Google, today, added one more domain to its list of top-level domains (TLDs). The internet search giant paid a hefty sum of $25 million to procure a whole web domain.
As per Business Insider, Google made the highest bid of $25 million for .app, a top-level domain. Following this, ICANN, an organisation that holds a control over world’s domain names, declared Google as the winner of the domain. Google applied for .docs, .android, .free, .fyi, .foo, and .app; only managing to acquire the last one. The company presently owns four more web domains namely .soy, .minna, .foo and .how.
This isn’t a first, there have been several companies throwing millions on web domains. In fall 2014, Amazon spent nearly $5 million to purchase ‘.buy’, and $2.2 million for ‘.spot’. For now, users can register for ‘.how,’ ‘.soy,’ and ‘.minna’ domains under Google’s own domain registry service licensed by ICANN, which is still in beta version.
The company hasn’t revealed what it expects from this purchase, but it is likely that it may use the domain to promote apps in its mobile division.
The when and where questions about the Apple Watch have finally come to an end. Last night Apple announced that its much-anticipated smartwatch Apple Watch will launch in an event on March 9 titled as ‘Spring Forward’. The Cupertino-based firm has started sending out media invites for the show to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Well, we have a basic idea of how the Apple Watch functions, but there will be much more that the company would have kept undercover for the big day. As already stated, the Watch will cost $350 in the US for the aluminum Sport model and will start shipping in April. The prices of the Watch for other countries are expected to be announced on 9th March. The other two superior variants of the Apple Watch are bound to be priced significantly higher. One of the two is a mid-level stainless-steel Watch and the other is a 18-karat-gold edition.
The Watch by Apple is fixed for the event, but the firm may throw other big surprises along with it. Rumours have been whirling about the 12-inch MacBook Air that is sleek, stylish and in line with other previous generation MacBooks. It is speculated to feature a Retina display with a refurbished design. Another notable rumour is that Apple is working on a larger 12.9-inch iPad Plus. Many more devices like Apple TV box and more may follow the Apple Watch.
It’s just a matter of a few days before Apple raises the curtains to reveal its newest offering for the year 2015.
Samsung is just a few days away from launching its magnum opus, the Galaxy S6. This will be a make or break device for Samsung. Consumers, as well as industry experts, have been losing their patience with Samsung’s products. Samsung’s claims of having designed the Galaxy S6 from scratch has intrigued the market and now everyone wants to see what the electronics giant means by a complete revamp. We look at some of the features that the Galaxy S6 needs to take on its prime adversary, the iPhone 6 Plus.
Display
Apple’s big boy, the iPhone 6 Plus sports a 5.5 inch Full HD display with a pixel density of 401ppi. Samsung’s previous flagship, the Galaxy S5 too flaunted a Full HD display with a pixel density of 432 ppi. This time around Samsung is expected to go for an increased screen size as well as to introduce a Quad HD (2K) which will be advantageous over the iPhone 6 Plus. Samsung is known for good displays especially on the higher end devices with Super AMOLED panels. So Samsung will have an easy win here. Some reports have also mentioned the possibility of a 4K display, which we hope the company doesn’t abide by as it would be a tremendous waste of resources. A 4K display would consume a lot of battery and processing power and the average users won’t be able to tell the difference anyway.
Design
A design makeover has been in order for a long while now. Samsung has answered the heavy criticisms for plastic based devices by introducing the metal frame design with the Galaxy Alpha series. The company is now expected to go full metal with the new S6, which is a welcoming news. The teaser of the device unveiled by T-mobile also shows a curved edge screen like the Note Edge, but it feels gimmicky and doesn’t have too much use as of now.
Battery
With an increased screen size and the rumored Quad HD display, the Galaxy S6 is bound to get a bigger battery. But what it does need to offer is a prolonged battery life that lasts for at least a week without using features like ultra power saving modes. This, of course, sounds like a heavy demand, but for once we’d rather the company invest in the state of the battery. The iPhone 6 Plus has a great battery backup that can last up to two days, and we hope Samsung has something good in store for us in this arena.
