Technology News: A look at some of the new technology in 2016

2016’s technology news is buzzing with the latest technology to come to South Africa’s shores. There are so many amazing devices that you are going to be spoilt for choice. Two of the biggest new technology devices are the new Samsung s7 and the new iPhone 7.

As with the previous new Samsung and iPhone models, there is a lot of speculation and excitement over what these mobile devices might have on offer. The latest technology news is inundated with what these two phones will be able to offer the consumer. Early reviews and insider information have surfaced with regards to these new mobile phones, and things are looking great.

The Samsung S7

Samsung’s new flagship phone, the Samsung S7, will be released some time during the first quarter of 2016 in South Africa. The new phone is designed to be an aggressive response to the new iPhone 7 which is also coming out around the same time. Apple has recently created a lot of unsatisfied customers, mainly due to the quality of their last phone and their customer service. This means that Samsung will be trying their absolute best to capitalize on the Apple slump.

There is a lot of leaked information on the net so let’s take a look at what we know the Samsung S7 will offer.

Samsung Galaxy S7 design

The design won change much from what we can ascertain. Samsung overhauled the last S6 so drastically that they will more than likely stick with this design, with some minor tweaks. Samsung said that they are concentrating on performance and picture quality so don’t expect much to change in terms of the looks.
What you can expect is a sleek, streamlined design that’s made from glass and metal and, a non-removable battery to keep the design slim. Samsung might bring in some of the Galaxy Note’s curves but it will look very similar to the current S6.

The screen

The Galaxy S7 will have an impressive 5.1-inch screen with a 2560×1440 colour display. The phone will have the latest technology that can be put into a mobile phone. This includes Samsung’s own technology that is similar to the iPhone 6S’ 3D Touch technology. This will allow for different functionality in apps and phone function, depending on how hard or softly you are pressing the screen.

The Camera and memory

New technology from Samsung called the BRITECELL will be used for the camera. This functions better in low light and is smaller than the camera off of the Samsung s6. It works by using a different colour spectrum from the conventional array sensors. The camera will be a 30 mega pixel camera in the back and a 10 mega pixel camera in the front for video calling and selfies. The new GigaPixel feature will automatically assist you in taking photos with more accuracy and clarity.

There are rumours that the new phone will finally have a microSD slot included. The previous phone didn’t have one and this created a lot of backlash for Samsung. 32GB and 64GB varieties have been identified. We cannot confirm or deny this, but it makes sense as this would please Samsung fans.

Samsung Galaxy S7 OS and power

We can expect the phone to use Samsung’s own Android Marshmallow updates on launch. This means that you can expect improvements on battery life, app permission control, fingerprint scanner support, more accurate volume controls, USB-C support and some new Google Now features. There will also be a new Android OS coming at launch so look out for that.

In terms of power and processing speeds, the Samsung’s Galaxy S7 is rumoured to come in two different variants. One will have the 64 bit Exynos chipset and the other will have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 64 bit processor. Samsung has a long history of using a mixture of chipsets. The reason for this particular spit is apparently due to the Asian markets being over concerned with core count. So Samsung will use the Exynos 8890 processors to meet this demand, then Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 820 for the rest of the world to keep their costs down. All of this means that you will be able to experience 3.5 GHz of processing power which is the fastest speed that one can currently enjoy with a phone.

4GB of ram will be featured in the new Samsung s7. Think about it, this is the RAM that most laptops and PCs have today. Anything that you can do on a conventional laptop or PC can be done just as easily on the new Samsung phone.

Other features of the Samsung Galaxy S7

Some other feature will be the use of waterproof/dustproof technology. There will be 5G Network Connections capabilities and infrared sensors that will be able to measure things like body temperature and stress.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Variants

Rumours are circulating that there will be anything from two to four models available. So you can expect there to be the normal Samsung Galaxy S7, definitely The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and possibly two other variants in the shape of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Plus. These will obviously feature different spec levels and screen sizes.

Apple’s new iPhone 7

The Apple company has become very good at keeping its new technology from prematurely being exposed on the internet. This however won’t stop die-hard fans from scouring the net for the latest rumours and leaks with regards to their new Apple iPhone 7. The technology news sector is buzzing, as the release time draws closer. We can confirm certain things, so let take an educated guess at what you will be getting when the new Apple iPhone 7 release date will be in the last quarter of 2016. The last few iPhones were released in the states in September so you can probably expect the same in South Africa.

The iPhone 7 design

If you go according to Apple’s normal trend of completely revamping their iPhone every two years, then the 7th generation iPhone is said to be a very different looking device.

