Microsoft Announces Windows 10
At its Windows event in San Francisco today, Microsoft announced the next release of its operating system. Known until now as codename Threshold, the successor to Windows 8 will officially be known as Windows 10. Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Operating System, unveiled the name, after saying Windows is used by about 1.5 billion people. “Windows is at a Threshold and now it’s time for a new Windows,” Myerson said at the event. “It wouldn’t be right to call it Windows 9.”
The new operating system will offer a tailored experience for each device, but a single store will offer apps and updates across all devices. Windows 10 “will deliver the right experience on the right device at the right time,” Myerson said.
The Start menu not only has live tiles, but you can resize them, which impacts the overall size of the menu itself. You can also search the Web and receive results without opening up a browser.
While showing off the new operating system, Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President, Operating Systems Group at Microsoft, said today that going from Windows 8 to Windows 10 is like going from a Prius to a Tesla. “They don’t have to learn any new way to drive.”
Despite the focus on the mice and keyboard today, Microsoft will keep the touch part of Windows 8 around. The argument here is that touch users have higher satisfaction on Windows 8 devices than on Windows 7 devices. The opposite is true for mouse and keyboard users. As a result, Microsoft wants businesses to think of Windows 10 as a merging of Windows 7 and Windows 8.
“One of the most important customers for Windows is the enterprise,” Myerson said at the event. Redmond is very interested in communicating that it has been hard at work to move away from Windows 8, which many have criticized for not being as easy to use with a mouse and keyboard.
The next version of Windows was widely expected to arrive sometime next year. Even the Wi-Fi password at the event was chosen to remind everyone of this: “Windows2015.”
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Posted by Unknown
BlackBerry Launches Passport in India for Rs. 49,990
BlackBerry has launched the BlackBerry Passport, the company’s latest high-end smartphone in India. It was unveiled last week and packs a 4.5” diagonal (1440 x 1440 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974-AA) processor and runs on BlackBerry OS 10.3 with new BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry own personal assistant.
Blackberry keyboard also gets an update, with touch enabled keys right above, on-screen. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED Flash, 2-megapixel front-facing camera and has 4G LTE connectivity. It has 3GB RAM, 32GB of internal memory with expandable memory up to 64GB. It comes pre-loaded with the Amazon appstore for all the Android app needs while the Blackberry world app store will focus on enterprise apps. We unboxed the BlackBerry Passport recently, check out the unboxing.
BlackBerry Passport Specifications :
- 4.5-inch diagonal (1440 x 1440 pixels) 453 PPI 10-point multi-touch display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
- 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974-AA) processor with 450MHz Adreno 330 GPU
- 13MP Auto-Focus rear camera with 6DOF OIS, BSI sensor, 5-element f2.0 lens, LED Flash 1080p HD video recording at 60fps
- 2MP Fixed-Focus front-facing camera with Image & video stabilization, 720p HD video recording
- Dimensions: 128 x 90.3 x 9.3mm; Weight: 196g
- 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
- 3GB LPDDR3 800MHz RAM, 32GB internal memory, Expandable memory up to 64GB with microSD
- 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 LE, SlimPort, NFC, GPS + GLONASS
- 3450mAh integrated non-removable battery
Meet Matchstick, Mozilla's $25 Chromecast Alternative
Mozilla is expanding beyond its Firefox browser and trying its hand in the suddenly hot streaming video business.
Its take: the MatchStick HDMI streaming stick, which will sell for a limited time through Kickstarter at a starting price of $12 before it goes to retail. It's final price of $25 sets its sights on the Chromecast, the $35 streaming dongle from search giant Google. Matchstick runs on Firefox OS, the open source mobile operating system built by Mozilla on Firefox's underlying engine.
Mozilla has a keen interest in being known for more than just an Internet browser. The nonprofit Web advocacy organization receives a vast majority of its funding from Google, which also offers a competing browser in Chrome. Over the last two years, Mozilla has diversified into smartphones with its Firefox OS and now Matchstock in the hopes of getting support for open Web standards into more devices and more hands.
