SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 LOLLIPOP UPDATE SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 GETS SWEETER
ANDROID LOLLIPOP UPDATE 5.0.1

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! I hope that you had a great weekend! I know I sure did! The preview of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were a highlight!

Are you the owner of the Galaxy S4? Have you checked for updates lately? 

#Samsung #GalaxyS4 #LollipopUpgrade

SWEET GALAXY
UK, March 16 2015 - The brilliant and often underrated Galaxy S4 received the Android Lollipop 5.0.1 upgrade and it's all good!

I like the changes! The combination of Lollipop and TouchWiz is very alluring - together they work wonders! After seeing the stripped down version of TouchWiz on the Galaxy S6 Edge (and S6) I don't understand why those lovely Air Gestures have been removed. It's not like I've noticed any lag, so far, on the Galaxy S4. 

Anyway, I like that webpages are a part of the multitasking card view. The overall changes aren't jarring and confusing. Everything looks neater as a whole. The menus remain very easy to understand; in fact the update is rather similar to the Galaxy Note 4 without the Lollipop update. I'm looking forward to Lollipop on the Galaxy Note 4 too! 

Thank you for reading Synapse Circuit.

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 FOLLOW UP

Above: Galaxy A7 with unibody design.

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
SAMSUNG GALAXY S6:
THE FOLLOW-UP!

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! What’s happening in your lives? Are you feeling the need to make some noise? I don’t know about you but I just LOVE that computer music technology allows us to express ourselves using sound!  No matter what level you are on when it comes to music it is a joy to make noise! Y’know? Do your own thing and put some beats together! Here’s some great music making software: Computer MusicSoftware / Mobile Applications

Here’s my follow-up to the Samsung Galaxy S6 speculative article...

#Samsung #GalaxyS6

A-OKAY?
As you know Samsung has released the Galaxy ‘A’ series of handsets that has an aluminium unibody, the A3, A5 & A7! Is this an indication for the direction that the Galaxy S6 is heading in? I don’t think that this is in keeping with the “Project Zero” ethos, right? Nonetheless, the Galaxy A handsets is quite interesting in that they do not show off the metal like HTC does for example! They all have the same camera configuration: 13MP main and 5MP front-facing. The screen sizes are as follows: 4.5”, 5” and 5.5” and they appear to be 720 – that ought to keep the battery going for more than a day! The speaker is now next to the camera lens at the back and I am not too sure if this is an optimal setting for the speaker!

HOW DOES THE GALAXY A SERIES TRANSLATES TO THE GALAXY S6?
I do have my reservations where a unibody, non-removable battery is concerned on a premium daily driver for what should be obvious reasons. I am trying to imagine the double edged Galaxy S6 and how a removable battery can be incorporated in the design; if it is anything like the Galaxy Note Edge I can see how a removable battery would work... There again, I can see Galaxy S6 Dual Edge being a unibody to make life easier and therefore I envisage a huge battery on it! I also envisage a 5.5” qHD display looking like a diamond sitting upon a metal bed! That can work!

And if the standard Galaxy S6 is to also sport a unibody then it makes me wonder as to what Samsung will provide as accessories... Could we be seeing protective covers with an auxiliary battery pack that kicks in when the nonremovable battery expires?

As for the camera; I still have it as 20MP and 13MP front-facing as it is a premium flagship over the mid-range Galaxy A.

Is the positioning of the speaker on the Galaxy A series an indication of things to come on the Galaxy S6? I wouldn’t like to think so because I know that one of the features of a premium Galaxy handset is audio! The Galaxy Note 4 features Ultra High Quality Audio (192KHz, 24 bit) support; however I do think that the speaker could have been better on the Galaxy Note 4 to do the sound more justice. It’s very good but I felt that it could be better still! Again, if the Galaxy S6 is going to feature a unibody design on both standard and dual-edge I feel that the logical place for the speaker is at the front and by the exceptional design standards set by HTC, Motorola and ASUS (apologies if I left any other manufacturer out) I think it is time that Samsung goes stereo front-facing speakers on this one! If not I would like to think that Samsung will make more space for the speaker(s) at the back. This tiny thing on the Galaxy Note 4 is pushing it a bit!

A MASS EXYNOS
Did you see what I did there? Hahaha! Anyway, when I put the Synapse Circuit ideal Galaxy S6 innards I was toying with the idea of stating the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 as it has apparently been outed! But in any event I just put down the fastest 64-bit CPU that is going into the LG Flex 2 and a few other handsets! Heating problem? Who can tell? Samsung, as far as I am aware, has not made an official statement about Qualcomm’s flagship processor! I have always wondered how it is possible that Samsung has its own chip manufacturing business as it makes chips for Apple and only some international markets get premium Samsung devices with its own Exynos chipset!

I have understood that the Exynos 7420 is touted to be the 64-bit processor in ALL the Galaxy S6 handsets! It makes sense for Samsung to push its own chipset due to the profits taking a dip of late. Sometimes I wonder if the tech media are trying to make something out of nothing and make-up statements such as the Snapdragon 810 “overheating” and that Samsung have more or less turned its back on Qualcomm... Snapdragon is a part of the Galaxy A range! I think this is a good time for Samsung to put its Exynos processor to work internationally!

The Samsung Galaxy S6 may be revealed at the Mobile World Congress 2 – 5 March 2015, Barcelona, Spain!

GALAXY ROUND?
In addition to the Galaxy S6, Samsung could be revealing a round Moto 360-like smartwatch that is said to be running the full version of Android! Knowing Samsung I reckon there will be a couple more wearable devices with the Tizen operating system!

Bring it on!

FINALLY...
...can Samsung turn its finances around?

Look, I can’t deny the fact that I am a Samsung person; the Galaxy S and Note series of handsets have given me what I want: power, speed, a great camera and removable battery. I would like to see Samsung cleaning up this year!

What a lot of people don’t realize is that many Samsung handsets sell steadily over time. I think the Galaxy S2 or a variant of it was selling up until the last couple of years here in the UK! I would imagine that the Galaxy S3 Neo, S4 and S5 will still be a choice for upgrades for a while to come – especially the S5 as I am sure that active people would get it due to the water and dust resistance! I can see it becoming a secondary or even third daily driver for those that like to have multiple handsets for different functions! Oh, another rumour is that the Galaxy S6 will not have the water and dust resistance... Even more of a reason to have the GS5 as a driver for when you’re at the gym, jogging, etc!

IS THE iPHONE 6 & 6 PLUS SELLING OVER SAMSUNG?
To be totally honest with you I can’t trust anything with regards to Apple as they are not truthful. iPhone 5C... Ahem... Sssh... I think Apple puts out these press releases to make people think that they are selling by the masses when they are not. If you have been following my articles I have exposed a number of discrepancies with Apple stories! I have also exposed a definite undeniable bias in the tech media! So, I really can’t believe any of it! One of the main reasons why I don’t believe is that the iPhone is behind in terms of technology.

