Samsung's Galaxy S6 Has The World's Best Smartphone Camera

Well it seems that the accolades for the soon-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy S6 just keep rolling in. We recently published an article where the Samsung Galaxy S6 was awarded the world's best smartphone display and now it has another "World Best" award to add to its repertoire. According to some reports, the Samsung Galaxy S6 has the World's Best Smartphone Camera.

Photo Credit: Lisa Eadicicco

The other real competitor to the Galaxy S6 is, obviously, the iPhone 6 but a lot of reports are saying that the Galaxy S6 has a slightly better camera, albeit with some nuances and small details. Other smartphones, like the new HTC One M9, don't even compare to the S6 or the iPhone 6, which is good  news for Samsung as the HTC One M9 will probably be the only real competitor on the Android front to the S6.

When it comes to smartphone cameras most people only tend to focus on the megapixels, which refer to the size of the image. However, the megapixels are only a part of the equation that makes up a good smartphone camera. Smartphone cameras typically don't need more than an 8 MP camera. What's more important is how well the cameras take images in different situations, like low light, how well they reproduce color and how much detail they can capture.

Recent photo images show that the Galaxy S6 camera allows you to see a lot more detail and the color reproduction is also a lot better than the iPhone 6. When you take pictures in low light the differences are a little less visible. But even though the two phones are similar in the low light category the S6 does have one other advantage.

If you double tap the home button on the S6 you can automatically launch your camera app. In addition to that, the camera sensor is always on too. This allows you to start shooting right away without having to wait a few seconds for the image to appear on screen. The iPhone 6 camera has to boot up for a second before you can start taking pictures, which could be annoying if you need to capture a picture on the fly.

The Samsung Galaxy S Series is the undoubted leader of the Android smartphone market and is the only (in my opinion) real Android competitor to the iPhone from Apple. With each new version of the Galaxy S Series the smartphones keep getting better and better and the Galaxy S6 is pulling out all the stops in its attempt to be the number one smartphone in the world. Content originally published here

Second Chief Designer Leaves HTC in Under a Year

Just 11 months after HTC's longtime Chief of Design, Scott Croyle, was revealed to be leaving the company, one of his former allies who stepped in to fill the void has also departed. HTC has confirmed that Jonah Becker has left the company, having previously served as its head of product design. Becker and Croyle joined HTC six years ago, when their design studio One & Co was acquired by the Taiwanese company.

When the new HTC One M9 came out, the company caught a lot of heat because the design was way too close to some of the other phones that they have put out. Was this the reason that Industrial Design Lead Jonah Becker decided to leave the company? Or maybe the lazy design of the phone was a product of him just not caring that much and trying to finish the product so that he could leave on a good note? It's hard to tell what the real reason is, but it seems that he has followed Croyle out the door now that the project is done

After Croyle left the company last year, Claude Zellweger and Becker took over the industrial design team. Zellweger spent most of his time on products like the HTC Grip fitness band and Vive VR headset and Becker focused his energy on smartphones. Now that Becker is gone, Daniel Hundt is going to be taking his position. Hundt has been a part of the HTC design team for quite some time now, so things should still move fairly smooth.

According to The Verge, this is what HTC had to say on the matter:

"We can confirm that Jonah Becker has left HTC; he had been with the Company since HTC acquired One & Co over six years ago. We would like to thank Jonah for his work with HTC, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours. He has been succeeded by Daniel Hundt, based in our San Francisco design office."

Within just a month of the HTC One M9, HTC has went through a ton of huge changes. They changed CEOs, and now they are putting a new person in charge of designing smartphones. There has been a lot of concern about this, with everyone wondering if the company will be able to operate the way they always have and continue with the same amount of success. But, with these new huge changes, it does give HTC a chance at a fresh start. They could take this opportunity to be inspired by the new faces and make some really incredible things happen, just like they always have and maybe even more so.

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Microsoft Making a Reputable Successor to the Surface

When it came out back in 2013, the Surface Pro 2 was a huge improvement from the original Surface RT. It also came with options. You could either get the Surface Pro 2 or just the Surface RT which gave consumers the choice between Windows 8.1 or Windows RT. Right now, it is still the latest addition to the line of Windows RT tablets.

What is Microsoft Planning?

Because of it's success with two different versions, it was odd that when they announced the Surface Pro 3, there was no mention of a regular Surface 3. They did plan to launch a Surface mini, but that got canceled right before they were about to officially announce it. Now, there really isn't any chance for a Surface 3 at all.

