Categories
Mobile

Battle of the SmartPhone OS

Now a days there are a plethora of options when you decide to buy a SmartPhone. Some are cheap and some are priced hefty. But when you deice to buy a SmartPhone, price is not the only thing that you need to consider. The most basic thing that every SmartPhone buyer needs to pay attention to is the Platform or the SmartPhone OS. This decides the usability of the Phone. Unlike PC the OS of a SmartPhone can not be changed whenever you wish, therefore OS selection need to be done very carefully.

smartphone-os

The operating system not only decides the user  Interface but also which apps you can run or how you can connect with your friends and a lot of other things. It’s like a boutique, where you go to buy clothes u will wear. Some boutique can have the best clothes in town with a wide range and variety, while some offer very few varieties of clothes. Some OS will offer you a wide range of apps to select from, while some offer a very small apps store, some are easily customizable while some are rigid.

Currently there are various Operating Systems available for SmartPhones like iOS(Apple), Android(Open Source and baked by Google), Blackberry OS(RIM), Windows Mobile 8(Microsoft). The basic difference in all these OS comes down to apps and customization. Android is user friendly and easily customizable while Apple’s iOS is rigid but it provides with a very varied and large app store. While these two leads the pack, Blackberry OS and Windows phone falls behind, but still they have their own personalized fun options. With introduction of Lumia range of Phone by Microsoft-Nokia partnership the Windows 8 OS is gaining some traction.

Apple iOS

iOS gives the feeling of elegance with Simplicity. The home screens come with a simple grid of icons which are moveable. The OS provides a very user friendly interface with simple, logical and consistent design. The built-in apps are a delight to use as they are really well designed, facebook and twitter integration is included in the latest version of OS, with the passbook virtual wallet, robust notifications, built-in video chats with other iOS users.

The primary delight to an iOS user will be the usage of the best app store in business. The third-party applications typically come to iOS first, it offers the best selection in books, movies or even the music store is really good. The problem with this iOS is the hardware compatibility, very few hardware can access all iOS 6.1 features. The OS though is very rigid and thus is not open to customization. The Apple’s iOS is no doubt one of the best OS currently present in the market.

Android OS

Android is Open Source and is backed by Google. Being Open Source one can find various flavors of Android like Samsung has customized it’s own version, LG it’s own. Android is the most widely used OS throughout the world, also it is one of the most compatible OS currently present in the market. This OS can be found on every range of phone; from the low-priced to the high-end phones. The most important feature of an android phone is its customization ability. The android interface offers a wide range of customizing options, you can arrange home screens, add live widgets. The Google’s play store, Android’s app store offers a wide range of apps for every mood.With introduction of Google Now in Android 4.1 it has created a new frontier.

Windows 8 Mobile

The erstwhile Windows Mobile has been replaced with Windows 8 Mobile which brings a seamless integration of Desktop and Mobile. Microsoft has partnered with Nokia and produce Lumia line of Windows 8 powered Mobile. Windows 8 has got one of the most creative interface in the market. It has the perfect balance of simplicity and customizability. The home screens consist of live tiles, which can be rearranged according to the user’s preference or priority of people or information he wants in front. It has the windows features and works brilliantly with Microsoft office, Microsoft exchange and Xbox live gaming. The drawback of Windows phone is fewer apps and hardware options, though it has its own apps and games. On the whole it is good, creatively different and fun to use OS.

Blackberry OS

Blackberry is generally regarded as n enterprise platform. So this OS has very less consumer appeal. Because of the market segment it caters to, it is the most secured OS. The most important feature of Blackberry OS is the Communication. The excellent email and Instant Messenger available in this platform are the default choice of corporate users. It is a God’s gift for those who are only interested in messaging and communication. It has a very cool interface which is easy to use and really helpful at times as everything u want is just a swipe away. Even though it has lots of apps of its own it still falls short of the big names in apps that are provided by Android or iOS.

 FeaturesApple iOS AndroidWindows 8Blackberry OS
InterfaceIt has a very user-friendly interface with simple, logical and consistent design It provides very smooth and fast UI response and thus it is also very easy to useIt has one of the most creative interface. It is perfect balance of simplicity and customizabilityIt comes with a normal yet creative user interface.
Interface detailsThe home screens come with simple grid of icons which are moveable The home screens has been left to be customized by the user himself with a wide range of widgetsThe home screen is a array of live tiles, which can be arranged according to user’s preference or priorityIt comes with an universal inbox which saves all your messages and texts together and thus are made available a swipe away 
 App store optionsIt provides one of the best and very large app store. It offers the best collection of books , movies etc. It also offers wide range of apps on its store, and is just behind the apple’s iOS.It has very fewer app options as compared to the leading apple and android OS.It does not have a good range of apps and is mostly good for communication.
CustomizabilityWhen it comes to customizability the apple’s OS is very rigid and does not offer much options for it.It offers one of the best customizability options and a lot of things are left to the user to customize and use. The windows phone also offers good options for customizability.The options for customizability are very few.
CompatibilityIt is not compatible with most of the devices.It has the best compatibility with hardware in the market and is thus seen with in a lot of phones. It also offers good compatibility with hardware.It is very rigid and is not compatible with most of the devices.
Best featuresOffers a large app store and the built in apps are designed well.Very simple and smooth UI with great customizability options.Very creative interface and a good compatibilityVery good OS for messaging and communication.