1. Retina display: DEAD.
2. Design: SURPASSED.
3. iOS: SURPASSED.

If anything disgruntled iPhone owners that got fed up for waiting for Apple to deliver a phablet may have come back from going Android. I would imagine it is because it’s like having an iPad which has now been cannibalized. I can’t deny that the iOS platform doesn’t have great apps! Android is catching up and I wish Google would step in and step up! Samsung is very clever by having special apps only available for its own handsets such as Soundcamp (as I keep going on about)! I wish on the Galaxy App Store that Samsung just provides apps of its own making and / or collaborations with other developers; I think wading through the crap on Google Play is enough!

The point I am making is that the iPhone is always going to sell and that Apple fanatics have gotten a phablet at last! However, for Android a 5.5” display is no longer considered to be a phablet. So, Apple is still trailing! When Apple gets around to putting out its smartwatch, Apple Watch, I can see that hardcore Apple fanatics will rush out to get it and the press will lap it up just like they’ve made a big deal about the 6 Plus! I find it very odd that the press aren’t as enthusiastic about the Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge. But that’s good because these handsets sell themselves! You will find that the sales for the Galaxy S6 will be like that of the iPhone 6 Plus because of the following factors:-

1. 64-bit Exynos processor (and hopefully 4GB RAM). Now that 64-bit on Android has truly arrived I can’t see how Apple can vie for the Android market. I would also imagine that developers would want to create apps that can take advantage of that processing power! Here come some more serious apps at last!

2. Quad-HD screen – hopefully it will be a 5.5” as that worked for LG G3. Also a 5.5” qHD screen may entice disgruntled iPhone 6 Plus users as it was not what they are expecting (I have showed you the crazy amount of iPhone 6 Plus devices dumped in the computer exchange shops already)!

3. Android 5 Lollipop and a super-optimized TouchWiz. ASUS has shown that a UI overlay doesn’t mean lag! Zen UI is pretty decent!

Some people like pure Android and some like what TouchWiz brings to the table! I appreciate them both hence why I have a Nexus 6 and a Galaxy Note 4! I would imagine that with the 64-bit capability and possible access to 4GB RAM that TouchWiz can possibly do even more and without the occasional lag!

Bottom line is: The Galaxy S6 should sell extremely well! It is almost certain that the Galaxy S6 will be my next handset!

And that was the follow-up to the GalaxyS6 Double Edged Sword article!

Thank you so much for reading Synapse Circuit!

Expect more reviews, news, opinions, competitions and more from Synapse Circuit!

Please check out the Synapse Circuit site here: Synapse Circuit.com

Synapse Circuit for tech news, opinions, articles, reviews and competitions. You will find interactive PDF magazines, videos and links to free legal software! Check it out at Synapse Circuit dot com

A NEW SYNAPSE CIRCUIT WEBSITE IS ON THE WAY! 

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT NEXUS 6 REVIEW

Above: The Nexus 6 by Google. Made by Motorola. Be in awe. Be very awed!

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
THE DEFINITIVE NEXUS 6 REVIEW

COST: £498.99 (32GB), £548.99 (64GB)
PAY MONTHLY CONTRACT: £33 (32GB) & £43.50 (64GB)
Do check the networks for prices / deals!

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! I hope you are in the best of health and that you are making the most out of your tech! Jeez, Louise! It is freezing cold tonight here in London – it’s minus 5! Well, I guess I should be thankful I am not in Canada for example!

Hey, are you about to upgrade? Are you thinking about the Nexus 6? Well, you are in luck! Here’s probably the best review you’ll ever read on it!

#Google #Nexus6 #In6 #Android5 #Lollipop #AndroidLollipop

THE GREATEST
Yes, the Google Nexus 6 is HUGE!!! If you are not used to a phablet it may take some getting used to – especially if you are coming off a Nexus 5 or a similarly sized handset. I am used phablets having reviewed a few in my time – notably the Galaxy Note series and the Acer Liquid S1. I personally LOVE BIG ANDROID PHONES!

If you don’t like the idea of having a phablet I really do recommend that you should try it for a couple of weeks as I am sure that by the end of week 1 you will either love it or hate it. The Galaxy Note series of handsets never disappointed because they were and still are fast! Let’s say you don’t like TouchWiz on ‘em you can use a launcher and the Galaxy Note handsets remain punchy! However, the Acer Liquid S1 wasn’t so fluid; the feeling was the opposite of what you’d imagine with the term “liquid”. Liquid Sludge 1? However, the first impression with the Nexus 6 was quite shocking in a positive way because it is greased lightning! I can understand to a degree why Android fanatics prefer a vanilla, pure un-skinned Android on their handsets! At first the Nexus 6 felt like I was trying to stand up whilst slipping on ice!

Let’s talk about the physicality and design...

LOOK & FEEL
As the Nexus 6 has been manufactured by Motorola the outlook is that of an enlarged second generation Moto X. Faced up it looks very much like what it is: a monolithic rectangular slab of onyx. At the back it has a smooth plastic back with the Motorola “M” logo circularly indented and above it is the 13MP camera lens and concentric LED flash!  Oh, below the “M” logo is the “Nexus” logo in silver. Very, Sci-Fi-like! The Nexus 6 is beautifully framed with aluminium and my midnight blue aluminium looks very otherworldly! The other colour choice is white. It looks good too!

PREMIUM BONDING
Last year I spend some time conversing with reasonable and unreasonable iPhone fanatics that are more or less justifying the high cost to them as consumers for the materials the iPhone is made out of (glass and aluminium) but I pointed out to them that these materials are subject to vulnerability. Glass shatters (as it does on all phones) and metal dents. Sensible iPhone owners place it in a protective case whereby the “beauty” is hidden and therefore it defeats the purpose.

The Nexus 6 feels very premium – even though the back is made from plastic! In other worlds Motorola has shown that a premium handset does not have to have an all metal unibody! However, it makes me ask: Why not make the back of the Nexus 6 out of aluminium since the battery cannot be removed? The answer most likely comes down to price! I look at the Galaxy Note 4 and I thank Samsung for the removable battery!

FIRST NIGGLE
The Nexus 6 should have ideally featured a removable battery! I forgot to mention that the back is curved and that will make it pretty much impossible to gesture type when it is lying flat on a surface and because the back is impractical for typing then Motorola could have made the battery removable! It’s a big handset and it would have been handy to be able to swap out the battery.

You would probably want to get a protective case for this big baby! You would want to protect the 5.96 screen and the flip case will certainly obscure the beauty of the Nexus 6 back!

SCREEN
The quad-HD screen is good but on the dull side but in the settings that can be changed by turning off “Adaptive Brightness”. That said the Adaptive Brightness setting is not as bad as I initially thought because the screen can be softened, so to speak, when watching / reading content at night with the lights off! The Galaxy Note 4 screen is the best of all the smartphones on the market today!

SONIC POWER
On the front of the Nexus 6 lays the stereo speakers that have some kick to them; they are delightfully loud and very clear! The tones are a little bit on the tinny side but you can hear bass and mid tones quite well. I call this non-symmetrical design “forehead and chin” whereby the top speaker sits at the top which is larger than the bottom of the handset where the second speaker resides – the chin!

