Google and Apple are giving it another go. The search giant is teaming up with Apple for closer integration of Google Assistant according to a source. Our source indicated that the launch of Google Assistant on iOS devices that we saw at Google I/O 2017 was indeed a soft launch for future plans between the two.
Currently on iOS, you can use Google Assistant like any other third party app. You open it up, have a chat with Assistant and close the application back down. What’s lacking is the first party integration that Siri on iOS or Google Assistant on Android enjoys.
Our source confirms that a plan is in motion to make Google Assistant a full Siri replacement should the user decide that they want to use Google Assistant instead of Siri. What we do not know right now is where Google and Apple are in this process.
Unfortunately, our source could not confirm that this will be an official partnership ala Google Maps on the first several iPhones. They could also not confirm the limits of the functionality of Google Assistant on iPhone but did compare it to other phone manufacturers integrating Alexa into their phones, namely Huawei.
Another tidbit that our source passed along is that there will indeed be three iPhones released this year: the iPhone 7S, iPhone 7S Plus, and the iPhone 8. We’re light on details about what these phones will look like, but the iPhone 8 is said to carry a premium price tag.
We reached out to Google for comment on this rumor but it stated it had no comment on the matter.
“No phones are more sleek, more stunning, or more powerful.” – BGR
There is no doubt that the new Samsung Galaxy S8 is pure quality, both inside and outside. In fact, the official Samsung website states that the S8’s features “mark the beginning of a new way to experience the world.” CNet.com gives the phone a score of 8.8 out of 10 as well as noting that, while the S8 is an “extremely fast, highly competent, visually stunning device”, it is a good idea to purchase a high-quality case with your phone as it is not worth risking breaking the phone should an accident occur. Tech Surprise, specialists in smartphone technology, recommends that you remember these important things.
What constitutes a high-quality mobile phone case?
It might be stating the obvious, but the most important function of a case is to protect the phone from damage as a result of being dropped, liquid spills, and scratches, etc. Even though modern design technology is producing tougher and possibly even waterproof mobile devices, there is no doubt that the vast majority of phones will not survive an accident without some damage of sorts. Furthermore, your phone might not show outward signs of damage after being dropped the first time, there will more than likely be invisible damage, and it will eventually break after being dropped more than once.
Therefore, a high-quality case needs to be well-constructed from shock- and water-proof materials. It also needs to look good and stylistically flattering to the design and shape of the phone. Additionally, the mobile device case needs to follow the latest industrial design trends as well as function as a fashion accessory.
What to look for when purchasing a Galaxy S8 Case
It is easy to spend hundreds of dollars on the latest mobile device and forget about buying a high-quality case to protect your new device. As stated above, this is not necessarily a good idea as your new phone could end up being seriously damaged or even destroyed without a phone case to protect it. Therefore, here are several tips to help you choose a high-quality phone:
Type of case
How do you typically carry your phone – on your belt, in your pocket, bag, or in your hand? The answer to this question will determine what type of case you should consider. The most popular cases are constructed as holsters, side cases, skins, cases with lids, and pouches, etc. Do not dismiss any option as you never really know which one is the best for you until you get to see them.
Level of protection
The next step is to decide how much protection your phone needs. For example, do you work outdoors on a dusty construction site? If so, it is advisable to purchase a cover that is rubberised, dustproof, and waterproof. Unfortunately, rugged, protective cases tend to be bulky and heavy. On the other hand, should you use your phone in a fairly sanitized, protected environment, a slim or basic case will suffice.
Fashion accessory or not?
Does your phone case need to complement your outfit? It is possible to purchase an assortment of mobile device cases and exchange them depending on your outfit as well as the function you are attending.
The good news is that mobile device cases are interchangeable. You can buy one to suit your working environment as well as another protective cover for your weekend and vacation adventures. The salient point; however, is to ensure that your phone is adequately protected at all times. It is not worth risking having to replace your phone because of accidental damage.
Streaming music from your smartphone to your Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connected speakers isn’t enough for you when you’re at home? Then you’re probably going to like the Nativ Vita music system. At least on paper.
