Nokia showcases Lumia's wireless charging capabilities in new advertisement

Nokia UK has released a new video showcasing the Lumia's wireless charging capabilities. In the video, we are shown two characters who have just had one heck of a night. Upon returning to their bedroom, the man attempts to plug his phone (appears to be an iPhone) into the charger, but fails. He ends up falling asleep before he could plug his phone in. The woman, on the other hand, simply places her Lumia Windows Phone device on a charging plate to begin the charging process.
"Say no to the wires jungle in your bedroom.. With wireless charging you can recharge your batteries while your Lumia smartphone sleeps like a baby...or was it the other way around?" the video description reads. We've embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure.
For those of you who have a Windows Phone device from Nokia, with wireless charging capabilities, do you still prefer plugging in your phone into an outlet or do you prefer wireless charging?

 

Nokia Lumia 630 launched in the UK for just £89.95

Microsoft has announced the availability of the budget-friendly Nokia Lumia 630 in the UK. Customers interested in giving Windows Phone 8.1 a run can get their hands on the device for just £89.95, and yes, that's the SIM-free price. It will kick off some competition in the entry-level market, especially after the launch of the Moto E which is already up for sale in the region.
For £89.95, you'd get your hands on a 4.5-inch display sporting a resolution of 854 x 400 pixels, with a quad-core Snapdragon processor under the hood. We understand it comes with a little lower RAM -- just 512MB -- compared to other handsets, but Windows Phone works without any issues even on lower RAM. On the storage side, you get 8GB of internal storage with a microSD card support of up to 128GB.
Other features include a 5MP camera for photos and videos, a 1,830 mAh battery to make sure there's enough juice for the handset, and Windows Phone 8.1. The device will go on sale on May 29th and will be available from most of the retailers such as Carphone Warehouse, Amazon, etc.


 via:techradar

Chinese OEMs still disinclined towards launching Windows Phone handsets

In the past few months, Microsoft added quite a few hardware partners to the list of Windows Phone OEMs, including a bunch of China-based manufacturers. Despite Microsoft's best efforts, it seems the Chinese OEMs are reluctant to enter the Windows Phone market, at least for now. This comes as surprising news, even after the Redmond-giant waived off the license fees for mobile devices below 9-inch display.
The report surfaced from Digitimes, who cites the usual industry sources, so we recommend our readers take this report with a grain of salt. "China-based handset vendors and ODMs are still reluctant to launch Windows Phone (WP)-based smartphones in 2014 despite Microsoft's efforts to promote its WP platform without charging license fees for mobile devices with a below 9-inch display and to bundle sales with Qualcomm's QRD (Qualcomm reference design) platforms, according to industry sources," says Digitimes in a report.
Microsoft also teamed up with Qualcomm, bundling its WP platform with Qualcomm's handset solutions, giving OEMs another incentive to adopt the OS. However, the OEMs are still concerned about the time and production costs needed to adopt and support the Windows Phone OS, compared to Google's Android. They're also complaining that use of peripheral chips and some key components for product differentiation may increase the costs, offsetting the benefits Microsoft offered by waiving off the license fees.
Windows Phone still has a lot to gain in China, which is dominated by Android, thanks to their local smartphone manufacturers, who are throwing in cheap Android handsets every now and then. If Chinese OEMs start releasing Windows Phone handsets in their region, there's a good chance that Microsoft with rack up some decent market share. Until then, it might be a difficult task for the company to attract customers in the region.

Via: 

Digitimes

China bans Windows 8 in government offices, cites security and energy-savings as reasons

Microsoft and China share a long and controversial history and today a new chapter was added to it when China banned the use of Windows 8 from its government offices. While the entire world is moving away from Windows XP to the newer operating system,  China has issued a ban citing use of energy-saving products. 
The news came from Xinhua news agency which stated that this move is to address computer security concerns, which arose after Microsoft ended support for its 12-year old operating system, Windows XP. As shocking as this move may seem, it’s not surprising.
Apart from the tense relations the US giant and China share, a few weeks ago, China was working closely with local security firms to build a secure operating system. "China's decision to ban Windows 8 from public procurement hampers Microsoft's push of the OS to replace XP, which makes up 50 percent of China's desktop market," said data firm Canalys.
Around 50% of computers in China are still booting to Windows XP. By banning the use of Windows 8 in the government, Chinese government is making it hard for Microsoft to expand its user base in the country.
Neither Xinhua nor the China government explained how this move ensures data security, or power savings. We've contacted Microsoft and shall update the post as we receive more information. 

