WELCOME TO ANDROID 5.0 LOLLIPOP (PART II)

Along with improving the notification bar, Google also improve the Quick Settings. In addition to allow quick setup options, Google also added the ability to automatic predictions and display fast options. However, this feature works badly, for example, instead of showing the option "Mobile Hotspot", the system displays the "Invert Colors". Unfortunately, it is enabled by default and cannot be turned off.

Above features are also integrated when clicking in the sharing menu. Here it works a bit better.

Another big addition is the "Priority Mode". This feature will operate through the volume up button, allowing announcements from the application as well as a list of contact options. You can also apply this feature for a certain period of time to avoid being bothered. It is similar to "Do Not Disturb" on iOS.

Google has allowed many user accounts active on Lollipop. A truly groundbreaking feature is" Guest Mode". You can convert your device into the "Guest Mode" at any time and the "guest" can do anything on this device include Google account login. This mode is also integrated private browsers, and extremely useful for users who borrow your phone for a while.

You can also set a password to prevent others from accessing the other applications. "Pin" an intuitive and easy-to-use feature will do it for you. This feature worked quite well when you let your child play some mini games such as "Cut The Rope" on your tablet.

Gmail app can be refreshed and displayed in the form of cards when pressing "Compose", then the email will appear in the form of multi-tasking nice cards
This function is also integrated in Chrome, but only on smartphone.

Gmail replaces Email and integrate with other email services. SMS app
"Messages" is great for those who do not like to use Hangouts. Calendar application also has a new interface. Many of the new Google software has been optimized for tablet and display good on Nexus 9.

Google also adds "Tap and Go", using NFC to transfer account information from one device to another device. This feature just only transfer the list of Google accounts to install the app on another device. This is definitely an improvement over previous Android, however, "Tap and Go" has not yet reached the level of protection user’s data when comparing to new iOS device.

We can say Google has borrowed some ideas in Battery Saver mode from Android manufacturers when limiting background tasks. When the device runs out of battery, the App Menu bar menu will turn to automatic mode in orange to save the power.

Overall, although there are some minor bugs and errors, Android 5.0 Lollipop is a major updated version with drastic changes and useful features.  . Unfortunately, updating version for Android devices is a problem. However, some manufacturers have also announced plans to update the system for their new products this year.

WELCOME TO ANDROID 5.0 LOLLIPOP (PART I)

Android 5.0 Lollipop is the most ambitious version for Android so far!
Far from any expectation, the version is packed with several new features for users and thousands of new APIs for developers. Therefore, Android can extend even further, from smartphones, tablets, and also smart wearables, to smart TVs and smart cars.
Firstly, we have to mention about the new design on Android 5.0, called as "Material Design " . The changes in design of Lollipop can compare with the changes in the design of Apple's iOS 7 last year. Both operating systems have been changing all the terms of the interface, use multiple layers effects as well as the interactive ideas between the layers of the interface.

Lollipop owns skeuomorphism style where digital elements are simulated from reality. This is Google's vision of the future digital industry.
When using the new Android 5.0 for the first time, you will find this version completely different form the previous Android version.

All angles, colors and lighting effects have been completely replaced with subtle colors to create a softer feeling when being used. The previous Android went along with the animation effects and random discrete. Now it is simpler and has more interactive functions on screen.

Animation effects are one of the most notable points of Lollipop. Transition effects appear when we move from multitasking screen to home screen, access applications, switch between applications, move position ...Everything becomes more harmonious than ever .

However, the version of Android 5.0 is not totally strange. All the core elements, for example the dashboard application, notification bar, lock screen or screen widgets and Google Now remain the same. For new users, the Lollipop made smartphone use become simpler than ever.

However, Lollipop also becomes somewhat over colorful. Similar to the interface on the Apple iPhone, Google has decided to add a lot of colors for different parts of the interface. App Menu using bold red, green and blue but not suitable for motion effects.

For first time users of Lollipop, you may find interesting effects on the operating system, but when you have become more familiar, these effects may cause adverse effects that lead time consuming which is very annoying.