You’re also going to appreciate its aesthetic qualities. The Nativ Vita looks like a sleek tablet with an 11.6-inch tablet and a stand. But don’t go thinking you’ll be able to install apps on it or edit a spreadsheet, as the Vita was designed with a clear purpose in mind – to allow users to play, store and control music.
It features 108p resolution and is powered by a Cortex-A9 processor running alongside 4GB of RAM. What’s more, the product includes up to two HDDs that bring support for a total of 4TB of storage, so it can easily host your digital music collection.
If you want to go beyond it, the Vita also offers access to some of the most popular music streaming platforms out there including Spotify, Pandora, Tidal and Apple Music. Given that it has an 11.6-inch display, the Vita can of course, also play music videos.
Since it does not have built-in speakers, the Vita includes USB, SPDIF, HDMI, AES/EBU ports, but also Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi connections, to play your music.
What’s more, it has a companion Android, iOS or smartwatch app and can be used to stream over AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect or Sonos systems. Users can also interact with it by virtue of voice commands.
The product supports a wide range of audio formats including MP3, OGG, AIFF, WAV, FLAC and Apple’s ALAC in 32-bits and 384 kilohertz. It also ships out with an IR remote.
On paper, the Nativ Vita sounds pretty great. It features a gorgeous, minimalist design and can do a lot of things. But your enthusiasm will decrease considerably when you see the price.
The standard model without a storage drive and an oak stand can take you back with $1,599, while a unit with a walnut stand and 4TB of SSD storage can cost a whopping $3,099. Sadly these huge rates are probably going to do a good job at keeping customers at bay.
LG’s next-gen G7 flagship might arrive sooner than we expect. The Korean tech giant introduced the G6 during the MWC 2017 convention this February, but next year it might not wait for the event to introduce its newest premium design.
According to a report coming out of The Investor, LG has already kick started R&D operations for the G7 with the goal of launching it in January 2018. Like this year, when it rushed to launch the G6 even though the Snapdragon 835 processor wasn’t yet widely available, LG is probably hoping to get a head start on Samsung and other competitors.
Take into consideration that the information hasn’t been confirmed by LG, so you should treat it with a healthy degree of skepticism.
This year’s LG G6 with Snapdragon 821
The same report also reveals LG also plans to launch the V30 ahead of schedule. Its soon-to-be predecessor, the V20 launched in September 2016, but this year the V30 could go official as soon as August.
As we previously heard, the LG V30 is expected to take advantage of an OLED display, a Snapdragon 836 processor (an updated version of the current Snapdragon 835) and dual camera setup on the back.
According to the rumor mill, the Samsung Galaxy Note8 will be the first handset to take advantage of Qualcomm’s second premium chipset for the year. The V30 and Google Pixel 2 will be given the same treatment.
As for the LG G7, the phone will reportedly take advantage of the Snapdragon 845. This information is corroborated by an older piece of information which stated LG has already started working with Qualcomm to ensure the G7 won’t miss out on the Snapdragon 845.
Hopefully, the decision to unveil the phone earlier won’t negatively affect the LG G7. After all, Samsung rush to launch the Galaxy Note7 in a bid to overshadow the iPhone 7, proved to have disastrous consequences.
In a few days popular Chinese smartphone maker, OnePlus will unveil the highly anticipated OnePlus 5 flagship.
While we wait on that, case maker Case Fanatic has all but outed the device by posting a series of images showing the OnePlus 5 in all of its glory meant to advertise for its lineup of dedicated cases for the phone. However, until the OnePlus 5 is officially announced, we urge you to treat these images with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Anyway, in related news, Technoblog allegedly leaked the complete spec list of the OnePlus 5 with pricing in tow.
The report confirms the phone will come boasting a 5.5-inch 1080p display and a Snapdragon 835 processor under the hood. We’re also told that OnePlus’ next flagship will come with a 6GB of RAM/64GB of storage configuration, as well as an 8GB of RAM/128GB of storage – one which will be sold in Asia, India included.
The report goes on to reveal the phone’s dual camera setup will pair a 20-megapixel sensor with a 16-megapixel one with f/2.6 and f/1.7 apertures respectively. A 3,300 mAh powerhouse will be in charge of keeping the handset operational. And with the Dash Charge feature included onboard, users will be able to charge from 0% to 92% in one hour.
