Samsung Galaxy S5 official TV commercial goes live

Samsung has launched a brand new Galaxy S5 commercial to celebrate the flagship’s global launch. Today the Galaxy S5 hits 125 markets worldwide.

HTC sales materials leak: pits the One M8 against GS5

HTC is campaigning hard to train sales associates to sway buyers from purchasing a Galaxy S5 and to get an HTC One M8 instead.
If you take a look at a page from HTC’s latest training materials below, you’ll see that proving it’s better than the Galaxy S5 is a top priority for the Taiwanese manufacturer. So much so that the title of the training packet is the “Top 5 reasons why the HTC One (M8) is better than the Samsung Galaxy S5.


HTC cites the all aluminum, metal build of the One as providing a more premium and durable phone, and it’s hard to argue with them; the HTC One is really a pleasure to handle and definitely feels better than the S5 in your hand.
The materials also boast about the dual-front speakers of the new One M8, a major selling point of the original HTC One. They also mention the Motion Launch feature which is supposed to help you use the handset with one hand more easily.
A questionable addition to the list is HTC’s duo camera; sample tests reveal that the new HTC One’s camera still suffers from the same issues as its predecessor, and this is mostly due to the low megapixel count of the sensor.
But HTC Advantage is a nice feature: you can get your phone’s screen (should it crack) once for free within the first six months of owning an HTC One, not to mention HTC’s promise to deliver timely software updates, etc.


 source:htcsource

Samsung Galaxy S5 also region-locked, here are the details

Just like the Galaxy Note 3 before it, the Samsung Galaxy S5 packs a region lock. To get rid of it, Galaxy S5 customers need not only to activate, but also make a cumulative calls over 5 minutes in their region before transferring and using it overseas carriers.
Back in November last year, Samsung issued a statement detailing the locks. The phonemaker stated that the region lock stems grey market imports. The 5 minutes of voice calls have to be made using a SIM card from a carrier from the designated region.
Here is what's stated on the European Galaxy S5 box:

European Model: This product should be activated with a SIM card issued from a mobile operator within Europe. (as defined EU/EEA, Switzerland and the following Non-EEA countries Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M), Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia and Vatican City.) To use SIM cards from other regions, a cumulative call over five minutes must first be made with the SIM card from European operators.

Countries in the European Economic Area (EEA): 

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania , Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK, Switzerland, Croatia

Non-EU/EEA countries: 

Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia, Vatican City

source:androidcentral

Nokia might give the pink slip to some of the 8,000 employees working at the Chennai plant

Nokia just announced that employees that work at its plant in Chennai, India, might take advantage of the company's Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). This allows them to quit and look for another job while Nokia provides them with a"firm financial footing" until they get employed again. The Finnish giant also confirmed that the overall manpower of the company's plant in Chennai would soon be reduced.The reason for these measures is the tax dispute between Nokia and the Indian government, which has not been resolved yet. Last year, the Indian officials stated that the smartphone maker hadn't paid the whopping amount of $3 billion in taxes and froze all assets of the company, including the Chennai plant itself.

“Nokia is offering a clear financial option for interested factory employees. We feel this package offers staff the chance to seek new opportunities outside the company based on a firm financial footing,” Nokia said. 

 

The government demanded that Nokia should pay roughly $500 million if it wants to see its property returned. Nokia stated that the government's claims are simply “absurd” and denied to pay. According to analysts, the Chennai plant in India is a valuable asset, worth at least $1 billion to Nokia. Its closedown might affect the merger with Microsoft in a very bad way.Apparently, Nokia workers across India were not very happy with these recent developments, as they went on a one-day strike and local Chennai employees even went on a hunger strike on April 1. It seems that most of them will have to find another job, yet it's positive to see that the Finnish giant is trying to take care of its workers. 

