You have probably used a magnetic air vent car mount before, but the chances are pretty high that you have never used one quite like the Spigen Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount. What sets the cheap yet useful hands-free device apart from most of the others is the fact that it doesn't need magnetic stickers for it to attach to the smartphone. The ones we have used before, usually have the included magnetic stickers which you must apply at the back of your phone for the setup to work, but not with this one. The Spigen car mount simply uses the magnets that are already present inside the compatible smartphones to attach itself to them.

The system is simple to work with and of course offers more flexibility than magnetic sticker-based car mounts and it doesn't let go of your phone during bumpy rides either. Considering that it costs about $6.99 on Amazon right now, we would say that this is an excellent buy, or even a MUST buy! As of now, the Spigen Magnetic Car Mount is compatible with the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.

The fact that Samsung is working on a smartphone that will sport a foldable display is old news now, but we got to know just recently that two such phones are in development instead of one. Bloomberg reports that the first device will fold in half from the middle, much in the same way as a "cosmetic compact." The second device will initially appear to be a smartphone with a 5-inch display, but can be unfolded to add 3 more inches to the display real estate, making the screen a tablet-sized 8-inch one.

We have been hearing about the "Project Valley" for a long time now and rumors had previously suggested a 2017 release date. The latest report affirms those rumors as it indicates that we might be able to see the foldable phone at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona. We are excited to find out what Samsung comes up with, when it's released. It sounds amazing to be able to carry around an 8-inch display in your pocket, but we will have to wait and see, if the manufacturer manages to deliver a device that actually works as well in real life scenarios as it seems would do, on paper. What do you think about the foldable smartphone?

Author: Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

The Next Note smartphone from Samsung is surrounded by rumors, speculations and leaks. There has even been a word that the Note 6 might actually be called the Note 7! Amidst all this confusion and mystery, @OnLeaks and uSwitch had joined forces and as a result, a few images and a video has been published that shows us the upcoming Note in detailed rendering. These look to be the genuine deal and are based on leaked blueprints, allegedly.

The Note 6 looks similar to the S7 Edge in design here, but with a bit more squared sides, reminiscent of the Note 5. The device seems to sport a dual edge display, along with curves on both the front and the rear. An USB Type-C port can be seen, along with what can be speculated as a setup of sensors for the iris scanner. The S-Pen has not changed its place from the familiar bottom slot this year either.

]These renders are by far the best ones that we have seen yet and they do look very convincing. Do you see anything that we missed? Let us know after having a look at the render video below.

Author: Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

All other hypes and rumors were crushed when Oppomart listed the OnePlus 3 on their website with a price tag of $369. The product was marked as "out of stock," but it gave away almost everything about the phone with official pictures and detailed specs! You will find the "published" specifications of the OnePlus 3 below.

Display: 5.5" 1080p

Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 CPU and Adreno 530 GPU

RAM: 4GB/6GB (DDR4)

In-built storage: 32GB/64GB/128GB UFS 2.0

16-megapixel rear camera (Sony IMX298) with optical image stabilization

8-megapixel front camera

Fingerprint scanner in the Home button

Support for 4G LTE-FDD and multimode modem

Battery: 3,650mAh with Quick Charging

OS: Oxygen OS built on Android 6.0 Marshmallow

If this turns out to be true (which is very likely), then OnePlus is all set to deliver another stellar product to its customers. However, we think that the $369 price tag is meant for the entry level variant of the OnePlus 3, so if you want the beastly version with 6GB of RAM, you might have to shell out more. Do you like what you see? What do you think the beefiest variant of the OnePlus 3 would be priced at?

Author: Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

Twenty years ago it was easy to define the profile of a “gamer.”  It was predominantly 18-24 year old males sitting in a darkened den for hours on end, moving only their fingers and wrists unless it was to answer the door when the pizza delivery guy arrived.  However, smartphones and tablets made gaming mobile, and mobile gaming revolutionized the entire gaming industry.

(Image Source: polygon.com)

Among other factors, advances in smartphone technology certainly helped bring mobile gaming into the spotlight and popularize it – smartphone screen sizes getting larger didn’t hurt either. What is the average profile of a mobile gamer today? It’s difficult to pinpoint.  There is a multitude of categories.  Some are simple statistics such as age and gender.  Then there are categories based on behavioral traits such as purpose of gaming or dedication spectrum levels. Some statistics are surprising, but it is no surprise that as more people join the mobile gaming community, mobile game app revenues will inevitably overtake console games.

Age and Gender – Not What You’d Expect

While console gaming is still lingering in the realm of males 18-24, mobile gaming has attracted an entirely different demographic. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has the average age of the mobile gamer at 31, up from last year’s 30 and the largest group demographic is now 18-35. 

(Image Source: businessinsider.com)

Even more interestingly, when you look at the genders, the actual average age of a woman mobile gamer is 43.  It may come as no surprise than that the most frequent gamers play social games, over 31% of them in fact.  Also, as women are social creatures, over 56% of frequent gamers play with others, mostly friends.

