Nokia 3310 is back! Colorful, yet the basic feature phone.......

                       By Chetan Bhawani
Isn’t this the Nokia we wanted to see? Indeed. And the company that is back after several hurdles and it is delivering big. Nokia 6 was the first smartphone under HMD Global when the company made its first appearance at the CES 2017 in Las Vegas, and now, Nokia brings back what was the best product ever – the Nokia 3310!

This takes us back to the time when the name Nokia was a legacy. Anyone, everyone would trust Nokia to be the best in offering a basic phone without any nonsense. The nostalgic return of Nokia 3310 comes with Nokia’s Series 30+ software, with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, a 2-megapixel camera, and even a microSD slot.
Glossy red and yellow colors, and matte grey and dark blue colors. This wasn’t how the Nokia 3310 was back then, but now the changes look so good and refreshing, that I’ll stand in a queue to get hold of this little beauty.

22 hours of talk time, 10 times more than what the original Nokia 3310 had. And it does have Snake, the popular game that defined what gaming on a small basic phone would be back then. Also, Nokia has the Opera Mini bundled if you want to do some basic web browsing. Take it seriously, you cannot do a lot here on the phone, but you might still want it if you have been a tech geek and a fan of Nokia from the past.

2G connectivity at max, for calling or texting
The UI is new but still takes us back to the original one
2MP camera on the back
3.5mm Headphone jack
Will be available in single SIM and dual SIM models
FM radio and MP3 player
16GB internal storage
MicroSD card slot for storage expansion
The price for the Nokia 3310 is set at 49 euros, which is about 3500 INR.

BlackBerry has Just Unveiled its Android Phone named “Blackberry Keyone

BlackBerry has Just Unveiled its Android Phone named “Blackberry Keyone”. It was earlier code named as mercury. The main highlight of the phone is its Physical keyboard and Camera i.e. 12MP rear camera(Sony IMX378 sensor) with 4K video at 30 fps, f/2.0 lens. It is the same camera which is used in Google Pixel.

BlackBerry Keyone is packed with 4.5-inch scratch-resistant, 1620 x 1080-pixel display, It is powered with Snapdragon 625 Octa-core processor which is paired with 3GB RAM and 32 GB internal Storage. The phone is packed with 12MP rear camera (Sony IMX378 sensor) with 4K video at 30 fps, f/2.0 lens, It is the same camera sensor which is used in Google Pixel. Moreover, the phone is also packed with 8MP fixed-focus front camera. It runs on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

Coming to the connectivity options, Blackberry KeyOne includes USB Type-C, WiFi, GPS and 4G LTE support. Interestingly North American (U.S.) version of the BlackBerry KeyOne does not support all of the essential 4G LTE bands required by Verizon Wireless and Sprint. All the supported bands are : bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30.

Coming to the availability and pricing Blackberry Keyone has just announced ans is going to be available by April. Blackberry KEYOne is available for $449 in the US, €599 in Europe and £499 in the UK. It is also coming to india for around Rs. 35000.

After Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp is The Latest App To Copy Snapchat

Over past months, we have discussed how Facebook and Instagram have ripped-off features from Snapchat and added them to their apps. While there have been no lawsuits (And I don’t think Snapchat can sue Facebook Inc.) These added features have helped Facebook in increasing the user count a lot. Today, WhatsApp –a Facebook-owned company- joines the traditions of copying features of Snapchat

Google, Yahoo, and Others Will Soon Ban Torrent Links in Search Results

Torrent sites have been around for a long time and have found a way to survive no matter what. If one is taken down another comes up to take its place. Google has been the biggest marketer of these sites, by informing people about them. Now with the increasing complaints against such torrent sites by the entertainment industry regarding online piracy, Google along with many other search engines, is now planning to ban all torrent sites.

To do away with the label of being a piracy promotor, Google entered into a discussing with other search companies and entertainment studios that were chaired by UK’s Intellectual Property Office, according to a report by Torrent Freak.
The meeting included other prominent search engines such as Yahoo and Bing, among many others. A decision was reached that they will deal with the appearance of the torrent sites in their search results. A draft amendment to the Digital Economy Bill committee will allow the government to impose a code of practice on search engines. But now, after a recent meeting, the various companies decided that such a step will not be needed.”Since the idea was last discussed in [parliament], Intellectual Property Office officials have chaired a further round-table meeting between search engines and representatives of the creative industries,” Baroness Buscombe said. “While there are still elements of detail to be settled, the group is now agreed on the key content of the code, and I expect an agreement to be reached very soon.”