Android still provides various interfaces for the selected text and cut/ copy/paste text and icons. Besides, text option is unfriendly and confusing, not to mention the very small size of these icons . Anyway, that's just some minor problems. Lollipop Android version is still a breakthrough and it is the biggest update in the recent years of the operating system for mobile from Google.

Not only change the design, Lollipop also adds many new features. Notification bar is the biggest change, which is able to temporarily replace Homescreen you can reply to messages, calls and options E - mail directly. In addition, users can receive and reply to messages, including email, text messages, missed calls are just outside the lock screen.

Moreover, users have the right to set up privacy settings so the current application can not notify on the lock screen. Notification calls to no longer occupy the entire screen again, instead of appearing in a corner at the top of the screen.

A COMPARISON OF NOKIA LUMIA 520, 530 AND MICROSOFT LUMIA 535 (PART II)

MICROSOFT LUMIA 535 VS 530 VS 520 COMPARISON: SCREEN

The size and quality of screen is one of the biggest differences between Lumia 535 and 520, 530. The 535’s screen is larger than its predecessors, 5 inches compared to 4 inches of 520 and 530 and the result is Lumia 535 displays better and make the customers more satisfied. This is the era of big screen, even Apple, a big fan of small screen with standard screen for their iPhone is 3.5 inches, is also changing their opinion and start using big screen for their latest iPhone. So it is easy to understand when Microsoft equips a bigger screen for latest version of Lumia’s series 5.
But it is not all things, beside the size, the quality of 535’s screen is even more impressive than 520 and 530. Microsoft gives 535 a qHD screen with resolution is 960 x 540 pixels and it also has an IPS panel. These components make 535 more surpassing than Lumia series 5’s previous versions, qHD screen helps 535 displays movies or videos better, an IPS panel helps the customers can use it under sunlight more comfortable or view black color sharper than the non – IPS screen of 530. Although 520’s screen also has an IPS panel, but its screen is smaller, so I think 535’s screen can meet the demand of users better than 520.
MICROSOFT LUMIA 535 VS 530 VS 520 COMPARISON: CAMERAS

The second biggest change of Lumia 535 compared to 520 and 530 is the camera. These 3 Lumias has the same primary cameras with 5 MP, but 520 and 530 have no LED while 535 has one. LED is a worth  addition of 535 because when you want to take a picture but the light is not enough, you will need an artificial light to support, many manufacturers have equipped a LED for the primary cameras of their smartphones, even, some manufacturers also give a LED for the secondary cameras. So the lack of LED on 520 and 530 is a weakness and Nokia received many complaints about this problem. Maybe Microsoft saw it and it gives a LED for 535, this is a small but really worth addition and it makes 535’s camera more useful than the cameras of 520 and 530.
Besides that, 535’s camera has another difference compared to 520 and 530’s camera. While 520 and 530 has no secondary camera, Lumia 535 has a good secondary camera with 5 MP. I think the addition of 535 is to meet the demand of selfie, a new trend which is expanding so fast and a good secondary camera will make 535 more competitive than not only 520 and 530 but also other smart phones because many manufacturers just give a limited secondary camera for their smart phones with 2 or 3 MP though they give super resolutions for primary cameras with 8, 10, 15, even, 20 MP, but I think it is useless because most of users take selfie pictures by secondary camera.
Microsoft introduced a new Lumia smartphone with Microsoft’s name on the back of it, Microsoft Lumia 535. Generally, 535 is the better than its predecessors, 520 and 530, with a bigger screen and an addition of camera. If you want to experience the first smartphone named Microsoft, you should consider Lumia 535 first.

