Moto X vs Nexus 5

With the Moto X launch due,people are running it down as being a mid-range dual-core phone,with a quad-core price tag.While on paper the Nexus 5 might be better than Moto X,in real world,Moto X is at par,with most of the Nexus' specifications,and packs in some extra punches of its own.
So,here goes a quick compare of the two :

Design : 

Moto is 5 inches in length,with a 4.7 inch screen,while Nexus is almost 5.5 inches with a 5 inch screen.

Both use plastic at the back,both have Gorilla Glass at the front.
Though,the polycarbonate on the back of Moto feels slightly better at handling finger prints than the Nexus.
Also,given the slight curve at the back of the Moto,compared to the flat back Nexus,the Moto feels more comfortable in hand than the Nexus.

I am a sucker for thin bezels,and hence prefer it over the slight bigger one on Nexus(the bottom one).Also,this makes the overall phone size smaller.

The buttons,ports,et al. are the same on both phones.
Both come with non-removable batteries,with the Nexus having 100 mAh advantage over the Moto.

In comparison,both are almost the same.Just a matter of personal preference.

Processor :

Moto packs in an Snapdragon,S4 based,dual core Krait processor,clocked at 1.7 GHz.It also contains two low powered cores,one for natural language processing and one for contextual processing.

The Nexus houses a Snapdragon 800 based,quad-core Krait processor,with a clock freq of 2.26 GHz.

The old processor on the Moto,translates to the 600 series of the Snapdragon processors.
So,from the looks of it,Nexus is miles ahead of the Moto,when it comes to the processing power.

But,bear in mind,unless you are a real power user,so much of power at your disposal is total waste.For day-to-day activities of music,surfing the net,facebook-twitter-whatsapp multi-tasking,even the dual core on Moto would not be working on its 100% load.

On the GPU front,Moto uses a quad-core 320 Adreno,whereas the Nexus has a quad-core 330 Adreno.
Nothing much to compare here.

Both have a 2 GB RAM at disposal.Again both win here as well.

Bottom line,unless you run an app which needs to utilize 4 cores of 2.26 GHz worth of processing power,combined with 4 cores of GPU,clocking in at 450 MHz,then you really shouldn't be running that app on your phone.
Moto will easily get you through your daily activities,without any lags or problems.

Screen :
Moto houses a 4.7 inch,AMOLED screen,with 720p display,whereas the Nexus has a 5 inch,IPS LCD,with a 1080p display.
I prefer the Moto in this case,because,firstly its AMOLED.Always prefer it over LCD,despite each having its own advantages.

Another reason,720p over 1080p.
Sure,with a bigger screen and better resolution,the Nexus seems to have clear edge over the Moto,but unless you nit pick,there is barely any difference between the two at such a small screen size.
Now,with a smaller screen,HD display and an AMOLED screen,Moto consumes lesser battery than the Nexus.

Also,both are protected by Croning Gorilla Glass.

UI/Software :

Both run stock 4.4.2.But while the Nexus has its proprietary Google Experience Launcher,with a few tricks up its sleeve,the Moto runs a simpler version of the Launcher.Most of the visual tweaks can be achieved by installing Nova Launcher on the Moto.

Moto has done a fine job of keeping the stock Android experience intact,with almost zero bloatware.It provides some useful tools like Moto Migrate,to help migrate date from your old phone to the new one,and two of the best features,active display and touchless control.

Active display,lights up the screen with the time and pending notifications,everytime it detects motion,like picking the phone from the table,or taking it out from the pocket.
Remember the AMOLED screen? So,it lights up only those pixels which displays the time and the notfiications.
Saves battery,plus saved the power button from being pressed time and again!

Touchless control,keeps listening to you,for the keyword,"Ok Google Now",and responds to your voice commands,even from the sleep state!
Oh and this app keeps getting new features,like the recent "Whats up Google Now",keyword,which reads out the time and unread notifications(if any)

For these,it'd require a processor to keep running,all the time.
Remember the 2 low powered cores? Brilliant,right?

