The Future of Mobile App Development: IoT and Chatbots

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Smartphone Technology Trends to Look for in 2019

        Source: omaghenterprise.co.uk

With the proliferation of mobile devices around the world, namely smartphones that come with digital assistants like Siri and Alexa that streamline our lives and make practically everything easier, it’s hard to imagine how mobile technology can improve even further than it has already. Well, whether we can believe it or not, it’s happening. And no, I’m not referring to displays that are getting smaller or larger, or headphone jacks that are disappearing in favor of wireless audio; I’m talking about actual smartphone technological innovations we’ll soon see, i.e. upcoming smartphone technology in 2019.

Before we begin, keep in mind that many of the tech trends we’re going to cover today are based in speculation and scattered reports with enough validity that they’re likely true. With that in mind, many big brands have already confirmed upcoming smartphones in 2019 and other tech upgrades they’re trying out. Let’s get started!

Smartphone Technology in 2019

As we place 2018 firmly behind us and move into 2019, it’s time to talk about a very hot topic many tech-enthusiasts cover every year: upcoming smartphone technology trends and their potential impact. So, will we finally see foldable phones that are truly foldable? What about 5G phones that run faster and have better coverage than anything we have today? Keep on reading to find out.

Multi-Camera Phones

While we saw an influx of dual-camera phones in 2018—phones with dual lense setups in which one took the pictures and the other captured the depth of field—to allow for camera features like portrait mode, 2019 seems prime for an expansion and the inclusion of camera options like wide-angle, telephoto, depth sensing and monochrome.

In fact, almost 42% of smartphones sold globally in July 2018 sported two or more rear camera sensors (27% increase in market penetration), a charge that was led by brands like OnePlus, Huawei and Apple. As for 2019 and beyond, we already have the Huawei P20 Pro, the world’s first triple lense camera, a patent by LG hinting at a smartphone with 16 lenses, and we even have a leaked photo of a Nokia smartphone with five rear camera lenses.

Source: androidauthority.com

5G-Enabled Phones

With Qualcomm introducing the Snapdragon 855 processor late last year, which will power most Android smartphones and allow them and others to connect to 5G networks that enable faster speeds and better coverage, it’s clear that 5G is soon to be mainstream. Keep in mind that it’ll take a while for this to happen—probably 2019 and 2020—so for now we’ll cover what’s expected in 2019:

● Apple: Nope, Apple doesn’t seem too keen on putting forth a 5G smartphone.

● Samsung: Samsung announced last year that they were working with South Korean telecommunication companies to release its first 5G phone, which will likely be part of the Galaxy S10 family.

● Google: Nope, Google doesn’t seem too keen on putting forth a 5G smartphone, BUT Verizon, who it’s been using as it’s exclusive carrier partner for Pixel phones, said it’s planning to roll out its 5G network this year.

● LG: In August of last year, LG confirmed that its first 5G phone will debut on Sprint in the first half of 2019, just as Sprint launches its 5G network.

● Huawei: We already know that Huawei’s first 5G smartphone is coming this year, likely before the end of June 2019, but it’s unlikely that it will be available in the US.

Foldable Phones

Will 2019 finally be the year of the foldable phone that’s not a flip phone, but an actual foldable phone? That’s what we’re here to find out. Starting with the concept of the foldable phone, this would entail a phone that can be opened up and folded at will, which would need dual displays with dual batteries. With that in mind, we already have some contenders who appear to be throwing their hats in the ring. For example, Samsung revealed the Galaxy X (or will it be Galaxy F?) with an “Infinity Flex Display at a developer conference, Motorola is apparently working on revamping the Razr as a foldable phone and was awarded a patent on a folding smartphone design that featured a heated central hinge that would “heal” imperfections in the OLED screen caused by bending, and LG appears to be debating whether to go the foldable route or take a detour and venture into optional second screens.

                                                                                             Source: digitaltrends.com

Final Thoughts

Out of all of the technological innovations we have, it’s sometimes hard to stay up-to-date with everything that’s coming out. That’s why today, we focused on something that most of us can relate to: mobile technology. Here’s what we covered:

● Multi-camera phones that allow for much more options when you want to snap a picture

● 5G-enabled phones that work much faster than any phone today, even in low-coverage areas

● Foldable phones that truly fold and unfold without screen imperfections

Enjoy what’s to come!

