Microsoft Surface Book serious construction problem

I've been testing Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book since some time and recently I noticed that among many software related problems there is also one, serious in my opinion, design problem that actually can't be fixed until Surface Book 2 is out.

The future of Android Revolution HD

It's been quite a long time since I updated some of custom ROMs for HTC One series devices. This weekend I was able to release 2 major update for the HTC One M8 and HTC One M9.

The Truth About Kernels and Battery Life by flar2

When it comes to Android kernels, the number one topic of discussion these days is battery life. But there are many myths about the relationship between kernel and battery life. At one extreme, there are those who make outrageous claims about radical changes to battery life minutes or hours after installing a kernel. At the other extreme are those who think the kernel makes absolutely no difference at all to battery life. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

HTC Sense 7.0 - can we expect any of these?

With HTC Sense 7.0 right around the corner I thought of making some little "wish-list" of a features I would love to see in the refreshed HTC UI. If you don't know yet - HTC Sense is so far the most advanced and by many known as the best custom Android User Interface. Apple has its iOS, Samsung has its plastic and HTC has its Sense UI.

HTC Sense 6.0 UI - Lollipop vs KitKat comparison

Earlier this month HTC has released Android 5.0 for the HTC One M8 together with the HTC Sense 6.0. New Over The Air (OTA) update started rolling out for WWE unbranded devices on Wednesday (28.01.2015), so during these few days I had a chance to look closely at the user interface changes after the update. I didn't expect many, because HTC Sense version is still the same, but Android Lollipop is quite a big platform upgrade, so some major and some little visual changes are all over the place.

I hope you'll enjoy reading!

My fight with Samsung - part 1.

It is a common knowledge that the theory is one thing and the practice is sometimes completely different. Today I've felt on my own skin how Samsung is trying to fool its customers. Keep on reading and please share this on any of your social network.

Inspire Envy: the HTC One M8

The HTC One M8 is not just a „better HTC One” as some might think. Honestly saying, I’ve been thinking the same way before I had a chance to hold this beauty in my hand for a first time. Let's put aside the hardware specification for now. Before I’ll review the newest HTC One M8 let me show you some close, high quality pictures of the youngest HTC piece of art.

HTC Sense 6.0 Bluetooth security "issue" explained

Bluetooth is not a new technology and has long been associated with hands free headsets but with newer devices over the last few years it has obviously evolved into a technology that connects to printers, headphones, speakers, cars and of course other phones.

HTC diary - London Launch Event 2014 by Tom

25.03.2014 - The All New HTC One

It was damp and cold when I got to the station; a 20 minute walk in the drizzle. I didn't care - the excitement I was feeling was a bit silly really - I felt a bit like a Belieber going to their first concert. Where I was actually going was to The Olympia conference centre in Kensington to see the HTC One M8 unveiled. I was one of only 20 HTC Elevate Members chosen to attend this event, so I was feeling privileged, excited, apprehensive about meeting new people, and also not looking forward to the length of the day. The train arrived on time, and I headed to the Parcel Yard pub at Kings Cross - where I met up with most of the other Elevators who were going to the Event. We then got on the Underground and went to the venue; where we were pretty much fast-tracked through a registration process and led to seats at the front of the auditorium.

Lithium-Sulfur battery cells, the upcoming replacement for Lithium-Ion

Lithium-ion batteries, the current battery technology used in smartphones, has a high specific energy (energy per weight) but has a few drawbacks. Let's take a closer look and compare both technologies.

What’s new in 2014 - a year of technology

What’s new in 2014...

Have we reached the point of diminishing returns?

With 2013 now behind us, I want to look back upon the past year and analyse the technology we saw, as well as speculate upon what we are likely to see this year. I think 2013 was a relatively disappointing year for mobile phones, however 2014 looks more promising.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Android Revolution HD Team would like to wish you all Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2014.

May love and happiness be a part of your everyday life. 

Forget about the problems and enjoy the moment. Smile, laugh and share the love.

Of course, we also wish you quick Android updates and a lot of flashing.

Android Revolution HD

Sense 5 Toolbox - the best customizer for HTC Sense 5 based ROMs

If you haven't used it yet - you really should. I'm talking about the "Sense 5 Toolbox" application, made initially for Android Revolution HD. In the last few weeks the popularity of this application reached an unexpected level, and we believe it's a reason to celebrate.

NFC vs. Bluetooth (and why Bluetooth is better)

NFC is by no means a new 2013 invention, despite what the recent influx in NFC enabled phones may lead you to believe.

Pixels and Pixellation

How many pixels do you need? This is a question many, many people ask and to be honest I think it's the wrong one. Let me give you a few numbers!

Cameras in Phones - what do we really need?

An awful lot is being said about mobile phone cameras just lately; and we have HTC to thank for opening the conversation with the introduction of their HTC One which has half as many pixels at twice the size of anyone else's. Before we begin I'm going to get some ground rules. I won't use marketing terms; so I will talk about how many pixels a camera sensor has, and what size they are. You won't hear me talking about mega- or ultra- anything. Next is that I will show my meaning with diagrams - I'm a visual person and it helps me to explain. Please bear with me on this post; there's a lot to read but it's worth it at the end.

