For a long time, CyanogenMOD has been the salvation for many users on aging Android hardware, cutting through the bloated, slow OEM experience to bring you a clean build of Android’s finest.
Despite needing to know your way around a command prompt, Android hacking has become somewhat mainstream over the last couple of years; processes have shortened and become more straightforward and users feel more comfortable ripping the bloated sheath from a brand new phone to find its AOSP guts underneath.
As MobileSyrup reports, Milestone builds are available to users who want the latest feature sets of CyanogenMOD, in this case version 10.1, without all the risky nightly business going on. Milestone 3, or M3 for short, builds are now available to most devices compatible with CyanogenMOD. These include the Nexus series as well as popular Samsung, HTC and LG devices, along with a few Acer and Asus tablets.
If you already have an older version of CM running on your device, go to Settings -> About phone -> CyanogenMod updates -> Check for Updates. For anybody just getting started with CM, hit the download site and look for your model.
Builds for different devices will be rolling out for a while, so keep checking the Cyanogen space if yours hasn’t been published yet.
The CBI on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court to bring on record the relevant facts regarding the alleged role of Sunil Bharti Mittal in a corruption case linked to allocation of additional 2G spectrum in 2002 as disclosed by its chargesheet filed in the 2G court.
In its 11-page affidavit accompanying voluminous documents gathered during the investigations, the CBI listed the sequence of events to argue that Bharti Televentures’ IPO and the allocation of additional spectrum were part of a concert involving Mittal and the late Mahajan.
As TelecomLead reports, the IPO of Bharti Tele-Ventures with a floor price of Rs 45 was the first ever 100 percent book building issue that opened for bidding from January 28, 2002 for six days and closed on February 2, 2002.
Thanks to institutional support, the IPO was oversubscribed over 2.5 times. While the total demand received under the book was Rs 2137.5 crore, the amount retained by the company at the issue price of Rs 45 per share is Rs 833.85 crore. The IPO became the backbone of Bharti Airtel’s growth in India. 2G spectrum was the game changer for Airtel’s success as it brought enough confidence to investors and valuation to the telecom operator.
The CBI said that an overall revenue loss of Rs 846 crore was caused to the exchequer by the low rates of Adjusted Gross Revenue imposed in favour of three companies.
Sunil Mittal and Essar group promoter Ravi Ruia, were summoned as accused in the additional 2G spectrum allocation case and appeared on Thursday in a Delhi court, which posted the matter for further proceedings on 16 April.
The Verge reports that Apple may be close to signing a deal with Universal Music, the largest of the major record companies, that would advance the “iRadio” cause. The report also notes that a deal with Warner Music may follow.
Apple is expected to sign its first internet radio licensing agreement with a major record label perhaps as soon as next week, multiple sources with knowledge of the talks have told The Verge. Universal Music Group, the largest of the major record companies, has reached the final stages of the negotiations and Warner Music is close behind, the sources said.
Earlier reports noted that Apple had aggressive plans to launch their said radio service this summer. It was reported earlier by the New York Post Apple had tried to negotiate lower prices to stream songs, at a rate which undercut Pandora at $0.06 per 100 songs, which record labels had rejected.
While this is a step in the right direction, the report also notes that Apple’s “iRadio” still has some significant hurdles left to jump, such as reaching a deal with Sony Music Entertainment and various music publishers. Those arrangements are reportedly not as close to being reached as the Warner and Universal deals.
Streaming music is the only place that Apple has no foot-hold, with Spotify and Pandora taking the lead. Pandora reportedly has over 200 million users, while Spotify claims 20 million total users, 5 million of which pay.
Provided that Apple does strike deals with all the necessary publishers and labels, we will likely see this new streaming service later this year, with some rumours pointing to WWDC as the big unveiling.
According to a leaked PDF acquired by Wired, Apple has agreed to pay a $53 million class action settlement for its failure to honor warranties for iPhones and iPod Touch devices which were seemingly damaged by water. The issue is that the strips inside those iOS devices (called “Liquid Contact Indicators”, or simply “LCIs”), which were made by 3M, could be triggered even if there wasn’t necessarily actual water damage. Humidity, for example, could give a false positive on the LCIs, which were located in the headphone jacks and dock connectors.
