Android N Awsome Features: First Look

The first Android N developer preview is now out and it gives us a sneak peek into what Android 7.0 will eventually look like when it arrives officially later this year. Of course, developer previews quite often contain features that won’t make it to the final release, but there’s still plenty to get excited about, so let’s dive right in. Here are all the confirmed, rumored and expected Android N features, with a particular focus on what currently exists in the first Android N preview update. Please note that some features have been officially confirmed by Google, while others, “confirmed” by the developer preview, could still disappear before Android 7.0.

Confirmed Android N features

Android N release date: now!

Rather than wait until Google I/O 2016 – Google’s annual developer conference, which begins on May 18 – Google decided to surprise us all by releasing the first Android N developer preview on March 9, two full months earlier than expected. The Android N preview went live for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 (Wi-Fi and LTE), Nexus Player and Pixel C on theAndroid Developers site. A more polished version of the Android N developer preview will still be shown off during Sundar Pichai’s keynote lecture on day one of the conference but developers and enthusiasts will have a couple months’ head start on getting to know N.

Google surprised us all by releasing the first Android N developer preview on March 9, two full months earlier than expected.

The final Android 7.0 release date has been confirmed for Q3, 2016, giving Google until September 30 to make good on its timeline. This means that the Nexus 6P (2016) and Nexus 5X (2016) – or whatever they will be called this year – will be coming a little earlier than expected too, as the new version of Android is always presented alongside new Nexus devices.

The Nexus 4 was announced on October 29, the Nexus 5 on October 31, the Nexus 6 on October 15, the Nexus 5X and 6P on September 29. So we might even see this year’s Nexuses earlier in September rather than the end of the month if the progressively earlier announcement dates are anything to go by.

The final Android 7 release will be limited to Nexus devices at first and make its way to other manufacturer devices and carrier networks over the following six months or so. You can download the Android N preview below and flash it on a compatible device right now but be sure to consult the list of known issues first.

Multi-window mode

The first official Android N feature to be confirmed was multi-window mode, with the confirmation coming, obscurely enough, via a Reddit AMA with the Pixel C team a few months back. During the discussion, Andrew Bowers confirmed that “split screen is in the works” and with the release of Android N developer preview 1, we can now see exactly how Android 7.0 split screen mode will look.

Compatible apps (developers will need to add support for split screen mode individually) can be opened up side-by-side in Android N and resized. Developers will be able to set a minimum size for their app windows, but you’ll have a very similar multitasking experience to what you already find on many OEM devices. There’s also a new picture-in-picture mode that works just like minimized video in YouTube.

Better tablet support in Android N

During the same Reddit AMA, Pixel C team member Glen Murphy came right out and confessed: “we’re working hard on a range of enhancements for this form factor.” While he didn’t go any further and we haven’t seen anything particularly tablet-friendly other than split screen mode in the first dev preview so far, other Android N tablet features could include a real push for tablet-optimized apps (rather than just blown-up phone apps), customizable nav buttons, DPI switcher, stock floating mini-apps and tablet-specific System UI Tuner features.

New Android N settings menu

Android N delivers a revamped settings menu too. The changes include the addition of a Suggestions drop-down section at the top and removal of the individual section dividers. One of the best changes though is that you can now see basic details of each section in the main Settings menu. So, for example, rather than have to enter the Wi-Fi menu to see which network you’re connected to, Android N displays that information in the top-level settings menu. It’s an obvious time-saving idea and is kind of surprising it has taken this long to appear. Sound and Notifications have now been given their own dedicated sections too, rather than being grouped together like in Marshmallow.

The hamburger menu returns and has now been explained, providing a swipe-out nav drawer that simply reproduces the top-level settings menu sections. While it’s debatable if it is any better than just tapping the back arrow when you’re one level into a menu, it will provide a quick escape route to the main settings when you’re several levels down in sub-menus. Of course, the presence of the hamburger menu in Android N also does away with the duplicated actions of the back arrow in the settings and the back arrow in the nav bar.