According to another worldwide study by Flurry Analytics, women also make 31% more in-app purchases and spend 35% more time on gaming apps then men.  Additionally, while women to men ratios are currently 48% to 52%, within the next 1-3 years, the number of women playing mobile games in every country will far surpass the number of men, getting to almost 2 to 1.

Why People Play the Game People Play

The purpose of gaming is another way to profile today’s gamers.  Again, there are multitudes of reasons why gamers game, but most come down to a few solid categories.  There is also a lot of overlap between these categories as well.

Gamers game to be social.  According to ESA, 31% of the games most frequently played on a mobile device are social games, and these games are played 45% of the time with friends.  For these people, it is not about winning as much as it is about playing the game with a friend that you wouldn’t have time to see otherwise. It’s about chatting up comments and bragging on social media.

(Image Source: getappsonpc.com)

When mobile apps added the feature of being able to post scores or wins on Facebook, they attracted an entire new generation of gamers. Those who used to play scrabble against the computer now played Words with Friends against 20 of their favorite contacts and a few randomly chosen folk as well. As of May 2016, Candy Crush Saga continues to be the most popular social game, with 10.91 million active players on Google Play and the App Store.

Gamers game to exercise their brain.  As the average IQ of the world is actually dropping, training and improving your mental capabilities is an important feature for just about everyone.  Puzzles, card games, casino games, question and specific “brain training” games make up the next highest frequently played game category with 14% of mobile games downloaded falling into it.

(Image Source: youtube.com)

Puzzle games require logic and planning to succeed.  Card games like poker sharpen the intellect by requiring and honing strategy, problem solving and decision making skills. All these factors activate the frontal lobe. Moreover, poker also promotes discipline and emotional control. Add to that the option to play multiple live games for real stakes with hundreds of thousands of players around the world and your intellect is put under real pressure to perform.

If puzzles and poker aren’t enough to stimulate the brain, brain trainer type apps are becoming all the rage as well.  It seems everyone is putting together teams of neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists to develop apps to improve your focus, logic, memory, emotional intelligence and more.  Even Mensa, the organization of people with IQs in the top 2% is on board with their own app to help you discover your own Mensa Brain Index.

(Image Source: thegoodshoppingguide.co.uk)

Gamers game to compete..  Even in social games, there is a winner.  After brain training games, the next most popular game genre are strategy and shooting games.  Whether you play an individual or an army, you are still looking to take the other guy down and be the champion. The last real category of most frequently played games are action games, with 5% of all frequent gamers playing.

This category may be the one carrying console gamers to the mobile platform.  Game of War – Fire Age and Mobile Strike were the top grossing mobile games in 2015, together totaling almost $3 million in daily gaming revenue.

What’s Your Level of Dedication?

The dedication spectrum is another category of gamer profiling. Game developers, the media and associated business divide gamers in categories based upon their dedication to gaming. There are five basic categories:

Newbie is a slang term for the novice of newcomer. This is actually a huge market as about 60,000 new gamers purchase or download a new game every day. New games are launched for beginners on every platform with detailed tutorials and multiple achievement levels to get a new game player in the mind frame for more advanced games.

(Image Source: forbes.com)

Casual Gamers comprise the largest group of gamers, with almost 48% of the gamer population falling into this category.  This is the person who needs to be able to pause or quit a game easily and want games that are less serious.  This person plays to kill time on the subway and to stay social with friends. This category is predominantly 35-45 and female. One of the most popular series of casual games ever to hit the market was The Sims.  The statistics from this game only proved that real life is overrated and it’s just better simulated – for some, at least.

Core Gamers and Hardcore Gamers are both enthusiastic about a variety of games.  The biggest difference between the two is that a core gamer plans his gaming around his schedule, and a hardcore gamer plans his schedule around his gaming. Core gamers are more serious about a variety of games than a casual gamer, and also have a sense of competition.  A hardcore gamer is dedicated to the action and competition, is involved in gaming communities and stays aware of all new gaming developments.  Hardcore gamers continue to primarily remain the 18-24 male demographic.

(Image Source: wegotdiscovered.com)

Professional gamers play for money, prizes or salaries.  While this category is relatively new to the mobile gaming community, it is infiltrating the marketplace as a result of mostly Japanese and Asian demand.  Recently, Sony announced its new company Forward Works, which plans to create professional gaming opportunities on mobile platforms.  This was most likely in response to Nintendo’s successful release of Miitomo in Japan.  It is likely professional mobile gamers could see the six-figure salaries that Major League Gaming has paid out to pro console players.

With over 500 new games launched for iOS and Android smart devices every day, the gamer profile continues to evolve as 15-20 million new gamers join the game pool every year. It is without a doubt that mobile devices have brought gaming to populations that would have never sat down in front of a console game. What does this mean to the future of gaming? Better yet, what does this mean to the future of people?