The settlement, which should be filed in San Francisco federal court in the next couple of weeks, provides cash payouts to possibly hundreds of thousands of iPhone and iPod Touch customers that say Apple did not honor either their one-year standard or two-year extended warranty.
According to several lawsuits combined in San Francisco, no matter what the problem, Apple refused to honor warranties if a white indicator tape embedded in the phone near the headphone or charging portals had turned pink or red. However, the tape’s maker, 3M, said humidity, and not water contact, could have caused the color to at least turn pink.
In November 2010 Apple adjusted their damage assessment procedures so that repair staff had to inspect devices even if a device’s indicator tape was “triggered” and changed color. Prior to that change, Apple would rely on the indicator tape when determining a liquid damage event, which would not be covered by Apple’s warranty.
The devices encompassed in the lawsuit include the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, and the first three generations of the iPod Touch. The ballpark estimate for payouts is about $200 per claim, but that figure could either rise or decline depending on how many affected users actually submit a claim. The type of device affected will also influence the extent of individual payouts.
Apple also agreed to set up a website where users can learn about the case and access all documents needed to either submit a claim via the web or by printing out a mailable form.
Blackberry finally has the lead on Android and iOS! Well at least in a poll where people voted for the things they “didn’t want”.
71.4% of the respondents agreed that “nothing would get them to buy a BlackBerry.” Only 31.3% said the same thing about Android and for the iPhone the number was even lower at 19.7%. Interestingly, Windows Phone does not appear in that survey conducted by research house Raymond James.
Here is a brief excerpt from the piece, explaining in greater detail:
“Here’s a novel way of polling consumer sentiment in the smartphone market: Don’t ask people which handset they prefer to use; ask them which one they would never use.
Research In Motion/BlackBerry is having a difficult time convincing consumers that its new operating systems, coupled with fresh smartphones, is an alternative to the top players in the market. This Raymond James survey appears to back up that claim.
As AllThingsD reports, it’s interesting to see purchasing sentiment gauged in terms of what smartphones consumers are adamantly opposed to using. If the smartphone market is truly so factionalized that some consumers say that nothing could convince them to switch away from their preferred device, then upstart platforms like Windows Phone and the like have a steep uphill climb, indeed.
What do you think about the operating system, do you feel the same way about it as the respondents of this survey?
A new batch of pics of what is supposedly the iPad 5’s bezel have emerged, showing off a design that resembles the iPad mini more than the iPad 4.
We’ve heard a lot of rumors about the iPad 5 lately, especially regarding the debut of its production and its sales, so it was about time we got a picture to match the rumors. What you see below comes from France, courtesy of nowhereelse.fr.
With the design having been largely unchanged for the past three generations, it’s time for Apple to come up with something new, and to make it fit in with the design language of the iPad mini, sleek and slim.
There is nothing really revealing about the leak apart from the thinner bezel, as expected it has slimmer bezels than the current 9.7? models. There’ll still be a front-facing camera, still be a home button and still be a white edition of the iPad when it launches.
Thinner bezels would not be a problem for people, as Apple has improved iOS so that accidental screen actions on the sides of iPads don’t register as actions/gestures which facilitate these narrower bezels.
The new iPad is expected to launch at WWDC in June alongside the “revamped” iOS 7 or even in September with the iPhone 5S.
Google has made many changes to Google Play since it debuted in 2008 under its former “Android Market” title. The latest update delivers an all-new design that aims to simplify the discovery process and more closely resemble Google’s changing aesthetics.
The company said in a blog post that the new format is rolling out Tuesday in the U.S. to Android smartphone and tablets running Android 2.2 (Froyo). International users should see the changes in coming weeks.
The new look also puts the mobile version of Google Play more in line with its Web counterpart. The older version of the Android store uses black as its main color and has an overall dark hue throughout. That is being replaced with a lighter set of colors, like the ones found when accessing Google Play through the Web. This should make Google Play for Android easier on users’ eyes.
