Channel 5’s Demand 5 becomes My5
Another day, another rebranded streaming service. Following ITV and Channel 4, the folks at Channel 5 have decided to throw out the name Demand 5 and introduce a new service called My5 in the UK. You can find it on the web or through the accompanying iOS and Android apps, where shows such as Gotham, The X-Files and Heroes Reborn lie in wait. There’s one small problem though — according to Pocket-Lint, everything is stuck in standard definition. In this day and age, that’s just unacceptable.
Via: Pocket-Lint
Source: My5
Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead
Premium build, 4GB of RAM, 3x optical zoom, and $399 price tag – is this the smartphone to beat?
Asus has been trying to crack the market’s smartphone code for a while now. Prior to its current lineup, the company tried again and again to get consumers on-board with an unconventional but innovative smartphone/tablet integration concept with the PadFone. Alas, the Taiwanese manufacturer finally gave in to the lackluster sales and redirected its smartphone efforts to the ZenFone.
2015 was a good year for Asus; when the ZenFone 2 managed to catch the market’s attention with its newfound value. It packed bangin’ specs for the competitive price. Asus phones were finally selling. But while the company later used this success as an opportunity to introduce ZenFone 2 variants, one of its offering quietly slipped out of view – the ZenFone Zoom.
First announced at CES 2015, Asus boasted a smartphone with a camera that could optically zoom. In hindsight, it seems like that project was a bit too ambitious for the manufacturer, as it’s taken a whole year of extra development to finally get it into our hands.
Is the ZenFone Zoom better late than never, or should it have remained as a concept? Let’s find out.
Design
If you recall the ZenFone Zoom’s CES 2015 announcement, you may notice that the back cover is slightly different to the production unit. The former had a smooth plastic cover while the latter looks leathery. Due to the Zoom’s aggressive pricing, I suspected that we would actually be dealing with faux leather.
When I got a hold of the review unit, I was convinced that my assumption was correct. The entire back cover feels like a leather-textured hard plastic. However, Asus states that it is in fact a “premium”, burnished leather. Because the material doesn’t quite feel the part, I’m left ambivalent about the effort.
Nonetheless, the texture and rounded back feels great in hand. Yes, the phone is in no way trying to be slim, but it’s not a brick either. OEM obsession over phone thinness is overrated in my book (especially when it’s traded for features), and the Zoom’s extra girth is no way impugns phone ergonomics.
Thickness comparison between the LG V10 (left) and ZenFone Zoom (right)
We can’t talk about the back of the phone without addressing the elephant in the room – that large circular camera housing. I’m not quite sure why the camera component has to take up so much space, but I won’t question the engineering magic that Asus had to pull off to gain 3x zooming from a lens that doesn’t telescope (more on the camera details later). I do appreciate that the odd module is just about the same thickness as the thickest portions of the phone. It doesn’t have that disruptive appearance that previous optically zooming smartphones have beared (i.e. Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom series)
The camera lens is recessed, so you don’t have to worry about the protective glass getting scratched and ruining your pictures. However, on a usability note, the len’s placement on the back isn’t conventional (it’s lower than on most phones). I find myself often touching it with my index finger, then having to swipe off the fingerprint smudge before taking pics.
Because the curved back tapers on the sides, towards the bottom you’ll see a raised lining for stability (it keeps the phone from wobbling when set on a table). Subtle leather stitching surrounds the protrusion, for that convincing look. Right below it is a rear-facing, mono external speaker.
Oh, and that back cover is removeable. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that you’ll have access to the battery (it’s barricaded in), but you will get a micro-SD slot. This is where the SIM slot lives as well.
Before receiving the Zoom, I wasn’t aware that Asus had now evolved the ZenFone’s build with a metal frame. It’s excellent and as premium as they come. It’s rounded, similar to the iPhone, and feels great in-hand. The finish is smooth and matte, the color has an interesting deep purple-ish tone. The metal is chamfered on both edges of the frame to show off its shine. The whole presentation says classy and complements the leathery backing well.
Regarding ports, you’ll find the headphone jack on the top and micro-USB port on the bottom. And because the Zoom is camera-centric, Asus included a lanyard opening on the bottom-left corner, for safety from drops during all those photo shoots.
The physical buttons are all on the right side (there’s nothing on the left side). Asus not only fitted a camera shutter button but also a record button adjacent to it. Holding down on either button launches the camera app whether the phone is off or on. Cleverly, the volume buttons double up for zooming when you’re in the camera app. They even have “T” (Telephoto) and “W” (Wide Angle) labels etched on them, like on a dedicated camera.
The front of the phone keeps traditional ZenFone fashion. There’s an Asus logo squeezed in between the earpiece and display, capacitive buttons, and the signature bezel plate along the bottom (which has a circular texture that produces a light ray effect from the center of the pattern). The Zoom’s bezel size is fairly average; it’s not the best screen-to-body ratio. It is just about as tall as the LG V10, which isn’t a good thing. The V10 has a 0.2″ larger display and a secondary screen on top of that.
But I suppose that when you factor in the $399 price and optical zoom, it can be forgivable.
Performance
Asus continues its partnership with Intel on the ZenFone Zoom. It packs an Intel Atom Z3580, which is comprised of a quad-core processor (running at 2.3GHz), PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, and 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Yes, you heard correctly – 4GB in a $399 smartphone.
But do those specs mean as much as they sound like they mean in the real world? Mostly. The Zoom is a speedy animal. Even despite the heavy ZenUI, it still manages to chug through Android without hesitation.
