Category: Tech

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

iPad Pro Official in India: Unboxing and First Look

Apple’s iPad Pro is finally official in India. The massive iPad is available at a starting price of Rs. 67,900.

The 12.9-inch LED display iPad Pro is powered by an A9X processor with a 64-bit architecture and the M9 motion co-processor seen in the current-gen iPhones. The device also features an 8MP rear camera with f/2.4 aperture and a 1.2MP front. Check out the unboxing of the iPad Pro below.

The price of the iPad Pro as well as the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard are now listed in the Apple India website. The iPad Pro comes in 3 variants:

iPad Pro	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi + Cellular
32 GB	Rs. 67,900	–
128 GB	Rs. 79,990	Rs. 91,990

Meanwhile, the Apple Pencil will cost Rs. 8,600 in India while the Apple Smart Keyboard has a price tag of Rs. 14,900. Here’s a spec table of the iPad Pro:

Specification	iPad Pro
Display	12.9-inch, LED backlit display
Resolution	2732×2048 resolution at 264 ppi
Dimensions	305.7×220.6×6.9 mm
Weight	713 grams (Wi-Fi) 723 grams (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
Chipset	A9X third-generation chip 64-bit architecture, M9 co-processor
RAM	4 GB
Front Camera	1.2 MP
Rear Camera	8 MP f/2.4
Storage	32 GB/ 128 GB
Battery	10,307 mAh battery
Connectivity	Wi?Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac); dual channel (2.4GHz and 5GHz), MIMO, bluetooth 4.2, LTE (for Cellular)
SIM Card	Nano SIM
Operating System	iOS 9

Source

December 15, 2015

OnePlus 2 Mini Leaked in Benchmarks

OnePlus has been busy this year trying to expand its smartphone lineup. The company not only released a 5.5-inch OnPlus 2 a couple of months ago, but also a smaller 5-inch OnePlus X. But OnePlus isn’t quite happy just yet. It looks like the company is planning to go even smaller with a 4.6-inch OnePlus Mini. Apparently, GFXBench has data on an alleged OnePlus Mini device that was recently discovered.

Now its important to know that there is very little credibility to this data as it is possible for anyone to spoof a device on the internet. However, if the benchmark does turn out true, it would take one back a couple of months when people were confused whether the OnePlus X is actually the OnePlus Mini.

OnePlus 2

The OnePlus device listed would feature a 4.6-inch, 1080p display, a Snapdragon 810 SoC, potentially 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 12-megapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front, all running on Android 5.1.1 OS.

There is some credibility to the story if one remembers the confusion behind OnePlus X being called OnePlus Mini before launch. While the OnePlus X came with a complete design change, going for an Onyx and glass and the limited edition Ceramic bodies, the OnePlus Mini will likely be a miniaturised version of the OnePlus 2. If this is the case, then the company will likely go with the same design aesthetics as it did with the OnePlus 2.

Source

December 15, 2015
New Samsung Galaxy A9 Leaked Images Reveal a 6-inch Display and 4000 mAh Battery

Leaked images from China have emerged revealing that contrary to what we know so far, the Samsung Galaxy A9 is going to have a 6 inch 1080p Super AMOLED display. It will also have a battery marked at 4000 mAh to match the huge screen.

The other specs are expected to include a 13 MP main camera, 8 MP front camera, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. Additionally, the phone would also have a fingerprint scanner, will run on octa-core Snapdragon 620 and come equipped with Samsung Pay.

Galaxy A9 will be part of Samsung’s Galaxy A line-up for 2016 and therefore is expected to arrive by January next year, first in China and later in rest of the world. It would be priced around $450 or close to Rs. 30,000.

December 15, 2015

Qiku Q Terra: Unboxing and Hands-On

There is something unique about the Chinese smartphone companies. They just keep on coming with phone after phone that look pretty great. Qiku is the latest entrant in the smartphone game. The joint venture Qiku Network Technologies Co Ltd launched its first phone, the Q Terra, around two weeks ago priced at Rs. 19,999 (with invite) and Rs. 21,999 (without invite).