Besides a redesign, Google also said it has sped up the checkout process so users can begin to enjoy their content more quickly. Users can purchase music, movies, TV shows, books and magazines from the digital store.
Apps are undoubtedly big business. Revenue for the world’s top app marketplaces hit $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2013 alone, analysis firm Canalys firm said, with downloads across the major four app stores topping the 13 billion mark, reports Washington Post. According to the report, that’s roughly an 11 percent increase between the last quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013.
In addition to powering iOS’s Weather and Stocks apps, Yahoo is reportedly in talks with Apple to play a more prominent role in the Cupertino company’s ecosystem. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two companies are discussing “new arrangements, including possible deals to get more content from Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News” and other properties.
While the report does not provide any true specifics regarding what an increased partnership could entail, the report notes that discussions have surrounded increased Yahoo integration into Siri.
Currently, Yahoo’s presence on iOS is limited to the Stocks app, the Weather app, a search option in mobile Safari and sports scores as accessed through Siri.
Yahoo was one of Apple’s initial partners with the iPhone and iOS. Google had a bigger foothold in key areas like Maps and as the default search engine in Safari, but Apple did away with the company’s mapping service as part of iOS 6 last year.
Data from Yahoo Finance and its weather site already come preloaded onto iPhones and Yahoo data like sports stats help power Apple’s voice-activated “assistant” Siri. But the companies continue to discuss new arrangements, including possible deals to get more content from Yahoo Sports and Yahoo News, among other Yahoo Web properties, preloaded onto Apple devices or available through an expanded partnership with Siri, one of these people said.
Yahoo does not have a rival operating system for mobile devices, unlike Google, which has soured the relationship between Apple and Google. That said, Google has been one of the most active major third-party developers on Apple’s iOS platform, bringing many of its services over in app form.
Yahoo’s motives are apparently to grow the company’s mobile presence, and a deeper partnership with Apple could certainly achieve that. The window of opportunity to rely less on Google seems to be opening for Apple, but whether the company will capitalize remains to be seen.
Bloomberg reports Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency investigators entered the Samsung Display HQ in Asan as they look into the possibility that LG partners may have leaked secrets of its technology.
Police are investigating whether partners of rival panel maker LG Display Co. leaked technology secrets and whether Samsung is involved, Nathan Kim, a spokesman for Samsung, said by phone today. The two companies have been involved in criminal probes of alleged technology theft since last year. In July, six employees of LG Display were charged over theft of OLED technology from Samsung.
“We have no reason to steal other companies’ technology, as we have the world’s best OLED technology,” Jun Eun Sun, a spokeswoman for Samsung, told Bloomberg today in Asan.
LG Display said it didn’t report Samsung to police in connection with the current investigation.
Police secured documents and computer hard disks as they probe allegations Samsung swiped OLED, or organic-light-emitting diode, panel technology in 2010 from a subcontractor of key competitor LG Display.
“The latest investigation is related to large-sized OLED TV panel technology, but the police have made the allegation themselves,” Son Young Jun, a Seoul-based LG Display spokesman.
The OLED television is more technologically advanced than other flat display panels, including liquid crystal display or plasma display panel TVs. The OLED technology is regarded to be the key technology of next-generation televisions.
Samsung says the truth will be revealed through the police investigation, adding that the probe is focused on the alleged technology leak by LG Display’s subcontractor.
2013 (well 2012-end to be precise) ushered in a new era in the smartphone world. That of 1080p Full-HD displays. The HTC One, HTC Butterfly, Samsung Galaxy S4 etc all come equipped with what many would call the next step to smartphone greatness. But is it so? Or is it all just a big marketing gimmick?
This was a rather natural move, the one to Full-HD diplays, a move we all expected manufacturers to make.
When the Apple iPhone 4 was launched, with a new “high resolution display”, Steve Jobs decided that the best name for it would be the ‘Retina Display’, by dearth of the fact it was meant to be so high-res that it’s actually more than the eye can cope with. It had a PPI of 326, so high that individual pixels were indistinguishable to the human eye at normal viewing distances!