However, there were moments that frame rate drops were noticeable. I’m not talking about lags or delays, but rather, the fluidity was interrupted at times. In digging around, I noticed that ZenUI’s default “Normal” power management system says that it “Smartly adjusts CPU performance and brightness”. You can switch it to the “Performance” mode, in which it will utilize the entire CPU’s capability (at the cost of battery life).
A great thing is that the standard internal storage capacity of the Zoom is 64GB. I wish that every OEM would follow suit. And what makes that even sweeter is that micro-SD expansion is supported. You can only add on 64GB more, but at least you can.
Audio performance on all front is nothing to write home about. The rear placement of the external speaker is not ideal, and it’s thin-sounding. And there is nothing special to my ears from the audio out of the headphone jack.
Display
The ZenFone Zoom has a 5.5″ sized IPS LCD screen. Its resolution isn’t saturated with the QHD pixel count that many flagships boast these days, but 1080P is sufficient (403 PPI). I don’t find the difference between QHD and 1080P on a 5.5″ display that telling anyways, and would much rather not waste the extra battery life on something that frivolous.
The panel’s quality is above average. It particularly excels at keeping its composure at even extreme viewing angles. Colors look a tad dull to my eyes, but that’s just me being nit-picky.
The brightness does leave to be desired though. I feel like the max brightness should be able to go an extra 20-30% further (based on my experience with other phones). This mostly becomes a concern outside on a sunny day. But in digging around, I did find out that you can gain more brightness from within the Battery settings. Putting the phone in “Performance” mode increases the max brightness slightly (we’ll talk about this more in the Battery section).
Camera
Now the moment you’ve probably been waiting for – the ZenFone Zoom’s camera performance. Asus boasts a lot of technological achievement about the Zoom’s sensor on paper, but all that awesomeness deliver in real world use? We’ll get to that.
Firstly, something to know about the Zoom’s optics is that the lens doesn’t telescope like with traditional optical zooming. I didn’t know that upon receiving the phone. So when I opened her up and stared at the lens while zooming, you can probably guess the look on my face.
Asus says that the 3x optical magnification is achieved by some 10-element HOYA periscopic lens arrangement trickery. You can get more details about the technology (which Asus dubs PixelMaster 2.0) on the manufacturer’s site.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
The sensor itself has a 13MP capture resolution. It is also supplemented by 4 stops of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and an ultra-fast (0.03 seconds) laser auto-focus. The len’s f/2.7 aperture isn’t particularly great (compared to significantly larger sizes from the latest flagships), but Asus tries to assist the low-light performance from the software side with a Low Light shooting mode.
Without further ado, let’s get into the photo samples. Click on the collection below to see zoomed in (3x) and out samples.
The optical zoom does work, and the camera quality is maintained when zoomed. Check out this comparison with the LG V10, both zoomed at 3x (but the V10 can only do digital zoom).
LG V10, 3x zoom
Asus ZenFone Zoom, 3x zoom
To my eyes, the Zoom’s camera performs fantastically in good lighting. But the results can take a dubious turn otherwise. Areas of concentrated lighting can too easily be overexposed.
HDR helps to a point (mostly to even out the overall contrast), but the blown-out areas will still be there. On the other extreme, there is an expected struggle when light is taken away. But the camera doesn’t try to force it and give you grainy images, things are just less visible. Thankfully, there is a Low Light shooting mode in the camera interface, which produces decent results.
Auto shooting mode
Low Light shooting mode
There’s no strings attached to the optical zoom’s use. It still works in special shooting modes, such as HDR and Low Light, as well as while recording. If you find that you need to zoom more than 3x, the len’s mechanism also allows it to go all the way to 12x (but via digital zooming).
Speaking of shooting modes, Asus makes sure the hardware is well supported on the software front. On the bottom-right corner of the camera interface is a shortcut to a barrage of modes.
Some of these options are commonplace, but there’s a couple standout features. Super Resolution combines the detail from four simultaneous shots into a result that simulates 4x the capture resolution. Miniature mode gives the user finer tuning over the depth of field effect. Time Rewind takes simultaneous burst shots before and after the shutter button was tapped.
Battery
The ZenFone Zoom packs a modest 3,000 mAh capacity battery (non-removeable). It’s been sufficient in my use. I’ll go ahead to show you a battery usage graph, over a 9-hour period (the first half on T-Mobile’s network and the other half on WiFi).
50% battery drain over 9 hours is fine in my book. My usage covered a lot of use cases, such as internet browsing, music, maps/navigation, social media, and camera (screen brightness varied between max and 75%). But I didn’t play any games.
Do be aware that ZenUI packs battery modes that can largely determine what your battery life outcome will be. By default, the system is set to “Normal” (this is the mode that I used for the results above). It’s nice that Asus gives the user choices. Most UI’s have some form of Power Saving settings, but ZenUI actually lets you maximize performance if you want to (at the cost of battery life of course).
There are two tiers of power saving modes: “Power saving” and “Super saving”. The former disables networks when the phone is on standby, while the latter only keeps the basic phone functions going (calling, texting, alarm). Or you can select “Customized” and pick and choose the system behavior yourself, such as CPU performance, screen brightness, and network and app activity. Lastly, “Smart switch” allows automatic battery mode switching based on either a certain battery percentage or user-specified schedule.