Via: 

Reuters

Microsoft unveils 12-inch Surface Pro 3, a tablet that can replace your laptop

Satya Nadella took the stage to open up the Surface event in New York City today, speaking about the "mobile first cloud first" strategy. He spoke about "an obsession" of powering every individual and organization with the ability to do more. "We want products and technology that enable people to get more out of every moment of their life - that's the mission we are on," he adds.
The Surface "takes the best of the laptop and the tablet, to read, to create, watch a movie, make a movie, enjoy art, and create art." Microsoft's Panos Panay also took the stage after Nadella's opening words and unveiled the Surface Pro 3, a tablet that can replace your laptop.
The 12-inch Surface Pro 3 is faster than the Surface Pro 2, and features a multi-position kickstand. The device features a 2160x1440 display, with a 3x2 aspect ration screen.
The device is also 800g in weight, making it feel lighter even though the device is bigger. Panay compared the weight of the Surface Pro 3 with a Macbook, only to see the Surface Pro 3 clearly defeat the Macbook.
The Surface Pro 3 also features an Intel Core i7, in a thin package, offering a fanless experience making it 30% more efficient. It's 30 percent more efficient than any other fan in the market today.
Microsoft has compromised nothing in order to make the Surface Pro 3 better than the Surface Pro 2.

Nokia's Cyan update will let you further tweak brightness levels to your liking

Windows Phone 8.1 brought numerous new enhancements to the table, enabling consumers to take full advantage of Cortana (depending on region settings), a Notification Center and more, but there's more to come if you own a Lumia smartphone. Nokia will be rolling out a forthcoming firmware update, titled Lumia Cyan.
One of the improvements in Cyan will be the addition of a brightness slider, perfect for those power users who require more settings to configure and reach a perfect Windows Phone experience.
These sliders enable you to tweak the screen brightness level to your liking at each level of intensity, be it high, medium or low. If you don't like the presets available on Windows Phone in their current form, these new sliders will let you dig deep and configure them individually.
The update is set to arrive this coming summer and Nokia is preparing for its release. We'll have more details as they come to light moving closer to the release of Cyan.




Source: Reddit, via: WinBeta;

Microsoft is getting ready to launch Android phones

First things first: no, Microsoft is not ditching Windows Phone and switching to Android. Curiously, however, the brand new smartphone vendor apparently does have plans to develop and sell a line of Android-powered smartphones that will be offered alongside its newly acquired Windows Phone lineup from Nokia. Microsoft is currently developing a next-generation series of Android phones. The handsets will succeed the Nokia X Android phones that Nokia released earlier this year.
Nokia’s Android line of smartphones was thought to be a secret weapon the company used to force the sale of its phone business to Microsoft. The phones then launched unexpectedly, however, and Microsoft did not discontinue them when it acquired Nokia’s devices division.
Little is known about the next generation of Nokia X phones, though reports does note that they will include physical home buttons and will be priced above dirt-cheap white label Android phones but below Microsoft’s entry-level Lumia smartphones.

Android, Microsoft, Nokia

Samsung Looks to Expand Biometric Sensors in Mobile Devices

Samsung is working to use biometric sensors in its mobile security system which the company expects to be available even for low-end smartphone models, an executive said Monday.
Biometric authentication in mobile devices today consists mainly of using a user’s fingerprint as a scanner. Samsung first adopted fingerprint scanning into its smartphones with the Galaxy S5 launched in April, about seven months after Apple’s iPhone 5S.
Samsung has long been struggling to win corporate clients for its mobile devices, a challenge that the company hopes to overcome with its Knox system, to compete with rivals like Blackberry, which has traditionally been strong in the enterprise space. But so far, results haven’t been stellar.
There are  87 million devices that come embedded with Knox, Rhee said. Among those devices, about 1.8 million are actively using the Knox, including regulated industries such as banks, healthcare and financial companies, he said Monday.
Samsung’s Knox system has been subject to studies for a possible security gap, adding to challenges in building a new corporate client base. The company later clarified that the potential security flaw is not specific to Samsung  devices.
 