PPI is an actual count of the number of pixels found in one inch of a display, which varies depending on the resolution of the display and the overall size of the display.
The pixellation difference between the iPhone 3GS (left), and the Retina Display of the iPhone 4.
The difference was there for all to see. Consumers were mesmerized by the clarity and sharpness of these displays. More text would show up on the screen at once, and higher-resolution images show in full on a 720p screen.
[pullquote_left] Life seemed perfect. [/pullquote_left]
The focus of manufacturers shifted from WVGA (800*480) to 720p (720*1280) displays. Companies like Samsung, HTC, LG began churning out phone after phone equipped with what they all claimed were the best displays on the market!
People rejoiced, gone were the days of pixelated displays and watering eyes. Everyone started enjoying browsing the web and reading content on their smartphones now. Life seemed perfect.
Difference between zoomed in text on a WVGA display, and a 720p display.
But as is the case with almost everything that us homo sapiens do, we wanted more. HTC duly obliged and up came the HTC Butterfly,
In addition to an impressive spec sheet and super-sized proportions, the HTC Butterfly packed the world’s first smartphone-sized 1080p Full-HD display, a five-inch Super LCD 3 boasting an insane 440 pixels per inch. Boy were we all excited!
Honestly though, once we got over all those amazing marketing lines that HTC threw at us, all that related to a Full-HD display and the massive ppi, we wondered about how useful these new displays truly were.
I had a chance to test the Butterfly soon after and was surprised at how unimpressed I was when I saw the screen. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful. It’s ridiculously sharp, everything looks perfect on it, and the sample videos that come with it truly show off what a 5″ 1080p Full-HD display is capable of, video-wise.
Despite all of that though, my reaction to it was more one of confirming what I was already expecting than it was one that blew me away. I still remember the first time I saw an iPhone 4; I was amazed at how good it looked. I didn’t get that with the Butterfly, because I fully expected it to look that way.
[pullquote_right]Back in February, Richard Yu, head of Huawei’s mobile division, claimed that a 1080p Full-HD display that is smaller than 5 inches didn’t make sense, as the human eye would be incapable of positively identifying the difference between that and a 720p panel.[/pullquote_right]
Post the launch of the latest smartphones like the HTC One and the Galaxy S4, I realised, it’s more of a psychological effect than a physical one. If today someone was to go out and buy a smartphone with a 720p display, it would keep playing at the back of his/her head that there is another phone out there in the world which has an even better display, scientifically at least, than the one he/she is getting by paying a premium price for that smartphone. Even if that means lesser battery life and more GPU usage.
And we can’t really blame ourselves, for the way these Full-HD displays are advertised, we can’t help but feel we’re missing out on something.
All that aside, it’s tough to see why anything substantially over 300ppi, the limit Apple initially cited as the “Retina” threshold, is even necessary. If pixels are indistinguishable at 300ppi, are they going to be more indistinguishable at the latest smartphones’ 440+ ppi?
It’s safe to assume now though that a Full-HD display will be the saturation point as far as screen resolution is concerned, and we hope manufacturers would now shift their focus on improving other aspects of smartphones such as battery life, durability, audio, OS, performance etc.
In conclusion, it’s clear that you can’t really differentiate between a 1080p Full-HD display and a 720p one. Yet we may find ourselves shelling out a bit more money to get a Full-HD “revolutionary” device than what we would on an equally capable 720p one. It’s all good marketing and the need for us humans to have the best of everything (even if that is not the case) in the end. At this point, it feels more like a bragging right than a feature that can make our lives better.
Panasonic has launched the new Lumix GF6, a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. The GF6 has a 16 megapixel sensor with a new Venus Engine that can shoot up to ISO 26,000 and can record videos at 1080i/60.
The Venus Engine has been created to provide users with high-performance signal processing and the advanced noise reduction system, with a max ISO 25600.