Software
The ZenFone Zoom runs off of Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Sadly, it’s not the latest version of Android and not even Android 5.1 (which was a crucial update in Lollipop). ZenUI is the user interface (UI) overlay and is no doubt as heavy as they come. But I will admit that after some time with the UI, I’ve started to open up to it. I don’t find that performance is hindered by ZenUI (which gives me confidence over Asus’s software competence), and I’ve discovered several useful functions that aren’t on other UI’s.
But I will always complain about unnecessary changes to Android’s aesthetics; it’s a waste of effort when changes don’t add any value. Things like the notification shade, app drawer, folder layout, and panel transitions all get a ZenUI fix. In fact, there’s no trace of true Android that I can spot.
Adding more insult to injury, Asus throws in a ton of home-brewed apps that get in your face. At the phone’s first startup, you get a barrage of notifications from these apps to let you know that they’re present (and they pop up again over time). The Asus apps range from system management (data cleaner, power settings) to media features/tools. Fortunately, if you’re like me and don’t care, the system allows you to disable the apps (but not uninstall).
But ZenUI does redeem itself through a couple ways. One of these is gestures (which stock Android has yet to implement).
There are two categories of gestures: Motion and Touch. There’s only a couple of motion gestures; shaking the phone to take a screenshot or bringing the phone to your ear to pick up a phone call. The touch gestures are far more interesting. Firstly, tap-to-wake is present (thank you, Asus!). What’s also cool is that you can draw a letter on the screen when it is off to launch one of the specified apps.
One other neat action is when you swipe up from the home screen. A “Manage Home” area pop ups, which contains various functions you may often use. You’ll also run into other nice useful features throughout the UI. For instance, you can set a tap and hold on Recent Apps button to take a screenshot or open up an app’s menu. The display’s coloring is alterable via presets or user customization. And there’s a useful “Auto-start Manager”, where you can save system memory by controlling which apps are allowed to run automatically.
Theming is something that I think every UI should be able to do. ZenUI has a “Themes” app with a vast library of free and paid options. This includes a library of icon packs and third-party support to grab a pack from the Play Store.
Final Thoughts
When I reflect on everything that the ZenFone Zoom offers and then recall its asking price of $399, I can’t help but think that the value is great. I could most definitely replace my daily driver flagship phone (which costs almost twice as much) and not regret it. That’s where the ZenFone line has the upper-hand, and the 3x optical zoom is icing that you won’t get on most cakes out there.
As long as your expectations aren’t sky-high, the ZenFone Zoom is definitely recommendable. I just emphasize that the camera’s general performance is good but not the best you’ll find, and that ZenUI may be too heavy for Android enthusiasts (although, it functions just fine).
We’d like to give a shout-out to B&H Photo for supplying our ZenFone Zoom review unit!
Asus ZenFone Zoom product page
The post Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead
Premium build, 4GB of RAM, 3x optical zoom, and $399 price tag – is this the smartphone to beat?
Asus has been trying to crack the market’s smartphone code for a while now. Prior to its current lineup, the company tried again and again to get consumers on-board with an unconventional but innovative smartphone/tablet integration concept with the PadFone. Alas, the Taiwanese manufacturer finally gave in to the lackluster sales and redirected its smartphone efforts to the ZenFone.
2015 was a good year for Asus; when the ZenFone 2 managed to catch the market’s attention with its newfound value. It packed bangin’ specs for the competitive price. Asus phones were finally selling. But while the company later used this success as an opportunity to introduce ZenFone 2 variants, one of its offering quietly slipped out of view – the ZenFone Zoom.
First announced at CES 2015, Asus boasted a smartphone with a camera that could optically zoom. In hindsight, it seems like that project was a bit too ambitious for the manufacturer, as it’s taken a whole year of extra development to finally get it into our hands.
Is the ZenFone Zoom better late than never, or should it have remained as a concept? Let’s find out.
Design
If you recall the ZenFone Zoom’s CES 2015 announcement, you may notice that the back cover is slightly different to the production unit. The former had a smooth plastic cover while the latter looks leathery. Due to the Zoom’s aggressive pricing, I suspected that we would actually be dealing with faux leather.
When I got a hold of the review unit, I was convinced that my assumption was correct. The entire back cover feels like a leather-textured hard plastic. However, Asus states that it is in fact a “premium”, burnished leather. Because the material doesn’t quite feel the part, I’m left ambivalent about the effort.
Nonetheless, the texture and rounded back feels great in hand. Yes, the phone is in no way trying to be slim, but it’s not a brick either. OEM obsession over phone thinness is overrated in my book (especially when it’s traded for features), and the Zoom’s extra girth is no way impugns phone ergonomics.
Thickness comparison between the LG V10 (left) and ZenFone Zoom (right)
We can’t talk about the back of the phone without addressing the elephant in the room – that large circular camera housing. I’m not quite sure why the camera component has to take up so much space, but I won’t question the engineering magic that Asus had to pull off to gain 3x zooming from a lens that doesn’t telescope (more on the camera details later). I do appreciate that the odd module is just about the same thickness as the thickest portions of the phone. It doesn’t have that disruptive appearance that previous optically zooming smartphones have beared (i.e. Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom series)
The camera lens is recessed, so you don’t have to worry about the protective glass getting scratched and ruining your pictures. However, on a usability note, the len’s placement on the back isn’t conventional (it’s lower than on most phones). I find myself often touching it with my index finger, then having to swipe off the fingerprint smudge before taking pics.