Additional details about the display are also shared with us. It seems the phone’s screen will boast DCI-P3 colors, which means it will be able to reproduce more accurate tones than even the iPhone 7. A “ceramic coated” fingerprint sensor embedded in the physical home button living on front, will allow users to unlock the phone in mere 0.2 seconds.
Last but not least, the OnePlus 5 will reportedly go on sale starting at $479. Last year’s variant arrived with a price tag of $439 and up.
Previously we reported, the OnePlus 5 could end up selling for $100 more than the OnePlus 3T, but we’d be more than glad if the info at hand proves to be correct.
Earlier this week Motorola unveiled the Moto E4 and Moto E4 Plus, both of which will be sold on the US market. At launch Motorola didn’t specifically say when the two phones will become available for sale, noting customers will be able to pick them up by the end of the month.
A later Moto US Tweet revealed the Moto E4 will become available June 22. But now thanks to a bunch of leaked renders, we can tell you the Moto E4 will arrive at Verizon to be sold with the carrier’s branding on its back. The Moto E4 will also become available as an Amazon Prime Exclusive Phone.
At this point we can’t tell you exactly when Verizon plans to start selling the phone, but if we’d had to guess we’d say soon.
As a memory refresh, the Moto E4 offers a 5-inch display with 720p resolution and a Snapdragon 427 processor as the powerhouse. The product also includes 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and an 8-megapixel/5-megapixel camera combo. It relies on a 2,800 mAh battery and runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. Motorola announced a $129.99 price-tag for the phone and so far, there’s no reason to assume Big Red will ask for more.
What about the Moto E4 Plus, you might be wondering? For the time being, we have no indication whether Verizon plans to offer the Moto E4 Plus alongside the Moto E4, but who knows.
The phone will be sold for $179.99, but right now information is a bit fuzzy regarding its availability. Anyway, the device carriers more spacious 5.5-inch display as well as a larger 5,000 mAh battery, so you might want to keep an eye out for it.
I dread to think how many hours I’ve lost trawling the ever expanding gadget tech innovations all vying to be the “next big thing”. One thing I am less so enthusiastic about, however, is parting with my hard earned cash, this particular part takes something quite special. As a music junkie, Kickstarter can be the so-called pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and in this particular case, I must say, the STREAMZ “voice controlled smart streaming headphones” are most certainly making my pledging senses tingle.
Now, I know what you are probably thinking… ” WOW, they are BIG” …but bear with me on this one. As much as the photographers and developers would love to imagine us gently jogging along a beach, working our core to the max while engrossing ourselves in the musical pleasure of our favorite artists, realistically, let’s be honest here. Sat on the sofa with a bag of crisps with some dip while stalking friends of future past on Facebook is a far more likely scenario.
So what exactly is so special about what STREAMZ have to offer?
Essentially STREAMZ are “Smart Headphones” with a built-in WIFI Android HD Music Player. The headset will allow you to instantly play your tracks without the need of a separate music player or smartphone, allowing playback of ultra-high quality music that’s stored onboard or directly streamed from Pandora, Spotify and even more impressively GOOGLE DRIVE.
Only STREAMZ have a built-in 96kHz/16 bit DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) and feature an HD Music Player that allows you to play HD quality music, meaning all you Audiophiles out there can now wirelessly play their HD quality FLAC, WAV, AIFF and other HD quality music.
It’s also important to remember here we are not just talking music, STREAMZ will also connect to your TV and other Android-based smart tech.
STREAMZ will play standard formats including MP3, iTunes AAC music, Audiobooks, and Podcasts. STREAMZ Wi-Fi allows users to stream high-quality, uncompressed music over Wi-Fi with a range of 100 meters, which is over three times greater than Bluetooth’s range of 30 meters or via a mobile smartphone hotspot.
STREAMZ “VOXXI” voice control offers simple and safe listening with sight and hands-free voice commands while biking, jogging or just hanging out. Just “Say and Play” your stored HD music or online streaming music using VOXXI voice commands
All in all, it’s a pretty impressive package!
and they can be shipped to anywhere in the world.
For those of you wanting to know more, head over to the official STREAMZ Kickstarter page
Developed by Disney, who is tagged as a top developer, My Disney Experience is the must have app for any Disney fan. My Disney Experience is the companion app to plan, manage, and share your Disney vacation.