However, the Matchstick enters an already competitive field. Beyond the Chromecast, the streaming media space is crowded with Amazon's Fire TV, and market leaders Apple TV and Roku, all of which have long since secured the kinds of content partnerships such as Netflix and Hulu essential to the success of any entrant in the field. While Matchstick is promising to have them by its January launch, it doesn't appear to have secured them yet.
Graphene May Allow For Flexible, Low-cost Touchscreens
New research published today in the journal Advanced Functional Materials suggests
that graphene-treated nanowires could soon replace current touchscreen
technology, significantly reducing production costs and allowing for
more affordable, flexible displays.
The majority of today's touchscreen devices, such as tablets and
smartphones are made using indium tin oxide (ITO) which is both
expensive and inflexible. Researchers from the University of Surrey and
AMBER, the materials science centre based at Trinity College Dublin have
now demonstrated how graphene-treated nanowires can be used to produce
flexible touchscreens at a fraction of the current cost.
Using a simple, scalable and inexpensive method the researchers produced hybrid electrodes, the building blocks of touchscreen technology, from silver nanowires and graphene. Dr Alan Dalton from the University of Surrey said, "The growing market in devices such as wearable technology and bendable smart displays poses a challenge to manufacturers. They want to offer consumers flexible, touchscreen technology but at an affordable and realistic price. At the moment, this market is severely limited in the materials to hand, which are both very expensive to make and designed for rigid, flat devices."
Lead author, Dr Izabela Jurewicz from the University of Surrey commented, "Our work has cut the amount of expensive nanowires required to build such touchscreens by more than fifty times as well as simplifying the production process. We achieved this using graphene, a material that can conduct electricity and interpret touch commands whilst still being transparent."
Co-author, Professor Jonathan Coleman, AMBER, added, "This is a real alternative to ITO displays and could replace existing touchscreen technologies in electronic devices. Even though this material is cheaper and easier to produce, it does not compromise on performance."
"We are currently working with industrial partners to implement this research into future devices and it is clear that the benefits will soon be felt by manufacturers and consumers alike."
The research benefitted from funding and collaboration with M-SOLV, a touchscreen manufacturer.
Using a simple, scalable and inexpensive method the researchers produced hybrid electrodes, the building blocks of touchscreen technology, from silver nanowires and graphene. Dr Alan Dalton from the University of Surrey said, "The growing market in devices such as wearable technology and bendable smart displays poses a challenge to manufacturers. They want to offer consumers flexible, touchscreen technology but at an affordable and realistic price. At the moment, this market is severely limited in the materials to hand, which are both very expensive to make and designed for rigid, flat devices."
Lead author, Dr Izabela Jurewicz from the University of Surrey commented, "Our work has cut the amount of expensive nanowires required to build such touchscreens by more than fifty times as well as simplifying the production process. We achieved this using graphene, a material that can conduct electricity and interpret touch commands whilst still being transparent."
Co-author, Professor Jonathan Coleman, AMBER, added, "This is a real alternative to ITO displays and could replace existing touchscreen technologies in electronic devices. Even though this material is cheaper and easier to produce, it does not compromise on performance."
"We are currently working with industrial partners to implement this research into future devices and it is clear that the benefits will soon be felt by manufacturers and consumers alike."
The research benefitted from funding and collaboration with M-SOLV, a touchscreen manufacturer.
The World's Slimmest SmartPhone : Gionee Elife S5.1
Released in China earlier this month, the Gionee Elife S5.1 was presented by its maker as the world’s slimmest smartphone - being only 5.1mm (0.2 inches) thin. Now, according to Gionee, the handset is being recognized by the Guinness World Records as the thinnest smartphone ever made. We assume it’s going to take a while before a thinner handset shows up.
Ultra thinness aside, the Gionee Elife S5.1 appears to be a decent mid-range smartphone. Its features include a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display with 720 x 1280 pixels, 5 MP wide-angle front-facing camera, 8 MP rear camera, quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory (non-expandable), and a 2100 mAh battery. The handset runs Android 4.3 with Gionee’s Amigo 2.0 UI, and is currently available to buy only in China. It costs around $325, and is offered in black, white, pink, and mint green.
