Category: Brands and Companies

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YU YUphoria: Here’s Everything We Know From Rumours to Teasers

YU’s next device is set to knock out several affordable handsets in the smartphone battleground. The release of the device is just one day to go, and it has already built excitement amongst the tech enthusiasts. From past few days, YU has been teasing its forthcoming product YUphoria and is pushing clues about various factors of the device. Meanwhile, rumour mills are also working continuously to disseminate possible facts about the phone. Compiling all those reports, lets see how does the new device might look like.

Starting with the innards of the device, YUphoria will boast a 64-bit processor with 2GB of RAM. As per the teaser pitting YUphoria against Xiaomi Redmi 2, the company confirmed of it featuring 16GB of onboard storage. The phone will run on Android version of Cyanogen OS 12.

It is anticipated to have a sturdy body, which will save the phone from accidental drops. The candid footage released a couple of days back speaks of its sturdiness. The company is also boasting the robust sound quality of the device. It is speculated to pack powerful speakers, unlike its previous offering.

Price

The handset, as we mentioned before, will not be as cheap as its predecessor. It will come for a higher price range than Yureka. The smartphone may launch for somewhere Rs. 13,999.

YUphoria is scheduled to launch on May 12, i.e. tomorrow. The final take from the homegrown firm will clear all the uncertainties, but we have to wait until tomorrow.

May 11, 2015
Google’s ‘Android M’ Likely to Hand Over Privacy Controls to Users: Report

Google’s upcoming Android OS is the next big thing everybody is looking forward to. There are speculations of the tech giant gearing to unveil the mysterious ‘Android M‘ in the Google I/O conference 2015. Bloomberg has surfaced another vital fact about the forthcoming Android version that would bring data apps control in the hands of users.

According to a report by the global business and financial information portal, Google is planning to provide users with privacy controls that would allow users grant permissions to a particular app. This way, users themselves can decide what apps can penetrate more into the content and which can’t. These may include photos, contacts or location. The privacy controls would bring Android OS closer to Apple’s iOS that furnish users with the freedom to apps permission.

For now, Android users cannot decide permissions for the app. Whenever a user wishes to download a new application, he/she is directed to the setting page to provide the app with required permissions. Refusing to the permissions leads to cancellation of the app download. Presently, the customization option is available on Cyanogen and Xiaomi’s MIUI 6.

The demand for privacy on Android devices is being made for quite a while. Paying a little attention to the rising voices, Google has lost 3 percent share in Europe’s five largest countries, coming down to 69 percent. On the other hand, the share of iOS has increased from 18.6 percent to 20.3 percent in those five countries.

However, there is no confirmation from the company, but the mounting pressure may force Google to come up with the advanced Android version this time. Google’s annual I/O developers’ conference is scheduled for 28th of this month.

May 11, 2015
Here’s How Facebook Would Like to Replace Google

When browsing through mobile, it is quite a task to open a website, copying the link, switching between the apps and pasting it on your Facebook status bar. For many users, this is quite a cumbersome job. According to TechCrunch, to change the experiences for its mobile users, Facebook is working on an internal test search engine for its mobile app.

TechCrunch spotted that a few iOS users saw a new ‘Add a Link’ button next to buttons that we use to add photos, location and feelings. Upon writing down a word in the search engine, a list of related and matching links shows up that can be shared to your wall along with a caption. Using this feature, users will be able to bypass search engine while searching for content and give the social media giant a rich data of analytics of the type of content being explored and shared in a series of detailed statistics.

This move by Facebook may throw a hard brick on Google. On the other hand, Google has also allowed users to order food from its search results and add tweets. Apple, too, mentioned about the AppleBot on its support page, indicating an all-new Apple Search on Safari and other search related apps on iOS and OSX environment. This may set up an entirely new bar for search engines.

There are no words when this feature will roll out for the rest of its mobile users. For now, only a handful of iOS users has access to this new tool.

May 11, 2015
The OnePlus Power Bank is Finally Here!