Enhanced Doze Mode

As predicted, everybody’s favorite Marshmallow feature, Doze Mode, has also been improved in Android N. Doze now features a two-tier system. The first operates whenever the screen has been off for a while, whether your phone is stationary or not. This means you can now enjoy the benefits of Doze Mode anytime your phone is not being used, even when it is in your pocket or backpack. The other layer of Doze Mode works as before, but with some more improvements. When your phone is lying still, it will enter a deeper hibernation mode, deferring network and other activity until widely spaced-out “maintenance” windows before slipping back to sleep.

Revamped notification shade/quick settings panel

Both the notification shade and quick settings panel have received some interface tweaks in the newest version of Android. You’ll now see a thin strip of toggles at the top of the notifications shade for frequently used things like Wi-Fi, Do Not Disturb, battery and the flashlight. Some of these can be toggled on and off directly, while others will take you to a sub-menu (long-pressing the flashlight will launch the camera). A small arrow at the right hand side will open up the full Quick Settings panel. Quick Settings is now paginated and you can edit which icons appear at the top of the notifications shade and Google has added new System UI Tuner options for Quick Settings like Night Mode and offered developers the ability to create their own custom Quick Settings icons.

The notifications shade itself has also been revamped, with the main change being the removal of distinct cards. Android’s notifications area is now flatter than ever, with just a thin line separating individual notifications although when you swipe down the Quick Settings, the cards will stack as before. Profile pics from your contacts now appear on the right rather than the left and app icons have been minimized. You also get a lot more information in each card compared to Marshmallow and there’s a new grouped notifications API that allows apps to bundle notifications together. Best of all though is the ability to respond to notifications directly from within the notifications shade.

Change display size in Android N

Android N also allows you to change the display size on your device, also known as changing your display’s DPI setting. Simply go to Settings> Display > Display Size and slide the slider to change the size of on-screen content.

Faster app optimization in Android N

Following the switch to Android Runtime (ART) in Android Lollipop from the decrepit Dalvik runtime used in KitKat and before, some users have become tired of the amount of time it takes to optimize apps following an Android update. Upon first boot, the ART optimizes all apps using Ahead-of-Time compilation (whereby apps are compiled once – at boot – and then effectively launch faster from there on out). In Android N however, things have changed again. Now, rather than at first boot, apps are compiled Just-in-Time the first time you launch them and are then stored in memory for faster launches next next time. This means faster reboots every time.

Recent apps and multitasking in Android N

The recent apps menu in Android N has also been revised and improved, with larger cards in the recent apps stack and new functionality. As usual, tapping the square button will bring up a cascade of your most recently used apps. But if you double tap the square button instead you’ll quickly switch between your current app and the one you used last. While you’re in the recent apps list, tapping the recent apps button again will cycle you through your most recently used apps one by one (as opposed to swiping through the list) and if you let the small countdown slider beneath the app bar expire, the app will go full-screen. Long-pressing the recent apps button will launch multi-window mode, as you can see in the video below.

New Data Saver feature in Android N

Android N is also trying to help you take even more control than you already have over data usage by adding a new Data Saver feature. When the setting is enabled, it will stop background syncing from occurring except when connected to Wi-Fi. Not only will Data Saver block background activity from chewing up your data allowance, it also attempts to limit the amount of data apps use in the foreground as well. Fortunately, you can also whitelist specific apps you want syncing as per usual while still making general use of Data Saver mode.

Dark Mode returns in Android N!

All hail the return of Dark Mode! Or as it is called in Android N, Night Mode. Following its removal form the Android M preview builds last year, a lot of us have been waiting a long time to see the return of a dark mode in stock Android. The Android team has made it worth the wait though, by not just offering a dark system-wide theme, but also adding some cool new features too, like tint control to limit the amount of blue light in your display (great for allowing you to sleep after playing on your phone late at night). Night Mode can be enabled automatically at certain times of day and there’s an automatic brightness limiting option as well. This was definitely worth waiting for.

Improved call screening and number blocking

Android N attempts to improve on the multiple different methods manufacturers have come up with over the years to block certain numbers or screen calls by baking a standard into the latest version of Android. Like fingerprint support and multi-window mode, this means that these rather essential processes should become more consistent across devices and manufacturers because they are a stock feature of Android rather than a later addition.