Gionee Elife S5.1 Specifications :
- 4.8-inch 1280 x 720p AMOLED display
- 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 40o (MSM8926) CPU
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB non-expandable storage
- Dimensions: 139.8×67.4×5.15mm
- 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- 5-megapixel front camera
- 4G LTE
- 2100mAh battery
- Amigo 2.0 (based on Android v4.3)
As you may know, the Elife S5.1 isn’t Gionee’s first ultra-thin smartphone. The company also has the Elife S5.5, which is 5.5mm thin, and can be purchased in lots of markets across Asia.
Ello, the Anti-Facebook Private Social Network
A new social network called Ello, which is being described as anti-Facebook due to its strong position on privacy and advertising is fast gaining and audience online.
"Ello doesn't sell ads. Nor do we sell data about you to third parties. We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment. Not a tool to deceive, coerce, and manipulate, but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life. You are not a product," said the company, as reported by AFP News.
Ello's policy rests on the idea that selling personal data, "is both creepy and unethical", and on most sites, "under the guise of offering a 'free' service, users pay a high price in intrusive advertising and lack of privacy."
Behind the scenes
The network based in Vermont, US, was launched by a group of artists and programmers.
The leading man behind the launch was Paul Budnitz who is known for designing bicycles and robots. According to Budnitz, the concept behind Ello was to design a, "simple, beautiful and ad-free" network.
The creators are designers and artists. Its CEO, Paul Budnitz, makes toys.
There's no big marketing push and no obvious tie to Silicon Valley.
These are not the typical building blocks of a hot new social network. Yet, people are joining it in droves. In the past few
days, Ello has seen an incredible influx of new users. Its network more
than quadrupled in size and there's no sign of it slowing down. As I'm
writing this, I'm told that Ello has gained nearly 20,000 new users in
just the past hour. A quick scan of my Twitter and Facebook feeds
reveals a whole slew of my friends have joined the service, which is a
remarkable achievement considering Ello is still at the invite-only
stage. Only existing users can invite those looking to sign up, which
means it's mostly spreading by word-of-mouth. Ello had to stop taking invites because its servers were slammed. People are even selling Ello invitations on eBay for $100 a pop.
Additionally, because Budnitz and his team have strong design and art backgrounds, they wanted the site to look good. "I wanted something really clean and very different," he said. "I also wanted to deal with clutter." Berger added that Ello was also intended as a shared art space, and that's apparent almost immediately. It has a minimalist interface, with plenty of white space and a wide layout that really lets art and photos take center stage. And for all you GIF-lovers out there, Ello supports those animated images out of the gate.
Posted by Unknown
GoPro Just Announced the Cheap Tiny Camera
Many casual photographers have been wanting to dip their toes into the GoPro water for some time, but have found the company’s tiny but high-quality cameras too expensive to make the leap at upwards of $200, with the top models costing as much as $500.
But now they can go ahead and jump in; GoPro just announced the “Hero,” a scaled-back, entry-level model that’s perfect for first-time GoPro-ers who don’t need the top-of-the-line features found in GoPro’s flagship cameras. And the cost? Only $129.
Here’s what the Hero features:
- 1080p video at 30fps
- 720p video at 60fps
- 5MP stills at up to five frames a second
- QuickCapture and Burst Photo modes
- Wide-angle lens for getting more in your shots
- Integrated waterproof housing that keeps your Hero dry to an advertised 131 feet
Interestingly, GoPro’s entry-level Hero comes at a pretty terrible time for Polaroid — yes, Polaroid — which just dropped a $99 entry-level GoPro competitor called the Polaroid Cube.
15 of the Best Music Streaming Platforms Online Today
With a seemingly ever-growing number of streaming music services available via the Web and dedicated mobile and tablet apps, choosing the one that best fits your need is an increasingly difficult task.There are lots of options out there, but here are some of the biggest and most notable that are worth checking out.
