Friday 15 January 2016

Samsung Tipped to Launch Answer to Apple's Live Photos With Galaxy S7


Samsung Tipped to Launch Answer to Apple's Live Photos With Galaxy S7
South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung is reportedly planning to launch its answer to Apple's Live Photos, which was introduced with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The new feature is said to be set to debut with the upcoming Galaxy S7 flagship.
According to a report citing an unnamed Samsung software engineer, the feature will also see a wider rollout as a part of future software updates in other Galaxy handsets as well. Android Geeks reportsthe feature will be called either Timeless Photos or Vivid Photos.
However, the feature will not be capturing sound with the photo, the report adds. This will enable users to more easily share the resultant images on Facebook or other social media, in the form of gif images. Since we are still far from the actual launch of the smartphone and have not got any official statement from Samsung for the feature, we advise users to take the news with a pinch of salt.
In a recent report, Samsung was said to be planning to concurrently launch three variants of the Galaxy S7. Apart from the Galaxy S7, it will reportedly launch the Galaxy S7 Edge and the Galaxy S7 Edge+ alongside.
Multiple reports suggest that Samsung will utilise the Mobile World Congress event for the launch, scheduled from February 22 to February 25.
As for what to expect from the Samsung Galaxy S7, the smartphone is expected to offer top-of-the-line hardware specifications and features including an iris scanner. Samsung was previously tipped to have a Galaxy Unpacked 2016 event scheduled for February 20.
According to a report from earlier, the Galaxy S7 will feature a 5.1-inch Super Amoled display with a QHD (1440x2560 pixels) resolution. The Galaxy S7 Edge is said to have a 5.5-inch Super Amoled display, also with a QHD (1440x2560 pixels) resolution.
Both the handsets are rumoured to be either powered by Exynos 8 octa-core (Exynos 8890) or Snapdragon 820 processor, coupled with 4GB of RAM. They are expected to come in two storage options: 32GB and 64GB and support expandable storage up to 200GB via microSD card. On the camera front, both the smartphones are rumoured to feature a 12-megapixel camera with f/1.7 aperture.

Windows 10 Mobile Update Starts Rolling Out for Microsoft Lumia 640


Windows 10 Mobile Update Starts Rolling Out for Microsoft Lumia 640
Microsoft confirmed last month that it had delayed the release of Windows 10 Mobile, the latest version of its mobile operating system. And it seems the delay is finally over. The company has apparently started to seed the Windows 10 Mobile software upgrade in at least one region.
T-Mobile has confirmed (via WMPU) that it has begun to release Windows 10 Mobile for Lumia 640handset users in Poland. The build version that the company has released is 02177.00000.15184.36002. We realise that most of you don't live in Poland, and/ or sport a Lumia 640, but the big news is that the software you're anxiously waiting for has started to trickle out fromMicrosoft.
Microsoft had previously committed to releasing Windows 10 Mobile to all eligible handsets in December. However, the company confirmed last month the time-frame had been extended to "early 2016." As you may remember, all Windows 8.1-powered smartphone that have more than 4GB of internal storage are eligible to receive the free software update.
Many smartphones that have launched in the past few months are already running Windows 10 Mobile. Some of these include the Lumia 950, the Lumia 950 XL, and the Lumia 550. To recall, Windows 10 Mobile offers a range of features including Continuum and Universal Windows Apps, and some enhancements to Message and Photos apps.
According to media reports, Microsoft is working on an app that will allow Windows Phone handset owners to know whether their smartphone is eligible to receive the software upgrade. The app dubbed "Upgrade Advisor," will also let users clear up storage space on the device to accommodate the new software upgrade.