Put emergency info on your lock screen

This is one of those good ideas that probably won’t get appreciated as much as it should be. Android N now has a setting that allows you to provide a link to your emergency information on your lock screen, including your name, blood type, address, allergies and other essential information that may be required if you find yourself in an accident and unable to communicate. It isn’t in the best location yet (but this could easily change in future Android N previews)and it’s not necessarily the kind of information you’d want being available to anyone that might steal your phone. but it’s a step in the right direction at least.

Android Beta Program

One of the niftiest Android N features is the appearance of the Android Beta Program, which takes the flashing hassle out of getting early access to developer previews of Android. Simply sign up for the program and add the device or devices on which you’d like to receive beta versions of Android and you’ll get over-the-air updates rather than having to flash factory images.

The Android Beta Program takes the flashing hassle out of getting early access to developer previews of Android.

It’s kind of the lazy man’s developer preview installation method, but it also means more everyday folks can flash developer previews and help identify bugs prior to the final release. However, if you’re not already the type of person that is comfortable flashing factory images you might want to think twice about signing up, as preview builds are buggy, incomplete and occasionally unstable, so they’re not really fit for daily driver status. Also, if you flash the factory image, you won’t receive the monthly OTA preview updates.

Moving to OpenJDK from Java APIs

Following a sticky situation with Oracle over “rewritten” Java APIs , Google will officially be making the switch to OpenJDK in Android N. It’s still Oracle code, but OpenJDK is, as the name, suggests, part of the open-source Java Development Kit. As Google confirmed: “we plan to move Android’s Java language libraries to an OpenJDK-based approach, creating a common code base for developers to build apps and services.” The change should make development for Android N that much simpler and external changes will be negligible.

Rumored Android N features

Android N name

The Android N name is the biggest game of the year, even more so than “who will make the 2016 Nexus?” You don’t need to have a sophisticated knowledge of the Android ecosystem or market to have a horse in this race, simply pick your favorite dessert that starts with an “n” and place your bets. The firm favorite currently is Android 7.0 Nutella, with Nougat coming a close second and a variety of indian desserts also being bandied about. Sundar Pichai even said he’dask his mother or let fans vote for the official Android N name.

Sundar Pichai said he'd ask his mother or let fans vote for the official Android N name.

No Android N app drawer

Prior to MWC 2016 we were told that Android N would ditch the app drawer, one of Android’s most iconic features. Then, during the show, the evidence started piling up, with the LG G5 and HTC One X9 arriving without an app drawer and the Galaxy S7 having an option to remove it. While the new Xperia X range does have an app drawer, Sony’s Marshmallow conceptprovides a “classic” and “modern” view – with and without the app drawer.

We’re very happy to see the app drawer is present and accounted for in the Android N developer preview, and while we can’t guarantee it will stay there, at this stage it certainly looks like our worse fears have been laid to rest. Now, we simply have to figure out why so many Android OEMs seem to have it in for the feature in their current flagships?

ChromeOS integration

This one is a peculiar one. Last year The Wall Street Journal “confirmed” that Android and Chrome OS would be merged, only to have Google set the record straight soon after. While the initial report claimed that Chrome OS would be killed off, Google responded by saying it was fully committed to Chrome OS and the platform was “here to stay” but that it is looking at “ways to bring together the best of both operating systems.” It’s highly likely that we’ll see at least some implementation of Chrome OS and Android compatibility in Android N.

Stock stylus support

As we recently reported, Samsung may have hinted at stock stylus support in Android N by planning to retire several of the main S Pen features from its Look API. The Samsung developers page makes the notation that these features “will be deprecated in Android N” – a term used to describe a soon-to-be-obsolete feature. The natural assumption is that these stylus features will appear in stock Android 7.0. The same thing happened with battery saving in Lollipop and fingerprint support in Marshmallow.

New messaging app

There’s a rumor doing the rounds that Google will be introducing an all-new messaging app with Android N to replace the largely unpopular Hangouts SMS/MMs integration. The new app will be based on the Rich Communications Services (RCS) platform, which allows for much more than just talk and text to be shuttled around, including video chat, file sharing and instant messaging. Google has publicly admitted its commitment to the RSC standard, but there’s no telling yet if it’s anywhere near ready for inclusion in Android N.