Also,another cool feature of the Moto,flick your wrist twice to start the camera app.Again,works from the sleep state.

Moto is the clear winner in this case!

Other Specifications :

Both phones pretty much match up to each other in all other aspects.
No expandable memory,only 16 and 32 Gig options.

Bluetooth 4.0,NFC,GPS,A-GPS,GLONASS,accelerometer,gyroscope,etc. and host of other sensors.
No comparison!

Radio :

No,I am not talking about the FM radio.
Radio here,are the mobile radio signals.
After the screen,this consumes the most battery strength.

Remember,Motorola were the pioneers of mobile technology.This is evident form the better signal strength,clear crisps voice across phone calls on Moto devices.

Basically,if your phone can't pick up radio signals,it tries harder,consuming more processing power,while doing so.Once it does,it needs to maintain the same strength,consuming more power.
The weaker the signal,the more power it needs to search for a signal.(Which is why your battery drowns  faster when moving to places with low signal strength).

Using the Moto at the same places as I was with my old phone,getting 4 bars,as I did earlier.The difference was in the battery consumption,the signal stayed green throughout for the Moto,whereas I used to get yellow/red bands earlier.

Moto X wins this battle hands down,in comparison to the Nexus.

Camera : 

Both have an average camera,nothing quite special.

Megapixels don't count.
Though Moto can only click photos at 10MP,Nexus can shoot at various sizes.

Recording,both can shoot at 1080,30 fps.

Nexus has a special HDR+ mode,Photosphere,which the Moto lacks.

Picture quality is better on the Nexus in comparison to the Moto.
So Nexus wins on the camera front!


Overall,both line up well against each other,with their own advantages(and disadvantages),even though on paper they fall into two different categories.
To be fair,Moto X seems like a Nexus device in itself,given that its the first phone released by Moto,after being taken over by Google.2 years of development,and they could finally make a product which would compete with Nexus range of phones.

Rooted essentials

Rooting implies getting root access on your Android device.Usually it stops on flashing a custom ROM.
But there is much more to rooting than just flashing Cyanogen or AOKP or any other ROM for that matter.With root access,you have a deeper control over the phones hardware.

Phones with locked bootloaders need to go a step further,unlocking it,to gain access to kernel.

Following is a list of apps which come in handy,once you've rooted your device.All of these can easily be found on the play store,and quick search on xda would give you an even more insight on the app.

1. Greenify

This app maintains a list of apps,which you want to be killed from its incessant background services/process or "greenified".Apps like Maps,Facebook are useful,but constant background services not only increase data usage,but also take a toll on the battery life.Worse,these consume valuable RAM.

Greenify runs a process,at a specified interval of time,after you lock your screen.Once run,it kills off all the apps in the list,freeing the device of valuable RAM,at the same time keeping a check on the battery life.

(The latest update makes Greenify run on non-rooted devices too!)

2. Xposed Framework

Most Android tweaks on the system packages require a tedious task of decompiling the apk,making the changes,and then recompiling the apk.Not only is it a tedious process,but it is device and ROM specific as well.Also,for multiple files,we usually flash a zip from recovery.

Xposed provides a framework for 'modules',make the necessary changes in the apks on the start-up itself.This makes the modules independent of the device,ROM,etc.

Point to be noted here is Xposed is just a framework.You need modules like GravityBox,for eg,which provides an AIO solution to visual and functional tweaks,usually found in most custom ROMs.
Even Greenify provides a host of experimental features,which can be activated via Xposed.

Only downside being this is not ART compatible.But that shouldn't matter much.

3.Solid Explorer

I used to swear by Root Explorer,when I first rooted,but this file manager came bundled in with one of the ROMs I was trying out,and,I haven't looked back since.

It has one of the most simplest and elegant UI there is to for an Android file manager,with a host of features like 2 panels side-by-side,FTP,bookmarking of favourites,quick access to media,etc.

4.Titanium Backup

This is the AIO rooted toolkit.

