Category: Tech

Latest Technology News, Alternative, Bio-Tech, Medical, R&D and Innovations

Samsung Galaxy J2 (2017) Officially Listed On Samsung India’s Website

Samsung has quietly listed the Samsung Galaxy J2 (2017) on its official India website. The price of the phone however, has not been revealed yet but, indicates that the smartphone will be available in India soon. It will be available in two colours, Metallic Gold and Absolute Black.

The Galaxy J2 2017 has a 4.7 inch 960 x 540 px Super AMOLED display. The device is powered by a 2000 mAh battery while there is no mention of the OS version the device is running but, it is fair to assume that the smartphone will run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Under the hood, the device has the Exynos chipset, 1.3 GHz quad core processor, 1GB RAM, and 8GB of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD card. The Galaxy J2 (2017) comes with Smart Manager for automatic memory management which will help delete duplicate images on the device automatically, and also delete saved APK files to utilise the storage. The smartphone also comes with Ultra Data Saving mode that the company claims can help consumers save up to 50 percent data.

On the optics front, the device has a rear-facing 5MP camera with autofocus and a flash. On the front is a 2MP camera.

Prolific Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom has a history of accurately predicting the price of Samsung smartphones. The offline retailer has said that the device will be available at a price of Rs 7390. At this price, the smartphone will compete with the likes of Xiaomi Redmi 4A, Moto C and the Moto E4 Plus.

October 11, 2017
This Could Trick You Into Giving Away Your Apple ID Password
If you are an iPhone user, you must be used to the random popup asking for your Apple ID and password because of some app running in the background. It is as normal as it gets and we barely think twice before entering the password. However, there is a new phishing attack which can trick you into giving up your password and cause serious privacy concerns.

A blog post from developer Felix Krause explains how a fake popup could be easily used to trick someone into handing over their Apple ID and password. The developer explains that creating a fake popup doesn’t require extraordinary coding skills. Any iOS engineer can make the Apple ID password prompt and send that popup. The password can then be logged in the app for anyone to access it. It takes less than 30 lines of code and could seemingly be dropped in any legitimate iOS app and sneak past App Store review teams.

Showing a dialog that looks just like a system popup is super easy, there is no magic or secret code involved, it’s literally the examples provided in the Apple docs, with a custom text. I decided not to open source the actual popup code, however, note that it’s less than 30 lines of code and every iOS engineer will be able to quickly build their own phishing code.

He says he’s already filed this issue as a radar with Apple and explains that it could be fixed by Apple not allowing passwords to be entered in popups, but rather only in the Settings app/App Store. He notes in his blogs that this has been an issue with desktop browsers for years, with websites sending popups which look identical to the system popups.

This seems like a serious issue and until Apple comes up with a solution, Krause has pointed out a few ways you can protect yourself from this phishing attack:

Hit the home button, and see if the app quits:
- If it closes the app, and with it the dialog, then this was a phishing attack
- If the dialog and the app are still visible, then it’s a system dialog. The reason for that is that the system dialogs run on a different process, and not as part of any iOS app.
- Don’t enter your credentials into a popup, instead, dismiss it, and open the Settings app manually. This is the same concept, like you should never click on links on emails, but instead open the website manually
- If you hit the Cancel button on a dialog, the app still gets access to the content of the password field. Even after entering the first characters, the app probably already has your password.
October 11, 2017
Acer Nitro 5 Spin Convertible Gaming Notebook Launched In India Starting At Rs 79,990

Acer has launched a new gaming laptop in India, the Nitro 5 Spin for a starting price of Rs 79,990.

The laptop has a 15.6 inch 1920 x 1080 px IPS LCD touch enabled display. The laptop boasts of Dolby Audio Premium, Acer Smart Amplifier and Acer TrueHarmony which the company claims will produce immersive sound experience thanks to the two front facing speakers and a sub-woofer. The device has the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7-8550U or Core i5-8250U processor along with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics, up to 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, and coupled with a 256GB SATA SSD and 1TB HDD hard drives. The laptop runs Windows 10 Home and is powered by a 4-cell 3320 mAh Li-ion battery.