Improved Smart Lock for Passwords

Android Marshmallow introduced Smart Lock for Passwords, a basic Google password manager that can store your app passwords so that any time you re-install an app you will be automatically logged in. Combined with Android’s revitalised app backup, the idea is that the whole process of setting up a new device is seamless. The only problem is that not that many apps support Smart Lock for passwords yet so its value is still largely underutilized. With any luck, Android N will see a lot more apps supporting the feature.

WhatsApp Latest Features You Should Know That

When you’re using an app day in and day out, it’s easy to miss out on new features that get added. You get a notification for an update, you update, and you continue using it as you always did. But what did you get in all those updates? With WhatsApp, quite a bit.
The best social network or instant messenger app is the one which all of your friends and family use. WhatsApp has an incredible user base now, and after becoming one of the fastest growing social networks, it’s now adding features to make it a solid, robust app.
Whether you know it or not, recent updates have brought some cool new features, from starring messages to backing up your chat logs to Google Drive. Most of these changes are reflected in the newWhatsApp for Android, but they should be available on iPhone soon enough. If you use WhatsApp, you need to know this.

‘Star’ Messages to Find Them Later

When someone sends an important message on WhatsApp, you can’t save it. Finding it later can be a pain, despite the robust search engine in WhatsApp. One of our workarounds was to use hashtags to mark important messages. But now, there’s a cool new tool.
WhatsApp now lets you ‘star’ messages. Long-press any message, choose the Star in the top menu bar, and move on. It’s exactly like a bookmark or a favorite.

Later, when you want to look up any bookmarked message, go to Menu > Starred Messages and you’ll see them all, listed chronologically.
The starred messages can also be searched, so you can find all the important stuff you marked by some person. You can also ‘unstar’ a message later, so that the Starred Messages can be cleaned up easily.

Back Up Chats to Google Drive

If you accidentally delete your WhatsApp chat history, you can restore it in a few steps. But what if you lost your phone, or got a new one, or had to reset your existing storage? While WhatsApp backs up chat history regularly, there’s now an easier (and better) way: Google Drive.
The new version of WhatsApp for Android lets you automatically backup your chat logs to Google Drive. Go to Menu > Settings > Chats and Calls > Chat Backup > Google Drive Settings and set it up. I’d recommend backing up daily (you can choose weekly, monthly, or manual), over Wi-Fi only (thus saving data costs), and including videos.
Remember, you can get 1 TB of Google Drive storage for free, so as far as WhatsApp backups go, you should be fine even if you upload all of the videos and photos.

Easier Way to Clear Chats

If you’re already backing up those chats, there’s no reason for you to keep really old messages, is there? It’s time to clear things up, and WhatsApp has made it simpler than ever.
Go to Menu > Settings > Chats and Calls > Chat History > Clear All Chats and you’ll see three options: all messages, messages older than 30 days, or messages older than 6 months. Choose what you want and WhatsApp will do the rest.
You can do this same action with specific chats too, whether with individuals or groups. In any chat, tap Menu > More > Clear Chat and you’ll see the same three options. Simple, eh?

Mark Messages as Read or Unread

You can now hide your WhatsApp status or when you were last seen, which is great. But for your own personal usage, sometimes, you might want to mark a message as unread.
Think about it in email. The ability to right-click and mark as unread is a great way to remind yourself that you haven’t fully registered an email, that you need to reply to it, or that it’s important in some way.
You can now do that in WhatsApp too. Choose a chat with any contact or group, long-press on it, and tap “Mark as Unread”—yup, as simple as that. You can do the opposite too—long-press a chat you haven’t read and you’ll see an option to “Mark as Read”, so it seems like you’ve read the message without ever opening the chat.
Do note that this doesn’t mean change the message’s status for your recipient. The recipient still sees that you have read the message. It only reflects as unread in your own phone.
Mark as read/unread has also made its way to WhatsApp Web on your desktop.

Use Custom Notifications for People and Groups

Some contacts and chat groups are more important than others, right? Well, then set a different type of notification alert for them. WhatsApp has rolled out custom notifications.
One of the cornerstones of blocking mobile distractions is to allow the right people through and cut off everyone else, and that’s what this feature does. Open any chat, tap the title bar, and you’ll find an option for Custom Notifications.
In it, you can set the notification tone, vibration effect, popup notification, and the color of the LED light for new messages. For Whatsapp voice calls, you’ll only get custom ringtones and vibrations.