Backup up app,its data;Convert system app to user app and vice-versa;Automate the backup process;Freeze system apps,uninstall system apps;move apps to SD card(well you get the point!)

A true life saver!

5.Viper4Android

This is by far the most exhaustive sound mod for Android,I've come across,with loads of support for custom settings.

Cyanogen's custom music tuner,the DSP Manager is the most basic sound mods out there(In no way is it inferior though).V4A is DSP Manager on steroids.

If you know your sound,you are gonna absolutely love the Expert mode on this app.

6.CyanDelta(CM only)

Instead of downloading the whole ROM,what this app does is maintains a local copy of the current ROM zip,and downloads only the changes it finds against the latest ROM that is available.So,instead of downloading almost 200 MBs,you end up downloading only a tenth of that,to upgrade between ROMs.

You just need to hit the download button,it downloads,packs up a new zip and then you click on install.It boots to recovery,wipes the cache(if you've opted for it),flashes the zip and boots up,all by itself.

Another killer feature about this app is you can maintain a list of additional zips that can be flashed after it flashes the ROM itself.
Needless to say,it provides automatic checking of updates,which can be configured by time.

Two Thousand Techteen

2013 ended.So here's a quick recap!

Wearables:

2013 was dominated by wearable devices.We had Google Glass,Pebble Smartwatch,Oculus Rift,et al!

Starting off with Pebble Smartwatch,which was showcased in CES,right at the beginning of the year,it paved the way for Sony's smartwatch,Samsung's Galaxy Gear.But the problem with the latter ones were the bloatware that came along.

Pebble was neat,minimal and e-ink!

Then Google teased it's Glass,and well,I need not say anything.It's just one of those,"Shut up and take my money" moments.

While Glass was more like HUD,Oculus(yet another Kickstarter porject),was like a freaking display slashed onto your face!Oculus Rift displayed the most immersive experience that is to when it came to Virtual Reality.

With Valve in process of showcasing their own VR goggles,whatever the future holds,whenever wearables become commonplace,2013 will be marked as the year that wearables became mainstream.

Displays:

There was HD,then came 2K.What was to follow?
4K of course.

And this Ultra-HD wasn't just restricted to TVs.No sir,we had tablets offering 4K resolutions.

Just feels like yesterday when I was awestruck by a 720p resolution and here we were witnessing more than 4 times the pixel density!

Ultra-mega-humongous resolutions were the only highlights for displays.We finally witnessed what had been teased a lot 2012,flexible displays.Not only did we get prototypes,there were consumer products,with curved OLED displays on sale.
And as the year drew to an end,we got phones with curved displays from LG and Samung.

Gaming Consoles:

It was like 7 years since Sony had a major refresh for the PS,and almost same time since Microsoft updated their XBox.So,well,come 2013 and both Sony and Microsoft updated their consoles to PS4 and XBox One,respectively.

With on paper specs which made the previous versions look like handheld,8 bit consoles,both the consoles took things online and cloud storage.Both a pro and con.

There was also OUYA's,ultra cheap Android based gaming console,Razer's and NVIDIA's,hand held consoles,Razer's gaming laptops,Android updating its Play Games app,and what not!

All and all,a good year for gamers. :)

Mobile Phones:

Two major headlines of the year,RIM renaming itself to BlackBerry,and BlackBerry with its final ace in the pack,unveiling the BB10,and failing.

Other being Nokia's takeover by Microsoft.

Samsung unveiling tons of mobiles under the Galaxy series,Apple,for the first time unveiling more than one iPhone,LG releasing the next Nexus series.
Amongst these,my picks were Sony giving huge support to the development community with the release of source codes for their flagship devices,and,Motorola.Boy,did Moto make its presence felt in 2013!
Firstly the Moto X,and towards the end of the year,the mid range Moto G.Again,embracing Open Source with open arms,and updating their devices to the latest software on offering.If only Moto,you'd release your phones all over the world!

And just before the year ended,Oppo released the first phone,with out-of-the-box after market ROM,CyanogenMod.

Oh,the usual patent trolls continued through the year.

