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What to Expect from the Samsung Galaxy S6

Although Samsung has been facing stiff competition from the numerous smartphones released this year, it still continues to lead race among the android devices. Samsung’s devices last year were criticized for being iterative and over-priced. Now Samsung seems to be working on the Galaxy S6, codenamed ‘Project Zero‘ signifying the development of the device from scratch — putting lots of thoughts into its design and materials.

Finally realising their mistakes, Samsung has been mending its ways with the launch of Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 smartphones, which dropped the plastic body to include the premium metal frame. The company has long been criticized for using cheap plastic body on their devices and it is expected that Samsung will be bringing quite a drastic change in their devices’ design and materials.

Rumours surrounding the new Samsung flagship has been taking rounds of the internet for several months now. Although most rumours cannot be verified or validated, they give us some idea what we can expect from Samsung 2015 Galaxy S6 flagship.

Project Zero

Project Zero is, according to the rumors, Samsung’s top priority these days. More specifically, it is a codename for the Galaxy S6, according to sources. Previous flagship phones have gone by the names such as Project J, Project H, Project K and Project T in the past few years. as mentioned above, Project zero signifies that the company’s plan to build this phone from the grassroot.

The failure of Galaxy S5 coupled with the bad sales figures and constant backlash from critics, Samsung recently replaced its mobile design leader Chang Dong-hoon with deputy Lee Min-hyouk. It is safe to say that Samsung indeed is aiming to redefine its brand image with this new flagship. However, whether it will be successful; only time will tell!

Design

Recent chatter in the rumour mill has hinted that the new Samsung flagship may come with a flexible display. At a recent event for Samsung investors, Lee-Chang Hoon, vice president of Samsung Display’s, said: “We plan to provide consumers with a product that has a flexible display by the end of the year.” Along with his, the Galaxy S6 is expected to sport a flexible OLED that would allow the device to fold and bend. However, it’s also widely believed, especially since the all-metal Galaxy Alpha debuted, that the Galaxy S6 will feature a metal frame.

Display

Considering the trend over the last five generations, the screen size of Galaxy S handsets have grown from 4-inches to 5.1-inches. The Galaxy S6 is expected with a 5.2 or 5.3 inch display. Samsung has also previously said it will have 4K 3840 x 2160 displays on the market by 2015. It is therefore, possible that the Galaxy S6 will bypass 2K and feature a 4K screen. That said, South Korean news outlet Daum has predicted it’ll have a curved screen with a Quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The screen has also purportedly leaked on an AnTuTu benchmark test with a 5.5-inch QHD display.

Camera

The camera has always been Samsung’s strong selling point. We expect the company to improve the present 16Mp snapper that comes with Galaxy S5. The AnTuTu leak has hinted 20-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel selfie snapper.

Processor

The new flagship is expected to come with a Snapdragon 810 or Exynos 7420 processor, with octa-core technology. Although internal storage is not expected to be increased beyond 128GB. That said, the AnTuTu leak shows the S6 with a 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7420 processor and ARM Mali T-760 GPU backed by 3GB of RAM. Samsung, however, has been raving about 4GB RAM developments so we’d expect them to appear in the S6. It also was shown with 32GB storage.

Price and Release date

According to a recent leak, the Samsung Galaxy S6 release date is slated for Q2 2015. As for when the phone will actually launch, the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5 both launched in April 2013 and April 2014, respectively, so following this pattern, the Galaxy S6 should go on sale in April 2015. It will likely be priced similarly to the Galaxy S5.

The company has pledged that it will be bringing several changes to the future device to lure in more customers, after a huge setback during the Q3 earnings. Over the past years, the company has been criticised for the use of cheap plastic material in the high-end phones. With the new flagship on its way, the company is expected to make a lot of changes in design to compete in the market ruled by impressive devices like iPhone 6, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z series. This flagship may be a critical device to decide the fate of Samsung smartphones in this highly competitive market.

January 2, 2015
Google Nexus 5 is Back in Stock on Flipkart!

The flagship smartphone by the US-based search giant, Google Nexus 5, was the most desired device of 2013 and 2014 alike. Those who were able to get their hands on the device were on cloud 9 and a few unlucky ones were anticipating for it to go on sale again. Google has come up some really good news for those waiting for the Nexus 5.

