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10-WAYS you can look after your Smartphone

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Your Smartphone is valuable… but are you doing anything to make sure you are protecting it as much as possible?

We have become a smartphone society. In both the UK and the US, around two-thirds of people own smartphones, and many of those people consider their phones an essential device for getting online.

Smartphones aren’t cheap, either. While the average price of an Android phone is around £200, the average price of an iPhone is around £570 and there are many phones that cost even more. Believe it or not, if you have the funds, you can pay thousands or even millions of pounds for a smartphone.

Most people take a deep breath when it’s time to replace their phone, because they know it’s going to hurt their wallet. But you can put off that painful experience by keeping your phone in good health. Here’s a checklist of ways to protect your smartphone. Let’s start with external threats.

 

1. Get a Case

There’s nothing worse than dropping your phone and shattering the screen. It happens a lot, and there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to get it fixed. The answer is to protect your phone with a case.

There are dozens to choose from for every model. If you know you often drop your phone, get a case that will protect your phone against anything (even driving a car over it!). It will make it heavier, but it’s worth it. Otherwise, a slimmer case or simple sleeve will do.

One tip: if you’re using a clip on case, make sure it’s got a decent-sized lip all around so if the phone does drop, it doesn’t land directly on the screen.

 

2. Protect Your Screen

Speaking of screens, consider a screen protector. Some screens are made of a tough material and may not need them. However, a protector may keep your screen together if you drop the phone. It also means it’s harder to scratch your screen, which can affect its responsiveness. Get a protector that’s easy to apply and is right for your phone.

 

3. Be Careful How You Put It Away

Unless you’re using a super-effective case or screen protector, ladies, avoid putting keys in the same section of your handbag as your phone. Gents – keys and phones don’t belong in the same pocket.

If you’ve ever had a scratch that is right in the middle of the area you need to swipe, you’ll know that key scratches (and other scratches) can seriously ruin the touchscreen experience.

While you’re at it, don’t put the phone in dangerous places, like on a balcony railing, for example. That’s just asking for the phone to fall and get smashed to pieces. When you put your phone down, keep it away from hazards so it will survive till you’re ready to upgrade.

 

4. Avoid Water and Extreme Temperatures

Most people don’t put their phones in water deliberately, but lots of people forget they have a phone in their pocket when heading to the beach or pool. One dip later, and the phone is toast (unless you manage to dry it out with rice).

 

5. Keep it Clean

You might not be able to see dust particles, but they get into your smartphone, even if you’re using a case or screen protector. Too much dust will result in your phone’s performance taking a hit. Use a soft screen-cleaning cloth with an appropriate screen cleaner to wipe your screen gently. Open the case every now and then to give the phone a wipe and get rid of the dust.

The five tips above help you provide external smartphone maintenance and protection, but safeguarding your phone is also about keeping it running smoothly. Here are some tips for doing that.

 

6. Streamline and Update Your Apps

Most smartphones include a bunch of apps that the manufacturer has installed. Chances are, you don’t need all of them. Since the more apps you run, the shorter your battery life, disable or uninstall any apps you don’t need.

For the apps you DO use, make sure you’re always running the latest version. App developers update apps regularly, to add new functionality, cut down on resource usage and guard against malware and security threats.

Tip: Either set your apps to update automatically, or update them manually at least once a week.

 

7. Clear the Cache

When you install apps or when they run, they may leave junk files behind in the cache. Those take up valuable memory which could be put to better uses. Clear these files out from time to time. Both Android and iOS allow you to do this.

 

8. Use Trusted Sources

Sometimes you want to download and install a new app, but where should you get it from? With the rise of malware on phones, the best advice is to use the app store for your device or another trusted app store, such as Amazon’s.

 

9. Expand Your Storage

If your phone allows it, install an external SD card to increase the available storage, then run any apps you can from this storage. You can also use it to store media files. This frees up the phone’s internal memory, resulting in better performance.

 

10. Look after the Battery

Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for looking after your battery. Depending on the age of your phone and the battery it’s using, this might include:

  • charging your phone before it runs down completely
  • letting it run down fully once in awhile
  • restarting your phone from time to time
  • turning off services you don’t need (like mobile data when you can use Wi-Fi and live wallpaper)
  • keeping the battery cool (and turning off the phone to let it cool down if it overheats)

There’s plenty of advice online about the best practices for your particular smartphone model. Finally, you also need to ensure you can find your phone if someone steals it. Use the security features built into your device to help with this:

  • Lock your phone with a pin, password or pattern.
  • Don’t share your password.
  • Install a security app to help you track your phone if it gets into the wrong hands.