Reports say that Microsoft is getting ready to put out a new tablet that is supposed to be the big brother to the Surface 2 pretty soon, but it isn't going to be an RT device. It is going to have a fanless design and have either an Intel ATOM or an Intel Core M based processor. It will run the full version of Windows, which is a first for a non-pro tablet from the company.

With BUILD coming up, it is expected than Microsoft will announce the tablet around that time and probably launch it soon after. It will obviously come loaded with Windows 8.1 but will be upgradable to Windows 10 whenever it comes out. This comes as a bit of a pleasant surprise considering that Microsoft said none of the non-pro devices would be upgradeable to Windows 10. It does make sense because it will be launching so close to the time of the new operating system, but I don't think anyone was really expecting it.

What Does This Mean for Apple?

The new tablet is said to be a low-end tablet that will be a direct successor to the Surface 2, which has since been discontinued. In addition to that, it is also said that this new tablet will complete more directly against Apple's iPad. Apple has long since been the leader when it comes to tablets, probably because Apple was the first company to come out with a tablet, essentially setting the industry standard for the technology.

Big Fixes Coming!

The one thing that this tablet is doing right is that it is fixing arguably the biggest problem with previous Surface tablets, the fact that they didn't run Windows. This new tablet will run the full version of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10. This means that it will be able to run any Windows software that runs on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 according to reports from WinBeta.

The lack of software with the Surface 2 and Surface RT was a huge problem for these devices. In fact, the problem was so sever that Microsoft ended up writing down over $900 million in unsold inventory thanks to poor sales of the original Surface RT. In turn, Microsoft stopped selling the low end tablets and stating that existing Surface Pro 2 tablets would not be upgradeable to Windows 10.

What Does This Mean for the Future?

Microsoft unveiled last month a version of Windows that was designed for the tiny $35 Raspberry Pi PC. This version of Windows 10 could, hypothetically, be used to run on other small devices, giving Windows a new foothold in the Internet of Things (IoT) market. The IoT market is, essentially, the market where everyday things are given sensors, chips and apps, allowing them to join the internet.

This is important because Microsoft has promised that Windows 10 will work like a single operating system across multiple devices. What this means is that no matter what you are using Windows 10 on, whether it be a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, it will run and feel the same on each device. As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella puts it, this is a major part of the company's strategy to make everyone "love Windows 10".

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Android 5.1 Update from Google Looks to Decrease Phone Theft

Google is giving Android its first full blown update since the new version of the operating system came out back in November of last year. The main improvement that has everyone excited is the new feature that is supposed to cut down on phone theft tremendously. When you turn on Device Protection, your phone will stay locked until you sign in with your Google account. It will stay locked even if your phone is reset to factory settings. Because of this, there is pretty much nothing a thief can do with it. They won't be able to get ANYTHING off of it. A stolen Android phone is basically just a paperweight.

Apple did something similar a while back. Their feature is called Activation Lock, which comes with iOS 7. In San Francisco is cut down on phone theft by 40%, and in New York City is got cut down by 25%. The new Android update will surely have the same outcome for anyone who uses Android Lollipop. And even if you don't, a thief is going to be less excited about stealing your phone just because they will probably assume there is no point. It makes stealing smartphones not worth the risk.

Other features included in the new update include support for multiple SIM cards, the ability to join Wi-Fi networks and control Bluetooth devices from the Quick Settings menu, and high-definition voice calling.The support for multiple SIM cards will be awesome for people who want to share their smartphone with family members.

The 5.1 update is also supposed to improve Lollipop's overall stability. It is the biggest operating system Google has ever launched for a smartphone, so it was bound to have some kinks that needed to be worked out. It appears they are doing a good job at it!

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Galaxy S6 Awarded 'World's Best Smartphone Display'

As it stands right now, the Galaxy S6 from Samsung has the best smartphone display in the world, joining the Galaxy Note 4 with a shared accolade. DisplayMate, which extensively tests smartphone screens and provides highly detailed performance analysis based on viewing angles, pixel density, color accuracy, brightness and other features, awarded the S6 with the title.

President of DisplayMate and testing aficionado Raymond Soneira stated that the newest installment in the Galaxy smartphone family "matches or breaks new records in smartphone display performance in several areas including screen resolution, pixels per inch and highest absolute color accuracy."

In addition to that, Soneira was also impressed with the 2560x1440 resolution that offered 557 ppi, an increase over the S5's 432 ppi. Those numbers may not seem like much, but for a single release cycle it's a pretty impressive jump.