OSs:

All pc,mobile OS saw their yearly updates.

Biggest of them all,Canonical's preview of Ubuntu for phones.Ubuntu,by far cleanest Linux experience was finally a full fledged OS for the phone.Though just a preview,it got the ball rolling,with the OS ported to major Android devices.

Windows bumped both desktop and phones OS,with desktop version criticized for leaving out the iconic start button.The phone version getting incremental updates,to finally compete with Android and iOS.Also,helped with the merger of Nokia,Windows can finally develop the mobile OS,with control on both software and hardware.

BB moved to a touch-oriented OS with the BB10,betting all its fortune on this one piece of software.While BB10 did have it moments,it couldn't really connect as a whole OS,and failed to revive BB.

Android updated it self from 4.2 to 4.3 Jelly Bean and finally 4.4,Kit-Kat.With 4.4 came major Kit-Kat promotions and on the software front,Google's promise to optimize low end devices.To an extend,I did feel the 4.4 better than 4.3,on my i9000,and no,this isn't placebo!
With 4.4,Google also pushed it's new runtime environment,dubbed ART(Android Runtime).Set to optimize the startup time for applications,and amongst other things,its a step ahead from the Dalvik VM,but the downside being it's still in Beta phase and not many apps as of now.

And finally iOS completed its Android transformation with the release of iOS 7.Moving away from the black-white-grey colour scheme,iOS 7 was all about bold colours,for the software(and,it came with matching hardware).It included an improved notification center and a central command center.

Macs updated themselves to OS X Mavericks,shying away from the tradition of naming the OSes after cats,to places in California.That being the only major change,rest being the usual incremental updates on visual and functional line.

Miscellaneous:

- CyanogenMod went from being an Open Source ROM to a corporate company,Cyanogen Inc.,and finding itself an OEM partner in Oppo,to release the Oppo N1 with out-of-the-box CyanogenMod

- Ballmer stepped as CEO for Microsoft

- JBQ quit. :(
- Hugo Barra left Google to join Xiaomi

- Bitcoin became serious moolah!

- Nokia released its Windows based tablet
- Fingerprint scanner on phones

..And lots more that I missed!

S4

Hypes-anticipation-disappointment,this one had everything.The much awaited successor to the best Android series,the Samsung Galaxy S series,the S4 was finally launched.

Sure,the launch was pathetic :
a)Well,it was plain dumb(I mean c'mon,tap dancing,kittie parties?)
b)Leaks had already showcased everything(well,almost all the features)

But that doesn't make the S4 a dumb phone.In fact,S4 is quite a powerhouse,and a glimpse of future.

Starting off with the design,which many totally detest for the sheer amount of plastic(polycarbonate) on the phone,but,who cares as long as I am able to hold it,as I want it,without the need for bumper stickers.But,apparently,looks takes precedence over functionality.

The phones heart is an Octacore/Quadcore processor depending upon the regions.Yes we like to show-off power,be it cars,phones.But seriously,I don't see any point an Octacore processor.
There are only a handful of games/apps which demand real high performance,and frankly,these processors are overkill most of the times.

2 GB DDR3 RAM is spot on.
13 mp camera,meh.But some good software bundled in for various modes,and a first of its kind dual shot and sound in still photos is something worth checking out.
NFC.LTE,et al in place,in short,all the standard features expected from a flagship device.They also bundled in an IR blaster.

On the software front,its running 4.2 out-of-the-box.Bravo,Samsung,brownie points for you.While the rest of world is running 4.1,Samsung is already a step ahead of the competition.
Picking up from the Smart Stay they brought in with the S3,they took it a step up,with the ability to scroll a page,based on eye movements,and play/pause videos,in case of turning away head from the screen.
S Health

Sure,the S4 looks shit in front of its competition(Sony Xperia Z/HTC One),but apart from that,there isn't much to complain about.The hardware and a few software capabilities,are a glimpse of what lies in store.
Lets just hope Samsung doesn't screw up the Android community again,by locking up their sources!

