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Flipkart Tempts Buyers with a Rs.10,000 Off on the New Nexus 6

We reported earlier today that the new Motorola-build Google Nexus 6 has gone up for pre-orders at the popular e-commerce website Flipkart, with an interesting proposition of Rs. 10,000 cashback if you replace it with the new iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. However, the device is still appearing with a ‘Coming Soon’ tag on the ‘Device’ section of the Google Play Store.

Google had already confirmed the pricing of the Nexus 6 for India through the Google Play Store listing. According to the listing, Nexus 6 32GB version will retail for Rs. 44,000, while the 64 GB version is priced at Rs. 49,000. The phone will be released in two colour options in the country – midnight blue and cloud white. Last month, Google launched the new smartphone Nexus 6 in the country, along with Nexus 9 tablet, Nexus Player and Android 5.0.

Flipkart’s pricing for the 32 GB and 64 GB variants are the same as the official Google Play prices of the Nexus 6, at Rs. 44,000 and Rs. 49,000 respectively.

The company has introduced an exchange offer under which customers will be given a cashback of Rs. 10,000 on both the versions of the Nexus 6 smartphone. Interestingly, Flipkart is offering Rs. 10,000 cash back if you exchange your iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus with the new Nexus 6. If anyone is rethinking their recent purchase of Apple’s latest flagship, they can opt for this offer.

Along with that, there are other offers as well like a free three-month subscription to Flipkart First, a cashback of Rs. 1,500 on the purchase of various monthly EMI’s via HDFC/ICICI bank and free pre-selected eBooks worth Rs. 2,100.

The phone has the same metal structure as of the Moto X and also presumably will have the same strength. The button locations are the same, and thanks to the minimal bezel design, the Nexus 6 looks a lot less big.

The smartphone features a 5.96-inch Quad-HD AMOLED display, 2.7 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 3 GB of RAM, 32/64 GB of internal storage and 3220 mAh battery with wireless charging support.

November 18, 2014
The Secret’s Out! Nokia Unveils N1, a Tablet that Runs on Android

Hell yeah! That’s what we said when we finally saw what was inside that black box that Nokia teased us with this morning. Having paid a tribute to the company last week we couldn’t have been happier with the launch of a new digital device with the name Nokia branded on it.

The Nokia N1 is the first device from the company in its new era. The 7.9 inch device immediately reminds you of the iPad mini. With a thickness of 6.9 mm, the device is as thin as a tablet can get. It will also be the first device to come with the new reversible c-type USB.

First device to come with the new reversible USB

The N1 also comes strong on the spec sheet. The device is powered by 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 processor along with 2GB of RAM. It has 32GB of storage. It gets its juice from 5300 mAh battery. All these will lead to some amazing performance on the 2048 x 1536 resolution display on the device.

On the camera front, the Nokia N1 flaunts an 8-megapixel camera at the rear, and a 5-megapixel version at the front. The overall design of the device is unapologetically iPad-ish. Looks like Nokia isn’t taking a lot of chances with its first attempt back in consumer electronic business and is taking it safe.

The Z-launcher on the N1 has some unique features.

A feature of the N1 that is unique to it is the Z-launcher that is based on Android 5.0 Lollipop. The Z-launcher lets you write text on the screen, and it can then perform tasks or search the device or the internet. It gives you a list of apps and contacts that change based on where you are and what you’re doing. The launcher is available on Google Play store starting today.

The branding on the device could have been better in terms of placement and design.

From the looks of it, the only thing that we found disappointing was branding on the device. A more prominent engraved or embossed logo would have been more appreciable. The bit that is really appreciable is the fact that this is the first device to hold the c-type USB. It was high time we got over the constant twisting of USB’s to find the ideal moment under the stars when it fits in the port. Who better than Nokia to lead an innovation. The device will be priced at $249 and will be first launched in China by early 2015.

