All you need to know about Microsoft's recently announced Windows 10 Creator's update

Microsoft announced the follow-up to the Windows 10 Anniversary Update at its Surface event, called the Window 10 Creators Update and just like the Anniversary Update that preceded it, it'll be available as a free download this spring. The focus for this update is catering to the creation and consumption of multimedia, but brings improvements to experiences in gaming & social too.

1. 3D integration throughout Windows & other Microsoft services

Microsoft is aiming Windows 10 to natively support virtual reality, augmented reality and holographic computing using their HoloLens. They've introduced a brand new range of new tools for 3D content consumption & creation.

They demoed user take a 3D scan of a sand castle using their phone, manipulate and edit it on the newly announced Paint3D (more on that later), and also do so in augmented reality using HoloLens. They can also share it to a friend too!. "We want you to move around a 3D world as naturally as you scroll through a document," said Microsoft. They will deliver on this promise with their hardware partners (read on to learn more)

2. VR headsets that are affordable (starting at $299)

Microsoft wants is to make VR as accessible & affordable as possible, because it is pointless to support 3D content when users can't enjoy it in virtual reality.
As mentioned above, Microsoft partnering with HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer to create new headsets with built-in six-degree-of-freedom head tracking, starting at just $299. Microsoft hasn't released any details about these headsets yet, except for that they're standalone devices. Expect the quality to be somewhere between what we get from Samsung's Gear VR and high-end headsets like the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.

3. Paint and PowerPoint in the third dimension

Microsoft is creating this easy 3D experience by updating their existing apps and services to support 3D. On stage, Microsoft demoed three examples — Paint, PowerPoint & Edge — showing how both now come with 3D-object creation, editing and viewing.

Paint 3D can create basic 3D shapes, which will be sharable via SketchUp or social networks. 3D objects you created in Minecraft can also be edited here and then be sent to a 3D printer. PowerPoint can integrate 3D objects from a 3D clipart library and then layer in movements (like spinning round a 3D ball). What's important here is that this is only the start. Microsoft is promising that 3D will be implemented across its most popular applications in the coming year.

4. Improvements in online game streaming/broadcasting & tournaments

“Windows 10 Creator's Update is designed for e-sports & game broadcasting" are Microsoft's own words. Xbox's streaming service is now baked into Windows 10, which means you don't need OBS, Twitch or Xsplit. All you need to do is hold down the Windows key and G to start a stream. They're also making Cross-Play and their upcoming tournament support system available, right now mainly for e-sports titles. Expect to see major improvements in subsequent updates.

For more private gaming sessions, the company also announced a new service for creating private tournaments with friends. Arena on Xbox Live software will handle all the administrative tasks like score tracking and leave users free to play.

5. Easy social sharing & communication

Windows 10 Creators Update will allow pinning icons for a select number of contacts right to the task bar. You can then drag and drop files to these icons to share them as quickly as possible, and this space will also act as a hub for messaging apps, aggregating communications from programs like Skype and email to make it accessible all in one place. You can even send an emoji nudge, it'll appear right on that person's desktop.

6. Availability

Microsoft just said it'll be launching this spring but didint give any specific date. Users enrolled in the Windows Insiders beta program will be able to download an early build this week.

Should you get an iPhone 7 or Watch series 2?

So Apple pulled off another amazing event, which I have covered here. As for my thoughts on them, you'll find them down below.

Lets kick things off with the Apple Watch(es).

The Apple Watch series 2 is an basically the first gen Watch updated with waterproofing which is nice for the people who wanted their first gen Watch to be more than just splashproof. The built-in GPS allows you to keep the phone at home while going for a run. But perhaps the best feature of the Watch series 2 is the new dual core Apple S2 which is a much needed update from the slow Apple S1 found in the original Apple Watch. Even though I'm not dropping $370 on what's basically an accessory for an iPhone, the new features make it better for fitness enthusiasts & is a cool upgrade if you like your Apple Watch but hate its speed. But if you're not much of a fitness junkie or you're okay with the splashproof first gen Watch minus its slow Apple S1 (everyone hates is), Apple has added the new Apple S2 from the series 2 watch into the original Apple Watch and they're calling it the Apple Watch series 1 for $269.