The Acer Nitro 5 Spin includes a USB 3.1 Type-C port, a USB 3.0 port (featuring power-off USB charging), two USB 2.0 ports, and an HDMI 2.0 connection.

The Nitro 5 Spin is a convertible laptop and hence can be folded into tablet while media consumption or gaming.

Chandrahas Panigrahi, Chief Marketing officer and Consumer Business Head, Acer said in a statement :

We are excited to launch the first convertible gaming Notebook ‘Nitro 5 Spin’ in India. Its convertible design and 8th Gen Intel Core processor with Nvidia 10 series graphics card makes it a versatile gaming device that opens up new usage scenarios for enthusiast gamers and creative professionals on the go.

Available to buy via Flipkart and leading offline retail stores, the Intel Core i7 option with the 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD is priced at Rs. 94,990.

October 11, 2017
Some Google Home Minis Just Won’t Stop Listening To You

Google recently hosted its launch event on October 4th and announced the new Google Home Mini. A US$49 smart speaker to compete with Amazon Echo Dot but, with Google’s own AI Google Assistant. The Home Mini was available for pre-orders from 4th October and some of the early units shipped have a defect that was anticipated due to the “always listening” feature.

Smart home products are a great addition and smart speakers like the Amazon Echo, Google Home do make your life easier with voice commands. But, the fact that these speakers are always listening to you and how much of that is recorded and sent back to the company is a cause for scepticism in the minds of a lot of consumers.

Artem Russakovskii of Android Police had his Google Home Mini delivered a few days ago and started experiencing abnormality in the smart speaker’s behaviour. The speaker won’t respond to most of the commands and the reason turned out to be the fact that it was constantly being triggered to listen to commands.

Google has responded to this defect and acknowledged that some of the Google Home Minis do have this serious issue :

We have learned of an issue impacting a small number of Google Home Minis that could cause the touch mechanism to behave incorrectly. We are rolling out a software update today that should address the issue.

Google says that the long press function, also found on the Google Home is at the centre of this issue. The Home Mini fell prey to a “phantom touch” issue wherein it registered a physical long press and started listening to the users in order to provide an answer. Google however, was quick to work on fixing this major privacy issue. A minor software update has been already pushed to Home Mini which disables that hardware gesture, leaving the Home Mini only accessible via the “OK Google” command. Google has already updated its documentation to reflect that this is temporarily disabled, and it may stay that way once units are fully available on the market.

October 11, 2017
TAGG Launches Sports+ Bluetooth Earphones For Rs 5999

TAGG has launched the new Sports+ bluetooth earphones in India at a price of Rs 3499.

TAGG Sports+ comes with a Nano-coating technology that protects the wire from sweat. The earbuds have a built-in microphone and in-line controls like the play, pause and the volume buttons on the wire itself. The earphones are equipped with Bluetooth 4.1 with a range of about twenty feet and are compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

The earphones have a magnetic lock so that they can sit tightly on your neck without flailing about while you work out. With a 120 mAh battery, the earphones have a battery life of up to 8 hours and a standby time of up to 180 hours. The earphones are charged via micro USB cable and a carrying pouch is included in the retail box.

The earphones are only available in a black colour and can be bought right now for a discounted price of Rs 3499.

October 11, 2017
OnePlus Found Recording Personal Data Of Users

In a yet another case of a Chinese smartphone maker recording sensitive data of its users, OnePlus has been found to do something similar. Normally, there is a certain level of information sent to the company like crashes, bugs and general issues that could be fixed by a software update. However, OnePlus was found to collect data that includes IMEI numbers, MAC addresses, mobile network names and IMSI prefixes, serial numbers, and more.

