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5 important steps to avoid when building a mobile site (PROMOTED)

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5 important steps to avoid when building a mobile site (PROMOTED)

Mobile devices are becoming more capable all the time, and their increasing power means they’re even supplanting desktops and laptops for many users. While many of the core elements of strong website development are similar on both mobile and traditional devices, there are a number of additional factors to consider as well. Here are five important things to avoid when building a mobile site.

Desktop-Only Websites

When thinking through the process of building a website, many people assume users will find the site on a laptop or desktop, and it’s important to avoid falling into this trap. When sketching out the general layout of your website, think about how it will look and navigate on devices with much small screens than even small laptops. WordPress hosting platforms can help you try out different ideas and load them on your mobile devices for early testing. More specific steps are needed, but it helps to ensure that the basic design of the website is conducive to good mobile interactivity.

Desktop-Focused Graphical Elements

It’s possible to create graphical elements that look great on both mobile and traditional devices, but doing so requires a focus from the beginning. Your logo is perhaps the most critical graphical element, and it needs to be readable on small smartphone screens. Check out any text elements in your logo to ensure they read well at small sizes. The converse is true as well; if you use a different logo for visitors using mobile devices, it needs to look great when scaled up on a tablet as some tablets feature screens nearly as large as some laptops. A pixelated or blurry logo stands out on these devices and can leave an unprofessional impression on visitors.

Cumbersome Navigation and Other Interactions

Websites shine due to their interactive capabilities, but it’s important to consider the differences between mobile and desktop interaction. Users on desktops and laptops use cursor-based devices, which provide excellent control and enable high precision. On mobile devices, users generally use their fingers and have to tap on relatively small areas. Furthermore, mobile devices often have screens that aren’t particularly accurate, so it’s easy to tap incorrectly. Ensure that all links on your website are large enough to tap comfortably, and make sure text-based links stand out even when they’re small. Also, avoid Flash elements, which aren’t supported on most mobile devices, and make sure any Flash components have HTML5 backups to ensure your website renders properly.

Slow Loading

Desktop browsers typically render websites as they’re loaded, so large websites seem to load at a reasonable rate on these devices. Mobile browsers, on the other hand, often delay displaying websites until most or all of the content loads. Internet users are impatient, and they may simple stop loading a mobile site if it takes more than a few seconds to begin loading. Furthermore, mobile Internet speed varies dramatically, and some users may only have access to speeds that are similar to dial-up Internet connectivity, especially if they’re in remote locations. Graphical elements are important on websites, but make sure your choose them carefully. Furthermore, check to see if your images can be compressed more as doing so means they can load faster. In some cases, it’s better to spread information across several pages instead of placing it all on the same page, but make sure it’s easy to for users to navigate between these pages.

Difficulty Finding Information

While there are many reasons why people and businesses host web pages, most sites have a particular goal; a website for a restaurant, for example, is generally used to provide directions and state when the restaurant is open. Too often, desktop- and laptop-focused websites make this information cumbersome to find on a mobile device. If you own a brick-and- mortar store, make sure your contact information is readily available on the front page, preferably without requiring the user to scroll. If you offer a service, ensure that your phone number or other contact information is easy to find right away. Use text elements for these items so that users don’t have to rely on images that might not be easy to resize. Text elements also make these items interactive on most mobile devices, and Android and other platforms let users tap phone numbers to call them. If you have too much information to keep on one page, make sure it’s easy to navigate to new pages.

The Internet provides wonderful opportunities for businesses of all sizes, but it’s important for those running websites to keep up with the latest trends. Managed solutions are great; WordPress hosting, for example, makes elements easy to tweak and update, and it makes it easy to choose between hosting a different website for mobile devices or using a responsive website. However, websites that use other paradigms can typically work well on mobile devices if the designer spends some time testing with mobile devices on a frequent basis throughout the development process.

Samsung Gear 360 VR camera now available from major carriers and Best Buy

Alexandra Arici
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At MWC 2016, Samsung introduced the Gear 360, a ball-shaped camera that can capture spherical 30MP photos and video of almost 4K resolution (3,840 x 1,920 pixels).

With the advent of VR, people are increasingly becoming more interested in 360-degree photos and videos, so the Gear 360 arrives at the right time. This week, Samsung has announced the round camera is now available for purchase from several in-store retailers like AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and U.S Cellular. For those who don’t want to do business with carriers, note the snapper can also be picked up from Best Buy.

