Micromax Canvas Pulse 4G With 13-Megapixel Rear Camera Launched at Rs. 9,999

Micromax has launched a new 4G-enabled smartphone in India, the Canvas Pulse 4G, priced at Rs. 9,999. The smartphone will go on sale exclusively via Flipkart starting Tuesday.

This is the company's third launch this month following the unveiling of the Canvas Mega (E353) and Canvas Mega 4G (Q417) at Rs. 7,999 and Rs. 10,999 respectively last week. The new Micromax Canvas Pulse 4G supports Indian LTE bands and also comes with dual-SIM dual standby support.

For specifications, the Canvas Pulse 4G runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box and comes with a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display. The smartphone is powered by a 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek (MT6753) processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

Samsung Celebrates 20 Years in India With Discounts, Cashbacks, and Other Offer

Korean electronics giant Samsung has launched special offers on the occasion of the brand's 20th anniversary in India.

The 20-day 'Celebrating 20 Years' special offers will be on between December 11 and December 30. It would include offers of up to 20 percent cash back on exchange and 20 easy EMI options on select TVs, ACs, refrigerators, washing machines and microwave ovens, a company statement said.

There will also be more than 20 attractive offers on the 'My Galaxy' application, 20 percent off on extended warranty packs across select mobile and consumer electronic products. There would also be special wedding packages on televisions and home appliances, as well as one time screen replacement on select models of smartphones valid for one year.

The Samsung brand stores will have exclusive offers in the form of free product insurance, 5 percent cashback for HDFC Bank credit card holders and Samsung SmartClub loyalty points in addition to the offers mentioned above on TVs and home appliances.

"The trust, belief and expectations of our consumers have inspired us to innovate and address their needs through innovation. This promotion is a way for us to thank our consumers who have stood by us through all these years," Ranjivjit Singh, senior vice president, corporate marketing, Samsung India, said.

HC Hong, President and CEO of Samsung India, said, "The last two decades has been a glorious journey for Samsung India. Along the way, we touched millions of hearts and became one of India's biggest multinational corporations by revenue. This achievement is a result of the collective effort of all our colleagues, partners and consumers who have stood by us and believed in us over these years."

"Thank you India for helping us successfully reach this great milestone. We believe in co-prosperity, and the entire Samsung India family looks forward to continued support from across the country as we prepare for the Next 20 years and beyond," Mr Hong added.

Panasonic Eluga Mark With 4G Support, Fingerprint Sensor Launched at Rs. 11,990

Panasonic has launched its new Eluga Mark smartphone in India. Priced at Rs. 11,990, the handset will be available to buy via offline as well as online retail channels.

The highlight of the smartphone is it features fingerprint scanner at the back panel. The company claims that the handset can allow configure up to 8 different fingerprints at a single time. The Panasonic Eluga Mark also comes with support for Android for work which brings enhanced IT-related security and BYOD (bring your own device) compatibility for private devices to operate on secure corporate networks. Another notable feature is that it supports 4G LTE connectivity with India specific LTE bands support.

Xolo Era HD With 5-Inch Display, Android 5.1 Lollipop Launched at Rs. 4,777

Xolo has launched the Era HD smartphone in India. The new Xolo smartphone is now exclusively available via Gadgets 360 at a price of Rs. 4,777 in Rocky Grey colour.

The Xolo Era HD is an upgraded variant of the company's Era smartphone, which was launched in July this year. The biggest highlight of the Era HD smartphone is its HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display, with a pixel density of 294ppi. The dual-SIM Xolo Era HD smartphone runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box.

Coolpad Note 3 With Fingerprint Scanner, 3GB RAM Launched at Rs. 8,999

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Coolpad has launched its Note 3 smartphone in India, exclusively available via Amazon India at Rs. 8,999. Interested buyers for now can register for first sale of the product on October 20, 2pm IST. The handset was launched in China in late July.

The dual-SIM supporting Note 3 runs Cool UI 6.0 based on Android 5.1 Lollipop, and will come equipped with a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixel) IPS display with viewing angle up to 178 degrees. It is powered by a 64-bit 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor coupled with 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM along with 16GB of inbuilt storage, which can be further expanded via micro SD card (up to 64GB).

The 4G LTE smartphone in India will come with a 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, 5 Element HD Lens, alongside a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Both front and rear-facing cameras will come with a CMOS image sensor for better image quality. The Coolpad Note 3, which is expected to run on a 3000mAh battery, will be available in white and black colours. The fingerprint sensor is said to support 360-degree finger rotation, and offer speedy recognition in 0.5 seconds. It features compass, gravity, proximity, ambient light, and gyroscope sensors.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow Rollout Tipped to Start on October 5

hello viewers blog is back with new update

Amidst several leaks surrounding the upcoming Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, a Canadian telecom carrier has tipped that the latest iteration of Android may start rolling out on October 5. According to Telus, the LG Google Nexus 5 and the Motorola Google Nexus 6 will start receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow as on OTA update starting October 5.

Nvidia Shield Tablet Recalled Due to Battery Concerns

Nvidia Corp said it was recalling some of its Shield 8-inch tablets in the United States as the battery in these devices can overheat, posing a fire hazard.
The Android-based tablet, which has a price tag of $300-$400(roughly Rs. 19,190 - Rs. 25,580), is targeted at gaming enthusiasts and comes equipped with batteries that are made to last longer.

Nvidia, better known for its graphics chips, said it would replace Shield tablets with battery types that test Y01 it sold in the United States since the product's launch in July 2014.

Model numbers P1761, P1761W and P1761WX and serial numbers 0410215901781 through 0425214604018 of the Nvidia Shield are included in this recall. The model and serial numbers are etched on the left side edge of the tablets and printed on the packaging. To check if your tablet is eligible for recall, you can follow the instructions listed on Nvidia's recall page.

Nvidia spokesman Hector Marinez said the company will "continue to aggressively adopt best practices to avoid such concerns in the future."

(Also see:  Is the New Nvidia Shield Dead on Arrival?)

"Products containing lithium-ion batteries have been the subject of numerous recalls across the electronics industry," Marinez told Reuters, adding that the costs associated with the recall are not expected to be significant.

Nvidia did not disclose Shield tablet sales in other markets, though a statement on U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) website states that about 5,000 were sold in Canada.

Stifel Nicolaus and Co analyst Kevin Cassidy, who owns a Shield tablet, estimated that the optional recall may cost Nvidia $1 million (roughly Rs. 6.4 crores) at the most. Cassidy said he has asked the company for a replacement.

Nvidia has asked owners to use the tablet only to initiate a replacement process on the company's website and to back up data.

The chipmaker has received four reports of batteries overheating due to thermal runaway, including two reports of damage to flooring, according to the CPSC statement.

The recall does not affect any other Nvidia product, the company said.

Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla Partner to Build Faster Web Browsers

Google,Microsoft,Apple and Mozilla have partnered to develop a new binary format code called WebAssembly (wasm) that is aimed at increasing the speed and efficiency with which browsers compile, parse, and render Web applications and webpages as compared to text-based JavaScript and asm.js. Engineers from the companies have formed the informal W3C community group, WebAssembly CG, to further development.

Not meant to replace JavaScript or asm.js, the WebAssembly bytecode or machine-level instruction set also allows developers to use a wider set of languages that can be compiled for browsers, and the two will work side by side in future browsers. Binary code is faster to decode than higher level, text-based code, and can also be better compressed. While WebAssembly may be used for parts of the Web applications that usually require compression, JavaScript and asm.js will continue to be used to write lighter elements like UI. Early tests of the binary format code show it is more than 20 percent faster at being decoded as compared to asm.js code.