Display

5.00-inch

Processor

1.2GHz

Front Camera

 0.9-megapixel

Resolution

 720x1280 pixels

RAM

 1GB

OS

 Windows Phone 8.1

Storage

8GB

Rear Camera

8-megapixel

Battery capacity

2500mAh

Samsung Said to Be Primary Supplier of Oled Panels for iPhone



Samsung Said to Be Primary Supplier of Oled Panels for iPhone
Apple is rumoured to shift from iPhone LTPS (low-temperature poly-silicon) LCD (liquid crystal display) panels to flexible organic light emitting diode (Oled). Now, a new report that Samsung will be the primary supplier of flexible Oleds for Apple's iPhone. It says that the contract between Apple and Samsung for flexible Oled panels for the iPhone is "practically" decided.
An earlier report claimed that both LG and Samsung Electronics would supply Oled screens for Apple's iPhone.
According to the latest report by South Korea's ET News, Samsung is expected to receive orders from the Cupertino-based giant by the end of first quarter. The report speculates the size of investments to be in the range of 30,000 to 45,000 sheets per month. It also adds that a plan to invest an additional 45,000 sheets per month in 2017 is also included in the contract.
Apart from supplies for Apple, Samsung Display is said to extend its facilities by 15,000 per month for its own Galaxy-range of smartphones and other China-based manufacturers.
As per reports, Samsung Display is expected to invest around $2.49 billion and $3.32 billion on the plant and equipment in 2016. If Samsung plans to add an additional 45,000 sheets per month in 2017 to its lot then the total will go up to $6.64 billion to $7.47 billion in investment.
To recall, Japan's Nikkei newspaper had reported that Apple plans to start using Oled screens for its iPhones starting only in 2018.
Lately, several reports have been claiming that Apple may ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack on its next iPhone. An earlier report said that Apple was working with Beats Electronics to develop "truly wireless" earphones - which is to say, there wireless earphones will feature no wires between the left and the right earbuds.

BlackBerry Refutes Dutch Police's Claims, Says Its Phones Are Still Secure



BlackBerry Refutes Dutch Police's Claims, Says Its Phones Are Still Secure
BlackBerry has refuted the reports that claimed that Dutch police have managed to break the encryption on its smartphones. The Canadian company is assuring its users that its handsets remain as secure and private as they have always been.
Addressing the media report, BlackBerry said that it is not aware of any details on the specific smartphone that was compromised, or the way it was configured. The company added that if the cops managed to access emails, texts and other data on a BlackBerry smartphone, it "could be due to factors unrelated to how the BlackBerry device was designed."
Earlier this month, investigators from the Netherlands Forensic Institute, which handles criminal cases,claimed that they were able to read texts and emails on BlackBerry PGP devices, the third-party customised version of BlackBerry handsets that have additional PGP encryption.
The additional security measures allow a user to add a password to their emails, files, and texts. For these reasons, the smartphone is deemed more secure. PGP BlackBerry smartphones are sold by many online retailers.
BlackBerry said on Thursday that its smartphones don't have any backdoors. The company added that the data recovery on its device could have happened due to factors such as the installation of insecure third-party applications, or "deficient security behaviour" by its owner.
"[...] There are no backdoors in any BlackBerry devices, and BlackBerry does not store and therefore cannot share BlackBerry device passwords with law enforcement or anyone else," the company said. "In other words, provided that users follow recommended practices, BlackBerry devices remain as secure and private as they have always been."
The company's latest statement does appear to contradict its CEO's stance on privacy, saying the company works with the governments and law enforcement agencies. It has previously said that it cooperates with them and hands over data for the "greater good."

Asus ZenFone Max With 5000mAh Battery Now Available in India



Asus ZenFone Max With 5000mAh Battery Now Available in India
The Asus ZenFone Max, the latest ZenFone series smartphone which was unveiled in India earlier this month, was available in India on Friday. The smartphone will be going on sale via online as well as offline retailers.
Priced at Rs. 9,999, the Asus ZenFone Max earlier went up for pre-order via Amazon India, Flipkart, andSnapdeal. The Taiwanese company, as promised, will be also selling the ZenFone Max via offline retail channels including the Asus Exclusive stores. The company also expressed plans to expand the offline presence of its devices in India. Asus India in a press statement said that it plans to expand the self-branded exclusive stores to 30,000 by end of 2016. The company said that by end of 2015 it only had 100 stores.
The biggest highlight of the new ZenFone Max is its 5000mAh battery which the company touts can work as a power bank for other devices. Notably, the battery on the handset is non-removable. The company claims that the ZenFone Max can deliver up to 914 hours of standby time and up to 38 hours of talk time.
With a large 5000mAh battery, the ZenFone Max will be up against several handsets featuring a similar battery capacity. The Gionee Marathon M4, priced at Rs. 15,499, was launched last year with a 5000mAh battery last year. Recently, the Chinese company unveiled the Gionee Marathon M5, priced at Rs. 17,999, in India featuring two 3010mAh batteries, taking the total to 6020mAh. Another smartphone featuring a large battery is the Lenovo Vibe P1, comes with a 4900mAh battery, and was launched at Rs. 15,999 back in October.
For specifications, the ZenFone Max features a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display and runs ZenUI 2.0 based on Android 5.0 Lollipop. It is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor clocked at 1GHz coupled with 2GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of built-in storage which can be expanded up to 64GB (via microSD card). The handset, similar to other ZenFone series smartphones in India, supports Indian LTE bands. It packs accelerometer, compass, proximity, and ambient light sensors.
The dual-SIM device sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash and also comes with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Other connectivity options include 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, GPS, Glonass, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.