Because the curved back tapers on the sides, towards the bottom you’ll see a raised lining for stability (it keeps the phone from wobbling when set on a table). Subtle leather stitching surrounds the protrusion, for that convincing look. Right below it is a rear-facing, mono external speaker.
Oh, and that back cover is removeable. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that you’ll have access to the battery (it’s barricaded in), but you will get a micro-SD slot. This is where the SIM slot lives as well.
Before receiving the Zoom, I wasn’t aware that Asus had now evolved the ZenFone’s build with a metal frame. It’s excellent and as premium as they come. It’s rounded, similar to the iPhone, and feels great in-hand. The finish is smooth and matte, the color has an interesting deep purple-ish tone. The metal is chamfered on both edges of the frame to show off its shine. The whole presentation says classy and complements the leathery backing well.
Regarding ports, you’ll find the headphone jack on the top and micro-USB port on the bottom. And because the Zoom is camera-centric, Asus included a lanyard opening on the bottom-left corner, for safety from drops during all those photo shoots.
The physical buttons are all on the right side (there’s nothing on the left side). Asus not only fitted a camera shutter button but also a record button adjacent to it. Holding down on either button launches the camera app whether the phone is off or on. Cleverly, the volume buttons double up for zooming when you’re in the camera app. They even have “T” (Telephoto) and “W” (Wide Angle) labels etched on them, like on a dedicated camera.
The front of the phone keeps traditional ZenFone fashion. There’s an Asus logo squeezed in between the earpiece and display, capacitive buttons, and the signature bezel plate along the bottom (which has a circular texture that produces a light ray effect from the center of the pattern). The Zoom’s bezel size is fairly average; it’s not the best screen-to-body ratio. It is just about as tall as the LG V10, which isn’t a good thing. The V10 has a 0.2″ larger display and a secondary screen on top of that.
But I suppose that when you factor in the $399 price and optical zoom, it can be forgivable.
Performance
Asus continues its partnership with Intel on the ZenFone Zoom. It packs an Intel Atom Z3580, which is comprised of a quad-core processor (running at 2.3GHz), PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, and 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Yes, you heard correctly – 4GB in a $399 smartphone.
But do those specs mean as much as they sound like they mean in the real world? Mostly. The Zoom is a speedy animal. Even despite the heavy ZenUI, it still manages to chug through Android without hesitation.
However, there were moments that frame rate drops were noticeable. I’m not talking about lags or delays, but rather, the fluidity was interrupted at times. In digging around, I noticed that ZenUI’s default “Normal” power management system says that it “Smartly adjusts CPU performance and brightness”. You can switch it to the “Performance” mode, in which it will utilize the entire CPU’s capability (at the cost of battery life).
A great thing is that the standard internal storage capacity of the Zoom is 64GB. I wish that every OEM would follow suit. And what makes that even sweeter is that micro-SD expansion is supported. You can only add on 64GB more, but at least you can.
Audio performance on all front is nothing to write home about. The rear placement of the external speaker is not ideal, and it’s thin-sounding. And there is nothing special to my ears from the audio out of the headphone jack.
Display
The ZenFone Zoom has a 5.5″ sized IPS LCD screen. Its resolution isn’t saturated with the QHD pixel count that many flagships boast these days, but 1080P is sufficient (403 PPI). I don’t find the difference between QHD and 1080P on a 5.5″ display that telling anyways, and would much rather not waste the extra battery life on something that frivolous.
The panel’s quality is above average. It particularly excels at keeping its composure at even extreme viewing angles. Colors look a tad dull to my eyes, but that’s just me being nit-picky.
The brightness does leave to be desired though. I feel like the max brightness should be able to go an extra 20-30% further (based on my experience with other phones). This mostly becomes a concern outside on a sunny day. But in digging around, I did find out that you can gain more brightness from within the Battery settings. Putting the phone in “Performance” mode increases the max brightness slightly (we’ll talk about this more in the Battery section).
Camera
Now the moment you’ve probably been waiting for – the ZenFone Zoom’s camera performance. Asus boasts a lot of technological achievement about the Zoom’s sensor on paper, but all that awesomeness deliver in real world use? We’ll get to that.
Firstly, something to know about the Zoom’s optics is that the lens doesn’t telescope like with traditional optical zooming. I didn’t know that upon receiving the phone. So when I opened her up and stared at the lens while zooming, you can probably guess the look on my face.
Asus says that the 3x optical magnification is achieved by some 10-element HOYA periscopic lens arrangement trickery. You can get more details about the technology (which Asus dubs PixelMaster 2.0) on the manufacturer’s site.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
The sensor itself has a 13MP capture resolution. It is also supplemented by 4 stops of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and an ultra-fast (0.03 seconds) laser auto-focus. The len’s f/2.7 aperture isn’t particularly great (compared to significantly larger sizes from the latest flagships), but Asus tries to assist the low-light performance from the software side with a Low Light shooting mode.
Without further ado, let’s get into the photo samples. Click on the collection below to see zoomed in (3x) and out samples.
The optical zoom does work, and the camera quality is maintained when zoomed. Check out this comparison with the LG V10, both zoomed at 3x (but the V10 can only do digital zoom).
LG V10, 3x zoom
Asus ZenFone Zoom, 3x zoom
To my eyes, the Zoom’s camera performs fantastically in good lighting. But the results can take a dubious turn otherwise. Areas of concentrated lighting can too easily be overexposed.
