Features
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DSLR vs camera phone, 2021 - are we there, yet?
Something a little different, here on the All About sites (including AAM, still yet to launch - ahem). Over the years various attempts have been made to pitch the best of the camera phone world against a DSLR - I've tried myself at least once. But with the top of the class in the phone world, the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max in ProRAW capture mode, I have high hopes that we're at last getting 'there', trending towards the point where shutterbugs really don't have to lug around a heavy DSLR. The fight is on...
Steve Litchfield · 21 April 2021 -
Android 7 to 8: Revisiting the Planet Gemini communicator
In the spirit of continually keeping an eye on what the wider mobile world can offer, and especially looking at form factors which are interesting and marry up with what AAS and AAWP readers might be looking for, I noted that my Gemini has now received its Android 8.1 update. Why is this relevant? Because it brings the ability to use the full screen, turning the Gemini into a more convincing micro-laptop. Or, if you will, a present day Communicator.
Steve Litchfield · 13 May 2019 -
Where's the character? Fall in love, not into utility
As an industry watcher, the world of smartphones has never been more competitive or better value. It's also duller than ditchwater. And, apparently, growth has now stopped and sales are in decline... With IFA 2016 just over in Germany, where yet another batch of almost identical 5" touch slabs were announced, I'm tempted to suggest that now really is the time to look for character in our smartphones. Where are the USPs? Are they now relegated to older, almost retro, devices, while new products fall over themselves to stay anonymous?
Steve Litchfield · 06 September 2016 -
Tough questions: Microsoft, Nokia, Windows Phone, Symbian, Meego and more
As part of a continuing series of features taking a good long look at the state of mobile, and aiming to be as brutally honest as possible, here I use my experience in the mobile industry to tackle the really tough 'what if' questions that have probably been in your brain for the last three or four years, as 'All About' readers. Hopefully my answers will provoke debate in Disqus below, too - why not get involved?
Steve Litchfield · 25 August 2014 -
Learning to live with a sealed design? Yes. Loving it? Not really, but....
Most readers know me as someone prepared to enter into debate on the subjects of form factor and smartphone design, but also having my own distinct preferences. You'll remember an in depth feature I did on the subject of sealed vs removeable batteries? It's fair to say that, personally, I come down on the 'removeable' side of the fence - yet I find myself, in December 2013, using a sealed design for my primary device. In this feature, hopefully of interest to both AAS and AAWP readers, I examine my objections to 'sealed' and ask which of them, if any, are still showstoppers.
Steve Litchfield · 10 December 2013 -
Smartphone camera sensor sizes visualised, light gathering ability calculated
It's a fair cop, I'm firmly in camera geek territory again here. We see a lot of smartphone camera comparisons online (not least here on the All About sites), but all this talk of optical formats and pixel sizes rather gets in the way of the man in the street understanding the simple physics involved. To help out, I've summarised all available data on smartphone camera sizes and apertures and present the result graphically. So the Lumia 1020 has a 1/1.5" sensor - what does this mean? And how does it affect the ability of the device to gather light? This and much more below...
Steve Litchfield · 18 September 2013 -
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Happiest away from the smartphone bleeding edge?
As a regular compiler of smartphone 'top 5's in The Phones Show, I find myself regularly finding myself happiest at least one generation from the current bleeding edge of technology, somewhat oddly. Causing me to stop and muse - what you might not have considered is that there are far more benefits than disadvantages in doing this, not least of all in helping your wallet out a little.
Steve Litchfield · 11 August 2013 -
Symbian's 'little feature that could' still to be equalled, even on Windows Phone
2013 should see, somewhat belatedly, a feature that has been standard on Nokia's Symbian since 2009 (and also on Meego) finally make it onto Windows Phone. Admittedly, there are some technical considerations here, since the feature only works if the devices have an AMOLED screen (most of the Symbian smartphones do/did), but there have also been issues of OS support, I suggest. What I'm talking about is, of course, the 'always on clock', about which I eulogise below, along with gratuitous shots of owls and leaves....
Steve Litchfield · 27 May 2013 -
Anatomy of a smartphone photo (take 2)
In the second of an occasional tutorial series (here's the first part, looking at a murky scene-made-good taken on the Nokia Lumia 920), I take a recent photo of mine, also shot on a smartphone, in this case the Nokia 808 PureView, and show the quick-fire thought processes that went into creating it. Again, the tutorial is applicable to all phone camera users and again my aim is to get you thinking more when you next want to snap something photogenic. Comments welcome if I've helped and/or succeeded!
Steve Litchfield · 24 April 2013 -
Integral (sealed) memory vs microSD - which is better?
Throughout the history of PDAs and smartphones (so we're talking 20 years), one particular design battle has been raging, seemingly without a victor. From which you have to conclude that the battle is quite evenly matched. Yet I disagree, arguing that, from the user's point of view, there's a very definite winner, while manufacturers have a different preference and slant on this particular aspect of design.
Steve Litchfield · 24 March 2013