Bucket Tech: Mobile World Conference 2017

Life as we know it revolves around our mobile phones, with many now using smart phones for os much more than just phone calls goes to show how important these devices are to our life. I read a joke last year that if you had to fall down, you would first check if you phone was fine before noticing if you were injured, which could very well be true for most of us! With technology constatnly evolving, consumers demands increase with them wanting the latest and greatest device available. This push saw mobile device manufacturers create updated or new devices every year and now almost in under a year .The biggest stage for brands to showcase their top models is at the Mobile World Congress currently taking place in Barcelona. This past weekend saw some big releases and today we're just going to give you some of the highlights. 

Huawei P10 and P10 Plus

The Chinese giant wasted no time in showing to the world it's key smart device, the P10 and P10 Plus. Taking over from the P9, the P10 epitomises everything the company stands for. They are quickly becoming one of the top players in the market and with good reason to. They are in the forefront of the latest tech and do not compromise on quality of  their products. The P10's key features are the Leica Dual-Camera 2.0 primary camera on the P10 and the Leica Dual-Camera 2.0 Pro Edition on the P10 Plus. Both cameras have a 12-megapixel RGB sensor,and 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and enhanced fusion algorithms, with superior technical and artistic photography features to garuntee you professional pictures on almost every click. The P10 and P10 Plus also for the first time feature Leica front facing cameras to complete the total photography package on the devices. Both devices are also avialable in a selection of unique colors as a result of the first cross-industry partnership with Pantone Color Institue, the world's foremost authority on color. Key technical features of the phone are the new powerful Kirin 960 processor and all new EMUI 5.1 which is Huawe''s latest high performance SoC chipset. 

Blackberry Keyone

Also known as the BlackBerry Mercury, this device is set to be the one that kick starts this almost dead mobile devices life in the market. I have a softspot for Blackberry, I've owned two of their devices, both of which are still in great working condition, apart from the battery life on one but their phones were practical, smart and proper business orientated. The Keyone see's a change from what we usually expect from Blackberry but also incoperating all the things we loved about them. For one, it has a full key pad as well as a touch screen. It runs Android OS v7.1 (Nougat). At the heart of the Keyone is a Octa-core 2.0GHz Cortex - A53 CPU on a Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625 Chipset. Pretty powerful stuff for this phone. It has 32GB internal memory with a microSD slot capable of up to 256GB. The devices expected release date is April 2017. Blackberry has a lot to do to gain back the markets trust but I think the Keyone could be the catalyst for this. 

Nokia 3310

While we on the subject of comebacks, remember this one? I did a post a few weeks back about the announcement but had no idea what to expect. I said I doubt they would remake the exact phone we were used to all those years ago because it isnt practical in this day and age, while most say they would love one, would they really use it? I doubt it. So Nokia thankfully didn't just recreate the 3310 but brought out an updated version of the classic phone. The 3310 is going to be an entry level phone that would be affordable to almost anyone so don't expect anything fancy from this device. It has a color screen but a small one that measures 2.4 inches. It has an internal memory of 16MB and microSD slot up to 32GB stick. It has a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash. There is really nothing really to write home about this device other than it's name and it's claimed standby battery life of up to 1 month but I forsee a lot of sales due to its nostalgic nature.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

4K HDR screen on a mobile phone? Yup, Sony have managed to do that on the XZ Premium. with 960fps uper slow motion capabilities. While this seems amazing, the first time I saw Quad HD screen on a phone I was blown away by the clarity but there is one major draw back, it kills your battery. Hopefully Sony have found a way around this. Can't have your key feature being the number one reason your battery is depleting.  The 5.5" screen isn't the only thing the device is good for though, the phone comes with motion eye camera that enables the super slow motion capturing, it's water resistant with an IP65/68 rating which is the best you can get when it comes to durability. It has Hi-Res Audio with Digital stereo for true sound quality. More details will be made available closer to its release date in April this year. 

Bucket Tech: Nokia 3310 - The Resurrection

Yesterday Nokia announced that it will be making one of it's famed model cellular telephones again, the 3310. Many websites reported it being "back from the dead", but did the phone really ever die? The popular model from the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer developed a cult status as the "never say die" phone in the early 2000's, with battery life lasting for over a week and what seemed like an unbreakable build even though the split faces popped out, no real damage was done to the body. The phone was also one of the smallest on the market, with a great design, feel and look, it also had changeable covers to make it the ultimate fashion accessory. Ever since the introduction of smartphones, models like the 3310 tend to fall away to the side with limited features and most importantly, no internet access. 

For some reason the phones popularity began to rise again of late through internet memes, many of which depicted the phone as the God among phones, with it's great battery life, such memes showed the phone being found buried somewhere for many years with it still have 90% battery life, or some memes showing buildings or floors breaking when the phone was dropped onto it. Whilst this was all great and funny, we never imagined the actual manufacturer to go back and build the phone again. Nokia say they will build a modern version of the device to sell, which would retail for about 59 Euros, that's roughly R850, Now while we don't exactly know what this new 3310 would be like, it is said to have the key features that made it great, i.e good build quality and great battery life. 

The device is said to launch later this month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Now I have my doubt's about this device, if it is just a 3310, it won't be the most practical phone around. It would be used purely for texting and calling, yes for the older generation it would have been perfect 2 years ago but with many in the late 60's to 80's age bracket adapting to modern technology and making use of applications like Skype, Whatsapp and Face Time, what would a phone like this be of use to them? Also, have you ever tried making your smartphone dumb? That is turning off data and reducing it to just GSM connectivity? You'd be surprised at how long your phone battery will last, at most some could go on for 10 times longer than usual.

For some, the nostalgia of owning a 3310 again might be something great and Nokia could have a great product on their hand in terms of re-marketing itself as a global competitor after the Microsoft disaster but I honestly don't see the need for this phone unless you planning on having it as an emergency phone stored away somewhere in a break-glass case when the Zombie Apocalypse begins.