Camera
iPhone 6 Plus undoubtedly has the best camera in the business. Features like Time-lapse, slow-motion shots have made the device a one stop production tool. Samsung has to bring something at least comparable in this aspect. With the Note 4, the company brought wider selfies to its list of camera features, but this fell short of what Apple had to offer. An AnTuTu leak has hinted 20-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel selfie snapper for the Galaxy S6, which is decent spec listing. But we are more interested in finding how Samsung makes use of the hardware to provide improved shooting features with the camera.
Software
Galaxy S5 used as illustration
This is one area where Samsung needs to show real promise with the S6. It’s time Samsung shelved the boring TouchWiz UI for good. Samsung has updated the UI a bit over the past few years, but the market now expects a complete makeover. The UI update also needs to add advanced customizability features too so that users shouldn’t have to look for third party launchers or custom ROMs. Samsung has been cutting down on its bloatware too so it’s time it left just the bare essentials so that the user have control over what they choose to install on their device.
To Conclude
Samsung needs to give it all its got to the Galaxy S6. It needs to once and for all prove to the audience that it is still capable of delivering unique innovation to the market. Samsung being one of the pioneers of the smartphone business, has a responsibility to take the market further. If the device is appreciated by the market, Samsung needs to bring the design and feature down its ecosystem and update the new line of devices accordingly. Apple has done a good job with its flagship, now the world is looking at you Samsung, show us what you got!
LG might not be bringing the successor of the G3 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year but it promises to bring something unique. The company will be unveiling a luxury smartwatch called the Watch Urbane at MWC 2015. It is also being reported that the Korean company will be bringing an LTE version of the Urbane that will run on LG’s propriety operating system.
LG has said that it won’t be using Android Wear OS as it has used in its previous device. The company had also showcased a WebOS powered smartwatch during CES 2015 which was brought in collaboration with Audi.
The Watch Urbane is an impressive looking device. LG had recently released the product video for the smartwatch, and it definitely looks like a luxury device. It is powered by a 700 mAh battery. It features NFC along with a barrage of sensors like gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, atmospheric pressure, heartbeat, and GPS.
The LTE variant of the Watch Urbane will be a standalone device that will connect to networks all by itself. It will also work with Android devices. Users can make use of the VoLTE to make calls directly from the device. It also features a walkie-talkie mode through which you can connect to multiple people at once.
Smartwatches and wearables have been touted as the next big consumer electronics offerings, but the response in the market hasn’t matched up to the hype. One of the major obstacles in gaining mass appeal is the battery life of these devices. Consumers would have no issues buying a new device, but they have to offer something unique instead of just being glorified remotes for smartphones. LG will be launching the Watch Urbane in a few days so it’s only then that we’ll know for sure if its features match up to its excellent design.
Yesterday, Xiaomi made a declaration that Mi4 devices with 16GB inbuilt memory space will go on sale in India through the e-commerce website Flipkart. The sale will be registration-free and a person interest doesn’t need to make a prior booking to buy the device. On the other hand, the 64GB variant will still be available via flash sale only and registrations for the same commenced on Tuesday.
The Chinese producer made an official statement on Facebook and Twitter saying –
Registration has started! You can register now to buy your Mi 4 64GB at 2pm IST, March 3rd. Tell everyone!! Also, Mi 4 16GB will be available on Flipkart from Feb 26th – No registration required!
Throwing some light on its specification, the Mi4 features a 5-inch full-HD display and a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. Running on Android 4.4 KitKat, the handset has company’s MIUI 6 on top. A 13MP rear shooter and a massive 8MP snapper comes paired with the device.
The gizmo is laudable at a price of Rs. 19,999 for 16GB. It got an excellent response in the first and the second flash sales. For those who are going for the 64GB model, it is priced a bit higher at Rs. 23,999.