If you're owning an iPhone 6 or below, you're mostly going to upgrade to the new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus regardless of what anyone says. But if you're on the line, wondering if you should upgrade to the iPhone 7 or change to Android, keep reading. The iPhone 7 is aesthetically almost identical to the iPhone 6/6s, but the ugly antenna lines have been redesigned to be less intrusive. As usual you get the camera & performance upgrades, so in short, it's faster, clicks better pictures & records better videos than its predecessors. The 7 Plus does have a secondary telephoto camera, so if you're a lot into smartphone photography you might want to check it out. If you have an iPhone 6s / 6s Plus, you've already got a really good camera, 3D Touch & an extremely fast processor.... so you're not missing much. 
The hideous antenna lines can be hidden by a case, which you are most likely going to put on your iPhone 6s or 7. But there's one feature which doesn't need a case anymore on the iPhone 7 & that is waterproofing, a feature unofficially there on the 6s & 6s Plus with cases but officially present on the iPhone 7 & 7 Plus (they're IP67 certified: Totally protected against dust & protected against the effect of immersion between 15cm and 1m).

And lastly, the AirPods......... I'm going to be totally honest here. They're completely wireless which means you're gonna misplace frequently. Also the 5 hour battery life is impressive but other bluetooth earphones/headphones give you better battery life and won't get misplaced easily. Therefore I feel you can use that $159 to buy a better wireless headphone or earphones like the Jaybird x2 or a Lightning powered earphone.

Recap of Apple's iPhone 7 event (07/08)

I watched the live stream of Apple's September 7 event & as usual, I was impressed by their presentation. 

Again, nothing new here, they started it with updates and here's the important ones:

1. Apple Music now has 17 million subscribers.
2. 5,00,000 games in the iOS App Store.
3. Mario is coming (officially) to iOS! It is an endless runner game (like Temple Run & Subway Surfers). It will come later this year.

And now on to the much anticipated product announcements:

1. Apple Watch series 2

The Watch series 2 is (according to Apple) completely re-engineered allowing it to be waterproof (upto 50 meters), unlike the last one which was only splashproof. The most significant upgrades are the newly designed speaker which has been resigned to allow for the aforementioned waterproofing, a brand new processor and graphics (called the Apple S2) featuring a dual core processor which is 50% faster and a new GPU which is 100% faster than the first generation Watch. The display is now 2x brighter (1000nits to be precise), it has built-in GPS for tracking your runs without needing to have your iPhone in your pockets & the gold edtion has been replaced with a glossy ceramic version. The Apple Watch series 2 will start at $369.

2. Apple Watch series 1

If you think $369 is too much to shell out on an accessory for an iPhone, you're not alone. Apple knows about it, I guess, because they've updated the painfully slow first generation Apple Watch with the new dual core processor found on series 2. The updated first gen Apple watch will be called series 1 to differentiate it from the original one and will cost you $269.

3. Apple iPhone 7 & 7 Plus

It's 2016, an even numbered year, which means we should be getting a redesigned iPhone, right? Technically speaking, it is redesigned..... but it is in many ways an iterative update to what was already a great phone. The iPhone 7 also plays catch-up with its Android competitors by including a quad-core processor (2 performance cores & 2 power saving cores) like the Snapdragon 820, waterproofing & dual stereo speakers. Apple to remove 2 iPhone standard designs which have existed ever since the first iPhone back in 2007: the 3.5mm headphone jack (which Apple popularized with the iPhone) and the single Home button thats been there on every iPhone ever. Don't worry, on first sight you might not think that the home button is missing because the Touch ID fingerprint sensor is still there in that very location. Unlike previous iPhones, this one is pressure sensitive like the displays of newer iPhones, Apple Watches and the touchpad of newer Macbooks. The lightning port serves as the new digital headphone port & Apple is kind enough to bundle new Lightning EarPods and also a Lightning to 3.5mm jack adapter in the box of every 7 & 7 Plus.