“Since the idea was last discussed in [parliament], Intellectual Property Office officials have chaired a further round-table meeting between search engines and representatives of the creative industries,” Baroness Buscombe said. “While there are still elements of detail to be settled, the group is now agreed on the key content of the code and I expect an agreement to be reached very soon.”

The Torrent Freak reported that the agreement would come into affect on 1 June 2017. As of now, no details have been announced. And the companied involved have no comments about the steps they plan to take to curb piracy.

The agreement is most likely to be implemented in UK, and after that, it will be interesting to see if it will work all over the world with uniformity.

Apple patent shows Fingerprint sensor built right into iPhone’s screen

By Sai Krishna -Feb 16, 20170

Apple has been granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for a new fingerprint-reading technology. This new patent will eliminate the dedicated sensor to rear fingerprints. Instead, it will read the fingerprints directly through the screen. This new patent has being titled as “Interactive display panel with IR diodes, ” and it went back to 2014 and was first spotted by AppleInsider.

LuxVue initially filed the patent; a company that makes the micro-LED display which was later acquired by Apple in 2014 hence the patent was also assigned to Apple in 2014. According to the report coming in from AppleInsider, Apple is thinking of ditching the TouchID altogether and move to a more advanced way of implementing the fingerprint sensor.
Touchscreen which is capable of acting as an input device, as well as a fingerprint scanner, would give more space and greater design flexibility. Rumors regarding the TouchID and the new Apple iPhone have been circulating for a while now, but Apple is yet to shed light on the developments. However, there is a little scope of this patent surface at this moment.

With the iPhone 8 (or 7s may be), Apple might bring significant design changes, and it might include the Iris Scanner and the company might celebrate a special 10th anniversary iPhone; currently code named as iPhone X which will support wireless charging, thanks to the glass back. Though nothing is official until Apple comes out and announces.

Vernee Apollo 2 Launch Confirmed With 8GB of RAM And A Deca Core Processor

.                                                                          FEB 14, 2017by NAVNI BAJPAI

  company Vernee has made the announcement that it will launch a new smartphone Apollo 2, at MWC 2017 later this month. The company had earlier launched a smartphone Apollo that had 6 GB RAM. The Apollo 2 will be its successor. The company has moved a step forward with this smartphone, that will have a 8 GB RAM.

The Apollo 2 will be the first smartphone to have an 8GB RAM if it hits the market before the Asus ZenFone AR, which is due to hit markets in Q2 2017, as the latter is the current title holder for a phone with the highest RAM.

The company announced in a Twitter post on Monday that the Apollo 2 will be released in the MWC 2017 and it will be the first smartphone in the world to be powered by an Helio X30 processor. The company further added that the smartphone would be available in two variants: 64GB of inbuilt storage + 6GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage + 8GB of RAM. In addition to these specifications, the Apollo 2 is expected to have QHD display.

The processor Helio X30 is going to be the successor of the Helio X20 SoC. It is build with TSMC’s 10nm FinFET architecture and sports a quad-core PowerVR 7XT GPU. The X30 chip features a trip cluster design similar to its predecessors, X20 and X25. This chipset is capable of support 8 GB RAM device. It can support a camera with sensor capability as high as 40 megapixels and can support video capture up to 24 megapixels.

The deca-core Helio X30 comes with four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.8GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.2GHz, and two Cortex-A35 cores clocked at 2GHz. The X30 comes with a modem that will support three carrier aggregation (3CA) and Cat.12 LTE.

We are now waiting for the official announcement at the MWC to know more about the Apollo2 and its features.

Indian smartphone market grew 5.2% in 2016; Samsung tops

INDIA.COM

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2017 12:38 PM Samsung continued to lead the smartphone market with 25.1 percent share, followed by Xiaomi with 10.7 percent share and at 17.4 percent.

India registered 109.1 million units of smartphone shipments with a marginal 5.2 per cent annual growth in 2016, market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) said on Monday. Chinese players led the pack. In the fourth quarter of 2016, smartphone shipments clocked 25.8 million units — registering similar volumes as that of 2015 but declining sharply by 20.3 percent over the previous quarter.

