Category: Tech

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

LG Mistakenly Reveals All There is to Know About the G4

The Korean smartphone manufacturer LG has scheduled the official unveiling of its next flagship for April 28. But after this leak, we don’t think there’s much left to wait for. The reliable leaker, Evan Blass (@evleaks), discovered a yet unannounced LG G4 microsite that uncovers most of the concealed details about the handset. The site (now removed by LG) gives sufficient official renders of the handset from almost all angles and many other details of the upcoming flagship.

The site suggests that the unannounced LG flagship will have swappable leather back, which will come in multiple shades and styles. The image speaks of nine different back panels, out of which three are standard, and six are crafted back panels made of real leather. The shades of the leather back plates would be subtle brown, dark blue, maroon, silver, yellow and sky blue, while the textured traditional backs would come in white, grey and silver colour options. The leather back plates have a fine detailing of fiber weave running down the middle.

Evan added the fact that the G4 was under works with the codename LG P1.

Meanwhile, the Korean firm has been slipping details of LG G4 in bits and pieces. The past week, the electronics firm made public two teasers revealing crucial details about the forthcoming device. The teaser videos conveyed LG G4 will boast an all-new user interface UX 4.0 and feature a camera of aperture f/1.8. The leak unfolds more about its features and mentions that UX 4.0 sports a lot of features like Quick Shot, Smart Board and Smart Notice 2.0 along with Smart Calendar app and Super Fast Gallery.

Before this, LG’s display manufacturing department claimed that the next LG flagship will have an enhanced 5.5-inch Quad HD (2560×1440) display. The leaks confirm that the fourth smartphone is G series will have a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and will come with 2GB and 3GB RAM options. The 2GB variant will have 16GB storage space, while the 3GB RAM model will come with 32GB onboard storage capacity, both expandable up to 128GB. The device will have 3000mAh battery and will run on Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

The camera specifications include a 13MP rear shooter with Optical Image Stabilization and Laser Auto Focus Dual Flash. The front will boast a 2.1MP snapper.

April 28 is approaching, and as always, we will be bringing the latest from the launch event. Meanwhile, you can check the speculated spec sheet below:

Specs	LG G4
Display	5.5-inch Quad HD (2560x1440p)
Processor	2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon
RAM	2GB/3GB
Internal Memory	16GB/32GB, expandable up to 128GB
Rear Camera	13MP
Secondary Camera	2.1MP
Operating System	Android 4.4.4 KitKat
Battery	3000mAh

April 13, 2015

Xiaomi Might Launch a Low-End Version of Mi 4 at the Global Mi Phone Premier in India

A couple of days back Xioami sent out media invites for the launch of their next smartphone. The company disclosed that it will be holding a global premier of the next Mi phone, and both fans and press were invited. The Chinese startup updated its official Mi India page with a teaser that reads “i IS COMING”, and it seems like we now have an idea what they meant by the “i”.

According to the Chinese tech online daily GizmoChina, a new variant of Mi 4 has been spotted on the GeekBench3 website and Singapore IDA database. The device is possibly the low-end version of the company’s latest flagship, Mi 4. The reason it is considered to be launching on April 23, is its name. As per the source, the handset has been titled as “Xiaomi Mi 4i”, the last alphabet compelling us to consider it as the upcoming offering.

As the device is listed on the GeekBench3, we have some details of the handset. The Mi 4i will come with a 1.65GHz Qualcomm processor with 8 cores, along with 2GB of RAM and Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.

Being a low-end version of Xiaomi Mi 4, the device is likely to be priced less than the Mi 4 (possibly around Rs. 16,000). As always, we expect Xiaomi to come up with something that gives a cut-through competition to the present offerings in the market.

April 13, 2015
Apple Watch Hits One Million Pre-Orders on its First Day

According to reports from Slice Intelligence, Apple’s smartwatch kicked off to a solid start by receiving almost a million pre-orders in the US. Slice Intelligence is a firm that tracks and projects US consumer spendings through e-commerce mail receipts. Slice Intelligence projections showed Apple, on its first day of accepting orders, hit a million pre-orders based on 9,080 online shoppers.

Saw the estimates of 1M Apple Watch pre-orders in my inbox. Won’t be surprised by an official Apple statement tomorrow saying 2M.

— Kevin C. Tofel (@KevinCTofel) April 13, 2015

According to Slice reports, 71% of the Apple Watch pre-orders were for the larger 42mm case and 32% of the aluminum Sports Watch. The expensive 19-karat Gold model did not have enough pre-orders to be included in the list. The report also revealed that 28% of the pre-orders included a black Sports band, thus making it the most popular option for its customers. The steel Milanese Loop came in second with 25% after which came the Link Bracelet with 14%.