What it does
My Disney Experience allows you to manage every element of your vacation at Disney. You can check attraction wait times, manage your photos, find your way around the park, and make reservations including fast passes.
You’ll be able to see the menus of all the restaurants around the park so you can chose what you want to eat without having to walk there. You’ll also find parade showtimes and events.
Why we like it
Our house is a huge fan of everything Disney so this app is perfect and a must have when we head on vacation to Disney, which we do a lot. It’s very well designed and works perfectly, allowing us to book fast passes and restaurant reservations right from the app. If you are heading to Disney, this is a must have app.
How to get it
My Disney Experience is available for free from the Google Play Store. You can download it right here.
Smartphones are an ever-evolving beast pushed by technology with new processors, better cameras, more RAM, and storage capacity and constantly updated operating systems. One tech area within smartphones that has unfortunately been put by the wayside has been smarter, larger and more efficient batteries. As manufacturers try to squeeze more power from thinner devices, total use time has been diminishing over the past few years.
Enter the Ulefone Power 2; a smartphone that accentuates and embraces its heavier and bulkier frame all in the name of power. Not processing power or graphical power–but battery power that can get any user through a heavy-use day, and then some. Ulefone has positioned the Power 2 to sell to smartphone users that are fed up with charging their devices at the most inopportune times.
The Power 2 comes in a high quality, sleek black box with a generic logo on the front
Packaging: The Power 2 comes in somewhat non-traditional packaging that doesn’t quite attain the feel of a high-end electronics device. Ulefone ships the Power 2 in a simple black box with a ‘POWER II’ logo that adorns the front side. Ulefone’s Power II logo reminded me of something you’d see on a generic car battery or hardware battery pack. Upon opening the box I found a nicely packaged device with all seemingly all the right accessories.
Ulefone has packed the box full with all the accessories you need. Along with the phone, you get a charger, screen protector, case, manual, charging adapter and holder ring
Inside the box:
Ulefone Power 2 Smartphone
International charging brick
3-foot red micro-USB cable
USB to micro-USB adapter
Protective case
Screen protector
Carrying ring
Multi-language Manual
Sim ejection tool
Ulefone does not include a regional power adapter, as this is not for my local region, but thankfully any standard micro-USB charger works just fine. Also not inside the box: earbuds. Considering that I now have a half a dozen cheap headphones lying around and that I normally prefer a good set of Bluetooth headphones, I was not upset by Ulefone’s decision to ship the Power 2 without a set of earbuds.
The Power 2 uses micro-USB to charge and has a single speaker at the bottom
Hardware Design
Body: Sleek, Dark, Bold. The Ulefone Power 2 has a very traditional look and feel that is both classic and modernized. The metal body pairs well with the 2.5D glass and feels great in the hand. I definitely noticed a premium feel the first time I picked up the phone. The curved edges are different from both of the recent offerings from Samsung and Apple, which makes the Power 2 feel unique while retaining a more traditional overall look.
The Power 2 feels hefty with the massive internal battery but never caused any wrist or hand fatigue over extended periods of use. It harkens back to more of a blocky, brick feel of some earlier smartphones, but with the large screen, the size is definitely emphasized. The chamfered back edges of the Power 2 feel great in the hand and add to the overall ergonomics.
I was surprised to find both a protective case and screen protector in the packaging with the Power 2. The case is sturdy plastic with a pseudo-leather styling that reminded me of something Motorola may offer in its Moto style line. I’m normally the type of person that keeps a case on my daily driver, but with the Ulefone Power 2, I felt just as comfortable with the case on as I did with the case off.
The Power 2 feels great in the hand and the high-resolution screen is sharp and vivid
The fingerprint scanner is built into the physical home button found in the middle of the bottom bezel and it works incredibly well. It was just as fast, if not faster that the best scanners from Apple and Samsung. One additional feature that I found very handy was the ability to just touch the fingerprint reader to turn on and unlock the device from an off-state. It’s quick and accurate–just as a fingerprint scanner should be.
