Category: Brands and Companies

All Brands and Company Names

Google India Launches Public Transport App for New Delhi Residents

Commuting in Delhi is about to get a whole lot easier. Google India announced a new app today called Delhi Public Transport. It is an experimental app from the Google Maps team designed for New Delhi residents to get around on public transport.

The idea is to make life easier for those who use buses and metros to commute. The app works in offline mode so you won’t have to worry about choppy connectivity when looking for transit directions. It also provides directions and timetable of Metros and buses. You will now get directions from any bus or metro stops, and find out if they are running late.

“In addition to having lots of useful information available offline, Delhi Public Transport also provides you with public transport news and delay information when you do have a connection, all packed into a small app of about 1 MB download size.”

Initial reviews of the app have been very favorable. Users have requested the company to launch the app in other parts of the country as well. The app is still in its early days and Google India is looking to improve on it through customer feedback. So go ahead and download the app, now available on Google Play Store, and let the team know what you think about it.

October 8, 2015

Moto X Style: Launched in the Country and Up For Pre-Order

Pre-order for Moto X Style begins on the 15th of October at 12 am, along with launch offers for buyers. This includes an exchange offer for upto Rs. 15,000, 100% cashback for 100 lucky customers, Rs. 5,000 off for an international holiday for all customers from MakeMyTrip, and Flipkart Electronic Gift Vouchers worth Rs. 1,000 for all buyers. These offers begin on October 14th midnight and last till 20th October.

The phones will be available exclusively on Flipkart. The pricing is as follows -Rs. 29,999 for the 16 GB variant, and Rs. 31,999 for the 32 GB variant. For more details of this new smartphone, take a look at our previous post.

The #MotoXStyle is going to be available exclusively on @Flipkart starting 15th October at 12 AM sharp!

— Motorola India (@motorolaindia) October 8, 2015

Moto X Play, launched last month, was received warmly in the Indian market. It would be interesting to see the response to its successor. Moto X Style is not too advanced from X Play in terms of its internal features, but is mostly its style variant. The former has been around in the tech circuit since its launch in August in the US. Let’s see what it has to offer to India now. Find the specs of Moto X Style below:

Specification	Moto X Style
Display	5.7-inch TFT LCD Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Resolution	1440 x 2560 pixels (~520 ppi pixel density)
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SOC
Processor	1.8GHz hexa-core
CPU	Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57 & quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU	Adreno 418
RAM	3 GB
Storage	16/ 32/ 64 GB
Expandability	128 GB with microSD card
Rear Camera	21 MP with an f/2.0 aperture
Front Camera	5 MP with flash
Battery	3,000 mAh
Operating System	Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/ b/ g/ n/ ac, GPS, NFC, Bluetooth v 4.10, GSM, 3G, 4G/ LTE
Price	Rs. 29,999 for 16 GB and Rs. 31,999 for 32 GB

October 8, 2015

iPhone 6s Users Facing Battery Problems Due to Faulty Samsung Chips

If you’ve got your money ready for the new iPhone 6s that is due to hit Indian stores on the 16^th of this month, you may want to make sure you buy the right one. The internet is buzzing with news of some iPhones 6s units having shorter battery life than others. The reason behind this is that there are two producers of the A9 processor – Samsung and TSMC.

Apparently, the chips from the two firms are not identical. Chipworks, a site that specializes in teardowns, noted that Samsung’s A9 processors use a 14-nanometer processor while TSMC uses 16-nanometer. Early testing revealed that Samsung’s A9 chip fares poorly on battery performance when compared to TSMC’s chip.

Apple’s partner-cum-rival Samsung has produced nearly half of the A9 chipset found in the latest iPhone 6s, while around 70% of iPhone 6s Plus phones have a TSMC processor. A Redditor recently posted tests of a pair of iPhone 6s Plus phones, one having Samsung’s A9 processor and the other having TSMC’s. It was found that TSMC gives an extra two hours of battery life compared to Samsung’s processor under identical conditions.