HDR helps to a point (mostly to even out the overall contrast), but the blown-out areas will still be there. On the other extreme, there is an expected struggle when light is taken away. But the camera doesn’t try to force it and give you grainy images, things are just less visible. Thankfully, there is a Low Light shooting mode in the camera interface, which produces decent results.
Auto shooting mode
Low Light shooting mode
There’s no strings attached to the optical zoom’s use. It still works in special shooting modes, such as HDR and Low Light, as well as while recording. If you find that you need to zoom more than 3x, the len’s mechanism also allows it to go all the way to 12x (but via digital zooming).
Speaking of shooting modes, Asus makes sure the hardware is well supported on the software front. On the bottom-right corner of the camera interface is a shortcut to a barrage of modes.
Some of these options are commonplace, but there’s a couple standout features. Super Resolution combines the detail from four simultaneous shots into a result that simulates 4x the capture resolution. Miniature mode gives the user finer tuning over the depth of field effect. Time Rewind takes simultaneous burst shots before and after the shutter button was tapped.
Battery
The ZenFone Zoom packs a modest 3,000 mAh capacity battery (non-removeable). It’s been sufficient in my use. I’ll go ahead to show you a battery usage graph, over a 9-hour period (the first half on T-Mobile’s network and the other half on WiFi).
50% battery drain over 9 hours is fine in my book. My usage covered a lot of use cases, such as internet browsing, music, maps/navigation, social media, and camera (screen brightness varied between max and 75%). But I didn’t play any games.
Do be aware that ZenUI packs battery modes that can largely determine what your battery life outcome will be. By default, the system is set to “Normal” (this is the mode that I used for the results above). It’s nice that Asus gives the user choices. Most UI’s have some form of Power Saving settings, but ZenUI actually lets you maximize performance if you want to (at the cost of battery life of course).
There are two tiers of power saving modes: “Power saving” and “Super saving”. The former disables networks when the phone is on standby, while the latter only keeps the basic phone functions going (calling, texting, alarm). Or you can select “Customized” and pick and choose the system behavior yourself, such as CPU performance, screen brightness, and network and app activity. Lastly, “Smart switch” allows automatic battery mode switching based on either a certain battery percentage or user-specified schedule.
Software
The ZenFone Zoom runs off of Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Sadly, it’s not the latest version of Android and not even Android 5.1 (which was a crucial update in Lollipop). ZenUI is the user interface (UI) overlay and is no doubt as heavy as they come. But I will admit that after some time with the UI, I’ve started to open up to it. I don’t find that performance is hindered by ZenUI (which gives me confidence over Asus’s software competence), and I’ve discovered several useful functions that aren’t on other UI’s.
But I will always complain about unnecessary changes to Android’s aesthetics; it’s a waste of effort when changes don’t add any value. Things like the notification shade, app drawer, folder layout, and panel transitions all get a ZenUI fix. In fact, there’s no trace of true Android that I can spot.
Adding more insult to injury, Asus throws in a ton of home-brewed apps that get in your face. At the phone’s first startup, you get a barrage of notifications from these apps to let you know that they’re present (and they pop up again over time). The Asus apps range from system management (data cleaner, power settings) to media features/tools. Fortunately, if you’re like me and don’t care, the system allows you to disable the apps (but not uninstall).
But ZenUI does redeem itself through a couple ways. One of these is gestures (which stock Android has yet to implement).
There are two categories of gestures: Motion and Touch. There’s only a couple of motion gestures; shaking the phone to take a screenshot or bringing the phone to your ear to pick up a phone call. The touch gestures are far more interesting. Firstly, tap-to-wake is present (thank you, Asus!). What’s also cool is that you can draw a letter on the screen when it is off to launch one of the specified apps.
One other neat action is when you swipe up from the home screen. A “Manage Home” area pop ups, which contains various functions you may often use. You’ll also run into other nice useful features throughout the UI. For instance, you can set a tap and hold on Recent Apps button to take a screenshot or open up an app’s menu. The display’s coloring is alterable via presets or user customization. And there’s a useful “Auto-start Manager”, where you can save system memory by controlling which apps are allowed to run automatically.
Theming is something that I think every UI should be able to do. ZenUI has a “Themes” app with a vast library of free and paid options. This includes a library of icon packs and third-party support to grab a pack from the Play Store.
Final Thoughts
When I reflect on everything that the ZenFone Zoom offers and then recall its asking price of $399, I can’t help but think that the value is great. I could most definitely replace my daily driver flagship phone (which costs almost twice as much) and not regret it. That’s where the ZenFone line has the upper-hand, and the 3x optical zoom is icing that you won’t get on most cakes out there.
As long as your expectations aren’t sky-high, the ZenFone Zoom is definitely recommendable. I just emphasize that the camera’s general performance is good but not the best you’ll find, and that ZenUI may be too heavy for Android enthusiasts (although, it functions just fine).
We’d like to give a shout-out to B&H Photo for supplying our ZenFone Zoom review unit!
Asus ZenFone Zoom product page
The post Asus ZenFone Zoom review: Clearing up the view ahead appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Runkeeper will soon be bought by Asics
Asics has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to buy all shares in FitnessKeeper, the development company behind popular fitness app Runkeeper, and turn it into a wholly owned subsidiary. With over 33 million registered users, RunKeeper will instantly put Asics at the front of the pack when it comes to sportswear-affiliated fitness communities.
While Asics isn’t commenting on how much the deal is worth, it is following in the footsteps of several other high-profile acquisitions in recent times. UnderArmor acquired Endomondo, MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal and Adidas bought Runtastic last year.
