Mihăiță Bamburic

Working from home has its perks. I don't waste any time commuting. I get to eat home-made food at lunch. And, among other things, I never have to worry about battery life. If the battery of my smartphone is nearly done, I can always find a charger to top it up again. Life is easy in this regard, until I walk out the door.

I don't usually plan my trips so that I go out with a fully-charged smartphone. This is the least of my concerns, to be honest. There's always a charger in the car. And, for the times when that is not an option, I carry either a Lepow Poki 5000 or U-Stone 12000 external battery charger. I'll be reviewing both in this piece.

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I have never used a case with any of my smartphones. When the back is all plastic and there is no metal in sight, the added width and thickness that a case adds is not something that I can justify just to cover some superficial scratches that are not off-color. But then I got an iPhone 6.

With nothing but metal surrounding the 4.7-inch display, I soon had a feeling I would be getting a case after all. On iPhone 6, scratches would look terrible, especially on my Space Gray model. I haven't found it to be as slippery as my colleague Joe Wilcox has, but this has also been of concern, more so than with any of my previous smartphones. Enter Acme Made Charge for iPhone 6.

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Yesterday, I told you that Android users may be affected by malware even if they only use Google Play to get apps. Three popular, adware-riddled, titles made it past Google's security checks, remaining undetected for months -- in fact, they may still be affecting users as we speak. And if you believe that iOS is safe, you might want to reconsider. New malware has been found, affecting iOS users even if they haven't jailbroken their device. Is there nothing that's safe anymore?

Security firm Trend Micro has uncovered the malware as part of an investigation into Operation Pawn Storm, a cyber-espionage operation with economic and political targets. It is designed to steal personal information, like contact lists, geo-location data, photos, text messages and more. The malware affects both iOS 7 and iOS 8, which are found on 97 percent of Apple's mobile devices.

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If you want to steer clear of malware on Android, just stick to Google Play. I am sure you have heard this line before. And it makes sense, if you think about it, as Google subjects apps to security checks prior to approving them. So, it makes sense to hand out that piece of advice whenever new Android malware is discovered in the wild. But what if the malicious bits are found in Google Play itself? A change of tune is in order.

Security firm Avast details how three popular, seemingly harmless Android apps -- but, riddled with adware -- have been tricking users into visiting unwanted sites, installing other apps, to fix different non-existent issues, like fake malware infections, porn-filled storage (though, I have to say, it is far from an unlikely scenario, in some cases) and so on.

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Android 5.0 Lollipop was the only new Android release that came out in 2014. And that was unusual. Prior to its arrival Google had announced twice as many each year (even more, if we look far enough behind), with less than six months between them. In 2015, Google is shaking things up one more time.

In recent years, the first new Android release of the year usually came in June or July, but in 2015 it arrives much sooner. In fact, Android 5.1 Lollipop is already here, as it is shipping on a new batch of Android One devices slated for Indonesia.

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Motorola is getting lots of attention from the media. With smartphones as good as Moto G and Moto X, it's easy to understand why. Because of this, you might think that Motorola is selling lots of devices. After all, if it's so popular then that's a given, right? Well, that's not the case, at least not yet.

In reality, Motorola claims more mindshare than market share. According to parent company Lenovo, the long-lasting smartphone vendor only shipped a tad over 10 million units in the last quarter of 2014. That puts it on the same level as Microsoft, which, Strategy Analytics says, is only at three percent market share. Motorola is far, far away from leading players in this regard.

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Getting the latest Nexus smartphone from Google in the first few months of availability can prove to be a real adventure. You know how it goes, as the same thing has happened before with its predecessor. You have to be either extremely lucky to get one early on or extremely committed to the brand to put up with the perennially insufficient stock by waiting your turn at finally getting one. It's insane.

Because of these issues, I have long given up on the thought of buying the latest Nexus smartphone while it's hot -- including the Nexus 6 phablet, as much as I would love to grab one. The fault lies consistently with Google. The search giant is terrible at selling smartphones. Even worse, it comes up with a crappy excuse to justify it.

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Samsung is no longer the leading smartphone vendor. According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, Apple caught up with the South Korean maker in Q4 2014, thanks to a record number of iPhone shipments totaling 74.5 million units. The two players now share the top spot on the podium.