 

 

 source: The Hindu Business Line via WMPoweruser

Facebook for Android receives the flat design treatment and an interface overhaul

Facebook for Android received a very serious facelift with a recent update. The app now comes with a trendy flat design, which is pretty similar to its iOS counterpart in terms of looks, as both the buttons and the interface elements are now even more minimalistic and simplified. But the looks of the app are not the only thing that received an overhaul - the user interface also saw some drastic changes. Up until now, users could only swipe between the leftmost menu, the news feed, and the Facebook chat – if they wanted to view their notifications or friend requests, they had to tap the corresponding button on the news feed. Well, these buttons are gone.
Now, Facebook enthusiasts can swipe left or right between 5 different tabs - their news feed, friend requests, messages, notifications, and the Facebook menu, which can be found furthest to the right. Fortunately, the Facebook chat window has been kept unchanged, but you can't access it via swipe, you have to tap the top right button instead. Furthermore, the buttons that allowed you to post, publish a photo, or check in while in your news feed are also gone. Well, not gone, but hidden, and if you want them to appear, you have to swipe down.Last, but definitely not least, come some improvements under the hood, which enhance the reliability and the overall speed of the app. Indeed, we noticed a very distinct difference, as Facebook for Android now loads faster and does not lag when you scroll down faster than usual. Download: Facebook (Android | iOS)


  What do you think?

E-commerce giant AliBaba will let you authorize transactions with the Galaxy S5's fingerprints scanner

Chinese website Leiphone reports that the e-commerce giant AliBaba will soon allow payments using the Galaxy S5's fingerprint sensor. As we told you earlier, the S5 is the first consumer device to support the FIDO Alliance's encryption-heavy fingerprint authorization protocol. AliBaba's AliPay system is going to make use of that, or similar technology later in the year, when it plans to introduce payments with the Galaxy S5. Reportedly, other fingerprint-scanning devices, such as the iPhone 5S and HTC One Max, are being tested as well. In addition to authenticating transactions, AliPay will also let customers verify the product they bought before releasing money to the seller. Interesting. 

With PayPal already having implemented FIDO-based authentication, and AliBaba following suit, we are having a hunch that fingerprint scanners will become quite common across mobile devices in the not-distant future. The two giants wouldn't have bothered with the system if they thought it lacked popularity, would they? Besides, we like the idea of using our fingerprints instead of having to remember and look after passwords. Hopefully the technology is as secure as it's convenient. 

via GSMArena

Boldomatic is a fun social network that relies on simplicity, available on iOS and Android

Meet Boldomatic, a relatively new social network that comes with a distinct design and allows its users to input short text statements in colorful square boxes and share them as images across the web. It looks like a mix between Tumblr and Twitter, to be exact. Still, you won't find any photos or videos in Boldomatic, as it relies purely on colorful bold text.For example, did you know that “no matter what instant noodles you buy, they all taste like poverty and loneliness”? Or that “stressed” spelled backwards is “desserts”? Well, if you check out Boldomatic you might unravel some other hidden gems. Just like almost any other social network out there, it allows you to follow other users, tag them, share and reshare their texts, and even use the controversial hashtags.
Boldomatic is available on both iOS and Android devices. You can give it a go without spending a dime.Download: Boldomatic (Android | iOS)

  via: AndroidTapp

Bogus anti-virus app at $3.99 fooled 30,000 Android users

Made it's first appearance in the Google Play Store on March 28th, Virus Shield soon became the third most popular paid app in the market. Priced at $3.99, Virus Shield was supposed to search through your Android smartphone, looking for viruses, all without affecting the battery life on the handset. Android users ate it up. Bolstered by a number of five-star reviews, 30,000 paid subscribers had signed up after one week. As it turns out, all of these people were scammed.So what did the developer, Deviant Solutions, claim that the app did? The description of the app claimed that it "Prevents harmful apps from being installed on your device...scans apps, settings, files, and media in real time... and protects your personal information." It also claimed to have very little effect on battery life, and had no ads. The only problem is that all the app did was change an image with an "X" to one with a check mark after a single tap of the screen.
A report published on Friday said that decompiling the code revealed that the app was worthless. In response to this report, Jesse Carter, the developer, claimed that it was all a mistake. Carter said that the app uploaded to the Google Play Store was a placeholder that was accidentally switched for the version with the anti-virus code. Which seems hard to believe considering that the Virus Shield was updated from version 1.0 to version 2.2 during the period it was available in the Google Play Store.The good news is that the app has been pulled from the store, and everyone who paid for Virus Shield should be getting their $3.99 back. What is amazing is that many of the four and five star ratings were legit. 