It doesn’t matter how aggressively Samsung retorts to challenge reports by analysis firms reporting it losing its stronghold in the market; reality cannot be concealed for long. Unfortunately, the company is currently in hot waters and is suffering a financial setback.
As per a developing report by Reuters, Samsung Electronics will freeze the salaries of their employees this year, as per a statement by the spokeswoman of Samsung. It is the first time the South Korean organisation has taken such a step since 2009. The company representative didn’t throw light on what made the company take such a drastic step.
Samsung is undergoing a rough patch as its profits declined substantially in 2014. It was the first time in three years that its earnings took a downward turn. Well, we have high hopes from the upcoming Galaxy S6 to be launched at the Mobile World Conference. If that turns out to be a hit, it might help Samsung regain its position as one of the top smartphone manufacturers in the world.
Canadian manufacturer BlackBerry has joined hands with Google to bring its security based expertise to the Android platform, a move that follows BlackBerry’s recent partnership with Samsung. The move will allow Google’s suite of mobile productivity tools to run on BlackBerry’s device management system.
Back in November, BlackBerry announced its partnership with Samsung and other top tech companies to expand its security based services beyond its own platform. The collaboration with Google is aimed at managing devices that come with Android for Work – an initiative from Google to securely classify and separate business from personal data and apps.
[quote text_size=”small” author=” Kevin Stadtler” author_title=”President of Stadtler Capital Management Llc. “”]
The partnership shows BlackBerry’s reputation for security is still strong. One shortcoming of the Android platform is security. They’re partnering with BlackBerry in order to directly address that.
[/quote]
The Canadian manufacturer has years of expertise in dealing with devices for corporations and entreprises. This move could strategically position the Android platform as a more prominent solution in the business sector.
Meanwhile, Google also announced partnerships on Android for Work with top companies including SAP SE, Samsung and SOTI Inc.
Google’s Android OS is the only operating system that has touched almost every part of the globe. It has topped over all the other major softwares such as BlackBerry OS, Windows, and iOS. The search giant now intends to strengthen its stand in the enterprise environment by introducing a initiative called “Android for Work”.
Today, Google introduced “Android for Work” that focuses on making Android devices more office-friendly. Through this, users can manage their content and can keep their professional data separate in silos, without merging it up with personal content.
Android OS lags in the business segment. However, smartphones and tablets running on Android sell like hot cakes, but they are underutilized in the workplace. Google’s mobile ecosystem was missing out on apps and features that users can bank upon for the security of their business content. The company might be able to bridge that gap with the introduction of new business centric features.
‘Android for Work’, works on four primary components. The gadgets running on Android Lollipop will be able to make the most of this service. IT team of a company can create profiles of the individual and can install apps to isolate their work data from the personal content. Next in the list is the Android for Work app which is built for devices running on Android 4.0 and above. The app delivers secure mail, calendar, contacts, documents, browsing and access to deployed work apps.
The third component, Google Play for Work, allows IT professionals to install and manage recommended apps on the handsets of the users running Android for Work. The company has created a suite of business apps for email, contacts and calendar, which offers both Exchange and Notes and provides document editing capabilities.
The internet search giant has partnered with well-known names like Box Citrix, VMware, HTC, LG and Sony, who are helping them in bringing out a more secure, manageable and innovative Android platform. BlackBerry has extended support through providing a cross-platform EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) solution to manage devices.
Google has an extensive user base, which can be used to reach out to more audience through their software. The company announced the project eight months back and has launched it now after testing it thoroughly. Google is trying to make Android devices simple and essential for people to use at work and there will definitely be more updates coming to this initiative as enterprises are a profitable market for any tech company.
Lenovo has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Cyber-security experts reported that the a pre-installed adware called on Lenovo computers made them vulnerable to hacking. Lenovo is also facing a class action lawsuit after admitting that it willingly installed the adware on their systems. The company seems to have really touched a nerve as a group of hackers called Lizard Squad have taken over their website.