Apple has not given any verification to the data yet or the official sales figures of the Apple Watch. The smartwatch sales will begin on 24^th April in over nine countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, UK and the US. The company is encouraging pre-orders, which seem to be quickly selling out. The availability of the watches have been pushed to May or June due to the massive demands.

To read more about the Apple Watch, click here.

April 13, 2015
OnePlus Co-Founder : Lollipop-Based CM12S to Roll Out in the Next Few Days

The long overdue CyanogenMod12s based on Android Lollipop will soon arrive on Indian OnePlus One handsets. The Chinese consumer electronics company had earlier promised its release before March 31, but it failed to keep its word and blamed certification for the delay. The firm has now assured OnePlus fans with a statement on Twitter that CM12s will release “in the next few days”.

The co-founder of OnePlus, Carl Pei, took to Twitter to announce –

.@jorgepenteado CM12s just passed certification today. Thanks for the patience, expect rollout in the next few days.

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) April 10, 2015

While there will be a short delay in the roll out of CM12s, users can install the all-new custom ROM by the company. OxygenOS was recently made public a couple of days back. The new OS based on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop is built based on the “back to basics” approach. The interface is clean, bloat-free and is built to provide maximum performance and battery life.

Here’s a quick look at the cool features of OnePlus’ OxygenOS.

April 11, 2015
Due to Massive Demand, Shipping of the Apple Watch May Get Delayed to June

It seems customers pre-ordering the Apple smartwatch will have to wait for a month more before the delivery process kicks off. The watch that went up for pre-order with the promise of in-store pickups or home delivery starting 24th of April, have slipped to June for some models due to the massive demand.

The watch officially goes up for sale on 24th April through online portals and appointments in shops. But as soon as the online pre-orders opened up on Friday, Apple’s website listed June as the shipping month for some models and four-six weeks for the rest.

There are a total of 38 models of the Apple Watch set up for pre-ordering via the company’s official online stores in nine countries, namely, Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, USA and United Kingdom. Even the most expensive variant of the Apple Watch is listed as shipping in June – with some Edition models shown as ‘Out of Stock’.

Apple officially confirmed Apple Watch’s arrival last year in September, when the iPhone 6 was announced. To know more about the wearable, click here.

April 11, 2015
Foxconn is Gearing Up to Begin Manufacturing the Apple iPhone in India

Foxconn, one of the biggest contract manufacturing firms based in Taiwan, is most popular for being the manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone. The company is now planning to set up manufacturing the Apple iPhones at its units in India.

It was reported by Economic Times that Foxconn will be manufacturing the Apple iPhone in India. The locations selected for setting up the manufacturing units include Gujarat, Noida, and a small trial unit in Andhra Pradesh. Foxconn had to previously suspend production at three units on the Chennai-Bengaluru highway due to the Microsoft-Nokia deal. The closure of those three plants resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs; about 1,700 employees were affected.

The new manufacturing units will mark the return of Foxconn in India. The company says that it wants to establish the units to take advantage of the present government’s ‘Make in India’ policy. The trial unit in Andhra will engage in research and development of new products.

India is the third biggest mobile market in the world and is expected to take over the USA by 2017, which is just two years away. Considering this massive market, the government needs to incentivize production, as well as designing of products in the country to give a boost to Indian entrepreneurship in the field.

April 11, 2015
Google is Reportedly Working on a Mysterious Battery Project

Google has joined forces to develop a more productive battery technology for its line of consumer devices and other hardware projects. The search behemoth reportedly has a small team of researchers who are working on future batteries and is devising measures to advance present batteries for better outcomes.

The report by Wall Street Journal suggests that the team working on future battery technology is headed by Apple’s former battery expert Dr. Ramesh Bhardwaj. The four-member team is a part of Google X research lab, a facility dedicated to making major technological advancements like Project Loon and driver-less cars. Meanwhile, the battery research wing is working on enhancing lithium-ion and the advanced solid-state batteries for a range of consumer products like Google Glass and the contact lens that helps measure glucose level in blood.

Google is not a confined body limiting to consumer manufacturing electronics and offers its services to various industries like transportation, robotics, healthcare, and communications. Being in the hardware business, Google needs efficient batteries that can power their devices for a longer span of time.

