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If popular media company “Bloomberg” is to be believed Amazon is planning a smartphone to be launched this year. Amazon is apparently already in pursuit of wireless patents and a production agreement with major OEM Foxconn for manufacturing the said Smartphone.
No further details on the matter are available, although Amazon is very capable of delivering a smartphone to the market, with their ecosystem already in place, the App Store, the Cloud services, the Music streaming and Kindle. The only thing you can be sure of is, that if Amazon does make a Smartphone there is almost a 100% chance that it will be an Android ICS 4.0 or Jelly Bean 4.1 device and it is likely to be skinned by Amazon to match the Kindle Fire UI.
According to several reports and a bunch of leaked images, Microsoft may be testing a special arched keyboard for use with Windows phone 8 devices. A keyboard that makes typing with one hand/thumb easier on touchscreen phones.
This special arched keyboard surfaced due to a leaked Microsoft Research presentation and appears to be a one-handed soft keyboard for Windows Phone 8 that Microsoft has been testing for a while now.
There are no keyboard replacements on the Windows Phone interface as of now, so a keyboard of said nature might be welcomed well.
BSNL has issued a fresh warning to users to not respond to calls from numbers starting with +92; #90 or #09, saying if they do they may fall prey to a bout of SIM card cloning. According to a report in TOI, BSNL has issued alerts to subscribers — particularly about the series mentioned above — saying that calling the number back after a missed call may make a user susceptible to SIM card cloning. There is, however, confusion over this claim made by some BSNL and intelligence officials. Cloning a SIM card requires physical access to it or the interception of the communication between the caller and his or her cellphone operator’s network.
It is said that one lakh subscribers have fallen prey to this scam. Intelligence agencies too are said to have confirmed to the service providers particularly in the UP West telecom division that such a racket is going on and the menace is growing fast.
If a subscriber attends the mobile phone before it starts ringing, the person on the other end pretends to be a call centre staff whose job is to watch whether the connectivity and call flow is seamless. The subscriber is requested to dial #09 or #90 to contact the caller in this regard.
When the subscriber does so, it leads to cloning of SIM. This enables the culprits to then utilise the information stored in the phone as also the SIM, memory and data cards.
There have been instances of subscribers receiving missed calls from numbers starting from +375 and this been on a rise in the recent past. These instances are alarming because if one tries to call back, then they’re charged a whopping $15 – $30 for that call. +375 is an international code, more specifically belonging to Belarus.
An XDA user “tgascoigne” has been able to port Nexus Jelly Bean to the HTC One X and has made it available as a ROM on the XDA website. With a lot of things currently not working. Including Wifi, Radio, Audio and Camera the OS itself is very stable and can be felt including those greasy project butter tweaks.
The ROM is originally based on CyanogenMOD and the developer states that he seems to have found a fix for most of the errors and bugs and is in the testing phase.
Once the radio and wifi do get working, expect a full hands on from iGyaan, till then check out the screenshots below and if you are feeling the excitement then rush to the link below to give it a try yourself.
Micromax has launched yet another Superfone in their Android lineup, the Superfone Ninja 2 is a successor to the Ninja which came with Voice Assistant Aisha. The phone is powered by a 800 MHz Powerful processor and will come with 2.3 Gingerbread Android.
The front features a 3.5 Inch Full Touch Screen, and on the back is a 3 MP fixed focus camera. For battery it is juiced by a 1400 mAH Battery and has a microSD slot making the storage Expandable Up to 32 GB.
There is no information on Price, or availability of AISHA on the Superfone NINJA 2. We will update you once we have more info.
Samsung is all set to introduce its new projector smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Beam, in India. The phone is available online for pre-order on the Samsung India e-store. Available for Rs 29,900, the entire amount has to be payed upfront.