The phone the Samsung S7 is aggressively reacting to, rumours suggest that the iPhone will be even slimmer than the previous model. It will most likely drop between 6mm to 6.5mm in size. This saving in space is apparently due to the smaller chipsets that don’t sacrifice performance.

The size decrease will also be due to the lack of a headphone jack. Bluetooth headphones can be used instead and there’s a possibility that you will get Apple’s new wireless headphones as an in-package addition when you buy the new iPhone.

The phone will most likely have an all metal design with a strengthened frame that’s both water and dust resistant and uses new compound materials in it design.

The screen

There is a lot of speculation with regards to the screen of the iPhone. There are rumours that the phone will use a new glass-on-glass screen and that it will be utilizing a sapphire display screen which can withstand scratches from the edge of a knife blade. Apple watches already use this glass so it makes sense that their new phone will too.

There is some talk that Apple might switch over from the traditional LCD displays to an OLED display but this will most likely only happen in 2018 which will be the successor to the iPhone 7.

A recently discovered Apple patent shows rubber bumpers that elevate from the phone so when the iPhone is dropped, the device itself doesn’t actually touch the floor. This doesn’t mean that the new iPhone for sale will feature this but it might very well be so.

iPhone 7 camera and battery

Given that Apple likes to stick to their new camera components for some time means that the iPhone 7 will keep the 12MP back camera and the front-facing 5MP camera. The new software however will increase the efficiency of the camera and its clarity. Apple might bring in better image stabilizing software to further enhance the camera. There is talk of using a two lens DSLR type camera though.

The battery was the biggest issue in the previous model so it would be nice to see an improvement here. Unfortunately there is nothing floating around the net to suggest that they are making changes and if the slimming down of the phone is any indication, we will most likely not get an upgrade here so Apple can save space.

OS and power

The iPhone 7 is expected to be powerful with improved speeds and faster processing times thanks to a new A10 chipset. RAM will most likely not be increased from the previous 2GB as Apple doubled their last phone’s RAM. That being said, their biggest completion (the Samsung Galaxy S7) will have 4GB of ram. Apple might make an executive decision to match this so they don’t lose out on sales.

The operating system is another area that Apple is very quiet about. Traditionally, Apple has tried to come out with a new OS for every generation of their phones. That being said, iOS 9 is still relatively new (it came out last year September) so we might see an OS 9 with many different tweaks and updates or we might see a new iOS 10 operating system. Apple might also use the iOS 10 to make improvements on things that they haven’t managed to upgrade like the battery life and the camera capabilities.

Connections and charging

We mentioned before that the headphone jack will be omitted. This will be replaced by an all-in-one Lightning port which will work as an audio jack and a charging port. Unfortunately this means that any headphone you use will have to have a lightning connection as your old audio jack will no longer work here. This means the phone will lose some weight and be thinner than previous models and you will get increased audio quality. It also means that you will not be able to charge the phone while your headphones are plugged in and this has given rise to speculation that Apple may be experimenting with wireless charging capabilities. Sadly, we probably won’t see this till the iPhone 8 come out.

Latest technology around the world

There are so many awesome devices coming our way in 2016. Let’s take a look at a brief handful of the latest technology available.

Technogym treadmill for sale

Technogym wants to revolutionize the fitness industry by introducing their treadmill for sale that plays personalized music based on how fast or slowly the person on the machine is running.

It works by matching the number of steps you take to the rhythms of songs you have programmed in. They will have 60 inch curved OLED displays and you will be able to sync your treadmill to google maps and run in “exotic locations” around the world.

The latest Samsung fridge for sale

It looks like Samsung is doing a lot to advance new technology. Their new fridge for sale will have 21.5 inch display screens with touchscreen capabilities. You will be able to check the temperature, humidity and mode. The best part is the fridge has a camera inside so you will be able to see what’s in the fridge without opening it. We see this as a solution to something simple, opening the door, but Samsung says there is a big market for this.

Blink electrical skateboard

The same people who brought us rocket skates bring us an electronic skateboard which can be controlled via a smartphone app and moves at speeds of up to 19 kilometres per hour. What’s not to love?

The Petnet SmartBowl

Ever gone on holiday, or anywhere for that matter, and worried that Mr Fluffy won’t get his fair share? The SmartBowl is your answer. All you have to do is input you animal’s weight, activity and age into the device. The bowl will tell the owner when there is enough food. So if you have someone looking after Mr Fluffy then you will never overfeed him again. We must warn you that to an animal, there is no such thing as “enough food”. So you will most likely have to be very strict in the beginning.

From new the Samsung and iPhone 7, to a Technogym and smart fridges, this is just a small taste of the new technology that will be coming your way in 2016.

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