After rumours and teasers about the ‘game-changing’ product from OnePlus, the company’s power bank has finally arrived in India. OnePlus unveiled the same through its Facebook’s OnePlus India account saying, “The most awaited #OnePlus Power Bank is here! Buy it now.” The device is priced at Rs. 1,399.

As mentioned above, the power bank will exclusively be available on Amazon India. The OnePlus portable battery has a massive capacity of 10,000mAh. The device easily slips into your pocket and can fully charge your OnePlus thrice. The time required to charge the accessory is 5.5 hours. It comes with two USB ports so that you can charge two devices at the same time. The colour options available in the OnePlus power bank is Sandstone Black and Silk White.

Click here to buy now.

 

May 11, 2015
Here’s Everything We Know About the OnePlus 2 So Far

One of the biggest success stories of 2014 was the Chinese electronics start-up, OnePlus. The newbie started off with the flagship killer, One, which conquered the mid-segment smartphone market. It was a feature-rich phone with top-notch specs that came with a reasonable price tag.

Now, exactly a year after One’s release, the market is more than ready to find out what the company has developed for 2015.

We are summing up all that we know till date about the OnePlus Two (temporarily titled).

Specs

Not much is known about the specifications of the upcoming OnePlus handset, but we some significant information that points out to its robust processing capacity. As per the detail leaked by the company CEO Liu Zuohu, OnePlus Two will run on Snapdragon 810 chipset along with 4GB RAM. A 5.5-inch 2K display will enhance the viewing experience of the user.

There is a high possibility of OnePlus Two running on Cyanogen OS, as the differences between Cyanogen and the Chinese smartphone firm have been sorted out. All legal proceedings have been resolved and the cases have been withdrawn through mutual consent. The addition of Cyanogen on the next OnePlus device might help drive the sales of the device.

Availability

In the major disclosure yesterday, OnePlus’ Zuohu spilled the beans on the release time of OnePlus Two. The much-awaited device will make a debut in the third quarter of this year. India will be one of the first countries to see the launch of the next probable flagship killer.

The kickass back panels promised by OnePlus that never came to the market.

Price

The handset will be priced higher than its predecessor. It is reported to cost 2499 Yuan, which translates to Rs. 25,700 approx. The firm must have decided on quality features and specifications that speak for its price.

Till the next iteration comes out, you can feast your eyes on the OnePlus One:

May 10, 2015
BlackBerry Will Not Manufacture Sub-$200 Phones: Company’s India Head

Lately, BlackBerry has been witnessing a revenue dip in its smartphone segment. It recently released Leap and Classic, to catch up with the present smartphone market, but the Canadian firm’s future success is uncertain. Hence, BlackBerry has chosen to restrict the yearly rollout of its models and focus on enterprise business for maximum profits.

BlackBerry India Managing Director Sunil Lalvani said they will roll out the company’s key handsets, but for a niche segment. “The focus going ahead is the enterprise business, which today contributes a significant portion to the company’s revenues,” commented Lalvani. He further stated that they will not manufacture sub-$200 phones in future like other smartphone manufacturers are doing these days.

BlackBerry’s market share in the Q4 last year explains the actual position of the company. According to research firm IDC, the market share of BlackBerry was 0.4% in last quarter 2014 (October-December), which was 8.1% during the same period in 2011.

Lalvani comments on the firm’s goal for the coming years were –

Going ahead the focus will be on increasing the bottom line and not the top line. So, in aligning ourselves to this view, we will not sell a huge number of handsets and hardware to boost our revenue figures but concentrate our effort on our high-margin enterprise and software services, which will drive profits.

A couple of days back, an innovative idea was introduced by the smartphone maker that will sort the problem of managing multiple SIM cards. BlackBerry proposed a Virtual SIM card for the Indian users which gives the benefit of nine SIM cards in one. Talks are on with regulatory authorities and telecom operators to launch the Virtual SIM in India, and it has also partnered with Idea Cellular for its services. The same is expected to arrive by year-end.

