Google has started rolling out a new Google Play update for Android, that brings option to always require the account password for purchases, option to batch install applications from the my apps section and more minor changes. It also brings option to force update the app to check for the latest version.
Password protection for in-app purchases is definitely a much need feature. In recent incident, a New York woman sued Google after her 5-year-old son spent $65.95 to purchase virtual current on Marvel Run Jump Smash game.
New features in Google Play Store 4.6.16
New Require password options (for all purchases and every 30 minutes)
Batch install in My apps
Force Play Store self-update to the latest version
Settings and Help have to been moved to slideout navigation
Auto-add widgets setting has been renamed to Auto-add icon to homescreen
In-app purchases are now included in the app permissions screen
Google+ +1 counts are now exact for large quantities
Some minor changes in style
These features have been detailed by Android police, who has also uploaded the original apk of the new version, so that you can side-load them, if you have not received the update yet.
Google has started rolling out a new Google Play update for Android, that brings option to always require the account password for purchases, option to batch install applications from the my apps section and more minor changes. It also brings option to force update the app to check for the latest version.
Password protection for in-app purchases is definitely a much need feature. In recent incident, a New York woman sued Google after her 5-year-old son spent $65.95 to purchase virtual current on Marvel Run Jump Smash game.
New features in Google Play Store 4.6.16
New Require password options (for all purchases and every 30 minutes)
Batch install in My apps
Force Play Store self-update to the latest version
Settings and Help have to been moved to slideout navigation
Auto-add widgets setting has been renamed to Auto-add icon to homescreen
In-app purchases are now included in the app permissions screen
Google+ +1 counts are now exact for large quantities
Some minor changes in style
These features have been detailed by Android police, who has also uploaded the original apk of the new version, so that you can side-load them, if you have not received the update yet.
The Vibe Z is the Lenovo's flagship device which is all set to launch in India soon. It is an improved variant of the previous flagship, the K900, in many ways. Sporting improved internals, we were pretty happy to see that Lenovo has stuck to the same camera and lens unit as the K900. A 13 megapixel Sony sensor with the fastest f1.8 lens still has a lot of untapped potential, so we tested it on the road, while in travel to see how it performed in actual use - capturing moments from a trip. Being the only camera at hand, how does it hold up in various conditions? Does it capture all the moments well? Lets go through our Lenovo Vibe Z camera samples for a quick analysis.
The Lenovo Vibe Z has a 13 megapixel EXMOR RS Stacked CMOS sensor from Sony, which has been used in various phones right from the K900 to the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the LG G2. But how the Vibe Z differs from other manufacturers using the same sensor is the lens module. Lenovo uses a f1.8 aperture lens module on the K900 as well as the Vibe Z, which is the fastest ...
A premium version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is not happening, the JK Shin, chief of mobile division, Samsung, said to Korean media, according to recent report from K bench. The Samsung Galaxy S5 with a 1080p screen and plastic build did disappoint some fans, since they were expecting a 2K display on the phone.
Some rumors suggested that premium variant of the Galaxy S5 with metallic build would arrive this year. Even though JK Shin denied a premium Galaxy S5, he confirmed that Samsung would unveil the next Galaxy Note smartphone in the series later this year.
During shareholders' meeting on March 14, Samsung revealed its plans to ramp up efforts to expand sales this year through premium product lineup, another report, from Korea's Yonhap News reveals. Samsung Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun said "We will maintain our dominance in key businesses, such as mobile phones, TVs and memory chips, by rolling out premium lineups".
This hints that Samsung might unveil rumored premium (F Series) smartphones soon. This might not be based on the Galaxy S or the Note series and have a new design for the premium market with a higher price tag than the Galaxy and the Note line-up. Earlier today specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom surfaced online. ...
Earlier this year rumors about Amazon's gaming console running Android surfaced. Today, Dave Zats spotted a gaming controller with Amazon branding at Brazilian cetification website, similar to FCC. It did not have any other details, but we can clearly see a layout, similar to the gaming controllers for Android. You can see three familiar Android buttons for back, home and menu, below the Amazon logo.
You can clearly see some media controls, so the gaming console might also act as a media player, and these buttons could be used to control the playback. There are analog sticks on either sides and a navipad. You can also see LED lights on the front.
