Author: Shivaank Rana

BlackBerry X10 Pictured Next To BlackBerry Z10

Earlier today RIM’s BlackBerry 10 full QWERTY/Touch device leaked online. The image showed an updated look to the Bold 9900. Now, a post on 4Chan reveals the all-touch “BlackBerry Z10? sitting in between the full QWERTY/Touch – rumoured name is the “BlackBerry X10.”

There’s a white version and a black version, however the white version seems to have a different style as it’s missing the chrome frets. So it could be the Dev Alpha C that RIM gave 1,500 developers.

The new update to RIM’s mobile firmware is slated for official release on 30, January, 2013. RIM is on the path of comeback. It aims to take on its rivals like Google Android and Apple iOS with the new Blackberry 10. It is largely hoped by the company that the new firmware can bring back its lost reputation in mobile market. In his words about the firmware, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins instills his hope about BB 10 and its future products.

All set for 30th January then!

December 25, 2012
Flickr Offers 3 Months Free Pro Trial

Flickr may find themselves falling behind in the social photo/video world. Regardless of their position, Flickr is giving all of their current subscribers, including free account holders, 3 months of free Pro service. For those members who have already upgraded to Flickr’s Pro service, the 3 months can be used as an extension to your current subscription.

The three-month trial is offered in an email titled “Merry Flickr,” and explains the features available from Flickr Pro.

The three months of Pro service would normally cost $6.95, or $24.95 for a year. Flickr is likely hoping that users who get used to the Pro level will continue to pay rather than go back to the limited version. Now that Instagram has backpedaled on their privacy policy changes, not as many people will likely be deactivating their accounts, but this could serve as a pretty tempting offer for anyone who already has.

When Instagram announced some policy changes that made it look like they would be selling user photos to advertisers, a lot of people got upset. Some even jumped ship and deactivated their accounts. Flickr is hoping to swoop in and pick up those shutterbugs left behind by offering this service.

The free offering also follows the launch of a brand new Flickr iOS app, which introduces Instagram-style filters, a brand new and attractive interface and the integration of Flickr Groups.

December 24, 2012
Even The Big Guys Do it! YouTube Confiscates 2 Billion Views From Universal And Sony For Fake Views

Google slashed the cumulative view counts on YouTube channels belonging to Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG, and RCA Records by more than 2 billion views Tuesday, a drastic winter cleanup that may be aimed at shutting down black hat view count-building techniques employed by a community of rogue view count manipulators on the video-sharing site. A spokesman for YouTube was cryptic about the slashing, saying “This was not a bug or a security breach. This was an enforcement of our viewcount policy.”

Universal’s channel is the one that took the biggest hit. According to figures compiled by the YouTube statistics analysts at SocialBlade, the record company’s YouTube channel lost more than 1 billion views from its preexisting tally of 7 billion views Tuesday.

Sony/BMG was the second largest sufferer, dropping more than 850 million views in one day, bringing its total number of views to a mere 2.3 million. RCA, which got off scot free by comparison, dipped 159 million views. Its tally now sits more modestly at 120 million views.

Other notable channels affected include the ones belonging to Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Beyoncé, and Avril Lavigne, among others. More than 500 prominent YouTube channels have been stripped of preexisting YouTube views in the past 30 days, something that causes concern when you consider that YouTube views counts, unlike subscriber statistics, are cumulative and cannot organically drop at any point throughout their existence.

[Daily Dot]

December 24, 2012
Dayum! Huawei 6.1-inch 1080p Ascend Mate “Phablet” Shown Off Before CES!

It’s a little over two weeks until the world gets to know the massive Huawei Ascend Mate smartphone, but one company exec has already given fans a sneak peak.

The company confirmed it would be launching the 6.1-inch, full HD 1080 Ascend Mate earlier this month, with an eye on taking down the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note II.

Now it has appeared in the flesh, courtesy of Richard Yu, Hauwei chairman of devices, who couldn’t wait to show off the behemoth at a company store in Guangzhou, China.

You can see the smartphone in action in the video above, as it runs Titanic on the display (hope the phone doesn’t replicate the movie’s ending!). The 1080p-friendly device (sporting 361 pixels per inch on its screen) has been rumored to sport a quad-core, 1.8-GHz HiSilicon K3V3 CPU and two gigabytes of memory. Additionally, it’s been suggested that a whopping 4,000 mAh battery will power the device. It’ll be interesting to see just what kind of uptime Huawei will be able to deliver given the trade-off between the phone’s massive screen size and equally massive battery.