The Samsung Galaxy Beam’s 15 lumens projector allows users to display and share multimedia content anywhere on a large luminous projector screen – walls, ceilings or improvised flat surfaces. It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, has an internal memory of 8GB, which is expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card. The Samsung Galaxy Beam has 768MB RAM. and a 4.0-inch (480×800) TFT display along with a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera with flash and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera.
Already jumped on the dual sim Android bandwagon with a 1 GHz processor? Then you must be sporting one of these bad boys, The Karbonn A9 and Spice Mi425 essentially have the same set of hardware underneath. So they end up with the same rooting process.
A XDA-Dev forum user by the name of “fonehacker” has been able to root his Karbonn A9 and has passed along the information in the threads. All other users have then been able to successfully root their devices including Spice Mi425s with the process.
If you are sporting either of the two and feeling the urge to get root access into your Android phone, then use the process at your own risk. We are yet to test the process, and see no real advantage from it as of now. Hit the link below to try it out for yourself, be warned rooting might lead to warranty termination.
HTC has started pushing out the new Android 4.0 ICS update only for the non co-branded smartphones(contract-free) HTC EVO 3D devices in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region as of now. the Over the Air update consist of a deployable package which will update your existing EVO 3D to Android 4.0.4. The update is 300 MB in size and consists of the Android 4.0 ICS code with Sense UI on top,
No release notes were found attached with the update but we can expect the regular set of Android 4.0 ICS features included in the update.
Have you already upgraded to Android 4.0.3? Does the EVO 3D now perform as smoothly as you expected? Are there any bugs or glitches to report?
Other HTC devices are expected to start getting the ICS update in the coming days.
Sony has started pushing the Android 4.0.4 update to the Xperia Line in India today. The Update went live in the morning and we have already updated the Xperia S, So, we should be ready with a kick hands on Video Soon. In the mean time see what Sony has to say about their new update.
Some new Android 4 features:
Lock screen with improved functionality
Resizable widgets (improved personalization)
Improved control of your mobile data consumption
Recent Apps button for clear overview of your applications
The new apps including the “WALKMAN”, “Album” and “Movies” applications will come standard with the update.
The “WALKMAN” application blends the best of signature Sony audio technology with social features; to discover the music your friends like and share personal favorites. Facebook integration gives you a visual way to interact with content – accessing album art, artist images and information, directly from Gracenote®
The “Album” application brings new intuitive ways to sort and browse high quality photos and videos in blazing speed, as well as providing instant viewing, commenting and sharing of photos on Facebook and other online albums, leveraging the great camera capabilities of Xperia S
The “Movies” application streamlines the playback and viewing of movies in high quality audio and video, whilst using intelligent database search to grab movie posters and information for a richer experience
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Today, we bring you some exciting news! As planned, we’re now starting our software rollout for Xperia S including, Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 upgrade and new unique media applications.
First off, we’re excited to introduce a completely new way to experience your media – your music, images, videos, movies and films – with our new “WALKMAN”, “Album” and “Movies” applications:
The “WALKMAN” application blends the best of signature Sony audio technology with social features; to discover the music your friends like and share personal favorites. Facebook integration gives you a visual way to interact with content – accessing album art, artist images and information, directly from Gracenote®
The “Album” application brings new intuitive ways to sort and browse high quality photos and videos in blazing speed, as well as providing instant viewing, commenting and sharing of photos on Facebook and other online albums, leveraging the great camera capabilities of Xperia S
The “Movies” application streamlines the playback and viewing of movies in high quality audio and video, whilst using intelligent database search to grab movie posters and information for a richer experience
And now for the software upgrade to Android version 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich– some of the cool features you can look forward to are:
Lock screen with improved functionality
Resizable widgets (improved personalization)
Improved control of your mobile data consumption
Recent Apps button for clear overview of your applications
Be sure to check out our video above for a look at some of this new functionality!
The update will be directly accessible in your phone over mobile networks and WiFi, but also with the option of upgrading using a computer – either with our web-based Xperia Update, PC Companion or Bridge for Mac.