The smartphone by Google is back in stock on Flipkart with no comment on its stocks. Both the 16 GB and 32 GB versions of the phone are available on the e-commerce website. You can also choose from the three colour variants – red, black and white. The red, 32 GB variant is priced at Rs. 29,919, while the 32 GB version in black and white colours can be bagged at a price of Rs. 32,999 and 31,350 respectively.

A couple of weeks back, Google confirmed that it will halt the production of the Nexus 5 by the first quarter of 2015, which made the phone lovers rush to the retail stores.

Briefing its specs, then the Nexus 5 sports a Full HD display of 4.95-inch that is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The device is powered by Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 chipset. It runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat and has 2 GB of RAM. On the camera front, it has an 8MP rear and a 1.3MP secondary snapper.

For the Nexus 5 lovers, it the perfect opportunity to grab this device at the earliest.

December 31, 2014
Micromax Yu Yureka : Benchmarks and Gaming

Micromax’s new subsidiary Yu has made quite an impact in a short span of time with its new smartphone Yureka running on Cyanogen OS 11. The Yu Televenture has adopted new business practices similar to the likes of OnePlus and Xiaomi, relying on community driven ecosystem of CyanogenMod.

Check out our full benchmark and hardware test along with the gaming performance of the Yureka below-

Considering the price range, Yu Yureka packs quite an impressive combination of Cyanogen experience with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 which does 1.5 GHz on Octa-cores. The Yureka comes with Android 4.4.4 out of the box expected to be updated to the Lollipop soon.

The device came to our testing lab and we ran a Benchmark Test, the results are as below-

Test

Yu Yureka

Xiaomi Mi3

Moto G (Gen 2)

Antutu 28,359 30,537 17,159

NenaMark 55.0 fps 60.0 fps 57.5 fps

To test benchmarks, we started by running Antutu on the device. The device performed well up to its hype and got an impressive score of 28,359 . However, the handset lags behind the Xiaomi Mi 3’s score of 30,537.

Speaker is Muffled

We also ran the device through NenaMark 2 and the Yureka scored 55.0 fps. The number is a little low as compared to other competitive devices available in market such as Xiaomi Mi 3 and Moto G (Gen 2).

All in all considering the price bracket of this device it performs pretty well on the benchmark test and is a great device for gaming. Also check out the Unboxing and Hands On of this device on iGyaan and stay tuned for the full review of this device.

December 31, 2014
Xiaomi Redmi 1S with LTE Support to be Announced Soon

Xiaomi will soon be announcing the LTE variant of its highly popular Redmi 1S. The Chinese manufacturer who was recently banned from selling its products in India, teased on a social networking site Weibo that it plans to unwrap the LTE compatible Redmi 1S on Friday.

The listing further stated that the smartphone would come with a 64 bit Snapdragon 410 processor bundled with 1GB of RAM. The smartphone would feature a 4.7 inch 720p display and would be equipped with both front and rear camera units at 2MP and 8MP respectively. The dual-SIM phone will have support for TD-LTE and LTE-FDD networks. Meanwhile, the leaked image also points to a thinner bezel compared to its predecessor. It also sports an OGS screen which should enhance colour and display quality. Sources also reveal additional colour options for the Redmi 1S with LTE support.

There are no details available as of now regarding its launch in India; however an announcement is expected to be made on January 4th.

December 31, 2014
Xiaomi Get a Clean Chit from Taiwan in the Data Breach Investigation

Xiaomi has had a fantastic year, but it also had to face several allegations and controversies. One of the prominent embarrassments for the company was the allegation that the company’s smartphones were sending user’s personal data to their servers in China without permission. This was seen as a serious allegation and it prompted a probe in Taiwan for Xiaomi and other smartphone brands.

It was a security agency called F-secure which found that Xiaomi was automatically syncing the files on the cloud. This incident led the Taiwanese authorities to initiate an investigation into handsets from major companies to check whether they are breaching data protection laws. Xiaomi responded by saying that cloud syncing was activated by default, which led to the issue. It then issued a new update which let the users decide whether they wanted to sync their data on the cloud or not.

It is important to know that it wasn’t just Xiaomi which faced the scrutiny from Taiwanese authorities. The National Communications Commission of Taiwan investigated 12 brands in total which also included devices from Apple, Samsung, LG, Sony, along with Chinese brands like Huawei and ZTE. All of these were cleared by the commission.

