Microsoft starts rolling out update for the Xbox One

Microsoft has started rolling out a new software update for the Xbox One gaming console. The update will be downloaded automatically by your console when you switch it off and it goes into a low-power state.


The latest update brings with it several additions and improvements. One of them is the ability to see and manage the storage space left on your Xbox One. Microsoft has also made it easier to manage your download queue with separate queues for My Apps and My Games. There is also a new battery power indicator for the controller that appears on the homescreen at the bottom right corner. You can now also connect a USB keyboard to your Xbox One.
Other changes in this update include:

• Ability to delete game and application save data 
• Improved installation and DLC management 
• Improve
• Blu-ray quality improvements
• d UI for accessing friends, achievements, messages, and party chat 
• Game DVR app to be included in the Xbox OneGuide as an app channel 
• Update to the boot progress indicators for system update 
• Improve consistency of UX for update & install progress 
• Improved NAT detection  
• Significant performance and stability improvements  
• Network Troubleshooter improvements

The update is now rolling out and should be available for download on your console soon.

Alleged specs and another photo of Sony Xperia G

Shortly after we got treated to a first look at the Sony Xperia G, another leaked photo of the upcoming device made the rounds on Twitter. This time around, the image comes with alleged specs for the mid-range smartphone.


According to the source of the leaked images, the Sony Xperia G will feature LTE connectivity, 4.8” display of unknown resolution (720p is likely), 8MP camera, 8GB of built-in memory (microSD card slot was clearly visible in the first leak), and a gig of RAM. The handset is tipped to come with no IP rating. There is no word on the chipset of the upcoming device.

Nokia employs designers to make a dress out of 35 Lumia phablets

Nokia has come up with the very interesting idea of making a dress out of Lumia 1520 phablets. The Finnish company has teamed up with Fyodor Golan Fashion House and the dress will make an appearance at this years’ London Fashion Week 2014.
The tech dress is going to feature 35 Lumia 1520 phablets with changing images synced by the wearer’s movement. 

KIN is helping Nokia and Golan on the technological aspect of the dress. According to Nokia Conversations, “KIN employed a combination of sketched drawings, 3D-printing, and Python and C# programming languages to build the skirt.”
The phablets will be showing images that will change color and picture according to the wearer’s movement. Here is the official explanation of how this will work.
The phablets will be showing images that will change color and picture according to the wearer’s movement. Here is the official explanation of how this will work.
There is no info on what will happen with the dress after the London Fashion Week. One thing is sure though – you probably won’t be doing much dancing in it.

South Korea to route US communications over non-Huawei gear

South Korea has been in the midst of making advances in its wireless networks. The switchgear that controls these networks is built by a few well known names, like Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN), Alcatel-Lucent, and Ericsson. However, Huawei and ZTE out of China are the number 2 and 5 equipment makers in this space.
The two companies have had an inordinate amount of controversy relative to the rest of the industry. From strong-arm sales tactics to concerns over Huawei and ZTE being party to assist Chinese government entities with espionage activities, the two companies have a limited market presence in the United States and Australia.
US Congressional investigations asserted that Huawei equipment is not secure and findings from that report (as well as quiet lobbying) have prompted similar investigations in other markets. Those efforts have now resulted in the South Korean government deciding not to route sensitive government communications through Huawei switchgear.
Network connectivity to US bases in Korea will also not have any Huawei equipment on the backend. The three major wireless carriers in South Korea, SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ (owned by the LG that makes some of the cool devices we like), all acknowledged they use Huawei equipment in their networks. SK and KT stated that sensitive network activity is not handled by Huawei gear.
LG U+ only noted that US military and other personnel are clients and that the carrier would endeavor to ensure customer satisfaction.
Huawei continues to defend against allegations about the integrity of its equipment as well as the image of the company itself. In its favor are low prices which make for a challenging environment to make a national security argument. Challenging Huawei’s image are oft reported instances of less than upfront sales practices and allegations that the company violates trade restrictions.




 source: The Wall Street Journal

IDC: Android continues domination, Windows Phone shipments up 91% for all of 2013