More images show shoulder triggers. The controller might come with the rumored Amazon's console and might also be sold separately to work with Amazon's Kindle fire tablets or any other Android smartphones. The regulatory filing is tied to Amazon Fulfillment Services Inc, so this might not be fake. We will have to wait for Amazon to announced it officially later this year.
Via
The Nokia X made a huge (green) splash at the Mobile World Congress event a couple of weeks and has been rapidly making its moves into markets, with it launching in Malaysia, India and the Phillipines. It is now all set to launch in China, and just 5 days after announcing the device for the market and opening the pre-orders, Nokia has reportedly received 1 million of them already. The company posted this on its Weibo account with a celebratory image touting the big number.
This is a re-entry of sorts for Nokia, after suffering terrible sales and a rapid decline in marketshare, in the biggest mobile phone market of this world. The decline started just before Nokia switched gears in 2011 and the company never recovered from that fall. But for a country that is devoid of Google services, the Nokia X must have seemed like a viable option, and the numbers show. The Nokia X is basically a forked Android device from Nokia that can run all sorts of Android apps, except the ones that are tied to Google's services. One can sideload APKs and run any standalone Android app or get them through the Nokia Store, which will ...
Earlier this year, at the CES 2014, Asus announced the Transformer Duet which ran Android and Windows side by side. This was probably designed for those who wanted the best of both the worlds and it was quite a hit at the CES 2014. Even an Indian manufacturer - Micromax, announced a similar dual boot device - Micromax Laptab which was supposed to be available in February.
But both those devices are yet to make it to the market and it looks like they will not. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft and Google aren't pleased with devices running two OS. Microsoft seems to be clear that their OS doesn't run side by side with another OS and hence they do not want a dual boot Android and Windows device. Google also seem to prefer a similar option as they expect their devices to be all Android.
With the laptop and tablet market staring at this single OS device, there are plans by Indian manufacturers to launch dual boot smartphones that could run Android and Windows Phone. Karbonn is expected to ship dual boot smartphones in Q2 later this year.
More than two years ago Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy Beam - an Android smartphone that came with a projector on its top. The Samsung Galaxy Beam featured mid-range specifications at that time and it was not about specs. As the name suggests, Galaxy Beam was about projection. Last year, we did not see a successor to it, but it seems like Samsung is not giving up so easily. The probably Galaxy Beam successor has been spotted in the wild, but with a metal build.
The Samsung Galaxy SM-G3858 was spotted online in China’s Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center. Just like its predecessor, the Galaxy Beam successor doesn't have the best of specs and comes with a very modest specification list that includes a 4.66-inch display with 480 x 800 pixels, quad-core 1.2GHz processor (possibly a Snapdragon 200), 1GB of RAM, VGA front-facing camera, and a 5MP rear camera with LED flash.
The Certification document suggests that this device is headed for China Mobile and there could be other variants as well. What is surprising here is that Samsung has finally decided to step up the quality of materials and it is good to see a metal clad device from Samsung. We will let you ...
Micromax launched the Canvas Knight A350, the company's first smartphone with Octa-Core processor in India earlier this month. This is one of the first phones in India to feature a full HD display and a 2 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592 chip. The Micromax Canvas Turbo too had a 5-inch 1080p display, but it was powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6589T chip. Check out the unboxing below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3KMgkjQSoc
Specifications are mentioned on the back of the box.
Box contents
The box contents include,
Micromax Canvas Knight A350 smartphone in black colour
Tangle free in-ear headset
Flat and tangle-free micro USB cable
Travel charger (5v - 1 Amps) with USB port
Information booklets for SAR, features, Warranty and user manual
Protective cover
SIM ejector tool
The 5-inch full HD display at a resolution of 1920 by 1080 is sharp and bright. It has a 8-megapixel fixed focus front-facing camera. It runs on Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean).
The glass back and metal finish on the sides gives the phone a premium look. There is a 16-megapixel camera on the back with LED flash. It is capable of recording videos at 1080p resolution. It has 2350 mAh battery under the back cover. The phone comes with dual SIM support with two SIM micro SIM card slots, located ...