There has long been a call for a bytecode machine-level instruction set for the Web, and WebAssembly is not the first bytecode system for the Web - with Microsoft's .NET and Oracle's Java other examples of bytecode runtimes. However, it is aimed to be the first widely-accepted bytecode to be directly integrated into the rendering engines of all browsers rather than requiring separate plugins. Google too had tried a hand at providing a way to run code natively in browsers with its Native Client, but this was not adopted by browser makers the world over.

The final aim with WebAssembly is to create a Web standard used by all browsers, both desktop and mobile, that will allow for decoding that's fast enough to enable Web applications to work with performance similar to native applications.

Micromax Canvas Sliver 5 First Impressions: It's Skinny

Micromax continues to focus on the 4G smartphones with the launch of a new flagship device, the Micromax Canvas Sliver 5. The phone will be available from the first week of July, and will be priced at Rs. 17,999, available via retail and online.

Launched in Delhi on Thursday, the Micromax Canvas Sliver 5 is - according to Micromax - the slimmest phone on the market with a total end-to-end width of 5.1mm. Micromax CEO Vineet Taneja agrees that there are other phones in the market that are slimmer, but says that they have bumps and bulges along their bodies, which means they are thicker than the Sliver 5 at some points.

At the launch, Taneja talked about the importance of design and after-sales service, alongside just specifications and performance, something he had stressed on in an earlier conversation with NDTV Gadgets. The phone certainly looks incredibly sleek, but is that enough of a differentiator to justify the relatively high price tag?

The Micromax Canvas Sliver 5 has a 4.8-inch screen, and is 5.1mm thick. Most of the front face is taken up by the screen, with the sides in particular having only narrow bezels. The "chin" of the phone is more pronounced, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The phone is available in both black, and white-and-gold variants. We looked at the latter one for our hands on, though the black one was also available on stage; the black one looks a little sleeker somehow, but at first glance, both colours look nice.

The phone is definitely narrow, and coupled with the screen-size, the result is a phone that feels like it could've easily been a little shorter. It's not too uncomfortable to hold - there are no sharp edges and the phone is narrow enough that our hand curled naturally around the body.

The 3.5mm jack and the USB port lie at the bottom edge of the phone, and really drive home how sleek the phone is - the earphone jack takes up most of the bottom. The power and volume buttons are on the left and right sides, respectively, while the rear camera is indeed flush with the body of the phone, with just a slightly raised ring around it to keep it from damage.

Aside from the 5.1mm thickness, the Micromax Canvas Sliver 5 is also notable for its 97 gram weight. Other than that though, the phone is fairly standard; the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop-based Micromax Canvas Sliver 5 supports a single SIM card (Nano-SIM) and features a 4.8-inch (720x1280 pixels) HD Amoled display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is powered by a 64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor coupled with 2GB of DDR3 RAM. The Canvas Sliver 5 comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, but doesn't feature expandable storage support.

The Canvas Sliver 5 sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with Sony IMX219 CMOS sensor with a 'blue glass filter' and LED flash. There is a 5-megapixel front-facing camera on board as well. The Canvas Sliver 5 is backed by a 2000mAh battery, which Taneja claims will be enough for most people to use the phone for a full day.

Our very limited experiments with the Micromax Canvas Sliver 5's camera show that it's not bad, taking photos in the really bad lighting of the launch venue without too much noise in the image, and pulling up relatively sharp images. It's important to remember that a few quick clicks in very uncertain lighting using a phone that's tethered to a stand makes it hard to judge, but the camera seems to be fair, at any rate.

Aside from the design, the most compelling facet of the phone might actually be the after sales service that Micromax is promising. Taneja says that much like the Micromax Canvas Knight 2 the Sliver 5 will also benefit from "M! On-Site Care". This means that customers who face any problems can visit Micromax's website and get a doorstep pickup of the phone, along with a guarantee of either repairs or a replacement within a week.

Asus ZenFone 2 128GB With 4GB of RAM to Reportedly Launch on Thursday

While we know Asus has a 128GB variant of the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML in the works, with a listing on Flipkart back in April, the company is now reportedly set to launch the variant in Taiwan on Thursday.
The top-end ZenFone 2 variant is said to be priced at TWD 11,990 (approximately Rs. 24,900), and be made available via the company's online stores as well as other online and offline retailers in Taiwan. The launch was first reported by Chinese VR Zone.

The Zenfone 2 ZE551ML (4GB RAM) variant with 128GB inbuilt storage was listed on Flipkart back in April at Rs. 29,999. The smartphone however is still listed as "coming soon" on Flipkart.

With the launch in Taiwan, Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML variant with 4GB of RAM and 128GB built-in storage might launch next in India. The company thus far has released the 4GB of RAM model in 32GB and 64GB inbuilt storage models in Taiwan, as well as in India. Apart from inbuilt storage capacity, rest of the specifications of the 128GB variant are identical to the other two ZenFone 2 ZE551ML models.

To recall, the Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML runs the company's new ZenUI based on Google's Android 5.0 Lollipop, and features a 64-bit 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 processor. It supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 64GB).

The Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML features a 5.5-inch full-HD display in both the 2GB and 4GB RAM variants. The ZenFone 2 models support dual-SIM (Micro-SIMs), and feature 4G connectivity support.

The ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (4GB and 2GB RAM models) sport 13-megapixel rear PixelMaster camera while there is a 5-megapixel front camera on board as well. All the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML models feature dual-tone flash. A 3000mAh battery backs all ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (4GB and 2GB RAM models).

WWDC 2015: Apple Unveils iOS 9, Apple Music, Native Watch Apps, OS X El Capitan

Apple made a host of announcements at its annual developers conference, WWDC, on Monday, including new versions of iOS and OS X, a new Apple Music service, and native apps for the Apple Watch.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook announced an update to the operating system for its Watch that should make apps for its latest gadget speedier and help untether it from the iPhone. The so-called "native" apps will be available to consumers this fall after an update to the watchOS.

Later in the keynote, Cook unveiled Apple's much-anticipated music streaming service called Apple Music. The company behind the iPod and iTunes has long been a leader in digital music, but it has lost ground in recent years as subscription services such as Spotify have caught on with consumers.

"Apple Music is really going to move the needle for fans and artists," said Jimmy Iovine. "Online music has become a complicated mess of apps, services and websites. Apple Music brings the best features together for an experience every music lover will appreciate."

Apple Music will offer music streaming as well as a worldwide live radio station from Apple broadcasting 24 hours a day and a way for music fans to connect with their favorite artists. Apple Music will be available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Windows, Mac, PC, Apple TV starting on June 30 in over 100 countries. An Android app is coming "this fall."

Apple Music's $9.99 a month price takes effect after a three-month free subscription period. The company is also offering what it calls a "family plan" for $14.99 a month for up to six family members. Apple's website indicates that the radio station will be available for free to non-subscribers as well.

Apple also announced iOS 9 with improved search, enhanced Siri, and other new features including true multi-tasking on the iPad, which will now be able to display two apps side-by-side.

Apple also unveiled the next version of its operating system for Macs, El Capitan, continuing the company's theme of naming key updates to the software after California landmarks. The software will be available in the fall with improved Spotlight search and other performance related enhancements.

The company also unveiled new details about its Apple Pay service, saying it was already supported by more than 2,500 banks and will surpass 1 million locations accepting it next month. In addition, the company said it would roll out the service to the United Kingdom next month. Apple also said it would rename Passbook, its app for credit and debit cards and boarding passes, to Wallet.

Xiaomi Yi Camera Night Vision Edition With Infrared Sensor Launched

Xiaomi, the popular Chinese manufacturer, has launched another Yi product in China - the Yi Camera Night Vision Edition. The camera will go on sale starting Friday via the company's own website and is priced at CNY 149 (roughly Rs. 1,500).

It is worth mentioning that the latest offering by Xiaomi is the third camera product by the firm, after the original Yi Camera and the Yi Sport or Mi Sport Action Camera. Users might however get confused between the original and the night vision edition as they both feature the same design-profile.