SOME FRONT: THE FRONT-FACING CAMERA
SECOND LITTLE NIGGLE
The front-facing camera is 2MP and by today’s standards it’s quite weak! Really and truly, a handset of this stature should be fronting a 5MP at least! As it stands the 2MP is okay and is quite grainy as you can probably imagine. It’ll do for video chat and the occasional selfie! Is the 2MP a means to keep the costs down? I really don’t know... ...front-facing cameras on many handsets these days are coming in at larger MegaPixels that are quite cost effective! A little disappointed there!

When you put a handset this size in front of people you ought to go to town a bit with the hardware features and this is one area that looks like one of those muscle builders that have spent more time on the arms than the legs! Hmmmmm... Not a good look... Of course, you can’t see that from looking at the Nexus 6!

MAIN CAMERA
The main camera is 13MP and is very much similar – if not the same – as found on the second generation Moto X! The LED, as described above, is circular around the lens that should give a balanced picture.

It kinda hard and pretty much self-defeating to write reviews on a main camera... Why? I am glad you asked! I am finding that with handset cameras it is about having options in the form of predefined scenes such as:

Portrait
Sports
Night
Macro

The Nexus 6 is a pure Android experience and therefore it lacks these option modes as you will find on something like the Galaxy Note 4. It’s very odd that some reviewers complain or assert that a range of options can be a pain for the user as I find that these modes are the ones that you will find on a digital camera! For me, these modes are essential to find the right settings for the picture that I want to take!

The 13MP on the Nexus 6 is very good and it is quite fast in focusing but I feel you are going to take a bit of time to set it up in a situation... For example, it has an effective HDR+ setting that does an effective job of making a moderately unlit scene / object appear as though a flash was used. Using the flash on the same scene / object was quite good – the result wasn’t a typical wash of light; the concentric LED flash is effective!

But where the Nexus 6 13MP camera trips up is that when the light is uneven it has difficulty in finding focus. The 1080p video is very good (when the lighting is even) as is the 4K recording which takes up some serious storage. Which brings me to...

...THIRD LITTLE NIGGLE
There is no storage expansion to take advantage of the 4K video recording mode. For some reason the person behind the functionality of Android and the Nexus range of handsets, Matías Duarte, is of the opinion that a microSD card functionality confuses Nexus users that aren’t technology savvy. Something stinks about that sentiment! For a start many o’ luddites that yielded to the digital camera and I bet it didn’t take long before they were taking pictures directly to the SD card! And if the consumer ever had a handset from a manufacturer that made a microSD slot a feature then I am certain that even the most non-technical person worked out why he / she was getting “Low Memory” warnings due to not allowing the camera to take and store pictures and video directly to the microSD card! If you can read you can figure it out!

But the main reason why Google, Matías Duarte, does not want you to use a microSD card is because they (Google & Matías Duarte) want you to use Google Drive! When you use the camera for the first time it asks you if you want to start using Auto Backup to Google Cloud Drive. It does work in principal but you’d have to transfer from the internal storage to the cloud Drive. Whereas I think it would have been better to be able to record video, for example, to a high speed microSD card and transfer the recordings to Google Drive for backup! I say, “Give the consumer options!” Anyway, there are a bunch of cloud storage options from Microsoft and Dropbox. I wonder when someone will hack into a Google Drive to reveal celebrity nude photos... Hmmmmm... I wonder... Yeah, I am still the kind of person to backup the contents of my microSD card to a DVD or Bluray disc! Plus I find it so easy to insert the microSD card (with an SD card adapter) and bring a video clip into my video editor! This is why I would prefer Google and Matías Duarte to recant this “say no to microSD card” stance!

FOURTH BIG NIGGLE
Google has kindly given us a bunch of lovely productivity applications such as Doc (Word Processor), Slides (PowerPoint Presentations) and Sheets (Exel)! That’s all well and good but now that we have been enjoying full HD and now 4K video recording it is about time that Google gave us a decent video editing app! There used to be ‘Movie Studio’ but I do not see it anymore! Every time I download and install a video app I have to uninstall it because either the quality is appalling and / or it’s bloody in-app purchases! In-app purchase = dodgy. I am not saying that the makers of apps that have incentives to make you keep buying add ons are dodgy! No! I am saying, me, Synapse Circuit, that I want the option to purchase everything I need in one go! I find in-app purchasing apps annoying! You’ve paid for an app thinking, “Yes! I can get productive now!” only to find that the feature(s) come at an extra cost! Did I say I don’t like it? “I don’t like it!”

IT’S IN MY HANDS
It’s no point me telling you that I had no problems with handling the big Nexus 6, which by the way, is a little shorter than the Acer Liquid S1, because my hands aren’t the same as yours! Simple! Try telling that to Apple (yes, I am referring to the stupid iPhone ad that goes on about 4.5” being the ideal for your hand)!

You will have to use two hands to operate it, for the most part, effectively. I would certainly recommend a protective case for it as it helps to make the photo taking experience stress free from the fear of it slipping out of your hands. It’s not exactly slippery as it is such a big phone that it demands firm handling.

LOLLIPOP: ANDROID 5
WEIRDOID: Somebody told me that because of Lollipop’s use of primary colours that Android 5 is “like an operating system made for a child”. Another weird thing this somebody said, at the same time, that he took his Galaxy Note 4 back in exchange for and iPhone 6 Plus... Okay, we’ll get to those in a bit... Oooh, yes!

Personally, I think the latest version of Android, 5, Lollipop is great! I don’t mind the use of primary colours as these lovely colours look great on the big quad-HD 5.96” AMOLED screen! I love that the Google apps are colour coded! I’m a Rainbow Child! Lol! The main purpose of the operating system, if you didn’t know, is to enable the user to perform a task or tasks as quickly as possible! Android does that; it allows me to do what I want without aggravation. If I want to open up Chrome to go web surfing it just takes one click! Or let’s say I’m Facebook and I click on a link to a website: if I have another browser I am asked to make a choice of browser. I can bypass the feedback by clicking on Chrome and / or I can make going to links via Chrome, for example, permanently. With the iPhone iOS it wants me to stay in Safari! Similarly, if I wanted to share media or web link it is so very easy in Android and not so with iOS. Not to mention that Android apps have no problem taking advantage of the beautiful 5.96” quad-HD screen!

Android 5, Lollipop is, again, so very, very smooth! No lag! It’s just a satisfying operating system and is, quite rightly, the best in the world!

Oh, I did get a message to upgrade to Android 5 Lollipop 5.0.1 and I can’t say that I have experienced any bugs yet! I will look out for them! I guess there will be some bugs as you’d expect with a new operating system version like with any operating system! Google are usually quick to issue updates to correct anything major!

SHARE THE LOVE
Another great aspect of Android 5 Lollipop is that it allows you to set-up guest users to the handset, Nexus 6, and I am sure that this feature will be enabled when it reaches other devices. Anyway, if you, let’s say for example, let your child or children use your phone to play games, etc you will feel a lot better when they use it as a guest! As a result they can’t access other aspects of your phone!

“Dad, that’s not a picture of Mommy!”

“Mom! He’s half your age!”

No more of that! Hahaha!

GALAXY NOTE 4 & iPHONE PLUS 6?
Let’s get things straight!

