South Korean giant Samsung has announced ‘Project Beyond’ – a 360-degree camera module that captures everything around it in 3D for use with Samsung’s Gear VR headset. The announcement was done at its 2014 Developer Conference. The device has 16 individual high-def cameras which can together capture a gigapixel or 25 gigabits of data every second.
The footage captured can be streamed back to someone wearing Samsung’s Gear VR headset, transporting them into the world of virtual reality. Basically, Project Beyond can create virtual 3D world continuously wherever it is placed. Samsung also mentioned that users would be able to stream live footage from cameras located anywhere with a decent wireless connection. Moreover, the Project Beyond camera allows multiple users to look around a scene captured by the camera at the same time.
Project Beyond (Image Credits: The Next Web)
Our sources reveal that Samsung has already taken the camera at numerous locations in California to record footage that can be viewed within the Gear VR. Though Samsung hasn’t yet given a tentative release date, but they did mention that there will be new improved Gear VR headsets for future Galaxy smartphones. So, we can expect some flagships from Samsung will be launched with the headset sometime next year.
We are really excited to get hands-on this new technology. Hopefully, Samsung previews Project Beyond in India as well.
Google’s Material Design is making its way to all the company’s services to make sure its apps look consistent once the new Android Lollipop 5.0 rolls out to the larger public. Well, recently, Google’s search for Android or Google Now has got its makeover, Material Design style.
However, the new update doesn’t only come with a new design, but also with the ability to search within apps installed on your phone. That means if you want to play a track from your Spotify’s playlist, Google Now will do it for you. In case, you need to check the dates of your next flight, you just need to say ‘Ok Google’.
Of course, this won’t be working with all your apps right away, developers need to tweak their apps to enable the functionality first. Apart from this, the new update gives the app better voice search and also, the app will now prompt you regarding the plans you make on your mails and Hangout. This way, it will remind you that you have to meet a friend for a coffee on Sunday morning.
Confirming your choice will at last add the event to your Google Calendar, something we have been expecting. Interestingly,Google has added another option for when you can’t decide to go or not, Google Now will decide it for you too.
With the smartphone market getting concentrated, the companies are now being judged on the speed of update deliveries. Companies have also recognized this, and they are now working proactively to bring the updates to its consumers. With the Android 5.0 Lollipop out in the world, the race is on to be the first company to bring the update as fast as possible. Seems like Motorola, which had previously been the front runner in the KitKat race is taking the lead in the Lollipop side of things too.
Motorola has begun the process of officially rolling out the new operating system update for Moto X Pure Edition and second generation Moto G. At present the rollout is meant for unlocked GSM phones sold in the US. But soon enough the update will start showing up for users in other markets.
Motorola had previously released an update for testers and clearly the process is all done for the final rollout. This is a commendable feat as even the older Google Nexus devices haven’t received the update yet. LG is also expected to bring out the Android 5.0 update for the G3 by sometime this week.
Android 5.0 Lollipop is the best Android OS, and it’s a really good news that companies are focusing on bringing this update to its users. Lollipop comes with a refreshing new look along with several other features including increased battery life. To know more about what’s in store with the Android 5.0 update, click here.
With the release of the new Lumia branded phones by Microsoft, Nokia died as a mobile phone brand. For most, it’s not just a phone brand; it was a revolutionary change maker. It created, nurtured and took the mobile business to its maturity. We have now reached a point of tremendous concentration in the mobile market and the company who started it all has bid farewell. Nokia is like a grandparent; it did its part and then departed, leaving behind a lasting legacy of a communication infrastructure that has brought gigantic leaps in the growth of human civilization.
Journey To The Mobile Business
Nokia’s paper mill on the banks of River Nokianvirta in 1868.
Nokia began as a paper mill back in 1865 with its second mill going up in the town of Nokia in Finland. The name ‘Nokia’ is derived from the river Nokianvirta, on the banks of which the company was established.
The company expanded to working with rubber, electricity, and cables. Nokia rubber boots become a bona fide design classic, still on sale to this day by the name Nokian, albeit under new owners.