While still a distant third in the global market overall, Windows Phone continues its upward growth march. However, Windows Phone is seeing real progress in Brazil where market share jumped to 6% versus iOS at 4.7%.
Windows Phone is also seeing strong sales in other developing markets like Vietnam. What is telling about Brazil though is that it is probably the fastest growing market in the western hemisphere.
IDC shared its data for the fourth quarter of 2013 and the full year.  Growth continued across the board for Android, iOS and Windows Phone.  Global shipments continued to rise significantly, though there were no real changes from the trends we have been observing over the past year.  Android is still on top, iOS is still in the number two spot, and Windows Phone is firmly in a far away third.  
While third quarter 2013 figures showed Windows Phone growth at roughly 156%, fourth quarter year-over-year growth was measured at about 46%, outpacing Android growth a bit (40%), and leaving iOS in the dust (6.7%). For the year, 33.4 million units shipped gave Windows Phone an annual growth of 90.9% overall.
Still, with those increases in shipments, Windows Phone is only at about 3.3% market share compared with Android’s 78.6% domination of the world stage. iOS continued continued an increase in shipments, with about 13% year-over-year growth, but the result was a decrease in market share from 18.7% in 2012 to 15.2% in 2013.
BlackBerry finds itself in a position where it must adjust to a new market reality, with a 40% decrease in shipments and a sharp decline in market share from 4.5% to 1.9%. The rest of the field also saw sharp declines in shipments and market share.
  In all, IDC tracked over 1 billion smartphone shipments in 2013, a 39% increase from 2012 shipments.



  source: IDC via WPCentral

Nokia says that its tax issues in India won't delay Microsoft's purchase of the company

Back in December, we told you about some tax issues in India that Nokia was suffering through. At the time, there was some concern that the tax problem could block Microsoft's $7.4 billion purchase of Nokia's Devices and Services division. As part of the acquisition, Redmond based Microsoft was to take ownership of a handset manufacturing facility in Chennai. However, the Indian government seized the factory to settle Nokia's unpaid tax bill in the country.
In December, Nokia was forced by the New Delhi High Court to place 22.50 billion rupees ($367.17 million USD) into an escrow account in order to get the facility back. While Nokia did put the money in escrow, local authorities blocked the return of the facility, claiming that Nokia still owes the equivalent of $3.4 billion in taxes. Despite all this, Nokia expects to close the deal with Microsoft shortly.
The plant employs 30,000 people, although the facility is not active at this moment, and hasn't been since December. Nokia had warned Indian authorities that this bickering over tax issues could lead to the shutdown of the factory, which is one of the largest owned by the Finnish manufacturer. Nokia's interim CEO, Risto Siilasmaa, points out that the factory is useless to his company unless he has the legal ownership of it so that he can turn it over to Microsoft.

"Nokia would like to stress that recent developments in India related to ongoing tax proceedings are not expected to affect the timing of the closing nor the material deal terms of the anticipated transaction between Nokia and Microsoft, announced on September 3, 2013"-Nokia

"If we are not allowed to transfer, we will have a factory, but we will not have a business. And if we don't have a business, we can't manufacture anything in the factory. And that would be detrimental to our employees and we care deeply for our employees. So we are trying to explore all possible means of finding a solution to this issue."-Risto Siilasmaa, Interim CEO, Nokia

  Nokia has been trying to persuade the Indian government that the well being of 30,000 Indian factory workers is at stake in this dispute. The company says that the deal will close with or without the factory being included. If Nokia isn't given the right to transfer ownership of the plant, it will end up with a facility it won't need in light of the deal with Microsoft. As a result, it will keep the factory workers laid off, which will look bad for the Indian government.
Which side will blink first? Will Nokia decide to pay the tax bill and include the plant in the deal with Microsoft? Or will the local Indian authorities allow Nokia to pay a sharply discounted tax bill so 30,000 Indians can go back to work and get paid. While two large bodies are in the spotlight (Nokia and the local Indian government), the truth is that the only bodies that really matter are the ones belonging to the 30,000 Indians who have found themselves unable to earn a living.