1. Google isn’t going to put out a handset that will upset Samsung’s King of the Phablet market. The Nexus 6 doesn’t do any fanciful tricks that you will find on the irrepressible Galaxy Note 4! The Galaxy Note 4 is crazy mad with multiple windows, S Pen and heart rate monitor to say the least! The Nexus 6 is just a nice big handset to do things simply but effectively! You could say that it is pretty much like the Galaxy Note 4 stripped down with the exception of the screen as Samsung has placed the best screen on a smartphone on the Galaxy Note 4 - 5.7" 515 ppi pixel density to the Nexus 6 5.96" 493 ppi pixel density! You do notice a difference when placed side by side but that is the, some would say, oversaturated nature of Samsung’s premium handsets! Still, the Nexus 6 screen is a joy!

2. The Nexus 6 is a totally different handset to the iPhone 6 Plus! Different operating systems, different ecosystems and the Nexus 6 outclasses the iPhone 6 Plus in terms of design. Come on... ...I know you’d jump off a cliff for Tim Cook and friends but before you go you have to acknowledge the quad-HD screen on the Nexus 6! Good! Then there are the gorgeous front-facing stereo speakers! Android 5, Lollipop just flows... ...it allows you to do what you want when you want! Again, it features productivity apps that output to Mac and PC compatible software formats so you are not a slave to these computing platforms! I do think that Android is better than iOS! Look! I am, when I am not writing, a consumer. I have tried the iPhone and it doesn’t resonate with me. As much as I do appreciate the snappiness of the operating system I do find that it betrays the idea productivity when it locks you into the Apple (iTunes & Safari) experience!

I know that I can watch a 4K video on YouTube on my Nexus 6 and Galaxy Note 4. Can I do this on the iPhone 6 Plus?

GEE, TOUCHWIZ
As much as I LOVE pure Android it doesn’t mean to say that I don’t appreciate TouchWiz! Again, if it weren’t for Samsung, Android wouldn’t have taken to the mainstream like it has! Samsung has taken Android and has done marvellous things with it! Let me put it another way...

When I am using my Galaxy Note 2, 4 and Galaxy S4 my mindset adjusts to what these beasts can do! And when I am using the Nexus 6 I adjust to what it is about. In fact, because the second generation Moto G is like a Nexus 6 mini I don’t have any issues at all with the Nexus 6. Yes, the second generation Moto G Android 4.4.4 isn’t all that different from Lollipop; one of the things that Android 4.4.4 doesn’t have is the tabs when multitasking.

Pure Android & TouchWiz are like Yin & Yang. But that is my take on it! If you have tried a Samsung handset and did not like the TouchWiz overlay then I am sure that you will be bowled over by Android 5 Lollipop!

CONCLUSION
The battery life is good but, as you know, when you start to use any handset the battery soon drains! So, if you are an intensive user i.e. you watch a lot of videos, play lots of these big 3D games, take pictures, etc you will find that you can get a day’s usage out of it! I do think that Google, Motorola (now Lenovo Motorola) should put out a compatible USB power pack that we connect to Motorola devices such as the Nexus 6. Yes, there are USB power packs out there but I only trust gear for use with my handsets if they come recommended by the manufacturers! Me? If it was the Galaxy Note 4 I’d buy another battery! That’s the thing to consider if the Nexus 6 is going to be your main handset! Dare I say it but as Android 5 Lollipop keeps getting updated it could improve the battery life!

The battery charger that it comes with enables fast charging. However, as soon as you start using the handset the battery drains just as quickly! So, put it on charge for a couple of hours or so! I have found that the longer you leave the Nexus 6, when you first get it, to charge the longer the duration! You will do well to download a battery management app just so you know when the Nexus 6 has charged up fully! It features a battery saving mode that practically turns of all the apps in the background i.e. your apps won’t sync so don’t get to receive message and email notifications, for example, until you open these applications. Hmmmm... I am not too sure about that... I think Motorola ought to give us that USB battery pack! Lol!

I LOVE the Nexus 6 and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fantastic big quad-HD screen handset for both productivity and leisure!

6 REASONS TO GET THE NEXUS 6

1. If you are a fan of Blade Runner the movie the Nexus 6 shares its name with a superior batch of humanoid androids known as Replicants. Now that the silly-cool reason is out of the way...

2. Android 5 Lollipop in its purest! It is beautiful! Wonderful responsiveness! I reckon Usain Bolt will have a bit of trouble keeping up with it!

3. The awesome quad-HD screen is great for video, web surfing, game playing and productivity!

4. If you are making music using Caustic or G-Stomper Studio you are going to LOVE the front-facing stereo speakers!

5. The Guest User mode is great!

6. The overall design and build is solid! No! The back of my Nexus has not come undone! Unlike the iPhone the Android handset designs keep getting better and the Nexus 6 is a great example!

So, there you have it!

AND NOW FOR A BIT OF IMPORTANT SPEC:-

DISPLAY      
AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
5.96 inches (74.1% screen-to-body ratio)
1440 x 2560 pixels (493 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch
Corning Gorilla Glass 3

OS     
Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop)

CHIPSET     
Qualcomm Snapdragon 805

CPU  
**Quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450

GPU  
Adreno 420

MEMORY / STORAGE
No microSD card slot
Internal storage: *32 / 64GB,
**3GB RAM

CAMERA      
Primary 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, optical image stabilization, dual-LED (ring) flash
Features: Dual recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, photo sphere, panorama, HDR
Video: 2160p@30fps, optical stabilization
Secondary: 2 MP

*The Nexus 6 unit reviewed featured 32GB storage.

**The Quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450 is the one as found in the Galaxy Note 4 and it also has 3GB of RAM. Make no mistake, they are FAST!

Thank you so much for reading SynapseCircuit!

Expect more reviews, news, opinions, competitions and more from Synapse Circuit!

Please check out the Synapse Circuit site here: Synapse Circuit.com

Synapse Circuit for tech news, opinions, articles, reviews and competitions. You will find interactive PDF magazines, videos and links to free legal software! Check it out at SynapseCircuit dot com

ANDROID TABLETS vs LAZY TECH-WRITERS

Above: ASUS Fonepad ME372CL; tablet meets phone.

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
ANDROID TALK TODAY:
ANDROID TABLETS vs.
LAZY TECH-WRITERS

CONTENTS:
ASUS FONEPAD ME372CL
APPLE iPAD AIR 2 & MINI 3
GOOGLE NEXUS 6 & 9
FRAGMENTATION
ANDROID 5 LOLLIPOP

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! I hope you are well and feeling refreshed after the weekend! I also hope you are getting the most out of your tech!

Say, can any of you tell me what’s wrong with the following headline?

“WHY APPLE'S NEW TABLET DESTROYS THE COMPETITION...”

#Asus #AsusFonepadME372CL #Apple #Samsung #Google #SteveJobs #TimCook #iPhone6 #iPhone6Phablet #iPhone6Plus #AppleWatch #GalaxyNote4 #GalaxyAlpha #GalaxyNoteEdge #GalaxyTabS #Nexus9 #iPadAir2 #iPadMini3

iPAD AIR 2 & MINI 3:
SLEEK & SLENDER
I’ve got to say that my first impressions of the iPad Air 2 and Mini 3 are positive! The quality of the build is excellent – as always! And it’s so slim that it’s almost like holding a pane of glass. Golly, gee! Boy, is it fast! Gosh! It’s as though iOS 8 (on the iPads) come with a gust of wind for each interaction! Pun unintentional but it works! I played around with a few apps including Guitar! by Smule and was very, very impressed. So, what the matter with it? The PRICES!!!