TSMC A9 Processor

Samsung A9 Processor

“Ran this test a couple times and results were consistent,” wrote Raydizzle on Reddit. “Always about a 2 hour difference in duration. Both phones were tested using the same backup, same settings. Also tried testing them as new phones and results were similar.”

Furthermore, you won’t be able to tell which processor you’re buying when you purchase the iPhone 6s. However, there is an app called Lirum Device Info Lite that can detect whether the new iPhone has a Samsung A9 processor or a TMSC one along with every other information regarding the specs of your device. Once you download the app, click on ‘Model’. If your model is N66MAP or N71MAP, you’ve got a TSMC chip. If it says N66AP and N71AP you got the Samsung one.

October 8, 2015

Moto X Style Launches in India Today

Can’t wait for the Apple and Google devices to come to the country? Here’s some good news for you -Moto X Style arrives in India today. The news of the launch was made official a few days ago on Flipkart and now the phone will be made available for order online.

The new device is a style variant of the Moto X Play which launched last month. For a better look at Moto X Play, check out our hands on video below:

As foe Moto X Style, it comes with a 2K display, 4K video recording and 3GB of RAM. The smartphone was launched in the US in August for a price of $399 for the 16 GB variant. It’s expected to be around Rs. 26,000 in India. Here’s a look at the other specs of the device:

Specification	Moto X Style
Display	5.7-inch TFT LCD Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Resolution	1440 x 2560 pixels (~520 ppi pixel density)
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SOC
Processor	1.8GHz hexa-core
CPU	Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57 & quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU	Adreno 418
RAM	3 GB
Storage	16/ 32/ 64 GB
Expandability	128 GB with microSD card
Rear Camera	21 MP with an f/2.0 aperture
Front Camera	5 MP, with flash
Battery	3,000 mAh
Operating System	Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/ b/ g/ n/ ac, GPS, NFC, Bluetooth v 4.10, GSM, 3G, 4G/ LTE
Price	Rs. 29,999 for 16 GB and Rs. 31,999 for 32 GB

Watch this space for more news and updates on Moto X Style.

October 8, 2015

You Won’t Believe the Domain Name Google’s Parent Company Alphabet Finally Got

A couple of months back Google announced that it will be taken over by a parent company Alphabet. A bunch of people were confused then, and probably still are. Basically Alphabet is owned by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Google’s new CEO is Sundar Pichai. Alphabet was formed as an administrative move by the Google founders in order to efficiently see-over all the companies under Google.

When they first announced their existence, the domain name they came up with was abc.xyz. However, there were some reports of the domain name already having been used by BMW. But, for whatever reason, during it’s first official week on Wall Street, Alphabet has decided upon, and now owns a new domain name. This time it’s cheeky as hell, it’s -wait-for-it- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.com. Oh, and they even have an explanation for this mouthful of a domain name –

“We realized we missed a few letters in abc.xyz, so we’re just being thorough.”

Oh well, nobody’s complaining as long as it’s coming in with a sense of humour. Although, as of now, the URL will lead you to an inactive site. But, it should be up soon enough. Till then – abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.

October 8, 2015
List of Smartphones to Receive Android 6.0 Marshmallow Update
By now you’re probably aware that the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow update has begun rolling out. You might also have an idea of what the new update offers such as the Now on Tap and Doze features, among other things. But what’s really making everyone wonder is whether or not their Android devices are eligible for the update.

Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore. We have a list of devices of major smartphone companies that will receive the Marshmallow update in due time. The Nexus phones are the first devices eligible for the updates, as it has usually been the case. Google’s recently launched Nexus 5X and 6P come pre-installed with the Android 6.0 OS, also called Android M. Other OEMs will soon be releasing it for their smartphones as well.

Major flagships will first receive the update followed by the second batch of phones. Here is the list of smartphones from Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC, Xiaomi, Asus and other brands that are scheduled to get the update. Check it out to see if your phone made the cut.