source:androidcentral

Google buys Divide which app allows Android phones to have seperate business interface

The app gives your android phone a work "container" that keeps your work tools and apps separate from your games. The beauty of Divide is that it connects with the MDM system (Mobile Device Management) that your company uses. This way, if you bring your own device to work, and for some reason the IT team at the office has to do a remote wipe, only the business side of your phone will be affected.
The Divide app emulates the Android home page, allowing you to have the same multiple page experience whether goofing off, or hard at work. If this all sounds familiar, that could be because it is the same container principle used by Samsung KNOX. With Divide, the play side of your phone is never touched by your company's IT department.The reason that we bring up Divide today, is that Google has purchased the company for an undisclosed amount of money. Depending on how much Google paid for it, Divide could be a terrific low-risk investment, with a nice-sized payoff down the road. After all, Google could decide to add Divide to future builds of Android, making the platform more enetrprise-ready. Samsung cannot be terribly happy about this, considering the effort it has made to make Android users aware of KNOX. Situations like this could be why Samsung never killed off Tizen and is about to launch handsets powered by the mobile OS.

Container app Divide will let your Android phone be used for both work and play


source: Divide, AndroidCentral

Sony Mobile orders 25 million smartphones from ODMs

According to Taiwan manufacturers, Sony Mobile is about to release orders for 25 million new smartphones, to be placed with a trio of  Taiwan based ODMs. The amount covers half the manufacturer's 50 million unit target it has for shipping smartphones from April 2014 to March 2015. Last year, Sony Mobile started the year with a goal to ship 46 million smartphones. By the time the year ended, that target was dropped to 40 million units. The actual number of smartphones shipped by Sony Mobile last fiscal year, was 39.1 million units.
Despite that downward trend, Sony Mobile had such a good year with its mid to high-end models, that the entire smartphone operation returned to profitability in fiscal 2013. Sony's flagship models had a strong year, starting with the Sony Xperia Z, which wowed the crowd at CES with its ability to withstand a dunking in water. This was followed by the Sony Xperia Z1, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, and the Sony Xperia Z2.The ODMs expected to be receiving the orders from Sony include FIH Mobile, Compal Communications and Arima Communications. The latter is supposedly being tapped by Sony Mobile to design and produce 10 million to 12 million 3G and 4G handsets, the most among the trio of ODMs that Sony is rumored to be employing.


 source: DigiTimes

Two possible LG G3 phones appear at the FCC

Two new LG phones have just been added to the FCC's database – models D850 and D851. Enigmatic at a glance, the two model names are believed to belong to the highly-anticipated LG G3 smartphone. The former has made several appearances already. Back in March, an LG D850 was seen in a UA profile, with a 1440 by 2560 pixel display at that, then a benchmark result from the very same handset came up, confirming the QHD resolution of its screen. As for the D851, this appears to be a G3 variant with support for a different set of radio bands. It might even be a carrier-specific model.  

Speaking of which, it is stated in the FCC papers that the LG D850 can run on LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 7, and 17. The D851 supports LTE bands 2, 4, 7, and 17, according to its filing. Furthermore, both models have removable batteries, unlike the international LG G2. The D850 and the D851 are 5.76 inches (146.3 millimeters) tall by 2.94 inches (74.6 millimeters) wide, which pretty much confirms that they are two variants of the same device.   

 

 

source: FCC, (2)

Nokia Lumia 630 has just started shipping

The Nokia Lumia 630 has just started shipping (retail price of 140 euro) and we already have one for review. Not only is it extremely well built, but it's also the first phone to ship with Windows Phone 8.1 out-of-the-box along with Nokia's improvements called Nokia Cyan. This one is shaping up to be a market hit, that's for sure.