The Xiaomi Yi Camera Night Vision Edition features a 940mm infrared camera sensor, which lets the device work without the help of any artificial light and view up to 5 metres. Featuring an "All Glass" lens with f/2.0 aperture and 4x zoom function, the camera has 92.7-degree horizontal, 48.7-degree vertical and 111.2-degree diagonal viewing angles.

Alongside a new sensor, the camera device carries the same functions as the standard edition including image snapshots, HD (720x1280 pixels) resolution video recording in 20fps, and live image streaming via the Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity. The device also comes with a microSD card slot (up to 32GB) and can record two-way voice. The camera's companion app is compatible smartphones running versions later than Android 2.3 Gingerbread and iOS 7.0.

Xiaomi at MWC 2015 launched its Yi Action Camera priced at CNY 399 (roughly Rs. 3,900). The camera can record full-HD resolution videos using a 16-megapixel Sony Exmor R BSI CMOS image sensor. Like the GoPro Hero, it's rated for usage up to 40 metres underwater. The device is limited to China for now.

HTC Desire 326G Dual SIM With 8-Megapixel Camera Launched at Rs. 9,590

HTC has launched the Desire 326G Dual SIM in India, priced at Rs. 9,590. The budget smartphone from the Taiwanese manufacturer will be available to purchase from Thursday, and comes with launch offers of 3 months unlimited music and video downloads from Hungama, and discounts worth Rs. 5,000 from Myntra.

The HTC Desire 326G Dual SIM was introduced for India alongside the HTC One E9+ and the HTC One M9+ back in April. Of the three phones, only the One M9+ was given a launch date and a price - Rs. 52,500. The pricing details of the other two were then withheld, and the smartphones were given a launch date of late-May. Both phones have now been made available slightly later than expected, in early-June.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker says the Desire 326G Dual SIM is "built on the foundations of the popular HTC Desire 526G+ series with new vibrant colours." It will be available in White Birch and Black Onyx colour variants in India.

The Desire 326G Dual SIM runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Sense UI, and features a 4.5-inch display with an FWVGA (480x854 pixels) resolution. It is powered by a quad-core Speadtrum SC7731G processor clocked at 1.2GHz, and coupled with 1GB of RAM.

The smartphone houses an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, both of which include a BSI sensor. The rear camera comes with features like burst mode, smile to capture, and more. Recording of full-HD (1080p) videos is also possible. Backed by a 2000mAh removable battery, which is rated to deliver up to 11 hours of talk time and 386 hours of standby time on 3G, the HTC Desire 326G Dual SIM sports 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be further expanded via microSD card (up to 32GB)

Measuring 139.7x69.6x9.7mm, the smartphone weighs 146 grams and includes regular connectivity features like Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Micro-USB 2.0. Some of the other features onboard include HTC BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe, and an Easy Mode that simplifies the Desire 326G Dual SIM's home screen.

Commenting on the launch, Faisal Siddiqui, President, HTC South Asia, said, "The Desire 326G Dual SIM is a great phone for everyday, we have created a classy and stylishly design smartphone with great features. HTC Desire 326G Dual SIM is made of strong polycarbonate material, and is designed to fit just nice in your hands. It is also comfortable to hold and featured packed at an incredible value, a phone for everyone."

Microsoft Lists Features You'll Lose When Upgrading to Windows 10

Windows 10 users would also need some "additional requirements to use certain features." Not all users will get Cortana on day one, as it would be available with the OS in United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain initially. Also, for better speech recognition, the PC device should include a "High fidelity microphone array" and "Hardware driver with Microphone array geometry exposed" as per Microsoft. A specialised infrared camera would be needed for facial and iris detection unveiled with Windows Hello, alongside a fingerprint reader that supports Windows Biometric Framework in the new OS.

While the Continuum feature will work automatically on tablets and 2-in-1's with GPIO indicators or those who have laptop and slate indicator, users without these would have to manually turn on the "tablet mode" via the Action Center. Furthermore, Music and Video streams of Xbox Music and Xbox video will stay limited to select regions.

(Also See:How to Reserve Your Free Windows 10 Upgrade)

For two factor authentication security, Windows 10 would demand a finger print reader or illuminated infrared camera, or a phone with WiFi or Bluetooth capabilities, and would use a PIN. The Device Guard would need certain requirements. List of requirements for W-Fi printing, Bitlocker, device encryption and more can be viewed on the website.

As for updates, in case of Windows 10 Home users, updates from Windows Update service would be installed automatically with the new OS. Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise users would however have the option to defer the updates.

Microsoft has also detailed the system requirements for Windows 10 PCs and tablets. The devices should be running the latest version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1 Update to upgrade. The list also mentions 1GHz or faster SoC; 1GB RAM for 32-bit or 2GB RAM for 64-bit OS version; 16GB of inbuilt storage for 32-bit or 20GB for 64-bit; DirectX 9 or later version with WDDM 1.0 driver, and a display resolution of 1024x600 pixels.

Facebook Messenger App Shares Your Exact Location With Each Message

Many would already know that Facebook's standalone Messenger app for Android and iOS has location sharing on by default. The location shows up just below every message but most people didn't care much. But what everyone was unaware of was how accurate the location data, was or how simple it was to track someone.

A student named Aran Khanna at Harvard College has discovered that the Messenger can actually allow Facebook friends users chat to accurately find their location without their knowledge. Khanna has claimed on his blog post that Facebook has notified him that it will be fixing the issue soon.
Khanna created a Chrome extension called Marauders Map, which collects location data from Facebook's Messenger app via the Mapbox API and plots them on a map. The Chrome extension only requires location sharing on the Messenger app with GPS turned on the mobile and it could retrieve location from messages sent with location sharing enabled.


any would already know that Facebook's standalone Messenger app for Android and iOS has location sharing on by default. The location shows up just below every message but most people didn't care much. But what everyone was unaware of was how accurate the location data, was or how simple it was to track someone.
A student named Aran Khanna at Harvard College has discovered that the Messenger can actually allow Facebook friends users chat to accurately find their location without their knowledge. Khanna has claimed on his blog post that Facebook has notified him that it will be fixing the issue soon.

Khanna created a Chrome extension called Marauders Map, which collects location data from Facebook's Messenger app via the Mapbox API and plots them on a map. The Chrome extension only requires location sharing on the Messenger app with GPS turned on the mobile and it could retrieve location from messages sent with location sharing enabled.

iPhone 6s to Feature Slimmer Form Factor, 12-Megapixel Camera

♦We have been treated with a flurry of leaks that purportedly reveal new details about the next iPhone handsets expected in the second half of 2015. According to the latest leaks, Apple's upcoming iPhone models (expected to be called the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus) will be "slimmer and lighter", and will include a 12-megapixel rear camera instead of the 8-megapixel camera seen in last four generation iPhones. One of the leaks even claims that TSMC will start a pilot line of the Apple A10 chips next month, likely to be used in the iPhone models next year.

(Also see: Shift Key 'Fix', iMessage Improvements, and Other Changes That iOS 9 Is Tipped to Bring)
Digitimes reports that Apple in order to make its iPhone even thinner than previous generation will adopt 0.4t (with a dimension of 3x0.85x0.4mm) LED chips for its backlight units (BLUs), which is smaller than the 0.6t (3x0.85x0.6mm) chips used on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The report suggests that Apple will use 0.4t LED chips from Japan-based Nichia and Toyoda Gose. It adds that production of the new iPhone models featuring 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens will start in June 2015 and a projected 24 million units will be primarily shipped in the third quarter.

♠One of the biggest updates that this year's iPhone can include is a 12-megapixel rear camera, if a report out of China is to be believed. The report claims that the iPhone 6s, which will be an incremental update from last year's iPhone 6, will sport a 12-megapixel camera. There is no mention of any other iPhone using the same camera sensor.