Here’s the Ulefone Power 2 next to a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge [LEFT] and an iPhone 5s [RIGHT]Screen: The Ulefone Power 2 has a 5.5-inch full-HD display that is neither stunning nor underwhelming. It’s a simple IPS LCD with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 that auto-adjusts with a light sensor and proximity sensor just above the screen. I found the auto-brightness feature to not work as well as some other phones, but in general, the Power 2 does a fairly decent job of adjusting to changes in environmental lighting.
Not once did I notice the screen to seem too saturated, too glossy, too cool or too dithered. Honestly, this is a great screen especially when you consider the Power 2 is a budget-friendly device. The biggest drawback to the screen size is the fact that it’s in a traditional 16:9 layout while new devices are experimenting with high aspect ratios to allow for more screen real-estate without making the device feel too large. Samsung and LG both offer higher aspect ratios that make their flagships large without being too wide for most users’ hands. Ulefone Power 2 retains a more historically common 16:9 ratio that may change in future iterations.
The Power 2’s screen is ultra glossy and reflective in direct sunlight but otherwise, does a respectable job in adjusting to changes in surrounding lighting
Sound (speaker, headphone, Bluetooth):
The Power 2 has a single speaker at the bottom of the device which plays fairly loudly but does not overly impress with quality nor overall volume. Yes, it gets loud for its size, but, like most smartphones, it will not fill a room with booming sound. Thankfully a universal 3.5mm headphone port sits at the top of the phone if you wish to get full stereo sound from a set if headphones or auxiliary speaker. The Ulefone Power 2 also has Bluetooth 4.0 out of the box to support a multitude of Bluetooth headphones, speakers, car and home device connections. I was able to easily connect a multitude of devices to the Power 2 over Bluetooth with no issues.
No worries here for avid headphone users. The Power 2 has a standard headphone jack for all your audio needs
Camera: With a 16MP rear-facing and 13MP front-facing selfie camera, the Power 2 has you covered in megapixels. The lenses feature 14 different light filters as well as what Ulefone calls 100-stage beautification–just imagine how beautiful you will look on this phone. In all seriousness, the Power 2’s rear camera has an auto-HDR mode that requires a steady hand but offers some better shadow processing for more natural looking photos. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of photos in well-lit environments, however, low-light shots left a lot to be desired.
The 16MP camera lens sits dead center on the back of the Power 2, right above the LED flash/light
With the budget friendly pricing, I expected very little from Ulefone in the camera department. Thankfully, most daytime shots turned out great with no over-saturation and a great amount of detail. Night shots and low-level indoor shots were fairly grainy and often-times blurry. The Power 2 is not a smartphone for users looking for a great way to take photos but does a fair job for most common daytime photography.
The Ulefone Power 2 has a huge 6050 mAh, built-in battery. This large battery is non-removable but considering the size and capabilities, this should not be an issue. The massive size of the battery adds some heft to the overall feel of the phone but also affirms that you’ll rarely need to charge the device. Ulefone advertises that most users could make it four full days without needing to charge and power users should make it through two days without issue.
The Power 2 is thick, especially when adding on the included case–but that’s a small price to pay for a long-lasting battery
I found that I was able to make it through about three days of normal use before I felt the need to charge. I was amazed every time I went to check my battery status. Smartphones I’ve used in the past have had a hard time staying charged through one day of extensive use, but the Power 2’s ability to get me through multiple days was a real surprise–and I don’t know if I ever want to go back. In most instances, while checking the Power 2 throughout the day, I was surprised to notice that the battery had dropped only a few points from the last time I had checked.
The “Power” name designation perfectly accentuates the main selling point of this smartphone from Ulefone–it really is a game-changer. I commend Ulefone for pushing overall battery power considering one of the main drawbacks of the most popular smartphones today, is the lack of overall battery capacity. Ulefone includes a 2 amp fast-charging adapter that can give you a full day’s charge in just a half an hour which is perfect for times when you only have a few spare minutes to recharge.
The Ulefone logo splashes across the screen during the power-on process
Processing: Inside the Power 2 is an MT6750T from Mediatek, which is an Octa-core processor running at 1.5GHz. While this chipset is not widely known or utilized in more common smartphones, it is plenty capable of running virtually any application available today. MediaTek advertises the MT6750T as a mid-tier system on a chip that incorporates an ARM-A53 cluster running at 1.5GHz paired with an ARM-A53 cluster running at 1.0GHz.