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How Smartphones are Revolutionizing Business Growth

100 years down the line, if you were to ask historian what the biggest advancements of the early 21st century were, chances are very good that the smartphone will make the cut.

With almost 4 billion unique worldwide users, uses that number the thousands, if not millions, and the fact that over half of all internet traffic today comes from the mobile web, it’s clear that smartphones are taking over the role of “man’s best friend.”

There’s just no escaping it…businesses included.

But for them, unlike seeing smartphones as friends, they see them as opportunities for growth.

How to Use Smartphones for Business Growth

Apart from the general usefulness that smartphones bring to business in terms of mobility and 24/7 connectivity, the smartphone’s impact on business—the biggest impact—can be seen when you consider what makes them different than their normal counterparts: the “smart” that precedes it.

With that moniker comes the ability to use a multitude of applications, which come in various shapes and sizes that vary by use.

For example, you can have an app that allows you to dabble in the stock market, and another that lets you play Scrabble with people around the world.

More on the business side, smartphone business apps usually fall into two categories:

● Internal applications that benefit a company by streamlining tasks and creating more efficient work environments
● External applications that benefit a company’s customers, thereby benefiting the company itself through branding and loyalty perks, data gathering and, if an eCommerce, extra sales

After all, with increased productivity from internal apps comes business growth, and as we all know, a happy customer is a loyal customer (also key for growth), which external apps are excellent at fostering.

Internal Smartphone Business Apps

Starting with internal smartphone business apps to showcase how to use a smartphone for business, the key here is focusing on increasing productivity.

The good thing is that because applications can be programmed to do pretty much anything—helping employees throughout their day included—they can be used as tools to fix anything that’s lagging or needs improvement.

In this way, business growth comes internally, as employees are able to work harder and smarter, resulting in overall better company productivity and a better return on the business’ investment.

For example, you can create the following types of applications among many to improve your business’ processes:

● Customer Relationship Management (CRM) apps that help you manage customer relations
● Lead generation apps that help you identify potential customers
● Inventory management apps that help you keep track of everything

As to where or who to go to for inspiration, because these apps will be the tools your employees use as they go about their workdays to streamline tasks, improve efficiency and help the company run more smoothly, they’re the ones to turn to.

External Smartphone Business Apps

Unlike internal applications, the idea with external, client-facing apps is to present your company to your audience in mobile form to maximize interactions with them and make the most of them.
After all, considering that 71% of total digital minutes are spent on mobile devices, it makes sense that you’ll use mobile, their apparent preferred mode of communication, to connect.

In doing so, you’ll be turning your app into a marketing channel that works at all times of the day, and may even bring its own revenue if you can sell products and/or services through it.

However you choose to make use of external apps, some of their benefits are that they:
● Improve communication between you and your audience
● Provide information to your audience at all times of the day (even better if a chatbot is used)
● Present your offerings in a visual and convenient way
● Ensure loyalty through rewards and promotions
● Gather customer data and insights through usage statistics

More on the last point, one of the biggest benefits of client-facing apps is that they’re a literal goldmine of user data, including their browsing and purchasing habits, which is a great help when creating and tailoring marketing strategies.

The Current Smartphone Landscape

When it comes to growth through smartphones, though internal applications will give you much-needed help running things within the business, external apps are where true growth will come from.
For example, think of the 125 Million U.S. consumers who own smartphones and that, as of December 2017, 82% of online users in the U.S. used a mobile device for online shopping, with 35% being mobile-only online shoppers.

Apart from eCommerce, think of one of the main uses for apps: entertainment.

As it happens to be, the mobile entertainment market—comprised of games, videos, and music—is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 15% during the period between 2018 and 2023, with games generating $40.6 billion in revenue in 2017.

With these stats, it’s clear that pairing an app with an eCommerce business is not only the logical thing to do, but what will open doors for more sales to come through, and that putting out an entertainment app that gives your users new ways of discovering and viewing your content is exactly what they want.

Final Thoughts

With the ability to do practically anything through an app, smartphones are absolutely wonderful for businesses and consumers alike.

For example, while consumers gain a new channel to browse and buy products, or learn more about a company, businesses also gain a new channel, this time to sell to and connect with their audience, and the ability to create apps that streamline various processes.