Patent Wars Episode I : The Apple menace

A quick search on the word patent,on wikipedia reveals the following :

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention.

It also mentions the following,typically, however, a patent application must include one or more claims defining the invention which must meet the relevant patentability requirements such as novelty and non-obviousness.(keywords here being invention and non-obviousness)

Armed with a zillion "patents",right from pressing a button to start the phone,to making square icons,Apple quickly sued every freaking competitor in sight for billions of dollars.

Apple's claim being Samsung "copying their unique design".Well these "unique designs" were actually first visible on LG Prada phone and even Samsung's F700(both of which were released before iPhone).Only difference being,unlike Apple,neither LG nor Sammy claim sole rights on these design,because they weren't inventions,they were sort of industry standards.Neither were any of the previous bar/clamshell designs ever patented,because again,they were industry standards.
Oh and btw,this design was based on Sony's Shin-Nishibori's concept of a whole touch device,as Sony would conceive them to be.Nishibori was asked to share his thought's on a Sony phone,by Apple's design brainchild,Jony Ive.He then used Nishibori's renderings to design what we know the iPhone as.(In one of the early renderings,he even replaced Sony by Jony.Now thats innovation!)

Apple claimed Sammy even copied Apple's patented icon styling,a square with rounded edges.Seriously?Thats an invention? I can remember having icons on every electronic device ever made,since the start of GUI.

Anyhow,Apple claimed Samsung,HTC,Motorola,among others have violated their zillion "patents" in one way or other,like using square icons,sliding to unlock device,etc.At the same time,they shamelessly copied stuff like drop down notifications,or a camera shortcut,right on the homescreen !
Frankly,I detest the patent offices even more,for granting Apple these patents in the first place.

Henry Ford was the biggest loser in that case.He should've patented the use of wheels,steering wheel,engine,etc to make a car.Because thats an invention too,right? Then he would've sued the asses of Mercedes and Ferrari.The world be such a happier place!

What Apple has done by winning the patent wars,is actually gradually killed off competition,and to an extent the whole concept of innovation.Instead of wasting so much time,effort and money on these stupid patent wars,there is so much that can be done in terms of innovation,like using the energy generated while walking down the road to charge the ever discharging smartphones.That is something worth getting a patent for.

Think about it,at this rate,the day ain't far when someone is granted a patent for dialing digits and pressing a button to make call.

Monopolizing the market with these stupid patents,is plain dumb.The love and respect I once had for an Apple device is somehow lost now.

Fab-let !

Almost a year back when Sammy outed the Galaxy Note,it brought back the much doomed stylus(or S-Pen as they call it),which were somehow lost in the world of capacitive touchscreens.Interestingly though,the Note still had a capacitive screen.

Note was killer in terms of its specs,a dual-core processor,full HD video recording,a gig of RAM,blah,and lastly,a ginormous 5.3" display,with a measly 1280x800 resolution.
Now,large screen phones aren't a new thing in the Droid world,so Samsung had to get their act together with their ace in hole,the S-Pen.Though not as advanced,it provided the novelty factor of doodling around,creating notes,and a handy screenshot feature.Rightly dubbed the Phablet(a cross between,a phone and a tablet),the device crunched strong numbers for Samsung,globally.

Personally,it seemed too big a device for a phone and too small to be a tablet.But hey,numbers speak otherwise !The S-Pen was a killer feature,which differentiated the device from other phones available in the market,but a 5.3" screen seemed a little too small to completely utilize its true potential.

Cut,MWC 2012,Samsung showcased the Note 10.1.Finally,a full-fledged tablet with the S-Pen.
Okay,so a 10.1" screen was a start,but the hardware wasn't quite upto mark.(Considering it was just a preview device)
And so,after months and months of speculation,Samsung released a video,demonstrating the new Note 10.1.It seemed quite snappy than the preview device and boasted of new features.One which will be marketed by Samsung a lot will be the "Multiscreen" feature,wherein you can actually tile 2 windows and share things from one window to the other,via the S-Pen.Although,its restricted to 5-6 apps at the moment,it will be interesting to see where Samsung take this feature.The video made by Samsung looks really promising.Personally,I love the PS Touch app,coupled with the S-Pen.(Lets see what Apple comes up with this time around,to sue Sammy :P)

Specwise,Note 10.1 is right there at the top,with a quad core processor,2 gigs of RAM,the usual memory configurations,microSD,etc.Although an out of the box ICS seems a little outdated,in the JB world now.Lets hope Sammy fix that soon.