The Qiku (pronounced cheeku) Q Terra is a massive phone. The 6.0-inch screen does indeed look big especially when the display covers the sides end-to-end. The phone is on the bulky side, however the smooth metallic finish with a curved design makes it great to hold.

The Qiku Q Terra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 64-bit processor and comes with a 3GB RAM. Along with this it also has a 16GB of internal storage capacity that is expandable up to 128GB. It has a 6 inch FHD display with 1080 X 1920 pixel resolution.

The exterior incorporates a magnalium alloy unibody, made from aluminum alloy.On the camera front the Q terra uses a DuoScopic Camera System that integrates two 13MP Sony back cameras – a IMX278 color sensor along with a B/W IMX214 sensor. Adding to this, the phone also offers an 8MP front camera with f/2.4 aperture.

Android 5.1.1 Lollipop-based 360 OS, which is a custom ROM built by Qihoo 360. You won’t find an app drawer here but the overall UI is snappy and fluid. The display of the Qiku Q Terra is quite clear, and bright, and does equally well both indoors and outdoors.

The Qiku Q Terra comes with a dual camera set-up with 13-megapixel on the rear with autofocus and dual-LED flash. There’s also an 8-megapixel camera on the front.

The 3,700mAh battery is big and will provide you with enough and more juice to last you through the day. Whether or not the company’s decision to have an invite system is right or not is up for debate. The device itself is pretty solid in this price bracket. Let us know what you think of the Qiku Q Terra in the comments below.

Specification	Qiku Q Terra
Display	6-inch full HD display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Resolution	1920×1080 pixels, 386 ppi
Dimensions	157.60 x 79.80 x 8.60 mm
Weight	207g
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
CPU	2.3 GHz Quad-core processor
GPU	Adreno 430
RAM	3 GB
Front Camera	8 MP f/2.4
Rear Camera	13 MP f/2.2
Storage	16 GB
Expandability	Up to 128 GB via MicoSD
Battery	3,700 mAh battery
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz b/g/n WCN3680 / Bluetooth 4.0/ 4G LTE
Operating System	Android 5.1.1 Lollipop-based 360 OS
Price	Rs. 19,999 (invite)/ Rs. 21,999 (without invite)

December 14, 2015

Has Apple Given Up on its Final Cut Pro X Video Editing Software?

You may be familiar with Apple’s Final Cut Pro X video editing software that was touted as quite a breakthrough in the software world. However, after its launch four years ago, the software has earned the complete opposite title for itself. It has come to be a software that video editors love to hate. Quite rightly so, as the Final Cut Pro X focused a lot less on professional photography than it was supposed to.

Missing features and issues essential to professional video production in FCPX included lack of edit decision list (EDL), XML and Open Media Framework Interchange (OMF) support, inability to import projects created in previous releases of Final Cut Pro, and a lack of a multicam editing tool (which it tried to fix in later updates), among other things.

Basically, the software was so maligned by the public that its very own creator, Apple, has now refused to endorse its use internally. In a job listing for Assistant Editor under Beats by Dre, the Final Cut Pro X software seems to be completely missing from the positions required skills and know-how.

Judging by this, it looks like Apple has finally called it a day with its software, which is currently lying under a layer of dust. But Apple may not forget about the software entirely, and will likely have to do something about it in the near future. Whether the Cupertino company will go for a complete overhaul or return with minor updates is unknown.

Via: The Verge

December 14, 2015
YU Will Launch “Something Else” With Yutopia

Yu tweeted yesterday that the newest smartphone by the company, Yutopia won’t be the only product to be launched at the official event on the 17th of this month.

The beast just got a company to make things more interesting. Get ready to find out soon. #Yutopia pic.twitter.com/MRXF0bULox

— YU (@YUplaygod) December 13, 2015

The event was initially supposed to take place on 7th December but it was pushed back by ten days. The reason given by the company was that there are two products lined up for release and now both will be launched together.