See also: 15 best Android fitness apps and workout apps
Runkeeper’s CEO Jason Jacobs noted that the partnership makes a lot of sense too, as the app’s Shoe Tracker feature means the company already knew that “Asics shoes are by far the ones that Runkeeper users run in the most.” With many of the major fitness apps now being acquired by individual brands, it will be interesting to see if the communities these apps developed splinter into brand-loyal followings or if their original brand-agnostic nature can be retained.
Which fitness app do you use? What do you think of them being bought by fitness companies?
How to transfer or sync your calendar from iPhone to Android
Gone are the days when switching between platforms was a long, complicated process we all tried to avoid. Your digital life is much simpler now, thanks to the implementation of the cloud and other great tools you can use to make your migration easier.
Of course, one of the most popular transitions is going from an iOS to Android. We have already shown you how to transfer your music and contacts, so it’s time to tackle another main factor – that calendar!
See also: 10 reasons why Android is still better than iOS
Use Google
Want to import things manually? Be my guest, but that has become unnecessary in modern times. You can take care of everything with the cloud, and it’s actually really easy to transfer your contacts from any iPhone to your Google calendars.
- On your iPhone, go to Settings.
- Select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”.
- Select your Google account (if you have it in your phone; if not, add it).
- Go to “Calendars” and switch the toggle on.
- This will sync all your calendars automatically. Done!
Denys Prykhodov / Shutterstock.com
How about iCloud?
Some of you may not even store your calendars directly to your iPhone, and instead have chosen to go with iCloud. If this is the case, you kind of do have to do things manually, but it’s still a simplified process.
- Go to your iPhone’s Settings menu and select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
- Select Add Account and set-up or log in to your iCloud account.
- Allow your iPhone to sync your local calendar files to iCloud.
- On your PC’s Web browser, open www.icloud.com and login to your iCloud account.
- Click the Calendar icon to open the Calendar interface.
- On the left pane, click the Share Calendar button beside the calendar that you want to export.
In the popup balloon, tick “Public Calendar.” Copy the sharing URL that appears below it.- On a new Web browser tab or window, paste the copied URL.
- Change
webcalin the URL tohttpand press the Enter key to open the address. - Your Web browser will download a file with random characters as file name. This file is actually a copy of your iCloud Calendar entries.
- Save the file to a convenient folder on your computer. For convenience, you may rename the file and add the
icsextension (e.g., calendar.ics). - Open and login to Google Calendar on your Web browser.
- On the left pane of the Google Calendar interface, click the menu arrow at the right of Other Calendars.
- Select Import Calendar.
Select the exported calendar file that you downloaded from iCloud. You can also choose the destination Google calendar (if you have more than one) in the same dialog.- Click the Import button to upload the file. Once importing is finished, you should be able to see the imported entries in the Google Calendar web interface. The new entries will also be synced to your Android device.
This method provides an easy way to transfer all of your iCloud Calendar data to your Google account. However, it is a one-way affair. It does not sync your iPhone and Android’s calendars, which means that if you add or remove entries in your iCloud Calendar, the change won’t be reflected in Google Calendar unless you go through the export-import process again.
Third-party applications
There’s plenty of apps out there that promise to transfer your contacts across platforms, and they likely do so, but I happen to be a fan of one. Let’s check it out.
SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar app
The second method works perfectly if you are planning to completely abandon the world of iPhone and enter the world of Android. But, if you intend to use both iPhone and Android, you better have a way to sync calendars between your two phones.
Thankfully, there’s the SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar app by Marten Gajda. It lets you establish an iPhone-to-Android connection for instantaneous calendar syncing from iPhone to Android — but not vice-versa. There’s no need for exporting, file downloads, uploads, or importing via web-based interfaces. Just set up the app, configure it, and it’s good to go.
You can get the app from the Google Play Store for $2.86, which, I think, is a reasonable price for smooth and seamless syncing of your iPhone calendar to your Android device.
To use the app, first setup your iCloud account on your iPhone and allow it to backup your calendar to the cloud.
After that, run SmoothSync on your Android device and login to your iCloud account within the app.
Then, select which iCloud calendars to sync to your Android device. Once the connection is active and properly setup, and for as long as iCloud remains active on your iPhone, any change that you make in your iPhone calendar will be automatically reflected in your Android device.
Download SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar
Conclusion
We live in a fast-paced world in which switching to something new may be intimidating, due to all the hassles and learning curves this may imply, but today we show you that the process is no longer as complicated. In fact, many of us would argue that switching has become a pretty easy process.
No excuses, guys. Want to jump into the awesome world of Android? Just do it! It will take but a few minutes to get your calendar on that shiny Android device you have been eyeing.
How to transfer or sync your calendar from iPhone to Android
Gone are the days when switching between platforms was a long, complicated process we all tried to avoid. Your digital life is much simpler now, thanks to the implementation of the cloud and other great tools you can use to make your migration easier.
Of course, one of the most popular transitions is going from an iOS to Android. We have already shown you how to transfer your music and contacts, so it’s time to tackle another main factor – that calendar!
See also: 10 reasons why Android is still better than iOS
Use Google
Want to import things manually? Be my guest, but that has become unnecessary in modern times. You can take care of everything with the cloud, and it’s actually really easy to transfer your contacts from any iPhone to your Google calendars.
- On your iPhone, go to Settings.
