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The Difference Between UX and UI Design We’ve all overheard conversations, walking down hip streets of the world’s tech capitals, discussions about the great ‘UX’ of a product, or the poor ‘UI’ of a website. Is it a secret language you will never be privy to? Are these people just using slang to look cool? The Acronyms Unveiled The people you have eavesdropped on are actually discussing two professions that despite having been around for decades, and in theory for centuries, have been defined by the tech industry as UX and UI Design. UX Design refers to the term  User Experience Design , while UI Design stands for  User Interface Design . Both elements are crucial to a product and work closely together. But despite their professional relationship, the roles themselves are quite different, referring to very different parts of the process  and the design discipline . Where UX Design is a more analytical and technical field, UI Design is closer to what we refer to as graphic

                When Skype launched on 29 August 2003, it is fair to say that it was one of the most important moments in the history of communication. As hyperbolic as it may seem to equate the launch of Skype with the invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in 1450; the first long distance phone call made in 1884 or the first mobile phone call made in 1973, there is no question that Skype revolutionised the way the world was connected and heralded an era where geographical distance no longer meant being unable to see and talk to your friends and family. Unsurprisingly Skype was a huge success and since it was launched it has grown quickly and according to the latest figures from Microsoft — which bought Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011 — there are 300 million people around the world actively using the service every month, and while other services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger (which both offer similar services) have grown bigger

BLE pairing vs. bonding Just a quick write up on the difference between pairing and bonding, since these terms get used interchangeably. I think this has to do with the usage of ‘pairing’ in Bluetooth Classic, or BR/EDR. As far as Bluetooth LE is concerned, pairing and bonding are two very distinct things. The short explanations are that pairing is the exchange of security features each device has, and creating temporary encryption. Bonding is the exchange of long term keys AFTER PAIRING HAS OCCURRED, and STORING THOSE KEYS FOR LATER USE. Pairing is not the creation of permanent security between devices, that  is called bonding. Pairing is the mechanism that allows bonding to occur. Pairing Pairing is the exchange of security features. This includes things like i/o capabilities, requirement for man-in-the-middle protection, etc. The client side begins this exchange. The client essentially says ‘hey, i’d like it if you had these features’. The server replies, ‘yeah, well,

What are the latest features of Bluetooth 5.0 version Technology? While Bluetooth 5, won’t be rolled out until late 2016 or early 2017, it has brought forth some significant improvements to the existing specification in terms of speed, range, broadcasting capacity when compared to Bluetooth v4.2. Let’s take a look at these features in detail: Quadruple the range Bluetooth 5 will offer four times the range of its predecessors. This extended range also means that Bluetooth will now be able to replace WiFi as a communication technology for most IoT applications. For example, it will provide users with full control over their  smart home products , right from light-bulbs to smart locks, from anywhere in their home. Thus, Bluetooth 5 effectively removes the main advantage of using power-hungry Wi-Fi to control smart home devices, and makes the more efficient BLE a better choice. Particularly because, in addition to reduced infrastructure costs (no access points or routers requi

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is about the first smartphone to feature Bluetooth 5, the latest standard of the wireless transmission technology. The Sony Xperia Z Premium will also have it, but it’s not due for a while yet. So what, you say? Well, it’s pretty neat and has plenty of new features, such as being twice as fast as the previous version, four times the range range (1000 feet) and more, providing you have devices capable of making the most of it. This has allowed Samsung to come up with something it calls Bluetooth Dual Audio, specified by Samsung on its website but hardly reported. And Bluetooth Dual Audio is even cooler. If you have memories of sharing earbuds with someone special so you can both listen to the same track, those memories are probably warm and rosy, tempered only by the lack of stereo available to both parties. So how much better would it be if you could both connect your own Bluetooth headphones to the same phone at the same time and stream the music to

Android O Features and APIs Android O introduces a variety of new features and capabilities for users and developers. This document highlights what's new for developers. Make sure to check out  Android O Behavior Changes  to learn about areas where platform changes may affect your apps. Notifications In Android O, we've redesigned notifications to provide an easier and more consistent way to manage notification behavior and settings. These changes include: Notification channels: Android O introduces notification channels that allow you to create a user-customizable channel for each type of notification you want to display. The user interface refers to notification channels as notification categories. To learn how to implement notification channels, see the Notification Channels guide. Snoozing: Users can snooze notifications to reappear at a later time. Notifications reappear with the same level of importance they first appeared with. Apps can remove or upd