Yesterday was dedicated to Google’s new parent company, Alphabet, and the new CEO of Google, Indian-born resident of US, Sundar Pichai. The social media feeds have been trending with these two names in countries all over the world. Well, all but one.
China, the country made infamous on the grounds of not allowing its citizens access to sites like Google and Facebook, banned Google’s new Alphabet website in less than 24 hours of the announcement. China has one of the most sophisticated Internet censorship systems in the world, named as the ‘Great Firewall’. This has blocked the website that only contains Google’s co-founder Larry Page’s letter and a link to Google’s existing investor relation page. Though, this is not a new story. Google withdrew from China in 2010 over censorship issues where China drew the last ball when Beijing blocked Google’s widely used Gmail service last year.
The latest news on Google Inc. is that it has renamed itself as Alphabet, an umbrella company that owns Google and the other companies that Google owned. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will run Alphabet as CEO and President, respectively, while Sundar Pichai will be the new CEO of Google.
In an official blog post, former Google CEO Larry Page claimed that the major restructuring is to make “things cleaner and more accountable.” The official Google announcement on its blog, suggest that there will be a new placeholder site called abc.xyz. However, the entire list of companies that come under Alphabet is unclear.
A new short tweet by Evan Blass reads “Sounds like iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and 6c will all arrive concurrently.” The current release of the iPhone 6S is expected to be in mid-September, implying that the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus and iPhone 6c could release on the same day.
The camera on the iPhone 6 Plus offers amazing shooting features like Time-lapse and slow motion capture.
The rumoured iPhone 6c, said to arrive with a 14/16nm FinFET chips from TSMC and Samsung, in order to provide a better performance and lower power consumption to the new lower range devices. What we also know is that the iPhone 6C is said to be similar to the size of an iPhone 5s and will have a similar hardware vein as that of the iPhone 6. The smartphone is said to come with a full metal unibody construction in comparison to the plastic iPhone 5c.
On the other hand, the iPhone 6S is rumoured to come with a sturdier encasing, the Force Touch technology, an A9 processor, and an even better camera than the iPhone 6.
Previous reports have suggested the release of a third iPhone to replace the 5S and 5C. The 6C is expected to sport a 4.7 inch display, built with the same hardware as the other larger iPhones. Other reports suggest that the third iPhone will be released during the second quarter of 2016. Watch this space for more.
Reports suggest that a Reddit user, under the alias ‘joelrtaveras’ has revealed images of the soon to be released Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+.
The pictures reveal that the edges of the Galaxy Note 5 are made with a metal frame and that the S Pen will be spring loaded at the bottom of the phone. When compared to the iPhone 6Plus, the Note 5 is said to be thicker and has a tapered back. While it won’t have an SD card slot, the model will reportedly have a 32GB storage capacity.
The S6 Edge+ plus has been compared to the iPhone 6 Plus as well as the Note 5. It is said to come with a feature called Apps Edge, that allows one to swipe from the right in order to view app shortcuts.
While, these images leave nothing to one’s imagination, it is yet to be seen what the devices are going to be priced for at Samsung’s Unpacked Event on Thursday the 13th of August 2015.
The new Moto G for 2015 is the hero for Motorola. With a whole spew of upgrades, the new Moto G is ready to take on the market. With little change in design and price, the customer is left asking for a lot more.
Overview
The new Moto G is available in two variants; a cheaper one priced at Rs. 11,999 comes with 8GB storage and 1 GB of RAM, whereas, a slightly expensive one at Rs 12,999 comes with 16 GB of storage and 2 GB of RAM. You also have a whole variety of covers that you can buy and swap with your current cover.
Build Quality and Design
Design wise you have a whole lot of differences starting with the back of the new Moto G, all the way to the front. It’s more rounded and has silver accents, which add to the premium look and feel of the device. The long cut in the back panel houses the camera equipment and the panel has a new reassuring texture.
Build is superior when compared to the last gen of the Moto G. With the IPX7 rating, the new Moto G can also withstand 3 ft (1 M) of water immersion. This makes the phone one of kind in this price bracket and also the second device only after the Apple Watch to have this rating.
The plastic shells are high quality and swappable, which mean you can easily replace the back if damaged. The new Moto G also has Gorilla glass and a new solid structured frame that makes it a big winner in the build department.