November 18, 2014
Goofy New App ‘Super’ is the Perfect Place to Make Bold Statements

After failing at its recent project Q&A app Jelly, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has come up with another light-hearted app called Super. As simply as it can be put, Super is Twitter with the style of Jersey Shore. Yes, Super lets you share statements starting with ‘The Best’, ‘The Worst’, ‘I Wish’, ‘Check Out’, ‘Don’t Ever’, or a few other prompts. You can sign your name if you wish, and people will be able to see your declaration in ‘Friends’, ‘Everyone’, and ‘Nearby’ feeds.

Creating a new Super post gives you a template ‘sentence starter’ word for your thought on the top left, like ‘we should’ or ‘I love’ before an area for typing your thought. On the lower right, you can add a further message, attribution or quip. Then, you are required to add an image; either from your own camera/library or from a library of art that’s built-in. Users can also add location data to their images so that it can be discovered by those in the area using the nearby feed.

I love how even something so simple can be pretty on Super. (Swipe left to share.) https://t.co/yzEoOqEcop pic.twitter.com/DsSudEO2Hr

— Biz Stone (@biz) November 17, 2014

Like Twitter, it offers you limited words, letting people use witty words and clever wordplay. However, this app is just not about words, pictures are equally an important part of the app. Hence, making it feel equally interesting as Instagram. So, what’s special about Super? The app scans what you write, and then automatically adds a background image and offers a few alternates based on your keywords.

Super also has an anonymous element like Secret called ‘anonymish’ where you can throw a switch when posting. This removes your username from the post. The company pointed out that people could figure out who you are though, as ‘it isn’t designed as an anonymous sharing platform.’

Even though Biz’s last app flopped miserably, Stone doesn’t want to stress this launch that much. “I’ve decided not to come up with some slick and pithy marketing description for Super,” he wrote in a blog post. “I’m also not going to proclaim that it’s the most innovative thing ever or that it’s going to save the world. It’s not, it’s just fun.”

November 18, 2014
Apple’s Latest iOS Update to Speed Up Old Devices

As expected, Apple rolled out the second update iOS 8.1.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. While the last update brought features like Apple Pay, return of the Camera Roll and fixed bugs with third-party extensions, iOS 8.1.1 is essentially a usability update.

The new iOS 8.1.1 update includes a number of bug fixes, improved overall stability, and most importantly, performance improvements for older devices including the iPhone 4s and iPad 2. Apple says that the latest release should speed up the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s, two of the company’s old generation devices.

These devices, while technically supported with iOS 8.0, suffered a performance hit as a result of increased demand for the new OS, and this update should help make life easier for those who’ve already upgraded. Updating old generation devices to the major upgrade can often result in degraded performance, making the user experience slower and worse than it had been before.

Apple says the latest release should speed up the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s.

The same was experienced with iOS 7 last year, and now again Apple is working to make things better for customers who are still holding onto their old gen devices. Usually, the company provides a list of particular bugs and the updates fix, but this time around, the company has not done so. Anyway, the main feature of this update appears to be increased performance for iPhone 4s and iPad 2.

Along with the iOS update, the company has also rolled out an update for Mac devices. OS X 10.10.1, as it is called, is the first update to Apple’s Yosemite. According to the company, the new update will result in “better Wi-Fi reliability, improved Microsoft Exchange connections, and fixes for reliability in Mail when sending messages using ‘certain’ email providers.”

The update also provides two fixes for enterprise customers. One makes the Mac App Store report that an Apple Remote Desktop update is available even when it’s not true, and another allows you to append search domains for partially qualified domain names when performing DNS lookups.

November 18, 2014
Snapchat Will Now Let You Send Money That Won’t Self-Destruct

Snapchat has recently unveiled a new feature that will let users send money to other users through the self-destructive messaging app. To send money to friends, users need to connect their debit cards to their Snapchat accounts through a partnership with Square Cash.