The investigators did ask the companies to strengthen the transfer of information on their devices and make them more secure. The Xiaomi data breach issue had also led the Indian Air force to issue a directive to its staff to refrain from using Chinese smartphones, especially Xiaomi. The company had then responded by moving its Indian user’s data to servers in India. It even plans to launch a local data center in India in 2015 to serve the needs of (and store data for) their Indian users.

It seems like after a few hurdles, Xiaomi’s ship is now in smoother waters. The company has some big plans for 2015 including a new flagship and more devices coming out of its stable. After this report, you can go ahead and register for the next flash sale with an ease of mind.

December 31, 2014

Unboxing | Micromax Yu Yureka | Hands On

Micromax’s new company was a smart move for the Indian smartphone giant. However, whether or not the company will be able to provide a better consumer experience will be seen overtime. YU Televentures takes departure from traditional business practices of Micromax and relies on a large community driven eco-system as done by the likes of Xiaomi and OnePlus.

Well, it’s practically 2015, and India has been left behind in the race for development ROMs. Almost all launched handsets are either locked, on in the case of Indian Manufacturers, have unsupported systems.

The YU Yureka comes with Cyanogen preloaded, which allows for a lot of development, almost from the moment you open the box.

To take the packaging in the similar fashion, it sits comfortably between Xiaomi and OnePlus style of packaging, while made from recycled materials, we were far from impressed by the presentation or the box contents.

In the Box you Get :

Yu Yureka Handset
EarPhones
Charger + Cable
2500 mAh Battery

The Interface is really snappy and that may be thanks to a mix of the Cyanogen experience along with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 which does 1.5 GHz on octa-cores.

The eureka comes with Android 4.4.4 out of the box and will be quickly updated to Lollipop as soon as you can find a flash-able ROM or when Cyanogen pushes an update. Check out the specs below and a quick comparison with the Redmi Note (4G variant) which comes with a Qualcomm chipset. Also at the bottom is the Unboxing and Hands-On video. Stay tuned for the full review.

Specs	Yu Yureka	Redmi Note 4G
Screen Size	5.5 inches 720×1280 pixels	5.5 inches 720 x 1280 pixels
RAM	2 GB	2 GB
Battery	2500 mAh	3200 mAh
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 615	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
CPU	1.5GHz Octa-core	1.6 GHz Quad-core
GPU	Adreno 405	Adreno 305
Front Camera	5 MP	5 MP
Rear Camera	13 MP	13 MP
Price (Click for Updated Pricing)	Rs. 8,999	Rs. 9,999
Special Features	Cyanogen OS 11	MIUI 5.0

December 30, 2014

Lenovo to Take on the Redmi 1S with an Affordable 4G device

Xiaomi is fiercely racing ahead in the smartphone race. With the recent influx of capital into the company, Xiaomi has become the most valuable startup in the world. Its products are seriously challenging its competition, and there still hasn’t been a real opponent to the company. Lenovo, the other Chinese electronics giant, plans to take on Xiaomi with a new 4G device which will be priced below the popular Redmi 1S.

According to a report, Lenovo would be introducing a new device at CES 2015. The website suspects that this device might be the Lenovo K3. It is said be powered by 4G-LTE compatible Qualcomm’s 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 410 processor. Lenovo is wasting no time in introducing the device in competitive markets. It will be launching the device in India just a week after its CES launch.

The specifications cited for the Lenovo K3 make it look like an effective challenger to the Redmi 1S. It has a 5 inch 720 HD display with a pixel density of 294 PPI. It holds 1 GB RAM with 16 GB of internal memory, which might be advantageous as against the Redmi 1S’s 8 GB storage.

There has been a flux of affordable smartphone companies this year. Companies like Motorola, Xiaomi, Asus have begun the culture of offering good specifications at affordable prices and thus have gained a considerable amount of market share. The winner of this battle, of course, is a budget buyer who gets great functionalities without shelling big bucks.

Considering the price of the Xiaomi Redmi 1s(a mere 5,999); this device could be a game changer if it delivers the specifications mentioned above. It will also be nice to see a healthy rivalry to the Xiaomi 1s, which presently seems to be running away with the ‘Best Budget Phone’ tag.

December 30, 2014
OPPO Launches the Ultra-Thin R5 in India

The slimmest smartphone by the Chinese electronics manufacturer, OPPO R5 was much-awaited by the Indian audience and finally, the wait has come to an end. OPPO India has launched its flagship device in the country today at a price of Rs. 29,990. The company announced that the phone will be available for pre-order from 1^st January, 2015.