If you’d like or need help on installing the software, we’ve pulled together a step-by-step run through video on our Xperia support YouTube channel.
All Xperia S users will get a notification when the upgrade is ready, but direct availability in the phone may vary across different carriers.
It’s also worth noting that the software package required for download is around 200MB, so you might want to consider using WiFi, if directly upgrading from your Xperia S.
The rollout will continue over the next few weeks* and as usual, we will continue to keep you up-to-date with our progress, handling as much of your feedback along the way as possible.
Just as before, you’ll also be able to see the released software kits (customized software specific to your operator) on our support community; http://talk.sonymobile.com – please continue to check in if yours is not yet listed, as it’ll be updated when new kits become available.
I’ve enjoyed getting to grips with my Xperia S over the past few weeks and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to taste this sweet software treat
While thousands complain about the fact that their devices will not be upgraded to Windows Phone 8, Microsoft tries to give it a positive look. Ben Rudolph demonstrates hows Windows Phone 7.8 will look on existing Windows Phone 7.5 devices, while he shows off a Lumia 900 running 7.8.
The video shows how the new home screen will work on existing devices, including restructuring of tiles. The company is trying to push on on features that will be added, but there is no mention of the features that will be left out for those who actually took a skinny dip into the Windows Phone Pool.
All blowing up news aside, Samsung is hopeful that the company will be able to sell over 10 million units by the end of July 2012. Samsung had already earlier announced that the company has received 9 million preorders for their flagship, and now expect to sell another million.
Samsung timed the launch to perfection and took advantage of Apple’s new iPhone launch cycle, which now happens in October rather than June. According to Korea Economic Daily, the factory in charge of the production of the Galaxy S3 is working to its maximum capacity, finishing 5 million units per month. Samsung did not wish to comment on these figures, noted the Korean daily.
The Galaxy S2 has sold more than 20 million units since its release a year ago. Its succesor, which is bigger and more powerful is in a good position to beat that number.
Samsung is currently investigating a report that one of its Galaxy S3 handsets exploded in a user’s car in Ireland, and another model allegedly exploded in a Korean schoolboy’s pocket.
The news comes as the electronics giant gears up to launch its flagship handset in its native Korea on Monday. A schoolboy in Korea was earlier reported to claim his handset’s battery exploded while in his back pocket.
In that incident, Samsung claimed the external pressure pre-empted on the device was what caused it to explode.
The Galaxy S3 is Samsung’s flagship device and these incidents would certainly put a doubt in the consumer’s mind.
There’s been some talk that HTC is readying a 5.3-inch Galaxy Note challenger of their own by the name of the One XXL . Other than its size, we really haven’t heard much else.
But a new leak is showing us that the HTC One XXL might be a next generation One series smartphone featuring 720p HD display and a fast quad-core mobile processor, it could be a beefed up version of the HTC One X. The details were leaked in the screenshot and shows off all the specs that make an Android fan’s heart flutter. We got a 4.7-inch display, quad-core Qualcomm S4 processor, 2GB of RAM, 8MP camera and 1.8MP front facing camera.
The first BlackBerry device running Research In Motion’s new operating software will not have a physical keyboard, only a touchscreen one.
The BlackBerry 10 software will be offered on devices with physical keyboards in the future, but RIM spokeswomen Rebecca Freiburger declined to say when. RIM is expected to start selling BlackBerry 10 touch-screen devices this year.
RIM’s hopes hang on the BlackBerry 10 system, which is meant to offer the multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience customers now demand. The Canadian company is preparing to launch the new software later this year, just as North Americans are abandoning BlackBerrys for iPhones and Android devices.
If those keyboard-loving customers haven’t already jumped ship, I doubt a couple of months is going to make a huge difference. It’s better for RIM to focus one piece of hardware–one that represents where the industry is headed–than launch Blackberry 10 with a lackluster keyboard model just to appease a fraction of its shrinking customer base.