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Previously the Gear 360 was available only through a series of online stores, but now customers can acquire it from a brick-and-mortar locations also.

The camera features two sensors, located on the sides and each bundles a wide-angle f/2.0 lens. While the Gear 360 can’t be called a rugged camera akin to the GoPro series, Samsung says the shooter takes advantage of IP53 certification which ensures dust and water spray resistance. Hence being caught in the rain with the Gear 360, should bring no permanent damage to the camera.

The camera is powered by a user-replaceable 1,350 mAh battery, so if the juice runs out you can simply swap it out with a fully charged unit. The Gear 360 also benefits from a tiny display located on top used to display basic information.

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But how does the Gear 360 deliver a VR experience, you might be wondering? Well, you’ll need a Galaxy S7 to be able to tap into that. You see the two f/2.0 fisheye lenses both deliver 195-degree angle views that are then stitched together by the flagship creating a 360×180-degree view to explore using a VR headset. The full view can also be inspected on a touchscreen or a good, old computer display.

The Gear 360 can be purchased for $349.99 from stores, as well as online.

Watch Face Roundup: 5 bright, colorful watchfaces

AndroidGuys
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One of the beautiful things about smartwatches is the ability to change watch faces to your heart’s content. You can have a feature-packed watch face with information from edge to edge, a clutter-free watch face with only the time displayed, or any watch face in between. Today, we’re taking a look at five colorful watch faces that are sure to add some brightness to your smartwatch. Most of the watch faces we feature will be free; however, there may be a few paid options here and there for the millionaires among us.

Bouncing Isaac

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Bouncing Isaac, from developer Fathom information design, is one of the most interesting watch faces on this list. It is described as Android Experiment, and it uses the sensors in your smartwatch to create an ever-changing, colorful pattern for your watch face. As your watch moves, more patterns and colors will emerge, which makes each watch face unique to the person wearing it. It can also work as a representation of how active you have been that day as the more you more the more the watch face will change.

Of course, will all of this animation and the reliance on sensors, it will probably take a hit on your battery life. If you already have difficulty enough making it through the day with a normal watch face, you might want to skip Bouncing Issac. For those of you with battery to spare or those that are just too interested, you can download Bouncing Issac for free from the Play Store.

Fiore

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Fiore is from the WatchMaker devs who are a group of artists looking to forward the style of smartwatches, and I definitely think that this watch face fits the bill. Usable on both round and square watches, Fiore has super colorful, floral backgrounds that change depending on the day. I found that mine changed every time the watch’s screen turned off. Each design is absolutely beautiful, and the animations are basically nonexistent, which is a plus for battery life.

For some guys, the design may be a bit too floral, but that does not detract from the fact that Fiore has some of the best-designed backgrounds I have seen. There are a few customizations that can be made to the time layout as well as Ambient Mode. Best of all, Fiore is completely free to download and use so check it out!

Masque Simplicity

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Masque Simplicity, from developer Alex Pasquarella, is the most customizable watch faces in this list. The watch face itself is extremely colorful, but you can change just about every aspect of it. Along with the analog watch hands, you also have four dials that display the current weather, phone battery percentage, watch battery percentage, and the date. There are several preset styles to choose from in the app that cover a variety of colors to suit almost anyone’s preferences. After choosing a preset, you can go further back changing the hand style, tick marks, and even how the information circles look.

If for some reason this is not enough customization for you, you can pay $0.99 to create your own styles or $1.99 to unlock all of the options in the app. I went with the $1.99 tier, and it gave me the options to change all the colors of the watch face along with unlocking all of the options for hand styles and tick marks. For those who are content with the base level of customization, the app is free to download in the Play Store.

Jagger

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Jagger, from developer Pierre-Yves Ricau, is my favorite watch face on this list just because of the sheer creativity behind it. The premise behind the app is dead simple, the time (hour, minute, second) is displayed has a hex-code that corresponds to a particular color. As time progresses, your watch face will switch to whatever color the time represents and also display the color’s name under the time. When it comes to a colorful watch face, nothing matches that description better than Jagger.

Customization is limited with only a couple of options for ambient mode and date, but you won’t be using this for features anyway. You’ll get this because it is a completely unique watch face idea that is implemented perfectly. It has been my main watch face for the past week and will be for a while yet. Best of all, it is free in the Play Store!