How did it come to this? Well, it's simple. Apple's shipments increased from 51 million units by 46.07 percent year-over-year, while Samsung's shipments decreased from 86 million units by 13.37 percent, each converging to 19.6 percent market share. Thanks to the strong performance shown by iPhones, iOS' market share rose also, to 19.6 percent from 17.6 percent a year prior, while Android's market share dipped slightly to 76.7 percent from 78.3 percent.

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Half a year after it unveiled Mi 4, Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi is bringing its "fastest & most gorgeous Mi Phone ever" to India. Starting February 10, local consumers will be able to get their hands on the flagship device through retailer Flipkart.

Mi 4 is one of the most interesting smartphones unveiled in 2014, in no small part thanks to its $320 starting price. Handsets from rival makers such as Samsung have price-tags twice as high, so it is easy to understand what makes it such an appealing option in the flagship segment. Fortunately for those wanting to get their hands on Mi 4 in India, its price-tag is still as attractive as ever.

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YouTube introduced the HTML5 player back in early-2010. I remember it quite well. At the time, it was made available through the Try something new! page, only as an experimental feature. I was excited to get rid of Flash, so I flicked the switch. I had high hopes. I thought I would be able to play all videos using the HTML5 player, but, as it turned out, that was years away from happening -- YouTube's HTML5 player was not yet ready for prime time, and Flash would get a few more years to reign supreme.

Fast forward to early-2015 and YouTube finally announces that HTML5 is the default player. Flash might as well be considered officially dead on YouTube. It's a huge step forward for those of us waiting for the day when sites we visit are no longer asking or forcing us to install Flash.

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Microsoft has released its earnings report for Q2 FY2015 (that's Q4 CY2014 for everyone else), revealing figures that closely match analyst expectations. The software giant achieved $26.5 billion in revenue, with operating income coming in at $7.8 billion. Gross margin and diluted earnings per share were $16.3 billion and $0.71, respectively. However, in after-hours trading, Microsoft's shares dropped by $2, or 4.28 percent, to $45 per share.

Microsoft has delivered some good news through its earnings report concerning its Devices and Consumer part of the business. Surface revenue reached $1.1 billion at the end of the quarter, which translates to a healthy increase of 24 percent over Q2 FY2014. Lumia sales topped 10.5 million, which, again, is better than the same quarter from a year prior as well as the previous quarter, Q1 FY2015. And the list goes on.

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T-Mobile wants nothing to do with subsidies, but it is willing to trim the cost for a price. Normally, if you want to buy a new phone from the magenta carrier you will have to pay full price, either outright or through financing. Except that now T-Mobile has a new program, called Score, which was just introduced to allow its customers to get smartphones at lower prices. Is Score a good choice for you?

For just $5 per month, T-Mobile customers who sign up for Score will be able to take advantage of lower prices when purchasing a new smartphone from the carrier, in either six months or a year after joining the program.

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Facebook is not exactly the lightest mobile app around. In fact, it is one of the worst offenders, no matter if we are talking about Android or iOS. It uses plenty of resources, both in terms of data and processing power. We may have gotten used to it by now, but these are major pain points in developing and emerging markets, where more and more potential users are going online for the first time.

There, lots of consumers are rocking low-spec Android devices and small cellular data plans, and the standard Facebook flavor is not a great match for them. So, the social network has finally released a lighter version of its Android app, called Facebook Lite, which promises to address those shortcomings. Let's take a look at it.

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Microsoft revealed earlier this week that Windows 10 will ship with a new browser, known as Spartan. The venerable Internet Explorer will still be around for enterprise duty and certain sites, but the new kid on the block is the one Microsoft wants you to embrace. However, when it is Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox that you have to leave behind, convincing you to jump ship is not going to be easy.

Spartan is clearly no Internet Explorer. It is designed from the ground up as a modern browser, that works well across multiple form factors. It will be found on all PCs, smartphones and tablets that ship with or are upgraded to Windows 10, which means that it, at least, will be readily available to test. But does it have what it takes to pass the test, and become your new favorite browser?

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Windows 10 is shaping up to be the best Windows yet. I am still wrapping my head around it, but after going through most of the changes I think there are a ton of things to like about it, which is an astonishing achievement. Microsoft really managed to surprise me, and I didn't expect that, to be perfectly honest.

However, what seals the deal for me is how all the changes tie together. I can now say that there are clear benefits to using the latest Windows across all devices that support it. It makes total sense, for the first time. In fact, without even trying the new Preview release, I am sold on Windows 10. Count me in as one of the first to make the switch on all of my devices!

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