Booting up! I was surprised to see an update available right after the first boot-up
Paired up with the MT6750T is the MT6176 modem that covers worldwide 4G spectrum and includes Carrier Aggregation. This is just a standard way for mobile carriers to combine separate LTE carriers for higher bandwidth capacity–nothing special to this device. I was very surprised to discover that the Ulefone Power 2 has a dual-sim slot that allows for multiple connections to the GSM band. One minor drawback to this capability is that only one connection will support full speed while the second slot will be downgraded to standard voice while in use.
Memory: Inside the Power 2 you’ll find 4GB of dedicated memory that’s great for running multiple applications smoothly. I was able to quickly switch between a couple dozen apps with no slow-down. I felt the Power 2 did a wonderful job of memory management as well, considering each application loaded back into an active process with no visible issues. Having 4GB of memory available was a smart choice and another surprise from Ulefone.
Storage: Ulefone offers a whopping 64GB of storage with the Power 2. This is double of what most smartphone manufacturers provide as a base starting point unless a customer is willing to pay more for extra storage. On top of that, the Power 2 also includes a micro-SD card slot that supports an additional 256GB of storage space.
I was able to load all of my common day-to-day applications and still retain over 75% of my allocated 64GB. This is great for users that don’t want to immediately purchase an extra micro-SD card for photos, videos, and additional large applications. You could literally put a couple thousand songs from your music library on the Power 2 without issue.
User Interface
The Ulefone Power 2 features Android 7.0 (Nougat) out of the box and has been optimized to function as smoothly as possible. While navigating between screens and across different apps I found that the Power 2 responds to every tap and swipe perfectly. The operating system never chugs or stutters; Ulefone did a great job here.
Ulefone Power 2 features Android 7.0 with a unique, and somewhat ho-hum, overlay
The Ulefone Power 2 integrates Android 7 very nicely but unfortunately, it’s skinned with something called ‘Cooler OS.’ Cooler OS skins familiar Android icons with ugly aberrations that remind me of a teenagers Microsoft Windows icon pack from 1999. This was my least favorite part of the entire Power 2 experience, but fortunately, since this is Android, I was able to download and set a new launcher with a much more visually pleasing icon pack. The strange octagonal icons remain in the settings menus, but I found them much less jarring than the standard home screen icons.
Cooler OS functions almost identical to stock Android but adds a few functions that are also unique and useful. The usefulness of these included software features may vary between users but I discovered that most of them were worth checking out. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.
Float Gesture: Float gesture places a permanent, floating button on the screen that allows for quick access to floating applications like ‘Float Music,’ ‘Float Video,’ ‘Read Mode’ or quick access to locking the device’s screen. I found this feature to be more obtrusive than beneficial in most instances, so decided to leave it off.
One Hand Floatview: One Hand Floatview turns on the ability to swipe up from the bottom, right corner to get quick access to device shortcuts. Initially, I had some issues with this feature, but after some extensive research, I was able to fully use One hand Floatview.
Smart somatosensory: Smart somatosensory is designed to allow a user to swipe through designated applications with just a wave of the hand to change through songs, photos, launcher screens, etc. This feature was the most inconsistent of all additional Power 2 features as I had a hard time registering swipes to execute any changes.
Gesture Motion: Gesture Motion is designed to add features within the system and telephone categories by allowing designated gestures as functions. If enabled, these functions allow you to silence a call by turning the phone on its face, answer a phone call by swinging it up to your ear or to turn off the speaker by placing it close to your ear. While I did try most of these functions to see how well they worked, I decided to leave most of them off as they offered very little in overall usability.
Gesture Motion has two sub-categories that include ‘Telephony Motion’ and ‘System Motion’
There were also options to turn on three-point screenshots, three point camera entry, two point volume adjustments and a double-tap of the home key to lock the screen at any time. These require some experimentation to fully understand but still offered a varying degree of usability and function depending on a users devotion to understanding each feature independently. Personally, I ended up using the double-tap feature to lock the screen as well as the related double tap function to unlock the screen while it was off.