source: SlashGear

Nokia Lumia 1320 officially available in the UK on February 24

Today, Nokia announced that the phablet sized Lumia 1320 would be available in the UK through multiple sales channels on February 24th.
The Lumia 1320 provides the same overall form factor to its flagship twin, the Lumia 1520, but with some more affordable components, making the 1320 a great option for those that want the large size without the large price tag. 
Pricing was not part of Nokia’s announcement, but Carphone Warehouse has the Lumia 1320 available for pre-order SIM-free for £299 ($500). That price point puts the 1320 in the same range as the Huawei Ascend Mate and 16GB Nexus 5. Given that a SIM-free Lumia 1520 can run as high as £599 ($1000), the Lumia 1320 offers great value for the form factor. 
Of course, the Ascend Mate does not have LTE connectivity, and the Nexus 5, while sporting a full HD screen is a bit smaller. The Lumia 1320 has a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU which does not ring of the leading edge hardware that is available on other devices, but the Windows Phone operating system is well known for being a very smooth experience regardless of the horsepower under the hood.
The Lumia 1320 also benefits from having all the Nokia experience applications installed too, from HERE Drive to Nokia MixRadio and Nokia Storyteller. Like the Lumia 1520, the Lumia 1320 also supports microSD storage expansion.
In addition to Carphone Warehouse, the Lumia 1320 will be available from EE, Virgin Mobile and other sales channels in just 10 days. Will you be picking one up?



via:wp central

Analyst confirms specuation that the Apple iWatch will include optical health related sensors

A report from electronics analyst Sun Chang Xu of Chinese site Electrical Engineering Times, confirms speculation that the Apple iWatch will contain optical sensors that will allow users to track health related metrics like O2 (oxygen) levels and heart rates. Apple had hoped to pitch its timepiece to diabetics as a way for them to track their blood sugar with a non invasive method. After all, Google recently developed contact lenses that measure a wearer's blood sugar level. 
But Apple, like other tech companies, has discovered that non-invasive glucose monitoring is not that accurate. Considering that these readings are used by diabetics to determine how much insulin they need to take at a give time, Apple might have saved itself a million headaches by reportedly removing glucose monitoring from the features on the watch.
The Cupertino based tech titan has been hiring a number of experts in health-related fields. iOS 8 is expected to have an application called Healthbook that will keep track of a user's blood pressure, heart rate, calories burned, and more. The iWatch fits into this scenario by employing the sensors on the watch to obtain the readings that are posted in the Healthbook. Surely there will be health related features on iWatch, that together can be used by almost everyone, to monitor how healthy they are. 



source: MEMS (translated) via MacRumors

LOVE IS A WAY OF LIFE

LIVE AND BE IT






source:Tripplegate

Pink and Black Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 now available in India

Not a fan of white paint jobs on cell phones, but have you had your eyes on the Galaxy Grand 2? Well if you're in India, then you're in luck, Samsung has launched the phone in Pink and Black variants. Check out the gallery of images below.


You can buy the Black version right now, but if you wanted to rock a pink Android handset, then you're going to have to wait a little while longer, as it's not yet available.
The Grand 2 retails for $365, and improves upon the original Grand in a lot of ways.
Here's a recap of the phone's specs: you'll get a 5.25” HD display, 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB internal storage with a microSD card slot, a 2,600 mAh battery, 8MP primary camera with a 1.9MP front-facing unit, 3G connectivity and Bluetooth 4.0. The Grand 2 is also a dual-sim phone, and this is where most of the devices appeal lies.

Apple iPad 2 is reportedly to be discontinued

According to a report in Apple Insider, the non-retina display toting iPad 2 is going to be discontinued soon. Apple has reportedly decided to wind down the tablet’s production as customers are increasingly shifting their attention towards the company’s newer slates.

Announced back in 2011 to replace the original, Apple iPad 2 has proven to be quite a success for the Cupertino giant. Apple continued selling the device with minor tweaks over the past three years, despite launching three new full-size models.
However, the recently launched iPad mini 2 with retina display made the iPad 2 redundant. The newcomer simply offers more for the same $399 price tag as the iPad 2.
Everything considered, the iPad 2’s production run is nothing short of impressive. Most Android tablets for example, including Google’s own Nexus line, rarely make it past a full year on the shelves.


 via

Microsoft sells 200 million Windows 8 licenses

Microsoft has revealed that the company managed to sell 200 million licenses of its latest Windows 8 operating system. The number consists only of licenses that Microsoft sells to OEMs to install on their system and not fresh copies that customers can buy off the shelf or online.

While the number might seem large, the truth is it is actually lower than that of Windows 7. Microsoft revealed in May last year that they sold 100 million licenses and now 16 months from the launch of the OS, they hit the 200 million mark. In comparison, Microsoft sold 240 million licenses of Windows 7 in the first year alone. 