Spotify
Spotify is one of the best-known music services available, and as such it has a 20 million strong catalogue of tracks available to listen to – it also means there’s a thriving hub of third-party apps too, like the BBC’s Playlister service among many other, with which to extend your listening.Pandora
Although Pandora is still only available to users in the US, Australia and New Zealand, it’s a veritable granddaddy of online music streaming, but walks a different line to Spotify. Rather than providing tracks on-demand, Pandora users pick an song and let it create a radio station of similar and related music. Thankfully, and as you might expect given its the primary function, this actually works pretty well and keeps recommendations sensible.For a yearly payment of $36 or a monthly payment of $3.99, Pandora listeners can, however, upgrade to a Pandora One account, which removes all the advertising, and provides access to the service through the standalone Pandora One Desktop app.
Google Play Music All Access
OK, so it has an unwieldy and cumbersome name that we wish Google would change, and we’ve already given you a pretty deep dive into Google’s music service, but here are several good reasons it deserves consideration in your short list. Currently, there’s a 20,000 track limit on the number of songs you can upload, but this should be enough for a modest music collection.iTunes Radio
iTunes Radio is obviously, by its very nature of being tied to the largest digital music store, a big player in this list. Offering access from a range of [mostly Apple] devices, iTunes Radio can be used on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, or Apple TV and allows seamless syncing of playlists between them. Like Amazon and Google’s music services, Apple also offers users the option of storing all your locally stored music in iCloud via the iTunes Match service, so you can play it back from any compatible device. To use this feature, you’ll need a premium subscription to iTunes Match costing $24.99 per year.Deezer
The French company Deezer has been offering music streaming since way back in 2006, although back then it was called Blogmusik. It became a fully fledged business in August 2007.With many years under its belt already, Deezer is now a mature service with a catalogue of 30 million tracks available for playback. Like the others, at its most basic it offers playlists, music discovery, favorites and integrated social features but it also offers a wide range of different mobile clients including iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry. It’s also available on Mac/PCs too, as well as via a dedicated Windows 8 app.
Users that sign up for a free trial of Deezer Premium+ via Facebook are given 15 days to test out the service, before needing to enter card details to carry on using it. Happily, it’ll work in a lot of different countries too, a full list can be found here.
Xbox Music
Xbox Music is Microsoft’s music streaming service that ties together its desktop, gaming, mobile and tablet devices for true multi-platform access, and a replacement for Zune.It only launched last summer, but it’s already had a makeover for Windows 8.1 and launched on iOS, Android and via a Web player. Naturally, it’s available on Xbox consoles too.
SoundCloud
If you’re looking for a huge repository of music, but one that also lets you upload your own mixes and tracks too, then you’re probably looking for SoundCloud. Primarily intended platform for people to share their own musical creations and mixes, as it has grown in popularity and size, big artists and labels have also signed up, allowing for some of their music to be available through the platform.SoundCloud offers three pricing tiers:
- Free – Offers two upload hours, 100 downloads, unlimited playlists and access to some stats, like number of plays, downloads, comments and favorites of tracks.
- Pro (€3 per month/€29 per year) – Allows four hours of uploads, access to posting tracks in ‘Quiet Mode’ (allowing you to control comments) and Spotlight (allowing you to pin up to five tracks to the top of your profile to receive more attention). It also includes more detailed stats, with reports on who is playing your tracks and where they’re located.
- Pro Unlimited (€9 per month/€99 per year) – Allows you to upload unlimited single sound file sizes up to 2GB each and within an upload time limit of 30 hours per week.