Dr. Bhardwaj disclosed ideas in a February presentation of a new-age battery technology that can be equipped to wearables, and smartphones and can also be implanted in the human body. The internet supreme requires such a revolutionary technology that can give new life to its projects that got overshadowed because of shorter battery life, e.g. Google Glass.

The report said that other research teams are working in conjunction with the Chicago-based technology firm that can bring more potent batteries for four bigger projects including Project Loon. The internet-broadcasting plan to beam Internet down the earth is presently using traditional batteries and has to suffer high-temperature issues. The latest innovation is likely to resolve the current complexities along with being cost effective.

Several companies are coming with battery prototypes that can charge mobile devices within half a minute, but there is no certainty if they will be inexpensive if produced in large numbers. If the report turns out to be true and Google succeeds in developing a super slim battery for flexible displays, it will be a landmark of the threshold of a new era. The batteries will make room for a new line of products that will be more compact and powerful.

April 11, 2015
Xiaomi’s New Teaser Hints at an All-New Product Line

Xiaomi is setting up new benchmarks for its contenders to follow now and then; whether it’s about record sales figures or being the no. 1 smartphone vendor. Lately, the Chinese electronics firm has set a world record by selling over 2 million smartphones in just 12 hours across the globe. It has restlessly expanded its product portfolio in its 5 years of existence and it now offers devices such as air purifier, power banks, TV’s and more. Xiaomi is now set to expand its portfolio again by stepping into yet another segment.

The company sent out a teaser image that speaks of a completely new product. The image reads April 15 as the launch date of the unknown forthcoming product.

The teaser image disseminates the information that Xiaomi is talking about two different poles. The ‘N’ and ‘S’ characters at the extreme sides likely represent North Pole and South Pole. Below mentioned is the name of a famous personal electric vehicle manufacturer Ninebot. The firm is known for making self-balancing electric robot.

The teaser seems to point out to a product that is entirely different from its current product portfolio. Since it has something to do with Ninebot, the next product is anticipated to be a smart vehicle, or it may be a GPS related product; since there is pole concept.

Xiaomi’s poster has raised our curiosity, and we are excited to see the next smart product in its kitty on April 15. Keep checking back for updates on iGyaan.

April 11, 2015
Xiaomi Announces ‘Global Mi Phone Premier’ to be Held in India

Unlike Apple, Xiaomi understands the potential the Indian market holds. In a first, Xiaomi announced it is all set to introduce its next smartphone to the world – by holding its premier in India. The Chinese startup has sent out invites for the premier of the global Mi Phone in India, which will be held in New Delhi on April 23. The company has updated its Mi India page with the launch information and also notified about the forthcoming product via its Twitter account –

i IS COMING. Register for our global Mi phone premiere in New Delhi on 23 April. http://t.co/H8GdKvulca #MiLaunch2015 pic.twitter.com/0pxgSe4Mu0

— Mi India (@MiIndiaOfficial) April 10, 2015

The media invite reveals that the premier event of the undisclosed smartphone will mark the presence of top managements of the company. Lei Jun (CEO & Founder), President & Co-Founder of the company Bin Lin, and Hugo Barra (VP Xiaomi Global) will be addressing the conference, where both the press and fans are cordially invited. Xiaomi fans can register for the premier on official Mi page here. The show will commence at 2pm.

Xiaomi has proved its remarks that India is an important marketplace for the electronics giant. It’s the first time the firm has announced a global product premier in India. This clearly signifies that the forthcoming device is entirely new, and we are anticipating that it can be the Mi 5. Lately, it came to light through Android Open Kang Project (popularly known as AOKP) that Xiaomi is working on the successor of Mi 4, and it is titled Mi 5. According to the AOKP blog post, the Mi 5 will debut with a new user interface MIUI 7 based on Android Lollipop.

However, things are uncertain, and we can only guess what it could be. For now, all the Mi fans need to underline the date and wait for the official unveiling of the next Mi Phone.

April 11, 2015
Sick of Spoilers on Social Media? Google Patents Tech to Protect You From Them

Spoilers are one of the most dreaded words for the makers of any new product, may it be a movie or a popular new consumer electronics launch. Companies take every precaution to prevent any information from leaking. But in the age of proactive snoopers on the internet, stopping a leak has become a futile task. Google seems to have taken up the challenge and has just received a patent that might put the brakes on leaks and spoilers on the web.

A patent titled “system and method for processing content spoilers” has been granted to Google. This new filter will let you block spoilers for content like TV shows, books and movies on social media. You can choose to turn off the filter when you have caught up with the content.