We will likely learn more about the Ascend Mate as CES 2013 approaches, but will people really line up to get a smartphone that is so big it might not fit in their pocket? Time will tell.

Watch the video below :

[Engadget]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sdOttZJo-o]

December 24, 2012
Blackberry Z10 Rumoured Specs

BlackBerry 10 is coming to spotlight. Slated for official release early next year, RIM’s new software may be the company’s final attempt to stay alive in mobile market. Things are not much good for Research In Motion. Google Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Phone are dominating the mobile and tablet segments with Android having over fifty percent market share in the U.S.

Rumours surfaced a couple days ago that the all-touch BlackBerry 10 device might go to market with the name of “BlackBerry Z10.

Little is known about the actual all-touch device, only that it will be powered by RIM’s new “mobile computing platform” BlackBerry 10. The screen resolution has been confirmed to be 1280 x 768, have LTE connectivity and that it’ll come with an HD camera.

Various hi-res pics and a video surfaced online that might give a greater insight into what we can expect the Z10 to look like. CrackBerry has done a fine job at dissecting all the rumours and have created a list of potential specs: 1.5GHz dual-core processor LTE, 4.2-inch display (1280×768) with a 356ppi, 8MP camera that shoots 1080p HD videos and a 2MP front-facing camera, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, HDMI and a 1800mAh removable battery.

December 24, 2012
Leaked : ZTE Grand S! World’s Thinnest Full HD Display Smartphone

A press shot of the heavily-touted ZTE Grand S smartphone has appeared online, two weeks before its launch at CES.

The handset will be competing for attention against a raft of fellow 5-inch, full HD 1080p displays when it officially arrives in Las Vegas in the second week of January.

It has been revealed on the popular Chinese social network Sina Weboi, and is being touted at the “world’s thinnest FHD (full HD) smartphone.” HTC and Sony have also been working on 5-inch 1080p Android phones for the market.

The ZTE Grand S looks like it wil sport a slightly modified version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and will use on-screen navigation buttons.

[Engadget]

December 23, 2012
Samsung : Windows Phone 7.8 Updates For All WP 7.5 Handsets

WindowsPhoneItaly reports that Samsung has just confirmed that all its Windows Phone 7.5 handsets, including the Omnia W, would receive the hotly-anticipated Windows Phone 7.8 update.

As we’ve discovered in recent weeks, however, not all devices will be getting the 7.8 update. Last month, LG confirmed that its Optimus 7 won’t be updated, and with Dell now well and truly out of the smartphone business, it’s unlikely that the Venue Pro will be updated either.

All first- and second-generation Windows Phones were eligible for update to 7.5, so as Samsung says, this guarantees that all Windows Phone 7 handsets will qualify for the 7.8 update. However, the last part of that statement is critical; while each model will be offered the update, the responsibility for pushing the software to devices lies with Microsoft, which will need to work with carriers to test and finalise the update before it’s deployed.

Microsoft has just started the rollout of PR1.1 update for Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, but the upgrade is only available in the United States and Canada. Nokia announced the rest of the countries would get it in early February, 2013.

Anyone excited for Windows Phone 7.8, or have you already set your sights on WP8?

December 22, 2012
Rumour : Sony Yuga Officially Named As Xperia Z, Coming In 2013

We’ve been bringing readers news about an upcoming Sony smartphone called the Yuga since October and just recently heard that it may be called the Sony Xperia Yuga along with some more leaked specs. Today we have rumored news that the Yuga name may be dropped before release and that it will then be called the Sony Xperia Z and we also have some further news on the specs and features of this phone.

According to sources close to XperiaBlog, Sony will title the 5-inch 1080p handset Xperia Z, knocking another letter off the dwindling alphabet of naming conventions. And, if the leaked dimensions are correct, the Xperia Z will be extremely svelte, coming in at 7.9mm at its thinnest point. at 139 x 71 x 7.9mm it will be significantly taller and slightly wider than the Xperia T’s 129.4 x 67.3 x 9.4mm frame.

