The Operating System

About the Operating System

The Operating system is a fundamental software of a computer, controlling all basic operations of the computer  The Operating System is the base on which the user installs and executes third-party applications (commonly called apps for short) usually adding extended functionality to the device.

Among the most popular computer operating systems are Microsoft's Windows and Windows Phone and Apple's Mac OS and iOS, Google's Android and Chrome OS and the various distributions of Linux kernal.

Among the most popular OS's for mobile devices are Apple's iOS and Google's Android and they are the only ones that still show growth. Down the ranks there are RIM's BlackBerry OS and Microsoft's Windows Phone. Symbian holds a distant place, when merely 5 years ago it was still the most widely used mobile OS.

Symbian held its top position for years but its market share has been slowly fading away ever since touch-operated smartphones became the norm and Symbian failed to deliver an intuitive touch UI. Almost ten years ago, Microsoft's Windows Mobile was a strong player too, offering the first touchscreen smartphone experience with the PocketPCs powered by their OS.

Today mobile devices with a proper OS are called smartphones and users have a wide choice of applications, such as games, productivity apps, communication or social media apps, digital maps, etc.

Standardized operating system platforms make it possible to provide a consistent user interface (and experience) across devices from different hardware manufacturers. Yet, Android smartphone manufacturers like to customize the user experience so each offers a slightly modified version of the stock Android UI.

While the major players these days are clear, over the years we've seen the emergence of numerous mobile OS projects including but not limited to LG's webOS, Tizen, BlackBerry's Playbook OS and more recently, the Jolla's Sailfish OS and Mozilla's Firefox OS.

Choosing the right operating system

Choosing the right OS is very important. It will decide the way you use your smartphone.

 1. Now, if you're the one who will walk into the store, buy a smartphone and use what's provided out of the box, Apple's iOS will suit you. iOS gained popularity for its simple and elegant user interface. The home screen (as simple as it can get) is a grid of horizontally scrollable app icons with a dock in the bottom to pin your frequently used apps. Also, if you own a Mac or you use iTunes, iOS will be perfect for you.

2. But, on the other hand, if you're the person who wants to personalize your phone to the fullest, have access to the widest range of applications or maybe you want a mobile device for development purposes, Google's Android will suit you. It offers customization that is second to none! It offers you with the widest range of devices with the most powerful hardware you can think of. It also gives importance to the user's choice. Don't like the way your homescreen looks? No problem! Just download a replacement from the Google Play Store. And it's not only about the home screen! It's about almost everything in the system software! Also, if you are a heavy Gmail user, your business uses Google Apps, you're into YouTube(ing) or you prefer Google Play Music/Movies/Newsstand/Keep, go for Android..... you won't regret it.

3. If you are more of the Microsoft guy, with your work email on Microsoft Exchange or you want stellar productivity of Microsoft Office on the go or if you simply love Microsoft's Modern User Interface, go for Microsoft Windows Phone. It's the most elegant & fluid operating system. Sporting a homescreen of vertically scrollable Live Tiles which are simply boxy icons which dynamically update on the go to provide you with live information. 

This is the second installation in the Inside your smartphone series. The first part about the Processor is right here.

CamerasNow: Samsung launches the camera centric KitKat running Galaxy K zoom smartphone-camera hybrid

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy K zoom camera phone, a successor to the Galaxy S4 zoom launched last year. Not unlike its predecessor, the Galaxy K zoom combines a front face regular smartphone with the hardware of a point and shoot camera slammed on the back

Speaking about the camera, the Galaxy K zoom has an optically stabilized (OIS) 20.7 megapixel 1/2.3 BSI CMOS sensor and a 10x, 24-240mm F3.1-6.3 zoom lens. The phone has a xenon flash with an LED autofocus assist. On the front is a relatively humble 2 megapixel camera.

Coming back on the front smartphone side of the hybrid, the Galaxy K zoom has a 4.8-inch, 1280x720 HD Super AMOLED display, Exynos 5 Hexa SoC with four Cortex A7 @ 1.3GHz and two Cortex A15 @ 1.7GHz, along with a Mali-T624 for graphics, 2GB RAM, 8GB internal memory with microSD support up to 64GB,4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, NFC, 2,430mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat.

The Galaxy K zoom will be available in May in black, white and blue for €499 (Rs. 41881)

TechNow: Nokia-Microsoft deal now officially done... Nokia now Microsoft Mobiles

It's done – Nokia has just announced the completion of the sale to Microsoft of "substantially" all of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft. "Substantially" since two factories were excluded from the deal – the Chennai factory in India, but also the Masan factory in South Korea.

The deal underwent other changes too – the final price is expected to be slightly higher than the initially announced €5.44 billion due to a positive adjustment in net working capital and cash earnings. The leadership team that led Devices & Services at Nokia has stepped down and is moving to Microsoft effective today. This includes former CEO Stephen Elop, Jo Harlow, Juha Putkiranta, Timo Toikkanen and Chis Weber.