Samsung
- Galaxy Note 5
- Galaxy S6
- Galaxy S6 Edge and Edge+
- Galaxy S5
- Galaxy Note 4
- Galaxy Alpha
- Galaxy A7, A8 (A3, A5 and Galaxy E series to receive it later on)
LG
- LG V10
- LG Class
- G3, G4
- Flex 2
- G2
- G2 Pro
- G Flex
Motorola
- Moto X Pure Edition
- Moto X Style
- Moto X Play
- Moto (Gen 2)
- Moto G
- Moto Turbo
- Droid Turbo
- Moto Maxx
Sony
- Sony Xperia Z5 series
- Xperia M5
- Xperia C5 Ultra
- Xperia Z3+
- Xperia Z3 series
- Xperia Z2
- Xperia Z Ultra GPE
- Xperia Z1
HTC
- HTC Desire Eye, 816, 820 and 826
- HTC One M9, M9+, E9, E9+, M8 and M8s.
Xiaomi
- Mi 4
- Mi 4i
- Mi Note
- Mi Note Pro
- Redmi Note 2
- Redmi 2 Prime
- Redmi 2
- Redmi Note (2014)
- Redmi 1S
Asus
- ZenFone 2 series
- ZenFone Laser
- ZenFone Deluxe
- ZenFone Selfie
- ZenFone 6
- ZenFone 5
- ZenFone 4.
October 8, 2015
Coming This Month : Apple’s 21.5-inch iMac With 4K Display

Apple fans, here’s some great news for you. According to reports Apple will be adding a new 21.5-inch iMacs with 4K screens to its current fall product line up. Adding to this, it has also been said, that these new computers will be available in stores from the 13th of October, 2015. However, the quantity of the products might be less, but Apple is also planning to produce larger quantities of this in November.

The reports also suggest that the new 4K iMac will come with a new 4096 x 2304 screen and faster graphics, it will come pre-loaded with El Capitan and will most probably be more expensive than its non-4K variant.

Apart from this, Apple has been working on a successor to Magic Mouse called Magic Mouse 2 along with Force Touch Integration and a Bluetooth keyboard with a better battery life. Not much is known about the release of this product. So stay tuned for more updates.

October 7, 2015
Google Patents Right To Create Hologram Glasses

As 90s kids, we’ve all watched spy or super-hero movies that have entranced us, despite knowing that it was unreal. Along with that we knew that all the cool gadgets they used were unreal too. But, today there’s really very little that the world of tech and science can’t create.

Keeping that in mind, recent reports have suggested, that Google has published a patent application “for using holograms in a head mounted display like Google Glass, which could create augmented reality experiences that superimpose computer-generated imagery (CGI) over the real world.”

Now, go back to those cool spy movies and cartoons, where the spy would click a button on the side of his spectacles and out of them would appear holograms of maps, mission plans, and other things that a spy needs. Fast forward to a couple of years later, and normal non-spy human beings will be using spyware-type gadgets for daily use. So, soon, you’ll be able to play a video game in virtual reality, or project a map right through your glasses instead of looking at your cellphone GPS for it.

But, here’s the catch, if one is going to use holograms to create a sense of virtual reality then it’s not enough to just copy-paste the image, the ‘projected content’ should also be able to interact and react with the real-world. Here’s what the patent says :

“With augmented reality the viewer’s image of the world is augmented with an overlaying CGI, also referred to as a heads-up display.”

Google perhaps expects that this new feature could be very useful for aerospace apps, wherein pilots would not have to take their eyes off the flight path in order to look at other vital information. The head mounted display feature might also have a number of practical and leisure applications soon, such as video games, transportation, and telecommunications. However, as of now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Google creates, while keeping in mind the aspects of cost, size, weight and field of view.

October 7, 2015
Travellers Asked to Declare iPhone 6s on Arrival in India

Those trying to get their hands on the latest iPhones from abroad via the grey route market could land in deep trouble. Also, those who bring in the phones from outside into India without paying duty are likely to be fined.