Nature Gradients

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Finally, we end with the only paid watch face on the list (aside from the add-ons with Masque Simplicity). Nature Gradients, from developer Marco Uberti, is a super minimal watch face that pops with is brightly-colored, gradient backgrounds. There is a large selection of color gradients to choose from, and you can choose the gradient you want straight from your smartwatch. Unfortunately, this is as far as the customization goes. You are stuck with the same font and color for your time, date, and second hand.

For the $1.99 price tag, I would definitely like to see some other options added to this watch face, but it is hard to deny that Nature Gradients isn’t a beautiful addition to your smartwatch. If you have a couple of extra dollars laying around and want a colorful but simple watch face, you can’t get much better than this one. Best of all, animations are almost nonexistent aside from the second hand, which means this watch face shouldn’t eat much into your battery life.

What do you think of our list? Are you going to check out any of the watch faces we recommended? Did we miss one of your favorite colorful faces? Let us know in the comments!

The post Watch Face Roundup: 5 bright, colorful watchfaces appeared first on SmarterWatching.

Source: SmarterWatching

AT&T to offer new screen protection program

AndroidGuys
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Starting on November 15, 2016 AT&T will be launching a new protection program in select markets. This new protection program works hand-in-hand with AT&T’s current insurance program but focuses on same-day screen repair. The screen repair service will cost $89 (applied as a deductible with existing insurance) and will initially only cover certain Samsung and Apple phones.

Buyer’s Guide: AT&T

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This new program is being launched in conjunction with Asurion as it uses Asurion-certified technicians to do the same-day screen repair. Same-day service is not guaranteed and certain colors of phones and specific models may not be serviceable. Initial markets that will be covered are limited to larger cities, but AT&T will add more cities over time. To view a full list of areas and more details, visit AT&T’s protection information page here.

Devices that are eligible for this extended insurance are listed below:

Asurion Eligible devices
More devices should be supported in the coming months

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With cracked screens being the number one claimed incident for all smartphones, AT&T is honing in on the insurance service market by collaborating with Asurion. Like any insurance, consumers will have to weigh the negatives and positives of this plan to determine if the extra protection is worth the additional cost.

UMi Plus: first hands-on with Android N

AndroidGuys
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Today we received some great news from UMi; Android N is on the advanced stages of development for the UMi Plus and will be rolled out soon! The company just sent us a video where you can already see it in action, welcome news for many users who ask support and updates from Chinese brands.

Before going with the video, let’s have a small recap of the specs of the phone which houses it: the UMi Plus has a very nice build quality, it uses Helio P10 Octa Core processor, has 4GB Samsung RAM memory and 32GB (expandable) internal storage.

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The UMi Plus is designed with 6000 series of aerospace-level aluminum materials and features a 5.5-inch Sharp panel with 1920×1080 resolution. Moreover, it’s covered by a 2.5D arc glass. UMi Plus’ fingerprint scanner has an unlocking speed of only 0.1s, or lightning quick.

The front-side camera comes in at 5.0-megapixels while the rear one is a 13-megapixel shooter with SAMSUNG3L8 PDAF sensor. The massive 4,000mAh 4.35V battery also supports PE+ fast charging technology, thanks to the USB Type-C port.

Now, back to Android 7, we see it in action in the video below:

As we can see, one of the first improvements seen is the brand new quick menu, revamped and tweaked with new features.

Another big improvement is on camera department: With the new Android 7, UMi was able to further enhance the quality of the 13-megapixel Samsung sensor on board, which now gives improved results in all conditions.

By the way, if you’re interested, you can win one UMi Plus free here: http://bit.ly/UMiPlusPresales

ZTE Axon 7 Mini with all-metal body comes to the US for $300

Alexandra Arici
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Up-and-coming Chinese device maker ZTE has announced it is opening pre-orders in the US for its newest budget smartphone, the Axon 7 Mini.

The device was unveiled at IFA 2016 in Berlin last month and offers an attractive set of specs for only $300.

While the ZTE Axon 7 is the company’s flagship coming in with specs powerful enough to take on the Samsung Galaxy S7, the Axon 7 Mini represent a worthy alternative for those who don’t want to spend a fortune on a smartphone.

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The Axon 7 Mini features a 5.2-inch AMOLED 1080p display which isn’t exactly small, but given that the Axon 7 takes advantage of a 5.5-inch screen we suppose the name makes sense.

Other key features include 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card up to 128GB), dual-front facing speakers, a 16MP main camera plus an 8MP frontal snapper, a headphone jack, and a dual-SIM card slot.