Hardware
No hardware does not get a big boost, but you do get an improved camera, a slightly faster and more stable chipset and that is just about it. USB On the go is easily available, you also have micro SD card slots for expandability and two hardware options; 1 GB RAM + 8 GB Storage or 2 GB RAM + 16 GB Storage both of which support expandability and are separated only by a Rs. 1000 price difference.
The Moto G Gen 3 is more of a balanced smartphone. You won’t get a performance monster and you shouldn’t expect it to be one especially with the specifications it is packing. The 2 GB version, only slightly more expensive performs far better than the 1 GB variant. It will also bump up the onboard storage to 16 GB which would only make sense.
The User interface is fast and smooth and the stock Android helps with that to a big extent. The GPU handles multitasking and gaming with ease, although some applications tend to lag with the 1 GB variant. The 2 GB will work well for day to day usage and also with gaming.
Games work well with the 2 GB variant, as mentioned earlier. If you choose to run your games (like Asphalt 8) with higher graphics you will face some lag, mainly due to the limitations of graphics processing.
Camera and Multimedia
The 13 MP main camera is a big improvement, mix it up with the Android 5.1 camera capabilities and you get a great camera experience. Manually set up focus and exposure before you click the picture. The camera focuses quickly so you can go up close with your subjects and get a good depth of field. Images tend to be sharp and autofocus is snappy. Its a pity that the Moto G misses a proper oleophobic display, which would allow you to use the phone under water. No, you don’t have an underwater camera with the new Moto G.
No image stabalization also means that shaky hands need to beware of the induced camera shake. Video stays at 1080p and you also get some high speed capture at 720p reducing speeds to half, if needed.
The speaker is forward facing and has good audio. Despite the dual grills there is only a mono speaker. We would have liked a louder speaker, or at least a stereo speaker combo. The forward facing speaker makes the audio experience while watching video or playing games, improved.
The display is still a 1280 x 720p panel but is extremely vivid and bright. Outdoor visibility could have been better, but is very usable. The display has good viewing angles and the colours pop, so you won’t find us complaining. We did want a 1080p display and since most of the competition does offer up a 1080p display in this segment, it became a let down for us.
Phone Networks and Battery
With the inclusion of 4G networks, the Moto G adds the list of network ready phones. A major deal of Androids will join this list by the end of the year as most network players will offer 4G services.
The network performance is good and the audio quality is excellent. The connection strength is a big improvement over the last gen. phone. With the IPX7 rating, the one thing we really wanted to check was underwater calling capability. The phone does ring, but making a call is practically impossible as the display goes crazy with electric conduction the minute you unlock the screen, so your phone will randomly jump from app to app. We don’t really want to be making calls underwater, but hey, it could come in handy.
We are getting mixed reports about the battery life, some users are complaining of battery drain and others of overheating issues. However, we faced no such issues, and the phone gave us 1+ day of average use. We are expecting 4-5 hours of talk time mixed with varied use. Charge the Moto G once a day and you are good to go.
Talk Time 4G : 4.5 Hours
Internet : 7-8 hours of surfing
Music : 11 hours
Video : 5 hours
Conclusion
The Moto G (3rd Gen) is a smart upgrade from a good company. They did miss out on a few key things, a better display and a better chipset would make this the best phone for the price. However, it is a smart choice. It has the trust of a motorola handset, and the added legacy of great phones like the Moto Defy. Also the IPX7 rating, makes it the only phone in this class, with any such rating. It will be useful for those who need it.
Lastly, the swappable colour covers make sense and add personal style. Availability is easy, no flash sales and no invites. Smartphones need to be easy to buy and readily available in 2015, and the new Moto G ticks all the boxes of being a well rounded phone.
[tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/moto-g-3rd-generation/p/itme9ysjfazgqyqz?pid=MOBE6KK9HGWQ6ZAZ&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Buy Now [/tw-button]
We have previously covered the introduction of the new Chinese smartphone Zuk Z1. Today the Lenovo owned ZUK has launched its first smartphone, the Zuk Z1.
The phone comes with a metal frame with a display of 5.5 inches IPS screen and 1080p resolution, while the phone itself measures 8.9mm thick and comes with a 4,100mAh battery with a 2.5A charger.