Grooveshark
Grooveshark is an online music streaming service for playing back individual tracks, artists or albums since back in 2007. The free tier allows ad-supported listening of tracks across a wide range of genres, but it’s really the hassle-free listening and good selection of electronic dance music that scored it a place on this list.Slacker Radio
Slacker is another radio-style streaming service that’s available across a range of platforms, but unlike, say, Pandora, listeners aren’t restricted to only being able to listen to radio stations.Sony Music Unlimited
Sony’s music streaming service, like many others, touts a catalog of more than 25 million tracks (“from indies to superstars”) available to play on demand, however, it’s a little different to some of the options here, in that there’s no free streaming plan available. Instead, to entice you to dip a toe into the water, there is a free 30 day trial so you can take it for a test run before deciding to carry on with monthly payments, or not. If you do decide to go ahead and pay for it, the service has two tiers: an Access Plan and a Premium Plan. It’s probably also worth mentioning that at the time of writing, there’s also a 3-month offer for $3/£3.
The Access Plan is the cheaper of the two — $4.99/£4.99/€4.99 — and allows users to access premium Channels, chart listings and editorial playlists curated by the team. Naturally, it also includes unfettered streaming access to the entire catalogue of tracks, or there’s the option to download playlists to your library for offline access – but only up to a limit of 1,000 tracks.
Mixcloud
Mixcloud touts itself as the place for long form audio. In real terms, this means that it’s a great repository for DJ mixes, radio shows, podcasts and any other longer audio formats. The company says that the average length of an upload on its platform is in excess of 40 minutes, and that the average listener stays tuned in for more than 20 minutes, and its long form format means it’s great at just running unattended in the background for hours at a time.Rdio
Rdio is an ad-free music subscription service that allows users to listen to music on-demand, as well as to stream pre-made stations and playlists of tracks created by other users. Like many of the others, Rdio claims to have that magic 20 million song catalog and offers mobile access for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices (via a Web app). Although you’ll need to pay a monthly subscription fee for access from a mobile.For $4.99/£4.99 per month, you can get access to unlimited streaming on the Web, shown above. Increasing this to $9.99/£9.99 broadens access to include mobile devices (Windows Phone shown below) and streaming via devices like a Roku media player. There’s also a family plan which includes two (by default, although more can be added) unlimited subscriptions starting from $17.99/£17.99 per month.
TuneIn Radio
TuneIn Radio is a little different to the other radio streaming services in this list as it focuses on acting as a hub and player for commercially available radio shows. In total, there are more than 100,000 live stations available, and more than 2 million podcasts. There is actually a chargeable app for iOS (currently $0.99, but usually $6.99) and Android ($6.99) that allow users to record live radio, but still won’t get you out of listening to those adverts. There are also free apps for Android and iOS too. It’s also available for Windows Phone, BlackBerry, some Roku players, through some Internet TVs – and even directly in some cars.Myspace (Music)
MySpace might seem like an odd one in this list, but since it relaunched, it has re-angled itself as a music and video platform, rather than as a social network.Beats Music
Beats Music is easily the newest service on this list, so new in fact that it hasn’t even quite started up yet anywhere, but it will on January 21. However, only for users in the US – although further expansion is to be expected, judging from the signup page for people outside the States.Amazon
Amazon is clearly the elephant in the room when it comes to this, as it doesn’t offer a music streaming service. Yet. However, we’d be surprised if it didn’t offer one in the future.Round up
As you can see, there are plenty of online streaming options available, with some being more suited to radio listening and others focusing purely on providing individual tracks and albums on-demand.Most of those included in this list offer an algorithm or human curation aspect to discovery of new music, but you’ll likely need to spend some time using any of them before it accurately learns what you like.
Posted by Unknown
Huawei Honor 6 and MediaPad Honor T1 Launched
Huawei has launched the MediaPad Honor T1, the company’s latest tablet in the Honor series. It was announced recently as Honor Tablet and packs a 8-inch HD IPS display with 72% screen-to-body ratio, powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor and runs on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) with Emotion UI 1.6 on top. It has a 5-megapixel rear camera, 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 3G support via SIM card slot and has voice calling capabilities.