On the hardware side, the Lumia 630 features a 4.5" FWVGA ClearBlack IPS LCD display covered with a protective layer of Gorilla Glass 3. Under the hood, there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC with 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built-in memory, and microSD card slot.
The Nokia Lumia 630 and Lumia 630 dual-SIM cost €119 and €129 before taxes and subsidies, respectively. The retail price in Europe will be close to €150. The color options include bright orange, bright green, bright yellow, as well as black and white.


 source:nokia

How to enable or disable mobile data on iPhone or iPad (iOS tutorial)

Having access to the Internet on a smartphone is one of the greatest conveniences of our time, empowering us with information in even the most resolute places on Earth, but having mobile data on can also be a curse for your pocket. If your carrier enforces overage fees, you could end up paying tens and even hundreds of dollars if you don't keep tabs on your mobile data usage.
Sometimes, the easiest thing to do is to just turn off mobile data completely to avoid the risk of a background update or something else gobbling up your monthly allowance. Luckily, this is a task that's extremely easy to achieve on iOS, and only takes a couple of taps - you just have to know where it is.
   
 
   

Leaked LG L35 apparently aimed at the price-conscious crowd with entry-level specs

LG appears to be prepping a new low-cost, entry-level device, dubbed L35 (D150), according to an UA profile unearthed from LG's very own site. The device in question is nearly identical to what Sony has in store for the price-conscious niche with its still fresh Xperia E1. According to MyLGPhones, the L35 will be released in European countries including Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Hungary.

So far, we have quite some information regarding the specs of LG's upcoming low-end. It's got a 3.2-inch, 320x480 (HVGA) pixel resolution screen, and runs on the latest build of Android Kitkat -- 4.4.2. The L35 is apparently powered by a 1.2GHz, dual-core Snapdragon 200 (MSM8210) chip by Qualcomm, with ARM's Cortex-A7 CPU and Adreno 302 graphics (the same chip running the new Moto E), and 512MB of RAM. The imaging department will make do with a 3-megapixel rear-facing shooter, and there's a 1540 mAh juicer keeping the lights on. The amount of on-board storage, unsurprisingly for this class, sits at just 4GB, though there is a slot for a microSD card (up to 32GB more).

The LG L35 measures in at 109.4 x 59 x 11.9 mm, and weighs 108.4 grams, and we're told to expect to see its body come in both a black and whtie version. It's currently unknown how LG will approach pricing with this very basic device, nor are we aware of the company's plans as far as an official release window is concerned. 

 

 

source: MyLGPhones [1], [2] via LGMobileIndia

Samsung ships 500,000 Galaxy Gears in Q1 2014, has 71% of the smartwatch market

Smartwatches are here to stay and the current leader on the market for wearables is unsurprisingly none other than Samsung. According to a report by Strategy Analytics, the tech giant from the Far East had 71% of the market during the first quarter of the year, as it shipped 500,000 smartwatches during the trimester.
But what's more interesting is that the manufacturer grasped the lion's share of the market by only selling the original Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The second generation of Samsung's wearables, the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo, got unveiled back in February, but they didn't hit the shelves until April 11, which is in Q2. If we take into consideration that the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo are arguably way better than the Galaxy Gear, we can presume that Samsung might ship even more units of its new wearable gadgets in the upcoming months.Strategy Analytics' report also reveals that the worldwide market for smartwatches scored a substantial 250% increase in Q1 2014 in comparison with the same period back in 2013. We would wager that with upcoming and anticipated smartwatches, such as the Moto 360, the LG G Watch, and the highly-rumored iWatch, this number might go even higher. What's more, it will be more than curious to see if Samsung will continue to be the major player on this relatively new market niche or its rivals will quickly diminish the company's dominant presence.


 source: Strategy Analytics via SamMobile

Heathrow getting “Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5″ today

Samsung makes some fantastic smartphones, sure, but what really puts the company head-and-shoulders above its competition isn’t necessarily the quality of its products, but the fantastic job it does in promoting them. With deep pockets full of advertising dollars, it’s got the muscle to really get its phones out there in a way few of its peer can match. In the past, those efforts have included things like offering official Olympic-themed handsets, and today we lean of another incredibly high-profile campaign, as Samsung takes over an entire terminal at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Starting Monday, and lasting for two weeks thereafter, Heathrow’s Terminal 5 will become Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5, as part of an extensive Samsung marketing push. Heathrow sees some 70 million passengers make their way through its halls every year, so even a two-week window will sure bring a lot of eyes in front of Samsung’s promo efforts. The most impulsive (or just easily impressionable) among them will be able to purchase a new GS5 right in the airport itself, with retailer Dixons Travel offering the Android to passengers.
On the surface, this sounds like just another big Samsung ad spend, but should we read anything else into it? The GS5 has been up for sale for over a month by now, while this is the kind of campaign we’d normally associate with a big initial launch – is Samsung already concerned that GS5 sales figures aren’t quite as high as it would like them to be?