  • Design
  • Display
  • Software
  • Performance
  • Battery life
  • Camera
  • Value for money
  • Good
  • Stellar battery life
  • Good indoor and low light shooting
  • Decent performance and software
  • Bad
  • Battery is not user-replaceable
  • Supplied charger is weak
  • Some problems with outdoor shooting
  • A bit heavy
Read detailed Asus ZenFone Max review

Coolpad Note 3 Lite With 3GB RAM, Fingerprint Sensor Launched at Rs. 6,999



Coolpad Note 3 Lite With 3GB RAM, Fingerprint Sensor Launched at Rs. 6,999
Chinese firm Coolpad has launched a new smartphone in India on Friday, the Coolpad Note 3 Lite. Priced at Rs. 6,999, the smartphone will be exclusively available via Amazon India with the flash sale method, with the first sale scheduled at 2pm IST on January 28. Registrations begin Friday at 5pm IST.
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is the basic version of the Coolpad Note 3 (Review), which was launched in India in October last year at Rs. 8,999. 
The dual-SIM dual-4G Coolpad Note 3 Lite runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop skinned with Cool UI 6.0, and features a 5-inch IPS display with an HD (720x1280) resolution. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 SoC, coupled with 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM - which can be considered the highlight of the device at this price point. Another highlight is its fingerprint sensor, placed on the back panel below the camera module.
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite bears a 13-megapixel rear camera with and f/2.0 aperture and LED flash, apart from a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The smartphone comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 64GB). Connectivity options include 4G (with support for Indian LTE bands), Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB (with OTG).
The Note 3 Lite runs on a 2500mAh non-removable battery that's rated to deliver up to 10 hours of talk-time, and up to 200 hours of standby time. It features an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and digital compass.
The company added that VoLTE (voice over LTE) functionality would also be made available, though did not specify the timeline for release. An Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the Coolpad Note 3 Lite was also said to be in the pipeline. Coolpad added it had partnered with HCL for after sales service in India.
Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news, product reviews, and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles.

Display

5.00-inch

Processor

1.3GHz

Front Camera

 5-megapixel

Resolution

 720x1280 pixels

RAM

 3GB

OS

 Android 5.1

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

13-megapixel

Battery capacity

2500mAh

F.lux Responds to Apple's Introduction of Night Shift in iOS 9.3 Beta



F.lux Responds to Apple's Introduction of Night Shift in iOS 9.3 Beta
Apple introduced Night Shift to its mobile operating system with iOS 9.3 beta to developers earlier this month (and opened it as a public beta on Thursday). The health-centric feature, as you may recall, is very similar to F.lux, an app that was only briefly available through Xcode sideloading, and pulled immediately after at the request of the Cupertino-based company. The developers of F.lux have commented on the inclusion of Night Shift feature to iOS, requesting Apple to allow it to release Flux for iOS.
Night Shift changes the colour temperature of the screen in accordance with the time to make the display comforting to look at. Studies have found that making the colour temperature warmer also reduces health risks and improves sleep quality. F.lux team has welcomed the introduction of the feature to iOS, adding that it is the original innovator and leader in the market.
"Apple's involvement in fixing this problem is a big commitment and an important first step," the teamwrote. "We're proud that we are the original innovators and leaders in this area. In our continued work over the last seven years, we have learned how complicated people actually are. The next phase of f.lux is something we cannot wait to ship to the world."
F.lux, whose app is widely popular on Windows and Mac OS X platforms, has also requested Apple to open concerned APIs and let it release Flux app on the iOS App Store. To recall F.lux was released for iOS via sideloading with Xcode developer tool last year. However, hours later, F.lux pulled the app at the request of Apple.
"Today we call on Apple to allow us to release f.lux on iOS, to open up access to the features announced this week, and to support our goal of furthering research in sleep and chronobiology," the team added.