Let’s fast forward to ’60s when the company made its foray into electronics. Nokia developed a host of electronic devices including radio telephones for the army. In 1979 Nokia took its first steps into telephony by creating Mobira Oy in a JV with Finnish TV maker Salora, and they created the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service. This was the world’s first international cellular network and in the 80s, Nokia launched its first car phone called the Mobira Senator.
The Mobira Senator was the companies first car phone.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Nokia developed the Sanomalaitejärjestelmä (“Message device system”), a digital, portable and encrypted text-based communications device for the Finnish Defence Forces.
In 1987, Nokia launched the Mobira Cityman, the first mobile phone that would run on the company’s NMT network. At 800 grams and priced at $6,308, it may be heavy and pricey by today’s standards, but the device soon hit cult status when Mikhail Gorbachev was photographed using the device.
Nokia also tried its hands at personal computing.
In the 1980s, Nokia’s computer division Nokia Data produced a series of personal computers called MikroMikko, which it later sold to Fujitsu. It briefly tried its luck again in the personal computer market in August 2009 with the introduction of the Nokia Booklet 3G mini laptop. It was not commercially successful but was appreciated for its integrated 3G modem, high-resolution screen, exceptional battery life and its fan-free design.
World’s first commercial GSM call was made in 1991 in Helsinki over a Nokia-supplied network, by Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri. Also, the first device to be used to make a satellite call in 1994 was a Nokia device. Nokia truly started the mobile revolution.
The Devices
Nokia E Series
Nokia 5300 Xpressmusic
Communicator
Nokia 1011 was the first mass-produced device from Nokia. The design of the device was quickly copied into making pencil boxes for kids. The memory could hold 99 numbers and had a price tag of $1600.
Nokia 3310 announced on 1st September 2000, has now become a cult classic. There are unlimited internet memes based on the “Hulk-ness” of the device. Touted in humor as the only Man-Made thing that can incapacitate the Hulk. Nokia sold over 126 million pieces of the 3310 which had a 96×48 pixel display. You could take off the front and back panel and replace it with the color of your choice. It was the first phone to allow 459 character SMS messaging.
Nokia 2110 was the first phone to come with the Nokia tune. It is estimated that the Nokia Tune is heard worldwide an estimated 1.8 billion times per day, approximately 20,000 times per second. It has been the icon of Finnish corporation Nokia since the 1990s.
Introduced in 2002, the Nokia 3510 was the first color phone from the company. It was also the first mass market GPRS device.
The 6600 was one of the most popular devices and was almost the star of the movie, Cellular.
The Nokia 6600 was a prolific device that was launched in 2003. The owners of the phone flaunted its VGA camera, Bluetooth and expandable memory. It was the first Nokia and Symbian device to sell over a million.
The devices from Nokia were also known for its superior camera performance. Thanks to its popularity amongst the users worldwide, at one point Nokia was the biggest digital camera manufacturer in the world. It surpassed all other conventional camera makers.
The company has set records after records during its stint at the top of the food chain. In fact, the Nokia 1100 is the bestselling phone yet, selling over 250 million devices. At its peak the company sold 475 Million devices back in 2008, a feat that is still unchallenged.
So What Remains of Nokia
Following the departure of the mobile and services division of the company, the company is now has three business groups: Mobile Solutions, HERE, and Technologies. The company is currently headed by India-born Rajeev Suri.
Nokia’s Mapping service Here is one of its remaining businesses.
In 2007 Nokia acquired Chicago-based company NAVTEQ, which was the largest maker of automotive. This set the path to Nokia’s Here Maps. The mapping system is one of the few business retained by Nokia following its acquisition by Microsoft. Nokia will be now selling the mapping data to navigation providers like Garmin, BMW, Oracle and Amazon.com. It will now be available as a service across multiple platforms like Android and iOS.
India born Rajeev Suri will be heading Nokia in its new era.
Nokia Networks, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia will also stay back with the company. It is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company. They provide business services like Customer care support, fixed-mobile convergence, Hosting, IPTV, Mobile TV, WCDMA frequency reforming. It also provides connectivity solutions to governments, railways and airways.