May 9, 2015
Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge Now Boast Their Own VR Headset

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge back in September 2014. As an icing on the cake, the Korean company in collaboration with Oculus revealed the Gear VR, a virtual reality headgear developed to work along with the Note 4. A year after, Samsung released its latest flagship devices, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in April 2015. The company also announced that a similar VR set will accompany the handsets soon, but no such headset were up for purchase.

Today, Samsung made this device available for purchase. The device, named as Gear VR Innovator Edition for Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, is a smaller and lighter version of the Note 4 Gear VR. It comes with a redesigned strap and a built-in fan to help in air-flow. According to Samsung, the Octa-Core Exynos 7420 chipset, which is the powerhouse of S6 and S6 Edge handsets, and the high PPI display will provide its users with better and smoother virtual reality experience. The other side of the coin would be the smaller screen of the S6 and S6 Edge devices, which may result in a narrow field of view.

This device is available at Samsung’s official website and BestBuy. This device can be purchased for $199.99 (Rs 12,741) and is available only for its US customers right now. No other details about its price and availability in India has been disclosed.

May 9, 2015
Windows 10 is the Last Version of Windows OS, Confirms Microsoft

Microsoft has been enriching Windows OS with every version. The recent Windows 10 is the finest upgrade made by Microsoft, which incorporates all significant alternations needed on a Windows platform along with a brand new technology called Cortana. The American consumer electronics firm is quitting the revision of Windows operating system and confirmed there will be no Windows 11.

At the Ignite tech conference, the developer evangelist of Microsoft Jerry Nixon said in the press conference –

Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10.

Nixon also mentioned that Windows 10 was in works since the launch of Windows 8.1. The company wanted perfection in the latest Windows as it aims to standardize Windows 10. Microsoft intends to make Windows a service. That means, instead of releasing versions of Windows every couple of years, they will be sending out regular updates to Windows just like Apple’s OS X. The software and hardware giant is radically changing the way we upgrade Windows.

This being said, it is certain that there won’t be any major change coming up to Windows 10. The company will regularly revise some features and send an update for Windows upgradation. It’s a big move by the company, but it sounds great as Microsoft has extended its reach to different platforms with the new Windows OS.

The latest version hasn’t come out for public yet. It’s due to release this summer. It will first land on the desktop and later on Windows-powered smartphones, as per Microsoft. There have been rumours of Microsoft already working on its next update, but it is expected to release by 2016.

May 9, 2015

OnePlus Powerbanks Get Listed On Amazon India, Set to Arrive Next Week

A few days ago, OnePlus India tweeted from its official Twitter page that teased of a new ‘game-changing’ product. The image within the tweet showed a device with elegantly curved edges. Clearly, it is the power bank that OnePlus had rolled out last year in December. The OnePlus team had also confirmed with us that the device would be arriving in India within the next few days.

The game changer is here! #getPower pic.twitter.com/h4i1XMgqDb

— OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) April 30, 2015

But due to undisclosed reasons, the launch has been delayed by a week in India. For now, the device is listed on Amazon but displayed as unavailable. You will need to sign up to get notified when the device is available.

The charger provides a massive power of 10,000mAh, yet one of the cheapest devices available till date. The device easily slips into your pocket and can fully charge your OnePlus thrice. The device comes with two USB ports so that you can charge two devices at the same time. It is priced at Rs 1,399 and is available in Sandstone Black Colour.

You can read about the details of the device from the table below:

Specifications	OnePlus Power Bank
Colour variants	Sandstorm Black
Battery type	LiPo
Capacity	10,000 mAh
Charging Time	5.5 hours (approx)
Dimensions	142.8 × 72.6 × 16.2 mm
Weight	220g
Safety features	Electrostatic, short-circuit, overcharging, overheating protection

May 9, 2015

Report: Apple to Offer Free Exclusive Tracks on its Upcoming Music Streaming Service

Time and again, we are hearing about Apple’s refurbished music streaming service ‘Beats Music’. Earlier we heard of it pairing up with renowned American bands and artists like Taylor Swift, Florence and the Machine, but Apple has a couple of surprises before it makes Beats Music public. It was widely reported that the Cupertino-based tech firm will charge $8 for a monthly subscription, but it seems like now Beats Music users will find a free streaming option as well.

