Material design is a fine thing, but it doesn't mean that every app should look the same. There are more than one approaches if it comes to design. To give the choice in the hand of the users Ampere now offers 5 different display styles. Every user can individually decide which style is his favorite and can set it with the star (in the right bottom corner) to stick with the selected design.
Notification enhancements
Ampere has now a redesigned notification information selector. It is now possible to select the information a user want to see in the notification in a more advanced way. The selectable information has been enhanced with the battery voltage and the battery temperature.
Soon I'll be reviewing Microsoft Surface line products, including some "must-have" accessories for both Surface Book and Surface Pro 4. In case you have some questions, here's the complete list of the incoming reviews:
All reviews are scheduled for March, so stay tuned!
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I've been testing Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book since some time and recently I noticed that among many software related problems there is also one, serious in my opinion, design problem that actually can't be fixed until Surface Book 2 is out.
Microsoft is very proud of the hinge mechanism introduced in the Surface Book. They call it "dynamic fulcrum hinge". Indeed, it works and looks great. On a side note, I wish it would allow to rate the screen 360 degree like the Lenovo Yoga series, instead of being "forced" to unplug the screen, rotate it manually and plug back in opposite position.
Anyway, when designing that spectacular hinge, Microsoft missed the fact that the rubber strap underneath the device, that is meant to 1) protect the bottom part from scratches and 2) avoid device from slipping on the desk, is actually useless, because the hinge extends lower than the rubber strap. Just see it yourself.
The light clearance between the surface and the rubber strap means that the strap actually doesn't touch the surface. It's bottom point is higher than the bottom point of the first part of the hinge. That means the body is lifted up a little and in fact, the device abuts on the hinge, not on the rubber strap.
Result? The surface of the MS Surface Book is made of magnesium painted in silver colour. It's not the same as the anodized aluminium that Apple is using for years already, and it's very, very susceptible to scratches. After just few days of using the Surface Book you might discover that your $2.000,00 laptop has a lot of scratches on the bottom side of the hinge.
Of course, some might don't care, but still I consider this to be quite serious design flaw that Microsoft should be ashamed of. And considering all the software related problems on the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, Microsoft should seriously re-think their marketing strategy.
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Sony took to their booth at MWC 2016 to expand their Xperia line with a new X-series of smartphones and a line of connected lifestyle gadgets. The Xperia X series includes the mid-range XA, the X, and the flagship Xperia X Performance.
Details are still trickling in on each phone, but the new line features a design that's a clear evolution of Sony's design language, with typically-premium materials like a a seamless metal body and curved display glass. Sony is focusing on two technological areas with the X phones: the camera and the battery.
As we've seen from other manufacturers, most cameras take good enough photos, so the goal now is to improve the photo-taking experience. On that front, Sony has developed a new predictive hybrid autofocus system that leverages Sony's Alpha DSLR camera technology to use motion-tracking to predict where the camera will track focus in activity-filled scenes.
On the battery front, the Xperia X series incorporates smart battery tech in the form of Qnovo's Adaptive Charging, which is designed to smartly manage heat and charging to extend the lifespan of the battery. On top of that, Sony's claiming a 2-day battery life for the X series phones.
Did you know that you don’t always need root to do cool things with your Android phone? Apps have a lot of great functionality on their own these days, and Snap is no different. This particular app will allow you to access your widgets without ever having to leave whichever app you’re in. Snap does this by augmenting your existing notification bar with a tray of its own. In this tray exists any widget you want. You can have multiples, even. To access it, simply swipe down from the right corner of the notification tray (this can be changed to your own liking) and there they are, ready for use. You can see this in action in the video above.
This is great for a few different reasons:
It keeps you in your app, so if you just need to quickly check on some information in a widget you won’t have to venture all the way back to the home screen. It keeps your home screen clean for icons or other uses. It lets you use widgets without unlocking your phone (if you allow notifications to be viewed on the lock screen).
Getting started is simple: download the app, and immediately it’ll show you how to add some widgets. Select the widget you want, customize the width and height, and you’re done. Widgets show up in the order that they exist within the configuration menu, and the order can easily be customized by dragging and dropping them.
One last note: there is a hard limit on the amount of widgets you can use, but we don’t know what that limit is. We were able to add up to 5 widgets just fine. There’s a small in-app purchase of $1.85 you can make to support the developers and lift this unknown limit, so be sure to consider that if you ever find yourself needing more (or if you just want to congratulate them on their outstanding work). Let us know how you’re liking it!
Watch the video below and tell us: would you have guessed that was a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge if you weren’t told what it was? We don’t blame you if you would, because concept artist Jermaine Smit made sure he stuck to realism for his latest work. This concept video doesn’t showcase some wild and whacky design from a dream. Instead, Smit decided to make it based on all the rumors and leaks we’ve heard so far. That’s why it looks almost exactly like a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and we even had to double check to make sure the B-Roll footage in this video wasn’t lifted from Samsung themselves.
But you’ll notice things like a tweaked home button and the inclusion of a USB Type-C port as differentiating factors compared to Samsung’s 2015 phones. Otherwise, he did a remarkable job putting the render together, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung gave him a call to join their marketing team because this is some very slick work. Interested in more? Be sure to check out his Behance profile right here for concepts about all sorts of smartphones and tablets.