Nokia had developed a new operating system called MeeGo. When it shifted to Windows phone, the MeeGo team left Nokia to form an independent phone company called Jolla. The phones recently arrived in India.
Another brand that is the offspring of Nokia is the luxury smartphone maker, Vertu. It was established by Nokia as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1998. For long the company used Symbian OS before shifting to Android recently. The phones are known for their stratospheric price and handcrafted luxury devices.
The journey of Nokia was long, arduous and for the most part rewarding. The company deserves credit and respect for spearheading the mobile revolution across the world. For the folks who saw the transition of the mobile world in the past two decades, the name Nokia brings a lot of memories of personal communications through what are now archaic devices. The mobile world has come a long way, but the fingerprints of Nokia will be visible everywhere. We don’t know what the future holds for Nokia, but we sure hope that it pulls a ” Motorola” and has a chance to rise from its ashes. RIP you Tech Giant.
Timeline
1982: Nokia created the world’s first car phone, the Mobira Senator. It was paired with the Nordic Mobile Telephone analog standard and weighed around 22 pounds.
1987: the portable Cityman was Nokia’s first handheld mobile phone. It weighed a little over 1.7 pounds and cost about $5,456.
1994: Nokia launched the 2100 with the now iconic Nokia ringtone.
1997: Launches Snake, one of the most widely recognized mobile games of all time.
1996: The Communicator 9000 of was the first all-in-one phone of Nokia’s kind. It had email, web browsing, fax, word processing and spreadsheet capabilities came for $800.
2000: Nokia 3310, the hulk of the mobile world is launched, and it sells 126 million units sold worldwide. Later becomes a popular internet meme.
2002: Nokia 7650 for around €600 was Nokia’s first Camera phone.
2003: N-Gage, World’s first gaming phone.
2008: 5800 Xpress Music release was Nokia’s first all-touch smartphone, but Apple was out with its iPhone and Android was coming up around this time.
2011, Nokia debuted its first Windows Phone, the Lumia 800.
2014, Microsoft acquires Nokia’s Mobile and Services business and puts an end to Nokia’s existence as a mobile brand.
Despite the reports claiming that the device will not be launched in India, the company seems ready to roll out the Galaxy Note Edge in India, Europe and some other countries, though in limited numbers. Back at the launch, Samsung made it clear that the Galaxy Note Edge would be a ‘limited edition concept device’.
SamMobile has revealed a list of countries where the device would be made available. As it’s a limited edition smartphone, it will be available in limited numbers and will most likely be priced at a premium price segment. Currently, the Note Edge is up for sale in US for $946 off-contract, which translates around Rs. 59,000.
Apart from India, the Galaxy Note Edge will be launched in Australia, Singapore, Nepal with the model number SM-N915G. The Galaxy Note Edge SM-N915FY model will sell in Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, France, Nordic countries, Austria and Portugal, while the SM-N915F model will sell in Russia and Kazakhstan.
The unique feature of the Galaxy Note Edge is its flexible display panel at the right-hand side, which is a completely separate display panel alongside the primary display panel. Apart from the curved display, the phablet is more or less identical to the Galaxy Note 4 when it comes to features and peripherals.
Specs-wise, the smartphone has a 5.6-inch Quad HD 2560×1440 display and is powered by a 3000 mAh battery. It comes with Snapdragon 805 or Exynos 5433 chipset, Android 4.4 KitKat, 16 MP OIS camera and S Pen stylus. With this launch, Samsung proved that it still has an eye for innovation.
Apple’s iMessage is a free messaging service. This service was announced in 2011, and it along with other free messaging apps have been blamed for the steady decline in the usage of SMS service. There was though a major flaw in iMessage that has got Apple another visit to the courthouse.
Apparently, Apple’s messaging followed the users even after they bid their iPhones goodbye. When an iMessage user used a different device with the same number, Apple’s system was still automatically converting messages from iPhone users. This led to non-delivery of messages. This is an important issue as essential or emergency messages could have been disrupted because of this bug.