Mumbai Customs has seen a growth in the number of iPhones 6s and iPhone 6s Plus smuggled into the country. Since the 25th of last September, around 200 handsets have been seized at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai from foreign returning passengers.

“We seized 200 of the latest iPhone models, valued at Rs 1.23 crore, over the last week. They were being smuggled into India by fliers from Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Dubai, etc. We have increased screening of baggage, besides profiling of passengers,” said Milind Lanjewar, Additional Commissioner, Customs.

Customs has issued a press release informing fliers to “voluntarily declare iPhones to customs on arrival.” They also warned that passengers picked up from the Green Channel will be liable to pay a fine, and those carrying iPhones in commercial quantities are likely to be arrested.

“For goods above Rs 45,000, technically passengers have to declare but most people are not aware of it. A duty of 36% is levied on the amount above this limit,” Lanjewar said. This means that duty will be levied if a passenger is carrying even a single iPhone, if the value of it exceeds Rs. 45,000.

India prices released by Apple distributor Ingram Micro on Tuesday pegged the 16 GB iPhone 6s at Rs 62,000 and the 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus at Rs 72,000 with successive variants having higher price tags. Basically, all the prices exceed the permissible free duty limit.

“As the models are still to be launched in India, passengers are trying to smuggle these iPhones for monetary benefit by sale through grey market,” the authorities have said.

Other parts of the country are also tightening the noose and are on the look out for more such cases, which is expected to rise with only 10 days to go before the official launch in India. Apple has sold over 13 million units of these phones since the launch across US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Singapore.

October 7, 2015
A Quick Look At All The Latest Offerings By Microsoft

In our previous post we spoke at length about Microsoft’s new Surface Book; the new notebook deserved the limelight. At the event yesterday, the company also unveiled other devices as well.

Here’s a quick look at what all we got to see:

Surface Pro 4

The widely expected follow up to the Surface Pro 3. The Windows 10-powered Surface Pro 4 comes with a 12.3-inch display, that is just slightly larger than its predecessor, and Intel’s latest 6th-generation Core M and i-series processors.

The Surface Pro 4 also features an improved backlit keyboard, a more responsive keypad, and a trackpad that has a five point multi-touch functionality and a fingerprint reader. Like the Surface Book, the Surface Pro can also use Microsoft’s new Surface Pen. The stylus offers 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity and also comes with an eraser.

Quite clearly the Surface Pen is a direct challenge to the Apple Pencil, and Microsoft did not hesitate to take a few jabs at its competition. “It’s kind of funny, there’s a Pencil out there without an eraser,” said Microsoft’s Panos Panay just before unveiling the upgraded Surface Pen 4 stylus.

The Surface Pro 4 comes out on October 26th and will start at a price of $899.

Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL

Now a look at non-Surface products. Microsoft unveiled the two new Windows 10 smartphones, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL.

As earlier leaks have suggested, the Lumia 950 sports a 5.2-inch OLED display with 564 ppi and Qualcomm 6-core Snapdragon 808, a 20 MP primary camera with optical image stabilization. The Lumia 950 XL, on the other hand, comes with a 5.7-inch display with 518 ppi,powered by an 8-core processor and will also feature a 20 MP primary camera like the 950.

Both phones come with 32 GB of internal storage, a microSD card, and USB Type-C connector. The devices will ship in November with a price tag of $549 and $649, with the XL version costing $100 more.

Continuum Mode

The Continuum Mode is for your Lumia devices, which allows you to plug your handsets into a special adapter that connects to your desktop monitor so that you can use your phone like a regular PC. It’s tiny, easy to carry around and looks like any old USB hub.

It’s basically like looking at a bigger version of your phone’s display. The mode creates a full Windows 10-style desktop that you can navigate using the keyboard and mouse or even your phone. Universal apps, such as Mail and Word are scaled up version of the mobile apps. This is Microsoft way of telling us what the future of computing looks like, and it’s pretty neat.

The Continuum Mode feature is also available for the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4.