The high-end device was unveiled by the company in October at a price tag of $499. The smartphone was the world’s slimmest phone record holder before the launch of Vivo X5 Max. The X5 Max beats OPPO R5 by just .10 mm, with a sleek design measured at 4.75 mm.

In an official announcement, the company highlighted its specifications, “The 4G-enabled R5 is equipped with Octa-core Qualcomm MSM8939 processor and features a 5.2-inch AMOLED screen”. Adding to its specs, the phone has a screen resolution of 1080×1920 pixels. Along with the Qualcomm processors, the device packs 2 GB of RAM and an Adreno 405 GPU. The 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front shooter are quite impressive and can take amazing pictures. Running on Android 4.4 KitKat, the phone supports a single SIM. The device comes with 16 GB of unexpandable inbuilt storage, which is the only drawback of this model.

OPPO India CEO Tom Lu commented on the launch –

This phone has been developed with the end user in mind. We used cutting edge manufacturing techniques to create a phone that fits perfectly into the users’ hands, and that feels incredible. The frame has been forged nine times and then finished by hand to give a perfect sheen and feel. It has a quality that is not available anywhere else in the industry. The R5, like the rest of the R series delivers a truly stylish, exquisite and distinctive design and will continue to delight our customers with its innovative yet practical functions.

The device is available in other countries like Australia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and few more except India. The other smartphones by the company were received well by the Indian users. Only time will tell whether this device finds a place in this saturated smartphone market.

December 30, 2014
Xiaomi Redmi Note Fly Off the Shelves Within Seconds

The much awaited 4G variant of Xiaomi’s blockbuster Redmi Note was officially up for grab today. The flash sale started (like always) at 2PM today on Flipkart allowing registered users to buy Redmi Note 4G for Rs. 9,999.

There were only 40,000 units up for sale, whereas, according to Flipkart, 200,000 people registered for the Redmi Note 4G variant. Like in the past, this one was also a torrid affair and the Redmi Note 4G was out of the stock in seconds. Although, last week the Redmi 1S, after a prolonged ban, did not get the expected response.

The major difference between the 4G and 3G variants of the Redmi Note is the processor and connectivity support. As the name suggests, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G is a 4G LTE ready device. It is further powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 CPU coupled with 2GB of RAM.

Although Xiaomi will be pleased with the response, there continues to remain a partial ban on the company and it will be interesting to observe how this Chinese superpower will proceed. As as now Xiaomi seems to be stronger than ever, KUDOS!

December 30, 2014
Get Ready For A Whole New Browser For Windows 10

If there is one internet browser that has gathered immense online infamy, it’s the Internet Explorer (IE). As one of the oldest browsers, it helped Microsoft win the browser game as it was provided for free with its Windows OS. It’s competitors, like Netscape Navigator couldn’t compete, because of the massive reach of Windows. But lately with the emergence of browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, the Internet Explorer has taken a back seat. However, Microsoft hasn’t lost out of hope with one of its oldest product yet. It is planning to create a whole new browser for the upcoming Windows 10 operating system.

According to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, The project is apparently code-named “Spartan”. Microsoft’s top competition Apple introduced multiple features in this year’s version of its browser Safari. With the Spartan, Microsoft hopes to create a light-weight browsing experience similar to that on Firefox and Chrome. This browser will be available for both the desktop and the mobile versions.

It is also being reported that Microsoft will ship Windows 10 with Internet Explorer 11 for the sake of backward compatibility. Microsoft wishes to reignite the browser wars that it started back in the 90’s. The winner in this battle would be the consumer who will get improved functionalities thanks to the fierce competition.

Microsoft is going to hold a press event on January 21st where we will get to know more about the consumer aspects of the Windows 10. Maybe we’ll get to know more about Spartan too. The previews of Windows 10 have been appreciated and so we have some hopes with this new browser. Windows 10 is expected to come to the market by next September; only then we’ll finally know whether Microsoft’s Spartan forms a formidable opponent to the three ruling forces of the browser game.

December 30, 2014
After Conquering the Smartphone Segment, Xiaomi Now Targets Laptops

Inspite of recent controversies surrounding the Chinese smartphone giant regarding patent infringement, the company seems undeterred. After raising funding of $1.1 Billion over the last couple of days, Xiaomi seems to be diversifying into the Laptop market as well.

