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.”

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

The BlackBerry Passport comes in Black and White colors and is priced in India at Rs. 49,990. It is available for pre-booking at Amazon.in and BlackBerry exclusive stores starting today, 29th September till October 10th and goes on sale on October 10th. Those who are pre-booking the smartphone on Amazon would get Rs. 5000 worth Amazon gift card and 5000 complimentary miles from Jet airways.

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)

There’s no word on pricing as yet, but we know that the device will start selling in China starting this month itself. Gionee has been actively marketing itself in India, where it also launched the Elife S5.5, a device that received rave reviews, for 22,999 INR earlier this year.


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.

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.

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

The Huawei MediaPad Honor T1 comes in silver color and is priced at Rs. 9,999 in India.  It would be exclusively available on Flipkart.



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

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

The Karbonn Titanium Wind W4 comes in black, white and red colors, but currently only the white variant is on sale. Xolo launched the Win Q900s, the company’s first Windows Phone handset recently.

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

The Micromax Canvas 4 Plus A315 comes in White with Gold and Black colors and is priced at Rs. 16,750 online. It is expected to launch officially in coming weeks.

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

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes in Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver and Scuba Blue colors and is priced at Rs. 39,990 in India. It will be available in the first week of October. Samsung has tied up with Airtel to offer 5 GB of 4G data for two months in 4G circles.

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.

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.

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.

India is the fastest growing smartphone market in the world. The country has seen a rise in migration to smartphones from basic feature phones, according to the State of the Android Mobile Web report for India by Opera Software. Opera report further states that 77% of its users in India have a smartphone priced below Rs 10,000. Micromax is the leading smartphone maker with 30% of users followed by Samsung at 25%. However, Samsung takes the number one spot in terms of the top 10 positions in Android handsets used by Opera Mini users and also consume 56% of data on the top 100 Android devices. In comparison, Micromax users consume 21% data.  Moving on, 47% of users are accessing Opera Mini on their smartphones and not the basic Java phones.

Giving insights about user activities on the Opera browser, the report reveals that video consumption is on a rise. Unique user visits to video sites increased by 205% since last year with YouTube leading this category, followed by Dailymotion and Metacafe. The number of Opera Mini users visiting these sites grew by 175%, 450% and 205% respectively in that timeframe.

74% of Indian mobile users on the web are accessing Facebook as seven out of ten pages are of the social network on the Opera Mini browser. Besides social network e-commerce portal have also witnessed a growth of over 240% in Opera Mini users over the last year. Within this category, shopping portals experienced a massive 356% growth in user visits. The most accessed site is Flipkart, followed by Amazon and Snapdeal. Online classifieds websites are also becoming more popular among users. The category jumped 150%, with Quikr in the lead, followed by OLX and Sulekha.

In July, Finnish smartphone company Jolla announced that it planned to enter the Indian markets with Sailfish OS-powered devices. The company even sent out a tweet from its official account confirming the India launch alongside an exclusive tie-up with Snapdeal. Two months later, the device has finally reached Indian shores and will be available for purchase exclusively via Snapdeal for Rs 16,499. The phone is available in Poppy Red, Keira Black and Aloe colours.
The Jolla smartphone features a distinct button-less design, and the Sailfish OS gesture-based user experience. Sailfish OS is based on Meego, a Linux-based mobile operating system that Nokia had been working on. It was later put on hold as it wanted to focus on Windows phones.
Former Nokia employees revisited the project to bring the Jolla smartphone which runs on Sailfish OS. The Sailfish UI’s biggest strengths includes focus on multi-tasking without jumping in and out of apps. As is becoming the norm nowadays, there is also a big emphasis on gestures for navigation and selection of content.

Jolla integrates Android apps so users can enjoy a majority of apps that are popular on Android. Other features include Live multitasking, which lets users use multiple apps simultaneously and a unique interface that supports new gestures such as peek and pull. The Home view shows you commonly-used apps, while app shortcuts can be accessed with a swipe. For example for switching music tracks and opening a new browser window.