1. All Virus Shield does is turn an X into a check mark 

 

 

2. Virus Shield became the third most popular paid app in the Google Play Store 

 

 

 

  source: The Guardian, AndroidPolice via MobileSyrup

Apple rests its case in second patent trial against Samsung

On Friday, Apple rested its case in its second patent trial against Samsung. Thus, the Korean manufacturer started presenting its defense. Samsung's first witness called was VP of Android Engineering, Hiroshi Lockheimer. He was put on the stand to prove to the jury that certain features were invented by Google before they were ever patented by Apple. He also spent time on the stand, explaining how Android worked, and the differences between Android and iOS.Lockheimer testified that at the beginning, the Android team consisted of 20 to 30 people, a number that more than doubled by the time the T-Mobile G1 was launched. Today, the executive has 600 employees working under him. But the Android executive wasn't on the stand to discuss that. Under oath, he said that some of the features that Apple is suing Samsung over, were already on the Android OS, used on some devices like the Samsung GALAXY Nexus. Certain features, outside of the "slide-to-unlock" tool, were already invented by Google, according to Lockheimer, before Apple patented them. This is why Samsung says that Apple's suit is an "attack on Android." Apple believes that Samsung copied Apple's designs, illegally used its patents, and then priced its phones and tablets below iPhone and iPad prices.

"We liked to have our own identity; we liked to have our own ideas. We were very passionate about what we were doing, and it was important that we have our own ideas."-Hiroshi Lockheimer, VP of Android engineering 

 

 Future witnesses expected to be called by Samsung include executives Dianne Hackborn and Cary Clark. Both are going to tell the jury all about the design, and development of the Android OS. If you're wondering why Apple doesn't sue Google directly, it is because Google does not make the hardware. Still, if Apple wins this trial, it is believed that Google will make some changes to Android.The trial resumes on Monday and testimony from 17 witnesses is expected to be heard, mostly by reading through depositions and putting them on the record. There is a chance that Judge Lucy Koh will ask Samsung to cut down that number. The Cupertino based tech titan is seeking $2.19 billion from Samsung, and a sales ban on the infringing products. Samsung is seeking $7 million from its cross-complaint. 

 

 

 

source: CNET, AppleInsider

Motorola names Rick Osterloh its new leader

Motorola is in a bit of limbo right now, but the company is trying to keep going as though it is business as usual. Back in January, Google agreed to sell Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, but of course the deal won't be finalized until all of the various regulatory boards give their approval. But, in the interim, Motorola has chosen Rick Osterloh to be its new leader.

Samsung files lawsuit over negative news report of Galaxy S5

The Galaxy S5 is almost here, and several outlets, including us, have looked over the new flagship with rave reviews. One publication in Korea does not see it that way however, and Samsung has filed suit against ETNews who published a “negative” report related to the manufacture of the device.ETNews noted that the Korean conglomerate was having issues producing components for the Galaxy S5’s camera.ETNews further reported that Samsung has having employees work crazy overtime hours to make up for the production gap so the phone’s commercial release would not be delayed.  Samsung denied the reports and asked ETNews to retract the statements, concerned that the negative press could hamper sales in Korea, and that the story could go viral, thus hampering sales worldwide. ETNews refused to change its story, so Samsung put its crack legal team on the case.
Samsung is seeking damages of roughly $300,000, taking the matter up with South Korea’s Press Arbitration Commission stating the following, “Samsung Electronics sought a correction from ET News following the publication of false claims that can hugely damage our business and brand value. In the interests of providing consumers with accurate information, we made a number of requests for the information to be corrected. Unfortunately this was ignored and we are now taking legal action as a last resort.” 