This was mainly due to a seasonal decline after an all-time high festival quarter and demonetisation in November, which led to relatively lower consumer sales in November and December.

“Feature phone to smartphone migration has slowed down as prices of smartphones are still quite high for a feature phone user,” said Karthik J, Senior Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC.

The share of China-based vendors touched a whopping 46 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016. Their shipments doubled over the same period last year while the share of homegrown vendors slipped to 19 percent. Samsung continued to lead the smartphone market with 25.1 percent share despite a 13.1 percent sequential decline in the fourth quarter of 2016. But Samsung's annual shipments grew 3.2 percent in 2016, driven majorly by the J-series. ALSO READ: OPPO ruled smartphone market in China in 2016; Apple beats Xiaomi for 4th place: IDC

Xiaomi climbed up to second spot with 10.7 percent share against 3.3 percent share in the same period last year. Year-on-year shipments grew threefold while sequential growth was 15.3 percent. Lenovo (including Motorola) slipped to third place as shipments declined 17.4 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 14.5 percent over same quarter of previous year, the report noted.

OPPO made it to the top five list with 8.6 percent share.

Download YouTube Go for Android APK to download, share videos By Gizmo Times Staff - Feb 10, 2017

YouTube developers have always been working to offer the users with options to save videos so that they don’t have to worry about the times when the phone is not connected, and they are trying to make it ethical by giving the offline options. Now, a new app makes it even better with a lighter app offering the users with easier choices to save and share the videos on YouTube.

Named as YouTube Go, the app itself is about 8MB in size, giving an indication of what the developers have in mind. But it is the features that makes the app different from the official YouTube app.
Control Your Data by choosing to download or stream and even preview videos before you download or watch. Sharing the videos is one of the other major features where you won’t be using data while sharing your videos with friends nearby. Google says that only a 15kb security check will be done before the person can watch the video that you shared.

Downloading the videos is another advantage and that can be done either to the internal storage of the phone or to the SD card. Also, when it comes to Android version compatibility, this will be running well in any phone that runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and later.

For now, this is still an unreleased app but you can download and use it as usual, only with some expected bugs and errors, though we haven’t faced any while using it. Also, since the early access function is now disabled by Google Play, you can download the APK and try it out. [Download Link]
<  this version beta >
https://goo.gl/ovCHZB 

Google May Soon Remove Millions of Apps From Google Play Store

Google May Soon Remove Millions of Apps From Google Play Store

FEB 11, 2017 by NAVNI BAJ

Google is sending notices to all those developers that are handling private or sensitive data without an appropriate privacy policy. The company has informed that it is removing all those apps, which violate the terms of User Data policy, from Google Play. Google has given the concerned developers a warning to fix the issue by 15 March, after which administrative action will be taken, and the visibility of their app will be limited.

The Next Web reported that a number of developers have received a warning from Google stating that their app violates the policy. The move by Google might be a big blow to those half-developed apps that have made it to Google Play but lack a proper privacy policy.

Google’s User Data policy states that the developers have to be clear about how they handle user data (information provided by a user, collected about a user, and collected about a user’s use of the app or device). It also adds that the app is required to follow additional restrictions or procedures if required by applicable law.

Google describes the “Privacy Policy and Secure Transmission” in User Data policy. “If your app handles personal or sensitive user data (including personally identifiable information, financial and payment information, authentication information, phonebook or contact data, microphone and camera sensor data, and sensitive device data) then your app must: 1) Post a privacy policy in both the designated field in the Play Developer Console and from within the Play distributed app itself. 2) Handle the user data securely, including transmitting it using modern cryptography (for example, over HTTPS).”

As per the notice that was shared by Next Web, Google has warned the developers that if their app doesn’t fix the issue then their visibility will be limited or the app might even be removed. The developers have two options, they can either link to a proper privacy policy or stop requesting for sensitive user data.

This move might boost the confidence of the users in Android which had been shaken up a bit due to the presence of too many fake apps.