It’s clear then that Windows 8 isn’t doing as well as its predecessor and is actually getting worse with every passing day. Another thing to remember that these are licenses purchased in bulk by the OEMs and don’t reflect actual copies being used by the customer. So while it still counts as a sale for Microsoft, not all of them are actually in use.
Microsoft released Windows 8.1 last year and will soon be releasing Windows 8.1 Update 1 to help alleviate some of the problems had with the original Windows 8 but it seems customers are fast losing interest. Add to that the general drop in PC sales and things don’t look too great for Windows or Microsoft in general.

 
 source:gsmarena

Samsung and Apple fail to reach out of court agreement

Earlier in January, Reuters reported that Samsung Mobile division and Apple CEOs have agreed to conduct a meeting where they would attempt to reach an out-of-court agreement. One month later, reports are coming in that the JK Shin and Tim Cook have failed to come up with a scenario that pleases both sides.

Both CEOs met last week in the US, but their talks didn't result in a settlement that would end the ongoing legal battle between the two smartphone giants.
A Samsung spokesperson commented on the situation saying: "we can't confirm whether the two CEOs met, or if they did, what the results were." The court in San Jose, California demanded both parties meet and reach an agreement by February 19, but since this didn't happen, the court will have to go ahead and announce its final verdict.
The initial court ruling states that Samsung has to pay $930 million in damages to Apple. We are going to keep an eye on what happens after February 19, but it sure doesn't look good for Samsung.

 
source:gsmarena

Rakuten acquires Viber for $900 million

Calcalist was wrong, half wrong anyway – it turns out instant messaging and VoIP app Viber really was in acquisition talks, but not for the suspected $300-400 million. Instead, the deal is worth the whopping $900 million.

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten will acquire Viber to compete with the highly successful Line app, which had 300 million users last year and is targeting 500 million this year.
Viber also has 300 million users according to the press release, growing quickly from the 200 million it had three months ago when it unveiled Viber Out, a service to compete with Skype Out.
Rakuten itself has 225 million users and its services are “centered around a unified ID membership database”. If the ID’s are merged, it could really accelerate Viber’s growth. Rakuten’s services include an online shopping mall, travel agency and a bank. Rakuten has also recently invested in popular sharing site Pinterest and Kobo, makers of ebook readers.


source:gsmarena

Afraid of spiders? Then don't play Animal Planet's Real Scary Spiders game

There are many things in this world that people are afraid of, and spiders are definitely somewhere on the top ten list. Facing a fear, however, might be a good way of overcoming it. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why the guys at Animal Planet have chosen to launch a mobile game about spiders.  

The title is called Real Scary Spiders and it is a simulation game, in which you raise your own hairy, long-legged, virtual arachnid. You feed it, clean its lair, and play with it, all the while completing various tasks that raise your experience level. Gold and gems are accumulated as the game progresses. This in-game currency is used to buy things like spider food, but you can also spend it on new spiders.  

The graphics and physics effects of the game are simply awesome. Spiders move in a pretty realistic way and can even leap towards you "sticking" onto the inside of your screen. But what's really impressive is the augmented reality feature that lets you project your spider in the real world using your device's main camera.  

Real Scary Spiders is available for free on both Android and iOS so go ahead and give it a try.  

 Price: Free (with in-app purchases)

LG doesn't see the Lenovo - Motorola deal as a threat to its smartphone business

While the sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo is still awaiting regulatory approvals, the deal will most likely go through in the near future. As a result, Lenovo and Motorola combined will become a top 3 smartphone maker, trailing only Samsung and Apple. Despite that, LG, currently the world’s fourth largest smartphone maker, doesn’t see the deal as a threat. At least that’s what Kim Jong Hoon, head of product planning at LG’s mobile division, told to ZDNet.
Reportedly, the LG exec said that “internally” they “aren’t discussing much about” Lenovo and Motorola.

"We have a plan to reclaim third place in the global market by the end of the year and have no intention to react on each moves our competitors make. We challenge them with our product competitiveness," declared Kim Jong Hoon. 

 

LG is off to a good start this year, having just revealed the G Pro 2, a larger and improved successor to 2013’s G Pro. The company should also announce a G2 Mini later this month, and a G3 flagship handset towards the end of the second quarter.  

Of course, Lenovo and Motorola will also introduce new handsets, so it remains to be seen if LG is right in having a care-free attitude regarding this new "truly global smartphone company." Lenovo's CEO recently said that it's confident it can make Motorola profitable again, and that could mean trouble for LG. 