In its defense, ETNews says its story fits the facts it has and that its reporters are fact checked daily.


source: Digital Trends

Super-value ZTE's $130 RedBull smartphone with a Snapdragon processor, HD display, and 4G LTE

Months ago, China's up-and-comer, Xiaomi, released a phone that took the world by storm, despite being a strictly local deal. Dubbed the Hognmi, the phone commanded a price tag of 799 yuan (or ~$130), which translated into a 720p display, dual-SIM support through one of the better quad-core MediaTek chips out there, 1GB of RAM, and an 8-megapixel camera. Not long after that, Huawei followed up into the super-value niche with its Honor 3C, which is equally as impressive. What both these handsets (and pretty much every handset from China until recently) lacked is 4G LTE connectivity, which put off a number of people overseas who wanted to take advantage of both the devices' affordable price tag and their carrier's latest gen network.

Yesterday, ZTE changed the status quo with the ZTE Redbull smartphone. Sporting a very Nubia-like design (ZTE's 'premium' line) and UI, the Redbull is the first phone to join the value league with 4G LTE on board. But the same 799 yuan ($130) ZTE is charging locals gets you quite a bit more than just that -- you're also getting a quad-core Snapdragon (MSM8226), 1GB of RAM, a 5-inch, 720p HD display, and a 13-megapixel camera with a Sony CMOS sensor. The cell powering the handset is with a capacity of 2400 mAh, and there's also a slot for a microSD card allowing you to expand upon that 4GB of built-in storage. If that sounds constraining to you, then there's also an "Energy" version with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage for 999 yuan (or ~$160).

Whether the RedBull will make it outside of China remains unknown, though it should be pointed out that the company did share plans to take some of its line-up to the States.   

 

 

 

source: GizChina, CNMO

Apple's alleged 2014 roadmap

 

 

 

 

Apple’s alleged roadmap for 2014 includes a 4.7” iPhone first and then another, 5.5-inch, phablet-sized iPhone coming later in the year. A brand new iWatch is also expected to arrive in 2 different sizes, and all of that insight is coming from KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, a person with mostly good track record in regards to Apple. A disclaimer to all this is due, though. Keep in mind that 'good track record' does not mean perfect, and Kuo has also erred in the past, so keep a healthy grain of salt about all this - let's not forget that we have nothing but rumors at the moment.With this in mind, it's clear that new iPhones and iWatch are far from everything that Apple has up its sleeve in 2014. An iPad refresh is coming up, as well as a new, lower-cost iMac, an Apple TV upgrade, and a 12” ‘ultra-slim’ MacBook and MacBook Pro.In a research note to clients, Kuo not just mentions the allegedly upcoming products, but he also maps the launches, revealing that the new 4.7” iPhone, the iWatch and the iPad refresh should happen at the end of the third quarter, while the phablet-sized, 5.5” iPhone is expected to arrive right in the midst of the Holiday shopping season, around the end of Q4. What will those upcoming product look like? In the slideshow below, you’d find a breakdown of what Kuo expects for each new device, down to the specs and prices for some of them. 

1. Apple iPhone 6

2. Apple iPhone 6 in a phablet size with 5.5” display

3. Apple iWatch

4. Apple iPad Air 2

5. Apple iPad mini with Retina Display

6. 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro

7. 12-inch Apple MacBook Air

8. Apple iMac

9. Apple TV

10. No word about a new iPod touch  .

 Numbered according to the images above

 