Nokia will make another announcement on April 29 (next Tuesday) to provide further details of the transaction (presumably the fate of the Chennai factory and the final sales price).

You can read Stephen Elop's open letter here. On Monday, Elop will be answering questions at the Nokia Conversations blog.

Let's play the iconic Nokia Tune one more time as we close this large chapter in mobile history.

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UPDATE:
Images from Harri Kiljander (Director of F-Secure Lokki) show what appears to be Nokia House in Finland with a crane truck up front, preparing to take down Nokia’s logo and another photo showing the S and F from Microsoft’s logo, reportedly being prepared for mounting. The “On The Move” sign under the Nokia logo adds an air of irony to the otherwise saddening image.

In the aftermath of the deal Microsoft will acquire around 32 thousand employees (around 4 thousand of which in Finland and around 18 thousand directly connected to manufacturing), a 10-year non-exclusive license of Nokia’s patent portfolio and a robust devices business while Nokia walks away with the ripe sum of €5.44 billion.

Hopefully Microsoft, as biggest manufacturer of Windows Phones starting today, will not let down the millions of Nokia owners and fans and will continue to innovate as Nokia did.

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CamerasNow: Leica T mirrorless interchangeable lens camera announced

Leica has announced a new T-System of cameras, with the first one being called the Leica T. The Leica T is a compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, milled out of a solid block of aluminum in a way only Leica can.



Inside, the gorgeous body is a 16 megapixel APS-C sensor with 1080p 30fps video recording ability. On the back is a 3.7-inch touchscreen display. You can also get an optional viewfinder, that also comes with GPS built-in.



The camera is being launched with an 18-56mm F3.5-5.6 and a 35mm equivalent 23mm F2 prime lenses and an 11-23mm F3.5-4.5 wide-angle zoom and 55-135mm F3.5-4.5 telezoom will be arriving later.

The Leica T is priced at $1850/£1350 and is available in silver or black.

You can see how the camera is made in the second link below.

TechNow:Sony brings Lifelog, SmartBand fitness apps to non-Sony Androids

More smartphone users are trying out fitness trackers every day, and while there are a lot of options out there, all too often we’re limited in what’s accessible to us based on what phone we’re carrying. Sony, for instance, introduced its SmartBand tracker back at CES, and while it was both a more flexible and affordable option than some of its competition, so far its usage has been constrained to Sony Xperia models. This week that changes, as Sony updates both its Lifelog app and the SmartBand SWR10 app itself to support non-Sony Androids.



The SmartBand SWR10 app lets you configure the band and set up how it interacts with your phone, while Lifelog is the one that takes sensor data from not just the SmartBand but your phone as well and uses it to help you monitor your activity level and chart progress towards fitness goals.

While on Sony Xperia models, Lifelog still requires a connection to your Sony Entertainment Network account, non-Sony users can log in with their Google credentials.

Not every Android will work with the apps, though, and right now compatibility is limited to Android 4.4 devices supporting Bluetooth 4.0 LE; but just as we saw this most recent update bring support to non-Sony models, future builds may just dial back that Android version requirement, as well.

Sources: 1| 2| 3

TechNow: An updated Dialer app for Android 4.4.3 leaks

Google’s in the midst of preparing for a wide-reaching overhaul of its Android apps, and a number of disparate leaks have revealed the same sort of UI changes: flat design, circular icons, and bold color. We shared with you the latest development along these lines earlier this week, after it was discovered that Google itself shared a screengrab from such an updated version of its Android dialer app. Today we’re back to take a second look, with a new screenshot appearing to reveal even more of the dialer’s new makeover.

There might not be any of those circular icons here, but the design is unmistakably Google’s, with a shift to a card-based interface. It’s not entirely clear who the original source is behind these shots, posted to the XDA-Developers forums by a user claiming to be a friend of the phone’s owner, but speculation based on the contacts in the dialer suggest he has close ties to Google.

We’ve also seen some questions raised about the validity of these shots, not helped by the poster’s habit of insulating us from the originals by taking screenshots of existing screenshots, so it’s worth treating this find with a healthy amount of skepticism. Still, it’s enough in line with the type of things we’ve been seeing lately that it rings true enough to our eyes.

Supposedly, this new dialer (and maybe the rest of those app refreshes) would debut alongside the release of Android 4.4.3.

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TechNow: Android passes iOS in ad traffic, still behind in ad revenue

The latest data from Opera’s Mediaworks ad tracking platform shows that Android has for the first time surpassed iOS in number of mobile ad impressions.

Apple’s iPhones and iPads still generate more ad revenue, however, receiving 52% of ad revenue, despite accounting for just 38.2% of all impressions.