The system digs in deeper than just blocking spoiler posts related to the content. Using Google’s intrusive technology, the filter keeps a track of everything that the user has already seen and filters out content that you are yet to see. This will help you prevent getting bombarded with the spoilers for Game of Thrones (GoT) or House of Cards episodes that you are yet to watch.

A sample figure in the patent application.

There is no timeframe yet as to when this new technology will be inducted. Google has said that it holds many patents, and there are no immediate plans as of yet to introduce the technology. To be successful, Google will have to tie-up with social media companies that would require a lot of negotiations. They might also want to expand the field to include products like smartphones, which are one of the biggest victims of leaks. It is apparent that there are some creases that need to be ironed out before the spoiler-filter comes online.

The technology in itself looks interesting and is a kind of censorship that will be appreciated by all GoT fans who try to stay off social media after the telecast. Also, now that the cats out of the bag on the Google patent, we might see some copycat services who’ll offer similar features. Well only if this story about the leak filter could have used a leak filter.

April 10, 2015
Xiaomi to Open Warehouse in Bengaluru To Strengthen its Retail Might in India

Xiaomi is stressing on building a firm ground for itself in the Indian sub-continent. After planning to set up an India-centric Research and Development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru, the Chinese electronics giant is gearing up to open its warehouse in the country. Xiaomi is setting up its storage base in south Indian city’s industrial hub, Bommasandra.

Xiaomi’s India Operations Head, Manu Jain spoke on the news –

We are building the warehouse for the Mi Store (Xiaomi’s e-commerce store) that we will launch this year. We would not like to comment more about something that is not operational yet.

This step by China’s Apple is expected to give a push to its online retail business in India, conducted through the Mi.com website. It may also be considered as a move to boost its offline presence in the country by opening up a physical store.

The new warehouse will stuff all the products launched in India, and will gradually build to include more devices from Xioami’s global cataogue. Meanwhile, the devices present in its India product portfolio include Redmi 2, Mi 4, Redmi Note 4G, and Mi Pad. While the Mi Note is set to join the already existing offerings soon, the 49-inch 4K TV may arrive later this year. Other equipments expected to be launched in India include a range of connected devices, fitness band and air purifier.

According to Cyber Media Research, Xioami recorded a steep fall in sales in Q1 2015. OnePlus and Micromax’s YU gave tough competition to the Chinese brand, which lead to decline in sale units from nine lakh to six lakh units. Xiaomi has planned to recover the declined business and has reworked on its business proposals.

The company has made some alterations in its business plan and finished its exclusive partnership with Flipkart. The company will now sell its products through Snapdeal and Amazon, together with its old partner Flipkart. The company has also adopted the offline sale policy by selling its smartphones in collaboration with The Mobile Store.

April 10, 2015
Samsung Confesses Galaxy S6 Edge to Face Supply Shortage

The most recent offering of Samsung, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, will be open from today for public across the globe. The South Korean smartphone behemoth expects record shipment of Galaxy S6 handsets, but it has to struggle to meet the demands of the curved screen smartphone. The news surfaced the day before when the company’s Mobile Chief J.K. Shin explained the problem in manufacturing Galaxy S6 Edge screens could lead to the limited supply of the curved edge version.

The statement by Shin about the S6 Edge reads, “We’re working hard to resolve the difficulty in supply” and that the problem could persist “for a while.” This is clearly not a good message by the company at a time when the curvy S6 Edge is ready to retail in different markets across the globe. The company might have to face the frenzy of the audience for not accomplishing its promise on time.

Samsung reported a record pre-order of 20 million Galaxy S6 series smartphones, out of which 15 million were for the standard Galaxy S6 and 5 million orders were placed for its edgier counterpart. The company might be facing a challenge to deliver the 5 million S6 Edge handsets that have already been pre-ordered.

The revolutionary design of the smartphone gave an ‘edge’ to the device. There have been reports by various analysts that potential hiccups in supply could prove to be a roadblock to the success of Samsung.

It would be interesting to observe how Samsung cope up with the manufacturing complexities. Meanwhile, you can watch our hands-on video below:

April 10, 2015
National Roaming Charges Set to Drop From 1st May

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a statement that mobile phone users will be paying 23% less for calls and up to 75% less for sending texts while on roaming. The reduced roaming charges will come to effect on May 1, 2015.

National roaming service lets subscribers to keep using their number while travelling outside the coverage of their home networks. Companies have offered roaming packs in the past which lets users reduce their roaming charges but a government mandated roaming charges will bring relief for all users.