And with the Note 2(rumoured to be a 5.5" display and the best benchmarks scores as of now),already slated for release by the end of the month,it will be interesting to see how the two Note siblings hold up against each other.

Samsung's preview video for Note :

Thank you dev teams!

In this age of ever evolving technology,it makes absolutely no sense to buy a piece of defunct technology.Even the OEMs regard their latest one as obsolete within weeks of its launch and being work on the next one.Hell,the company manufacturers a new device/chip whilst you are buying the "latest" one.

And so,to a normal person,it makes you look like a fool when you tell them that you bought the 1st iteration of the series,when the world is expecting its 3rd.
But,little do people know about the Godly people know as 'Dev Teams',who pump new life into our so called "old" device.
While the world was on stock 2.3.4,I was running ROMs based of 2.3.7 for a couple of months.The difference was clearly visible,as without the bloatware,my device was much smoother than that of my friends,running the same hardware.

But the real deal was getting onto ICS,while the most of the world,with same hardware,was still running high and dry on GB ROMS,totally cut-off from support from OEMs.Heck,even most new released devices(read Xperia) were still running GB ROMs.
Although these ROMs are labelled as nightly builds,I can vouch for them being more stable and usable than most of the GB ROMs available out there(including the stock ones).And there is still a stable one in the pipeline.
Making a 2 year old hardware run the latest piece of software,is an achievement in itself,let alone making it more stable and usable than the stock softwares.And to my amazement,the battery life keeps on getting better!
And with their unrelenting support and love for the device,I'll be soon off to JB!

Thank you all the devs who make my "2 year old device" put the "latest devices" to shame.Keep up the good work.Oh yeah,and I love your work,and when we meet,I shall definitely buy you all beer :D

- Obsessive Compulsive Flasher(CM9 nightlies,almost every week .. CM10 in a couple of weeks)

7 reasons to buy Nexus 7

1. Its Android.And its running Jelly Bean,out of the box !

2. 12 core GPU,Quad core CPU.Combing that with Project Butter,and you have 16 cores of raw power on your device.

3. No 5/8 mp camera at the back.Thats a plus,because its a freaking tablet! Who clicks photos using that? At the same time,theres a 1.3 mp cam in the front for video calling.

4. Connectivity options : WiFi(802.11b/g/n),bluetooth.They have even put in NFC !

5. HD display,1280 x 800,16:9 aspect ratio.Perfect for watching movies,no black bars :D.
Also,its Gorilla Glass.

6. Form factor,7 inches.Perfect for people who desire for a entertainment device,without the hassles of a 10 inch screen,yet still,the same guts inside a smaller chassis.

7. The price,$199 for 8 GB model,$249 for 16 GB one.Only comparable device at that price range,Kindle Fire,and it surely beats that one,hands down,both in terms of hardware and software.

Spilling the beans !

Apple outed its next iteration.
Windows previewed Phone 8.
Now,it was Google's turn.

Recent leaks pointed towards Jelly Bean bearing a version 4.1. Disappointment to many,as it suggested a minor upgrade over ICS.But Google considered this as just a number.

Starting with Project Butter,Google's moniker for butter smooth UX.Parallel processing,VSync enabling the multi-core processors to utilize every iota of raw power.A better touchscreen experience as well,using an algorithm to predict the next touch on the screen.Lag,the most dreaded enemy of any device,was nowhere to be seen in the preview !

The algorithms were extended to the keyboard as well,smartly predicting the words,depending upon the current word.Basically,Swift Key is now inbuilt(yaay!).
Bored to type? How about voice typing.This best thing,its freaking offline(yaay!).
Voice was extended in Google Search,with playback for search results,and not just displaying the results.
And more languages to be supported !