Micromax launched the Micromax Canvas Knight A350, the company latest flagship smartphone and the successor of the Canvas Turbo few weeks back . We already brought you the photo gallery and the unboxing of device. Here we have the benchmarks of the smartphone. It is powered by a Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592 processor which as 8 ARM Cortex-A7 CPUs, each clocked at 2 GHz, faster than the Auqa Octa and the iberry Auxus Nuclea N2, that were clocked at 1.66 GHz. It has a Mali 450-MP4 GPU. It comes with a 5-inch 1080p display, 2GB RAM and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). The Octa-Core chip comes with Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP), where all the core can be turned ON at the same time. Check out the synthetic benchmark results below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCJw6odrRxQ
Quadrant Benchmark
The Micromax Canvas Knight tops the Quadrant benchmark by scoring 15613 points.
AnTuTu Benchmark 4
The Canvas Knight topped again in the AnTuTu benchmark 4.
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5
It scored 2104 points in the Vellamo 2 HTML browser benchmark.
Vellamo 2.0 Metal
It managed to score 697 points in the Vellamo 2 CPU subsystem performance test.
Linpack Single Thread
It clocked around 165 MFLOPS in the Linpack single thread benchmark.
Linpack Multi-Thread
It managed to clock around 349.9 MFLOPS in the Linpack multi-thread benchmark.
NenaMark 2
It clocked 57.3 fps in ...
Karbonn, Lava and Xolo would launch smartphones running on Windows Phone in coming months, according to a recent report from TOI. Last month at the Mobile World Congress, Microsoft announced nine new Windows Phone partners, that includes Karbonn and Xolo from India. Karbonn recently announced it would launch dual-boot phones in coming months.
Karbonn would launch Windows Phone devices priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs. 12,000. These smartphones would be available by the end of May or starting June, Karbonn MD said. A range of Windows Phone devices would be launched under Lava brand by July, priced between Rs. 6,500 and Rs. 8,500, Lava International CEO and MD Hari Om Rai said. These phones would be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor and will feature Windows 8 platform.
Windows Phone is expected to contribute to 8 to 10% volume of Lava smartphones starting July to August time- frame, Lava CEO added. Xolo would launch Windows Phone handsets starting Q2 2014, and it expects to reach a 15% share of the smartphone market by end of 2014.
Currently Nokia Lumia 520 is the cheapest Windows Phone handset, costing around Rs. 7,500. Windows Phone devices at a price of Rs. 6,000 would definitely attract the buyers. A ...
Flipkart is still the exclusive retailer for Motorola Moto G in India and it has been nearly 50 days since the launch. They have already started teasing their next exclusive device - Motorola Moto X. Motorola Moto X was Motorola's first smartphone among the two smartphones that it manufactured under Google's ownership and it was announced way back in August 2013 and was launched in USA then.
Motorola Moto X had not been available outside US and it looks like the smartphone is making its way to India after seeing how successful the budget Moto G was. Unlike the Motorola Moto G, the Moto X isn't necessarily a budget smartphone. It retails for $399 in the US(off contract) which approximately amounts to Rs 25,000. Unlike Moto G, which was teased as a exceptional smartphone for an exceptional pricing, there is no tease from Flipkart about the pricing of Moto X.
The specifications of Motorola Moto X are
1.7Ghz dual core Snapdragon S4 Pro
Android 4.4 KitKat
4.7 inch 720p display
2GB RAM, 16GB ROM
2200 mAh
10MP Clear Pixel camera, 2MP front facing camera
Bluetooth 4.0
WiFi b/g/n/ac, GPS, GLONASS
NFC
nano SIM
Flipkart has teased the launch day offers just like it did for the launch of Motorola Moto G - If ...
Samsung is popular for different variants of smartphones under based on the name of its flagship device. The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Value Edition was launched in Netherlands earlier this week. The Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim, (SM-G3812B) a budget variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has surfaced on the official Samsung Brazil website. It has a 4.52-inch (960 x 540 Pixels) capacitive touch screen display, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
Most of the features of the Galaxy S3 Slim are similar to the Galaxy Core LTE, that was announced last month, but this is powered by a quad-core processor instead of dual-core processor in the Galaxy Core LTE and lacks LTE and NFC support.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim specifications
4.52-inch (960 x 540 Pixels) capacitive touch screen display
1.2 GHz quad-core processor
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
Dimensions: 133 x 66 x 9.7 mm; Weight: 139 g
5MP Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash
0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
3.5mm audio jack
1GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, expandable up to 32GB with microSD
3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi-Direct, DLNA, Bluetooth v4.0, A-GPS + GLONASS
2100 mAh battery
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim comes in Black and White colors. Still no word on ...