We were putting our stakes on another smartphone, probably a Yutopia Plus. However, sources have confirmed that it’s not another phone. It could be something as disappointing as another power bank. Surprise, surprise. Or something as simple as a smartwatch or another OS. Let’s hold our breath for a less anticlimactic launch until the product is made official.

December 14, 2015
Amazon Removes Hoverboards From its Website Due to Rising Explosion Scare

Earlier in December, the UK government had been forced to confiscate over 15,000 hoverboards because they were considered “unsafe” and potential fire hazards.

“Many of the items detained and sent for testing have been found to have noncompliant plugs without fuses, which increases the risk of the device overheating, exploding or catching fire,” said UK’s National Trading Standards

When security tests were conducted on hoverboards as they were shipped from different manufacturers, about 88% of them were declared a safety threat for users. These self-balancing scooters have also been in the news for getting banned by the UK government based on the 1835 Highways Act.

In the wake of accidents related to hoverboard-explosions that have continued to persist despite these measurements by the government, Amazon has finally decided to look into the matter. Not only has it started questioning the safety standards of manufacturers, it has also removed many hoverboards from its website as was reported by Best Reviews.

This little piece of tech has been at the receiving end of many jokes on social media. Users have been tweeting and condemning the “evil” hoverboard all over.

lol all these hoverboards exploding got me like pic.twitter.com/4eDXxPLjBZ

— EYE-SLAY-YA (@kingIsaiah16) December 9, 2015

In the recent weeks, the United States has witnessed ten recorded incidents of hoverboard fires in nine states, leading to active investigation of the situation. Additionally, major airlines all over the world have banned hoverboards from flights as market gets flooded with more and more cheap rip-offs.

The future of hoverboards seems very uncertain at this point. It would be interesting to see how these self-balancing scooters come back after such a major blow. Watch this space for updates.

December 14, 2015

Xiaomi Launches the Redmi Note Prime in India with 4G

Mi India is all set to launch its second ‘Made in India’ smartphone, the Redmi Note Prime, on Amazon.in. The device will go on sale starting 10.00am on the 15th December.

Mi India has been teasing the launch for a few days now, posting on its social media page with the hashtag #PrimeisComing. Xiaomi had announced in August that it would manufacture its devices locally in India as part of PM Narendra Modi’s push for ‘Make in India’. The first device launched by Xiaomi was the Redmi 2 Prime. Commenting on the launch of the Redmi Note Prime, Manu Jain, India Head, Xiaomi said:

“We are really happy to be able to deliver to our promise of continuously innovating and catering to the needs of our Mi Fans. With the launch of Redmi Note Prime, we are glad to provide our Mi Fans an opportunity to upgrade to an even more powerful smartphone with an expanded memory and dual-SIM capabilities. The 3100 mAh high-capacity battery, coupled with MIUI optimisations, has enabled Redmi Note Prime to achieve the most impressive battery performance yet. Local manufacturing shows Xiaomi’s commitment to being a part of fabric of India and we are truly excited to roll out our second ‘Made In India’ offering for our Mi fans.”

The Redmi Note Prime is an enhanced version of the Redmi Note 4G. The Note Prime features a 5.5-inch HD IPS display (1280 X 720 resolution, 267 PPI), a Snapdragon 410 Quad-core 64-bit processor, 16 GB internal storage and 2 GB of RAM.

On the camera front, the Note Prime sports a 13MP rear with f/2.4 aperture and a 5.5MP front. Finally, the device runs on a 3,100mAh battery pack. The device is being manufactured in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, in partnership with Foxconn Technology Group.

As mentioned earlier, Xiaomi has tied up with Amazon.in for the launch of the Note Prime. The device is priced at Rs. 8,499 and will be available on Amazon.in and Mi.com starting tomorrow.