The Message currently showing on Lenovo’s website
When some users went to visit the site in the morning, instead of the usual content they just found a slideshow. The slideshow had webcam pictures of kids with a Twitter link claiming to be members of Lizard Squad. If you visit the website, now all you get is an apology page stating that the website is unavailable and will come online soon.
We’ll comb the Lenovo dump for more interesting things later.
The hackers have also gained access to Lenovo’s emails and data. The group is claiming that it will be combing through all the data that it has captured. We might even anticipate leaks like the previous Sony hack.
The hackers have already released screenshots of emails that say that some devices got bricked when users attempted to remove Superfish adware themselves. Superfish has become a major bone in the throats of Lenovo. The company had till now enjoyed a healthy fan base, but the adware seems to have the potential to severely tarnish the company’s image. Come back to iGyaan for more updates on Lenovo.
Google has been expanding its SafeBrowsing initiative. The search engine giant recently added a new feature to its Chrome browser, that pops up a red flag in case users accidentally visit a site that prompts them to download malicious malware.
Now the Indian Government has joined hands with Google to launch an internet safety campaign, primarily aimed at young adults and children on sensitive issues like identity theft and online harassment. Government plans to involve various departments and ministries for consultation and dissemination of information on internet and data security as a part of this initiative.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”Chetan Krishnaswamy” author_title=” Google’s Public Policy India Head “]
To enable this and ensure that families and young people across India are safe, we’re working with CERT- In and MyGov to get the word out about good Internet practices and how to keep users safe online.
[/quote]
According to a PIB release, the campaign will be carried out by Department of Electronics and Information Technology, which comes under union ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in partnership with Google and the Indian Computer Emergency Resposne Team (CERT).
Meanwhile, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) Additional Secretary suggested an annual programme to raise awareness of key policy makers on matters concerning cyber safety. The initiative would include roundtables, workshops, Security Cafes, contests for young adults, policymakers and NGOs. However, an exact date of launch has not been specified yet.
Last night, Motorola made an announcement that made Moto E fans jump with joy. The company brought out the upgraded version of the popular device – the Moto E (Gen 2), which is another significant addition to its affordable smartphone lineup. The US-based firm introduced two variants of the phone – Moto E (Gen 2) and Moto E (Gen 2) LTE. The earlier one is priced at $119.99 (Rs. 7,400 approx.), and the latter is priced slightly higher at $149.99 (around Rs. 9,200).
The company stated on its blog post –
We’re introducing the next generation, packed with more features and functionality to give people around the world even greater access to life’s possibilities – without a hefty price tag.
The design has been kept the same, and the familiar circular edges, camera and speakers sit on the device. Both the handsets come with double the in-built memory storage than Moto E, i.e 8 GB. The company has stuffed the next-gen phone with many new features like Quick Capture, Active Display and more.
The new Moto E packs very much the same set of specs, but the one thing that will catch your attention is the bigger 4.5-inch screen. However, the quality of both 3G and 4G model is just like the last generation Moto E, qHD (540×960 pixels) display. Both the phones run on Android 5.0 Lollipop. The LTE version is a bit faster than the other model and is powered by 64-bit quad-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410.
Unlike Moto E, users can now personalise their devices. The new interchangeable, colourful bands and grip shells are introduced that gives the phones an appealing look. The bands come in six different shades (Golden Yellow, Turquoise, Blue, Raspberry, Purple, Red) and for back plates any colour can be chosen from Golden Yellow, Charcoal, Turquoise, Blue, Raspberry. The handsets are up for grabs in more than 50 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Check out the detailed specifications of both Moto E (Gen 2) handsets:
Ever since Apple acquired beats for a massive sum of $3.2 billion, there have been various speculations about what the company intends to do with the company. It is now being reported that the Cupertino-based tech giant might join the forces of iTunes and Beats Music app to create an all new streaming service.
According to a report by Business Insider, the Apple might be secretly working on a new streaming service. This will let the users play the music online for a fee instead of just downloading them as they did with iTunes.