The Galaxy S6 isn't alone on the pedestal of worldwide display greatness. The Galaxy Note 4 also shares the award and still has many of the qualities found in the S6. In addition to that, Samsung's ability to maintain the same performance and specs in a smaller screen than the Note is one of the  main reasons the Galaxy S6 was rated so highly, according to Soneira.

When people got hands on with the Galaxy S6 at Mobile World Congress most of them were very impressed. In addition to the world's best smartphone display, the Galaxy S6 also comes with a solid build quality so there is a lot to be excited about.

The Galaxy S series of smartphones is probably the strongest competitor to Apple's iPhone. The Galaxy S series devices have been awarded the best smartphone displays for the past couple of iterations and the phones overall have been extremely solid.

The 5 Best Apps You Don't Know About!

There are literally millions of apps on the market, and new ones come out every day. At this point, there are way too many to just gamble on them until you find the right ones for you. Hopefully, this list can help you find some super productive apps that will help you out in your everyday life!

Nintype: A super fast keyboard app

Nintype is an app that lets you type super fast by combining swiping motions and double tapping for double letters. It also has shortcuts for saved texts, emojis, hashtags, and any other shortcuts you set up. With this keyboard app, you can type more than 100 words per minute!

Cloe: Siri's smarter sister

Cloe is kind of like Siri. You can use it when you need to find an answer to just about any question. The main difference is that Cloe is actually powered by actual people. Sometimes Siri can steer you a little wrong, or give you something that isn't exactly what you were looking for. By interacting with a real human, the chances of that are slim. Also, you don't even need an app. It's not an app at all! You just have to sign up, and then you can text Cloe any time you'd like.

Workflow: Keeping  you from wasting time

Basically, Workflow is an app that can customize your phone to be more productive, in general. You can use it to completely skip tasks that waste time. You can tell your phone exactly what to do when it notices a certain action. You can schedule certain pictures to upload to social media, automatically call in to conference calls at the exact time they are scheduled, and pretty much anything else you can think of that will keep you productive.

Evernote Scannable: Grow your LinkedIn profile by scanning business cards

Basically, this app makes digital copies of business cards, receipts, and anything else. It pulls the information from these documents, finds the person on LinkedIn, and saves them to your contact list. Brilliant.

Duet: Use your iPad as a 2nd display for your Mac

If you have an extra iPad laying around, you can actually use it to be way more productive than you might have thought. Duet lets you connect your iPad to your Mac with the charging cable and actually use it as a second screen. This is especially awesome when you are doing photo editing, video editing, or music production. Nothing is cooler than having one screen dedicated to editing audio and another screen dedicated to an on-screen mixing board.

Buying A New Car? Which Will You Choose Apple CarPlay Or Android Auto?

Apple and Google have been in heavy competition basically forever. So when one of them decided that they were going to offer some type of in-car experience, you already knew that they were both going to jump on it and try to out-do each other.

The Future Of Dashboards

Apple and Android are two of biggest names in the tech world right now. No matter what, neither company would dare put out something that wasn't as amazing as it could be. With that being said, the two different in-car experiences are going to have their differences. They are both designed to plug your smartphone directly into the built-in display on the car's dashboard, and they are both made to make your driving experience safer and easier. But what exactly is different about Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?

Android Auto

Android Auto is currently in beta, but it already looks like a finished product for the most part. As far as the overall feel, it looks a lot like Android 5.0 Lollipop running on a smartphone or something. With an Android OS, all of the notifications and the layout are more based on Google Now. You can listen to music, make calls, check the weather, receive messages and all more. The navigation is obviously Google Maps. Probably the most reliable navigation out there.

Apple CarPlay

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Apple's CarPlay sticks to what Apple does best: Keeping things simple. The main part about the whole thing is Siri, which is expected. Siri helps you respond to notifications and listen to messages. There are third party apps that you can use like Spotify for listening to music, and Apple uses it's own apps to handle navigation and podcasts and things of that nature.

SEE ALSO: How To Have A Hugely Sucessful Event By Using Twitter & Instagram

The Decision

At the end of the day, they both pretty much offer the exact same things. So far, some car companies have been making cars that only allow you to use one or the other, but there are a few manufacturers that are starting to make cars that allow you to use either one. At that point it will all just come down to personal preference. That way you won't have to worry about changing devices or having to buy your dream car that was built with a service that you don't like.

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