 

 

  source: ZDNet Korea

Next-gen Samsung Galaxy Notes could use handwriting recognition to allow actions being performed from the lock screen

One of the things that made Samsung’s Galaxy Note smartphones and tablets popular (and unique) is the S Pen stylus. Those who are already using a Note certainly know that features like Action Memo, Screen Write, S Note, Scrapbook, or Pen Window can come in handy quite often.
 Samsung is - unsurprisingly - looking to bring even more S Pen-related features to its Notes. And one of them might be related to screen unlocking.
A recent Samsung patent application, no. US 20140038557 A1, describes a method of unlocking a screen only if the Note recognizes your handwriting. Of course, prior to doing that you have to “register” your handwriting. That's already implemented on the Note 2 and Note 3, which let you unlock the display with your signature. However, Samsung wants to take things even further, allowing its Notes to perform actions commanded via handwriting directly from the lock screen. For example, if the screen is locked and you write “call mom” with the S Pen, the device will unlock itself and immediately call your mom.

source: USPTO

Photographer puts HTC One’s camera to work: here are the results

We often criticize the HTC One for having a sub-par camera when compared to its competitors like the Samsung Galaxy devices or the iPhone, but you know that a good photograph is after all not as much about the camera, the megapixels, and the technical details, as it is about the story it tells and the message it sends. 
To illustrate that, photographer Mahmoud Mfinanga who goes by the nickname emmazedphotog, showed that you can achieve a lot with the HTC One and enjoy using it along the way. Mfinanga actually praises the camera saying:
“The HTC One's camera is remarkably amazing. The f/2.0 aperture size really becomes useful in situations where your environment may lack a good amount of light.” 

Admittedly, he does not like the interface, and we can whole-heartedly agree that digging up options can be quite a pain. Nonetheless, the photographs he captured are ‘remarkable amazing’ if we could quote the author himself. Take a look - all that’s used are VSCO Cam’s amazing filters and the HTC One camera.

Photographer uses HTC One’s camera: here are the results 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samsung wins order from military as it takes business away from BlackBerry

Samsung could be replacing BlackBerry as the smartphone of choice for the U.S. military. The Army recently gave an order to Samsung for 7000 smartphones, and another order for several thousand more could soon be coming from the NSA, according to people familiar with the situation. The army order was for Samsung's Nett Warrior system which gives a soldier a chest mounted Samsung GALAXY Note II phablet for use on the battlefield. Sammy already had a contract to supply the military with the Nett Warrior system, and the new order expands the number of GALAXY Note II units Samsung has in combat.
Samsung, in a comment, said that it is seeing great progress in having its devices adopted by the military. BlackBerry has always had a step on other smartphone manufacturers thanks to its secure OS. But by getting orders from the military, Samsung might be able to snag more orders from corporations, who in the past had to rely on BlackBerry handsets.
With the troubles that BlackBerry has had keeping customers, its market share among businesses has dropped from 70% in 2010 to 5% last year And once you lose those customers, it's nearly impossible to win them back. BlackBerry has indeed won some new customers including ITC in India. In addition, current customer DATEV in Germany will add BES and 1000 BlackBerry phones. But here is an example of what is ailing BlackBerry. The company says it has 80,000 business customers, but 50,000 are using BlackBerry OS 7 instead of the new BlackBerry OS 10. Of the 4.3 million BlackBerry phones sold in the third quarter, 3.2 million were sales of the older platform. 
With Samsung making progress in BlackBerry's old neighborhood, the latter doesn't have too much time trying to win back the affections of the enterprise and the military.


 source:wsj

Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 expectations: Samsung Galaxy S5 and all else

Mobile World Congress (MWC), 2014’s biggest event for portable gadgets, is about to kick off very, very soon, and - as we prepare our bags to leave - we have summed up the most exciting devices and services that we expect to see there.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 will, without a doubt, be the main highlight of this year’s MWC, but it’s not the only exciting new phone that we expect to see. All big players - Nokia, LG, Motorola, Sony and Microsoft - are expected to hold press events where we expect an onslaught of new announcements.
The first events are scheduled for Sunday, February 23rd, and the second big wave of unveilings should happen on Monday. Monday is also the day when the Galaxy S5 should finally make its official appearance. Take a look below to learn what we can expect of it and of all the other events.