Gesture Unlock: This feature can be turned on or off to allow for a multitude of specific gesture-based shortcuts (which can be enabled or disabled individually). Double-click to wake was the feature I found most useful within this list. Here’s the full list of gesture unlock options:
Double-click to wake
Slide up to unlock
Slide down to camera
Sideslip cut songs
Gesture ‘m’ to start music
Gesture ‘c’ to start phone
Gesture ‘e’ to start browser
Gesture ‘o’ to start assignable application
Gesture ‘w’ to start assignable application
Gesture ‘z’ to start assignable application
The final three gestures (o, w & z) can be set to any installed application, which is a great bonus to the entire Gesture Unlock feature.
The Power 2 offers plenty of varying gesture unlock functions that rival almost any other smartphone
Parallel Space: Parallel Space was the most interesting item from Ulefone within its dedicated feature settings. Parallel Space allows you to run an application separately from the normal instances of your apps as a new or different user. Essentially this allows you to have two different logins for one application without setting up and switching logins. This can be beneficial to users that have separate personal and work logins for certain applications.
Use Parallel Space to launch applications from secondary accounts–how handy is that?
Conclusion
The Power 2 really accentuates its name by offering a ton of battery power. This device provides days of power on a fully charged battery. Outside of its emphasis on battery power, the Ulefone Power 2 is a fully capable smartphone that keeps stride with any other budget phone but at an even better price. As of review time, it’s possible to purchase a Ulefone Power 2 for well under $200 USD. This places it in an exclusive, low-cost price bracket that makes it incredibly enticing.
While there are definite areas to improve upon, Ulefone has designed something unique and empowering with the Power 2 smartphone. I’d love to see what’s next in line for the Power series of devices from Ulefone. If the Power 2 successor can improve on the processor and the camera without adding too much to the overall cost, it may just have become a major competitor in the budget phone arena for next year.
If I would run a poll asking how many of you leave their chargers plugged to the outlet after your charging duties are done, I’m pretty sure I would get a pretty high number. It’s such a common thing to do that you probably don’t think about it that much.
However, there has been multiple accidents throughout the world caused by careless charging practices. Most of them occur while charging phones during the night, but there have also been cases in which a seemingly harmless charger connected to an outlet has caused big consequences.
This is the case of Asmo Saloranta, creator of the ASMO charger. His fiancée’s house suffered severe damage thanks to a charger that was left plugged into a power outlet. So, what’s the idea? Very simple: when you plug your ASMO charger to the outlet and connect your phone, it turns on. When you unplug it, it turns off. Sounds simple? That’s because it is. This charger does not aim to reinvent the charging experience (which is something kind of hard to do anyways). It tries to let you do exactly what you’re doing right now, but in a more secure way.
Specs
I never figured out why don’t we all have the same plugs and voltages all over the world. For being the only intelligent species on the Earth, we are such a mess regarding basic stuff. Anyways, ASMO charger tries to get around this fact by providing a universal voltage charger.
Input: 100V – 230V
Output: 5V – 2A
Port: microUSB
Plug: Type-C
Cable length: 1.5 m
There are two things that are notably absent from this charger. The first one is the ability to charge a device with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge capabilities. The other one is the lack of a USB Type-C option. For now, only microUSB phones are supported. Also, because ASMO Solutions, the company behind the charger, is based in the lovely country of Finland, the plug is tailored to European markets. However, there are plans to remedy two of these shortcomings, but more on that later.
Packaging and Initial Impressions
Packaging for the ASMO Charger is very interesting because it has a huge “Stay Safe” label at the front. It really gets the message across in an impactful way. Contrary to such a high amount of chargers and accessories these days, especially from American brands, ASMO Charger’s packaging is made fully of cardboard, so it is not as harmful to the environment and easily recyclable.
Straight and to the point packaging.
When taking the white charger out of its package, you can clearly feel that a lot of attention has been put to deliver a high-quality product. This is especially true for the cable, which is so much better than the pitiful chargers that OEMs usually ship with their devices. It is not as thick as, for example, Anker’s nylon cables, but this is a cable that will probably last you for years. If you don’t believe me, then believe ASMO, since it offers a five-year warranty on the device.