The new service will absorb the powers of curation from the Beats music app and will give users the ability to find easily what they’re looking for. It is also looking to partner with musicians to let them curate its music stream. Apple has already hired BBC radio DJ Zane Lowe to lead the curation service.
Apple needs to come up with a competitive service as music streaming is fast gaining ground with increased access to the internet. Services like Spotify rule the market unchallenged, and a home cooked service from Apple that comes with all its devices might be a formidable contender in the streaming market. We shall wait for the official word on the service from Apple though to reach a final judgement.
Microsoft has finally expanded the free Office 365 subscription for eligible students and teacher globally. The open service was earlier limited to the students of the US only.
The company made the announcement through its official blog post that reads –
Millions of students around the world are eligible for free Office from their school and today [Tuesday] we are announcing that we’ve made it easy for all eligible students globally to sign up themselves to get Office 365 and install free Office, Microsoft confirmed via its Office Blogs.
Students just need to have a valid e-mail address, and they can sign up for a free Office 365 subscription. The users will get access to the latest versions of MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint, OneNote, Access, and Publisher. These programs can be installed on PCs, Macs and on up to five mobile devices including iPad, Android, and Windows Tablets. Students will also gain a massive storage space of 1TB on OneDrive and Office Online to keep their files safe.
The company said that the offer can be availed only if schools do have a licensed software. The schools must license the Office in order to get benefitted from the provided service. Meanwhile, students can click here and enter the school-provided email address to access free Office. Teachers can do the same clicking here.
Samsung’s upcoming flagship is creating quite a buzz. With only a few days left before its official announcement in Barcelona, a new report suggests that Samsung is launching both the curved and the normal Galaxy S6 at a rather outrageous price point. Moreover, carriers are also reportedly having a hard time getting enough stock of the curved Galaxy S6, suggesting that Samsung might be having manufacturing issues with its curved display.
Much has already been revealed about Samsung’s forthcoming flagship, with the Korean manufacturer expected to announce the Galaxy S6 at the Mobile World Congress next week. The new report also confirms there will be two versions of the Galaxy S6 – a normal version and a curved version sporting curved edges on either sides of the device.
In both cases, pricing is quite exorbitant, apparently higher than the iPhone. For the non curved display – European pricing is €749 ($849), €849 ($963), and €949 ($1,076) for the 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB models respectively. While for its curved variant, the source says one can add €100 to each of the above figures.
Meanwhile, Indian pricing will be a lot more complex than simply converting Euros to Rupees, thanks to our rigid tax structure. But even without considering external variables that would affect the overall pricing, both the upcoming flagship variants are priced way above the launch price of the Galaxy S5. This could be a cause for concern unless the hardware is truly spectacular.
Expect the Samsung Galaxy S6 to be unveiled at an unpacked event in Barcelona on Sunday. We’ll be there to bring you live updates, stay tuned for more.
With mobile phones going for slimmer and thinner designs, its components are also going narrower in size. So far, all high-end phones are equipped with 28nm or 20nm size system-on-chip (SoC), but Samsung has showcased the sleekest ever SoC that makes a dent in the mobile hardware market.
Today, at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), the Korean manufacturer demonstrated the 10nm FinFET semiconductor manufacturing process. It’s the world’s first SoC to come in such a minimal size and is expected to be more powerful and energy efficient than the existing offerings. Meanwhile, the latest processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 is built on a 20nm die size. On the other hand, Samsung’s in-house Exynos 7420, said to be embedded on the upcoming Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge flagship devices, uses a 14nm SoC.
Samsung Electronics Semiconductor President, Kim Ki-nam explained the new manufacturing process as a major step in the evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT). He said that it allows more power efficient chipsets at smaller and smaller sizes. It’s also learnt that Samsung is planning on releasing a memory built on the same 10nm die process.
The company has solidified its steps in the hardware segment and the refurbishment of its in-house operating system Tizen is going in full swing. Samsung has given decent competition to Intel and Qualcomm. Since the Korean firm has just presented the idea, it is not going to come anytime soon (maybe in a year or two).