Apple has fixed the issue now, but not before getting an invite to court. The company is now facing a class-action lawsuit alleging that the company failed to disclose the bug to the users. The court specifically alleged that Apple’s intentional acts have caused an ‘actual breach or disruption of the contractual relationship.
In response to the allegation, Apple has stated that they have not intentionally kept the bug a secret. They added that there is no incentive in curbing the SMS feature considering that it needs the carriers to sell its devices.
The American multinational Internet corporation Yahoo recently acquired video advertising company BrightRoll for $640 million. The acquisition is the second-biggest purchase under CEO Marissa Mayer and was carried out in cash. The company is struggling hard to keep up with its competitors Google and Facebook in ad revenues.
BrightRoll will continue to operate independently ‘with Yahoo’s additional investment and global support.’ The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015. In turn, Yahoo is hoping to revive its share in the US digital marketing industry, which fell to 5.8% in 2013, according to analyst eMarketer, and is expected to dip again this year.
According to Yahoo Chief Marissa Mayer, this deal will turn Yahoo into the largest video advertising platform in the US. Mayer talked that BrightRoll is ‘expected to exceed $100 million this year’ in net revenues. “Acquiring BrightRoll will dramatically strengthen Yahoo’s video advertising platform, making it the largest in the US. BrightRoll is the industry’s leading programmatic video advertising platform for reaching audiences across web, mobile and connected TV. Video is display 2.0. It’s what brand advertisers love. It’s a format that elegantly and easily transitions from broadcast television to PC to mobile and even to wearables. This is why video is a key part of our strategy,” Mayer said in a blogpost.
She said that she thought video could reinvent and replace banner advertising, a mainstay of online ads. Once the market leader, Yahoo is expected to fall on to fourth place this year, according to eMarketer. It was reported in July that the Internet corporation collected less than 3% of online ad revenue last year. Google was on top with nearly 32% ad revenue, while Facebook accounted for about 6%. Microsoft is projected to exceed Yahoo this year.
Yahoo hopes to counter Google’s sheer volume of user-generated videos with professional video content produced by journalist Katie Couric and tech reviewer David Pogue among others. Yahoo was able to buy BrightRoll with cash after it sold shares worth close to $9 billion in the initial public offering of Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba this year.
LG, the South Korean electronic giant, has launched new wireless neckband ‘LG TONE INFINIM’ based on ergonomic design for better comfort and sound. The new wireless headset is engineered by Harman Kardon and can be paired with smartphones via Bluetooth. The TONE INFINIM is available in India at Rs. 10,990.
INFINIM has essentially a crisp audio rather than a bass-heavy sound. The gadget includes the company’s retractable wire management technology, a metallic finish and an ergonomic curved design. Its ‘Easy Control’ feature includes control with Jog switch to control music with one fluid motion.
It comes with a handful of features such as Current Time Alert, SMS/SNS Replay, Speed Dial, Direct Dial, Favourite Call and Advanced Vibration Alert. During incoming calls, the device alerts the user with its caller ID. The battery status of the headset can be checked on the smartphone at a glance.
The LG Bluetooth Stereo Headset reads out the most recently received SNS or text messages. Users can directly call the previously saved contacts via the headset without taking out their smartphones. Users can designate up to five contacts on their headsets using this USP. This USP can only be used after saving contacts on the application, Tone&Talk. Users can set different vibration patterns for SMS and SNS so that they always know the type of message received in advance. It also informs about the current time on the smartphone with a simple button press.
LG has given these sleek new headsets a classy look which are available in metallic silver and gold colour variants.
LG has announced a brand new Android smartphone called AKA. Launched in the company’s home market South Korea, the AKA is targeted at young customers, and comes with four unique cases that transform it into different characters: Eggy (yellow case), Wookie (white case), Soul (blue case) and YoYo (pink case).
The front of the phone, when covered with theses interesting cases, shows animated eyes of the four characters. The eyes are more than simple animations as they can provide info including notifications and battery status.
On the hardware front, the LG AKA offers a 5-inch IPS display with 720×1280 pixel resolution, LTE, 8 MP rear camera with laser auto focus, 2 MP front-facing camera, quad-core 1.2 GHz processor (unknown maker), 1.5 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of expandable memory. The handset comes with a 2610 mAh battery and weighs 135.5 grams without the front cover.