Another major upgrade was on the notifications front.Smarter notification,wherein a missed call notification will have a callback button,or a new photo having a comment button,right there in the notification itself.Brilliant!
Also,a 2 finger swipe,to enlarge a particular notification.
And swipe to delete notifications,beautiful and useful.

Camera app was revamped as well.With ICS,they reduced shutter lag.Now they brought in quick preview,swipe left-right for quick previews,and again the swipe up,to delete.And,an undo feature to recover the photos deleted by accident !

Another great feature,was smart updates of apps.App updates,will now update only the changes and not the whole app,with the end-user not knowing the difference,except for faster download of updates !
A newer Google Maps,with features such a 360 degree,first person view of a restaurant.

But,the BEST feature,Google Now.The personal assistant,learning itself,as you use it.Automatically updating itself,with time,location and activities,this looks like the perfect virtual assistant.And since this is Google,it already knows what you like and what you don't courtesy your Google searches.

With Android's openness,and Google's support for developers through newer programs like PDK,Google have yet again displayed their brilliance with Jelly Bean.

I am sorry I ever doubted your capabilities Android.I shall,and will be an Droid-ian.
Google,I am sold !

Apples,berries,mangoes and desserts

No,I am not talking about food,albeit,this is what every geek thrives on.

The 4 main categories of the smartphone eco-system : Apple,BlackBerry,Windows and Android.

Smartphone market,at one time,dominated by BlackBerry, were soon replaced by Apple and Android,with Windows Phone hot on their trail.The main reason being the change in the user base of the smartphone market.

Smartphones were earlier used by people who needed access to their mails/internet on the go.But now,every tom-dick and harry owns one.The basic purpose of the smartphone was soon killed and looks/form-factor/camera,et al have now become the criteria for smartphones.Checking in to places,tweeting about the traffic/movie is why you need internet on your devices,these days.

Apple(iOS) :
The most beautiful hardware,atop one of the slickest mobile OS.Navigating through it is a breeze.Responsiveness of the touch is next to none.And Apple only creates one version of each of its device in each iteration,maintaining its vital stats.
Screen with sharpness and pixel densities,that can easily put high-end screens to shame,and still,battery life is one of the best in the competition,brilliant.And an ever flooded App Market.
Probably what Apple manages to pull off the best,is their software and hardware integration.

But,the OS built on a UNIX core,lacks of the key features of its parent,openness.
For a normal,it might not seem much of a problem,but for a power user,it sometimes pisses off,the fact that there are so many things which they do not have control upon,because Apple Inc has decided that you shouldn't.
Also,a tablet with a 9.7" screen has so much to offer.Don't use the inflated version off the 3.5" screen.Please !

But,one the most douchiest things they do is patent wars.Seriously,just get over with it.Just because a rectangular phone has a full touch screen and one button,doesn't mean they copied it from you.And the last time I checked,the LG Prada had adopted that design before you.
Also,the pull down notification was a direct rip-off.But you didn't see infringements being filed.
Let your devices proves their worthiness,themselves.

Android :
The most open and free OS available in the market.Hence,the abundance of devices.Android doesn't discriminate,be it the chip architecture or OEMs,you'll find Droids everywhere!
The openness is what drives everyone towards the Android eco-system.The degree of customization is unparallel,be it the software or the hardware.

But this very fact,is one of the biggest drawbacks of all Androids.Android just has control over the software.OEMs are responsible for integrating them into their devices.This creates a considerable delay in the updates.Also,most older devices are not given support to by the manufacturers,even though they are more than capable of running the latest version.
Hopefully,this thing gets resolved,post Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

Its support for multi-core processor has made it possible for devices to have configurations,that could put full-fledged desktops to shame.Support for 1080p content,high screen resolutions,the works !
Also,a separate OS iteration for the tablets,makes it all the more possible to utilize the device's true capabilities(in terms of UI & UX).
The app market over here is also flooded,though still not as much as that of Apple.