A COMPARISON OF NOKIA LUMIA 520, 530 AND MICROSOFT LUMIA 535 (PART I)

Microsoft unveiled  Lumia 535, the successor to the Lumia 520 and a upgraded version of Lumia 530 (a new Lumia version was launched in August), on November 11th. Lumia 535 is also the primary smartphone launched by Microsoft since Microsoft acquired Nokia’s devices part in 2013. So you will see 535’s full name is Microsoft Lumia 535, instead of using Nokia like previous versions.
So, what's the distinction between the Lumia 535, Lumia 530 and Lumia 520? Which smartphone is the fittest choice and meet your demand? This article will help you make it clear.

SPECIFICATIONS

	LUMIA 535	LUMIA 530	LUMIA 520
PROCESSOR	CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 1.2 GHz Quad-core GPU Adreno 302	CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 1.2 GHz Quad-core GPU Adreno 302	CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 1.2 GHz Quad-core GPU Adreno 305
NETWORKING	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 850/ 2100 Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 Micro usb 2.0	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 Micro usb 2.0	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 Micro usb 2.0
DISPLAY	5.0 inches 540 x 960 pixels IPS LCD	4.0 inches TFT LCD 480 x 854 pixels	4.0 inches TFT LCD 480 x 800 pixels (IPS)
CAMERA	Rear camera: 5 MP 2592 x 1936 pixels (LED) Front camera: 5 MP	Rear camera: 5 MP 2592 x 1936 pixels	Rear camera: 5 MP 2592 x 1936 pixels
STORAGE	8GB 1GB Ram	4GB 512MB Ram	8GB 512MB Ram
BATTERY	1905mAh	1430mAh	1430mAh

MICROSOFT LUMIA 535 VS 530 VS 520 COMPARISON: DESIGN

The Lumia 535 has 8.8 mm thick and its weight is 146g. It is slimmer than the 11.7 mm of the Lumia 530 and slightly slimmer than the 9.9 mm of the 520. However, it is heavier than the weight of 129 gram of 530 and 124 gram of 520, but I think it is acceptable because Lumia 535 has a bigger screen than two predecessors.

To make Lumia smartphones more attractive, Nokia and Microsoft have created many colourful cases for Lumia and customers can change Lumia’s cases very easily. 

The 535 has many cases with bright colors like orange, green, blue and neutral colors like black, white and gray. These colors are often swapped when you purchase any 535 and if you do not like it, you can change to other colors fast because 535’s back is removable. Lumia 530 has the same options of colors with 535 and 530’s back is also removable.

Colour choices for the Lumia 520 are less color than 535 and 530. The 520 has yellow, blue, red, white and black color for its backs. Less color is a weakness but 520 has a weaker point, unlike 535, the back of 520 cannot remove, so you must choose carefully when you buy a 520 because you cannot change it when you want to change it, there is just one solution for this problem, buy another Lumia.

APPLE IPAD AIR 2 – THINNER AND STRONGER (PART II)

APPLE PAY
Apple has integrated the payment function into their latest devices like iPhone 6, 6 plus, iPad Air 2… and they call it Apple Pay. Apple Pay will save your credit card’s information and when you want to pay something, you do not need to type the code number and password, you just need to open Apple Pay, a touch ID screen will appear and it will scan your finger to identify. It is very easy and fast, it makes the payment more convenient. I suspect Apple equips touch ID for iPad Air 2 just because they want to use it to serve Apple Pay.

DISPLAY
Apple still keeps a 9.7 inches screen with 2048 x 1536 pixels on iPad Air 2. However, there is a big change of technology which is used to create iPad Air 2’s screen. There were 3 separate components used to create iPad Air’s screen but Apple has created a new sceen that just has only one component to build iPad Air 2’s screen. This change makes its screen display better, the colors is more fresh, vivid and natural, the contrast of image is sharper compared with its predecessor.