The Zuk Z1 is run by the Android 5.1 with the in-house ZUI software, it has a Snapdragon 801 chipset with 3GB of RAM space and 64GB storage (no microSD, 53.6GB free). The device also supports a fingerprint reader and a rear camera that uses a 13MP Sony IMX214 sensor along with an 8MP front camera.
Connectivity features include the 4G LTE for wireless connectivity and USB Type-C along with a dual-SIM handset. According to reports, the company is also set to launch LG-like flip cases soon. The Zuk Z1 is quoted at approximately Rs.18,302 ($285)
The Unbox Therapy has been able to acquire the rear casing for the anticipated iPhone 6S. After having compared it with the iPhone 6, the video suggests that Apple might be switching over to a lighter and stronger aluminum casing.
The main idea behind every “S” phone is to be better than the previous installment. So, what are the changes that Apple is looking to make with the iPhone 6S? According to the report, the iPhone 6S is thicker than the iPhone 6 on each side, near the volume and power buttons. Precise measurements reveal that the iPhone 6S is 1.9mm thick, as compared to the iPhone 6 which is 1.14mm. It has also been said that the device would be less susceptible to bending than the previous model.
Another change that has been noted, is in its weight – the iPhone 6S’ shell is 2 grams lighter than the iPhone 6’s shell. Apple is said to be using the 7000 series aluminum for the new device, the only down-side of this would be its increase in price.
Apple is expected to unveil the new iPhone 6S on the 9th of September 2015, which is also rumoured to come with an A9 processor, a better camera and the Force Touch.
For more information, watch the source video below:
Ola has announced its exclusive partnership with OnePlus 2 today. This initiative will be available on the Ola app across 5 cities, that include – Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
This partnership means, that all Ola users can request for a free OnePLus 2 experience at their doorstep, by clicking on the OnePlus 2 icon that will be live on the Ola app. Users can use this app to get OnePlus invites and freebies and a few lucky ones will also stand a chance to win the OnePLus 2 invites.
“This is the first time ever, that an on-demand platform in the country is bringing an exclusive experience for its users, with the new OnePlus 2.Users can request a OnePlus 2 experience at their doorstep within minutes, straight from their Ola app,with the same ease of booking a cabwith one touch. We are excited about this partnership and look forward to our usersexperiencing the OnePlus 2 before anyone else does in the country.” – Sudarshan Gangrade, Vice-President –Marketingat Ola
This is not the first time that Ola has come up with innovative ways to engage with customers – just recently they went app-only and thereby increased their customer base. However, the app-only system is debatable, but this new collaboration seems like it could definitely help Ola expand their reach.
This initiative will be available on the 17th and 18th of August 2015 in Bengaluru and Chennai, 21st and 22nd in Mumbai and 25th and 26th in Kolkata and Delhi. So watch this space and mark your calendar.
Back in March, when Apple unveiled its new MacBook it brought out minor tweaks which would soon turn out to be major innovations of the future.
Along with the MacBook came the USB Type-C, their refined Battery tech and most importantly, Force Touch technology. It was the first time, the three elements had been introduced by a major commercial company.
Thanks to several leaks, it has now been confirmed that the next iPhone will also include some of these elements. We know that the trackpad of the MacBook uses the Force Touch, but how will it be implemented on the iPhone 6s?
Simply put, it is the mechanism which senses pressure. It is an entirely novel innovation that merges the previously released Multi-Touch with force sensors. That means besides sensing the multiple points of contact on your screen, the new feature can also gauge the amount of pressure put on each contact; detecting the subtle difference between the quantity of pressure imposed.
The current generation of MacBook’s use a ‘Diving Board’ design. The top part of the trackpad remains stable, any part of the lower end can be used to click or right click. The new Force Touch trackpad, gets four new sensors – allowing you to click using any part of the designated surface.
Here’s how the upcoming iPhone is expected to use the technology :
To enhance your music experience: Now, instead of clicking the actions button on the right side of each track listing, one can just deep press on the listing for a song and immediately options to add the song to your playlist or to listen to it later, will appear.
Shortcuts are said to become even shorter: The user can now apparently just press the phone on the app icon and be directly navigated to the Voicemail tab or even the Favourite or For You tabs.