Apple also upgraded the cameras. The iPhone 7 features a 12MP camera with optical stabilization, a f/1.8 aperture, 6 element lens, 4 LED flash, a new ISP and a wide colour gamut like the displays, which aside from the colour gamut and max brightness are untouched from the previous phones. The 7 Plus rocks the same camera on the back with a second 12MP telephoto camera for better zooming. They now break the tradition of previous iPhones by making 32GB the base storage and adding a 256GB option too. Speaking about adding options, the new iPhones now come in a glossy black called Jet black & a new matte black which replaces Space Grey. The silver, gold & rose gold versions also remains. The iPhone 7 & 7 Plus will start at $649.

4. Apple AirPods

We knew this was coming, but we didn't know it was coming so soon. Apple's new iPhone natively supports 2 types of headphones/earphones, first through Lightning and the second is wireless. The new EarPods take care of the first type & Apple introduced the AirPods to cover the second type. The AirPods are completely wireless. They aim to provide the same listening experience for up to 5 hours and can be used with their charging case for up to 24 hours. 

Preorders for, Apple Watch series 1 & series 2 and the iPhone 7 & 7 Plus will begin on September 9 and they will start shipping on September 16.

If you liked the article, click right here to check out my first thought on the Apple's new devices.

   

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition Review

(A little backstory)
From the very beginning, DC's Batman v Superman was a very controversial movie. After the mixed critical and audience response along with it not making as much in the box office as much as they wanted to, Warner Bros decided it was time to bring out the big guns in the sequel to 2013's Man of Steel, that 'big gun' being Batman, DC's only superhero who's relatively new movies were both critically acclaimed and commercially successful in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Man of Steel director Zack Snyder was slated to direct a script which was written by David S Goyer and later by Academy Award winner Chris Terrio. Things were looking great for the first few months. The first teaser and the leaked and then officially released ComicCon trailer were both met with positive response. The fans started to like Ben Affleck, who's casting as batman was initially met with negative reception. Fast forward to December 2015, when the second trailer for the movie was released, which some fans described as "I felt like I watched the entire movie in the trailer." The reason behind it was the presence of Doomsday, which was supposed to be the big surprise in the movie, not the trailer. The trailer met with negative reception. In response to this, just weeks before the movie released, Warner Bros. released many TV commercials and a final trailer which helped counter the negative reaction the previous trailer met. And finally, in March, the movie hit theaters which I will talk about in the next part.

My mini-review of the theatrical release
In short, it wasn't great. Actually, disappointing is the one word that can describe our opinion on how the movie was. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a terrible superhero movie (like the 2011 Green Lantern). I don't know if it was because I (along with many others around the world) had kept such astronomically high expectations or if the movie was genuinely not a great film. The fact that it loosely adapted 'The Dark Knight Returns' and the 'Death of Superman' comic books caused the movie to be overstuffed. On the positive note, I'd call this silver screen interpretation of Batman the best (beating out both Bale & Keaton) & it was one of the best looking superhero movies I've seen in a long time. I can't stress how much I enjoy Snyder's visual direction style, right from the introduction credits (which was complimented by Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL's flawless background score music) to the fight scenes. But there in also lies the flaw in the movie, which like Man of Steel, has a very gritty tone which doesn't go well with Superman & Wonder Woman. The movie was also extremely incoherent which led to the "Ultimate Edition" being released.

Here comes my BvS:DoJ Ultimate edition review
As stated above, the movie was very incoherent, which is because of many scenes deleted from the theatrical cut, which would have added more to the (already bloated and complicated) story which were cut from the theatrical release. Scenes which are in some ways pivotal to the story (like a scene which involves Lex Luthor in the Kryptonian ship learning about the mother boxes and the New Gods which explains what he told batman when the latter paid him a visit in jail.)

So to sum it all up....
If you didn't like the theatrical cut of the movie at all, this won't change that and if you loved the movie, this just adds 30mins worth of goodness for you to enjoy. If you're in the middle, I'd recommend you to check it out.