Smartphone battery swap service takes off in Korea, easing range anxiety

Two Korean brothers have started what they deem the world's first smartphone battery sharing service, MycooN Corp. The premise is simple - you are running around the city, getting dangerously low on juice, with no time on your hands to wait for the charger to top it up, or no charger at all.  

Then you hit the latest push notification from the Manddang (meaning "fully charged" in Korean) app, and see which mobile dealers or carrier stores around carry fresh batteries for your phone, drop your exhausted juicer there, and pick up a fully charged one. 

The price is very appealing, say the brothers, at less than three bucks, and they only take original batteries, doing automatic voltage test on them beforehand, to make sure it's not some end-of-life unit they are passing on. Of course, if you need the battery delivered at a distance, that will cost you more. 

The Manddang app pushes battery swap notifications for places around you

One of the brothers used to work on project for LG, where he got the idea from, and initially they started with only a few customers, while angel investors have now piled up close to $400 000 in the business. 

There's a huge market for such a service in Korea, say Choi Hyuk-jae and his younger brother Hyuk-jun, as there are currently more than 35 million smartphone users in Korea. Initially the Korean people felt uneasy to share their batteries with others, but "their preference for convenience overrides such concerns,” commented the older brother. They noticed huge demand for the the service at outdoor event like concerts and other gatherings, too. Naturally, you have to actually have a phone that allows its battery to be swapped, but given that's the land of Samsung and LG, that aspect of the trade is not something to worry about. 

Choi Hyuk-jae (left) and his younger brother Hyuk-jun are the founders of MycooN Corp., the world’s first smartphone battery sharing firm.

source: KoreaHerald

Specs for BlackBerry Jakarta possibly outed by benchmark site

The BlackBerry Jakarta is one of the low-end models being designed, manufactured and shipped for BlackBerry by Foxconn. The contract manufacturer inked a five-year pact with the Canadian based BlackBerry to provide everything but the software for the low-end devices. That will be left for BlackBerry to provide.
One of the first handsets to be produced under the agreement between Foxconn and BlackBerry is a device codenamed the BlackBerry Jakarta that is rumored to be coming to market sans a QWERTY keyboard. Ironically, that news came out at the same time that BlackBerry CEO John Chen said that most of the new handsets coming from the manufacturer will feature a physical QWERTY keyboard.
A trip to the Geekbench benchmark site has revealed some specs allegedly belonging to the BlackBerry Jakarta. First, we see that the phone is running on BlackBerry 10.2.1.569. Under the hood will be a dual-core 1.19GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8230 CPU with the Adreno 305 GPU handling graphics. It looks like 1.5GB of RAM will be on board.
More exciting to many of us, is word that BlackBerry is working on a high-end phone that will be equipped with a 64 bit octa-core processor. Originally rumored to appear next year, there is talk that this phone could see the light of day this year. Sounds like John Chen is pulling out all of the stops in an effort to reverse the decline that has crippled BlackBerry over the last four years. Hopefully, it's not too late.

Do these specs belong to the BlackBerry Jakarta?



 source: Geekbench via BerryReview
 

                                    

Nokia's Facebook page ditches blue for green

Quick facts: the Android logo is (and has always been) green. Nokia’s website and Facebook page have always used blue as their main color. As of now, however, the latter is green, without any explanation from Nokia.

As you may remember, Nokia’s invitation for its MWC press event was also quite green. Coincidence? We think not. As reported not long ago, Nokia is seemingly getting ready to officially announce its first Android-based smartphone - Nokia X A110, aka Normandy - at Mobile World Congress on February 24. 
 Earlier today we told you that the Nokia X / Normandy could cost around $110. That's a very low price for a smartphone, of course, but we must keep in mind that the handset is an entry-level one. The phone should come with a 4-inch WVGA display, dual-SIM capabilities, 512MB of RAM, dual-core Snapdragon processor, and 4GB of expandable internal memory. 
But why would Microsoft allow Nokia to launch an Android-based handset? Well, the Normandy / X won't offer access to Google Play, and neither to other Google-specific services, because it seemingly runs a forked version of Android KitKat. Thus, it will still promote Microsoft's services. 


source: Nokia via WP Central

New Angry Birds Stella coming up

Over the last few hours Rovio has released three teasers about a new Angry Birds game. The pictures are very clear – they even have the #NEWANGRYBIRDS hashtag in the corner, so it isn’t just another update.
There is no other information but the teaser pictures, which show popular birds watching something in the distance. There is the Stella logo plus the “Best Friends Forever…Most of the Time” message.  