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 617 processor – a chipset designed for wallet-friendly handsets like this. There’s also a 2,705 mAh battery with Qualcomm quick charge 2.0 keeping things alive and running.

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The ZTE Axon 7 Mini also stands out due to its all-metal body and striking design that adds an overall premium feeling to this affordable device.

If the ZTE Axon 7 Mini has caught your attention, you should know the phone can be ordered in the US for $300 from Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, New Egg and ZTE’s own online shop.

Customers can pick up the phone in platinum gray or ion gold, although the latter will be exclusive to Best Buy for the first two months.

Should Samsung kill off the Galaxy Note brand?

Alexandra Arici
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Samsung’s Galaxy Note7 disaster continues to make headlines, in the wake of the company announcing it will cease production of the dangerous phablet. Yes, the Galaxy Note7 is dead, but the fact raises an important question: what does this mean for the future of the Galaxy Note brand?

Contrary to what some people might think, Samsung’s biggest problem right now isn’t actually losing billions, but the huge blow it took to its reputation. So will consumers be able to trust Samsung products from now on, most importantly future Galaxy Note products? It’s quite a delicate matter to consider.

Right now we’re in the middle of a giant which hunt, where major tech news outlets are throwing rocks at Samsung for being a lousy company that allowed products as dangerous as the Galaxy Note7 to go on the market. But, let’s face it all this hype will probably blow off in a few months, once the sensational wears off.

In the meanwhile Samsung needs to get at the bottom of the problem, figuring out once and for all what is it that made the phones go up in flames. Having a solid explanation to offer for why the handsets overheated, should be Samsung’s first step towards regaining customers’ trust.

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Next, there’s the issue of what Samsung is supposed to do with the Note brand and everyone has an opinion on the matter. Well if you ask me, the handset maker could try putting off the launch of a new Galaxy Note phone for a few years, or re-brand whole lineup, giving it a new, squeaky clean name. But there’s another – very drastic – alternative which involves basically killing off the entire brand. It’s a route the company might take if it wants to set some healthy limits between the Note and the S phone lines. But why would it want that?

There’s no doubt the Galaxy Note7 disaster will have repercussions on existing Samsung products and even upcoming models from different lines. For the time being the Korean tech giant, it’s doing its best to keep its other Galaxy premium line away from the scandal. But it’s not easy.

You see the average consumers just think of Samsung premium smartphones as “Galaxy” handsets, they don’t really differentiate between the S Galaxy and Note lineups. Samsung is well aware of that, so it has been sending messages to Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge owners to remind them their phones are safe and should not be returned.

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This jumbled up perception might become a negative influencing factor when people go out to buy a new Samsung smartphone or upgrade from the S6 or lower. In a few years, all people will remember is that Samsung released a faulty Galaxy phone at some point, which means the stigma will be inherited by the whole Galaxy lineup. Consumers will keep away from Galaxy phones, just to be on the safe side of things.

There are some who believe that in order to keep the premium Galaxy S brand from sinking alongside the Note one, Samsung should just kill off the Galaxy Note brand altogether and focus on the S family.

For example, the Korean Herald run an article saying Vice Chief of the Korea-Insight Institute, Kim Duk-jin believes Samsung will be better off without the Galaxy Note. He claims the brand will always be a reminder of the huge blunder that happened in 2016.

For its part, the Korean tech giant is trying its best to keep its customers from leaving. The company announced it is now offering $100 credit to Galaxy Note7 users willing to return their phablet and opt to get another Galaxy phone (like the Galaxy S7) in return.

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By contrast, those who have had it with Samsung and wish to migrate to another smartphone brand are to be awarded only $25 when they dispense of the faulty phone. Samsung hopes this offer will be enough to keep disillusioned Note7 users hooked to its products. And it might be.

You see, Samsung has an important thing going for it – its products have become so deeply ingrained in the everyday life of its users, some of them might have quite a hard time making the transition to another, unfamiliar brand. We’re not talking pure brand loyalty, but the force of habit is a powerful energy at play in the human psyche.

All in all, it’s still remains to be seen whether Samsung will go so far as to kill off a lineup that has proved to be very popular with consumers over the years or if it will choose to bet on customer’s capacity to forgive and forget. I’m voting for the latter, since I don’t really believe obliterating the Galaxy Note brand from existence, will magically restore consumer fealty. Samsung needs to find another way to keep the Galaxy S name clean while pushing to redeem its phablet lineup.