I really hope Snyder learnt his lesson (this time the hard way) that not every scene needs to have style over substance, since he's also currently directing next years Justice League.

Modular Smartphones: What are they & what's their state in mid 2016.

Since the dawn of the smartphone age, modularity and phones never went in one sentence. But now, every tech publication is writing about how exciting the concept of modular smartphones is. Now here's the cool part. The concept of 'Modularity' isn't new to the world of computing. Desktop PC's have always been modular, giving you the ability to swap out almost everything in your PC without the need to buy a new one.
So, what exactly is the meaning of modular you ask? According to Google, modular means "employing or involving a module or modules as the basis of design or construction". That's pretty self explanatory. The basic idea behind modular tech is that the end user has the ability to swap out parts of their gadget with little to no effort. The advantages of a modular smartphone are amazing. Here's a video by Dave Hakkens, a Dutch designer who created the concept of Phonebloks, an open-source modular smartphone concept that kickstarted many many modular smartphone projects like Google's Project ARA. Check it out:

This concept caught the attention of smartphone manufacturers: LG, Lenovo Motorola & Fairphone, who's G5, Moto Z and Fairphone 2 respectively do employ the concept of semi-modularity. Fairphone 2 allows the user to swap out few things but keeps your choice of CPU, display and RAM fixed to those that come with the device. LG on the other hand allows users to remove a portion of the bottom of the phone and add modules that extend the capability of the phone, rather than being an inbuilt implementation. Lenovo Motorola's Moto Z has a flat magnetic back with pogo pins which allow the user to add modules that extend the phones capabilities like the LG G5. Perhaps the closest we will get to a fully modular phone in the near future will be Google Advance Technology and Project group's Project ARA (pictured above). But that is still in its developmental phase and isn't going to be available for the general public until sometime later next year.

The advantages of using a modular smartphone are a lot. Firstly and most importantly is hardware personalization. You get to 'build' a phone tailor made to your needs. If you're a road warrior who needs extreme levels of battery life endurance but doesn't care about the extra bells and whistles like a fancy camera or great speakers, you can opt for a killer high capacity battery and smaller less capable camera & speaker module. Or if you're really into smartphone photography, opt in for a very good camera module. The next is replacements. Say you broke the camera on your phone. If you were using a conventional non-modular phone, you would have to send it in for repairs, which would cost a lot or buy a new smartphone just because of the spoilt camera. A modular smartphones would allow you to simply swap the broken camera module in for a new one, without the need to replace your entire smartphone. But this isn't just limited to replacing broken parts. Say a new updated camera module is available which you want but you're satisfied with all the other parts in your phone, you can simply swap your camera module in for the updated one without buying a completely new smartphone. Not only does this allow the user to swap out old modules in for new ones, modular smartphones will also help reduce the e-waste generated because people won't be throwing away phones that often.

But like everything in the world of science and technology, modular smartphones have some disadvantages. Modular smartphones will be the cause for the decline in smartphone sales which will hurt the income of many smartphone manufacturers because every year when updated hardware is released, instead of buying a completely new phone, consumers will simply swap out the outdated hardware for a new one, effectively increasing the phones life. Also, many consumers don't care about the ability to swap out parts of their phone and just want to use a phone as it is. Adding modularity to that will just make their experience clunky and cumbersome.

So to wrap things up....

Modularity in smartphones is still in its early developmental stages and its recent consumer outings are more controversial than taking the world by storm. Yes, I am excited to see Google's ARA and similar products from others, but as of now, you'd be better off buying a conventional non modular smartphone and wait until something truly game changing is introduced into the market.



Are you excited for the future of modular smartphones? You must've seen Google Advance Technology and Project group's name mentioned in the article above. Just like their project ARA intends to revolutionise modular smartphones, another project of their called Project Tango, one more project of their's aiming to change the way we use augmented reality just hit the consumer market in Lenovo's Phab2 Pro. I'll be explaining what it is in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.