Microsoft Band

Here comes the Microsoft’s answer to smartwatches. The company unveiled the second version of the Microsoft Band. The first version that came out even before the Apple Watch was a bit confusing to say the least. It wasn’t a smartwatch and it wasn’t a fitness tracker, but rather a $199 device with a tiny display that showed you notifications and apps.

The second version hopes to fix the flaws. The new version has a more responsive touch and sports a tougher Gorilla Glass. The device also boasts of features such as an 11th senor (barometer) that tracks elevation changes in real-time for the fitness crazies out there. Microsoft Band is priced at $249 and will be available from the 30th of October.

October 7, 2015
Microsoft Will Begin Rolling Out Windows 10 to Smartphones in December

After Microsoft’s mega event yesterday, we found out that both its Lumia 950 and 950 XL will be powered by the new Windows 10 software. The current Lumia users though, had nothing to gain from this announcement, until now. Recent reports suggest that the existing Lumia owners will also be receiving the Windows 10 update by December.

This bit of information was seen on Facebook when Microsoft responded to a comment on its official Lumia page. Here is what the conversation looked like :

Furthermore, they also added that they would “make an upgrade available for majority of Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1,” however, this announcement is only good for Lumia phones that have an internal memory of 8GB or above. Fair enough. What do you think?

For more information on Windows 10, click here.

October 7, 2015
Microsoft’s Surface Book is a Gorgeous Piece of Machinery

If you want to put on a spectacular show, you need to learn a thing or two from Microsoft. Not only did the company showcase some jaw dropping devices such as the Lumia phones and the Surface Pro 4, along with a bunch of other delectables yesterday, but it also had an ace up its sleeve. We knew the devices that were expected to be revealed at the event, however, Microsoft cleverly managed to hide perhaps their best creation yet, until last night.

Arguably the star of the show, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Book laptop and it is simply gorgeous. The Surface Book is Microsoft’s very first laptop, so to say. Though it is surprising since the Surface Pro was pegged as the laptop killer. But once you’ve had a glimpse of the Surface Book all is forgiven. This 3.34 pound Windows 10 laptop features a 13.5-inch display with a ridiculously high 3,000 x 2,000 pixel resolution and 267 ppi optically bonded to the screen. So it goes without saying that videos and images are as crisp as it’s going to get.

It’s Microsoft’s first laptop but it’s more than just a laptop. Consider it a laptop-tablet hybrid if you will. The screen is fully removable so that it can be used as a tablet. You can also pop the screen back on and flip it around and have the keyboard as a stand.

It is a silver metal laptop but looks different than the MacBook, but challenges the MacBook in every way. One of the highlights in the design is the Surface Book’s hinge, which Microsoft calls a “dynamic fulcrum.” From the side it appears it can flex and bend, and leaves a little gap when the laptop is closed, but also elevates the display at an angle.

More on the look of things, the Surface Book has a backlit keyboard and keys with 1.6mm of travel, which Microsoft is particularly proud of. It’s calling it “perfect” saying that it’ll type almost silently. And to top it off, the laptop comes with a large glass trackpad with five points of touch sensitivity. The Surface Pen stylus attaches magnetically to the side of the laptop as well as the Surface Pro 4.

Let’s talk about the interiors now. The laptop has the latest Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and Nvidia GeForce GPU with GDDR5 memory. The dock includes two USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot. Here’s the cherry on the cake – the machine will give you 12 hours of battery life on a single charge. Are you listening, Apple?

Microsoft claims this is “the fast is the fastest 13-inch laptop ever made anywhere on any planet.” And the company also added that it will be twice as fast as the MacBook Pro. We can’t stress it enough, but the Surface Book is a beauty of a machine and the company seems to have nailed every aspect of it. The laptop will go on sale October 26th and is expected to have a steep price tag starting at $1,499. Follow this space as we’ll be looking at other devices Microsoft unveiled yesterday.

