Movement is life. This phrase perfectly describes not only the life of any person, but the entire development of mobile technology. In this installment, we'll talk about 4K displays, the new flagship LG, strange patents Microsoft, and issues with updating Nexus devices.
Companies do not always follow a straight path, sometimes they wander for a long time in the dark, and sometimes they choose a road that does not lead quite where they should. But this is much better than just standing in the same place for fear of going astray. The walker will master the road – this is another well-known phrase that is equally applicable to both people and companies.
Mobile device displays
Having chosen some direction of movement, companies always try to stick to it. And even when they begin to suspect that the road is turning somewhere in the wrong direction, they still continue to go forward. Wherever it leads, it is in any case better than staying in the middle of the field, letting competitors go far ahead.
Looking at the displays in modern smartphones, you might think that there is simply nowhere to improve their performance. A couple of years ago, one could find fault with the fact that some fonts do not look clear on the smartphone screen or that the image could look 'friable' due to the flaws of the PenTile technology. What can one complain about now, looking at the screen of any modern flagship, I don't even know. Gradually, the excessive picture quality becomes more a minus than a plus, since it does not in the best way affect the battery life of the device.
But, of course, no one is going to stop there. The technology race continues, and display performance gets better every year. Another thing is that there is not always a practical benefit for the buyer.
It seemed that just yesterday HD resolution on the screens of mobile devices was a cherished dream, and FullHD seemed like sheer fantasy. Now even a 2K display is not able to surprise anyone, and some buyers are completely perplexed why this or that smartphone still does not have such a screen. After all, it's already 2015 in the yard, how long can you use old hardware?
It may very well be that soon 2K displays will be recognized as morally obsolete by high-tech lovers. In any case, many different companies are already engaged in the creation of 4K displays. And we are talking specifically about mobile devices, and not about huge TV screens.
Take Sharp, which recently introduced its IGZO 5.5-inch 4K display. The pixel density of 806 ppi is really impressive, but the practical meaning of such a solution is not yet fully understood. The most interesting thing is that this is not just some kind of experiment for the sake of experiment. The company plans to start commercial production of such displays this year.
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Keeping up with its Japanese rival is Samsung, which is also busy working on 4K displays. The company representatives officially announced that they also expect to launch the production of mobile screens with a resolution of 3840×2160 this year.
One of the features of such displays will be a not quite standard pixel structure, somewhat reminiscent of the famous PenTile. However, the name of this technology will be different – 'diamond pixel', or 'diamond pixel'. It is not entirely clear whether this is really some kind of new technology or the company just decided to get rid of the compromised name, so as not to annoy the 'human microscopes', who will see 'terrible grain' on a 4K display.
According to rumors, a similar display may already be received by the Galaxy Note 5, which (again, exclusively according to rumors) will have a 5.89-inch screen.
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I would like to believe that this whole race for screen resolution is just a side effect, not an end in itself. Testing new technologies that can amaze us with quality, not quantity.
On the other hand, the concept of 'mobile device' has recently become surprisingly vague. Some companies are even ready to call anything 'mobile' that at least theoretically can be torn off the floor. And in some of these 'mobile' devices, 4K displays have been around for a long time, and only to the place.
An example is Panasonic's Toughpad tablet, which has a similar screen resolution. True, he also has a diagonal of as much as 20 inches, which ultimately gives a modest 230 ppi.
I don't know who and why might need such a thing, but he clearly found his own audience. In any case, the company is going to release this year its updated version, which will receive a processor Intel Core i5 vPro 5th generation. The cost of the new version of the 'tablet' will be $ 2,999.
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Strange patents Microsoft
If you think 4K displays in smartphones are weird, then you should look at the company's patents Microsoft, which went online this week. This is also a kind of attempt to go nowhere, just not to stand still. But in this case, we are talking about detours rather than a beaten track. Maybe they will lead you into the swamp, or maybe they will help you to cut the path – until you try, you will not know.
First of all, it is worth noting a patent describing the installation of several operating systems on one mobile device at once. In principle, there is nothing unusual in this idea; several more companies are moving in approximately the same direction. But up to this point, it was always about not too well-known manufacturers of end devices, and not a renowned developer of a mobile OS. Although Microsoft and release devices under their own brand, the company is clearly concerned about the success of the operating system itself, and not some particular phone.
Rumors have been circulating on the network for several years that the company plans to install Windows as a second system on smartphones from other manufacturers. But it did not go further than rumors – this is an extremely dubious path, which theoretically could still raise the sales of devices under the Lumia brand, but at the same time it will almost certainly put an end to the mobile Windows as an independent OS.
Well, we have one more proof that there is no smoke without fire. Even if we take into account that in reality most patents remain gathering dust on the shelf, some work in this direction was clearly carried out at one time. And maybe they are still underway.
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The following patent describes a system for automatically disinfecting the display from bacteria. It is proposed to do this using ultraviolet radiation.
I don't know how useful it really will be, but there is a certain reason in this technology. Since childhood, we have been accustomed to washing our hands before eating, but the idea of washing the screen of a phone or tablet does not even occur to us. Meanwhile, his screen keeps a bunch of bacteria and traces of dirty hands on it. Which does not prevent us from twirling it in our hands both during meals and on a walk.