 

 source: KGI Securities via MacRumors

Privacy issues lead 72% in U.S. to reject Google Glass

A survey of Americans conducted by research firm Toluna, suggests that 72% of them will not purchase Google Glass. Worries about privacy and safety are the main reasons why the connected specs might have a more limited appeal than initially thought. Two in five consumers are worried about their personal data ending up in the hands of the bad guys. Others worry about being on the other side of Glass, and having their every move secretly recorded and posted online for the world to see.Another concern has to do with safety. Potential Glass wearers are afraid of being distracted by the data and images on the device, and walking into a moving car, falling into a manhole or worse. And one out of three say that they are afraid of being mugged if they don the wearable device.
Capturing 28% of Americans would still result in a pretty big sales number, but don't kid yourself. If this survey reflects real life intentions in the U.S., Google still has quite a few obstacles to overcome to sell these things. For those who envisioned a world where everyone, including new born infants, would be wearing Google Glass, you might want to put that image away. The survey doesn't say that Google Glass won't eventually blossom and become a hit. But what it does say is that after letting smartphones, tablets and smartwatches into their lives, Americans are being more cautious when it comes to connected specs.What do you sat about this technology? Add your view.


source: TolunaGroup, AdWeek, via CNET

Apple is still the king,despite Samsung increased tablet market

Although the sales of Android tablets have already surpassed the iOS ones, Apple is still the dominant player on the market for slates. In 2013 alone, Apple sold a tad over 70 million iPads, while Samsung lagged behind with roughly 37 million tablets retailed. With close to 30% of the market, Apple is still the leader during the first trimester of 2014. Nonetheless, Samsung is purportedly catching up quickly, as the company now holds approximately 20% of the global tablet market. This means that roughly 14 million Samsung-branded slates were sold in the first three months of the current year. This is about 200,000 units more in comparison with the previous quarter, which Samsung regards as rather weak. This increase is mostly due to the increased demand for low and mid-range tablets in the emerging markets.

“We have implemented a comprehensive sales plan for tablets, from emerging countries to developed ones. We have overcome last year’s weak fourth quarter,” a Samsung representative revealed. 

Samsung is allegedly expecting to double its worldwide tablet sales in 2014, which means that the company wants to sell no less than 60 million devices. Considering the 14 million sales for the first trimester of the year, we can say that Sammy might indeed meet this goal. Of course, let's not forget that Apple won't give up its throne without a fight. 

 

source: ZDNet Korea via BGR

BlackBerry's Chen clarifies comment

On Wednesday, BlackBerry CEO John Chen told Reuters that if he could not make money selling handsets, he would exit the business. While that seems like a reasonable comment, and one that we passed along to you in a story on Wednesday night, apparently some read the statement as saying that the sale of the division was imminent. So many people took Chen's remarks to mean that BlackBerry was actually on the verge of exiting the phone business, that the executive felt compelled to respond to the story on the company blog.
Chen wrote that he is not about to sell off the handset business "anytime soon" and that his focus is on making this part of the business a profitable one. But he also pointed out that the Canadian company is in other lines of business such as enterprise services, messaging and software. He added that BlackBerry is investing in Machine to Machine technology.While Chen didn't mention BBM by name, the messaging app is being dressed up by BlackBerry to increase its value. Facebook's $19 billion bid for WhatsApp valued the latter at $42 per subscriber. With BBM available to BlackBerry, iOS, Android and eventually Windows Phone, each new BBM subscriber adds value to the app
."I want to assure you that I have no intention of selling off or abandoning this business any time soon.‎ I know you still love your BlackBerry devices. I love them too and I know they created the foundation of this company. Our focus today is on finding a way to make this business profitable. 
 BlackBerry is not a handset-only company. We offer an end-to-end solution and devices are an important part of that equation. That’s why we’re complementing our Devices business with other revenue streams from enterprise services and software, to messaging. We’re also investing in emerging solutions such as Machine to Machine technologies that will help to power the backbone of the Internet of Things."-John Chen, CEO, BlackBerry

The CEO ended his post by saying that BlackBerry is not giving up and is not leaving the handset business any time soon, which is what he was trying to say with his original comment.

  source: BlackBerry via BerryReview

Check out the new stateside ad for the Samsung Galaxy S5

Now that the calendar reads April 10th, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is expected to be released tomorrow in 150 countries. To help sell its new flagship Android phone in the U.S., Samsung has produced a new ad that shows off some of the features of the phone, such as the 16MP rear-facing snapper, the hear rate sensor, and even the IP67 certification. The latter means that the phone can be submerged in 3.2 feet of water (or 1 meter) for up to 30 minutes and still live to tell the tale. And of course, there is the 5.1 inch Super AMOLED screen with resolution of 1080 x 1920.