Putting it all together, smartphones are definitely a “win’ for business.

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What to Expect for the Future of Smartphone Technology

Over three-quarter of U.S. adults (77%) say they own a smartphone, up from 35% in 2011, making the smartphone one of the most quickly adopted consumer technologies in recent history. Expanding borders, there were 1.57 billion worldwide smartphone users in 2014, a number that’s expected to nearly double (2.87B) by 2020.

In other words, a lot of people use smartphones.
Why? What about smartphones is so special that practically everyone either has one or wants to get one?

For starters, look at the name. Being smartphones means that their capabilities extend past that of normal mobile phones, as they have what we now consider essential functions, such as:
● Internet connectivity, whether through WiFi or mobile data
● High-quality cameras
● Biometric authentication
● And countless applications with functions that range games to increasing productivity

After all, likened to small computers that fit in your pocket, it’s clear that advancements in smartphone technology have taken them very far from their beginnings as solely two-way communication devices.

If we’ve come this far, what’s to come? What are some future smartphone features that we can expect in the years to come?

From alternate realities that can combine the real and the imaginary, to holograms that allow for real-life interactions with the virtual, here are three things to expect from future smartphones.

1. Blockchain

For those who have either heard of blockchain, but don’t really know what it is, or have never even heard of it, blockchain is essentially a type of ledger—a very secure ledger—that’s composed of cryptographically linked records.

Each record, called a block, is time-stamped and linked to the previous block to create a decentralized database of records, which functions as a peer-to-peer (P2P) network that’s extremely secure because, once a transaction takes place, the block created is unchangeable.

With that in mind, while blockchain is often reserved for finance discussions around cryptocurrency like bitcoin, its capabilities can actually extend to smartphones. After all, having a phone that runs on blockchain means that breaches or hacking are negligible.

For example, the upcoming Finney Blockchain Phone, announced last year by Sirin Labs, is an open-source smartphone that runs on the blockchain and is designed to support inherent blockchain applications like a cold storage crypto wallet, secure exchange access, encrypted communications, and a P2P resource sharing ecosystem for payments.

With an extra layer of security provided by blockchain, future smartphones like the Finney can provide much-needed peace of mind that comes with owning a device that has practically all your information and can be hacked into in seconds.

2. Alternate Realities

Advancements in smartphone technology have made it so we can enter different realities at the touch of a button.

Case in point, virtual and augmented reality.

While virtual reality (VR) completely transports you to a virtual world, augmented reality (AR) combines the real and the imaginary by overlaying a digital layer over real-world elements.

Whatever reality you choose, the popularity of devices like the Samsung Gear VR and applications like Snapchat and Pokemon Go has opened the door for programmers and developers to dip their toes in these alternate realities.

Specific to AR, because smartphones are portable, they serve as the perfect platform for users to augment the world around them. For example, future smartphone features can include an augmented map that visually guides you where you need to go through arrows that only you see or an information hub that tells you more about what you’re looking at (e.g. looking at a restaurant presents its name, menu, ratings, and reviews, etc.).

3. Holograms

While Apple’s Retina Display that delivers resolutions so sharp that we can’t actually perceive them may be the peak for screens in terms of resolution, the addition of holograms can take the smartphone as a whole to a whole new level.

For instance, we already have 3D screens in phones like the IQH 3D, and by combining this features with projections, we can create holograms that jump from the screen.

In use, because we can ‘grab’ what’s being projected, we can digitally touch what’s on our phones. For example, we can do things like resize and rotate pictures by ‘physically’ pulling, compressing and rotating them, or create and edit 3D models as if they were physically in front of us.

Let’s Take a Second Look

With future smartphone technology looking so good, it makes sense to go over what we covered one more time:
1. Blockchain that will make future smartphones more secure than ever before.
2. Alternate Realities that combine the real and the imaginary.
3. Holograms as future smartphones features that allow us to ‘grab’ what’s being projected.
Enjoy what’s to come!

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Liverpool vs Manchester City EPL 2018 Time, Date, Venue and Schedule

Manchester City confront what could be the toughest assignment of their Premier League retention bid once they travel to Merseyside on Sunday to face Liverpool.
The Blues haven't won at Anfield since 2003 and dropped to Jurgen Klopp's side three times last season - double, crucially, from the Champions League quarter-final.