HTC One variants [update]

Image taken from smart.com.ph

In my article here I was writing about HTC One GSM/LTE (UL) and GSM (U) versions. The question if ROM based on UL firmware can be flashed on U device is still valid, but now we have some more details about these variants.

Removable battery - do we really need it?

With every release of a new smartphone the same question is asked - will it have removable battery? If you believe that removable batteries are a "must have" nowadays, please keep reading. I hope you'll change your mind!

First of all - there is a solution. Battery banks seems to be a great alternative for removable batteries. You can check my review of HTC Battery Bank here. It works with every device equipped with micro-USB port. Now let's compare both solutions.

HTC One - GSM or LTE?

HTC One is a new flagship device from HTC for 2013. With no doubts it is a great device with top hardware and innovating software. I will make a review of One soon, so expect a lot of pictures and in-depth comparison of HTC Sense 4+ and brand new HTC Sense 5.

For now some of you might be wondering about possible variants of this device. I made some research and I think I know how would this work. It is not officially confirmed, however I believe it is quite reliable and trustworthy.

More cores, more power and still no effective cooling system

I think we really have a problem here. Watching the world of technology, there is a clear tendency to equip mobile devices with more and more power. Looking at the specifications of fleshly unveiled Nvidia Tegra 4 (72 custom Nvidia GeForce GPU cores, new quad-core variant of ARM's Cortex-A15 CPU) I can say I'm already pretty amazed. But this enthusiasm might be suppressed very soon!

Where is the issue? You might say we've already been there few years ago, when multi-cores CPUs were gaining more and more attention from non-professional desktops/notebooks users. Marketing did a great job then. Nobody cared that most of consumers wouldn't be able to use the power of multi-cores. Nobody told them, that powerful CPU in pair with 1 GB of RAM memory and 5.400 RPM hard drive will be a waste of money and power. But it's not the point here.

What matters is the method of heat extraction. Air or water cooling systems are very advanced these days and can be very effective when it comes to PC. So if you really want to use 4 cores CPU for MS Word Editing or Internet browsing on your PC, there is nobody stopping you, apart of your own pocket. But what about mobile phones, tablets or so popular these days ultrabooks? Cooling systems on those devices are really bad. And what makes it even worse, there is no revolution coming. At least not for mobile phones or tablets.

Most of new ultrabooks (equipped with powerful CPUs and dedicated GPU) suffers from so called "throttling", caused by too much heat generated by the CPU and GPU when under heavy load together. Extra thin constructions are not effective when it comes to cooling, because the size of cooling heaps and fans needs to be reduced to minimum. Of course there is some room for improvements. For example, in  new MacBook Pro you can find two fans and quite smart arrangement of cooling pipes. Notebooks/ultrabooks designers surely have more options and more space than mobile phones designers. So I believe this might get better in time.

What's the situation when it comes to mobile phones? As I mentioned before, I think it's really bad. First of all, you can't put any fan inside your phone. The space inside is so limited, so forget about advanced system of micro cooling pipes. So what is the current solution? For example, idea of 5th companion core presented by Nvidia in Tegra 3. When device is in idle state, 5th core is taking care of low level tasks, running at very low frequency. Yes, this is quite smart. Tegra 4 will have the same mechanism. Another example - smart governors. When you turn your screen off, you CPU frequency will be limited to let's say 340 MHz. When turning screen on, it will go back to let's say 1,7 GHz. Nice, huh?

So... wait a minute!

It seems that from one hand we are buying super powerful devices, and from the other hand there are plenty of methods to limit this power. People are happy these days when they can use their super phone for more then 16 hours without charging. They do everything to achieve that - they are limiting GPU power, CPU power, turning off capacitive buttons lights or changing screen backlight to minimum (and they can barely see what's written on the screen). So take a moment, sit on the chair and count - how many times have you actually used the power of your device? Do you really need 4 cores and 2GB of RAM for Gmail, Chrome or Andry Birds? I don't think so. You might say you are playing heavy 3D games. Okay - how long can you play Need For Speed on your device in the bus? I'm pretty sure your device will be discharged after less then 1 hour. So, you might say you can always play it at home, with a device connected to the charger. Personally, when sitting home I prefer playing Need For Speed on PC or notebook.

What's the point in having 4 cores CPU, 2GB RAM and 72 custom Nvidia GeForce GPU cores if you can't use it? In idle this will be limited to 1 hidden core running something like 70 MHz. When using the phone for daily tasks (photos, internet, mail, calling) it will use about 20% of the potential power. When playing games it might use the full power for some period of time, then will be down-clocked because of generated heat. Is it comfortable to hold a device in your hand that have a temperature of 59 °C? I don't think so...

Of course there is a matter of reducing the size of the chipsets. Newer production processes mean lower power consumption. But this wont help.

So is it a right and good direction, when a companies are making more and more powerful hardware, trying to figure out better and more effective way to limit this power at the same time? It's like putting in and out. And all for the money from customers.

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