 

Even if you do apply all of these factors to taking care of your smartphone, things may still go wrong on them from time to time. If you are interested in Mobile Phone Repairs and Maintenance, check out our latest job vacancy by following this link!

– Sharon Hurley Hall

Bad Time for Samsung following Galaxy Note 7 Issues

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Things are not looking good for Samsung following Galaxy Note smoke & fire Issues

Share prices have fallen and mobile carriers in the US and Australia are suspending sales of the phone after reports of replacement phones catching fire

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 crisis is only getting worse, after more reports emerge of the South Korean company’s smartphone catching fire. Production of the device has apparently been temporarily halted.

In September, Samsung was forced to suspend sales of the new phablet after reports that batteries were “exploding” and catching fire while in the hands of users, just days before the phone’s UK release. At the time, Samsung said the devices were burning up due to an “isolated battery cell issue”.

The tech giant ordered a global recall of at least 2.5 million devices, with hopes that this would be the end of the crisis. It assured customers that the fixed devices were safe.

However, last week a replacement Note 7 began emitting smoke on a US plane. A Southwest Airlines Co flight to Baltimore was evacuated on Wednesday after the phone started emitting smoke while the plane was at the boarding gate. The plane was evacuated and no injuries were reported.

The wife of the owner of the phone, Sarah Green, told Reuters that her husband had replaced the device a few weeks before, after getting a text message from Samsung.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the company has decided to temporarily halt production of the smartphone after talks with safety regulators as the replacement handsets also pose a significant fire risk and health and safety issue.

However, in a statement released by the company today it simply said it will move quickly to investigate the reported case and work with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

“We remain in close contact with the CPSC throughout this process. If we conclude a safety issue exists, we will work with the CPSC to take immediate steps to address the situation,” said Samsung.

Samsung’s reputation as an innovative tech company has suffered since the first announcements of the faulty batteries. This comes at a particularly crucial time in the smartphone market as Apple recently announced its new iPhone 7 range and Google has revealed it is making its own smartphones, the Google Pixel, in-house for the first time. Samsung’s credibility as a smartphone pioneer will be adversely affected in this increasingly competitive market.

It’s not only reputations that have been affected at Samsung. Analysts have estimated that the first recall will have cost the company between $1 billion (£805 million) and $2bn (£1.61bn), due to the cost of replacing the phones and falls in the South Korean company’s share price. After the initial reports of exploding phones in September, the Wall Street Journal reported that investors wiped more than $10bn (£8.05bn) off the Samsung Electronics Co. share price.

Shares in Samsung closed down 1.5 per cent in Seoul recently in reaction to the on-going saga.

This is only set to continue as Australian and US mobile carriers have also suspended sales of the device. A spokesperson for AT&T stated: “Based on recent reports, we’re no longer exchanging new Note 7s at this time, pending further investigation of these reported incidents. We still encourage customers with a recalled Note 7 to visit an AT&T location to exchange that device for another Samsung smartphone or other smartphone of their choice.”

 

We hope you found this article interesting. If you have an extended interest in mobile phone maintenance, problem diagnostics and repairs, check out our IT Repair Technician role by clicking this link! It might be just right for you!

– Amelia Heathman

Can Google’s new Video Chat App compete with the Giants?

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Google has launched its video chatting app, called Duo.

It represents Google’s response to other popular video calling options, including Apple’s FaceTime, Microsoft’s Skype and Facebook’s Messenger.

It’s not that different from the other video chatting services, except that it gives users a glimpse at who’s making the call, helping people decide whether to answer or not.

The company says it’s calling the feature, “knock, knock”.

The new app, originally announced in May, is being released as a free service for phones running on Google’s Android operating system as well as Apple’s iPhones.

Calls are encrypted and the video resolution changes depending on the speed of your connection.

Like FaceTime on iOS, Duo only requires a person’s phone number to connect.

Many other services require both people to have account logins to use the video calling options.