India's supreme court asked Nokia to provide guarantee of 35 billion rupees ($572.5 million) in an escrow account before it is allowed to transfer its Chennai plant and other assets in the country to Microsoft reports Reuters. Back in September last year Microsoft agreed to buy 5.4 Billion Euros cash, 3.79 Billion for devices and services 1.65 Billion for the associated patents.
Last year officials raided Nokia’s manufacturing plant in Chennai, and found the company hadn't paid enough taxes. In December 2013, Delhi High Court asked the company to deposit money into an escrow account and agree to guarantee any tax dues to enable transfer of the factory in Chennai. Nokia appealed over it saying the Delhi High Court had imposed new conditions, and these are not aligned with international treaties and practices.
Last month Nokia said the tax case will not affect its transaction between the company and Microsoft, that is expected to close by the end of March. The plant at Sriperumbudur manufactures most of the entry-level devices, including its Asha range. If this remains frozen by tax authorities, it cannot be immediately transferred to Microsoft.
Nokia can run it on contract to Microsoft, but not for long, lawyers have previously ...
Google introduced Play Games as a competitor to Apple's Game Center, but it has hardly caught up in the race. The Google Play Games still lacks in features like how you cannot properly use gift codes and also the free to paid app transition is troublesome. Google has just announced an update to the Play Games service in the form of new developer options and also ability to gift in the game.
As a end user, what this means for you is that, like all those perky Facebook apps which send you request, you will now be able to receive *gifts* on your phone, but for Android games(of course, Google will let you block it if you are not interested). For example, while you are playing Candy Crush and you have the option to share your accomplishment by sending out gifts to people, you can do this via Google Play Games if the developer chooses to implement it.
One other important change is cross platform multiplayer support. With cross platform games on the rise, it is only fair that Google and Apple support cross platform Multiplayer games(like QuizUp). Developers will have to incorporate this through the Play Games Unity Plug-in and Play Games ...
Last month the first press image of Samsung SM-W750V codenamed Huron leaked out along with the rumored specifications. @evleaks has published a new press image of the smartphone showing its Windows Phone 8.1 UI. The smartphone would be called Samsung ATIV SE and would head to Verizon.
The phone looks similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4, with some tweaks in the design. It also has 4G LTE support. The new render also shows capacitive touch buttons for back and search. The date is Thursday, 17th, so the smartphone could be unveiled on April 17th, 2014, Thursday.
According to earlier rumors, the ATIV SE is expected to feature a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 CPU and a 5-inch HD or a full HD display. Other specifications are not available yet. We are yet to see a global variant of the device. So this might only be limited to the US carrier Verizon.
Microsoft would announce the Windows Phone 8.1, the next major update to the Windows Phone at the Build conference between April 2nd and 4th in San Francisco. WP 8.1 would bring a range of new software features and support for dual SIM support, Snapdragon 200 and 400 chipsets and ...
Apple is rumored to be entering the personal health and fitness tracking segment with the upcoming iPhone and/or supposed iWatch. Earlier this month, 9To5Mac leaked a screenshot from iOS 8 revealing the upcoming Healthbook application for iPhone. Today, 9To5Mac have posted an extensive coverage of the upcoming Healthbook.
The design of Apple's Healthbook takes cues from their Passbook application and uses card like interface. As per the screenshot, Apple is going full fledged into the personal health and fitness market by tracking more than vital signs. The Healthbook application keeps a complete record of various aspects of your health like - Bloodwork, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Hydration levels, Blood Sugar, Sleep, Respiratory rate, Oxygen Saturation and weight.
Apple could use the iPhone to track all the details, but it is highly unlikely. So, with the leaked Healthbook application, there is a very high chance that Apple will be launching their own fitness tracker - most likely a smartwatch that has been rumored to be in the works for nearly four years - Apple iWatch.