As laid down by TRAI, For outgoing calls on roaming, the present charges of Rs 1 per minute has been slashed down to 80 paise per minute. As for STD calls, the rates has been slashed from Rs 1.50 to Rs 1.15 per minute.

Incoming calls on roaming will now be charged at 45 paise per minute instead of the earlier 75 paise. Local texts will now cost 25 paise while an STD text will be charged at 38 paise.

The rates for national roaming services were last revised in 2013. Telecom companies have been notified to introduce the new roaming tariff’s from May 1. The telecom companies have already been losing revenue to various messaging apps and hence have started attacking net neutrality in India. This order will further cut down their revenue stream. The companies might respond by raising data tariff’s or push for loose net neutrality laws in the country. Though the slash is a good news for the consumers, the developments in the Indian telecom space needs to be watched more vigilantly.

April 10, 2015
Samsung Galaxy S6 Comes to India But Where is the Apple Watch?

Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S6 is set to hit the Indian and global stores today. The Korean electronic behemoth has grasped the importance of the Indian consumers for the future of the smartphone industry and has been bringing phones almost at the same time as the global market. But the other major force in the tech industry, Apple is still not close to giving India that priority, which is evident by the lack of the country’s name in the release locations for the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch is the company’s newest product family. The wearable is available from $349 for the basic model, the Watch Sport, and the line of offering goes up to $17,000 for the gold plated version called the Watch Edition. People looking forward to owning the device can pre-order it today in the countries where it is offered. But the only piece of information that the Indian Apple fans get is that the Watch will come to the country ‘sometime in 2015’.

Samsung brought the Note 4 to India at the same time as the US.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy S6 was already up for pre-order in India and goes up for sale today. Samsung had also brought its last major launch, the Note 4 to India on 17th October, exactly the same time it came to the United States.

It’s not like Apple has a small market in India. Just in the space of October to December of last year, the company sold 500,000 devices in India, and the number keeps growing. Of course, it is just a tiny fraction of the global sales that have helped the company to have the most profitable quarter in history. A push for the massive Indian population can help the company take the profit higher.

Things do look brighter for the Indian consumers as Apple has plans to set up 500 stores across India. So maybe then the Indian fans would not have to wait impatient hours to buy Apple products.

April 10, 2015

Hands On | Lava Icon

Yesterday, Indian smartphone vendor Lava expanded its smartphone portfolio with the release of a new device – the Icon. With a price tag of Rs. 11,990, the device stands against some current offerings in the market like Micromax Canvas Nitro and Huawei Ascend P6. Meanwhile, we got an opportunity to get our hands on the latest device and here is our experience with the new smartphone.

The Icon is 7.7 mm thick and has a sleek finish. It touts a silver metal frame, while its back panel is a shiny black with a glass finish. The glass back does add to the aesthetic of the device, though we have to admit it seemed prone to scratches. The handset feels nice in hand, though we won’t vouch for its overall sturdiness.

The device features a 5-inch HD IPS 720p display with 550 Cd/m2 brightness, which the company claims is one of the highest in the industry. The display of the handset is protected with Asahi Dragon-Trail glass that offers resistance against scratches. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM. The onboard storage space is 16GB, which can be expanded via a MicroSD card slot up to 32GB.

The front of the phone has an earpiece at the top, along with a 5MP camera. The front camera comes with Omni vision sensor and BSI-II sensor with blue glass filter, which is said to protect the image sensor against overexposure in the infrared wavelength range.

Lava Icon runs on Android 4.4 KitKat and has the company’s Star UI on top. The user interface provides a variety of customizable gesture controls. The back of the phone has 2500mAh battery, which is decent for a phone of this size and resolution. The primary camera is 13 MP with dual-LED flash and Sony Exmor sensor. We tried our hand at the camera, and were left unimpressed.

The dual-SIM handset offers connectivity options like 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Micro-USB. Overall, we’d say it has a premium design, however it feels extremely delicate. Lava Icon is available at select retails stores in India and will also be available online via exclusive online partner Snapdeal.com. The e-commerce website is making the deal sweeter by offering a free selfie stick with Lava Icon.

Here’s a brief at its specs:

specs	lava icon
Display	5-inch HD IPS 720p
Processor	1.3GHz quad-core
RAM	2GB
Memory	16GB/32GB
Rear/Front Camera	13MP/5MP
Operating System	Android 4.4 KitKat
Battery	2500mAh
Price	Rs. 11,990

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April 10, 2015

Category: Tech

Specs

LG G4

specs

lava icon