Their latest addition to the portfolio (as leaks online suggest,) may be a Xiaomi MI Laptop. Earlier Xiaomi had already come out with the Mi Power bank (in the 10,400 mAh and 5,200 mAh variant) which was quite a hit. Although there were speculations regarding Xiaomi entering the Computing market however, this is the first time that there have been conclusive pictures as well as some details regarding its configuration.

The leaked specs allegedly reveal that it would have an Intel Haswell i7-4500u processor with 2 x 8GB dual channel memory. Further, it would have a large 15-inch 1080p display up front and would run on a linux OS customized by Xiaomi. Additionally, it is expected to be priced at approximately $480 (Rs. 30,000).

The leaked pictures of this laptop uncannily resemble the Macbook Air. Who knows it may even be called the Xiaomi Air when released.

The leaked pictures of this laptop uncannily resemble the Macbook Air. Who knows it may even be called the Xiaomi Air when released.

The leaked pictures of this laptop uncannily resemble the Macbook Air. Who knows it may even be called the Xiaomi Air when released.

If these specs are anything close to reality, then this seems to be a device worth every Dollar, Yuan or Rupee spent on it; which would make the Chinese a superpower in the Laptop category as well.

In the past, Xiaomi has been quite successful in selling their devices in India through flash sales via Flipkart. Rumours also surround the market that Xiaomi is working on a dual edge smartphone known as the Xiaomi Arch, a device in direct competition with the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.

Unfortunately nothing has been officially declared by Xiaomi regarding the Notebook and the fans would have to wait a while before the company announces the same. This device, if and when released, could be a game changer destroying many domestic companies which are presently enjoying the benefit of the lower and middle-end consumers.

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December 30, 2014
Xiaomi Grows Stronger With New Investments Worth $1.1 Billion

Chinese powerhouse Xiaomi refuses to look back in its pursuit to the top. The smartphone maker has become a major disruptive force in the industry. Industry Sales reports show that Xiaomi has reached the third spot in the global market, behind Samsung and Apple. That’s a phenomenal rise for a company that came into existence in 2010. Now, Xiaomi has taken a step ahead by raising $1.1 Billion in the latest round of funding, and its valuation now stands at more than $45 Billion.

The USP of Xiaomi is to provide devices with high specifications at prices comparatively lower than the competition. This coupled with an exclusive internet-based flash sale model makes the device more desirable for the users.

With more than $45 Billion in valuation, Xiaomi has now become the most valuable startup.

Investors in this round of funding included private equity firms like All-Stars Investment, DST Global, Hopu Investment Management, Yunfeng Capital, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. The company was previously been supported by Temasek Holdings Pte, Qiming Venture Partners, Morningside Venture Capital and DST.

Xiaomi has seen a meteoric rise in its valuation over just a year. Last year it garnered $10 Billion after the last round of financing. This year it crossed over $45 Billion, thereby towering over its contemporary startups like, Uber, Dropbox, Pinterest, etc. It can, in fact, be considered the most valuable startup right now.

In India, it faces some challenges, thanks to a patent infringement complaint by Ericsson. We’ll have to wait till January to know the fate of companies India plans. Xiaomi has said that India is an important market for them and by the looks of it, Indians have embraced the brand too. It just a matter of time that the company uses its new found wealth to devise a strategy to overcome its hurdles with amicable solutions, something rich corporations have done in the past. This is a rising horse that requires an equally formidable competitor to bring it down.

December 29, 2014
According to Xiaomi President, Mi5 to Arrive Next Month

Xiaomi looks upbeat and in a mood to surprise. The upcoming device by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Mi5, has already created quite a buzz in town and now the Co-Founder and President of the company, Bin Lin has disclosed that their new flagship smartphone would be unveiled in January.

Along with the revelation of a $1.1 billion funding, Bin mentioned in his post,

In January 2015, we will be unveiling our next flagship device.

However, Bin didn’t disclose the exact date of its arrival, GizChina claims that the device will launch by 15th of January, 2015.

Few days back, some pictures of the Mi5 were spotted on the internet, which demonstrated most of its display specifications.

The website also stated that the phone would have a 5.7-inch QHD display with 2560×1440 pixels resolution. It will be powered by a 64-bit Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor along with Adreno 430 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. The Mi5 is said to feature a massive 20.7MP front camera coupled with a fingerprint scanner and Sony Exmor sensor.