PERFORMANCE
Like iPhone 6 and 6 plus, Apple integrates the latest processor into iPad Air 2, A8x. This processor is built by 64 bit technology, a pioneer of 64 bit architecture for mobile processor, so do not be surprised when you see the impressive performance of iPad Air 2. Let’s see graph below, you can see the extreme power of iPad Air 2, the CPC performance is 12 times better than the first iPads, 40% faster than iPad Air’s CPU, the graphics performance is even more impressive, 180 times better than iPad’s 1st generation. Air 2 also got a excellent score on some tests, it achieves 21744 point on Ice Storm Unlimited test, better than latest iPhones and iPad Air. On Geekbench 3 test, it has 4506 point with multi – core test, 2 times better than A7 processor of previous iPad version. So we can have a conclusion, iPad Air 2 is the fastest iPad has ever been produced.

BATTERY
iPad Air 2 has better Processor, Operating System, Screen… As a result, its ability of saving energy is better, the ceaseless run – time can be up to 10 hours, enough for many usual tasks like surfing website, listening to music, watching youtube… it can also fulfill a day working if you usually have to use it for office works.

APPLE IPAD AIR 2 – THINNER AND STRONGER (PART I)

iPad is a famous tablet series and currently, Apple had launched new generation of it, ipad air 2. New iPad has not many changes about exterior, but there are big changes inside it to make it be a super tablet.

SPECS

PROCESSOR	APPLE A8X
STORAGE	16/ 64/ 128 GB
SCREEN	Retina Display 9.7 inches screen, 2048 x 1536 pixels, 264 ppi
CAMERA	Front camera 1.2 MP Rear camera   8 MP
NETWORKING	UMTS/HSPA/​HSPA+/​DC‑HSDPA/ LTE Wifi a/ b/ g/ n/ ac Bluetooth 4.0
BATTERY	Up to 10 hours

DESIGN
As I said above, Apple did not change many things of iPad Air 2’s exterior. When you compare it to the previous generation, iPad Air, you will see there is no difference between 2 tablets, it is still beautiful, solid and makes you satisfied. I think Johnny Ive and his team did their job very well when they designed iPad Air and now, they think it is better if iPad Air 2 has the same design with iPad Air (I am sure many users also agree with it).

If you absolutely need to find out a difference between 2 tablets, I just can point out a few things. First, iPad Air 2 is thinner than its predecessor, 6.1 mm compared to 7.5 mm, this point makes iPad Air 2 be one of slimmest tablet in the world. Second, it is lighter, the weight is 437 gram with Wifi version and 444 gram for 4G version, compared with 469 gram and 479 gram of iPad Air. The lighter weight will help users can be more easier to hold it. Third, Apple offers more color for iPad Air 2 than iPad Air, you just can choose 3 colors silver, space gray or golden for iPad Air 2, compared to 2 colors silver and space gray of the first generation.

TOUCH ID
Apple equips a Touch ID for iPad Air 2, the feature is just equipped for iPhone 5S, 6 and 6 plus. This feature was proved its usefulness when Apple equipped it for iPhone 5S, it can help users secure their smart phone or tablet better, no one can access to your iPad if you do not give them a permission. This feature is especially necessary when you want to use iPad to pay money for something you buy. You just need to put your finger on touch ID screen and you will be identified to guarantee you are buying and it is a fraud.

IMAC MINI 2014 – BEST CHOICE FOR LIMITED BUDGETS (PART II)

PERFORMANCE

Apple offers many options for iMac mini, at price of 499 usd, you will have a standard configuration with Intel core i5 1.4 GHz dual – core, 500 GB internal storage and 4 GB Ram, if you want stronger configurations, you can choose 8 or 16 GB Ram for standard version or choose higher version with Intel core i5 2.6 GHz or 2.8 GHz, 8 or 16 GB Ram and 1 TB internal storage, of course the prices are also higher, at 699 and 999 usd. These configurations guarantee strong performances for iMac mini. Moreover, Apple has always gathered together compatible details to build products which details could run its highest performance. iMac mini 2014 is an excellent example for this philosophy. Its configuration is good, but its performance is excellent, beyond my imagination. A good configuration usually performs well, a very good configuration runs excellently, it is usual, but when a good configuration can run excellently, it is unusual and we should praise the builders who built it, they did very good job. iMac mini performs very fast, you run many tasks but it still run stably, the graphics displays beautifully even though it just uses onboard graphic card Intel HD 5000. When you compare it to iMac mini 2012, it runs 1.9 times on X – plane 10 test, 1.5 times on Star Craft 2 test or 1.2 times on Portal 2 test faster than its predecessor.