Christopher Moore, a software engineer, made a post on his personal blog showing his discoveries. During a Hack Challenge, Moore began proxying the internet traffic from his OnePlus 2 using OWASP ZAP. What this means is that it essentially allowed him to view all incoming and outgoing internet traffic from his phone. Among the usual network activity, he noticed a large amount of requests to open.oneplus.net. Through deeper inspection, he found the domain name to be an Amazon AWS instance owned by OnePlus. He was able to decrypt the data (using the authentication key on the phone) which revealed that his OnePlus 2 was sending time-stamped information about locks, unlocks, and unexpected reboots.

It is quite usual for a phone to log OS crashes as it allows developers to find a fix for such bugs. But, as Moore notes in his blog, sending the data of every time the phone is locked or unlocked seems a bit intrusive. Moore discovered that some of the data being sent to OnePlus’ servers included the phone’s IMEI number, the phone number, MAC addresses, mobile network names and IMSI prefixes, Wi-Fi connection info, and the phone’s serial number. He later found out that the data included every time an app was opened.

OnePlus had this to say in response:

We securely transmit analytics in two different streams over HTTPS to an Amazon server. The first stream is usage analytics, which we collect in order for us to more precisely fine tune our software according to user behavior. This transmission of usage activity can be turned off by navigating to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Advanced’ -> ‘Join user experience program’. The second stream is device information, which we collect to provide better after-sales support.

There are rumours that OnePlus is working on the OnePlus 5T which might be launched in November and it is to be seen if this information of sensitive data recording will have any repercussions on the company’s plans.

October 11, 2017
Samsung Launches The Galaxy Tab A In India For Rs 17990

Samsung has continued to keep refreshing its tablet lineup by launching the Galaxy Tab A in India at a price of Rs 17990. The same tablet was first launched in Vietnam as Galaxy Tab A 8.0.

The Galaxy Tab A (2017) has an 8 inch 1280 x 800 TFT display with a brightness of 480 nits. The tablet is powered by a 5000 mAh battery and runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box with Samsung’s custom ToucnWiz UI on top. Under the hood, the device has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chipset, 2GB of RAM, 16GB onboard storage which can be expanded up to 256GB via microSD card.

In terms of optics, the tablet has an 8MP rear-facing camera with an f/1.9 aperture with an LED flash. To the front of the tablet is a 5MP camera.

One of the highlights of the Galaxy Tab A (2017) is the new Bixby Home support that brings Samsung’s AI assistant to the mid-range tablet. Bixby understands and responds to the user’s behaviour and routine to suggest content and apps based on usage and location, among other things.

The tablet will go on sale on October 10th across retail outlets and will be available in Black and Gold colour variants. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017) is 4G-enabled, and Samsung has announced a data offer for Reliance Jio users, who will get up 180GB additional 4G data over the course of one year. Another launch offer includes a one-time screen replacement offer for those who buy the tablet before November 9.

October 10, 2017
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Might Have A Screen Embedded Fingerprint Sensor

Ever since Qualcomm showed off the screen embedded fingerprint sensor earlier in 2017, there were rumours of the Samsung Galaxy Note8 and the iPhone X will adopting the technology. However, it was determined that the time was too less for these companies to implement a technology that was in a nascent stage. The Galaxy Note8 was launched with the similar awkwardly placed fingerprint sensor at the back and the iPhone X got rid of the TouchID all together and replaced it with facial recognition system called FaceID.

Now, Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has stated that Samsung’s next Note device may have such an “under-display optical fingerprint” technology when it launches in the second half of 2018. A fingerprint sensor has slowly become a staple in all smartphones nowadays. With bezels getting thinner and smartphone manufacturers not convinced with a fingerprint sensor at the back, thiis technology seems to be the next big thing in the smartphone industry. It is however, a tricky technology to implement and there aren’t a lot of successful products in the market which use this technology. In May 2016, LG developed a fingerprint sensor that sits under the display and earlier in 2017, at MWC Shanghai, Vivo unveiled the first smartphone with a under-display fingerprint sensor based on the technology developed by Qualcomm.