Now that the handset is available, expect to see Samsung really start its stateside marketing efforts for the phone. The Korean manufacturer has been spending a ton of money for advertising relative to its revenue, and the company has said that it would dial things down this year. But that is hard to do when competitors are snapping at your heels. Right now, it is the HTC One (M8) providing the competition, and eventually it could be the Sony Xperia Z2, the LG G3 or perhaps even the Motorola Moto X+1.


 source: SamsungMobile

Last minute update kills bugs on the Samsung Galaxy S5

With the Samsung Galaxy S5 set to launch on Friday, a last-minute stability update was pushed out for the device on Thursday. The 30MB update makes sure that the phone comes out of the box with fewer bugs. The new firmware version following the update is XXU1ANCE and should be available for Galaxy S5 users to install as soon as they turn on the phone for the first time.
Samsung's new flagship model has already been available in some markets like South Korea and in the Middle East. Still, it is nice to see that Samsung has thoughtfully sent out the update prior to the actual global launch, so that the Galaxy S5 can provide a better experience to the majority of buyers.Back in 2008, when the BlackBerry Storm was launched, RIM wanted to beat the Black Friday deadline. The Storm was rushed out, but as a result, it came out of the box with half-baked software, leading to complaints from those purchasing the first touchscreen 'Berry. In the aftermath of the Storm's launch, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said that future smartphones would come with bugs out of the box, and would require an immediate firmware update. Thankfully, this has not proven to be the case, and today's move by Samsung insures that Galaxy S5 owners have a positive experience with the phone from the moment that they open the box.


 source: AndroidAuthority

Samsung expects a drop in operating profits for the second consecutive quarter

Samsung announced on Tuesday, that it expects to report its second consecutive quarter with a decline in operating profit. For the three months ended March 31st, the Korean company is expected to report that Q1 operating profits declined in a range of 2.1% to 6.6% from a year earlier. For the prior three month period, the Korean tech firm announced a 6% drop in operating profits. That was the first year-over-year decline in Samsung's operating profits in two years. Analysts blame the lower earnings on the competition in the smartphone market that has dropped the average price for Samsung's smartphones.
Samsung estimates that its operating profit will range between 8.2 trillion won to 8.6 trillion won ($7.8 billion to $8.2 billion USD) for the first quarter. Sales are forecast come in between 51 trillion won and 55 trillion won  A year earlier, Samsung reported an operating profit of 8.78 trillion won on sales of 52.87 trillion won.Led by strong smartphones sales, Samsung's operating earnings peaked in the third quarter of last year at 10.2 trillion won. The Korean tech titan spent 12.2 trillion won in marketing expenses during 2013, compared with 10.9 trillion won in 2012. That high level of marketing to revenue cannot be sustained, which is why Sammy is cutting back on that ratio this year.Samsung does not report estimates of net profits, and will report final earnings numbers at the end of this month.

 source: WSJ

BlackBerry wins patent suit

On Monday, BlackBerry won a patent infringement lawsuit against the company. In federal court in Florida, the jury found that the Canadian handset manufacturer did not infringe on three patents owned by Dutch semiconductor company NXP BV. The suit dates backs to 2012 when BlackBerry was known as Research In Motion. NXP accused the Canadian based company of using its patented technology in BlackBerry handsets and on BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. The patents involved were related to the design and data transmission on the devices.
The suit started out involving six patents, but half of those were dropped. Had BlackBerry lost, the decision could have played havoc with the company's financials considering that NXP would have been entitled to triple damages had it won. The trial began on March 24th and the jury required just one day of deliberation before reaching a decision.  While BlackBerry had no comment, NXP said it was disappointed and would start "investigating all options for appeal."


 source: Reuters

15% cashback to select Galaxy S5 buyers in India

Like many other countries, India (the world’s second largest mobile market) will get Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 later this week, on April 11. The new flagship smartphone can already be pre-ordered in India, and Samsung is trying to lure customers with a pretty nice 15% cashback offer. 