According to a report by Recode, some industry sources have confirmed a free trial period where users can listen to some tracks without paying for it. This testing period may range from one to three months depending on the negotiating deals with music labels. Under these negotiations, the music owners will be free to upload a sampling of their tracks, which users can listen for free without subscribing. It will be somewhat like SoundCloud which offers free music as YouTube offers video. There will also be a new version of iTunes Radio featuring human-curated playlist.

Apple also clarified it would never be like other free music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora that offer unlimited tracks without any charge. It is against advertising programme as promotion-supported free streaming doesn’t make much money, as per the company.

Last year, Apple acquired Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. The service was launched only a few months earlier. The world’s most valuable company is gearing to tweak the service and release it sometime this year. Apple already enjoys a dominance in music downloads from its iTunes, now it aims to kick out the newly formed Tidal founded by Jay Z and several other music titans.

The Beats Music is scheduled to launch this summer at a competitive price of $9.99/month for individuals, while a family plans will cost $14.99/month. It is speculated that Apple might opt for a different name for its streaming service.

May 9, 2015
Alibaba Eyes Micromax For Investment And Entry Into India

Asia’s largest e-commerce name Alibaba is keen on entering the Indian market. With all the buzz around the online space, a new pro-investment Prime Minister and the booming Mobile phone market in India, Alibaba has found a secret route to enter.

Sources claim that Chinese search and e-comm giant Alibaba will invest heavily in Micromax, acquiring upto 20 % stake in the Indian bred company. A deal that would cost the company over $ 1.2 Billion, would allow the chinese giant easy access into the market which is tough to get into for new companies.

Alibaba has also been in the news recently for investing in brands like Ouya, Meizu and Snapchat. Micromax is one of the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the domestic market. With its constant damage to Samsung’s position in India, and the new brand “YU” taking on the likes of Xiaomi and OnePlus in the local markets, Micromax makes for a good investment option.

Micromax’s new brand YU is apparently set to launch a new product in India on the 12th of May to provide a more premium outlook, taking on flagship killers. The company was also recently in the news for the sad breakup of OnePlus and Cyanogen .

The investment, however, focuses on Micromax devices and their wide spread reach. Alibaba plans to deploy services like Alipay, the company’s new payment platform. Ant Financial Services Group, which owns Alipay, is China’s largest payment service provider and is controlled by Alibaba’s executive chairman and founder Jack Ma.

May 8, 2015
YU Founder Drops the Second Clue, Brags About Another Impressive Feature of YUphoria

Micromax YU is giving information bit-by-bit of its next big offering. Yesterday, the homegrown smartphone firm released footage showing the durability and sturdiness of the phone. And today, it has dropped another clue demonstrating its speaker quality.

The Founder of YU Rahul Sharma tweeted a video of the phone that will explain exactly what we are talking about:

Now that’s quite a hair raising experience! Here’s the 2nd clue guys. #YUphoria. Check it out: https://t.co/XUQ7hzcyfi

— Rahul Sharma (@rahulsharma) May 8, 2015

The forthcoming YU handset will definitely be a budget killer with Android Lollipop version of Cyanogen OS. The company has already disclosed that it houses a 64-bit processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB onboard memory.

Further information on pricing and availability will be known at the launch on May 12. Stay tuned for updates; more leaks will follow before the launch.

May 8, 2015
OnePlus Resolves Issue with Cyanogen, Indian One Users to Continue Receiving OTA Updates

The brawl between OnePlus and Micromax wouldn’t be easily forgotten by any tech follower. Cyanogen entered a deal with India-based company Micromax for exclusive rights on its open-source operating system. Micromax then dragged OnePlus to the courtroom for using its proprietary Cyanogen OS, but nothing was finalized till date. Today, the tussle between the two tech majors has ended and that too on a happy note.

The OnePlus India team has officially declared that there is no difference between them and Cyanogen now, and the software maker will carry on its association with OnePlus. It’s time for celebration for the Indian One users, who were deprived of the OTA updates from Cyanogen.