The ‘Xperia Z’ will apparently have water and dust resistance ratings of IP55 and IP57, same as some earlier high-end offerings from the Japanese manufacturer. And the phone’s 1080p screen is said to include ‘OptiConrast’ tech, of the sort usually found in Sony TVs. Amongst other benefits, OptiContrast reduces on-screen reflections through its use of a special resin coating on top of the display.

We’d also imagine the Sony (Mobile) Bravia Engine, another holdover from Sony’s TV tech, will be included, just as it has been on previous Sony phones.

Other specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, a 12 or 13-megapixel rear camera with Exmor RS CMOS sensor, 2GB of RAM, microSD expansion and unibody frame. It’s also likely to have a flat glass back with a shutter key to one side. Frankly we can’t wait to find out more and hope that this is indeed unveiled by Sony at the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas and then released soon afterwards.

One hell of a device if these rumours are true!

December 22, 2012
Leaked : Blackberry 10 QWERTY/Touch Smartphone Backside Image

The BlackBerry 10 leaks just keep on coming. Just a day after a leaked image suggested that the official name of the BlackBerry 10 L-Series smartphone might be “BlackBerry Z10,” a newly-leaked shot posted by NerdBerry shows the backside of the QWERTY/Touch. Not too many details are known and it’s unclear if this is the actual device or a Dev Alpha C that 1,000 developers were recently given.

The N-Series has previously had its keyboard photographed and also appeared as a render in a leaked promo video, but this new image gives us a look at the actual phone in the wild. It’s only the rear of the phone, so all that we can see is a rear cover that looks somewhat similar to the one found on the all-touch L-Series/Z10, but with an added fret divider like one found on the phone’s keyboard.

Just 40 days more to go till it all unveils!

December 22, 2012
Polaroid Confirms Mirrorless Android-Powered Camera For CES

Polaroid will debut an Android-powered camera with interchangeable lenses at CES, according to the company’s CEO, Scott Hardy. “Additional information and specs will be released during the show.”, he said.

Days after an image of said camera popped up on a Russian social network, it appears that we don’t have to wait long to take shots with the snapper.

It looks to be called the Polaroid IM1836, and Sakar will likely build it for Polaroid. The mirrorless camera should come with an 18.1 million pixel sensor. Physically, it resembles Nikon’s J1/J2.

The baked-in Android gives the camera access to downloadable apps, including email, Facebook and Twitter.

We should also see pop-up flash, built-in Wi-Fi, HDMI output, microSD memory and a 3.5-inch touchscreen, while the Russian photo looks to show a 10mm – 30mm optic.

We’ll know more in the coming weeks, but until then you can always buy the Samsung Galaxy Camera and Nikon S800c.

December 21, 2012
Hurry! WhatsApp Free In App Store For Limited Period Of Time!

The wildly popular message client known as WhatsApp is now free for all to download on iOS. This mobile application usually goes for 99 cent, but for a limited time, users will get it free of charge. WhatsApp is a cool way for users to avoid SMS fees in mobile phone plans, as it lets users send messages to other members of the service over the internet.

Although the app is free for now to those rocking an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, folks on Android will continue to get it free, with a $0.99 yearly fee kicking in after the first 12 months.

A few things to note before handing you the download link. On iOS, WhatsApp is compatible only with the iPhone because it’s a telephony application that uses your phone number to let other people reach you. In other words, iPad and iPod touch devices are out.

It requires iOS 4.3 or later and has been recently optimized for the iPhone 5. It works with pretty much all carriers and networks but some carrier limitations may apply in certain territories.

WhatsApp supports English, Arabic, Bokmål, Norwegian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

December 21, 2012
RIM Reports Fiscal Q3 2013 Results: Revenue of $2.7 Billion And Lower Subscriber Numbers

BlackBerry maker RIM has announced its third quarter results for the three months ended December 1, 2012. The company reported the revenue of $2.7 billion with GAAP net income was of $14 million, or $0.03 per share diluted, including a $166 million favourable tax settlement. The cash increase was of approximately $600 million to $2.9 billion while the cash flow from operations was approximately $950 million.

The company plans to invest heavily in marketing in the coming quarter, with high expectations for its BlackBerry 10 launch on January 30th. The first handsets are planned for sometime in February, though specific dates are not yet known.