♦It adds that Apple will ditch the RGB sensor design to RGBW from Sony for the next iPhones. The White sub-pixel technology is said to improve low-light camera performance of the iPhone while can also enhance the autofocus speed.

☻The report is in line with an analyst who recently claimed that the next iPhone models would get a rear camera upgrade in the form of resolution, bumping up the current 8-megapixel offerings to 12-megapixels.

☻Another report from Taiwan claims that Apple by end of June will start a pilot line with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) for the 10nm chip in 12 factories in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The report went on to suggest that Apple can hand all orders for A10 chips to TSMC.

☻To put some context, Apple used A8 chip with 64-bit architecture on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and is likely to reveal the A9 chip this year. We can expect the A10 chips to debut on iPhone only by 2016. The Apple A9 processor has been rumoured to support 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM, a big boost from the 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM on the current iPhone models, as well as the 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM on the iPad Air 2.

☺A recent leak on the next iPhone models claimed that they will feature the Force Touch technology, initially debuted on the Apple Watch and later seen on the new 12-inch MacBook.

Using an Old iPhone or iPad? Here's Some Good News for You

iPhone and iPad users have often complained that devices get slower after major OS updates, with recent updates like iOS 7 and iOS 8 perhaps being more guilty of this behaviour than their predecessors. If you are still clinging on to your iPhone 4S or iPad 2, here's some good news for you.

Mark Gurman, who has a pretty good record in terms of being accurate with his Apple-related scoops, reports in 9to5mac that one of the key focuses of the upcoming iOS 9 update will be optimisations for older devices. Gurman note that traditionally Apple has developed feature-complete versions of iOS for older devices and then removed features that don't perform well during testing. With iOS 9, however, Cupertino is "building a core version of iOS 9 that runs efficiently on older A5 devices, then enabling each properly performing feature one-by-one."

As a result, A5-powered devices like iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the original iPad mini, which, based on historical patterns were widely believed to have received their last major OS update with iOS 8, will not only get the iOS 9 update, but the overall post-installation experience should be better than recent major updates. Maybe iOS 9 will breathe new life into old Apple hardware? Well, we can dream.

Following up on earlier reports, Gurman reiterates that iOS 9 is likely to focus on stability and bug fixes, and will have few headline features to flaunt. iOS 9 in that respect is being compared to Snow Leopard, which followed OS X Leopard as a 'stability release.'

"I wouldn't say there's nothing new for consumers, but the feature lists are more stripped down than the initial plans called for," a source told Gurman. Next version of OS X is also likely to be structured along similar lines.

Earlier Gurman had stated that iOS 9 will ship with split-screen iPad app views and an improved Apple Maps application with transit directions. Gurman adds Trusted Wi-Fi and 'Rootless' will join that list, with the latter being described as "a heavy blow to the jailbreak community on iOS." Apple is also likely to move its own apps like Mail, Notes, and Calendar from an IMAP-backend to one that uses iCloud Drive.

Apple is likely to provide the first glimpse of the next versions of iOS and OS X at the upcoming WWDC conference in June.

Apple May Unveil Split-Screen Multitasking for iPad at WWDC: Report

♦As WWDC edges closer, the rumours are flowing in fast and thick. The latest revolve around the next iPad, and the long-anticipated split-screen multitasking feature. A new report claims that Apple is working on a dual-app viewing mode for the next version of iOS - iOS 9 - to be unveiled as early as WWDC. Furthermore, the Cupertino giant is supposedly working on 12-inch iPad tablets codenamed J98 and J99 - and more commonly called iPad Pro. To top it all of, Apple might be adding support for multi-user logins.

♠If you recall, Apple was supposed to introduce the multi-window support in iOS 8 but it was a no-go at launch because it reportedly lacked the polish. Moving forward, a report by 9to5Mac suggests (9to5Mac LINK) that Apple is planning to introduce the split-screen mode in 1/2, 1/3, and 2/3 views depending on the apps. Apart from showcasing two different apps at the same time, the screen can also show two or more views of the same app. However, 9to5Mac's sources claim that the feature might still not make it to a reveal at WWDC because it might need more polish.

♣Another rumoured software feature - the multi-user login support - will allow individual users to have their own set of apps, documents and media for consumption on their user ID. However, this feature is unlikely to be showcased at WWDC and it could be added as an update to .1 or .2 upgrade of iOS 9.

The alleged iPad Pro, codenamed J98 (Wi-Fi only) and J99 (LTE), will apparently be an elongated iPad Air 2, save for the extra speaker holes. This new iPad is rumoured to include USB 3.0 support.

Oppo R7 and R7 Plus With 3GB of RAM, Snapdragon 615 SoC Launched

Oppo on Thursday launched its R7 (seen below) and R7 Plus (seen above) smartphones at a dedicated event in Beijing, China, priced at CNY 2,499 (roughly Rs. 25,700) and CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs. 30,900) respectively. The smartphones are currently available for pre-orders from JD.com and Oppostyle websites. While the R7 is said to go on sale in mid-June, the R7 Plus is said to go on sale in August. No details about global availability were provided, though the company has listed the phones on its global site.

Design-wise, the smartphones sport a metallic unibody with chamfered sides. A 2.5D glass covers the front panel, while the rear features what the firm calls 'violin arc' design. The R7 sports three physical capacitive keys - back, home and menu, while the R7 Plus includes on-screen buttons. The R7 Plus additionally comes with a fingerprint sensor placed on its rear panel.

Both the handsets feature the same set of specifications except the Android version, screen size, inbuilt storage space, battery capacity, and Wi-Fi connectivity. While R7 runs Android 4.4 KitKat-based ColorOS 2.1, sports a 5-inch full-HD AMOLED display, includes 16GB of inbuilt storage, is backed by a 2320mAh battery, offers Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, the R7 Plus runs Android 5.1 Lollipop-based ColorOS 2.1, equips a 6-inch full-HD AMOLED display, features 32GB of inbuilt storage, is backed by a 4100mAh battery, and offers Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac connectivity. Both come with an option to expand the inbuilt storage via microSD card (up to 128GB). Also, the two 4G LTE-enabled handsets will be available in Gold and Silver colour options.


Both dual-SIM (Micro-SIM and Nano-SIM) supporting Oppo R7 and R7 Plus are 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939 (quad-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 and quad-core 1GHz Cortex-A53) processor, 3GB RAM, Adreno 305 GPU, 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and ISOCELL image sensor technology, and 8-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.4 aperture. According to the firm, the handsets using the Pure Image 2.0+ technology can create an Ultra-HD 50-megapixel resolution images. Oppo also claims the rear camera to launch in 0.7 seconds and take 0.1 seconds for auto-focusing.

While the Oppo R7 measures 143x71x6.3 mm and weighs 147 grams, the bigger Oppo R7 Plus measures 158.18x82.3x7.75 mm and weighs 203 grams. Both equip VOOC flash charging technology, which is rated to deliver two hours of talk time in five minutes of charging and charge the handset by 75 percent in 30 minutes.

iBall Slide i701 With 7-Inch Display, Windows 8.1 Launched at Rs. 4,999

iBall on Tuesday launched its latest tablet in the Indian market - the iBall Slide i701, at Rs. 4,999. The domestic brand is calling it the 'world's most economical Windows tablet," and says it will be available across leading retail stores and e-commerce portals from Thursday.

The iBall Slide i701 runs Windows 8.1 out-of-the-box, but the company says the tablet will be upgradeable to Windows 10 when it's launched later this year. It comes with a 1-year Microsoft Office subscription, and 1TB of free OneDrive cloud storage.