- Select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”.
- Select your Google account (if you have it in your phone; if not, add it).
- Go to “Calendars” and switch the toggle on.
- This will sync all your calendars automatically. Done!
Denys Prykhodov / Shutterstock.com
How about iCloud?
Some of you may not even store your calendars directly to your iPhone, and instead have chosen to go with iCloud. If this is the case, you kind of do have to do things manually, but it’s still a simplified process.
- Go to your iPhone’s Settings menu and select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
- Select Add Account and set-up or log in to your iCloud account.
- Allow your iPhone to sync your local calendar files to iCloud.
- On your PC’s Web browser, open www.icloud.com and login to your iCloud account.
- Click the Calendar icon to open the Calendar interface.
- On the left pane, click the Share Calendar button beside the calendar that you want to export.
- In the popup balloon, tick “Public Calendar.” Copy the sharing URL that appears below it.
- On a new Web browser tab or window, paste the copied URL.
- Change
webcalin the URL tohttpand press the Enter key to open the address. - Your Web browser will download a file with random characters as file name. This file is actually a copy of your iCloud Calendar entries.
- Save the file to a convenient folder on your computer. For convenience, you may rename the file and add the
icsextension (e.g., calendar.ics). - Open and login to Google Calendar on your Web browser.
- On the left pane of the Google Calendar interface, click the menu arrow at the right of Other Calendars.
- Select Import Calendar.
- Select the exported calendar file that you downloaded from iCloud. You can also choose the destination Google calendar (if you have more than one) in the same dialog.
- Click the Import button to upload the file. Once importing is finished, you should be able to see the imported entries in the Google Calendar web interface. The new entries will also be synced to your Android device.
This method provides an easy way to transfer all of your iCloud Calendar data to your Google account. However, it is a one-way affair. It does not sync your iPhone and Android’s calendars, which means that if you add or remove entries in your iCloud Calendar, the change won’t be reflected in Google Calendar unless you go through the export-import process again.
Third-party applications
There’s plenty of apps out there that promise to transfer your contacts across platforms, and they likely do so, but I happen to be a fan of one. Let’s check it out.
SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar app
The second method works perfectly if you are planning to completely abandon the world of iPhone and enter the world of Android. But, if you intend to use both iPhone and Android, you better have a way to sync calendars between your two phones.
Thankfully, there’s the SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar app by Marten Gajda. It lets you establish an iPhone-to-Android connection for instantaneous calendar syncing from iPhone to Android — but not vice-versa. There’s no need for exporting, file downloads, uploads, or importing via web-based interfaces. Just set up the app, configure it, and it’s good to go.
You can get the app from the Google Play Store for $2.86, which, I think, is a reasonable price for smooth and seamless syncing of your iPhone calendar to your Android device.
To use the app, first setup your iCloud account on your iPhone and allow it to backup your calendar to the cloud.
After that, run SmoothSync on your Android device and login to your iCloud account within the app.
Then, select which iCloud calendars to sync to your Android device. Once the connection is active and properly setup, and for as long as iCloud remains active on your iPhone, any change that you make in your iPhone calendar will be automatically reflected in your Android device.
Download SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar
Conclusion
We live in a fast-paced world in which switching to something new may be intimidating, due to all the hassles and learning curves this may imply, but today we show you that the process is no longer as complicated. In fact, many of us would argue that switching has become a pretty easy process.
No excuses, guys. Want to jump into the awesome world of Android? Just do it! It will take but a few minutes to get your calendar on that shiny Android device you have been eyeing.
Google will reportedly enter the VR fray with a stand-alone headset
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, sources close to Google have indicated that the tech giant is working on a stand-alone Virtual Reality headset that will be independent of a phone, computer, or gaming console. Google is apparently ready to take on the likes of Oculus, and offerings from Sony, HTC, and Samsung with their new headset that may debut later this year. A VR headset that works independently of another system would be a first in the VR field, and possibly give Google a leg up on its competition.
“Since the beginning we’ve been about making VR available for everyone. We’ll have some more to share later in the year“
A source familiar with Google’s plans has indicated that the new headset will include a screen, high-powered processors, and outwardly facing cameras. Google will reportedly use chips from Movidius Inc. to power the headset. The chips will tap into the cameras on the headset to check the camera’s feeds and check the position of the user’s head. This would be different from other VR headsets that use an accompanying computing device, like a desktop computer or gaming console, to track the movements of users’ heads.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, and we’re only getting information from sources close to the project. This isn’t uncommon for an unreleased device. We see leaks almost every day for devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5 that have yet to see the light of day. What is different about this situation is that we’re talking about an entirely new device from Google.
Virtual Reality is an area where Google has dipped their toes in the water (Google Cardboard), but has yet to commit to go swimming. It’s entirely possible that Google begins to go down this path, and either finds it too difficult or too costly and cancels the project. It could turn out similarly to projects like Google Wave or Google Buzz that saw limited beta releases, then were shuttered.
There are also reports coming out that Google is working on an updated version of Google cardboard. The new version would be made out of plastic, and while it would continue to rely on a user’s smartphone screen, it would include computer chips and sensors. Cardboard started as an experiment for Google, but after 5 million units shipped, the project may have convinced Google that Virtual Reality is a revenue stream waiting to be tapped.
Keep your eyes peeled to Google I/O 2016 for a possible announcement.
Source: Wall Street Journal via The Verge
The post Google will reportedly enter the VR fray with a stand-alone headset appeared first on AndroidGuys.