The phone sports a 4.5-inch 960 x 450 display, 8 MP main camera and a 2MP front camera and packs 16GB of built-in storage. The phone is powered by a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which is clocked at 1.4 GHz and backed by 1GB RAM. There’s a user-replaceable 2100 mAh battery, which Jolla claims, provides up to 10 hours of call time.

Interestingly, today is the day when Xiaomi will be selling 60,000 Redmi 1 s units on Flipkart, so looks like both Snapdeal and Flipkart will be enjoying the limelight today. However, unlike, the hordes of budget-phone makers entering the Indian market, the Jolla smartphones comes at a slightly higher price tag of Rs 16,499.

After Samsung, LG is the new company to launch an entry-level clamshell smartphone in Korea. Named as Wine Smart, it has a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen display, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat). It has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front-facing camera. It comes with Kakao Talk messenger with a dedicated launch key for the app, T9 keypad and high-power 1W speaker that would the best output even in noisy audio environment. It is 16.9mm thick and weighs 140.8 grams.

It also has a new safe keeper feature aimed at elderly users. This would automatically automatically send the location information or call the emergency number when the phone is unused for a long time. It has a tiny LED notification light on the outside that would offer notification for missed calls, text messages and more.

It has 1GB RAM, 4GB of internal storage with expansion slot and packs a 1700 mAh battery. It has 4G LTE connectivity and comes the usual set of connectivity features such as WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS. The LG Wine Smart comes in black and white colors and would go on sale in South Korea starting September 26th. No word on pricing or availability outside Korea.

Salora International has launched Arya Z2, the company’s latest budget smartphone. The company entered into the smartphone market last year by launching its PowerMaxx smartphone with 3200 mAh battery, the new Arya Z2 is packed with features. It has a 5-inch HD display based on one-glass-solution (OGS) technology, powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582A processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat). It has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Salora Arya Z2 specifications :

• 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS OGS display
• 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582A processor with Mali 400MP2 GPU
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• Dual SIM (GSM + GSM)
• 8MP rear camera  (Interpolated to 13MP) with LED Flash
• 2MP (Interpolated to 5MP) front-facing camera
• 7.55 mm thick and weighs 155 grams
• 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
• 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, 32GB expandable memory with MicroSD
• 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
• 1800 mAh battery

The Salora Arya Z2 comes in Black color and is priced at Rs. 6,999. It is backed by Salora’s own established service network from SILCARE, which has over 250 service centers across 189 cities in India, says the company. It is available exclusively from Amazon and comes with a free 8GB microSD card and a 8 flip cover as an introductory offer.

Jivi Mobiles has launched its first Android smartphone in India called Jivi JSP 20 at a price of Rs. 1,999. The Jivi JSP 20 is currently the lowest priced Android smartphone in India and is targeted at feature-phone users looking to shift to smartphones.

The 2G smartphone features a 3.5-inch capacitive touch display with One Glass Solution at a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. Running on a 1 GHz processor and Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread operating system, the smartphone offers dual SIM (G+G) functionality, WiFi and Bluetooth. On the memory front, the Jivi JSP 20 comes with 128 MB RAM and offers 256 MB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 32 GB via microSD card. The phone features a 2 MP rear camera with flash andis powered by a 1350 mAh battery. The smartphone is available exclusively at Amazon.in. The delivery of the smartphone will start from September 25 and buyers pre-booking the Jivi JSP 20 before September 24 will get a flip cover for free.

Jivi JSP 20 Specifications :

•  3.5-inch OGS capacitive display
• Dual SIM (2G + 2G)
• 1 GHz processor
• Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread
• 128 MB RAM
• 256 MB internal storage expandable up to 32 GB
• 2 MP rear camera with flash
• 1350 mAh battery

Yesterday, Apple commented that iOS 8 the user data stored on iPhones or iPads are fully encrypted, so no one, not even Apple, can access them, even with a court or government order. This is certainly an interesting point for the operating system of the Apple company, and Google seem to think the same. The reason is that a few hours after these statements, the guys at Google have announced that Android 5.0, the next version of the popular operating system for mobile devices, also have default data encryptio.