We guess Rovio will be unveiling the new game very soon. Here is hoping we see a true Angry Birds successor, not just another themed makeover.




 source:gsmarena

smartphones outsold featurephones in 2013 by Gartner

Gartner: smartphones outsold featurephones in 2013

According to analysts at Gartner, smartphones sales have exceeded featurephone sales for the first time in 2013. Smartphones accounted for 53.6% of sales in 2013, but in the fourth quarter alone they had a 57.6% share, showing their numbers are still growing.
Samsung remains the biggest smartphone vendor and even managed to gain some more market share in 2013, though the final quarter of a year marked a small decline for the company. The Gartner analysts believe Samsung needs to push its technology leadership in the high-end and better bang for the buck in the mid-range to maintain its leading position.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2013 (Thousands of Units)

Company	2013 Units	2013 Market Share (%)	2012 Units	2012 Market Share (%)
Samsung	299,794.9	31.0	205,767.1	30.3
Apple	150,785.9	15.6	130,133.2	19.1
Huawei	46,609.4	4.8	27,168.7	4.0
LG Electronics	46,431.8	4.8	25,814.1	3.8
Lenovo	43,904.5	4.5	21,698.5	3.2
Others	380,249.3	39.3	269,526.6	39.6
Total	967,775.8	100.0	680,108.2	100.0

Apple, declined several percentage points in 2013 and in the final quarter, even though at the end of the year the company added both NTT DoCoMo and China Mobile to its roster (the biggest carriers in Japan and China, respectively).
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q13 (Thousands of Units)

Company	4Q13 Units	4Q13 Market Share (%)	4Q12 Units	4Q12 Market Share (%)
Samsung	83,317.2	29.5	64,496.3	31.1
Apple	50,224.4	17.8	43,457.4	20.9
Huawei	16,057.1	5.7	8,666.4	4.2
Lenovo	12,892.2	4.6	7,904.2	3.8
LG Electronics	12,822.9	4.5	8,038.8	3.9
Others	106,937.9	37.9	75,099.3	36.2
Total	282,251.7	100.0	207,662.4	100.0

Huawei maintained the third spot, but will face increased competition from Number 4, Lenovo, which just bought Motorola from Google. Lenovo's smartphone sales in 2013 doubled and Motorola will help the company expand its overseas presence and enter the US market.
The breakdown by smartphone OSes shows Android keeps growing, Windows Phone managed nearly double the sales but it still has a tiny share of the market. It did surpass BlackBerry OS though, which is quickly becoming extinct.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2013 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System	2013  Units	2013 Market Share (%)	2012  Units	2012 Market Share (%)
Android	758,719.9	78.4	451,621.0	66.4
iOS	150,785.9	15.6	130,133.2	19.1
Microsoft	30,842.9	3.2	16,940.7	2.5
BlackBerry	18,605.9	1.9	34,210.3	5.0
Other OS	8,821.2	0.9	47,203.0	6.9
Total	967,775.8	100.0	680,108.2	100.0

Worldwide phones sales were 1.8 billion, of which nearly 1 billion was smartphones. Nokia still holds the second position behind Samsung in total phone sales, but it's quickly declining.
Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2013 (Thousands of Units)

Company	2013 Units	2013 Market Share (%)	2012 Units	2012 Market Share (%)
Samsung	444,444.2	24.6	384,631.2	22.0
Nokia	250,793.1	13.9	333,938.0	19.1
Apple	150,785.9	8.3	130,133.2	7.5
LG Electronics	69,024.5	3.8	58,015.9	3.3
ZTE	59,898.8	3.3	67,344.4	3.9
Huawei	53,295.1	2.9	47,288.3	2.7
TCL Communication	49,531.3	2.7	37,176.6	2.1
Lenovo	45,284.7	2.5	28,151.4	1.6
Sony Mobile Communications	37,595.7	2.1	31,394.2	1.8
Yulong	32,601.4	1.8	18,557.5	1.1
Others	613,710.0	34.0	609,544.9	34.9
Total	1,806,964.7	100.0	1,746,175.6	100.0

Featurephones are declining in general, but smartphones have problems too – they've practically hit the saturation point in developed markets. Still, emerging markets are showing huge growth. India, for example, posted a 166.8% growth in smartphone sales during the final quarter.

inShare

Nokia Lumia Icon flaunts its audio recording capabilities in its First ads

Nokia officially announced the Nokia Lumia Icon, a.k.a. Icon, and the first teaser videos are out. By the looks of it, Nokia is still touting its quality audio recording feature by comparing it to the Galaxy S4.