Wi-Fi
16GB £399
64GB £479
128GB £559

Wi-Fi & Cellular
16GB £499
64GB £579
128GB £659

Of course, there is no 32GB model as it gets in the way of Apple’s money making principals. Fair enough. For me? At those prices? NO!!! Why? Thank you! I am glad you asked! To answer your questions...

iPAD AIR 2 & MINI 3 DOES NOT DESTROY THE COMPETITION BECAUSE?
Resistance is futile... It sure is! Essentially, what Apple has done is to put a couple more iPads on the market where the current iPads have tanked in terms of sales. What's the point in that?

1. There is no other manufacturer making iOS compatible tablets but Apple. Therefore Apple is competing with itself. Android and Windows have their respective ecosystems and they do not really compete with each other. One may use the Galaxy Note 4 as a daily smartphone driver, an Android tablet and own a Mac or Windows computer at home. But it’s highly likely that if you own a Mac computer you might swap out the Galaxy Note 4 for the iPhone 6 Plus. And as a Windows PC owner you might own a Windows phone instead of the Galaxy Note 4 or iPhone 6 Plus. Or it very well be that you have a secondary handset that could be an iPhone, Android or Windows. The underlying point I am making is that Android, iOS, OS X and Windows work together and there isn't much competing going on. We are not slaves to a particular ecosystem. I work with Windows and Android; occasionally I work with Mac when I take my files to a print bureau.

The chances are that if you have bought into the Android ecosystem you won’t feel the need to venture elsewhere for a tablet. The trouble with Apple and Microsoft is that they both have desktop computers with their own respective operating systems: OS X (Mac) and Windows. And fundamentally that’s where the tablet operations from both Apple and Microsoft do not make great economic sense. The asking prices for these tablets (iPad and Surface Pro) indicate that one would be better off with a decent laptop from either of the two: Macbook Air or any one of the great Windows laptops from the excess of great PC manufacturers: ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc.

While Google has the Chrome OS you can still use it on a PC and access its great applications. Or you can afford to purchase a cost effective Chromebook or Chromebox in addition to your Android devices / or PC – especially as Google have made it possible to run some Android apps on Chrome OS and there is even a hack to ensure that you can run all your Android apps!

Here's how to hack your Chromebook to run Android apps:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2686712/run-any-android-app-on-your-chromebook-with-this-hack.html

The point is that the Google ecosystem is the most cost effective to encompass Android and Chrome OS devices - very likely in addition to a PC or Mac set-up! Apple and Microsoft aren’t making it easy for the everyperson to own the whole Apple and Microsoft shebang respectively! As a PC user I’d rather pay for a powerful desktop as I have the advantage of being able to swap components out as and when than to invest it in a Surface Pro tablet. And as a PC owner I would love a Surface Pro too! However, it’s not practical. It’s thanks to Google that I am able to utilize Microsoft Office compatible apps: Drive, Quick Office, Docs, Slides, etc that I can use on a handset, phablet or tablet. Nothing that I haven’t pointed out already in previous articles!

2. Android tablets are people friendly. Apple’s policy doesn't allow for cost effective solutions that covers different sizes – well, the iPhone 6 Plus takes care of the almost 7 inch version (Jobs must be rolling in his grave) - and function i.e. game oriented consumers. So, what Apple gives you is two basic iPads. Not with Android and this is one of the attributes that makes the Android tablet attractive to owners of the Mac and / or PC computers.

If your child / children need a distraction away from the main PC / Mac it can come in the form of an inexpensive 7” Android tablet, for example. Some households find that a PC / Mac is no longer needed as the tablet caters to the needs: Internet, photo editing / manipulation, video editing (this is improving all the time - apps are getting better), social networking and so on.

Do you need a hybrid tablet and phone? Sure, these days the iPad and select Android tablets such as the Galaxy Tab S will allow you to take phone calls but if you don’t have these tablets and you wanted to, let’s say, replace a broken handset, for example, with the best of both worlds: a phone and tablet then there are a range of decent 7” tablets that will allow you to take and make phone calls. The downside is that you can only get a SIM meant for a phone or tablet; you can’t use a normal SIM that supports data as well as text and calling. I will give you some solutions to that late on in this article...

There you go! The above tells you why the iPad Air 2 and Mini 3 aren’t going to “destroy the competition”. There is no competition. Got it? Good! No matter how fast the new iPads are it doesn’t matter a jot because what is important to Android (and Windows users) is that they have a tablet that serves their needs. If I wanted a tablet specifically for games I’d go for the NVIDIA Shield. If I want a tablet for productivity I’d either go for the Galaxy Tab S or wait for the Nexus 9. Not that the NVIDIA Shield isn’t suitable for productivity too! In fact most Android tablets are great for productivity! But if it’s high quality games you want then you have to expect to pay for it! At least you have a wide range of choice! And now... Now for a review...

ASUS FONEPAD 7 ME372CL REVIEW, £199

Yes, from the title you have discerned that the ASUS Fonepad 7 ME372CL is a tablet with phone functions and it can be seen as the successor to the original Fonepad. The ME372CL has a set of front-facing stereo speakers and gone is the aluminium back for a plastic one. I can’t say that I am too impressed with the materials used for the Fonepad 7 ME372CL as they attract fingerprints. Yuck! If you invest in this hybrid phone and tablet you will greatly benefit from a protective case which also serves to position the tablet for viewing and interacting i.e typing. Design-wise the Fonepad 7 ME372CL pretty much harks back to an era (I know, it comes across as an aeon of Android tablet design principles) of thick bezels but it works to avoid touching the screen and to house the stereo speakers (one doubling up for the receiver – the microphone is positioned at the back near the charger).

SPEEDY
Once the ME372CL upgraded to receive Android KitKat 4.4.2, its various apps and ZenUI I was then able to play around with it! I find that the Fonepad 7 ME372CL is pretty speedy! Just like the iPad Air 2 apps fly out and hit the screen as soon as the app icons are tapped! Everything is smooth operating system-wise! It is like butter! The ASUS interface overlay, ZenUI, is light so that it’s running an almost pure Android experience.

I am sure that it’ll score pretty low against the iPad Air 2 and Mini 3 in a benchmark test but it matters not as I am able to do exactly what I want to do with this tablet. I am not a games person – never have been! It will play many games smoothly without the infamous lagging issues. However, the more graphic and memory intensive the game is the more likely it will lag under such pressure! Again, if it’s games you want this hybrid phone and tablet may not be for you!

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
I got the ME372CL primarily to make music whilst replacing a defunct RAZRi handset. The music applications: Caustic 3, Audio Evolution and G-Stomper Studio functions to meet my expectations. The music composition apps perform flawlessly! However, I was a tad disappointed with the speakers as I had imagined them to sound more powerful and rich in tones. Even though there are different sittings for games, speech, movie, recording, smart and music the speakers do not live up to the product hype on the ASUS website. The ‘smart’ mode adapts to the usage / functionality!