Featuring a 7-inch HD (resolution unspecified) IPS display, the iBall Slide i701 is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom (model, clock speed unspecified) SoC coupled with 1GB of DDR3 RAM. It comes with 16GB of built-in storage that is expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

The Slide i701 tablet sports a 2-megapixel rear camera with flash, and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera. Featuring a 3200mAh battery, the tablet also sports connectivity such as an HDMI port, USB with OTG functionality, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, as well as 3G via USB dongle.

iBall notes the Slide i701 will come with brand ambassador Kareena Kapoor's autograph on the rear panel, a free HDMI cable worth Rs. 699, and three interchangeable protective covers worth Rs. 599.

Lenovo S60 With 5-Megapixel Front Camera Launched at Rs. 12,999

Lenovo India has launched a new S-series smartphone, the S60, priced at Rs. 12,999.
The Lenovo S60 smartphone will be available via the company's brand store, thedostore.com alongside Flipkart and Amazon starting Monday.

The dual-SIM based Lenovo S60 runs Android 4.4 KitKat with Vibe 2.0 UI on top. The company in a press statement confirms that the handset is upgradeable to Android 5.0 Lollipop; though no time-frame for the release of the update has been announced.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 to come in Home, Mobile, Pro, Enterprise, Education editions

Microsoft is all set to launch Windows 10 in the next couple of months in around 190 countries in 111 languages, although no fixed date has been announced yet. There will be various editions of Windows 10 according to the use cases. The editions announced include Windows 10 Home, Mobile, Pro, Enterprise, Mobile Enterprise, Education. Let us take a look at each of these editions.

Windows 10 Home edition will be the consumer facing edition which will be seen on most desktop PCs, laptops and 2-in-1s. The Home edition will support voice-assistant Cortana, Windows Edge web browser as well as Windows Hello face recognition, iris scanner and fingerprint login for various Windows apps such as Photos, Maps, Mail, Calendar, Music and Video.

For the business users, you have the Windows 10 Pro edition, which has all the features of the Home edition plus additional features such as device management, security features, cloud features ideal for smaller businesses. For medium and large size organisations there is Windows 10 Enterprise edition which builds up upon the Windows 10 Pro. Apart from providing security features, Windows 10 Enterprise also has a broad range of options for operating system deployment and comprehensive device and app management.

On the mobile front, you get Windows 10 Mobile edition which is the new name for Windows Phone OS and the Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise edition. As the name implies, Windows 10 Mobile is meant for use on mobile phones, tablets and other touch-centric devices. It will support Windows Universal apps which are there on Windows 10 Home edition along with a touch-optimised version of Office. Windows 10 Mobile will also offer Continuum for phone which will let users use multiple devices seamlessly. Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise is the mobile arm of the Windows 10 Enterprise edition. Just like the desktop version, the Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will also incorporate the latest security and innovation features on the mobile devices.

Windows 10 Education is a new edition which builds upon Windows 10 Enterprise and is designed for use in schools among staff, administrators, teachers and students. “This edition will be available through academic Volume Licensing, and there will be paths for schools and students using Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro devices to upgrade to Windows 10 Education,” mentions the Windows Blog.

“Because we have built Windows 10 to be delivered as a service, this milestone is just the beginning of the new generation of Windows. Starting this fall, customers can expect ongoing innovation and security updates for their Windows 10 devices, including more advanced security and management capabilities for businesses,” said Tony Prophet on the Windows Blog.

Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Pro will be available as a free upgrade, for the first year, for existing genuine users of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices. There are no pricing plans announced for use after one year.

Xolo Chromebook, Nexian Air Chromebook Laptops Launched at Rs. 12,999

Xolo and Nexian on Friday at a Google India event launched their first Chromebook laptops in the country at a price tag of Rs. 12,999. While the Xolo Chromebook will arrive in the "next few days" on Snapdeal according to the firm, the Nexian Air Chromebook laptop is already available to buy from Amazon.

The Xolo Chromebook features 11.6-inch display with 200 nit brightness, an unknown resolution and is powered by a Rockchip 3288 processor clubbed with ARM Mali 760 quad-core GPU and 2GB of RAM. Featuring a 16GB eMMC storage, the laptop includes a HD (720x1280 pixels) resolution webcam for recording videos and video chatting. Connectivity features of the Xolo Chromebook include two USB 2.0 ports, SD card reader, HDMI, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Xolo claims that its Chromebook can run for up to 10 hours on a single charge. The laptop measures 290x205x17.9mm and weighs 1.15 kgs.

Xolo Prime With 4.5-Inch Display, Android 5.0 Lollipop Launched at Rs. 5,699

Xolo on Thursday on launched a new Android 5.0 Lollipop-based budget handset in India, the Xolo Prime. Priced at Rs. 5,699, the smartphone is set to compete with the Micromax Canvas Spark, a recently launched budget smartphone also running Android 5.0 Lollipop. The Xolo Prime is said to soon be available at retail outlets across in India.

The Xolo Prime is a dual-SIM supporting smartphone that features a 4.5-inch IPS display with (480x854 pixels) resolution and a pixel density of 218ppi. The handset is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor clubbed with 1GB of RAM and Mali 400 MP GPU.

The smartphone includes 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 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera. The Xolo Prime is backed by a 1800mAh battery, rated to deliver up to 20.8 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 10 hours on 3G, apart from up to 500 hours of standby time on 2G and 400 hours on 3G.

The 'World's First $9 Microcomputer' "Meet Chip"

Next Thing, the company that launched OTTO (a hackable gif camera) last year, is now back on Kickstarter with its $9 (approximately Rs. 575) microcomputer, called Chip.
The Chip is an Open Hardware microcomputer of the type popularised by the Raspberry Pi, with a single circuit board the size of a credit card and no screen or keyboard; though it can be connected to a monitor and keyboard and put to use. The company touts that the Chip is the "world's first $9 computer". At the time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign of Next Thing had crossed the $50,000 (approximately Rs. 32 lakh) goal and was around $620,000 (approximately Rs. 4 crore) mark.

For a pledge of $9, backers will get the Chip microcomputer single circuit board and is expected to start shipping in December this year. Backers can opt for an optional VGA adaptor or HDMI adaptor by shelling out extra $19 and $25 respectively. Both optional adaptors are expected to start shipping in May next year. Importantly, the Chip unlike other similar microcomputers comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity built-in.

It's worth noting that Next Thing's plan is not just limited to the Chip and extends to the PocketChip (see above), which makes the single circuit board portable. It features a 4.3-inch (272x470 pixels) touchscreen with resistive touch; QWERTY keyboard; 5 hour battery backup with a 3000mAh battery, and sports a rugged injection molded shell. Backers will have to pledge for $49 to get the PocketChip, which is also expected to start shipping worldwide May next year.

Some of the key specifications of Chip microcomputer include 1GHz Allwinner 'R8' A13 processor; Mali-400 GPU; 512MB of RAM (DDR3); 4GB of built-in storage; a USB port; a Micro-USB port with OTG functionality support; a microphone jack that doubles as a composite video-out; Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0. The Chip also comes preloaded with various open source software including the LibreOffice, for working on documents; Chromium browser, to surf the web, and Scratch, a coding tool to learn the basics of programming by making stories, games, and animations. It is based on an open source operating system.

Explaining the motive behind Chip, Dave Rauchwerk, one of Next Thing's founders, told DIY publication Make, "The $9 becomes really interesting when lots of people can help make it awesome. We wanted to find a way to not only give everyone access to it but to give them the ability to participate in this process of developing it."

"Success for us is them seeing what we've done and being excited about it and backing it,"  Rauch werk added.

Next Thing's Chip microcomputer is seen as a direct competitor to Raspberry Pi 2 Model B priced at $35, which was launched in February.