The screen on the Panasonic Lumix GF6 is a slight step up from the GF5 resolution wise: 1040K-dot screen compared to the 920K-dot screen on the outgoing model. It has a fully articulated screen that can flip 180-degrees, so you can use it for self-portraits.
The WiFi and NFC support is another advantage, though this has stopped being a novelty after the Samsung Galaxy Camera opened the floodgates for all the others.
The same can be said about the included app, which needs to be installed on smartphones/tablets and, among other things, can send/receive photos and control the camera from afar.
The Panasonic Lumix GF6 possesses built-in flash, 3.7 fps burst shooting, low-light autofocus and a 0.5-second start-up time, and JPEG and RAW shooting, plus a new mode dial and a case colored black, white, red or brown.
Finally, editing the photos/video is possible in Self Shot, Creative Panorama and Stop Motion Animation. And with the popular Creative Control mode, a total of 19 filter effects are made available to the owner.
The Panasonic Lumix GF6 will be available from the end of May, priced at £499 with the 14-42mm II lens and £649 in a double-zoom kit with the 45-150mm Mega O.I.S.
The Audi Sportscar Experience 2013 was held at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) this past weekend, and the newly launched Audi R8 V10 Plus was easily the main attraction for everyone present on hand.
The session on Sunday consisted of 3 stages namely, the slalom, the ABS test and hot laps with assisted driving meant to provide a first hand experience of track driving. The drivers got a chance to sample the TT and the S4 apart from the absurdly fast R8 V10 Plus.
Jatin Dahiya, an engineering student from Delhi, was one of the lucky few who got to try their hands on the R8 V10 Plus. He had the following to say about the experience,
The S4 and TT are brilliant machines but they’re incomparable to the new R8. The acceleration is absolutely brutal, and even though there’s so much power, you never feel like you’re losing control. The amount of grip is unbelievable when you’re going around corners, I had no trouble cornering at speeds above 110 kmph. I was pretty confident of the car’s braking abilities after the ABS test, so I managed to touch 230 kmph on the long straight without much fear. Altogether, it was an amazing experience.
The Audi Sportscar Experience is a fully-guided driving program meant to hone one’s track skills and is held at the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) in Chennai apart from the BIC. The complete lineup of cars now consists of the S4, TT, RS5, R8 V10 Coupe, R8 V10 Convertible & the R8 V10 Plus. Prices have dropped too, with packages available from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 98,000 depending on the whether you opt for basic or advanced training.
Samsung has officially announced the Samsung Galaxy Win globally, following its launch in China.
Samsung Galaxy Win packs in 4.7-inch screen with WVGA TFT display. It is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor. The smartphone will come with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which can be expanded further by up to 32GB via microSD card. It runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and houses a 2,000mAh battery. For camera, there is a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front camera.
Samsung Galaxy Win will be available in two different versions – single SIM and dual-SIM, depending on the market. The Galaxy Win launched in China was a dual-SIM model. It will be available in two colour options – Ceramic White and Titan Gray.
The Samsung Galaxy Win comes with enhanced smart features, including:
Easy Mode: A simple and intuitive homescreen mode for streamlined access to your top functions
Smart Alert: Notifications for events you may have missed (calls, messages, deadlines) when you pick up the phone
Motion UX: Utilize functions such as Mute, Refresh & Update, and Scan for other devices with simple motion controls
The Samsung Galaxy Win will launch in Asia first and later in the rest of the world. There is no pricing information available about the device.
[toggle title=”Press Release”]Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leader in mobile technology and digital media, today announced the Samsung GALAXY Win, an intuitive new smartphone designed to balance the needs of the on-the-go user with massive processing power, multitasking capabilities, and a compact design for ultimate portability. As a unique and practical option for mobile users, the GALAXY Win is equipped to handle demanding tasks while still providing an effortless user experience with intuitive features including dual SIM support for a seamless work and life balance, a large display for optimal viewing, Easy Mode for simple access to most used functions, and many more.