Sunday’s are always good ! #updates #igyaan #software #onePlus #cm12

A photo posted by iGyaan Network (@igyaan) on May 3, 2015 at 12:37am PDT

The OnePlus India Head Vikas Agarwal spoke in light of the legal settlement –

OnePlus remains vindicated of the recent trials and tribulations that has surrounded the company due to legal tussle with Micromax over exclusivity on CyanogenOS. We are happy to confirm that all ‘OnePlus One’ users in India will continue to receive OTA updates from Cyanogen in-line with our users in markets around of the world.

Vikas revealed that all legal proceedings have been resolved and the cases have been withdrawn through mutual consent. Cyanogen OS will send regular updates to all OnePlus One devices globally. OnePlus got embroiled in a legal case with Cyanogen on its handsets. The Delhi High Court banned the smartphone for some time, but it was suspended soon after. OnePlus was asked to come up with an alternate OS as soon as possible.

A couple of days back, Cyanogen itself came out to announce break up with OnePlus, but things have come back on track. Since there is no dispute on the usage of Cyanogen OS on OnePlus devices, there is a high possibility of the operating system arriving on the upcoming OnePlus handset, OnePlus Two.

May 8, 2015
OnePlus CEO Reveals the Pricing of the OnePlus Two

Seems like OnePlus is feeling the heat of the close competition, with Xiaomi, Vivo and debutant Nubia’s presence in the smartphone tussle. The Chinese electronics start-up aims to sustain the reputation garnered from the One, and intends to create a buzz with its upcoming flagship. The company disclosed a significant detail about the innards of the next OnePlus handset on Weibo and announced its price as well.

OnePlus CEO Liu Zuohu asked OnePlus fans about the reasonable price of OnePlus Two with Snapdragon 810 on it. It was an open question, and hence comments started flooding on the query. After a while, Liu put an end to the suspense and said 2499 Yuan seems reasonable.

So, we now have the price of OnePlus Two (tentatively titled), which has come from the top official itself. 2499 Yuan translates to Rs. 25,700 approx which is higher than what its present flagship comes at. OnePlus very well knows that to secure a space where many other high-end, yet affordable smartphones, are being appreciated would be not be an easy task. The firm must have decided on quality features and specifications that speak for its price.

From what is known to date, the OnePlus Two will sport a 5.5-inch 2K display. It will be powered by a Snapdragon 810 chipset along with 4G RAM. More details aren’t yet confirmed by the company. It should be noted that the next smartphone will run on its own operating system as Cyanogen and OnePlus have officially broken up. The second OnePlus device is expected to debut in the third quarter of this year.

May 8, 2015
Review: SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive
With every update, Apple makes it simpler to click pictures using an iPhone. With the ability to launch the camera without having to unlock the phone, it is now easier to click a picture than make a call. Inevitably iPhone users use the excellent camera and effortless launcher to click a ton of pictures, which poses a problem on the storage of the phone. Especially for users with 8/16GB smartphones, with no expandable storage options, the available memory vanishes sooner than expected.

SanDisk claims to offer an easy solution to this problem. Meet the iXpand Flash Drive; it’s portable and promises to help you easily shift files between devices, subsequently expanding the storage of your iPhone. The flash drive we checked out, costs Rs. 4,490 and provides 16GB of extra storage. Here we explore if it’s worth the money spent.

Overview

The SanDisk iXpand flash drive is a solid dual flash drive that comes with both, a USB 2.0 jack and a lighting connector. It is available in 16/32/64/128 GB variants, priced at Rs. 4,490/5,990/7,999/11,490 respectively. The drive is recognized easily on iPhones, iPads and desktops. To use the flash drive, you are also required to download a free app on your Apple device.

Design and Build Quality

Most parts of the device are covered in a solid encased brushed aluminium shell, which is complemented by a rubberised centre. The USB side of the flash drive is provided with a plastic cover. As a compact device, it is quite sturdy. You can easily dump it in your bag, without worrying about possible scratches.