Till then, check out the video of the Surface Book below in all its glory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVfOe5mFbAE

October 7, 2015
Leak : Android-Powered BlackBerry Priv’s Camera, SoC and More

BlackBerry Priv’s leaks are coming faster than the company perhaps expects. New images have surfaced courtesy N4BB that show close-up shots of the display and the camera, revealing and confirming some specs of the Priv that we have already mentioned earlier.

The first image shows that the Android-powered phone will be powered by an SoC (either Snapdragon 808 or 810) with 64-bit processor. The next image confirms the primary camera sensor. The Priv will feature an 18-megapixel Schneider Kreuznach primary camera and is capable of shooting Ultra HD video in 4K @30 fps. It will also feature a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

We also know that BlackBerry is going big on security and privacy, which is why the device is called Priv (privacy and productivity). Another image shows a new app that is called BlackBerry Safeguard that shows the security status of your device based on its settings and the apps installed. As the image below shows, the app will also allow you to see how other apps are using your information, set a pattern lock, scan your device for malicious software, and more.

Other features previously mentioned include a 5.4-inch curved display with a Quad HD resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, and 3 GB of RAM. The phone is expected to come with Google’s Android OS, but it is not clear yet as to which version of Android it will feature. The design of the Priv brings back some elements of the BlackBerry Z30 that users grew to love such as the glass-weave back plate. The hint of carbon fiber styled back also sets this device apart from other Android phones.

The Priv might have a November launch, though BlackBerry is expected to make an official announcement on it later this month.

Image Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://n4bb.com/blackberry-priv-64-bit-4k-video-confirmed/”]NFBB[/tw-button]

October 7, 2015
Microsoft Surface Pro Tablets May Be Sold in India Next Year Onwards

Microsoft has shied away from introducing its Surface Tablets to Indian markets because of its high price range. The numbers goes as high as over a lakh, as is in the case of Surface Pro 3, when it comes to the price of these tablets.

However, if rumours are to be believed, Microsoft has plans of launching its Surface Pro 4 in India in February, 2016. It will be available in authorised priority resellers stores. The Priority stores that have recently been branded from Nokia to Microsoft by the latter will also have other Tablets and 2 in 1 devices from companies like Lenovo and HP, to name a few.

Surface Pro 4 is a device all set to be announced at today’s event in New York. Make sure to tune in at 7:30 PM IST to catch all the latest updates from Microsoft.

October 6, 2015

Flipkart Confirms Moto X Style Will Release in India on 8th October

We had earlier reported that Moto X Style would arrive in India by October, and here is the update you’ve all been waiting for. Motorola’s exclusive online retail partner, Flipkart has confirmed that the new Moto smartphone would be available in India from Thursday.

Flipkart now shows off a web-page which unequivocally declares, “Get ready to party in 15 minutes flat with the Moto X Style on the 8th of October, 2015!” Having released for the first time in July, the device has finally made its way to India as well.

The page gives no other information regarding the price or availability of the smartphone. Interested buyers can leave their email address on the page for updates regarding the sale of the device. Despite all its recent Twitter updates hinting at a launch in India, Motorola is yet to announce an official date for the launch in the country. Quite recently, however, there was a #Beautility contest held by the company the winner of which would get a free Moto X Style as the prize.

In September, Motorola launched its Moto X Play in the country. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 18,499 for 16 GB, and Rs. 19,999 for 32 GB. Though the device is equipped with a stronger battery than X Style, it still is a predecessor of sorts to X Style in terms of all its other features.

Here’s a look at the specs of the latter smartphone:

Specification	Moto X Style
Display	5.7-inch
Resolution	QHD 1440x2560p
Processor	Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808 hexa-core
RAM	1.8 GHz pwith 3 GB
Operating System	Android Lollipop
Internal Storage	16 GB/ 32 GB/ 64 GB
Expandability	With microSD card
Rear Camera	21 MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 4K resolution
Front Camera	5 MP
Battery	3000 mAh
Price	–

October 6, 2015

Category: Brands and Companies

Samsung

LG

Motorola

Sony

HTC

Xiaomi

Asus

Surface Pro 4

Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL

Continuum Mode

Microsoft Band