LG AKA’s connectivity options include 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, GPS, AGPS, and USB 2.0. and measures 138.7×71.9×9.9 mm. According to the official blog post, LG AKA is available starting today in South Korea via all three carriers running Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box. However, there’s no word on how much the smartphone costs. It seems unlikely that the new AKA will be launched in any other market apart from South Korea.
The South Korean electronic giant on Monday started rolling out its KizON wristband in Europe, which was launched in July. LG KizON is a wearable device exclusively designed to help parents track their pre-school and primary school children.
In a recent attempt to intrude our private lives, WhatsApp added another layer of unnecessary information in the form of blue check marks, indicating that the recipient has indeed read the message.
The addition of the blue check marks is utterly unwanted in our opinion, given that this brings back the social pressure to reply – what most users consider an interruption of privacy. In the interest of privacy, WhatsApp earlier added the choice to conceal the ‘last seen’ notification that informs the other party when that person was last available on the messaging platform.
Well, there is a way around to avoid this new feature. Rahul Banker, a blogger and head of India’s Google Developers Group, has revealed the method to avoid this feature in a blogpost.
Basically, when you read the message you received on WhatsApp, the app uses your Wi-Fi or Data connection to notify the sender that the message has been read via blue tick marks. So, if you read the message offline, the app won’t be able to send the information to the sender.
So, if you don’t want the sender to know whether you have read the message or not, you just need to switch off your internet and Wi-Fi connections, then open WhatsApp and read the message. Close the app, reconnect to your data or Wi-Fi, and the check marks remain grey.
Since the announcement of the Gen 2 Moto X and Moto G, we have been expecting that the Lenovo subsidiary, Motorola Mobility, might launch an updated Moto G with 4G support. Well, the news might come true as a handset codenamed ‘Motorola TBD’ has made an appearance at Geekbench Browser revealing similar specifications.
According to the Geekbench 3 listing, the unnamed phone packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon (MSM8916) 410 chipset clocked at 1.19 GHz. Notably, the Snapdragon 410 is both 32-bit and 64-bit capable. It comes with 1 GB of RAM. The device has scored a 434 and 1148 points under single and multi-core benchmarks.
It is a pretty decent score for a budget smartphone, but there are some confusions about what device it refers to. Many tech blogs say it might be the second generation Moto E (aka Moto E2), while others suggest that this may be the advanced version of the recently released Moto G (Gen 2.). The former one is highly unlikely to receive the update, considering the price bracket Moto E belongs to.
Moreover, if past Motorola device launch history is any indication, we strongly believe the mystery device is the 4G-LTE variant of the second generation Moto G, unless the company is working on whole new other budget handsets. Also, the use of Snapdragon 410 series chipset makes sense over 400 series 3G based Moto G (Gen 2), if Motorola wants to get hold of the developed markets like USA and Europe.
Motorola earlier launched the Moto G (Gen 1) 4G-LTE in European and American markets, almost three months after the 3G model made its debut. As for now, there is no official word on any such device, hence, the report should be treated as pure speculation.
XOLO has added a new smartphone to its Q series lineup, the XOLO Q1020. The device was launched via a Facebook post for Rs. 11,499. Listed on the company’s website, there is no word regarding its availability.
The new XOLO Q1020 features a 5-inch HD IPS display with a 1280×720 pixel resolution and comes with scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Under the hood, it is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor coupled with a Mali 450 GPU and 1 GB of RAM. It runs the Android KitKat OS with dual-SIM capabilities.
In terms of memory, the Q1020 comes with 8 GB of in-built storage expandable up to 32 GB via a memory card. Optics includes a 13MP rear shooter with Exmor RS sensor, LED flash along with a 2MP selfie cam. The camera app comes with features like scene detection, Panorama, geo-tagging, best shot, smile shot, and HDR options.
Connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, A-GPS, 3.5 mm audio jack and FM radio. The phone has a 2100mAh battery which is claimed to deliver up to 13 hours of talk time on 3G, and up to 454 hours of standby time on 2G. The phone will be available in black and white colour variants.