Xiaomi Mi 5, Mi 5 Plus Specifications and Availability Details Tipped

New details about Xiaomi's upcoming flagship, believed to be called the Mi 5, have surfaced on the Internet via Weibo (China's equivalent of Twitter). According to the new leaked details, the Xiaomi Mi 4 successor might be unveiled in July.
The latest leak also adds an element of surprise claiming that a bigger variant of the Xiaomi Mi 5 might be also revealed, purportedly dubbed Xiaomi Mi 5 Plus. The leak even claims that the Mi 5 Plus will be unveiled alongside the Mi 5 in July.

Gizmochina via Weibo has also received some purported specifications of the Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus. According to the leaked specifications, the Mi 5 will feature a 5.2-inch display; a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor; 3GB or 4GB of RAM; a 16-megapixel rear camera, and a 3,000mAh battery.

The new leaked details, contradicting a report that surfaced last week, claimed that the Xiaomi Mi 5 will not sport fingerprint scanner. Preliminary leaks have suggested the Mi 5's screen resolution will be QHD (1440x2560 pixels).

The Xiaomi Mi 5 Plus, on the other hand, is expected to feature a 6-inch 2K display with a design sporting nearly bezel-less display. Other specifications include 4GB of RAM, 32GB of inbuilt storage, and a 16-megapixel rear camera, likely to be same as the Mi 5.

Some of the other anticipated Mi 5 specifications that were revealed in previous leaks tip the smartphone will come in 16GB/64GB built-in storage models, and will sport an 8-megapixel front camera.

Micromax Canvas Laptab With Windows 8.1 Launched at Rs. 14,999

After launching multiple handsets, tablets and television models, Micromax on Thursday entered the laptop-tablet hybrid market with its Micromax Canvas Laptab. The 2-in-1 device will be available starting May 6 initially exclusively on Amazon India at Rs. 14,999.

The single-SIM supporting Micromax Canvas Laptab runs on Windows 8.1 with Bing and is also upgradable to Windows 10 OS. The tablet features an 10.1-inch IPS display with a WXGA (1280x800 pixels) resolution. It is powered by a 1.33GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor (up to 1.83GHz in Burst mode) coupled with 2GB of DDR3L RAM. It sports 32GB of inbuilt storage, which can be further expanded via a microSD card. The buyers would additionally receive 1TB of cloud storage on Microsoft's OneDrive service.

The Canvas Laptab equips a 2-megapixel rear and front-facing camera and a 7700mAh battery, which is rated to offer a usage time of 10 hours. It measures 210.8x124.2x9.95mm, weighs 1.1kgs and is available in Black colour variant only. Connectivity features of the device feature Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB and 3G. The Micromax Canvas Laptab offers one year of free subscription for Microsoft Office 365 Personal apps. It also houses dual speakers placed either sides on the rear panel.

Commenting on the launch Vineet Taneja, CEO, Micromax Informatics Limited, said, "Today's launch marks our entry into the PC segment, where we intend to drive category growth and not only garner an available market share. We believe that our vision complements the initiatives for Digital India, and we will be launching a range of exciting products over the next few months in the category."

Micromax had first introduced a device called the LapTab back at CES 2014, revealing it would be dual-boot tablet with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and Windows 8. It was set to launch soon after at under Rs. 30,000. This never happened, and over a year later, the Indian brand has brought a Windows-only version of the tablet to India.

The company's foray into the laptop-tablet hybrid market comes after its recent launch of its first 4K TVs in March. The range includes two televisions, the smaller being 42-inches and the larger being 49-inches, priced at Rs. 39,990 (42-inch) and Rs. 49,990 (49-inch).

The TVs feature 4K (Ultra High Definition) display panels with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels. They are also smart TVs, and run Android 4.4 KitKat with Google Play, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and other apps preloaded. Navigation is through a Smart Somato-Sensory remote control, which acts as an air mouse to make navigation around the user interface easier.

Xiaomi Mi 4i With Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 SoC, 2GB RAM Launched at Rs. 12,999

♥Xiaomi at its Global Mi Phone Premiere event in New Delhi on Thursday launched the Xiaomi Mi 4i smartphone in India priced at Rs. 12,999, as we exclusively reported. It will be available in Black, White, Orange, Light Blue, and Pink colours.
The smartphone will be made available in its first flash sale on April 30 on Flipkart, and go up for registrations at 8pm on Thursday. It will be available with all of Xiaomi's recently announced partners in the future, and will also be sold at Mi.com.

♥The Xiaomi event was attended by CEO and Founder Lei Jun, and VP Xiaomi Global Hugo Barra. The Xiaomi Mi 4i features a unibody polycarbonate body, and has a soft touch matte finish with an anti-grease coating. Xiaomi says the dual-SIM dual standby smartphone is 12 percent thinner than the Mi 4, and 13 percent lighter, at 7.8mm and 130 grams. Both SIM card slots support 4G LTE connectivity, and the phone is compatible with LTE bands in India.

♥The Mi 4i sports a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) fully laminated OGS Corning Concore IPS Sharp JDI display, which is said to provide the same protection as the Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has a pixel density of 441ppi, and a Sunlight Display feature that optimises the display under bright light.

Microsoft Windows 10 to Launch at the End of July, Reveals AMD CEO

Microsoft Windows 10, the technical previews of which have been detailing new features with every release, is officially due to release this "summer". It may launch as soon as July however.

While Microsoft is mum on when it will launch its flagship OS for PCs and mobile handsets beyond the above mentioned "summer" release for PCs, AMD on the other hand during its earnings call last week spilled the beans. AMD President and CEO Lisa Su revealed the information while answering a question. She however, did not reveal the exact date of release.

"What we also are factoring in is, with the Windows 10 launch at the end of July, we are watching the impact of that on the back-to-school season, and expect that it might have a bit of a delay to the normal back-to-school season inventory buildup," Su said, as reported by Tweaktown website.

When announced in January, Microsoft's Operating System head, Terry Myerson said the OS might hit the markets in autumn this year. The firm has also revealed Windows 10 to arrive in 190 countries and 111 languages. Since then, Myerson provided a summer release date.

Microsoft via its Windows 10 technical preview versions has till date revealed its new Music and Video apps without Xbox branding, Project Spartan Browser and the Universal Maps app. It might also improve the touch mode in the OS, as seen in a leaked build. The firm last month also released tools for building Windows 10 Universal Apps for developers. Developers, to access the new tools released by Microsoft, have to first sign up for the Windows Insider Program and install the latest Windows 10 Technical Preview release.

Lenovo A6000 Plus With 2GB RAM, 16GB Storage Launched at Rs. 7,499

Lenovo on Friday launched a slightly more powerful variant of the popular Lenovo A6000 smartphone, the Lenovo A6000 Plus, priced at Rs. 7,499. Registrations for the smartphone's first flash sale via Flipkart on April 28 will begin on Friday, 2pm IST.

The dual-SIM supporting Lenovo A6000 Plus is identical to the Lenovo A6000 except for featuring twice the RAM and inbuilt storage. The handset equips 2GB of RAM and 16GB of inbuilt storage as compared to the Lenovo A6000's 1GB and 8GB inbuilt storage.

The smartphone features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display and is powered by a 64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) SoC with Adreno 306 400MHz GPU. The Android 4.4.4 KitKat-based smartphone runs Lenovo's Vibe UI 2.0 skin on top. It features Dolby Digital Plus speakers.

iBall Andi 5M Xotic With 5-Inch Display, 2GB of RAM Launched at Rs. 8,199

1.iBall has launched the Andi 5M Xotic smartphone in India, pricing it at Rs. 8,199. The iBall smartphone was previously listed for purchase in February by an online retailer at Rs. 8,950.

2.According to company, the  biggest USP of the iBall Andi 5M Xotic is its 2GB of RAM at the price, as well as 16GB of built-in storage. The dual-SIM smartphone runs on Android 4.4 KitKat that the firm says will be upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop. It features a 5-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) IPS display that offers a pixel density of 220ppi.