Pep Guardiola's side has won their past four games in all competitions after slipping to a surprise defeat against Lyon, with Liverpool's 100% start to their league campaign finished by means of a draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge out time.
The sides are level on 19 points at the top of the desk, with City's superior goal difference placing the Blues in top place.

We have looked at how Guardiola's side may lineup against Liverpool, and also you could submit your line-up in the foot of the page. Liam Corless. Read more about Liverpool vs Manchester City game here.
Vincent Kompany appeared shaky against Hoffenheim and Pep Guardiola will be enticed to bring Aymeric Laporte back into the center when Benjamin Mendy, who returned to training on Friday, is available after a couple of weeks out.

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In midfield Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne face late fitness tests, but it could be a daring move for Guardiola to risk either man if they aren't fully fit at this early period in the season.
Fernandinho and David Silva pick themselves and Bernardo Silva could find the nod together with them in a midfield three if Gundogan and De Bruyne can't perform.

Raheem Sterling hasn't appreciated coming to Anfield but he's in fine form with six target contributions in his past six matches, while Leroy Sane is appearing menacing again after beginning the campaign out of favor.

Sergio Aguero should direct the line after notching his eighth goal of the season from the key Champions League win over Hoffenheim in midweek. Liverpool thrives on dynamic counterattacks, particularly in Anfield, and it would be a slight concern to see that a light-weight midfield duo of both Bernardo and David Silva fielded.

Liverpool vs Manchester City Time, date and Schedule

Match: Liverpool vs Manchester City
Date: October 7, 2018
Stadium: Anfield Road, Liverpool (England)
Competition: Premier League
Kickoff time: 16:30 (UTC/GMT+1, local time)

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AFL Grand final 2018 schedule, time, date, venue, teams and news

Around 100000 mad Collingwood and West Coast fans are expected to turn out to the MCG to watch the AFL Grand Final. Millions of people ...What time is the Grand Final? AFL Grand Final time 2018, entertainment, first bounce,schedule, teams.2018 AFL finals series Week 1 First qualifying final: Richmond Tigers ... move through the preliminary finals with was at times a heart-stopping win over the GWS ...

Buy tickets to the 2018 AFL Grand Final Series & book accommodation around Melbourne. Get in early before it all sells out & prices increase!The 2018 Australian Football League season is the 122nd season of the elite Australian rules footballcompetition. There are 18 teams competing in the league, the same as the previous six seasons. The first game was played on Thursday, 22 March, and the season is scheduled to conclude with the 2018 AFL Grand Final on ...

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AFL Grand final timings in different Countries

2018 AFL finals series Week 1 First qualifying final: Richmond Tigers ... move through the preliminary finals with was at times a heart-stopping win over the GWS ...

UK: 5.30am (Saturday)

Europe: 6.30am (Saturday — western), 7.30am (Saturday — eastern)

USA: 9.30pm (Friday — west coast), 12.30am (Saturday — east coast)

UAE: 8.30am (Saturday)

New Zealand: 4.30pm (Saturday)

Thailand: 11.30am (Saturday)

Japan: 1.30pm (Saturday)

Bali: 12.30pm (Saturday)

Schedule

10.00am — Under-17 All Star game

12.15pm — Sprint Heats

1.10pm — Teams warm up

1.30pm — Retiring players motorcade begins

1.40pm — Music entertainment from Jimmy Barnes and Black Eyed Peas.

2.13pm — Umpires and teams run out on to the ground

2.26pm — National Anthem sung by Mahalia Barnes (daughter of Jimmy Barnes)

2.30pm — Game starts

competition. There are 18 teams competing in the league, the same as the previous six seasons. The first game was played on Thursday, 22 March, and the season is scheduled to conclude with the 2018 AFL Grand Final on 29th September 2018.

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Sony announces retro PlayStation Classic with 20 games

Sony announces retro PlayStation Classic

After Nintendo, Sony just announced that will bring back the PlayStation Classic device after 25 years ago because in that time it sold more than 100 million copies.

the device maintains the same identity but smaller than the original by 45 % and also comes with two arms control because the company tries to give the players the old feeling of the game.

Source

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