Noor Patel, Director Category Management, Amazon India said, “We are excited to be the partner of choice for Xiaomi and offer our customers exclusive access to the new Redmi Note Prime. Xiaomi has been one of the most popular smartphone brands on Amazon.in, witnessing a continuous growth in demand. We see this as a great opportunity to offer customers across India the ease, convenience & joy of shopping for another great offering from the company.”

Here’s the spec table of the Redmi Note Prime:

Specification	Redmi Note Prime
Display	5.5-inch HD IPS,
Resolution	1280×720 pixels, 267ppi
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 410
CPU	64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core processor
GPU	Adreno 306
RAM	2 GB
Front Camera	5.5 MP f/2.2
Rear Camera	13 MP f/2.4
Storage	16 GB
Expandability	Up to 32 GB
Battery	3.100mAh battery
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz b/g/n / Bluetooth 4.0/ 4G LTE
Operating System	Android 4.4 KitKat-based MIUI 7
Price	Rs. 8,499

December 14, 2015

Huawei Honor 7 Enhanced Edition with Android 6.0 is Official

Huawei wants to bring its Honor brand to the U.S and it plans on doing that at the CES 2016 next month. Along with this comes the announcement of an enhanced version of the Huawei Honor 7. The enhanced edition will have Android 6.0 Marshmallow pre-loaded, as well as Huawei’s EMUI 4.0 skin running on top.

Calling it an enhanced version means the device is bound to bump up a spec or two. The new version will feature 32 GB of internal storage rather than 16 GB as seen in the original Honor 7. Other specs remain the same, however, with a 5.2-inch screen with an aluminium body. On the camera front, it comes with a 20MP rear camera with PDAF, fast focus (0.1s), and Sapphire lens cover. The front camera is 8MP along with 26mm wide angle lens, and front faced soft light feature.

The device will be powered by the Kirin 935 chipset with octal-core 2.2GHz CPU and Mali-T628 GPU. 3 GB of RAM, 3,100mAh battery and a fingerprint scanner add the final touches to the device. The Honor 7 Enhanced Edition is currently available in China and will make its way to the U.S soon.

The original Honor 7 was launched in India at a price of Rs. 22,999. No word yet on when the enhanced version will come to India. The

December 14, 2015
Samsung’s New Virtual Assistant for Mobile Phones Could Arrive Next Year

Virtual assistants seem to be the shiny new toy in the world of smartphones these days. Apple’s Siri led to Microsoft’s Cortana and it simply doesn’t end there. Joining the fray is Samsung with its own rumoured new voice assistant for mobile phones.

Samsung is developing a Virtual Assistant for its devices. It will build on S Voice app with search engine and clever notification.

— S_leak (@sleaknow) December 10, 2015

Samsung already has a voice assistant called S Voice but it’s nowhere close to its Apple and Microsoft counterparts. This is what the company is perhaps working on improving. The new assistant is expected to run on Samsung devices using the S Voice app.

Needless to say, the features would be enhanced and upgraded to ensure an over-all smoother and efficient experience for the user. Because the company has had a history of launching new software with new hardware, we can expect to see the voice assistant with the launch of Galaxy S7 in February 2016.

Via: SamMobile

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December 14, 2015
A Smartphone With 10,000 mAh Battery That Will Last You 10-15 Days

Oukitel is reportedly working on a phone that comes equipped with 10,000 mAh battery. Could this mean gone are the days of power-banks and bulky battery cases? The company’s new smartphone K10000 will last 10-15 days per charge under ‘normal’ usage.

Yes, this does seem a little too good to be true, and your doubts are not unfounded. The phone has a modest quad-core 1GHz MediaTek processor, 720p screen, 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front cam and only 16GB of expandable storage.

Basically, the device is more like a power bank which has a basic phone attached to it. Don’t be surprised if there is not 3G or LTE support on the K10000. The phone is priced at a $240 (about Rs. 16,000) and begins shipping on January 21st.

This won’t be the first of its kind device though. Recently, a Chinese company too launched a phone with 9,000 mAh battery. However, once again that was the only highlight of the device, with its low end specs and bulky design. There seems to be still a long way to go before companies start combining decent specs with a long-lasting battery in their smartphones.