And their alphabetical naming convention is another thing to look out for. :)

BlackBerry :
They were built for a purpose,and they served it.
BBs always held a special place for business people,who wanted mails on the go.Dedicated servers,provided both secure and efficient means of mailing.Till date,there is nothing that can be compared to a BB keypad,and that trackball,bliss.

But,with changing times,BB decided to drop its trademark qwerty to adopt the touchscreen,and it was a disaster.So was their decision to enter into the tablet world with the Playbook,with loses that couldn't even be looked at.Whats the point of having a tablet,if you just HAD to pair it with your phone,everytime ?
They did manage to improve the half-baked OS with v2.0 and BB 10 looks extremely promising.Hopefully,it will set RIM,in motion,again !

And please,don't ever drop your qwerty,for full touch devices.Its what defies you from the others.

Windows Phone :
From a replica of a desktop in the palm of your hand to a tile display,the Windows Phone has come a long way,since the dawn of WP7.Still in its nascent stage,but still can be described as the most beautiful UI.The tile layout,is probably the best UX on a touch-screen,which is further accentuated on a tablet display.
Learning quickly from its flaws and backed by hardware giants of yesteryear's,WP is catching up real quickly.
Like the OS,the app market is still in its nascent phase as well,something which needs to be looked upon.

No support on multi-core processors/support for expandable memory or more importantly,bluetooth file transfers,still remains one of its fallouts.

With a slew of tablets in pipeline,Windows 8 platform surely looks promising.


Already spoilt for choices,and likes of Mozilla jumping in with their own Boot2Gecko,Tizen being developed in collaboration,the future for Mobile OS looks all but promising.
The more,the merrier !

Root,bloody root !

And so,you bought a smartphone/tablet.Aata kay ?
Play Store/App Store : Angry Birds/Fruit Ninja ?

NAH !
Its time to get rooting !
Why ?

Because its my device.I don't want my 1GHz proc to be underclocked to 800 Mhz,to "save battery".Hell,I can close down the weather widget,that'll give me enough juice.Neither do I want my carrier to monitor my locations/calls/messages.Well,but you can't do either,because you are NOT the admin of the phone.You are just a guest user.

So,basically,in order to get admin privileges or in other words,to gain "root-access",you'll need to root your phone.But it comes at a cost,your device's warranty becomes void.
(CAUTION : You may end up bricking up your phone if process is not followed properly,or well,if just not your day !)

Well if you've rooted your phone,you are opened to a whole new world of possibilities,like custom ROMs(oh yeah),3rd party apps which never made it to the store,or awesome stuff apps,for which which otherwise were paid,or those manufacturer/carrier apps which just sat there,consuming your ever precious battery,can finally be turned off !
And this ain't limited to just your software,no sir !There are few hardware tweaks as well,like controlling the processor clock speed,or setting the voltages,which again if not done properly might burn your device.)

But the most brilliant thing about rooting your device is the very fundamental of open-source technology,cross-platform.Touchpad,probably the most awesome tablet,both in terms of hardware as well as software.But probably HP didn't realise the device's potential and killed off the WebOS,another brilliant open-source technology.A tragedy indeed.
This led to a fire-sale,and the tablets were sold off within minutes at a $99 rate.Well it might seem stupid to spend money on a product,which even its manufacturer disowned.But all the smart-asses who did buy the devices were blessed with Android goodness,courtesy CM team.Still in its alpha stage,it looks very promising indeed.

P.S. + Disclaimer :
Rooting MAY BRICK your device,rendering it useless forever.Do it at your own risk !

Rooting your device will void your device's warranty.

Also,if you wish to root your device,please go through the instructions provided,carefully.Missing even 1 word from it might put your device into boot-loop or other error messages,or worse,brick your phone altogether,and you'll be rendered speechless for atleast 5-6 hours,cursing yourself for even having a thought about rooting your device.

Oh and yeah,if you root you device,this is what you'll be using,while running a gingerbread ROM !