“The ASUS Fonepad 7 LTE delivers high quality audio to bring entertainment to life. Your listening experience will never be the same again when you hear your favorite tracks through precise and powerful SonicMaster speakers...” Er... Not quite...

They’re not disastrous but the sound from my Galaxy Note 2 has a better quality in terms of loudness and tones. I can live with the SonicMaster speakers – just!

When making and receiving calls the sound comes across as weak; using the speakers yields in pretty much the same result – understated. It would have been so, so good to be able to crank up the volume a bit. Never mind! I can see the need for a Bluetooth headset in order to make the most of the phone aspect. On a busy noisy street it'll be, "What? Hang on... What?" Use a Bluetooth headset for best results!

I would have liked ASUS to have provided two SIM slots: one for making calls and the other to take advantage of 4G LTE data (Internet)! Yes, it’s 4G LTE compatible.

HANDLING
While I can hold it comfortably with one hand I have to use the other to interact with it. It’s not too thick at 10.5 mm and quite hefty at 333g for a 7” tablet! The 7.87” iPad mini 3 cellular weighs in at 341g.

I have pretty big hands and so I can get away with putting it to my ear like a phone. The form factor – large bezels aside – makes it feel like a phablet instead of a tablet – especially by today’s standards! Look at what Google have done with the latest Nexus devices: the 7” tablet is no more and the 6” phablet serves as the perfect bridge. And the Nexus 9 is a nice medium between the 8” and 10” tablet. The 10” tablet, for now, is no more where Google is concerned.

In any event the ME372CL is compact enough to fit in an inside jacket pocket and / or handbag / manbag. It’s all good!

Again, the most annoying thing is that the screen and back is a fingerprint magnet despite promotional text that states the opposite.

CALL SCREENING & FUNCTIONALITY
The screen has a respectable 1280 x 800 resolution; the colour reproduction is quite good although a bit on the saturated side. With the brightness halfway up the screen looks good and when the brightness is turned all the way up it gives the impression of a higher resolution as the clarity is undeniable! I would imagine that having the screen on full brightness continually may burn an image onto the screen to give a ghost-like appearance. And no doubt the battery will suffer as a consequence. The screen is quite okay for the £199 asking price. I can work with my Google Doc documents very comfortably! Oh, the keyboard is a delight to use and should be available as a keyboard app! Yes, it's that good! Normally I would have replaced the UI (in this case ZenUI) with a launcher and my favourite is Nova Prime. ZenUI is very nice and well thought out! The Fonepad 7 ME372CL is a joy for productivity; when I am travelling I can get a good amount done quite comfortably.

CONCLUSION
The Fonepad 7 ME372CL 4G LTE tablet is not, in my opinion, a compromise for those who can’t afford a tablet and a handset. No! The Fonepad LTE is for those that do not see the value in a phablet – especially as you do not get tablet related apps which is a bit silly but I understand! Google encourages you to purchase a tablet because you're not going to get tablet related apps on a phablet! I can live with that as they are affordable!

Fonepad 7 LTE is for those that do not require a great deal of power that results in the likes of the iPad Air or Galaxy Tab S!

In my situation I had a RAZRi burn out on me and I simply didn’t want to splash out on an expensive handset nor did I want a cheap one! I wanted a hybrid device that would give me a lot of room for apps and the 16GB storage on the Fonepad 7 LTE is perfect. I wanted to experience tablet specific apps without a great investment knowing that 64-bit Android devices was (at the time) around the corner. I am up for the prospect of a kickass 64-bit Android tablet further down the line. My needs were met admirably on this occasion. I don’t mind taking and making calls on this wonderful hybrid!

SCORE
Wow! This is a bit of tough one to score... On the one hand you can say that the Fonepad 7 ME372CL 4G LTE is a cheap tablet but it’s not quite. I didn’t get it as a tablet; I got as a phablet! It’s not my main driver and therefore I do not take many calls on it nor do I receive many! It fills that gap between a mediocre handset and sub £100 cheap tablet. There again, the quality of inexpensive Android tablets have been upped somewhat! The supermarket chain Tesco has recently put out Hudl 2! From 7” to 8” with a full HD screen, stereo speakers at the back and boasts some decent spec for £129! Check it out: 1.83GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB storage which is expandable by 32GB! Of course, it’s Wi-Fi only and it isn’t apparent if you can at least utilize the free calling and texting apps via Wi-Fi. There again, there is a front-facing camera! Review of the Hudl 2 is coming soon! I know that Tesco was going to do a phone but it seems as though that’s not happening for now. Anyway... Had ASUS added two SIMs (calls and data) it would have scored platinum. But I give the Fonepad ME372CL 4G LTE a solid gold!

Again, a phablet would have prevented me from experiencing tablet specific apps. A handset would have given me, for the price, a smaller screen, probably 8GB of storage, most likely a dual processor and a gig of RAM! Here, I have the best of both worlds and at a reasonable price. I am pretty happy!

SOLUTIONS
Let’s say that you have been thinking about a tablet either for yourself or child(ren) and you don’t want to expend a great deal on one for some of the reasons brought up in this article i.e. you’re biding your time for something more modern with a 64-bit CPU such as the Nexus 9 and / or you don’t want to make such a huge financial commitment for a child(ren). Here are some scenarios...

Scenario 1
When you have Wi-Fi at home you don’t really need to be bothered about being able to access data on the move outside the home. You would have already downloaded all the apps you need at home so when you are on the move you just get on with being productive with apps that do not require the Internet to function.

However, occasionally you might need to go online from time to time when you’re out and about. The solution there is to tether your handset to the tablet – share the data. Be aware that some network providers do not allow you to share your handset data with any other devices. You can download apps for this that should allow you to bypass the network provider restrictions. And if you do not have a handset with an unlimited data contract you will soon quickly use up the limitations! 2GB of data is not enough on the go! So, one solution is to use a portable Mi-Fi device. A Mi-Fi device can give you up to 15GB of data; for tablets you don’t need to have it on all the time. You might wish to email a Google Doc file when you’re out and about, etc and once you’ve done that you’d turn off the Mi-Fi and continue using the Fonepad LTE as a phone!

Scenario 2
If you are planning to purchase both an inexpensive tablet such as the Fonepad LTE and a handset I suggest you go for a handset that utilizes two SIM cards. Check out the Motorola Moto G 2014 as there is a model that takes on two SIMS!

In addition to the dual SIM handset you could get a pay as you go data SIM for the tablet and a SIM for the phone aspect of the tablet. Here, you will have the slightly irritating task of swapping out the phone SIM between the two devices. The data SIM won’t show up in the dual SIM handset but it is a safe place to put it.

It’s a bit of a hassle but it’s not bad.

Scenario 3
If the Fonepad LTE serves as a secondary handset to your main driver that has an unlimited data plan then you should be able to tether (share that handset’s data) with the tablet. Again, you would only need to do this as and when it is needed. Once you’ve finished using the data on the tablet you’d turn off the Wi-Fi hotspot capability on your main driver. But bear in mind that using your handset as a Wi-Fi hotspot will drain the battery. This is why I opted for a Mi-Fi unit in the first scenario.