Click to enlarge

Android has been gradually climbing in both ad revenue and traffic over the past several years, largely at the expense of BlackBerry and Symbian. Google’s OS rose more than six points compared to this time last year, and now controls 33.5% of global ad revenue. This is in large part thanks to the sheer number of devices running Android, which now account for almost 80% of all smartphones by the latest IDC figures.

Samsung continues to solidify its position as the top vendor of of Android devices, accounting for some 60% of all mobile ad impressions in the first quarter of this year. Mobile ads are driven primarily by the US market, which accounts for over 50% of all ad traffic. The Asia-Pacific region comes in second with almost 23% thanks to emerging markets like China, while Europe accounts for just 13%.
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TechNow: Leaks show a 7' Samsung smartphone!

Smartphone screens keep getting growing in size, creating a new segment of devices called the Phablets. Phablets push the boundaries of pocket-friendliness, but now Samsung is looking to create a 7” handset to usher humanity into an era of ridiculously sized mobile screens.

Meet the Samsung SM-T2558, the cell phone with the largest display size to date.
The monstrous handset was spotted on the Chinese site TENAA, which delineates certification approvals for cell phones and various other consumer tech products (Take it as China's FCC).
The rumour has it that the tablet-with-phone-capabilities will be part of the Galaxy family, and will be named the Galaxy Mega 7.0. Specifications point of view, it doesn't pack anything eye-popping: a 1.2GHz quad-core processor (mostly a Snapdragon 400 Cortex A7) with 1.5GB RAM, 8MP primary and 2MP front-facing camera, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, and 8GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot. It’ll also connect to Chinese 3G/4G networks: TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE.

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TechNow: Xiaomi will introduce their smartphones in ten new markets this year

Xiaomi announced its plans to enter into ten new market this year. Founder and CEO, Xiaomi, Lei Jun delivered the news at a press conference in Beijing.

Xiaomi will begin sales in large developing markets such as India, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico. The rest of the list of countries includes Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey. The move is part of a plan for international expansion. Xiaomi has a goal to increase its sales five-fold to 100 million handsets in 2015.
Four years after entering the industry, Xiaomi has enjoyed considerable success in China (the company sits ahead of Apple with 7% share in its home market), Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. The Chinese manufacturer is known for selling its keenly-priced devices directly to consumers online - a process which generates impressive sales over short periods of time.

TechNow: Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 series will be available in the US from May 1

Samsung officially unveiled its new thinner and lighter Galaxy Tab 4 series earlier this month. The lineup consists of three devices – Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 and Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 and now the company has confirmed that they all will be available in the US on May 1, with the pre-orders starting tomorrow.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 series will be up for grabs in black or white versions. The slates will be available for purchase from quite a few major retailers across the United States – the pre-orders are accepted at Samsung’s online store, Amazon, Best Buy, Fry’s, Office Depot, OfficeMax, PC Richard and Son, Sears and Tiger Direct.

AT&T will offer the 4G LTE versions of all the three Galaxy Tab 4 slates on sale this summer, while Sprint will offer only the 4G LTE variant of the Galaxy Tab 4 7.0. T-Mobile will have the 4G LTE Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 on sale and Verizon will get the 4G LTE Galaxy Tab 8.0 and 10.1. The Wi-Fi enabled Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, 8.0 and 10.1 will cost $200, $270 and $350 respectively. 

TechNow: Apple using fake company to trademark the name iWatch

The amount of rumors surrounding the iWatch have grown dramatically in the last couple of weeks, but the fact that we’ve decided to call it iWatch doesn’t necessarily mean this will be the name for the product. Many speculated over the final name of the iPad for years, and we heard names like iSlate, iTab, and in the end, Apple surprised us with iPad. We could be surprised with the iWatch as well, but new official documentation reveals that we probably won’t.

Apple’s secrecy is not as legendary as it was years ago, but it seems that the Cupertino is using a fake company by the name of Brightflash to register the iWatch trademark in various countries. This is not new, as the company did the same with a fake company to register the iPad trademark, and Brightflash shares the same shipping address to this company. The same also happened with “Carplay Enterprises” in order to trademark CarPlay a couple of weeks ago.

We could say this guarantees that we’ll see the iWatch using that name, but Apple has also been famous for owning a ton of trademark names that are currently not in use, and are simply similar to the current products that it does own and use. Hopefully we’ll see more about this iWatch in the next coming weeks.

TechNow: WhatsApp reaches 500 million users

Popular IM service WhatsApp has reached the 500 million users milestone. And it’s not just the total number of users the service has but active users who use the service regularly.

This comes shortly after the company was acquired by Facebook, although WhatsApp had a healthy 450 million users at the time of acquisition. The majority of the growth comes from countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia, with India alone having 48 million WhatsApp users.