WhatsApp rolls out 'Two-Step Verification' for everyone; Here is why it is important

Finally, WhatsApp is rolling out an update that adds Two-Step Authentication to your WhatsApp account. This feature is an essential method to ensure the safety of your WhatsApp account. WhatsApp had been internally testing this feature since the last few months to finalise the exact implementation of the security countermeasure with reports going back to July last year. This feature was previously only limited to beta users on Android but the company is now rolling out this feature for all the users on Android. One thing to note is that iOS devices in our office have not received the update at the time of writing.

Two-Step Authentication, named as “Two-step verification” is located under the Account section on the main “Settings” menu. This adds a passcode to your WhatsApp account which is required for every time you register your contact number with WhatsApp number. The setup process is simple where you only need to tap on the option and follow the instructions. The setup asks you to enter a six-digit passcode and verifies the code. It also gives you the option to enter an email address as a backup to reset the passcode if you forget the passcode or misplace it.

You can skip entering the email address but skipping a backup method is not recommended as losing the passcode will lock you out of your WhatsApp account. Once the setup process is completed, the “Two-step Verification” gives you easy options to ‘Disable’, ‘Change passcode’ or ‘Change email address’. This security feature ensures that people won’t register using your mobile number in case you lose your SIM card. The presence of ‘Two-step verification’ will ensure that there is no chance for people to impersonate you in case you lose access to your SIM card or mobile number. You can check other interesting things that one can do while using WhatsApp.

Facebook Lite crosses 200 million monthly active users

🌍🎉🎊🎆🎏

Facebook Lite crosses 200 million monthly active users
Facebook Lite gives people access to a less-graphic News Feed, and consumes less data than the standard Facebook app
By Karthekayan Iyer Published Date 09 - Feb - 2017 | Last Updated 09 - Feb - 2017
Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime (Gold, 32GB) 8999
Facebook Lite, Facebook's lightweight social media browsing app that consumes less data and works with low-end smartphones, has crossed 200 million monthly active users. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the app on June 4, 2015 as an alternative to the standard Facebook App. FB Lite takes less than 3MB storage space on a smartphone, and works well with slower internet connections.

Facebook Lite supports more than 50 languages, and was initially rolled out for developing nations including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the Philippines. In a press statement, Facebook says it will continue to develop the app and introduce new features considering its popularity. With over 200 million active users every month, Facebook Lite is now heading to South Korea, UAE, Italy and Israel, with plans to roll out in other countries as well.

Lava launches 4G Connect M1 feature phone with 4G VoLte at Rs........

Lava has launched the first 4G VoLTE enabled feature phone in India. Called the Lava 4G Connect M1, the phone is priced at Rs. 3,333 and the company says that it combines the experience of a smartphone, with the durability, affordability and battery backup of a feature phone. The phone is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 512MB of RAM. The device also comes pre-loaded with Facebook Lite and messaging applications. Other features include wireless FM, K class amplifier and VGA camera.

Xiaomi Mi TV Box 3S and 3C with AI officially launched at 199 Yuan

Xiaomi Mi Box 3S and 3C with AI officially launched at 199 Yuan

By Shuddhahnik Maity -Nov 16, 20160

Xiaomi has officially unveiled two new variants of its smart TV box. The latest Mi Box 3S and 3C are very affordable gadgets and can turn your ordinary television into a smart TV. Both the newly launched devices come with quad-core processors, AI (Artificial Intelligence), out of the box 4K support. The Mi Box 3S features a price tag of 299 Yuan ($43.50 USD or Rs. 2,949 INR approx.), while the Mi Box 3C is almost 30 percent cheaper and costs just 199 Yuan ($29 USD or Rs. 1,969 INR approx.)

Specifications

Xiaomi Mi Box 3S 

                                                                                  The Mi Box 3S is the high-end variant among the two. It sports 2 GB of DDR3 RAM along with 8 GB of eMMC 5.1 onboard storage. The 64 bit Amlogic S905X processor powers up the device. This is a quad-core processor with four ARM Cortex A53 CPUs clocked at 2.0 GHz each. The newly launched smart TV gadget supports 4K videos at up to 60 fps along with HDR (High Dynamic Range). It can fully decode the advanced H.265 codec. The Mi Box 3S supports Dolby DTS sound system. Xiaomi bundles an innovative MiTouch remote along with the new device. A notable upgrade in this is the brand new HDMI 2.0a support.