Link Previews

This is a neat new feature that doesn’t really make you do anything special, but just adds to the overall experience.

When a link is pasted into a WhatsApp chat, you will now see a link preview with an image from the article, the headline, and the base URL—much like what you see on Facebook or Twitter.
If you’re the one sharing a link, you have the option to not include that preview, too.

Freedom 251 / Experience the Freedom / Smart Phone at Rs.251 / Cheapest Phone of the world.

Freedom 251 / Experience the Freedom

Specification of Freedom 251

Display

4.00-inch

Processor

1.3GHz

Front Camera

 0.3-megapixel

Resolution

 540x960 pixels

RAM

 1GB

OS

 Android 5.1

Storage

8GB

Rear Camera

3.2-megapixel

Battery capacity

1450mAh

While the world kept asking questions and Indians remained puzzled, a Noida-based startup, promising a Rs. 251 smartphone, on Friday claimed to have received nearly five crore registrations in just two days.

There’s very little information about Ringing Bells or on how it intends the keep the costs down. At the time of writing this article, the company’s website said the bookings for the phone were closed.

If you’re planning to buy one, here’s an explainer to bring you up to speed on the controversy and news surrounding the company:

Who’s behind Ringing Bells?

What has escaped the attention of most people in all the excitement that the news generated is the largely humble background of the company’s founder Mohit Goel.

Mr. Goel used to sit in his father’s small grocery shop in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh till a few years ago.

“The phone was launched on Thursday at a very big function in Delhi. Frankly, I did not for a moment think that the mobile company, which Mohit told us about few months ago, would be so big,” the proud father Rajesh Goel told The Hindu on the phone from Shamli. 

Let’s talk some numbers

The much-hyped launch of the world’s cheapest smartphone was thrown into disarray on Thursday as a mad rush to book the device caused the firm’s website to crash within few hours of opening, besides utter chaos at the company’s Noida head office.

To understand the magnitude of the kind of craze it generated, sample this: Ringing Bells said it was received 600,000 hits per second on its website! For comparison, search engine giant Google processes an estimated 40,000 search requests per second.

Why are some calling it ‘mission impossible’?

According to analysts, handset makers and industry veterans, it is not possible to make smartphones at such a low cost.

“In realty it is not possible because even a memory card, a chipset or a processor costs more than the whole handset. I don’t see it as a serious business model. I am also worried about the security of money of buyers who have booked the handset,” S.N. Rai, co-founder, Lava Mobiles, told BusinessLine.

Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst at Greyhound Research, said there must be some hidden subsidy without which it is not possible to sell at Rs. 251.

“Selling of smartphones is dependent on at least two factors: pricing and experience. I don’t see such things about this smartphone. Also, the customers they are targeting would not be having credit cards,” said Mr. Gogia.

He also said with the founding members of the company not having any technology background and the handset being loaded with ‘Make in India’ apps clearly indicates that there could be some arrangements (at the government level).

So what’s the catch?

Ringing Bells’ president Ashok Chaddha said the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs. 2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.“By going for Made in India components, we can save on the 13.8 per cent duty. Also, we will be selling online first and thus save the costs incurred on large distribution network,” he said.

Mr. Chaddha also rejected speculations of the handset being subsidised by the government.

“The phone will be manufactured in Noida and Uttaranchal. Two plants will be set up for Rs. 250 crore each with a capacity of 5 lakh phones. The money will come in the form of debt and equity (1.5:1),” he said.

Mr. Chaddha added the equity is being met by the promoter family of the company that is “engaged in agri-commodities business” in Uttar Pradesh but declined to give further information.

Specifications? Features?

The phone claims to have an Android 5.1 operating system, a 4-inch qHD IPS display, a 3.2-megapixel primary and a 0.3-megapixel front camera.

The device also claims to have 3G connectivity, 1.3GHz quadcore processor, 1GB RAM and 8GB internal memory and supports external memory cards of up to 32GB.

To power Freedom 251, the company has put a 1,450mAh battery and claims to have a service network of 650 centres across India.

Is it true that Ringing Bells showcased a rival company's handset, as its own?