Samsung tested Galaxy Note7 batteries in-house, unlike other device makers

Alexandra Arici
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Now that Samsung has killed off the Galaxy Note7, its main concern is to get at the bottom of the whole overheating batteries mystery.

While the investigation is ongoing, it has been revealed via a report from the Wall Street Journal, that Samsung has been testing phone batteries, including those bound for the Note7 in one of its own internal labs before putting them on the US market.

While Samsung’s testing does ensure its products are approved by the US Wireless Industry Group (the CTIA), other manufacturers like Apple or Lenovo use one of the 28 external labs that are certified by the CTIA, to verify the safety of their products. Other device makers like Motorola choose to conduct these tests both internally and externally.

The testing is done to determine whether the parts comply with the standards put in place by the IEEE or Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Now the association claims Samsung is the only tech manufacturer self-testing its batteries.

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Manufacturers test batteries on their own, but also inside the devices in order to see how they behave while charging or when a phone call is incoming.

Some experts in the battery testing industry have argued that while self-testing could easily lead to a conflict of interests, it’s not uncommon for manufacturers to prefer in-house facilities, as it allows them to better protect sensitive info related to these products.

A Samsung spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal the company’s internal testing didn’t result in finding any issue with the Note 7 batteries, both the original models and the replacement units. The Korean tech giant has been testing phone batteries in-house ever since 2009, so the world assumed it knew what it was doing.

Finally, in the wake of the Note7 affair, Samsung has announced it has decided to bring forth significant changes when it comes to testing the quality and safety of its products. Nevertheless, this latest piece of information might cast another dark shadow on Samsung’s already soiled reputation.

The People’s Operator launches Infinity plan; get unlimited data for as low as $54.99

AndroidGuys
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The People’s Operator, a mobile virtual network operator that uses both GSM and CDMA technologies, has launched a new rate plan. Available immediately, the Infinity plan gives customers unlimited data for as low as $55 per month. What’s the catch? Well, there are a few things worth noting.

For starters, the Infinity option is only available to customers who have CDMA phones. This means it applies to those of you who have a Sprint, Verizon, or prepaid phone through one of their respective services. Otherwise, you will have to purchase a new handset to take advantage of the deal.

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Also worth pointing out, the plan normally goes for $59.99 but the five dollar monthly savings comes when you enroll in automatic payments. The Auto Pay credit is taken off immediately each month you agree to let them automatically process your payment.

Last, and likely not a real issue for most people, the Infinity plan does cap the 4G LTE speeds once the threshold of 50GB of data is crossed. Doing so results in slower, throttled speeds for the remainder of the bill cycle. We wager to guess that not too many of the TPO subscriber base will find this problematic.

We’ve tested and reviewed the service offered by The People’s Operator and found it to be a worthy alternative to more pricey carriers. And, given it uses the same networks that the tier-one providers use, you can expect equal coverage. Our favorite part of TPO, though, has to be the percentage of our monthly bill which is allocated to a charity of our choice.

Unlocked smartphone owners in US should consider The People’s Operator

Samsung brings exclusive Galaxy Note7 feats to the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge

Alexandra Arici
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The Galaxy Note7 is dead and buried but that doesn’t mean Samsung is not trying to preserve its memory. According to some Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 owners writing on the xda-developers forum, Samsung is in the process of rolling out a software update meant to port some of the Note7’s exclusive features.

The Korean tech giant is attempting to make the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge seem more attractive, especially to users who had to part with their phablet recently.

As you probably known by now, Samsung has announced it will be offering $100 credit towards the purchase of a different phone from its garden and for premium users the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge seems the obvious choice.

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So from to onward Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge users will be able to take advantage of the always-on display setting, along with a bunch of new customization options. For example, owners will notice the update replaces two of the existing calendar options with a new one.

The always-on display setting can also show you the currently playing music track. A new digital clock feat allows users to add their own custom text signature, letting them choose fonts and preferred colors.

However, bear in mind that a few things aren’t functioning properly after this update including notifications from Samsung’s own email app. Some users have been reporting higher battery drain after the update, so proceed with caution.

If you’re still holding on to Note7 handset, we’re taking the opportunity to remind you that you can exchange it for another Samsung phone, including the premium Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. Despite not bringing S Pen functionality to the table, the two handsets are still some of the best Android phones available on the market.

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