The XOLO Q1020 comes with a wooden finish at the edges.
We all know the depreciational quality of any online conversation with another human being. There’s something about the mode of online communication that leaves us shielded from other person’s emotions, leading us to create a lot of nasty content over the internet. The information super highway was meant for the world to unite and share ideas, instead, we have turned it into a septic tank of human nastiness. One of the worst issues online is the issue of online harassment. It is especially a common occurrence on social media. Now Twitter will be taking steps to prevent harassment on its pages.
Twitter has joined hands with a non-profit advocacy organization Women, Action, and the Media (WAM) to take on online harassment. It is reported through a PEW survey that as many as 25% of women aged between 18-24 have been stalked online, while 26% have been on the receiving end of online sexual harassment.
Twitter said that it works with multiple partners to take on online harassment.
These are troubling figures as it creates a malignant atmosphere for women online. In the garb of anonymity, insensitive elements create a havoc on the person they are targeting. WAM will work towards making it easier for Twitter to take actions against these unscrupulous troublemakers.
WAM has created an online form which can be used to report abuses. It is an anti-gender harassment campaign, and so the form can be used by women and men both. WAM has made it clear that they will use the complaints received to direct Twitter to take action, but ultimate authority lies with Twitter.
Recently, a major Twitter scandal unfolded in the Tech world with the exposure of #gamergate, where certain female gamers were being harassed by gamers. They were forced to speak out against gender discrimination against females in gaming. After facing tremendous pushback from mainstream attention, the gamergate movement is now dying a silent death.
The safety features might come in handy for reporting abuses, but what is really necessary to end this menace is accountability. The people who indulge in harassment of others leads to more controls on expression, which just spoils the fun for everyone. It’s important that the abusers face the consequences of their actions. But most importantly, we need to have an online culture conversation. The online world is an ecosystem of its own, and it is still discovering itself, constantly evolving. We need to create a civilisational grammar for this new society and make it a place to have real developmental interactions.
The first-ever Microsoft-branded Lumia is a hot topic these days. The software giant is all geared to announce their first Lumia device without the Nokia branding next week, marking the end of Nokia as a smartphone manufacturer. Now, the new reports have surfaced that showcases leaked images of the Microsoft Lumia RM-1090. Courtesy: China’s Tieba, an online community powered by Baidu.
According to the leak, the expected Microsoft-branded Lumia smartphone will be a low-end device and will feature a 5-inch QHD display with 960×540 pixel resolution. It will be powered by a Snapdragon 200 chipset clocked at 1.2 GHz bundled with 1 GB of RAM, dual-SIM, 8 GB ROM, a 5MP primary camera with LED and a 1900mAh battery.
Microsoft Lumia RM-1090 will be 140.2×72.45×9. 32 mm and weighs 145.7 grams. It will be available in following colour variants – white, black, grey, green and orange. Connectivity features will be limited to 3G with HSPA and GSM. The handset is said to have been cleared for US FCC certification in October after being cleared for TENAA certification.
We can expect it to go head to head against the Android One series.
Airtel India has launched a unique ‘One Touch Internet’ portal in an attempt to persuade first-time Internet users in India. The initiative primarily aims at assisting beginners to learn and get acquainted with the nuances involved as far as the mobile data is concerned. This ploy clearly suggests that Bharti Airtel is tapping into the steadily growing mobile database across the country, eventually increasing its user base in the process.
The One Touch Internet service will bring all the information regarding Airtel’s various popular services concerning Mobile Internet under one roof. The WAP portal eventually will work as a guide that will provide users with free online tutorials and offer them free Internet access for 10 days. The purpose is to make the new users understand how to navigate and work around social networking websites, watch videos or shop online without paying.
As of now, this service is currently available for prepaid mobile customers on Airtel (2G and 3G). What all users have to do is simply dial 111 or visit http://one.airtel.in on their mobile phone’s web browsers to get the tutorials. These informative videos will be available in English and Hindi as of now, though Airtel plans to introduce eight other Indian regional languages in a few weeks.