                   Xiaomi Mi Box 3C                    

                        Specifications

The Mi Box 3C is a trimmed down version of the Mi Box 3S. It features the Amlogic S905 SoC with quad-core ARM Cortex A53 CPUs running at 2.0 GHz each. There is only 1 GB of DDR3 RAM combined with 4 GB of eMMC 5.0 inbuilt memory. The Mi Box 3C supports 4K videos at 60 fps but unfortunately isn’t compatible with HDR technology. Just like its sibling, it too can decode the H.265 codec. Dolby DTS audio support is also present. Sadly, it does not come with the newer MiTouch remote. The latest HDMI 2.0a compatibility is absent too, and it only supports the traditional HDMI 2.0.

Both the Mi Box 3S and 3C comes with a USB 2.0 input, one AV port, and an HDMI output. They both rock dual-band 802.11ac (2.4 GHz + 5.0 GHz) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v4.1 connectivity.

Xiaomi Mi Box 3S and 3C Availability and Pricing

The Xiaomi Mi Box 3S and 3C will be officially sold starting from November 22, 2016. As of now, they will be exclusively available only in China, and a global launch is expected later. The Mi Box 3S is priced at 299 Yuan ($43.50 USD or Rs. 2,949 INR approx.), and the cheaper Mi Box 3C costs 199 Yuan ($29 USD or Rs. 1,969 INR approx.). At this price points, these are no doubts some excellent offering.

Nokia claims Apple using its technology, files patent infringement lawsuit

AFP | Dec 22, 2016, 01.34PM IST

HELSINKI: Nokia announced today it is suing Apple in German and US courts for patent infringement, claiming the US tech giant was using Nokia technology in "many" products without paying for it. Finnish Nokia, once the world's top mobile phone maker, said the two companies had signed a licensing agreement in 2011, and since then "Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products."
                     The complaints, filed in three German cities and a district court in Texas, concern 32 patents for innovations related to displays, user interface, software, antennae, chipsets and video coding. Nokia said it was preparing further legal action elsewhere. Nokia was the world's leading mobile phone maker from 1998 until 2011 when it bet on Microsoft's Windows mobile platform, which proved to be a flop. Analysts say the company failed to grasp the growing importance of smartphone apps compared to hardware. It sold its unprofitable handset unit in 2014 for some USD 7.2 billion to Microsoft, which dropped the Nokia name from its Lumia smartphone handsets. Meanwhile Nokia has concentrated on developing its mobile network equipment business by acquiring its French-American rival Alcatel-Lucent. Including its 2013 full acquisition of joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia said the three companies united represent more than 115 billion euros of R&D investment, with a massive portfolio of tens of thousands of patents. The 2011 licensing deal followed years of clashes with Apple, which has also sparred with main rival Samsung over patent claims. At the time, Apple cut the deal to settle 46 separate complaints Nokia had lodged against it for violation of intellectual property.

      Indian mobile gaming market to cross                $400 million by 2022: Report

=> According to the CII-TechSci Research report, revenues from mobile-based gaming stood at $265.8 million last year and is forecast to touch $286.2 million in 2017.

Gaming industry in India has witnessed a shift from console gaming to mobile gaming, with growth and improvement of wireless connectivity in the country. Ease of playing mobile games coupled with rising mobile phone subscribers has fuelled growth of mobile gaming in India over the last few years," it said.The report added that increasing number of mobile internet users, coupled with development of new and advanced games, has also boosted mobile gaming market in the country.Overall, the Indian gaming industry was valued at $543 million in 2016 and is projected to grow to $801 million by 2022."In 2016, India accounted for a share of 0.55% of the global gaming industry and this is anticipated to grow significantly over the next five years, on account of macroeconomic factors such as improving demographics, rising disposable income, changing gaming preferences of the consumers, etc," it said.Moreover, increasing focus of gaming companies towards Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) related games in the country is expected to boost India's gaming market in coming five years, it added.Console gaming accounted for the second largest share of 35.51% in India's gaming market in 2016, followed by computer gaming (15.54% share).

NEW DELHI: India's mobile gaming market is poised to top $400 million by 2022, driven by growing adoption of freemium and virtual reality games in the coming years, a report has said.Freemium is a business model where basic services are provided free of charge but one has to pay for using the more advanced features.