There are also rumours about the expected launch of Mi Pad 2 and Redmi Note 2 (temporarily titled). The Mi Pad 2 is expected to sport a 7.9-inch screen. Meanwhile the successor of Redmi Note is rumored to have a 5.5-inch display along with a 64-bit Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, 2 GB of RAM and 8 MP camera.

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4G will go on sale on 30th December. The specs quoted for the next generation Mi device seems to put it directly on top of the food chain. Xiaomi has already become the third biggest smartphone company in the world. This flagship may be a direct assault on the big boys; Apple and Samsung. And if Xiaomi prices the device as competitively as it has done in the past, this might again be a big winner for the company. Seems like there’s no force yet which might stop Xiaomi’s roaring momentum.

December 29, 2014
What To Expect From HTC One M9

Just like every year, the start of new tech quarter brings the release of some highly anticipated devices, including the HTC One M9, allegedly called “Hima.” HTC is getting ready to release the newest version of the HTC One smartphone and there is great excitement to see what the new flagship from HTC packs.

Considering the predecessor handsets, the HTC One M9 should have an excellent feature set. Recent leaks suggest that the company will be launching ‘Hima’ in March, after the Mobile World Congress 2015, same as the HTC One M8.

A recent leak revealed that HTC will hold a separate press launch for the smartphone like what the company did last year when it released the M8. According to the rumours, the flagship handset will be released alongside two other smartphones – Hima “Ace” and its Chinese variant Hima “Ultra”. The “Ace” variant will sport a plastic body and not the signature metal casing of HTC smartphones.

More importantly, these smartphones will be powered by MediaTek processors and not Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC. HTC already packed MediaTek processors in its previous smartphones – Desire 310, Desire 516 and Desire 820.

The leak also suggested that people may be in for some excellent features in the new HTC One M9. Among these are the next generation Snapdragon 810 SoC, new Sense 7 plus 3GB RAM. The camera, however, remains debatable as some people believe it to be around 16 MP while others expect a 20.7 MP resolution from Sony.

Along with this, another leak noted that the new HTC One M9 or Hima will come in several colour variants: gold, gunmetal gold, silver and grey. The leak included that the announcement may come around January, but the expected official commercial release is around March 2015.

As of now the new flagship is referred as Hima or One M9, has no solid leak regarding the name. Until HTC comes forward to confirm these rumours, it is a toss up and should be taken with a grain of salt.

December 29, 2014
Google’s Gmail Service Blocked in China

Gmail was banned in Mainland China earlier this year, however, people were able to exchange messages, videos, pictures through the mailing service. Protocols like IMAP, SMTP and POP3 and third-party apps such as Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail aided users to access Gmail but now, even that isn’t possible as the Chinese government closed the loophole. As per a recent revelation, the government has permanently shunned Gmail in the country behind the Great Firewall.

Google has continuously been observing a major traffic dip in Gmail from China and this has been evident through Google’s Transparency Report. A spokesperson from the firm said that there had been no issues from the company’s side, which could have led to this action, “We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrong on our end.”

The China-based freedom of speech advocacy group GreatFire.org argued that this is a step towards completely banishing Google from China,

I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google’s presence in China and even weaken its market overseas. Imagine if Gmail users might not get through to Chinese clients. Many people outside China might be forced to switch away from Gmail.

The East Asia’s sovereign state has made a firm boundary around itself called Great Firewall of China, which it says is a sophisticated internet censorship mechanism. This wall restricts the Chinese audience to interact with rest of the world. The decision will lead to an awkward situation for companies doing business, as almost all use Gmail to exchange conversation.

However, the Chinese government has regulated the ban, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that she has no clue about the ban. Chunying added to her statement that the government is committed to provide a healthy business environment to foreign investors, “China has consistently had a welcoming and supportive attitude towards foreign investors doing legitimate business here. We will, as always, provide an open, transparent and good environment for foreign companies in China.”

Meanwhile, as the mailing service is blocked, the users out there are left with just one alternative, Virtual Private Networks (VPN). The Gmail ban hasn’t come a surprise decision as the country has a long list of restricted websites. Along with Google Docs, Google Drive, YouTube, Twitter and many more sites blocked earlier, the recent block record includes Instagram, Dropbox, Google Maps, Google and a few more.

December 29, 2014