Source: The Verge

Apple secures your info better from governments

With privacy becoming more and more a topic lately, a lot of us were shocked to learn that a ton of the companies we use every day are not doing a good job in protecting our data. Apple was one of these companies, which actually ranked the lowest in its commitment to protect your data just a couple of months ago when all this scandal became public. Since then it seems that Apple has been hard at work in changing this, and it turns out that it actually exceeded expectations.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world, and is currently considered the most trusted source in ranking companies that protect your data. Today the EFF announced Apple’s “remarkable improvement” in all of the six areas that it ranks companies for. In the past, Apple barely landed a positive star in one of the rankings, which was fighting for users in congress. Today the company has joined companies like Facebook, Google and Dropbox in protecting you in all rankings necessary.
Obviously this is not a guarantee that you are 100% protected, as your decision to use specific third-party applications on an iPhone, won’t guarantee that these third party apps won’t share your data, so just keep it in mind for the future.



 

  Source: EFF

Apple-Motorola patent war comes to a settlement

Fights over patent licensing aren’t about to be on their way out. One of the more high-profile ones recently has been the Apple-Motorola patent war.
It seems this particular one has taken an odd twist, however — apparently, both Apple and Motorola have gone ahead and voluntarily dismissed the suit, without a cross-licensing agreement between the two. Reuters notes that the two are working together on patent reform.
Something worth noting is the ongoing purchase of Motorola Mobility by Lenovo. Motorola’s current owner is Google, who will retain Motorola’s patents post-purchase.
Also of note is the fact that this is simply one of many major tech patent suits which have been ongoing in the past — notably, HTC, Samsung, and Apple have all been involved in high-profile cases.
This particular case began in 2010, and the companies warred about things such as the method by which phones connect to 3G networks. It is nice to see a patent suit finally not drag on for the rest of eternity, for sure.


Source: Reuters

Red HTC One (M8) Official in Taiwan, Blue in the UK

Tired of the HTC One (M8)’s Gunmetal Grey, Glacial Silver, and Amber Gold color schemes? The wait for new options may finally be over, depending on where you live. After a seemingly endless number of leaks, HTC confirmed what we already knew, that the rumored Red and Blue versions of the One (M8) are coming to market.
Starting today, the red-colored M8 is available for sale exclusively in Taiwan. The “Aqua Blue” version, meanwhile, can be purchased at UK-based retailer MobileFun for £550 (about $920) unsubsidized.
Company officials were mum on whether or not the Red M8 will make its way to more countries eventually, or other color variants for that matter. However, a previous leak of the Red version for Verizon was spotted in April.

Via: MobileFun

Google Planning Acqusition of Twitch for $1 Billion

Report from Variety suggested that Google was in the final stages to announce plans to buy video game streaming service Twitch for roughly $1 billion. A separate report from the Wall Street Journal, who must have much different sources, claims that the deal is still early, and that Twitch may decline whatever offer is made, opting for additional funding instead of selling off the company to Google.
For those not familiar with Twitch, it is a streaming website service that launched in 2011, but has grown exponentially. It single-handedly accounted for 1.35% of all downstream bandwidth usage in March of 2014. As big as YouTube has become at video sharing, they never seemed to get their finger on streaming, and that is where they hope Twitch can help.

The reported all-cash deal is expected to be announced sooner, rather than later, according to Variety. However, YouTube and Twitch are reportedly preparing to fight for the deal, as they expect US regulators will have something to say about the #1 video content site acquiring the #1 video streaming site. From the WSJ sources, who paint a much different picture, the public may never learn the actual value of the deal, and a lot of talks must be completed before anything official is announced. No YouTube or Twitch representatives have commented on the deal.
Only time will tell if this deal will benefit the consumers to all of this online content. Twitch has a fairly well-established monetization strategy with their channels, and we can only assume Google won’t mess with that.


via;variety