Huawei MediaPad Honor T1 Specifications :
- 8-inch (1280 × 800 pixels) IPS display with 160-degree viewing angle
- 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 Processor (MSM8212) with Adreno 302 GPU
- Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) with Emotion UI 1.6
- 5 MP rear Camera
- 0.3MP (VGA) front-facing Camera
- 7.9 mm thick and weighs 360 grams
- 1GB RAM, 8GB Internal memory, Expandable memory up to 32GB with micro SD
- 3G HSPA+ (with voice calling), Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS / aGPS
- 4800 mAh battery
Huawei has launched the Honor 6, the company’s latest smartphone in the Honor series. It was announced in China back in June and has a 5-inch 1080p display, powered by a Octa-Core HiSilicon Kirin 920 SoC and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Emotion UI 2.3 on top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with Sony sensor, LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
Huawei Honor 6 Specifications :
- 5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) 10-point multitouch LTPS display
- Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 920 processor (4xA15 1.7GHz + 4xA7 1.3GHz) with Mali T628 GPU
- Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Emotion UI 2.3
- Dual SIM
- 13MP camera with Sony BSI sensor, F2.0 aperture and Dual LED flash
- 5MP front-facing camera
- 3GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
- 3.5mm audio jack, IR LED
- 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS and NFC
- 3100 mAh battery
Posted by Unknown
Karbonn Announces Titanium Wind W4 Windows Smartphone For Rs.5,999
Karbonn partnered with Microsoft earlier this year to launch Windows Phone devices. Karbonn Titanium Wind W4, the company’s first Windows Phone device is now available from Amazon.in. Priced at just Rs.5,999, this is the cheapest Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone with Dual SIM support in India currently, cheaper than the Nokia Lumia 530 Dual SIM that was launched recently.
It has a 4-inch WVGA screen, powered by a a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon (probably Snapdragon 200) processor and a 5-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED flash and a front-facing camera, according to the listing. Other specifications are similar to the Lumia 530, but no word on the battery capacity yet.
Karbonn Titanium Wind W4 Specifications :
- 4-inch (800 x 480 pixels) display
- 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
- 512MB RAM, 4GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
- Windows Phone 8.1 OS
- Dual SIM
- 5MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash
- front-facing camera
- 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS
Micromax Canvas 4 Plus Launched Online For Rs 16,999
Micromax Canvas 4 Plus A315, the company’s latest smartphone in the Canvas series is now available from eBay.in and Infibeam. It packs a 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) AMOLED display, powered by a 1.7 GHz octa-core MediaTek processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat). It features a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED Flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.It has 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage with expansion slot and packs a 2000 mAh battery.
Micromax Canvas 4 Plus A315 specifications
- 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) AMOLED display
- 1.7 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592 processor with 700MHz Mali 450 GPU
- 1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
- Dual SIM
- Android 4.4 (KitKat)
- 13MP autofocus rear camera with LED Flash
- 5MP front-facing camera
- 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
- 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
- 2000 mAh battery
Posted by Unknown
Samsung Launches Metal Framed Galaxy Alpha
Samsung has launched the Galaxy Alpha, the company’s first smartphone with an unique metal frame and 6.7mm slim body. It was unveiled last month and packs a 4.7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) Super AMOLED display, powered by a Octa-Core Exynos (1.8GHz Quad + 1.3GHz Quad) processor and runs on Android 4.4.4 (KitKat). It has a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. The removable back cover has smooth finish. It has Finger Scanner for a secure, biometric screen locking feature and mobile payments and a built-in heart rate monitor.
Samsung Galaxy Alpha Specifications
- 4.7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) Super AMOLED display
- Octa-Core Exynos (1.8 GHz Quad + 1.3GHz Quad) processor
- Android 4.4.4 (KitKat)
- 12MP rear camera with LED Flash, 4K Video recording
- 2.1MP front-facing camera
- 6.7mm thick and weighs 115 grams
- 2GB RAM, 32GB internal memory
- S Health 3.0, Heart rate sensor
- 4G LTE-A Cat.6 / 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2X2 MIMO), Bluetooth v4.0 LE, GPS, NFC
- 1860 mAh Battery
At the launch, S.K. Kim, Managing Director, Sales, Samsung Electronics, India said,
As the market leader, Samsung has significantly contributed to the market growth by setting new benchmarks in offering the best-in-class technology and products. With the launch of Galaxy Alpha, Samsung is announcing a new design approach to satiate customer demands for an irresistibly stunning and stylish product. This revolutionary product will change the dynamics of the premium smartphone segment in India.