The cable is fully attached to the charger itself. It’s not like chargers these days that have a USB plug, and you connect a cable to it. There are benefits and disadvantages to this, but, because of the nature of the charger, it was probably made this way to provide more security.
Usage
Connect your charger to the outlet, plug in your (microUSB) phone, and forget about everything else.
So how does it work? Plug in your device and if it supports USB On-The-Go (commonly referred as OTG), it will detect it automatically and turn itself on. If your device does not support USB OTG, then the charger has a green button that will turn on the charger manually. It is very easy to determine if the device is actually on or off because it makes a click sound on both occurrences.
Unfortunately for me, my Honor 7 Lite (called Huawei Honor 5C in other markets) does not support USB OTG, so I had to turn on the charger each time. Once I forgot to turn it on, but when I remembered my mistake, it was already too late: I had to leave my place with an almost discharged phone. The horror.
I have an LG G Pad 8.3 laying around though (sorry, Android on tablets is just not up to par to iOS on the iPad), so I could test this and it works flawlessly. As soon as I plug in my tablet, the charger clicks and starts charging.
Upon unplugging any device, the charger takes approximately 3 seconds to turn itself off. A click will make sure that your flat is safe and that the house lady won’t have to enter your room because the fire alarm went off.
Charging my devices with the ASMO Charger took the same amount of time than using its unsafe, non-clicking counterparts, so the added security layer does not create a slower charger. On a small side note, I found the microUSB plug to be just a bit on the bigger side, which sometimes causes some very minor clashes with my phone’s protection case. Not a big deal, though.
What’s next for the ASMO Charger?
Future ASMO Chargers will support USB Type-C and US plugs.
Even though they have a solid product right now, ASMO Solutions is already thinking about the future. I was in contact with an ASMO Solutions rep, and she was eager to explain the company’s upcoming plans.
With the dawn of the USB Type-C era, fuelled by the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8, accessories companies have to embrace the new standard in order to stay relevant. ASMO is aware of this, so they have a roadmap for developing a Type-C solution in Fall of this year. As more and more phone incorporate this plug, it is imperative companies start working on it.
The other shortcoming that ASMO is already working on is in offering a charger with a Type A socket (the one used in the United States, Canada, and almost all countries in Latin America). Sure, you can use an adapter right now and it will work well, but it’s much better to have a native solution and not deal with workarounds. This would also be introduced in Fall 2017.
Other products in their vision deal with laptops. Two things that are always plugged into a socket when not in use: a phone charger and a laptop charger. It makes sense, then, to bring to the market solutions for laptops as well.
Conclusion and where to buy
That green button is there for you if your device doesn’t support USB OTG.
There’s small stuff that you do every day that might be dangerous in the long run but you keep doing it anyways. One of these bad habits is leaving your charger connected all the time, which, not only adds up some cents to your electric bill but also can become a fire hazard under some circumstances.
Sure, this is not something that happens every day, but why should you risk it? And come on, you won’t ever start to unplug your charger.
Now, the weakest point of the ASMO Charger is its price. At €49.95, it is not exactly a cheap device. The quality and the safeness aspect make up for some of the price, but it is still a fairly expensive accessory.
However, thanks to a collaboration with ASMO Solutions, you can now use the code androidguys on their website and you will get a whopping 40% discount and free shipping! This eliminates my biggest gripe with ASMO Chargers and makes it an even more competitive product.
If you want to learn more about the device itself and take advantage of this offer, you can head over to Asmo Solution’s website and order yours today. You can also check the (successful) Indiegogo campaign to see how the charger came to be.
Therefore, a high-quality case needs to be well-constructed from shock- and water-proof materials. It also needs to look good and stylistically flattering to the design and shape of the phone. Additionally, the mobile device case needs to follow the latest industrial design trends as well as function as a fashion accessory.
It features 108p resolution and is powered by a Cortex-A9 processor running alongside 4GB of RAM. What’s more, the product includes up to two HDDs that bring support for a total of 4TB of storage, so it can easily host your digital music collection.
What’s more, it has a companion Android, iOS or smartwatch app and can be used to stream over AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect or Sonos systems. Users can also interact with it by virtue of voice commands.
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All in all, it’s a pretty impressive package!