As we say, by this measure, the data stored on devices with newer versions of iOS and Android will be completely inaccessible, unless the person has the correct password. Three years ago, Google already offers the ability to encrypt our data Phones with Android installed, but this measure, it simply ceases to be a possibility , becoming a default feature. As a result, all users will benefit from this improved safety, because until now, it was an option that activated only those with technical expertise.

Undoubtedly, the two companies that dominate the market for mobile operating systems take such measures is something to behold. Anything that increases the security and privacy of user data is welcome.

Google Inc launched in India the first smartphones under its Android One project, pricing them at Rs 6,399 ($105) to capture the low-cost segment of the world's fastest growing smartphone market.
The Mountain View-Based company tied up with Indian mobile players Micromax, Karbonn and Spice Mobiles to launch the affordable phones, which are powered by its operating system and aimed at emerging markets.

After launching in India, Google said it plans to expand Android One to Indonesia, Philippines and other South Asian countries by the end of 2014 and in more countries in 2015. Google outlined the pricing and expansion details in a marketing document seen by Reuters. India is seen as a lucrative market for low-cost smartphones because many people are buying the devices for the first time. Just 10 percent of the India's population currently owns a smartphone, brokerage Nomura said in a recent research note, and that figure is likely to double over the next four years.

Google, however, is not the only company jostling for a share of the Indian market. There are at least 80 smartphone brands in India and analysts say the Android One phones must offer customers more than just affordability if it wants to compete with similarly priced devices made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Motorola and China's Xiaomi.

"The initial pricing never sticks but it'll be tough for them to compete if they don't come down further," said Neil Shah, research director for devices and ecosystems at Hong Kong-based technology research agency Counterpoint Research. In June, Google had announced the launch of the Android One project, which aims to boost demand for low-end Android smartphones by vastly improving their quality. Currently, many cheap emerging market smartphones run different and somewhat customised versions of the Android operating system, which along with the many variations in hardware make apps on those phones prone to glitches.

YouTube will be going offline in the coming few weeks, allowing users to save videos, said company executive Ceaser Sengupta at the Android One launch event in Gurgaon today.

According to Sengupta, YouTube offline will allow users on data network to watch the same videos over and over again withough having to bother about data charges. “Within the coming few weeks, much of YouTube will be available offline in India. This is huge, and our users will really, really like this. You can download a video once, save it to your phone, and watch it again and again,” said Sengupta.

There was some news in the recent past, about YouTube going the Rdio, Spotify and Beats Music way, offering a music subscription service called YouTube Music Key priced at $9.99/month. Sengupta didn’t mention about the offline YouTube being a subscription model, but the offline service will not be restricted to music videos only.  No details were given out on the advertising model for offline videos.

Google is bringing Polar over to Google+ in the hopes that the team behind the popular opinion-tracking service will be able to heat up Google's social network.  While it remains to be seen just how Google's latest acquisition might best fit into the Google+ experience, Google's David Besbris, vice president of engineering, told the Wall Street Journal that Polar's team will work to make Google+ more user-friendly on mobile devices.

Polar's current line of business, which it will be shutting down at the end of the year, is just what its name suggests: easy-to-use polls that can be filled out via various Web services and apps. We're not talking about surveys filled with hundreds of options. Rather, Polar's offerings are more of the "Do you like Mario or Luigi?" variety.

"Polar started with the simple idea that everyone has an opinion worth hearing. Since then one in every 449 Internet users told us what their opinion was by voting on a Polar poll. Our deepest thanks go out to each and every one of you," reads Polar's description. Polar was founded approximately two years ago by Luke Wroblewski and Jeff Cole—the former previously the co-founder and chief product officer of Bagcheck, and the latter the co-founder of Patients Like Me.

As part of the company cozying up with Google, Polar is releasing a series of articles Wroblewski wrote about mobile and multi-device design as a free iBook and PDF document. It's also a bit of a tease of Wroblewski's expertise in the area; he previously wrote a book about app design called "Mobile First," which has since become a bit of a Silicon Valley buzzword.
"Each version is filled with nuanced user interface design details and big-picture thinking on mobile and multi-device design for PCs, tablets, TVs, and beyond. It's our hope that some of our experiences, insights, and missteps, will ultimately help you with the product journey you're on now or will be in the future," Wroblewski wrote.