Navigation can be simpler: With just a touch on the destination, one is said to be able to directly start navigating. So, instead of clicking on the navigation logo and then clicking another button to actually start navigation, one can get direct navigation with a single touch.
Some other features: One is said to be able to view or preview webpage links, address or contact names, maps, definitions to words etc directly, with the use of Force Touch.
Reports suggest that Apple plans to expand the Force Touch technology by incorporating it beyond their core apps and operating system for developers to be able to ship iOS 9 App Store apps. Apart from this, the new and rumoured 12.9 inch iPads are also said to feature the Force Touch.
The expected unveiling date of the iPhone and new iOS-based Apple TV is said to be on the 9th of September 2015.
While every Indian is ecstatic at the thought of Sundar Pichai becoming the newly appointed CEO of Google, how much do we really know about the whizkid who made it to the top ranks of the $66-billion revenue, $16-billion profit, company?
Here are a few things we should know about the Indian who made it to the top, for the sake of making our morning a little inspiring.
1. He was born in Chennai and did his schooling in PSBB Jawahar Vidyalay. He belonged to a modest family where his dad managed a warehouse that made electric components. It is from there that Pichai developed an inclination towards technology and went on to pursue an undergraduate degree in metallurgical engineering from IIT Kharagpur.
Source: www.bloomberg.com Pichai with his parents in 1997
2. Pichai also has an MS degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School of Business (where he was awarded the Siebel scholar and the Palmer scholar). So he was always at the top of his class and continues to be so, even to this day. He’s only 43, after all.
3. While work politics play a huge role in most offices, and ego clashes occur on a regular basis, the reason that Pichai stood out so much is due to his simplicity and his ability to create brilliant teams. Caesar Sengupta, a Vice President at Google who worked with Pichai for eight years said, “I would challenge you to find anyone at Google who doesn’t like Sundar or who thinks Sundar is a jerk.” How many of us can find one person like that at our respective workplaces?
4. Pichai made a breakthrough in Google after he was given the opportunity to handle Toolbar. Although he joined in 2004, he created a lot of revenue for the company as the toolbar was a huge success and made Google come up with its own Browser in 2008.
5. Lastly, Pichai almost left Google in 2011 to become the Product Head at Twitter. However, his work and reputation had reached such heights that Google offered him a whooping 50 million dollars to stay back in the company. Naturally, he declined Twitter’s offer and look where he is today!
Source: free-stock-illustration.com Sundar Pichai with his wife, Anjali Pichai
Pichai is a family man with a wife and two children and enjoys playing chess in his free time. He isn’t known to be a workaholic and is popular for his impeccable work ethics. While we as Indians, feel extremely proud of his accomplishment, let’s be inspired by his success. Don’t you think?
Samsung has not even released its Galaxy Note 5and S6 edge+, and there are already leaks and rumours about the Galaxy S7.
According to reports, today in China, a document depicting an internal Samsung communication suggested that “Jungfrau”, which is rumoured to be the code name for the Galaxy S7, is being added to the company and along with it the “MSM8996” , which is the model number for the Qualcomm Snapdragom 820, as part of its software development plan for Android M.
This suggests that Samsung may be beginning to test the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 inside its next flagship. This also means that after the company’s usage of an Exynos silicon chipset throughout 2015, it is again planning on using Qualcomm chipsets for its devices.
Reports also say that Qualcomm’s new chip should be out in devices by the end of 2015.
The biggest Internet-based tech company in the world has major announcements for us today. The latest news on Google Inc. is that it has renamed itself as Alphabet. Alphabet is now the umbrella company that owns Google and the other companies that Google owned. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will run Alphabet as CEO and President, respectively, while Sundar Pichai will be the new CEO of Google under Alphabet.
What is Alphabet? Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google.
In an official blog post, former Google CEO Larry Page claimed that the major restructuring is to make “things cleaner and more accountable.” The official Google announcement on its blog, suggest that there will be a new placeholder site called abc.xyz. However, the entire list of companies that come under Alphabet is unclear.
“The whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands” – says Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet.