3.The smartphone packs a quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. Besides an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with BSI sensor and LED flash, the iBall Andi 5M Xotic also includes a 3.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The 16GB of inbuilt storage is expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

Apple Urged by IT Minister to Set Up R&D Facility in India

Hoping to rope in another big multinational technology company in the country in a big way, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday urged Apple to open a research and development (R&D) facility in India.

The minister on Friday met Apple's Head Compliance EMEIA region John Reynolds in New Delhi.

"Apple is an effective brand in India and personally I requested them to consider opening a good R&D centre in India," Prasad said after the meeting.

He said the meeting with Reynolds was positive and Prasad will be visiting Apple's facility in Silicon Valley next month.

The minister felt a R&D centre by Apple in the country would help the tech giant in getting good business propositions in other parts of Asia also.

The minister mentioned that in financial year 2013-14, Apple sold their products worth $730 million (roughly Rs. 4545 crores) in India.

1+ has launched its device in india

OnePlus has announced that its '2014 Flagship Killer' smartphone, the One, will not get a price hike in India.
The speculations around price hike of the OnePlus One for the Indian market started last month when the company raised prices of the handset for Europe (specifically the countries part of the European Union) citing the decline in value of the Euro. The company had even hinted that it might revise the price of the OnePlus One smartphone in India.

The Chinese company however, stressing on the fact that the One smartphone should be available at an attractive price point in the country, has decided not to raise price as of now.

To recall, the 16GB Silk White OnePlus One is currently retailing in India at Rs. 18,999 while the 64GB Sandstone Black variant is priced at Rs. 21,999 in India.

Commenting on this development, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager - India, OnePlus, said: "In line with our NeverSettle philosophy and long term commitment to the Indian market, we assure our users that we are constantly evaluating what works best for them; part of that is to continue to make the One available at an attractive price point. It is an ambitious step for a young startup, but for us it's about returning maximum value to our users by offering them great products and unique experiences."

OnePlus over the weekend, after missing its deadlines at the end of March, started the rollout of the OxygenOS custom ROM based on Android 5.0 Lollipop for the OnePlus One smartphone. The ROM was made available to download and flash.

Google 'declares war' on China's biggest web registrar after 'bad behaviour'

1.Google has declared war on China's biggest web registrar, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), due to its "bad behavior."
In its security blog post, Google made it clear that it would no longer accept HTTPS certificates from the CNNIC, effectively cutting the registrar out of the SSL system that secures the web.


2.HTTPS certificates ensure that web content cannot be intercepted in transit and CNNIC controls that process for the whole Chinese web, The Verge reported.
Defending its decision, Google argued that CNNIC was not careful enough in handling how its certificates were used as recently an Egyptian web company used its certificates to carry out a man-in-the-middle attack.
Meanwhile, CNNIC has strongly protested against Google's decision, calling it "unacceptable" and "unintelligible." It urged the tech giant to take users' rights and interest into full consideration.
Although CNNIC's existing certificates would still be valid, but new ones would not be issued. In order to recertify itself, CNNIC has already started working through Google's Certificate Transparency process.

3.CNNIC 's share of the certificate market is already very small, representing less than 0.1 per cent of the certificates used on the web, as the Chinese government discourages the use of HTTPS by Chinese web companies as a way to reinforce the Great Firewall.

iPhone 6C With 4-Inch Display Unlikely to Launch in 2015: Analyst

♦Apple may not debut its much-anticipated 4-inch iPhone model this year, while more details about the implementation of the expected Force Touch feature on the iPhone range have been tipped.
KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo contradicts recent rumours that suggested three new iPhone models were likely to launch this year - the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, and iPhone 6C.

○Kuo further added that the next-generation iPhone models featuring 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays will sport Force Touch technology that will work differently when compared to the Apple Watch, new MacBook and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

•9to5mac citing Kuo claims that the Force Touch technology on the iPhone 6S will sense "how much of a user's finger contacts the display." It will only detect a touch when the user "adequately" touches the screen, thus differentiating it from light tap. The report claims that the upcoming iPhones will feature dedicated sensor, which will be placed under the backlight, to accurately measure touch pressure. Kuo says Samsung uses a similar methodology for touch sensor placement on Galaxy Note phablet screens, though he adds that Apple's implementation will be more advanced.

◘Kuo speculates that addition of Force Touch will be a major upgrade from the last year's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus leading him to believe that Apple might call it 'iPhone 7'.

♣In the meanwhile, the Force Touch sensors are being tipped to only be made available on the iPhone 6S Plus, with a report out of China (via GSMArena) adding the sensors will costs two and half times as much as that on the Apple Watch due to its larger size.

♦An earlier report hinting Apple will launch three iPhones suggested that the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will be incremental updates from last year's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6C on the other hand would be the cheaper variant of the handset that the Cupertino-based giant will launch to tap emerging markets, which also includes India. All three were said to launch in the second half of 2015.

Google Unveils Asus Chromebit 'Computer on a Stick' With Chrome OS

•Google and Taiwan's Asus are launching a "computer on a stick" which can plug into a display to turn it into a PC.
Google said in a blog post that the Asus Chromebit would be arriving mid-year with a low price tag.

"Smaller than a candy bar, the Chromebit is a full computer that will be available for less than $100," Google said.

"By simply plugging this device into any display, you can turn it into a computer. It's the perfect upgrade for an existing desktop and will be really useful for schools and businesses."

The statement offered no other details on the device, but Google also announced its lowest-cost Chromebook laptop computers at $149 in partnership with Chinese electronic groups Haier and Hisense.

With a display of 11.6 inches, the Haier computer is being sold through Amazon and the Hisense PC through Walmart.

Google has produced Chrome devices with other manufacturers including Acer, Lenovo, Dell and LG.

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round for PC Missing Key Features

There are a scant few games that have remained exclusive to consoles. For the longest time, fighting game series Dead or Alive was one of them. That changed with Dead or Alive 5: Last Round. However, in a move that surprised many of the series fans, the game launched in what can be best described as an incomplete state.

There's no support for Steam achievements, Steam cards, or Steam Cloud - which allows you to continue where you left off on other PCs - and no support for controller vibration either.

However, the biggest drawback is that the game is based on the PlayStation 3 version which doesn't look as good as it could on PC.

Considering that the developer, Team Ninja just released DOA 5: Last Round on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with significantly better effects and visuals, the PC version is stuck with last generation tech. It's missing the Soft engine present in current generation consoles that give characters skins a softer look, according to the game's publisher, Koei Tecmo.

In addition to this, the game is missing two stages and online multiplayer as well (which the company claims will be available in three months).

All these issues seem to harken back to the days when game makers treated PC gamers with a token release, focusing on consoles for the most part. Some notable releases in recent memory that were crippled at release include Deadly Premonition, Dark Souls, and Final Fantasy XIII, all of which ended up being fixed by the community rather than having their creators step up to the plate.

AT&T HTC One M7 to snag Android 5.0 Lollipop starting March 31

☻It looks like HTC One M7 owners on AT&T are in for a sweet Lollipop-flavored treat starting tomorrow, March 31.

HTC's Mo Versi announced on Twitter this evening that the company has received technical approval on the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the AT&T One M7, and the OTA should begin rolling out tomorrow.


Though it's a bit late to the party when compared to One M7 Lollipop releases for other carriers, this is sure to be welcome news for those still rocking the device on AT&T. Once on Android 5.0, AT&T HTC One M7 owners will snag the standard Lollipop fare including revamped notifications, a new multitasking UI, and, of course, lots and lots of Material Design.

Xiaomi's Anticipated New Budget 4G Smartphone Tipped to Launch on April 8

According to Chinese blog Mydrivers.com, the unnamed smartphone from Xiaomi will be priced at CNY 499 (approximately Rs. 5,000) instead of the previously rumoured CNY 399 (approximately Rs. 4,000), and is set to launch on April 8.