One of the reason the service is so popular in developing nations is sheer number of platforms the service is available on, which includes iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Symbian and S40, unlike many other services that are only available on iOS and Android.

The service has remained unaltered since the Facebook acquisition and is expected to remain that way.

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TechNow: Sony outs it's background defocus app to more phones with Play Store debut

Want defocusing? Yeah...Nokia, HTC, and most recently Google have all been delivering products aimed at producing the sort of “bokeh” effect you only used to be able to achieve with careful selection of lenses and aperture control. Sony’s also joining the "defocusing" swing at this, too, but its background defocus app has only been available on a select minority of recent handsets. This week Sony does something about that, adding the app to the Play Store.

Now, just because this has hit the Play Store doesn’t mean that it’s open season on it: you still won’t be able to install it on non-Sony devices. But even with that limitation, this move delivers multiple benefits, including easier access to future updates and availability for additional Xperia models; phone like the Z1 and Z1 Compact can now take advantage of the app, which has previously been unavailable to them.

Unlike Google’s effort, Sony’s app doesn’t require raising and lowering your phone to generate parallax info. Instead, it takes a pair of photos with different focal lengths, then lets you choose your subject and control the amount of blur you want to see in the background. Results look pretty good when everything’s working well, but we understand the app can sometimes be a little finicky to get the precise effect you’re looking for. If you’ve got a compatible Xperia model, give it a download and try for yourself and post your experiences in the comments down below. 

Source (Play Store)

TechNow: Meet the reasonably price - no compromise ultraphone of 2014, OnePlus One with CyanogenMod 11s

We’ve heard a lot about OnePlus, and their first smartphone, the One, or, the “2014 Flagship Killer”, as the company has been slowly building up the buzz and anticipation around the device. The phone has been finally made public today as the company announced its first, Cyanogen-powered device. “Never settle” is the motto behind it, and, as we’ve recently seen everyone prefers more bang for their buck, opposed to cheaper options. What if there was a phone that could bring the best of both worlds?

We’re talking about a phone powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, quad-core Krait 400 CPUs clocked at 2.5GHz. Additionally, there’s an enhanced Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB of RAM,  5.5-inch 1080p full HD screen, 13MP main camera with a Sony Exmor sensor behind it, 5MP front-facer, 16-, or 64GB storage options, 3,100mAh battery, and, of course, Android, with CyanogenMod 11s.

And the price? $299 (Rs. 19000) for the 16GB Silk White variant, and $349 (Rs. 2200) for the 64GB Sandstone Black version. Seems really awesome!

Check out more details at the source below, including countries in which it will be available  specs, alongside the official video also embedded.

Source - OnePlus Offical

TechNow: Leaked hands-on of the sequel to the S4zoom appear

We all are talking about Samsung's 2014 follow-up to last year’s Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. We’ve already heard about it, and it seems like a logical move for Samsung to follow last year’s pattern, which includes a camera with a phone, alongside the mini version of the flagship.

April 29 is the rumoured day of its unveiling, if the reports are spot on, and a week before that, we’re seeing some leaked images of what the device might look like. As you’d expect, it is still a phone with a camera slammed on the back. The internals are expected to include a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen with 720p resolution, Samsung Exynos 5 processor, 2GB of RAM, 20-megapixel camera with 10x optical zoom and Xenon flash, as well as a two-megapixel front-facer. All would be powered by Android 4.4.2 KitKat, and will allegedly look like pictured above and below.


Though the device in the stills apparently has a snap cover in its back, we’re seeing a somewhat smaller, rounded footprint, with the expandable lens, the usual Samsung design, branding, and buttons from last year’s models.

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TechNow and SocialNow: Facebook introduces location-based Nearby Friends alerts

Today we learn of Facebook’s new plan to help smartphone users connect with their friends by analysing the location data our phones generate, with its announcement of a feature it’s calling Nearby Friends.

With Nearby Friends activated, the Facebook app on your phone will give you a heads-up when your pals are in the same vicinity as you, letting you make plans to meet up, should you be interested. In addition to just telling you who’s in the general area, Nearby Friends can be used to share precise location data with specific users.

Facebook seems well aware of privacy concerns, and you should be pleased to know that Nearby Friends is a very much opt-in program. Not only do you have to choose to participate, but all your friends will, as well, before you can start seeing them. Controls let you specify which groups of friends will have access to your location data, so you can elect to only use Nearby Friends with some Facebook users, but not others. And if you just don’t want to be bothered for an afternoon, you can flip it off with a simple toggle.

It sounds useful enough, and we’re happy about the control Facebook’s giving users over privacy settings, but considering the functionality we’re talking about here, we can’t quite shake the feeling that Facebook’s a year or two late to the location-sharing game.

Facebook says that Nearby Friends will be going live on Android and iOS in the US in the weeks to come.