There are three companies vying to be the supplier to Samsung, of which, BeyondEyes and Samsung LSI have already reported to have shipped samples to Samsung. Egis is the third of the top contenders, who currently supplies fingerprint sensors for Samsung’s phones.

If and when this technology is perfected by the smartphone makers is yet to be seen and the question is more about when rather than if. The Samsung Galaxy Note9 and the 2018 iPhone are far from launch right now and the closer we get to their eventual launch, the more details about the screen embedded fingerprint sensor will be spilled out.

October 10, 2017
The Apple iPhone 7 Was The Best-Selling Smartphone Globally In The First-Half Of 2017

Apple launched the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X on September 12th. The iPhone 8 devices went on sale in September and the iPhone X will be available to buy in November. However, it is the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus which are making the headlines for being the best-selling smartphones in the first half of 2017.

The Apple iPhone 7 outsold all other smartphone models globally during the first six months of 2017, followed by the iPhone 7 Plus. The Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Plus held the number three spot, followed by iPhone 6s and Galaxy S8 in in fourth and fifth places, respectively. Galaxy S8 Plus was the number six best seller, with slightly less volume than the Galaxy S8.

The report notes that the 4.7 inch variant of the iPhone continued to be the best seller in first half of three consecutive years beginning in 2015. However, their market share continues to fall, dropping from 10 percent in 2015 to 7 percent in 2016, and 5 percent in 2017. Although the latest iPhone models secured top positions, shipment volume declined compared to their respective predecessor models, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, during the same period in 2016.

Five Samsung phones, four Apple phones, and one Oppo smartphone ranked in the top 10 most-shipped smartphones in the first half of 2017.

The number of smartphones with more than a million shipments in the first half of the year also increased to 22 from 17 in 2016.

This is a direct result of smartphone OEM efforts to select and concentrate in order to improve product portfolios and increase profitability. In addition, more Chinese OEMs are selling their smartphone models outside of China, which intensifies competition and generates more globally popular models.

The report further delves into the numbers and states that out of 22 smartphones with over a million shipments a month 8 were from Chinese OEMs. Out of the eight, five were from Oppo, two from Xiaomi and one from Huawei.

The first half of 2018 will be an interesting battle with Apple having three new iPhones in the market with the iPhone X being the clear-cut consumer favourite due to the new design. Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9+ will also be launched in early 2018 and will be the only Android phones in the market with the Snapdragon 845 chipset under the hood.

October 10, 2017
Apple iPad Pro Could Get FaceID Next Year

After unveiling the iPhone X with FaceID, there are reports that the new iPad Pro will have the facial recognition system as well. The frequently reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a note predicting that iPad Pro models released next year will include depth-sensing cameras and Apple’s Face ID tech.

As of now, there is no more information on the subject yet. As always, these rumours need to be taken with a pinch of scepticism as the iPhone X isn’t released yet and Apple has no idea how the consumers will respond to the security system especially since it replaced the beloved TouchID.

The note however, states that the TrueDepth camera could only be offered on the iPad Pro models and not the cheaper priced models. This makes sense as the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models are the flagships in the iPad lineup and Apple already uses Apple Pencil and Smart Connector as differentiators. Another interesting development will be Apple’s decision as to where to place the cameras and the placement of the home button. The existing frame around the display on the iPad Pro is sufficient to have both the TrueDepth cameras and the home button. KGI notes that part of the goal is unifying the user experience between iPads and the iPhone X.

The report also notes that TrueDepth camera being available on both the iPhone and iPad will increase developer adoption. Touch ID automatically switches to Face ID in apps, but the new camera enables new depth features as well.

Again, all 0f this is far from fruition right now as the iPhone X is yet to be launched. Only once the smartphone is available to the consumers and they start using FaceID as the daily security system is when we will know whether this innovation will be carried on to other Apple products or not.