Lava Iris Atom With 4-Inch Display Launched at Rs. 4,249



Lava Iris Atom With 4-Inch Display Launched at Rs. 4,249
Lava has launched a new entry-level smartphone, the Iris Atom. Priced at Rs. 4,249, the Lava Iris Atomis now listed on the company website and can be expected to be available in the Indian market soon.
The Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Iris Atom smartphone is a dual-SIM supporting smartphone that features a 4-inch display with a WVGA (480x800 pixels) resolution. The handset is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor (unspecified) clubbed with 512MB of RAM.
The smartphone packs 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded via microSD card (up to 32GB). The handset also features a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash, and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The Iris Atom is backed by a 1550mAh battery which is rated to deliver up to 12 hours of talk time on 2G network and up to 9 hours of talk time on 3G network. Connectivity options of the smartphone include GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot functionality, Bluetooth v2.0, FM radio, Micro-USB 2.0, and GPS/ A-GPS. It measures 125.5x63.2x9.65mm and weighs 110 grams.
Lava earlier this month had unveiled the Iris Atom 3 smartphone at Rs. 4,899. The dual-SIM Lava Iris Atom 3 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box. It features a 5-inch FWVGA (480x854 pixels) display and is powered by a quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz clubbed with 512MB of RAM. The Lava Iris Atom 3 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also packs a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It packs 8GB of inbuilt storage and is expandable up to 32GB (via microSD card).
The Iris Atom 3 comes with GPRS/ EDGE, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, and 3G connectivity options. It is backed by a 2000mAh battery.
Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news, product reviews, and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles.

Display

4.00-inch

Processor

1.3GHz

Front Camera

 0.3-megapixel

Resolution

 480x800 pixels

RAM

 1GB

OS

 Android 5.1

Storage

8GB

Rear Camera

5-megapixel

Battery capacity

1550mAh

Xiaomi Misses 2015 Smartphone Shipment Target as Competition Bites



Xiaomi Misses 2015 Smartphone Shipment Target as Competition Bites
Smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc said on Friday it had shipped more than 70 million handsets in 2015, undershooting its own target and casting doubts about the growth prospects of China's most valuable tech startup in a cut-throat market.
The figure was announced in a photo featuring Xiaomi President Lin Bin which was posted on the company's microblog with the banner: "2015 Xiaomi cellphone shipments: Over 70 million!"
Xiaomi had estimated total annual sales of 80-100 million, but then in July reported semi-annual sales that for the first time were lower than the previous six months, with analysts saying its main domestic market was rapidly becoming saturated.
A spokeswoman for the company once pipped as Apple Inc's biggest rival in China declined to say why sales had missed the target, adding that the 70 million figure "puts us as the top smartphone manufacturer in China in terms of market share for the year of 2015".
Xiaomi, however, is facing stiff competition from more established firms such as Lenovo Group andHuawei Technologies Co Ltd at home and its plans to expand abroad in emerging markets such as India and Brazil have hit intellectual property hurdles.
Executives have also acknowledged that the five-year old startup's thin portfolio is a major weakness, and the company has avoided entering markets with strong IP law enforcement. The company has put its market value at $45 billion.
"For Xiaomi, the smartphone is still its biggest product line and generates around 90 percent of their revenue," said tech analyst Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research.
Xiaomi's annual sales growth for the year was now 14.5 percent, he said, still above the average overall annual market growth rate of 12 percent. Shah forecast 2016 growth at 16 percent, based on expectations that Xiaomi will start sales in the United States, Latin America and eastern Europe.
Independent tech analyst Ben Thomson of Statechery said the declining sales cast doubts about the company's business model of making inexpensive smartphones and tablets in the long term.
"The company is not only overvalued but also faces increasingly fundamental questions about the long-term viability of its business," Thompson wrote in a research note this week.
Xiaomi was the world's fifth-largest smartphone maker by shipments in the third quarter, market researchers IDC said, behind Samsung Electronics Co, Apple Inc, Huawei and Lenovo. A year earlier, it was in third place.