The offer isn’t available to anyone, though, but only to customers owning a Citibank credit card. Moreover, according to Samsung, the offer “is valid only for transactions done on 11th, 12th & 13th April 2014, or till stocks last whichever is earlier and is subject to change without prior notice.”The new Galaxy S5 is expected to cost at least $848 (51,000 INR) in India at launch, so the cashback offer would allow you to pay around $125 (7,650 INR) less. This isn’t the first time when Samsung includes cashback offers with the purchase of its products in India. It did the same with some older Galaxy models last year. Indian customers can pre-book a Galaxy S5 right away (for $25 - 1,500 INR) at the source link below, where official details about the 15% cashback offer are listed. Only the white and black versions of the new handset are available to pre-order, but we assume that the blue and gold ones will be released shortly after April 11. Unfortunately, at the moment Samsung doesn't seem to offer cashback promos for customers in other markets. 

 

 

 

  source: Samsung India eStore via Samsung (Twitter)

App turns Google Glass wearers into reporters

Do you have a dream to someday be an news reporter, broadcasting live from a major story? Do you often hold a hair brush, pretending it is a microphone, and say your name followed by "NBC News, Kalamazoo, Michigan". If so, you probably will really enjoy a new app for Google Glass called "Livestream for Glass." The app sends a live shot from the camera on Glass, to an online broadcast. Using the Livestream Studio app, the camera on your connected specs can be turned on and off and controlled remotely back in the studio.
Those watching your feed, whether as part of a bigger online broadcast, or as a solo stream, can send you text messages that you will be able to read on your Glass, and respond to by voice. The app starts broadcasting with the command of,  "Ok Glass, Livestream." And while you are sending back live video and audio, you can see how long you've been transmitting for, and how many people are watching you. The eyepiece is illuminated when recording, which is like the red light on a television camera. Those that don't want to be part of your live feed can try to stay out of range of the camera.The Livestream app is also available for Android phones and for the Apple iPhone, so that you can view live streams from major events, and broadcast live from your phone.

 source: Livestream via Slashgear

New Lumia 1520 ad targets businesses

Every manufacturer and every platform maker around wants to be the one to capture the enterprise market that has been left behind by BlackBerry. Some, like Samsung, are aiming to do so with security software features. Others, like Nokia, understand that certain entrenched productivity apps (read: Microsoft Office) can go a long way as well.

Nokia has put out a new ad for the Lumia 1520 that seeks to grab some of the enterprise market, and the ad takes an interesting direction. Rather than tailoring the ad for businesses, Nokia has made the ad for employees who likely work for a company with a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy. The ad highlights SkyDrive and Office, but also spends quite a bit of time with other features like navigation.

BYOD is becoming more and more commonplace as companies realize that they don't necessarily need to supply smartphones, because employees will already have them. This means that employees can get the phone they want, and companies don't have to spend so much on hardware. Not a bad deal.  

Entry-level Samsung Galaxy Ace Style smartphone available worldwide

Galaxy Ace Style, the entry-level pipsqueak which Samsung unveiled last week in Germany, is now available worldwide. The smartphone runs the latest Android 4.4 / TouchWiz combo, but apart from that, it's one of Sammy's modestest offerings. The handset has a 4-inch 480x800 (WVGA) TFT display, a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU, a mere 512MB RAM, 4GB of storage space, a pair of 5MP auto-focus rear camera and 0.3MP fixed front camera, and is powered by a 1500mAh battery. According to Samsung, this is a phone for the "young, expressive consumer". 

The new Samsung Galaxy Ace Style will be available globally in Cream White and Dark Gray beginning in April. According to a Samsung rep, the European price will be between $276 to $413 (200-300 EUR). Pretty underwhelming, considering how much the Moto G offers for less than $200 in the US, and $223 (£135, 163 EUR) in Europe. Hopefully, the Korean giant will appease the entry-level segment with something more generous. 

 

source: Samsung Tomorrow