December 14, 2015
New Yahoo App Helps You Find Your Favourite Shows And Movies

Ever find yourself in a state where you just have to watch a new TV show or movie but just don’t know where to begin? Yes, there are a number of streaming sites out there that cater to the movie and TV junkie in you, but seldom do you find someone to tell you where to start. Yahoo has heard your plight and has come out with an app that generously tells you what to watch and where you can watch it.

The app is called Yahoo Video Guide runs through all of your available services to find where your favorite shows are playing. Once it does that, a simple click will take you to that episode or movie if it is available from one of your streaming services. The app also lets you purchase the videos as well.

But that’s not all the app does. We all have preferences based on our current mood. So, the app also features a Mood Picker, which suggests videos based on your mood. There are GIFs that correspond to your current state of emotions. Pick the GIF and the app will do the rest.

Yahoo Video Guide is available for free from Google Play Store for Android users, and the App Store for iOS users. The app is yet to be made available globally.

December 12, 2015
Now Use the Apple Watch to Control Your GoPro

GoPro has an iOS app and it’s great. But this was not enough and so, now the app has an amazing update which allows GoPro to be controlled using the Apple Watch.

The most important GoPro functions like starting or stopping recording, previewing shots and adding “HiLight” bookmarks can now all be taken care of using the Watch. This iOS app is compatible with the GoPro HERO3 or any of the Wi-Fi equipped GoPro models, though previewing shots on the Apple Watch is not compatible with the HERO3 or the HERO2 with Wi-Fi Bacpac.

The app has definitely made things more convenient for GoPro users by allowing them easier movement, especially if their devices are needed to be mounted in inaccessible locations minus any kind of viewfinders.

Apple Watch, after being panned by the majority of users, has still a long way to go in terms of customer satisfaction. The GoPro-Watch app has definitely helped its case but it’s still not too conclusive a factor. While GoPro users stand to benefit incredibly from it, it is pretty much pointless for others.

December 12, 2015
Huawei’s New Nexus Smartphone with Snapdragon 820 Could Launch in 2016

We all know that the new Snapdragon 820 chipset is the new big, bad chipset that will make its way into a number of flagship devices in 2016. The new and more powerful chipset has already been confirmed for upcoming devices like the Mi 5 and some Galaxy S7 variants. Now, news around the tech block is that the next Huawei-made Nexus device will feature the next-gen Qualcomm chipset.

Huawei Nexus 6P

As you may know, this year’s Nexus 6P is the first to be manufactured by Huawei, and the device, which has been well received by many, featured a Snapdragon 810 chipset. Apart from the fact that the next flagship Nexus device should sport a Snapdragon 820 chipset, nothing much is known at the moment. It is also likely that the next device will be metal-made (like the Nexus 6P).

We’ll know more about devices that will sport the new chipset early next year.

December 12, 2015
Apple Filed a Patent for Waterproof iPhones Last Year

Earlier this week, Apple publicly revealed filing for a patent for waterproof devices. The paperwork was completed in June 2014 and is centered around making iPhones waterproof using rubber or “self-healing elastomer” that gains or loses its shape to protect the device from moisture and dust.

Ports like that of chargers or headphones on the phone would be protected with a rubber covering that would be removed when an external device or chord is to be inserted. Once the external device is removed, the rubber device would go back to covering the port.

Depending on the kind of elastomer, it can provide protection against dust, debris, water, and gas. Hello, pretty pictures in all kinds of environmental conditions.

Companies like Samsung and Sony have employed waterproof tech in their devices in the past. Having said that, this patent does not mean whether we can expect the iPhone 7 to be entirely water-resistant.

At the same time, it should be kept in mind that iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are modeled on similar principles of water-resistance and are definitely more resilient than previous Apple devices. Let’s see if the iPhone 7 actually turns out to be the hardiest of all the iPhones so far.

December 12, 2015