 There you have it! The choice is yours!

Even though there is now a trend to phase out the 7 inch Android tablet the Fonepad LTE is so compact and therefore very portable! The 7 inch tablet should now be a phablet but most annoyingly this cannot happen as you can’t place a phone SIM in these things whereby you have the usual calls, texts and data. Uh-uh! As soon as you place a phone SIM in a 3G / 4G enabled tablet the data aspect becomes void! You win some. You lose some.

MEDIA SAVVY?
Another thing that lazy Apple biased writers do is to keep harping on about this idea of “fragmentation” where the Android operating system is concerned. Whenever an Apple product is being promoted comparisons are made to the Android ecosystem and fragmentation becomes an issue. And in addition to that way too much is made over the quality of Android tablet apps; the situation keeps improving! That’s right! Let’s take the gloves off! These so-called tech-writers are just trying to sell you whatever Apple releases without being objective! Shame on you if you insist upon calling yourself a journalist! Cook and Apple biased "journalists" (sic) want to get it into your head that Android is a bad operating system simply because a majority of Android device users are utilizing older versions of the ubiquitous operating system. The fact that many Android users do not notice the difference between different versions is evidence to show just how powerful and brilliant it is! Android just works!

The most essential component of Android is the Play Store! Google Play updates on just about every Android handset and tablet regardless of operating system version i.e. Ice Cream Sandwich, Jellybean and KitKat. As the owner of over 8 Android devices and counting I can attest that the latest version of Google Play Store is on each and every one of them. You, as a consumer, have to be vigilant of the Apple biased media. Such biased articles go against the non-technical consumer. Every once in a while when I visit a computer department I bump into stressed out mothers weighing up the iPad over the less expensive but capable Android tablets. These mothers come across as brainwashed when they have it mind that an Android tablet is a compromise. Many children are just as brainwashed too! What a shame. What I hope to do is bring about a fair representation of the tech market.

What the Apple biased media don’t tell you is how flawed iOS can be! For example, iOS 8 offers up the possibility of third party keyboards but such keyboards cause iOS 8 to malfunction. iOS 8 apps currently do not take advantage of the 5.5" screen and full HD resolution. Also there is the phenomenon of Apple not allowing iPhone users to call and message Android users. Odd, huh? I wonder why that is.... Hmmmm... There are the diehard Apple fanatics that will insist that what I state about iPhone users not being able to call and message Android users is unfounded but I don’t write untruths. I leave that to the biased media.

ANDROID 5:
THE GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP
By all accounts Android 5 Lollipop will reach selected devices come 3^rd November! 6 days and counting! My second generation Moto G ought to get it when it hits! We could be in for a number of awesome surprises; one them could be that Lollipop could go as far back as the Samsung Galaxy S3! My understanding is that it is supposed to be compiled tightly so that it is compact enough to be installed on more devices than we have been led to believe by the media. One can only hope! Another way of looking at it is that if Lollipop is coming to a relatively small handset that is the second generation Moto G then there is a chance it could make its way on more than just the super-premium handsets such as the Galaxy S5, One M8, Z3 and so on...



As an Android fan I can’t wait to see it transform at least half of my devices!

There you go!

Things to think about...

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SYNAPSE CIRCUIT GOOGLE TALK IT’S ALL IN THE EXECUTION

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

GOOGLE TALK 2
IT’S ALL IN THE EXECUTION...

#AndroidLollipop #Android #Motorola #Google #Nexus6 #Nexus9 #NexusPlayer #AndroidAuto #AndroidTV #Chromecast #Glass #Nexus #Silver #Lollipop #Android5 #Android5Lollipop

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers. How’s it going? I hope is well and that you are on the up and up!

If you’re an Android fan / user it is very likely that you are on an all-time high what with the imminent release of Android 5 Lollipop (if your handset is at least 2 to 3 years old) and the latest Nexus models.

THERE’S NO COMPETITION!

GOOGLE ISN’T INTERESTED IN WAR...
...THE LAZY TECH-MEDIA DON’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT FACT!
That’s right! Google is not interested in having a tech-war with those that see themselves as ‘competition’. They never have been interested in participating in a tech-war; how the press love a war as it makes for easy headlines! Funnily enough, war can make for revolution! Anyhoo... CEO, Larry Page has made it very, very clear that Google is interested in reaching out and assisting humanity! Having a war with Apple, Microsoft, etc plays no part in assisting humanity!

Google has also made it clear that it doesn’t see the smartphone has having the same significance as it did when it made its debut, 16 August 1994. And as a result, Google has been pioneering new technologies such as Glass. Google have delivered on its promise on cost effective handsets with the Nexus range up to version 5 – arguably! Nexus 6 is something else! It’s super-premium in my books! Under Motorola, Google have gone even further and has smashed the smartphone phenomena with the release of the Moto G handset! In my mind the iPhone makes a lot of sense for Mac computer users but if you don’t have a Mac and want a cost effective premium smartphone the Moto G – especially the 5” second generation version is definitely one excellent way to go! The short review of the Moto G second generation handset is as follows:-

MOTO G 2014, 8GB. PRICE: £150
It’s a fantastic 5” handset that seems smaller due to its form factor emanating from true innovative design values. The two front-facing speakers sound quite punchy and very satisfying to the ears.



The 8GB of phone memory is enough to hold what I call the base apps: Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Viber, LINE, etc. Not forgetting the Google staple: Gmail, YouTube, Google Search, etc. In addition there is 1GB of RAM which makes for a remarkably smooth interface experience driven by a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU! It is really, really good!

The Moto G features this time around a 5” screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels and 294 ppi pixel density which is a bit of a downgrade compared to last years 4.5” of the same resolution but with a sharper 326 ppi pixel density. That’s the small price we pay for the 5” screen which I prefer; the screen is still sharp and text is very, very legible.

The camera has been upgraded from 5MP to 8MP which is more than good enough for the purpose of updating your social network platforms. There’s also an LED flash too! The video records up 720p at 30 frames per second. The front-facing camera is 2MP that will ensure that you can make video calls!

The operating system is the latest version of KitKat 4.4.4 and it will be receiving the Lollipop 5 upgrade! Yay! There’s no additional UI interface overlay i.e. a skin such as Samsung TouchWiz or HTC Sense; it’s pure Android! I do appreciate the pure vanilla Android experience. I can understand why Samsung uses the TouchWiz on its premium handsets as they want to exploit its technologies such as the S Pen functionality on the Galaxy Note series of handsets. But there is no excuse why other manufacturers should feel the need to stick a user interface overlay on top of what is already a great operating system. I do hope that Android 5 will change all that.

The battery cover is removable but the 2070 mAh battery is not. However, this model can utilize two micro SIM cards and a microSD card up to 32GB! Cool! Here’s what has just come into my mind...