Check out how clearly the Lumia Icon can pick out voice in the midst of revving hot-rod engines. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vMT442XIfjo#t=0 


And here’s a slightly longer version, shot entirely with the Nokia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EOSzGfS6qjU#t=0
The difference is indeed audible, but it’s hardly a new feature – Nokia phones have had high dynamic range mics since the 808 PureView.

The Lumia Icon has a 5″ 1080p screen, Snapdragon 800 chipset and a 20MP optically-stabilized camera, specs never before seen on a WP phone (just a phablet a few months earlier). You’d think Nokia could have picked one of the new features to brag about.



 source:via

11-year long study found “no evidence” of cell phone-related adverse health effects

An 11-year long UK study, encompassing 31 research projects worth $22.4 million (£13.6 million), produced a report which concludes that cell phone usage has no reported health effects, busting decades-old myths about wireless signals making us sick. The 60-page long report describes it has found “no evidence” that exposure to mobile network emissions during pregnancy increases the risk of developing cancer in early childhood, or that use of mobile phones can result in risk of leukemia. 

We couldn't find anything about our favorite myth of all, which said that cell phones sitting in our pockets basically microwaved our private parts. However, we're now led to believe that they are safe from invisible harm as well. 

Still, the report doesn't explicitly state that mobile users are entirely safe. The report ends by recommending further studying of possible impacts of mobile phone usage on kids, as well as potential adverse reflections on sleep and brain function. Thus, the research will continue with another long-term study, investigating whether there are any delayed adverse effects of mobile phone usage, which could become apparent only after years. 

source: Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme Report 2012 via ISPReview

 

leak shows universal apps for both Windows and Windows Phone are coming

Leak shows universal apps for both Windows and Windows Phone are coming | Microsoft is gradually traveling towards uniform Windows experience across all screen sizes - from phones through tablets to computers and larger displays. This, however, requires that developers be able to write one app, and only scale it slightly for the interface specifics on a a large or a small display. 

It was rumored that with Windows Phone 8.1 Microsoft will be giving developers just that option, and leaked screenshots reveal how exactly the software giant is planning to merge WP, Win RT, and Windows Modern UI apps down the road. 

As you can see in the slideshow below, Microsoft is clearly outlining the possibility for "Universal Store" apps, with a single effort aimed at both Windows Phone and Windows. The way this will be implemented is with 80% "shared solution", and just 20% differentiation for adapting the app interface to the phone or Windows computer realities with two Visual Studio projects. This will save a ton of work for developers, and will undoubtedly ensure a boom in their projects geared towards the Windows ecosphere. 


 
source: @AngelWZR (1)(2) via





 

Horrifying Gmail App Informs People When You Open Their Email

There's a Google Chrome extension called Streak that, when installed, lets you see when someone has read an email you sent. You know what this means? It means other people can use Streak and see that you have opened their email without responding.
An email recipient doesn't have to have the plugin installed in order for the sender to be notified that it was opened. The recipient won't get any notification that you're tracking your emails, either. It's all very secretive.
The plugin is free and easy to install. Once you download it and give it access to your Gmail account, it will start automatically start tracking your outgoing messages.
Here's what an email looks like after you've sent it. You'll see this little box to the top-right of a sent and unopened email:

Here's what you'll see once someone opens the email:

If you send an email to multiple people, Streak will tell you how many people have viewed it, but won't necessarily reveal their identities:
  
Streak does a lot of other useful stuff, too. It's built as a tool for customer relationship management, and it can do things like schedule emails in advance. Streak has been around since 2012, but the read receipt feature was added in November.
Do read receipts sound familiar? They should, since they are a big part of BlackBerry's messaging service, BBM, and have been making people crazy for years. You can also enable read receipts in iMessage, though Apple makes the feature optional.
Another plugin, Boomerang, also offers users read receipts, but if you want to track an email, the recipient will be notified that it's being tracked with a line inserted at the end of the email.



source:Daily Mail