Amazon launched a refreshed version of the Kindle Paperwhite in India last month starting at Rs. 10,999, about eight months after the Kindle Paperwhite launched in the country. We got hold of the 3G version of the new Paperwhite. Is the second-generation Kindle Paperwhite better than the first one? Is it worth the price? Let us find out in the complete review.
Hardware
The new Paperwhite has the same 6-inch (1024 x 768 pixels) display at pixel resolution of 212 PPI pixel density, similar to the first Paperwhite. The main change is the brightness and the sharp screen, definitely looks better than the first one. It has a built-in light similar to the first Kindle Paperwhite. Since this is front-lit screen, you can use it even in bright sunlight without any glare. The blacks are much deeper, so you don't have to strain your eyes to read small text in content like comics. Otherwise the design is exactly similar, so you can't differentiate between the first and second generation Paperwhites when the screen if off.
The new Kindle Paperwhite is 9.1 mm thick, exactly similar to the first one. At 206 and 215 grams, the WiFi and the 3G variants are 7 grams ...
LG unveiled the G Pro 2, successor of the G Pro ahead of Mobile World Congress last month. It went on sale in Korea at the end of February, even before it was showcased at the MWC. The company today announced that it has started selling the smartphones in Asian markets including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippine, Vietnam and Indonesia. It was showcased at the LG Tech Show 2014 event in India earlier this month, but the company did not reveal the launch date of the yet.
The G Pro 2 has a 5.9-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS display with slim bezel, powered by a 2.26 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat). It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, OIS+, 4K Ultra HD video recording and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. It has high-power 1W Hi-Fi sound that is 30% louder than G Pro, Knock ON with Knock Code, a new customizable option to unlock the phone and lots more features.
LG G Pro 2 specifications
5.9-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS display with slim bezel
2.26 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 GPU
Android 4.4 (KitKat)
Dimensions – 157.9 x 81.9 x 8.3mm, weight: 172g
13MP rear camera with LED Flash, OIS+, 4K video recording, Slow motion video ...
Reliance Jio Infocomm, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has entered into a pan-India tower infrastructure sharing agreement with Viom Networks, a joint venture of Tata Teleservices and SREI Infrastructure to use the latter's telecom infrastructure with a footprint of over 42,000 telecom towers for their 4G roll out. Viom Networks is India’s largest independent telecommunications infrastructure company.
Reliance Jio had already tied with RCOM and Bharti Infratel to use their telecom infrastructure. Reliance Jio received unified License for all its 22 service areas across India recently. The company plans to roll out 4G broadband and voice services later this year.
Regarding the new deal, Sanjay Mashruwala, Managing Director, Reliance Jio, said,
This agreement is in line with our mission of a Pan India launch spanning next-generation voice and data services and leveraging existing telecom infrastructure. We look forward to partnering with Viom Networks for rolling out services across the country.
Syed Safawi, CEO, Viom Networks, said,
From a conventional tower company, we are transforming ourselves as an innovation-driven, data-centric infra solutions provider. We are delighted to partner with Reliance jio and offer our countrywide network infrastructure. Our consistent delivery of high network up time, on-time reliable project delivery capability, and optimal operation and a maintenance cost offer a great value package.
After confirming the presence of a mobile-enabled version in the works when launching the Surface 2, the Redmond giant has finally taken the wraps off Microsoft Surface 2 with LTE 4G on the AT&T network, retailing at a price of 679$ for the 64 GB version. The Surface was Microsoft's first play as a PC hardware company. The first product, called Surface RT, was largely a flop due to poor usability and performance, and even took a write down in the company's earnings. Surface 2, the successor, was launched almost an year later, with good reviews and better reception from consumers, but still not as popular as Microsoft would like. Touted as a portable productive machine, the Surface 2 in its initial variants lacked a LTE chip for mobile data, which was apparently a highly requested feature, and hence we are seeing it now, in the form of the slightly modified LTE variant of the Surface 2.
With a SIM card slot added to the sides, the Surface 2 will be able to use the 4G LTE data connectivity offered by the mobile operator, like AT&T for instance, and lets you use internet on-the-go. Windows RT, the operating system that runs ...
