Gadget roundup
As you read this Apple will be presenting a keynote highlighting upcoming developments. One could be about the iOS 11 which might offer a battery saving mode where most pixels would be turned off to preserve even more energy. This would be similar to the Apple Watch. That seems to be the right way to go especially if they go through with their OLED iPhone as rumoured.
Snapchat versus Instagram
Snapchat hasn't really kicked off in Bangladesh except among the 18-24 crowd. Even then it remains mostly unexplored. Now that Instagram has introduced the stories feature, it seems even less likely to pick up. Up to 2016, Snapchat had around 158 million daily active users worldwide. Instagram Stories that basically is a cloned feature from Snapchat, now has more than 200 million users per day. Although if you look at it, it's mostly personal stories on Snapchat and celebrity/product stories on Instagram. Which means a huge portion of the 600 million user base is checking out or uploading on Instagram Stories. This hardly affects anything in Bangladesh as we often catch up two years later. But the rest of the world thrives on visual stories.
What is Snapchat's response? They are hoping to capture a part of the lost market with the aptly named Spectacles. It debuted in USA last year and hitting Europe just now. Spectacles is a camera-equipped sunglasses £129.99 / €149.99. Apparently, more than 55 million people use Snapchat daily in Europe for at least 30 minutes a day. Question remains: do we need another camera when there's a good one on the phone? And how comfortable will you feel talking to someone wearing them?
Wacom pens for different platforms
Enough of phones. I'm a big fan of Wacom. They make the best digital drawing devices on this side of a pen. Wacom recently introduced two new styluses for their entry level Bamboo series. Bamboo Ink designed for Windows is mostly for writing and is equipped with three different hardness of nibs for well, three different tactile experiences: soft, medium and hard.
The more anticipated one is the Bamboo Sketch. This pressure sensitive stylus has a tip that can be changed for different types and is excellent for quick sketches. It's great for the long drawn out drawings too with a 15 hour charge capacity. Although most apps don't really provide support for the pressure sensitivity. When choosing apps you need to check on that otherwise it's just a normal input device. Both cost about $80 online.
Chinese warriors: ZTE & Oppo
ZTE and Oppo both are massive in China and do relatively well in Bangladesh in the low to mid-range devices. Yet, both have superb flagships. ZTE Nubia Z17 has to be the most powerful device to come from China. A range topping Snapdragon 835 processor (also used by Xiaomi Mi6) is supported by a crazy 8GB of RAM. Dual cameras are now the norm but the battle is on pixel count once again. Rear cameras are 23MP and 12MP supported by a 16MP front camera. It is also the first device to support Qualcomm's Quick Charge 4+ allowing a phone to reach 50 percent juice in under 25 minutes. Available only in China it tops out at about $583 for the maxed out version.
Oppo isn't far behind as their next R11 leaks are flooding the internet. A Snapdragon 660 processor is supported by a 4GB RAM and the required 20MP dual camera setup. If that's not enough, it'll be followed by a bigger R11 Plus.
Pirates of Samsung
Merchandising is the big money maker for marketers. But sometimes they are pointless. Case in point, which is literally a fancy case wrapped around a new Samsung S8 with Pirates of The Caribbean theme. Same phone albeit in a treasure chest and a fancy wallpaper package so that Disney can cash in on Johnny Depp's appeal. It's the 4GB of RAM with 64GB storage option going for $880. Or you could get the regular under $750 unlocked online. Just add your wallpapers. A more interesting update is the new Note8. It will come with a 6.3-inch display and an Exynos 8895 chipset possibly for our region. It is to have a dual camera setup with dual OIS and 3X optical zoom.