Mr. Chaddha clarified that “it wanted to show a sample or prototype of what the handsets will look like. This is not the final piece.”

“In view of the shortage of time and given that these were to serve only as prototypes given FOC to a limited list of persons, we went ahead. We would clearly mention that the Final Freedom 251 manufactured/assembled in India would be to identical specs — i.e. no change,” he added.

Why is the company under excise, I-T departments’ scanner?

According to the sources, the I-T Department is looking into the financial structure of the Noida-based company and have obtained documents, including those from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), in this regard.

“Yes, there was a visit from excise department and I-T Department. Since we are planning to achieve milestones under Make in India, Skill India and Startup India. They issued us some guidelines for future and extended full support and cooperation,” Ringing Bells president Ashok Chaddha said in a statement to PTI.

Apple iPad Pro vs Microsoft Surface Pro 4 / surface pro 4 vs macbook

Apple iPad Pro vs Microsoft Surface Pro 4

#SURFACE PRO 4 VS IPAD PRO

When it comes to hybrid tablets, nothing beats Microsoft’s Surface Pro series with the ultimate combination of a light tablet, powered by a desktop operating system (Windows 10) with a soft physical keyboard, a stylus and a powerful Intel chipset. Many have tried to copy it and few have succeeded to deliver a product of this class and calibre (with a few bugs). But then came along Apple.

Apple had the one thing going for it since the very beginning of the iPad series, iOS apps that were optimised for the iPad’s display; and there were plenty of them. So Apple came up with something unbelievable (at least during the Steve Jobs era) in the form of a massive iPad Pro aimed at professionals with a large display, soft keypad and even its own stylus called Apple Pencil.

Microsoft’s answer to the same was in the form of the Surface Pro 4 and it seriously packs in plenty of horsepower for a tablet with the new Skylake chipsets. So how do the two stack up against each other?

Display and Construction

Apple’s new iPad Pro packs in a 12.9-inch display along with a 2732 x 2048 pixel resolution. In terms of the display, Microsoft with its Surface Pro 4 goes with a slightly smaller 12.3-inch 2736 x 1824 pixel touchscreen display so there’s not much of a difference out here when compared to the Surface Pro 3. The iPad Pro sports dimensions of 12×8.68x.27 inches with a weight of 1.57 pounds while the Surface Pro 4 measures 11.50 x 7.93 x .33 inches and weighs 1.73 pounds. Apple’s iPad Pro wins both in terms of portability and also because it sports a sharper display. And let’s not forget the 4 speakers.

Chipset, Storage and Software

The Apple iPad Pro is powered by Apple A9X chipset and it is supported by 4 GB of RAM. The company also claimed that the new A9X will be 80 percent faster than all the portable PCs released in 2014. More importantly, Apple has also managed to squeeze in a GPU with a 12 cluster setup instead of the 6 cluster one found on its A9, so there’s plenty of horsepower in here as well.

Coming to Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4, there are plenty of chipset and storage options. You will be able to choose anything from an Intel Core m3 with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage to a top of the line, Intel i7 chipset with 16 GB of RAM 256 GB of storage so yes its easy to say that Apple’s A9X is no match for the Surface Pro 4′ innards. But there’s another angle to this.

In terms of software, the iPad Pro will run on Apple’s mobile operating system called iOS. A report by PC World points out that the app catalog for Apple’s mobile operating system is much deeper than the apps only available through Microsoft’s Windows Store. Still then, Microsoft does have its fair share of professional software and the chops to run them without optimisations.

The Pro 4 works completely on the company’s latest Windows 10. For debate sake, professionals would mostly opt for this device as iOS would sadly, limit the amount of applications compatible with it.

On the storage front, the iPad Pro comes equipped with 32–128 GB worth of storage while the Surface Pro 4 is pretty much customisable for both the casual user to the professional and everyone else in between. The winner here is certainly Microsoft’s device even with Apple’s massive app bank as  its Pro features would not really matter to its target users. More so, it appears like Apple opted for the same storage as it would offer on an iPhone.

Camera

The iPad Pro comes with an 8 MP rear camera along with a 1.2 MP front facing camera. On the other hand, the Surface Pro 4 comes with a 5 MP front facing camera and an upgraded 8 MP unit on the back, along with 1080p video recording features.