Google’s been offering video calling through Hangouts since 2013, but the company’s now tailoring that service for business meetings and it won’t plug into the new video chat service.

Duo is being billed as a simpler, more reliable way to see friends and family as you talk to them.

The app is rolling out around the world over the next few days.

It’s the first of two new mobile apps that Google has planned for the next few months.

The US Company is also preparing to unveil a new messaging app called Allo featuring a robotic assistant that will suggest automated responses to texts.

That includes commenting on pictures sent by friends, thanks to its use of image recognition algorithms.

Google announced a conversation-based tool – Google Assistant – to control smartphones, smartwatches and other devices earlier this year.

It can be used to find information, play media and carry out tasks via a chat between the user and the software.

The firm also announced a voice-activated device with a built-in speaker called Google Home to deliver the tech to living rooms.

– BBC News

Mobile Payment Applications: An effective Marketing Strategy?

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Mobile payments are exploding. With the number of users forecast to grow by 62% to almost a fifth of smartphone users in the US this year, according to eMarketer, the value of proximity mobile transactions is expected to surge in 2016.

The mobile payment boom has been a long time coming. But now vendors are finally overcoming the technology hurdles to in-store deployment.

But the greatest potential of mobile payment will not be in, well, payment. There is little that is transformative about simply replicating a payment card in a smartphone app.

Whilst the bank and tech sectors have focused simply on launching transaction technologies, what retailers and brands are still waiting for is a mobile payment experience that provides solutions that address their concerns.

For many, that means marketing and its propensity for ‘spray and pray’. Fortunately, there is enough potential in mobile payment technology to enable consumer outreach that is more powerful than targeted ads through Google and Facebook, for example.

Think for a moment about the kinds of data collected at the moment of transaction. When you checkout using your smartphone, your mobile wallet benefits from intimacy with the vendor; it knows and collects detailed stock keeping unit (SKU) codes of the individual products you buy.

Whilst your bank may only know you spent £13.49 at your favourite cafe today, a retailer-connected payment app knows you bought one Coke, two espressos, one chicken sandwich and a Mars bar.

 

How do payment apps beat ad platforms?

This doesn’t just beat the banks – it also bests the ad platforms.

This general search intent has no real sight of eventual purchase and is not granular enough to glean product-level insights that could inform really powerful campaign messaging.

That is why marketing, traditionally thought of as the means with which to drive an end goal of product sales, is now becoming one of the key outputs of the sale itself.

The kinds of marketing powered by mobile transactions goes beyond the benefits bestowed by advertising on many counts:

Campaign insight: When you know the specific products consumer’s purchase, you effectively learn their pattern of consumption. This gives a window into the effectiveness of an ad campaign, in whatever medium. Did your ad buy move the needle for product X with consumer Y? If so, respond with additional messaging next up

Loyalty points: Although adoption of in-store mobile payments by consumers has been somewhat lagging, research by Opinion Matters for Kalixa showed consumers would make more payments if offered loyalty features or incentives on top. Integrating loyalty and rewards to a mobile wallet, for example, will drive wallet adoption, thereby producing the two wins of additional sales and new customer data for brands and retailers

Pre-buying products: Incentives come in many forms. Discounts offered for repeat purchases can be put to great effect, whilst beating the queues at high-traffic stores is another way to help consumers. The ability to reserve products in a mobile wallet is, therefore, something we are likely to see much more of

Mobile first interactions: Mobile payment takes the purchasing insights on consumers and through push notifications, in-app messages and emails, turns them into highly effective marketing drivers. It’s why push notifications are the most effective marketing channel on the market currently, and why, according to Urban Airship, targeted push notifications are three times more effective than the non-targeted.

The problem with mobile payments today is that there has been insufficient incentive driving repeat usage.

Using Apple Pay may seem like a novelty the first few times – but there is little benefit over using a contactless card, which is perhaps even more straightforward.

But, when mobile payment is thought of as the glue binding together customer marketing data, a retailer can go from the dark ages of knowing little about customers to making targeted offers based on a detailed and growing consumer profile that is based on actual purchase behavior, not just vague expressed intent.

 

– Alain Falys

If you found this interesting, make sure you check out our latest Marketing Executive role by clicking here!

‘Pokemon Go’ Outbreak in the UK

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Pokemon Go, a mobile game that has become a global phenomenon, has been released in the UK.