Designed to provide the best in mobile technology that can easily fit in your pocket, the Samsung GALAXY Win is powered by AndroidTM (Jelly Bean) and comes equipped with powerful hardware that makes both gaming and multi-media easy. With a 1.2GHz quad core processor and a 4.7 inch display, there is no app or game that the GALAXY Win can’t run with vivid color and resolution. The 5-megapixel camera is equipped with multiple features including Continuous Shot, Best Photo, and multiple color effects to make taking high-quality photos fun and easy. The GALAXY Win also allows users to enjoy extended multimedia use and longer talk time with 8GB of internal storage and a 2,000mAh battery.
As the perfect choice for users who want a device that can operate across multiple areas of their lives, the GALAXY Win offers intuitive solutions to enrich the smartphone user experience. For seamless work-to-play transitions, this new device comes with a wealth of enhanced smart features, including:
•‘Easy Mode’: A simple and intuitive homescreen mode for streamlined access to your top functions •‘Smart Alert’: Notifications for events you may have missed (calls, messages, deadlines) when you pick up the phone •‘Motion UX’: Utilize functions such as Mute, Refresh & Update, and Scan for other devices with simple motion controls
Depending on the markets, the GALAXY Win will be available in two different versions – Single SIM or Dual SIM, and available in two different colors – Ceramic White and Titan Gray. [/toggle]
Samsung could announce the launch of a new Android ‘phablet,’ or smartphone that doubles as a tablet, in June, according to Korean news website ETNews.
A Samsung offical reportedly told the website, “As of now, smartphones and smart pads are separate gadgets, but the two will converge into one product under Project Möbius.”
This is the codename for Samsung’s mammoth smartphone device, which is tipped to launch as the Samsung Galaxy Mega.
Given that key parts such as semiconductors and displays are scheduled to be mass-produced between April and May, Samsung’s 6.3-inch phablet is estimated to make its debut between June and July.
We’re not sure anybody wants a 6.3in smartphone, but Samsung seems to want to find out.
The Samsung phablet is likely to come with the dual core Exynos application processor, a 6.3 inch LCD or hybrid G1F touch screen panel, a 2 megapixel full-HD camera (front) and a 8 megapixel AF camera module (on the back).
However, Samsung may not be stopping with the 6.3-inch version. According to SamMobile, Samsung is also working on a 5.8-inch Galaxy Mega with the codename GT-I9152 that will be a little better on the specs side, as previously reported.
It is said to feature a 5.8-inch qHD (960×540) TFT display, 8-megapixel rear-camera, 2-megapixel front-camera, dual-core 1.4 GHz processor, 1.5GB of RAM, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 80211 a/b/g/n, A-GPS, 2600 mAh battery, and dimensions of 164×83.8×9.7mm. As for software, it will run Android 4.1.2 / 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, and of course, Samsung’s custom TouchWiz UX.
HTC Corp reported a record-low quarterly profit on Monday that missed analysts’ estimates after it delayed the full launch of its 2013 flagship smartphone model, the HTC One which will now debut against Samsung Electronics’ newest Galaxy.
A shortage of cameras meant HTC managed to introduce its latest HTC One phone in just three markets by the end of the first quarter instead of the planned 80. It does not expect to kick off sales across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region before the end of April.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has said its Galaxy S4 will be available in 155 countries by the end of April.
HTC said its unaudited net profit was T$85 million ($2.85 million) in its January-March first quarter, compared with T$1 billion in the prior quarter and T$10.9 billion in the same period last year. It was the lowest since HTC began reporting quarterly profits in 2004.
The Taiwanese smartphone maker was expected to post a net profit of T$467.5 million, according to the average forecast of 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
First-quarter revenue was T$42.8 billion, lower than the T$50-60 billion range that HTC had forecast in February. Revenue in the fourth quarter was T$60 billion.
“As the company is in the middle of a product launch, lumpy monthly numbers can easily be explained by the phasing of product ramp ups and wind down, “Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said in an investor’s note today, “but such a low number likely reflects a significant further loss of traction in the market.”
HTC will launch it’s flagship smartphone, the HTC One in India for a price of Rs.42,990. The smartphone will start shipping by the end of this month.
