experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
6. LG G2

LG trumped the smartphone contest with the introduction of G2. The phone is an amalgamation of economical price and sophisticated features which are not familiar to the rival flagship devices. It has great specification along with remarkable design and versatile software features. However, it lacks a micro SD card slot which doesn’t appear to be a great blunder given its brilliant features.

An attractive 5.2 inches screen is compressed into a body which is almost the same size as the Galaxy S4. Then there is a highly speedy quad-core processor and a 13MP rear camera which has ocular image stabilization. However, storage is a grey area since there is only 16 or 32GB space on offer and there is no micro SD card slot for adding on. It can be put off by the buttons on the back and they work really well. The power button isn’t a problem because you can double tap the screen to turn it on and off and the volume buttons are rightly placed to make adjustments during a phone call.

Thus, LG G2 is a good buy especially because it has a strong hardware at the price much lower than other phones with the same features.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
7. Nokia Lumia 930

The Lumia 930 is a step in the right direction with its semi-metal design and decent hardware line-up. The screen and camera is fantastic, but it lacks other features and doesn’t have expandable storage. Windows Phone 8.1 has made significant improvements on the software side but the platform is still not a priority for developers, especially in case of third-party hardware.

The Lumia 930 is the best of Windows Phone. But it cannot be certainly said if this is enough to attract new customers in. The size of the display screen is 5-inches and is fully HD. The camera is fair and the concrete build quality separates the device from other contenders with detachable back plates.

The Lumia 930 is large, valiant and has touches of luminosity. Though, there’s still a lot to be done to truly set it apart from the competition, but is a device that can’t be overlooked for its positives and its aspirations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
8. Honor 6 (by Huawei)

The novel innovation from Huawei is really a pearl in the necklace of smartphones. The reasonable price of Honor 6 is quite impressive while providing specs would cost a lot more. The display screen measures 5 inches and is fully HD. The camera is high quality and the battery life is fairly good. It supports 4G, expandable storage and has other wireless features like NFC and an IR blaster. However, the micro SD cards slot is limited to 32 GB and Emotion UI isn’t the finest Android software around. But these don’t impede the Honor 6 from being the best value smartphone.

The device is sleek and light-weighted. Its ‘dazzling’ exterior involves a Kirin920 processor which is an octa-core chip. Despite that inexpensiveness, the Honor 6 also provides flagship specs in the photography division. It also has a 13Mp rear camera at the back which uses a 4G Sony sensor, has a dual-LED flash and supports HDR (high dynamic range), although it has electronic rather than optical image stabilization. Thus, Honor 6 is a great phone at an affordable price and with an interesting design. You can go for it if you are willing to give an unconventional try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
9. BlackBerry Passport

The BlackBerry Passport has specific features that beats almost every smartphone today and comes in an exclusive form factor that is optimized for production.

The device includes Amazon’s Android AppStore and it is super-easy to sideload the Snap application for accessing the Google Play Store. There is almost every app due to support for Android, but all are not optimized for the square display and performance can be quite poor at times.

Other amazing features of BlackBerry Passport include 4.5-inch 1440 x 1440 pixel resolution display, full hardware QWERTY keyboard, 13-mp camera, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, micro SD card slot, and large 3,450 mAh battery.

The awesome BlackBerry Hub helps in unified communications. It also presents great hardware and a smart keyboard that is extremely helpful in reading and editing. However, the square shape makes it quite discomfited to use. The Amazon’s app store also lack some key apps found on Google Play. So, the sine qua non is BlackBerry Passport’s upbeat focus on efficiency seeds an incredible keyboard, but its blocky shape makes one-handed use quite difficult.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
10. Asus ZenFone 5

Taiwan-based Asus has expanded its footprint in India with the launch of the new ZenFone smartphone series. From its built and battery life to its software and modest price, this smartphone has got a lot going for it. Asus has managed to keep the ZenFone 5 reasonably slim, but it does get a bit stocky at its thickest point, that is, 10.34 mm.

It is paired with 2 GB RAM, which clearly indicates that this smartphone is certainly not lethargic. Its reactive apps were quick to launch and playing games was swift enough for most casual smartphone gamers. The camera used in the ZenFone 5 is reasonably good on pixels (8 MP) with an LED flash and an aperture of f/2.0 that uses the PixelMaster technology of the company. The camera is not bad, but it’s certainly not the best we’ve seen on a similar-range smartphone. The battery life of the ZenFone 5 is really good.

Using the ZenFone 5 to send emails, browse social media, send messages, make phone calls, play games and watch videos on the commute, it was found the device could be continuously used with charging only once every two days. Thus, given the price and other features, ZenFone 5 is a good buy but definitely not the best given the wide range of smartphones available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, here we have tried to acquaint you with the latest technology of the year. Hope you make right choice from the wide range provided here!

TOP TEN SMARTPHONES OF 2015