All your entertaining demands like playing videos, watching HD movies, images… will be fulfilled by iMac mini, it can serve you with 5 stars standard.

However, there are a problem with iMac mini’s hardware, its Ram is unupgradable, it means you choose 4 GB Ram, you just use 4 GB, you cannot add more Ram after buying it. So you should predict your demand of using Ram to choose a fit Ram.

OPERATING SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE
When you buy an Apple’s product, you also own its amazing Operating System and software. First, you have Yosemite, the latest Mac OSX version, it is not only beautiful when you see it but also very easy to use. The compatibility of Yosemite with iOS – run devices like iPhone, iPad, Apple watch is very good, you just need to let these devices contact each others, it will recognize the rest devices fast.

Apple also gives you many its famous software, you will feel happy with Apple’s Office suite including Pages, Numbers and Keynote, it is very helpful when you do office works. Notes, Mail, Contacts, Reminders are free and useful software integrated into Yosemite. Apple had created these software very well, the customers are really satisfied about it. If you use windows – run computers, maybe you cannot have free software that have the same functions, you have to pay much money for it, example, you must pay hundreds of dollars for a copy of Microsoft’s office suite.

Apple seems to know the software which their customers need and it gives their customers these software free, it is absolutely a wonderful policy.

IMAC MINI 2014 – BEST CHOICE FOR LIMITED BUDGETS (PART I)

Many people want to own Apple’s products because it is extremely beautiful. However, cost of Apple product is too high example MacBook Pro’s price starts at about 1300 usd, iMac is from 1099 usd or Mac Pro is sold at 2999 usd for lowest configuration… apple frequently offers product’s prices which could make anyone overwhelmed when they see it first time (if someone is not overwhelmed, maybe he/ she is very rich). But Apple seems not to forget “poor fans” of it, it offers an entry level product for someone wants to experience Mac OS though his wallet is not full of money, iMac mini. You just have to pay from 499 usd for a standard  iMac mini, its price is very attractive and will make Mac’s fans happy so much.

DESIGN
iMac mini 2014 has not big changes compared to iMac mini 2012, it still looks small and charming. Its size is 7 inches length (19.7 cm) x 7 inches width (19.7 cm) x 1.4 inches height (3.6 cm), weight is 2.6 pounds (about 1.2 kg). This is a very small size if you compare it to PC’s cases, it is also very light and you can bring it to anywhere easily. You can bring it to workplace to do office works, end of working day, you can bring it to home to do personal things like doing the rest of office works, entertainment, designing…it is designed to help you can use your computer more efficient and convenient.

Beside that, iMac mini is very charming, it looks like a square with length and width are the same, but Apple makes corners curved to help it eliminate the rigidity of square. Apple also uses sleek aluminum to create iMac mini’s case. This stuff help iMac mini look not only luxury but also solid. Each case’s details are built by special computer numberical control machines – CNC, as the CNC machines were used to build details of spaceships, to guarantee that every detail are produced with highest quality and precision.

Although iMac mini is quite small, but Apple integrated many ports into it including a HDMI, 2 thunderbolts, 4 usb 3.0, an Ethernet, a SDXC cardslot and audio in and out. These ports are arranged very well, very logically, users can connect their iMac mini to many other devices like HD monitors, HDTV, keyboards from non – Apple producers…

ENERGY SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
iMac mini uses many equipment which comsume low energy like Haswell processors, the latest processor generation of Intel. Moreover, its Mac OSX will adjust the performance of hardware to save energy when it is unnecessary. As a result, at ideal status, iMac mini just needs 6 watts to perform, it is an impressive energy comsumption.
Apple does not use plastics to build iMac mini, it just uses aluminium, a recyclable material, so it can help protect the environment better.