Introduction of New OS like Firefox OS and Ubuntu Mobile in recent future is going to make the battle more intense and in future only the fittest with highest flexibility will survive in the long run.

Categories
Windows

Should I upgrade to Windows 8.1?

The public release of Windows 8.1 code-named Windows Blue  is around the corner (The expected release date in 17th October). This is a much anticipated release, as it is said to bring many radical changes in Windows 8. So many of us are contemplating to upgrade to Windows 8.1 as soon as possible. Those lucky few with access to MSDN and Technet has already got the privilege to test it out. Starting 17th October, Windows 8.1 will be available via Windows update for all existing users and those who want to upgrade, they can do so by going for a fresh installation of Windows 8.1, which will be available as a standalone product.

Let’s see if this new Windows 8.1 hype is how justified and you can decide if you really need this update?

Key Features of Windows 8.1

Start Button

When Windows 8 was released, the users were much surprised when they did not find the Start button, which Windows users were used to since Windows 95 days. So there was much condemnation to Microsoft as they released a Windows OS sans Start menu. Infact it is very difficult to work without a Start menu. So with Windows 8.1 everyone was expecting at least the Start menu and Microsoft disappoints again. What they did is just put the Start button which helps in navigating between Metro Interface and normal Desktop which was earlier present on the charm bar. So the only USP for Windows 8.1 for a general user is not met which is a major disappointment.

Lock Screen

The Lock Screen in Windows 8 was used by users to display the photos of their loved one. So Microsoft though to take this a step further and convert the Static lock screen photo to a full featured slideshow. Now you can choose photos from your harddrive or from skydrive to display a slideshow on your lock screen. Now when you are on lock screen, you do not need to enter a password to open the camera or answer a Skype call.

windows-8.1

Start Screen

Windows 8.1 has got bigger tiles size as well as now you can resize the live tiles. But the tile size is specific to each app. But most of the modern mobile app tiles are resizeable in any of the four ways viz. large, wide, medium and small. The video below explain how the live tiles can be re sized in Windows 8.1

Smart(Hero) Search

The new search in Windows 8.1 is a big improvement than its predecessor. The Smart Search powered by Bing is capable of finding lot more things for you. It will now index apps, documents,web content and probably emails. What you get in search result depends upon what you are searching for. The image below shows how the smart search bring result for a search term “Bill Gates”

smart-search_windows8.1

An indepth explanation of the Smart Search can be found at Win Supersite.

Snap View

The snap-view or split-screen as we generally know was introduced with Windows 8 for better multitasking. But this had a major flaw in Windows 8 as the screens were being divided at 70/30 ratio, making the app occupying the smaller screen virtually unusable. Now with 8.1 the screens can be resized at 30/70, 40/60 or 50/50 and for bigger resolution even 3 apps can be opened and workd on simultaneously.

Boot To Desktop

One of the major enhancement in Windows 8.1 is the ability to boot to the desktop. So every time you start your PC you do not go through the Start Screen and click on Desktop tile to go to the classic desktop view. This is useful especially in corporate environment and for those who largely use desktop mode in their windows 8/Windows 8.1 device.

Reading List

With reading list feature in Windows 8.1, you can save an article to read it later. You can use this feature to collect a repository of information or you can quickly save article to use on your research project. This is quite useful feature for those who consumes lot of information and web content.

ReadingList_windows8.1

IE improvement

The updated version of IE in Windows 8.1 now supports unlimited tabs without hindering performance. So you can open 100s of tabs in one IE window and another 100s of it in a second IE window and you will not feel noticeable performance changes.

Better Skydrive Integration

Skydrive is installed by-default with Windows 8.1 and it looks like an integral part of Windows Explorer. With Windows 8.1 Microsoft has added Smart Files functionality. The Smart Files feature enables part of the files/folders to reside on the local storage and part on the skydrive there by leaving more space on local drive. With the new Skydrive app, now you can mark several files to make those available offline too.

SkyDrive_windows8.1

The new features in windows 8.1 seems promising, though not a completely new operating system but the changes it incorporates are quite welcome. Things like Start button and 50% split of screen are like a boon to existing users of Windows 8. Moreover the changes in User Interface, Control Panel, Better Skydrive integration etc are desirable. However Microsoft could have brought back the most sought after feature Start Menu with Windows 8.1 and as it did not happen, it seems like Start menu is completely gone from Windows  and we will not see it ever in any of the future version of Windows. All in all Windows 8.1 is a definite yes for the upgrade.