October 10, 2017
OnePlus 5T To Be Launched In November

There have been reports suggesting that OnePlus will drop the 5T and instead release the OnePlus 6 in early 2018. Now, GizmoChina has reported that the OnePlus 5T is indeed in the pipeline and might be released as soon as November 2017. Releasing the OnePlus 5T will keep up the launch tradition that OnePlus is trying to set in the market, as it released the 3T a few months after the OnePlus 3 was launched in mid-2016.

Where the OnePlus 3T was an incremental upgrade with just a newer chipset, the OnePlus 5T will be a considerable upgrade over the OnePlus 5. The new phone is expected to have a 6 inch 2160 x 1080 px display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. When the OnePlus 5 was launched, one of the major criticism it faced was the thick bezels around the display, especially after it was dubbed as the “flagship killer.” The OnePlus 5T will have minimum bezels and feature a tall display, like a lot of flagship devices of 2017.

The report also mentions that the Slate Grey variants of the OnePlus 5 are out of stock in several regions including the UK, which it claims indicates OnePlus is indeed looking at launching the new model.

The renders revealed show what the OnePlus 5T might look like. The edges are curved and the bezels remind us of the Samsung Galaxy S8 which is not a bad thing, because the Galaxy S8 is one of the best looking devices of 2017.

October 10, 2017
Honor 7X Price, Specifications, Design Leaked

Huawei’s sub-brand Honor’s X series of smartphones have been budget offerings with premium features over the years. Honor posted a poster of the upcoming 7X on its official Weibo page, teasing the launch on October 11th. Now, new leaks of the smartphone shed more light on what the phone would look like and what might be under the hood.

A listing for the Honor 7X has appeared on Chinese telecommunication authority TENAA’s website, providing key details about the smartphone’s specifications. The Honor 7X will have a 6-inch 2160 x 1080, 18:9 aspect ratio display. As indicated by the TENAA images, the device is feature a slim, metal unibody, with a design reminiscent of the iPhone 6. The Honor 7X will be available in three colours, black, blue and gold. The smartphone will weight 165 grams, with dimensions coming in at 156.5 x 75.3 x 7.6mm. Under the hood, the Honor 7X will have the Kirin 659 chipset, 4GB RAM, 64GB onboard storage which will be expandable via microSD card. Powering the device will be a 3240 mAh battery and it will run Android 7.1 Nougat with EMUI on top out of the box.

On the optics front, the device might have a 12MP + 2MP camera setup, similar to the ones found on other Honor budget-oriented smartphones. On the front will be an 8MP camera.

The price is rumoured to be about US$270 (Rs 17,600 approx.). The global availability of the phone is not yet revealed and we will have to wait for its October 11th launch for more details.

October 9, 2017
Big Bazaar And Xiaomi Partner Up To Sell Redmi Phones Offline

In order to solidify its already growing presence in the offline market in India, Xiaomi has teamed up with Big Bazaar. You will soon be able to buy the Xiaomi Redmi 4 and Redmi Note 4 at Big Bazaar outlets.

Wait no more! Xiaomi is coming soon to your nearest Big Bazaar, so get ready to have your very own Redmi 4 & Redmi Note 4! @XiaomiIndia pic.twitter.com/DrzXh9eaY3

— Big Bazaar (@BigBazaar) October 7, 2017

Xiaomi, just like a lot of other Chinese OEMs came to India focusing on the online market. Over the course of time, smartphone makers realised that an untapped offline market might yield them better results than focusing more on the online market. OnePlus, a company that has solely operated through its online channels recently announced a partnership with Croma. OnePlus also has its OnePlus experience stores but, there are only two in India. So, a deal with an offline retailer with a widespread operation in India made sense.Apart from Big Bazaar, Xiaomi already sells its phones via multiple offline chains like Sangeetha Mobiles, LOT, Big C, Univercell and more along with its own Mi Home stores across country.

With record-breaking sales figures, the Redmi Note 4 has been Xiaomi’s best-selling smartphone. The company turned a few competitors’ heads when it announced that it has shipped over 10 million smartphones in September globally, and over 25 million phones in India in 3 years since entering the market. Xiaomi has been selling its mid-rangers like hot cakes in the current festive season. During the sales on Amazon and Flipkart over a course of 3 days, Xiaomi sold over a million devices.