While it looks solid, usability-wise, the design fails to work. The lightning port being stuck in the centre makes it an awkward device to use. If you latch your iPhone onto the flash drive and the USB onto your laptop at the same time, your smartphone is going to end up covering most part of your keyboard. Basically, the two devices cannot be accommodated at the same time, they need to be used separately. This also means that you can’t use it to charge your device, which is a shame.

After using the flash drive for a while, we also noticed that the lightning port, which is connected to the rubberised centre, got displaced and started sticking out of the device, making it prone to damage.

Performance

The iXpand App : To manage data, you need to install an app onto your App device. Downloading the App is fairly simple. When you connect the flash drive to your smartphone, it automatically opens up a message asking if you’d wish to download the app. In case the pop-up is missing, simply go to the App Store and download the ‘SanDisk iXpand Sync’. It’s sized 45.9MB, requires iOS 7.1 or later versions. While we have our problems with the design of the flash drive, the design of the iXpand app is quirky, clean and easy-to-use. With the app, you have an option of setting a mode which helps automatically sync the camera’s picture roll onto the SanDisk iXpand.

One of the super helpful features of the app is that with the use of a pie chart, it shows you exactly the amount of free or used space on your iPhone/iPad, as well as on the drive. And using colour codes, it illustrates the different things (Music, Photos, Videos etc.) taking up space on your flash drive.

Syncing pictures: By turning on the Camera Sync option, you can automatically sync files when the iXpand is plugged onto your iPhone. There is another option, which helps you delete photos and videos after sync, you can use it to conveniently free up space on your iPhone. This way you don’t have to go back and manually pick and delete files you’ve synced. In case you’re nervous you might delete the wrong pictures from your iPhone, remember they remain in the “Recently Deleted” album in your photos app for 30 days.

Speed Test: The SanDisk flash drive uses USB 3.0, and one of its major advantages is supposed to be its high transfer speed. It can give upto 640MBps but our speed test only gave us a maximum speed of 15.0 MB/s. We ran the same test on the USB 2.0 and the maximum speed we got was 4.5 MB/s. There is a considerable improvement in the speed, however it doesn’t utilise its true potential.

Watching Movies Using iXpand: Most Apple users have trouble admitting it, but iOS comes with several limitations. One of the major restrictions has been the tedious task to transfer videos/movies onto an ‘iDevice’. While Android users can transfer movies onto their phones with ease and watch them on-the-go, what do iPhone/iPad users need to do? First, Apple products support only certain kinds of formats, such as P4, M4V and MOV files. So videos are required to be converted to those format. Secondly, you need to install iTunes onto your laptop. Sure, there are third-party apps which cut short the procedure, but we need to admit, it is quite a hassle.

With the iXpand Flash Drive, all you need to do is dump the movie onto the drive and insert it into your smartphone and enjoy. Point to note: while you’re watching the movie, the iXpand drive might make the phone slightly uncomfortable to hold, but the drive is extremely sturdy and it really latches onto your phone. In case you’re shifting around, nudging the pen drive will not cause any damage to your movie. The app also has excellent playback speed; as soon as you tap on your video of choice, it plays it almost instantly.

Charging the Flash Drive: The iXpand flash drive requires charging. An LED light on the right side of the device reminds you if the drive needs to be plugged in for charging. This is so it doesn’t take any juice from your iPhone/iPad, when being used and it automatically charges itself when plugged onto a computer.

Conclusion

Overall, the Sandisk iXpand Flash Drive is a convenient device to have around. If you’re looking to free up some space on your iPhone, it might be the simplest solution available. However, instead you could also invest in extra iCloud storage, that way your files remain online, and can be accessed any place and at any time. On the other hand, with the iXpand, you wouldn’t need an internet connection to retrieve your files. We would, without doubt, recommend the device for its ability to play videos/movies on the go.

You can pick up the device here:

 

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Sturdy build
- Excellent media playback speed
- User-friendly apps
- Supports all video formats
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Awkaward design
- Slow speed
- High price
[/tw-column]
May 8, 2015