It was already available in the US, Australia and Germany but some UK gamers found ways around the country restriction to get early access.

The app lets players roam a map using their phone’s GPS location data and catch Pokemon to train and battle.

The game has added millions to the value of Nintendo, which part-owns the franchise.

However, some people have raised concerns about the app’s safety. The chief executive of children’s charity NSPCC urged the app’s makers to adapt the game before its UK release, warning that adults could use it to prey on children.

An NSPCC spokesman said: “It’s deeply troubling that the app’s owners have ignored many warning signals and well documented child safety concerns. It would have been better if they had taken time to reflect on these and put their young users first.”

The game uses a smartphone’s GPS location and real-world maps to track players as they move around. Players can visit Pokestops – typically landmarks or buildings – and collect free items in the game.

The main aim is to catch Pokemon, which pop up along the way. The game provides an augmented reality experience, using the smartphone’s camera to provide a live view of the world, with Pokemon superimposed.

Any creatures caught can be used in battle against other players at Pokemon gyms – also real-world landmarks.

Top tips for new Pokemon Trainers

Choose your starter wisely

At the beginning of the game, you’ll be offered a choice of Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle – the three starter Pokemon offered in the first Pokemon games. However, if you ignore the choice and walk away from the Pokemon, you’ll get the chance to catch Pikachu instead.

Keep on catching

You’ll find the same Pokemon pop up time and time again, especially common creatures such as Pidgey and Rattata. Although you may be determined to “catch ’em all”, catching every Pokemon you encounter is a quick way to earn experience and level up, which will give you access to more features in the game. Plus catch enough Pidgey and you’ll earn a birdkeeper medal!

Follow the tracks

A Pokemon tracker is available at the bottom right hand side of the screen. Tap it to bring up a list of nearby Pokemon. A greater number of footprints indicates that a Pokemon is further away. Keep the tracker open as you walk around to see the Pokemon change order, with the closest creatures at the top of the list. This should help you find the ones you want.

Minimize Waste

If you throw a Pokeball and miss, tap it before it disappears to pick it up again.

– BBC News

Xiaomi buys Microsoft Smartphone Patents

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Smartphone maker Xiaomi has bought the rights to hundreds of Microsoft’s smartphone inventions.

Experts say the patent deal paves the way for the Chinese firm to sell its handsets in Western markets.

Microsoft will benefit from the fact that some of its Android apps – including Office and Skype – will now be pre-installed on Xiaomi devices.

The announcement comes at a time when Xiaomi has been struggling to meet sales targets.

The Beijing-based company originally set itself a target of selling 100 million smartphones in 2015.

But it managed to sell only 71 million, partly because of increased competition from domestic rivals.

Oppo and Vivo overtook Xiaomi in phone shipments in the first three months of 2016, while Huawei extended its lead, according to research firm IDC.

That pushed Xiaomi down to seventh place in global market share. It had been ranked third in 2014.

Biggest challenge

“The patent deal comes at a pretty important time for Xiaomi, which has topped out in the Chinese market,” said Ben Wood from consultancy CCS Insight.

“Intellectual property had been the biggest challenge it faced in breaking out of its active markets in Asia and Brazil. Having a patent portfolio lets it defend itself against rivals who would otherwise have sued.”

Xiaomi gains nearly 1,500 patents as part of the deal, including rights to communications, video and cloud technologies.

The company has previously faced accusations of patent infringement from Blue Spike, a US-based rightsholder and Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson.

Microsoft has recently made moves to scale back its handset operations, cutting jobs in its smartphone division and selling its Nokia-branded feature phone business.

However, under chief executive Satya Nadella’s leadership it has tried to encourage use of its products on non-Windows handsets.

Xiaomi already used Microsoft’s Azure platform to power its MiCloud service.

From September, it will also pre-load Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Skype onto several of its devices including the Mi 5 and Redmi Note 3.

“Microsoft doesn’t have much interest in being a mass market smartphone manufacturer,” said Mr Wood.

“In doing the patent deal with Xiaomi, it gets an opportunity to get more users engaged with its apps, and can attempt to turn them into an ongoing revenue stream via subscriptions and other fees.

“There are an awful lot of people using Microsoft products in China already, but typically the software is pirated and has made the firm no money.”

  • BBC News

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