However, it is unclear how this technology will affect the quality of the display itself. After all, we are talking about some kind of additional film that will be attached over the touch screen and emit ultraviolet light. And there is no data on the timing of the introduction of such technology yet.
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The next patent was drawn up by the company back in 2011, but only recently got into the network. It is about a predictive word input system that would suggest replacing a long phrase with a short emoticon. Honestly, the idea is dubious – I can put a smiley myself, without the additional help of a smartphone. It can be inconvenient to write this long phrase on the run, and poking a button with a laughing face is a matter of seconds. But it is quite possible that someone really needs it. And maybe even already implemented in one of the existing keyboards for a long time.
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LG G4
While some companies are tormented by doubts and try to find their way in the fog, the company LG has clearly found its way. And he continues to walk confidently along it, whistling merrily on the go.
Although there are still about two weeks left before the official announcement of the new flagship LG, a lot of various information has already leaked to the network. True, it is not known how reliable it is, but this is the eternal trouble of such rumors and leaks. Tellingly, it was not without evleaks, who in words had long since tied up with such dark deeds.
The smartphone promises to be very interesting for many reasons. First of all, due to the appearance. It seems that there will be a lot of design options for the case, literally for every taste and color. There will be options with the use of genuine leather, and with plastic disguised as leather, and classic versions of the design with a smooth back cover.
I can't say that I am very enthusiastic about all the renders published. But, firstly, such things must be watched live. And secondly, it is more interesting than the standard clones in the style iPhone. Choice is great anyway.
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Moreover, the case here is clearly not limited to just an unusual design. From a technical point of view LG G4 also has something to surprise.
Take the camera developed by LG Innotek. Representatives of the company consider it a real revolution, promising great shots in low light conditions (the new module captures 80% more light than the camera in last year's flagship), clear shots of moving objects and other goodies.
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The new QHD-display (size 5.5 inches, resolution 2560×1440) looks interesting, in which the most important thing is not so much a high ppi index, but an improved color rendering, high brightness and contrast ratio.
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The specifications for LG G4 are assumed to be as follows:
- Support for communication standards: 4G LTE; 3G UMTS / HSPA + (42 Mbps); GSM GPRS / EDGE
- Dimensions: 149.1×75.3×8.9 mm
- Processor: 2.5 GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon
- Platform: Android 4.4.2 Kitkat
- Display: 5.5-inch, IPS Quantum, 2560×1440 pixels
- Camera: 13 MP with laser autofocus, dual-LED flash and OIS
- Front camera: 2.1 MP
- Memory: 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal or 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal; slot for microSD memory card
- Communications: Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE (APT-x), NFC, USB
- 2.0, HDMI SlimPort, A-GPS / GLONASS
- Battery: 3000 mAh, support for wireless charging
- Others: 1W speaker with amplifier
Problems with updates
Yes, movement is really life, and walking is always better than standing still. But rushing ahead headlong is still not worth it, otherwise bruises and bruises are guaranteed.
Alas, all large companies have had big problems with this item lately. They really want to report on how many devices have already received the new version of the OS, and show that they care about users much more than their closest competitor.
And everything would be fine, but only for the users themselves such touching 'concern' often goes sideways. Either the new one iPhone after the first update turns into a 'brick', then after the long-awaited update to the new version Android the device starts to work many times worse than before. And it's also good if the company officially recognizes the problem and helps all those affected. After all, it can turn on the “fool mode”, leaving the “grateful” customers to deal with the problems that have arisen on their own.
The desire to get Android 5.0 as soon as possible becomes a real mania for many users. I don't know what is so incredible they want to find in him, perhaps it's just a matter of principle. One way or another, reality is often much less attractive than their fantasies.
A couple of years ago, everything was simple. If you always want to have the latest version of OS – buy Nexus, it will solve all problems. But now everything is not so rosy.
So, according to the phonearena resource, many owners of the Nexus 7 tablet (both the original and its improved version from 2014) are faced with the fact that the update to Android 5.0 turns their device into a brick. The tablet freezes at the loading stage, it simply does not go beyond the Google logo. Moreover, neither Asus nor Google are in a hurry to recognize the problem.
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The Nexus 5 is not doing well on this front either. Updating the OS to version 5.1 sometimes leads to a problem with the camera. When you try to call the camera through a third-party application (for example, a social network client), it simply stops working. For a while, the problem can be solved by restarting the device, then it appears again.
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There is also the opposite situation, when the manufacturer is in such a hurry to launch the device into series that by the beginning of official sales he simply does not have time to debug its firmware. The last HTC One can be cited as an example, although, in fact, similar problems arise in most of today's smartphones.
As far as I know, there are no special 'bugs' in the flagship HTC, the same overheating problem was solved even before the start of sales. However, some things do not work as well as they could, which is gradually being 'cured' by updates. And then you don't even know whether you should be happy that the company continues to improve the smartphone even after the start of sales, or regret that the device was initially launched in a somewhat 'damp' form.
As you know, one of the most significant innovations in the new version HTC One is the main camera, which finally decided to ditch the 'ultrapixels'. Unfortunately, the first owners of the device noted that the new camera does not shoot as well as they expected. Apparently, the problem was of a software nature and was resolved in one of the latest updates.
The phandroid resource has published before and after shots, which clearly show how much better the smartphone camera now works.
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