Why is it not possible for apps to run from the microSD card?
If Google could change Android so that it will allow apps to run from a microSD card would it make sense to feature two microSD slots because the 8GB model, as reviewed here, really allows for around 5GB to store your apps (and media)? I reckon Android handsets could come with 4GB to hold the operating system and Google apps while the two microSD slots will function to hold apps and media. Just an idea! I know Google aren’t too keen on microSD for reasons best known to the person(s) behind that aspect of it.

IN USE
I’ve had my Moto G second generation for a few weeks and I can attest to a battery life on standby but, as always, usage is a different matter altogether! I get away with a day of moderate use i.e. YouTube, taking pictures and surfing the web! I really love that the handset is quite thick in comparison to most premium Android handsets, 11mm! The thickness makes the handset easy to hold when using the camera for example! The curved battery cover makes it fit perfectly into the hand! The power button and volume rocker feels solid to the touch!

CONCLUSION
As far as I am concerned this is the “budget” handset to beat! Because of the large 5” screen and the front-facing speakers being well placed I don’t pay any real attention to the plastic battery cover; we mostly interface with the screen and therefore we shouldn’t be too bothered what the back is made of. Sure, it would have been a bonus if the battery was removable but I’ve no complaints about the battery with my usage. Bear in mind that Android 5 utilizes a battery saving function called ‘Volta’ that promises we’ll get more usage out of our handsets.

The Moto G feels robust and the screen is made from Corning Gorilla Glass 3! The rounded edges reminds me very much of the Galaxy Nexus and it is aesthetically pleasing.

As you know, there are many, many budget Android handsets out there that – in my humble opinion – shouldn’t. Why? Thank you for asking! It’s because that quite a lot of sub £150 handsets offers a poor hardware specification i.e. 512MB RAM, single-core CPU and 4GB of storage which results in a very slow handset that you will end up throwing against the wall!

SCORE: PLATINUM
Had Motorola imbued the second generation Moto G with 4G LTE it would have scored double platinum! However, 4G LTE is said to cause battery drainage and looking at it from another perspective: how many of us tend to update apps via 3 or 4G? I tend to update my apps on my home Wi-Fi before I leave the house. I also have a 4G Mi-Fi device for my tablet which I can use with my Moto G! 4G isn’t really that much of an issue. Besides, I think 4G makes more sense when you have unlimited data to exploit. There’s no point having 4G, in my humble opinion, and you can’t feel comfortable using it with the fear of using up your data. That said, the Moto G makes it easy to purchase a decent handset outright and go for a good SIM only deal that can include unlimited data! There could be a 4G Moto G second generation in the pipeline – probably in time for Christmas!

And if you need the speed of 4G LTE then the first generation Moto G 4G 4.5” represents exceptional value!



THE KEY
What I have come to appreciate about Google these days is that it doesn’t feel the need to host a keynote with every release; a press release is enough and it does the job of instilling not just excitement but record sales! When the Nexus 5 reached the UK retail outlets it had sold out on day one! But no self-aggrandizing keynotes espousing record this and record that. Google Motorola just said, “Here’s a great handset that is the Nexus 6 and you are also going to love the Nexus 9 tablet and the Nexus Player...”

In comparison to those other guys it is quite apparent that people are ridding themselves of a bad purchase!  One can argue that such a thing wouldn’t have happened under Steve Jobs but the point is that Apple seems to be floundering at the moment and its super-in-denial-PR-machine cannot cover-up that fact. Apple Pay??? Twice??? Uh-uh! C’mon, we know that the Apple Watch isn’t a great design.

The iPhone 6 and Plus models just do not feel like premium handsets when they are in my hands. Seriously, my Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S4 feel like serious premium handsets because they are! And having had the Galaxy Note 4 in my hands is such a gratifying feeling.

Above: Getting rid! The iPhone 6 and Plus aren't happening. Jeez, Louise! Look at the prices! £760??? C'mon...

THE NEXUS 6
I would imagine that the Nexus 6 – if the Moto G and X are anything to go by – will feel smaller in the hands. The Moto G (second generation) feels like the ideal size as does the Moto X. But then so does the Galaxy Note 2, 3 and 4 feel comfortable in the hands! I reckon that it’s just down to the design. The Nexus 6 looks every bit as wonderful as the aforementioned Moto models and I am betting that most people will get used to it very, very quickly!

Again, the iPhone 6 Plus just does not feel right to me. I think it is too thin and slippery. And I really do not like iOS – version 8 has proved to be troublesome! In contrast I am so glad that Google didn’t try to qualify for the thinnest handset award and Lollipop, Android 5 looks sweet!

The Nexus 6 may seem the opposite of Google’s budget ethos but you are getting one heck of a handset as a result! I would imagine that one would get it on contract instead of purchasing it outright. There’s always the Nexus 5! But I am a little surprised that Google didn’t reveal a smaller, 5” perhaps, Nexus 6 alternative. Oh, well! Me? I would want the Nexus 6 as it is!

NEXUS 9
Foolishly, I see many tech-media claiming that the Nexus 9 is aimed at “taking on the iPad...” However, the Nexus 9 is an Android tablet aimed at Android users! It’s so simple to understand but anything for a cheap headline. If Google had installed iOS 8 on the Nexus 9 then it would be competing against the iPad.

In the wake of the Nexus 9 the Apple biased media are claiming the iPad Air 2 is the fastest iPad ever! It could very well be but will speed stop the iPad from tanking? How many tablets does Apple have on the market now? Whereas the Nexus 7 has come in at a competitive price point and that the second generation still offers great value for money if you want a small tablet. Not to mention a plethora of cost effective Android tablets from a host of manufacturers. Maybe Apple would be able to sell iPads if they made an Android version!

As it stands, the Nexus 9 looks like a great advancement for the Android platform. I wonder how many folk realize that the only way to access specific tablet apps is to get a tablet! I am embarrassed to say that it’s through reviewing a tablet that I got to realize this.

NEXUS PLAYER
In comparison to Chromecast, Nexus Player looks like an even smarter way to enjoy media and games on the TV as opposed to streaming material from a handset or tablet. The Nexus Player could very well be the replacement to cable TV we’ve been looking for! There are no details as of yet for availability in the UK! I suspect we’re looking at a price between £80 and £100. It has its own 1.8GHz quad-core processor and that means gaming for the gamers! A smoother delivery of media in general! I like the Voice Control aspect on the remote control. If it comes to the UK market in time for Christmas I think it’ll sell like hotcakes along with cost effective TVs! I get the impression that Nexus Player will transform a TV into a smart one! It’s most definitely on my Christmas list!

INBOX
Yes, this is a new email management app that is going to change the way we access our emails. It’s such a well thought out app that is currently invitation only! Just like it was with Gmail initially, Inbox will gradually be ubiquitous!

I wonder if, through Gmail soon to be compatible with other email clients i.e. Yahoo, Inbox will be able to deal with any email coming through... In other words: Does Inbox serve only Gmail? And when Gmail is updated with other emailing client compatibility will Inbox filter / manage them too?

THANK YOU FOR READING!

Please check out the Synapse Circuit site here: Synapse Circuit.com

Yes, I am well aware that the site is due an update soon! It’s coming...

Synapse Circuit for tech news, opinions, articles, reviews and competitions. You will find interactive PDF magazines, videos and links to free legal software! Check it out at Synapse Circuit dot com