Nexus 6 aka Shamu to Feature Snapdragon 805 SoC
Reports and rumors about the Motorola ‘Shamu’ or the Nexus 6 have been surfacing for quiet some time now. Today, the phone has been leaked in photos which 9to5Google claims are mockups that are based on the real device.
Previous reports had stated that the Motorola Shamu will sport a 5.9 inch screen. Soon after, the phone appeared in GFX and AnTuTu benchmarks with same screen size and a resolution of 2560 x 1440 which is larger than the Moto X. As per the photo, the Motorola Shamu or the Nexus 6 has the same design as the new Moto X.
Moving on, the report also reaffirms the previous specs of the phone like a 2.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter and 3200mAh battery. Finally, it looks like the Motorola Shamu will come with Android L. The report goes on saying that the phone will be announced in October and released in November.
Apple Releases iOS 8.0.2 Update with Bugs Fixes
The iOS 8.0.2 update also “includes improvements and bug fixes originally in iOS 8.0.1.
“We apologise for inconveniencing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who were impacted by the bug in iOS 8.0.1,” Apple said.
On Wednesday, the company was forced to pull the 8.0.1 update after 60 minutes of availability, because of user reports that it was disrupting cellular network connections and Touch ID fingerprint scanning on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models.
An Apple spokeswoman said that fewer than 40,000 devices were affected by the bug.
The following is Apple’s list of the fixes included in the 8.0.2 release:
— Fixes an issue in iOS 8.0.1 that impacted cellular network connectivity and Touch ID on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
— Fixes a bug so HealthKit apps can now be made available on the App Store
— Addresses an issue where 3rd party keyboards could become deselected when a user enters their passcode
— Fixes an issue that prevented some apps from accessing photos from the Photo Library
— Improves the reliability of the Reachability feature on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
— Fixes an issue that could cause unexpected cellular data usage when receiving SMS/MMS messages
— Better support of Ask To Buy for Family Sharing for In-App Purchases
— Fixes an issue where ringtones were sometimes not restored from iCloud backups
— Fixes a bug that prevented uploading photos and videos from Safari
Apple had previously delayed the introduction of third-party HealthKit-compatible apps to the App Store due to a bug in iOS 8. The buggy software release came on the heels of another fiasco for Apple: users reporting that their iPhone 6 Plus models were bending in their pockets.
Several videos appeared on the internet depicting phones being bent by hand. Apple responded to what Twitter users began calling “Bendgate” with an explanation of its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus durability tests, and a statement that only nine users had reported bent iPhone Plus models in the first six days of sales. Apple’s stock fell 3.8 per cent to $US97.87 on Thursday in the US amid the iPhone concerns.
Apple iPhone 6 Plus Bending Issue
When Apple initially unveiled its biggest iPhone to date - the 5.5-inch iPhone 5 Plus - many worried the device would be too big to stuff in their pockets. Now, as it turns out, those who can fit the phone in their pocket are reportedly complaining that the phone bends after being stored there while sitting.
Just days after the phone's launch, some iPhone 6 Plus owners are reporting that their phones look slightly bent and curved from sitting in a pants pocket, according to MacRumors.
The phone looked like this after about 18 hours of sitting the front pockets of a pair of suit pants:
Another commenter called "DevinPitcher" claims the same thing happened to his friend after he put the phone in his front pocket.
MacRumors theorizes this "bending" effect could be the result of the phone's size. Since it's so large and thin, it's susceptible to bending with your body as you move. Smaller phones would slide out of the way, MacRumors claims.
It's unclear exactly how authentic these claims are, and this isn't the first time we've seen these types of complaints. Last year, Cult Of Mac reported that some users also complained that the iPhone 5s would bend after being stored in your pocket.