As for the rumoured specifications of the Xiaomi's CNY 499 smartphone, the most recent report corroborates previous ones to tip it will sport a 4.7-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display; a quad-core 1.6GHz Leadcore LC 1860 CPU; Mali T628 GPU; 1GB of RAM; 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel cameras; 8GB of inbuilt storage, and Android 4.4.4 KiKat with latest MIUI skin on top.

Amazon India Unveils 'Kirana Now' Service With Same Day Delivery.......:) :)

♥Amazon India is launching a platform that leverages neighbourhood or kirana stores with the aim of quickly delivering everyday-need consumer products. Called Kirana Now, the service was launched on Wednesday in Bengaluru.

In an emailed statement, an Amazon India spokesperson said, "We are continually innovating to transform the way India shops and the way India sells. Our vision is to enable our customers in India to buy anything and everything they want online, any-time and anywhere at low prices and a convenient, fast and reliable delivery experience. Equally we are committed to empowering the growth of millions of small and medium businesses in India. Kirana Now is a step towards realising both."

The statement adds, "With this service we want to provide to our customers an instant and convenient access to their ecosystem of stores for their everyday needs right from their mobile phone. And likewise empower the Kirana stores with tools and technology to transform their growth in the digital economy."

The service, which Amazon India is calling a pilot, will be available only via mobile. With Kirana Now, Amazon aims to deliver the goods "within 2-4 hours" using its own logistics, the neighbourhood store's staff, or one of its logistics partners. These stores will be listed just like other sellers on Amazon, which operates as a pure marketplace in India.

In the US, Amazon has been offering a grocery delivery service called Amazon Fresh. The same-day and early-morning delivery service was started in 2007 in Seattle, and only expanded to other cities in 2013. It was available in about 10 US cities by the end of 2014.

In late 2014, Amazon also launched its own private label brand for consumer goods, Amazon Elements, starting with diapers and baby wipes. As industry analysts noted at the time, the move underscored the firm's maturity as a grocery retailer and the increasingly common trend of grocery shopping online.

In India, online grocery delivery services have been making some headway, but only in a small way. Services such as BigBasket, AaramShop, LocalBanya, Grofers, and Ekstop are startups, and the majority of these are operational in a handful of cities, with some companies having a presence in only one location.

However, both Tradus and HomeShop18 also sell food and groceries, and are active across India. Both have very different models; Tradus uses the marketplace model, and HomeShop18 prefers the direct route, in a bit to ensure it can deliver all the products it advertises across the country. Only Tradus is offering same-day delivery on select products.

iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 6C to Launch This Year: Report

☻Apple is expected to launch three new iPhone models this year - the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, and iPhone 6C - claims a report citing industry sources.
While the report suggests that the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will be the incremental updates from last year's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, it adds the iPhone 6C will be the handset that the Cupertino-based giant will launch to tap the emerging markets, which also includes India. All three are due in the second half of 2015.

No reasoning was given as to why the 'S' in the model names will be upper-case. Digitimes suggests that the new iPhone models will pack LTPS panels supplied by various companies including Japan Display, Sharp and LG Display, and will also feature Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The report adds that the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will use the A9 chips while the iPhone 6C will be backed by A8 chips. Other highlight features such as NFC and fingerprint scanner will be present on all three iPhone expected to launch later this year.

The rumoured 4-inch iPhone has been in news for some time and was claimed to be targeted at "female users". The handset, tentatively called iPhone 6C, is said to replace the iPhone 5c, which was priced in an entry-level to mid-range smartphone segment for Apple, according to sources in Taiwan's handset supply chain. The report stresses that Apple will work on the iPhone 6C's design, pricing and timing of the launch.

One of the sources pointed out, "The adoption of a plastic case for the 5C, which made the iPhone look cheaper than its family products, contributed to lower-than-expected sales of the model." Another sources however added that Apple might still prefer plastic cases for the iPhone 6C as it helps check the production costs.

Further commenting about the pricing of the iPhone 6C, a source added that it should be priced around $400-500 (roughly Rs. 25,000-31,000) in the US. "Shipment performance of iPhone devices in emerging markets, including India, Africa and Latin America, has been flat, as consumers in these markets are more concerned about pricing," notes the report.

Microsoft Now Calls Metro Applications Windows Apps

I guess that’s what they should have been called form the start. Windows Apps. Nice and simple, no fuss no mess, no legal tangles, and now universal handles. Nice and simple. These shiny new creations have been through a lot. Introduced with Windows 8, Microsoft...

Concept File Explorer Hamburger Menu
Windows 10 Concept Brings A Hamburger Menu In File Explorer
MARCH 25, 2015 - WINDOWS 10, WINDOWS 10 CONCEPT

If there is one area of the desktop environment in Microsoft’s new OS that could use a lot of touchups, it is File Explorer. This...
Rumors Spartan Features
Slide Shows The Spartan Features Microsoft Is Working On

MARCH 25, 2015 - SPARTAN, WINDOWS 10, WINDOWS 10 FEATURES

Microsoft’s Spartan browser is very much a fresh start for the company, and that means getting as much right from the start when it comes...
Surface Sales Success
Microsoft Preparing A Lower End Surface Tablet?
MARCH 25, 2015 - HARDWARE, MICROSOFT, STRATEGY

If you wondered why the rumor milled slowed down for reports regarding a new Surface tablets, then wonder no more. A fairly reliable report claims...
Microsoft Spartan Logo
Microsoft Confirms Extensions Support For Spartan Browser

MARCH 25, 2015 - MICROSOFT, SPARTAN, WINDOWS 10, WINDOWS 10 FEATURES

The Spartan browser is all set to take center stage on Windows 10, what with Microsoft confirming that this will be the main web browser...
Rugged Windows Tablet
Windows 10 Expected To Be A Hit On Rugged Tablets

MARCH 25, 2015 - HARDWARE, STRATEGY, WINDOWS 10

Is there any other way? Windows 8.1 found good success on rugged mobile hardware, and Windows 10 is very much sure to carry on this...
Comodo Firewall 8 Review
Comodo Firewall 8 Review

MARCH 25, 2015 - SOFTWARE

Comodo Firewall 8 Review Software: Comodo Firewall 8 Category: Security Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 Price: Free Details: www.comodo.com Third-party providers of firewall software...
HP Spectre x360 13T Review
HP Spectre x360 13T Review

MARCH 25, 2015 - HP, WINDOWS 10 ENTERPRISE

HP Spectre x360 13T Review Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5200U dual-core Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500 RAM: 8GB Storage: 256GB SSD Display: 13.3-inch touchscreen Screen...
Acer Aspire Switch 11 Review
Acer Aspire Switch 11 Review

MARCH 25, 2015 - ACER, WINDOWS 10 ENTERPRISE

Acer Aspire Switch 11 Review Processor: 1.5GHz Intel Core i3-4012Y dual-core Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4200 RAM: 4GB Storage: 60GB SSD + 500GB hard drive...
Feedback-Windows10-build-10041
Windows 10 Build 10041 – what do you think? Give us your feedback

MARCH 25, 2015 - FEEDBACK, WINDOWS 10 BUILDS

So Microsoft just released Windows 10 Build 10041 to Windows Insiders. In addition, they released ISO files as well so everyone who wanted to do...
windows-10-ISO-gradient-06
Windows 10 Build 10041 ISO’s are now available

MARCH 25, 2015 - INSTALLS, WINDOWS 10 BUILDS

Microsoft released the latest version of its Windows 10 Technical Preview - build 10041 earlier today to those testing it on the 'Slow ring' of...
Windows 10 For Phones DirectInk
Windows 10 For Phones Support For Pen & Ink Input Confirmed

MARCH 24, 2015 - MOBILE, WINDOWS 10 FOR PHONES

Boy, Microsoft sure has lined up a bucketload of features for Windows 10 for Phones. The company announced several at the WinHEC conference in China...