Alphabet’s aim, as mentioned in their official blog – is to have a strong CEO who runs each business, while the CEO and President of the umbrella company, handles capital allocation and work, to make sure that each business is doing well. This seems like a more consolidated administrative measure, more than anything else. It will help the founders to have a better hold over all the companies along with competent leadership. As of now there are no reports suggesting that this interior change would in any way affect the user’s day to day dealings.
[tw-toggle title=”A draft list of the companies under Alphabet”]
Alphabet (the main company) B (rumoured to be Boston Dynamics, however it is unclear whether it is under Google or not) Calico (focused on longevity) Capital (investment) D E Fiber Google (now led by Sundar Pichai and includes search, ads, maps, apps, YouTube, and Android) Hooli J K Life Sciences M Nest O P Q R S T U Ventures W X lab Y Z Please note that this is only a suggested list and not the confirmed one
[/tw-toggle]
For more information: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_self” link=”http://googleblog.blogspot.in/2015/08/google-alphabet.html”]Google Blogspot[/tw-button]
It’s always good news when we see a fellow Indian speedily climbing the ladder of success. Google’s Sundar Pichai, who earlier used to head the company’s strategic businesses, has been given more responsibility.
Larry Page, former CEO has handed over his responsibilities (and title) to Sundar Pichai. Meanwhile Larry Page, along with Sergey Brin, will be handling their new company – Alphabet.
And it is clear to us and our board that it is time for Sundar to be CEO of Google.
Before this Pichai, as the Senior Vice President, headed the most widely used OS in the world – Android, along with which he was incharge of Google Chrome, and oversaw the company’s suite of apps including Gmail and Docs. He was also working on research, search, maps, Google+ social network, ads and infrastructure. In October last year, the then CEO, Larry Page wanted to focus more on overall business strategy, off loading some of his responsibilities to Pichai. Now it seems like the entire responsibility has been handed over, and Sundar Pichai is officially incharge of Google.
Want to know more about the new Google CEO? Click here.
Source : [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”https://investor.google.com/releases/2015/0810.html”]Google Blog [/tw-button]
The image of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, which is due for release soon, has been leaked, along with a picture of the box too. Latest reports suggest that the device will be priced at $177 (Rs.11,303 approx.)
The Redmi Note 2 is said to have been certified by the TENAA in China and that there will be two variants of this handset – a Snapdragon 615 SoC version, and a MediaTek MT6795 chipset version.
The other rumoured specifications include – a 5.5-inch 1080 x 1920 resolution screen, 2GB of RAM with 16GB of non-expandable storage, 13MP rear and a 5MP camera in front. The device measures 8.05mm thin and weighs 159 grams and comes with a 3100mAh battery and the Android 5.0.2 is pre-installed.
The Xiaomi Redmi is expected to be unveiled on the 13th of August 2015, along with the rumoured Xiaomi’s MIUI 7 UI and the Samsung’s Unpacked event in New york. Watch this space for more details.
We had earlier reported that Xiaomi was going to release its first made-in-India smartphone today – it has; and it’s called the Redmi 2 Prime, which is priced at Rs.6,999. The phone is available on Mi.com/in, Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal in an open sale.
The Redmi 2 Prime was first launched in China as the Redmi 2 Limited Edition and in Singapore as the Redmi 2 Enhanced. It features 2GB of RAM space, 16GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card slot, a 4.7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) display with Asahi Dragontrail glass which is powered by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 64-bit quad-core processor.
It also features an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 2MP selfie front camera with a 2,200mAh battery which runs for up to 14 hours of talktime.
Other connectivity and function options include dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, run on the MIUI 6 that is based on the Android KitKat.
The specifications are as follows:
Features
Redmi 2 Prime
OS
MIUI 6
Processor
1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 64-bit quad-core processor
Display
4.7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels), Asahi Dragontrail glass
Just last month, Microsoft released a private beta version of its Cortana digital assistant which had similar features to the Windows 10 and Windows phone version. Now, Microsoft, while going further in Android’s direction, has come up with an updated app. You will now be able to replace the Google Now shortcut (by pressing and holding the home button) with Cortana, instead.
The updated Cortana version will not include the “Hey Cortana” support because of hardware limitations that prevent her from always listening to your command. This new update lets Microsoft take over a common way of launching Google Now, although, you will still be able to access Google Now’s features. Microsoft hopes that Android users will experience Cortana and even make it their default home button setting, if possible.