With professional tablets such as these, the cameras really do not matter – but a good front-camera certainly helps with video calling features and both tablets offer good enough front-facing cameras for video calling. The rear camera on the iPad Pro is impressive if it gives the same output as we had seen with the iPhone 6/6s, but shooting with a 12.9-inch tablet may make you feel a bit out of place.

Stylus

The iPad Pro comes paired with the new Apple Pencil, which is not included with the device, but will be available at a price tag of $99. However, Microsoft includes their Surface Pro Pen with the tablet itself.

The main USP for both the styluses is that it supports palm rejection and pressure sensitivity. In a detailed report by Wired, David Pierce stated the Apple Pencil is better than any stylus he’s ever used by a wide margin. In addition, he said, ” There was almost zero latency, meaning the ink appeared to flow out of the Pencil and not trail half an inch behind.”

Apple Pencil also works with popular apps like Mail, Notes, Procreate and Office 365 for iPad as well. In comparison, the Microsoft Surface Pen is an electromagnetic pen that can also be used to open One Note or to activate Cortana. It also offers a wider range of connectivity as well. The Surface Pen is also pressure sensitive and features palm block will allows users to rest their hand on the screen as they draw. The Surface Pen does stand out thanks to its practicality, but the Apple Pencil is a better tool for those who aim to use it for creativity, but as many have begun to point out, there are plenty of better options available out there.

Battery

The iPad Pro sports a built-in 38.5-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, which is claimed to last up to 10 hours while using the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos and listening to music. Even though Microsoft has not mentioned the exact capacity for the battery, the Surface Pro 4 is said to last up to 9 hours of video playback. In comparison, the iPad Pro does promise a better battery life while using many other features simultaneously, but coming to the more powerful silicon available on the Pro 4, Microsoft seems to have pulled off something quite commendable for now.

Connectivity

In terms of connectivity, the iPad Pro includes a lighting and smart connector whereas, the Surface Pro 4 includes a full-size USB 3.0, microSD card reader, mini display port, cover port and charging port. No points for guessing the winner out here!

Pricing And Availability

The iPad Pro will cost you $799 for a 32 GB variant while the 128 GB variant will cost you $949. The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is priced at $899 for a 128 GB Intel Core m3 version, $999 for the Core i5 128 GB variant and goes on till the Core i7 16 GB RAM and 256 GB variant is priced at a hefty $1799. You can even customize your high-end Pro 4 with up to 1 TB of internal storage ($2699).

Conclusion

Even though Apple looks like it has taken some inspiration from the Surface Pro 4 for its iPad Pro, and also targets the professional market, the combined cost of the iPad Pro along with the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard easily cross $1000 – a price at which one can get the MacBook Air which is a much more powerful workhorse. Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 on the other hand comes with a desktop OS and with desktop class processor and RAM configuration which is much powerful.

The Surface Pro 4 is the better choice, but it isn’t flawless either. A recent bit of news brought to light one of the many problems that user of the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are reporting, which are mainly to do with Intel’s Skylake series of chipsets. Still then, Microsoft said that it will fix the bugs by early next year.

Features of Inbox by Gmail you don't want to miss

 

If you've switched to using Inbox by Gmail, then you're probably painfully aware that some basic -- but nearly necessary -- features are missing. Fortunately, Google updated the app today with five new features. Among these are Trip bundles, Keep reminders appearing in the app, Swipe to delete, Signatures and Undo send.
Trip bundles and Keep reminders work automatically, but here are a few tips for the other new features:

• Swipe to delete

This setting was much anticipated by Inbox users, because marking every email as Done just wasn't cutting it. However, you'll have to enable it to make it work. Head to Settings > [account name] > Action when done with messages > Move to trash.

• Signatures

Ready to finally add your name, a quote or some other catchy information to your messages? Now you can by heading to Settings > [account name] > Signature > Toggle on and provide the signature text.

• Undo Send

Thankfully there's no steps to make this feature work, but you might be wondering where it is. When you send an email, you'll see a banner appear at the bottom of the page that lets you undo sending -- sort of like Labs feature available for Gmail on the Web.

Note: You will need to be on Inbox by Gmail version 1.8 for these features to work. If you don't see them after updating the app, try restarting your device.