RIM subscriber base now sits at 79 million, down over a million from the previous quarter. Though specific numbers have not been provided, the net loss is likely due to continued purging of the BlackBerry platform in North America, with significant gains in Africa and the Middle East. The company sold 6.9 million smartphones and 255,000 PlayBooks this quarter; that’s 500,000 fewer smartphones and 125,000 more tablets compared to last quarter.

RIM cash balance has increased to $2.9 billion this quarter as it continues to iterate on its Cost Optimization and Resource Efficiency (“CORE”) program. Although the company expects another net loss in Q4, CEO Thorsten Heins is bullish on the BlackBerry 10 launch. “More than 150 carriers are currently completing technical acceptance programs for the first BlackBerry 10 products,” he said in a statement.

December 21, 2012
Nokia And RIM Agree To New Patent Licenses

Finnish mobile giant Nokia said on Friday it was withdrawing all its lawsuits against Blackberry-maker Research In Motion after reaching an agreement on patent licencing.

Last month Nokia filed lawsuits in the United States, Britain and Canada against RIM claiming it had breached an agreement on using Nokia patents on WLAN local area network technology.

[quote]”We are very pleased to have resolved our patent licensing issues with RIM and reached this new agreement, while maintaining Nokia’s ability to protect our unique product differentiation,” said Paul Melin, chief intellectual property officer at Nokia, in a statement.[/quote]

The terms were not disclosed, but Nokia will receive an unknown one-time payment plus on-going payments from RIM.

Nokia may have lost the title as the top-selling mobile phone maker, but the Finnish company holds patents to over 10,000 types of technology after having invested approximately €45bn in research and development over the past two decades.

Now RIM can focus on bringing BlackBerry 10 to market, plus the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones – which was potentially revealed yesterday as the BlackBerry Z10.

December 21, 2012
Samsung Promises Software Update As Quickly As Possible For Exynos Vulnerability

Samsung has confirmed recent reports of a security vulnerability that affects Exynos-equipped handsets, such as the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. In a statement issued to AndroidCentral, the company acknowledged the “potential security issue” relating to the Exynos processor and promises to release a software patch, however a release timeframe has yet to be announced.

[quote]Samsung is aware of the potential security issue related to the Exynos processor and plans to provide a software update to address it as quickly as possible. The issue may arise only when a malicious application is operated on the affected devices; however, this does not affect most devices operating credible and authenticated applications. Samsung will continue to closely monitor the situation until the software fix has been made available to all affected mobile devices.[/quote]

The flaw, discovered by developers on the XDA Developers forum, left certain Exynos-powered devices vulnerable to malicious apps that could steal personal data, wipe data, and even brick handsets. It affected a number of Samsung’s own devices — including the hugely popular Samsung Galaxy S III, and the Samsung Galaxy Note II — plus some third-party handsets as well.

One of the developers at XDA forum, named Chainfire has already released an app based on the kernel exploit. “ExynosAbuse,” the newly released 1-click APK, uses the exploit in question to root a device with just a single click of a button.

On the flip side, alephzain pointed out that RAM dump, kernel code injection and other possible harms could be possible via app installation from the Play Store. Although there are many ways to inflict harm, Samsung has just provided yet another easy way to exploit, making the security hole more dangerous and exposing the phone to malicious apps

We will be looking out for more news on Samsung’s fix for its top Galaxy handsets – stay with us.

December 20, 2012
Millennial : Samsung Android 2012 Market Share Doubled Last Year

For the second day, Samsung has been named the new leader. After Tuesday unseating Nokia as the top cellphone maker in 2012, the Galaxy vendor today topped HTC as the Android maker which gets most used to access mobile ads. According to ad firm Millennial, Samsung had 46 percent of Android app use, double the 26 percent of 2011.

Meanwhile, HTC plummeted from 32% to 16%, while Moto dropped from 22% to 11%. This is a massive change.

Samsung has been producing hit after hit with its Galaxy line of handsets, with the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II at the forefront. Not only is it making great devices, the company has also marketed its products like there’s no tomorrow.

With virtually a phone of every size and price available, Samsung has saturated the smartphone market with multiple choices, which has certainly helped the company in the past year.

Can competitors like HTC rally and make a comeback in the new year? Samsung is likely to introduce strong successors to all of its current top-performers, including a Galaxy S IV and Galaxy Note III, but we’ll have to wait and see if an upset is in the cards.

December 20, 2012