AT&T gets ready to test 5G technologies this 2016
AT&T has been working on possible 5G technologies, such as millimeter waves, for years. Now that it’s time to get serious, it’s teaming up with Ericsson and Intel to ramp up its development in the lab in the second quarter of the year. After that, it’s moving its 5G endeavors out of the lab and into the field, starting with outdoor tests over the summer.
The carrier says 60 percent of its mobile traffic in 2015 came from video. It’s moving forward with its 5G plans, because emerging technologies like virtual reality, 4K video, robots, Internet of Things and self-driving cars will be even more demanding. As AT&T’s Chief Strategy Officer John Donovan notes, those technologies “will be immersive, pervasive and responsive to customers. 5G will help make them a reality.”
5G internet could be anywhere from 10 to 100 times faster than LTE, with users observing downloads going gigabits (yes, gigabits) per second. Imagine being able to finish downloading a TV show for less than three seconds. That’s nowhere near enough time to get up and microwave some popcorn. AT&T believes its 5G network will even be able to start streaming videos much, much faster — just 1 to 5 milliseconds from the moment you press play — than an LTE connection.
If everything goes well, some parts of Austin, Texas will be able to test out Ma Bell’s 5G tech by the end of this year. The company says it’s conducting tests in a way that enables it to deploy the network commercially as soon as 5G standards are set. You’d have to wait a while for that to happen, though. 3GPP, the international consortium in charge of hashing out network standards, is working on it right now. However, phase one (of two) won’t be completed until the first half of 2018. By the way, AT&T isn’t the only US carrier gearing up to test its next-gen mobile network: Verizon will soon begin its 5G wireless service trials, as well.
[Image credit: Mike Mozart/Flickr]
Source: AT&T
Gear S2 update brings unread notifications on watch face, new apps, and more
Samsung’s well-received Gear S2 smartwatch is getting a small update that brings new apps, functionality additions, and performance improvements.
One of the biggest issues with joining Samsung’s Tizen-powered ecosystem is the relative lack of third-party apps. Over the past year, Samsung has worked hard to get developers to create apps for Tizen, ensuring that at least some big names are present on its platform. Clearly, that’s an ongoing effort, as the latest update to the Gear S2 brings three new apps – World Clock, EPSN, and News Briefing.
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The update also adds several watch faces inspired by the work of Italian designer Alessandro Mendini, who also released straps and other accessories for Samsung’s smartwatch back in autumn.
New functionality coming to the Gear S2 is the ability to search through your contacts, a new screen time out session, and an unread notification indicator in the watch face. This last change in particular should prove useful. Also, you can now input emoji with the keyboard.
The 92MB update is rolling out now as an OTA. For more on the Gear S2, check out our review, as well as our follow up impressions.
AT&T joins Verizon on early 5G tests in the U.S. this year
AT&T has confirmed that it, like Verizon, will begin testing 5G networks in the U.S. in 2016, with plans to introduce commercial services for fixed 5G later in the year. This is not to be confused with wireless 5G which won’t be commercially viable until around 2020 (or 2018 if you live in South Korea). But with speeds of 10-100 times that of the fastest 4G/LTE networks, any 5G is good 5G.
See also: 4G and 5G wireless: How they are alike and how they differ
AT&T is looking to test fixed 5G connections as a possible alternative to fiber optic broadband connections in rural areas. “Ultimately as an integrated carrier we have a lot of incentive to (add) any new technology (to our) footprint, particularly if that 5G for fixed usage has better economics than fiber in certain locales,” said John Donovan, AT&T’s chief strategy officer.
Getting in early on a fixed line 5G network will obviously provide an advantage when the cellular version gets standardized in the coming years, with the expectation of an agreed-upon 5G standard for wireless to be worked out in 2018. AT&T is confident that its early forays into 5G networks will pay off in years to come for wireless 5G. As Donovan confided, “when it’s ready, we’re ready.”
Verizon announced similar plans last year and has already been cooperating with Samsung, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia and Cisco in testing its early 5G network. AT&T announced it will be working with Intel and Ericsson on its first trials, which will begin in the second quarter of this year.
While these efforts to be on the front foot are laudable, it’s important to note that without a formalized standard, what’s called “5G” now might be a long way from what 5G ends up being classified as in two years’ time. The basic themes of 5G (which requires a generational shift from 4G) are: extremely low latency, speed matching, multiple-user and multi-stream connections, pervasiveness and data speeds that are 10-100 times faster than current 4G connections.
While the concept of pervasiveness means that “true” 5G won’t be true 5G until it is everywhere – with no areas of weak reception or no connection at all – the other themes are already in play in various 5G test that have been conducted for the last several years. T-Mobile is currently the fastest LTE network in the U.S. with download speeds of 12.26 MB/s, whereas 5G download speeds have already been demoed as fast as 3.6 GB/s.
The fastest theoretical LTE speeds currently are 150 MB/s while the various top speeds tossed around in 5G discussions so far have been anywhere from 10 GB/s to 20 GB/s. Of course the average person won’t see these speeds, but even something like 5 GB/s will be light years better than anything most of us have ever imagined.
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AT&T will begin testing its fixed line 5G network in Austin in the next few months, with commercial rollout in the latter half of the year if the tests are successful. Verizon is testing its 5G network in San Francisco and Waltham, Mass.
When do you expect to see 5G? What are you expecting from next-gen data speeds?
AIVAnet 