It is no surprise that every company wants a presence in the offline market. Google recently conceded that Pixel phones in 2016 didn’t do all that well in India because of a lack of offline presence in India. Smartphone makers which came to India as online exclusive have branched out to the offline market to tap the people who are sceptical about online shopping and like to buy a phone after physically using it.

October 9, 2017
Windows 10 Mobile Is Done And Dusted

Windows OS powered mobile phones have seen a decline in market share since the resurgence of iOS and Android. The Windows OS run mobile phones came into being way before Apple and Google unveiled their operating systems. Having been active in the smartphone industry even after seeing a considerable decline, Microsoft has finally seen the writing on the wall, that there aren’t enough people using Windows 10 Mobile or enough apps to make it viable.

Corporate vice president of Windows 10 and head of Microsoft’s “PC-Tablet-Phone” division, Joe Belfiore, said took to Twitter Sunday to announce that Microsoft will continue to support Windows 10 Mobile with bug fixes and security updates, but new features and hardware are no longer a priority for the company.

Of course we'll continue to support the platform.. bug fixes, security updates, etc. But building new features/hw aren't the focus. ? https://t.co/0CH9TZdIFu

— Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) October 8, 2017

According to the most recent sales figures from Kantar Worldpanel, Windows phones account for just 1.3 percent of the market in the US, while BlackBerry is at 0.3 percent. Compare that with Android’s 64 percent share of new phone sales and 34 percent for iOS, and you can see why Microsoft has taken this step.

Microsoft tried to leverage its legacy and dominance in the PC space by billing the Windows 10 smartphones to have the “everywhere OS” that would let users shift seamlessly between desktop, tablet and mobile. But, lack of apps and the increasing dominance of Android and Apple in the smartphone space didn’t let the Windows 10 platform flourish.

Joe Belfiore continued to say on twitter that Microsoft has tried “very hard” to provide incentives for app developers to get apps onto Windows Mobile but, the “volume of users is too low for most companies to invest” in the ecosystem.

We have tried VERY HARD to incent app devs. Paid money.. wrote apps 4 them.. but volume of users is too low for most companies to invest. ?? https://t.co/ePsySxR3LB

— Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) October 8, 2017

October 9, 2017
BlackBerry Announces The Motion With 4000 mAh Battery

There were a lot of rumours of BlackBerry launching an all-touchscreen Android smartphone named “Krypton.” In early October, there were leaked images of a BlackBerry smartphone with no physical keyboard named ‘Motion’. Now, BlackBerry has made it official by announcing the new BlackBerry Motion at an electronics trade show in Dubai.

Alain Lejeune, Global General Manager for BlackBerry Mobile, had this to say about the new BlackBerry Motion:

While the initial launch of our newest BlackBerry smartphone will be limited, this is an exciting addition to our growing BlackBerry smartphone portfolio, setting a strong foundation for further portfolio and market growth in the years to come.

The BlackBerry Motion has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 IPS LCD display with DragonTrail glass on top for protection. Powering the device is a massive 4000 mAh battery and it runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. Under the hood, the device has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 2.0GHz octacore processor, 4GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage, which is expandable up to 2TB via microSD card. The convenience key found on the KEYone retains its place on the Motion as well. The convenience key is a physical button that can be remapped to launch any action or application. The fingerprint sensor is housed inside the home button which is designed like the BlackBerry logo. Two touch capacitive button for navigation sit on the either side of the home button.

On the optics front, the BlackBerry Motion has a 12MP rear-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture and 1.55-micron pixel size. The rear camera is capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps. On the front is an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture and an LED flash.

TCL and BlackBerry are releasing the Motion in a handful of markets at first, with other markets following in Q4 of 2017. It’ll retail in the UAE for Dh1699 and in Saudi Arabia for 1699 Riyal. That translates to around US$460 or Rs 30,000.

October 9, 2017