The service will only be available to Snapchat users in the United States who are above 18. None of the user’s personal financial information will be stored on Snapchat’s server. However, the company’s privacy is almost the first concern. The question arises – Would you trust Snapchat for your financial details? We won’t.

In May, Snapchat settled with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations that it misled users over data collection and failed to inform them that their messages could be saved. The company agreed to be monitored by the FTC for 20 years. And in January, at least 4.6m user accounts were compromised by hackers, who posted usernames and phone numbers on the web.

To send a payment, all what a Snapchat user needs to do is type in the amount they’d like to send in a private message. The app then recognises the dollar amount – say $10 – and eventually, a green payment button appears. The tapping of this button sends the amount to the other user. The payment system is similar to other mobile payment services, such as Venmo and PayPal. It is a part of Snapchat’s broader push to expand beyond its core messaging business, by both adding advertising and branching out into live events.

The company announced last month that users will start receiving ads from brands under the ‘Recent Updates’ section of the app. This is the same portion of the Snapchat inbox where you find ‘Stories’, a product that threads together multiple snaps (both video or photo) into one, long snap.

However, the problem is that the app doesn’t know much about its users beyond their made-up username, IP location, volunteered age, phone number, and who they watch on Snapchat Stories. Although it does get some name info from contact books, but without the targeting prowess of apps like Facebook and Twitter, it may be forced to stick with ads for things with broad appeal, like films and top 40 music.

November 18, 2014
How YouTube’s New Music Key Service Can Revolutionise the Music Streaming Industry

YouTube has launched its long-awaited music subscription service called Music Key in beta version. The new service comes with a $7.99 price tag for an initial promotional period, with a standard rate of $9.99 per month. YouTube Music Key offers access to Google Play Music’s entire library, as well as providing ads-free music videos, background playback capabilities, and offline caching for viewing without a connection.

To kick off the service, YouTube opens with a private invite-only beta, offered just to the heaviest music consumers on the site. However, if you are desperate to try the new service, you can sign up for Google’s other music series Google Play Music commit to $10 monthly, and you get to be a YouTube Music Key subscriber as well (and yes, you get 2 months free subscription for Music Key with it).

YouTube is the No. 1 place for folks to discover new music. Also, music videos don’t air on MTV anymore, but all of the latest pop acts release their videos on YouTube. Justin Bieber launched his career on YouTube, Harlem Shake became the song of the decade here. Top 40 doesn’t define the music scene anymore. This makes YouTube new subscription service a big deal. The video-sharing website has become a one-stop website for music videos, cover songs, lyric videos, reality shows, ‘Soldier coming home’ videos and pretty much everything. YouTube knows well that the lines between music and everything else are more blurred than before.

The company is going to make most of it with this new service. “Overall, we rely on the information that we get from our partners, or from the video uploader,” explained the YouTube spokesperson Matt McLernon in an interview. “So there are very specific cases like members of the music community, say a label or a publisher, where it’s very clear that it’s music, but the thing that makes YouTube so unique in the music space is, not only is there the traditional music side that everyone knows and loves, but with 300 hours of music and video coming to YouTube every minute, and much of that being music, there’s this whole spectrum of what people call music, or consider music, or share as music.”

The strategy YouTube has adopted is feedback-based, which is a good sign. The beta version is designed to help Google define music not just by its own standards, but by the standards of using the service for listening and watching. The aim of the beta version is to attract the most dedicated YouTube music fans, who will then offer up feedback including “why isn’t channel x included,” or “why is this here when it doesn’t seem like it should be?”

“We want it to be from both sides – we rely on the information the uploader puts in their YouTube video, but we also want to be an active part in that,” McLernon stated. “This is the same concept of what we use to determine recommended or related videos. All the different signals that we’re aware of that would tell us people are playing these videos in the same way that they would play these types of music videos.”

The company’s goal is to develop the service in the same way they developed their advertising partnership program, which started as something the company chose you out to participate in. It was complete with iterated agreements, and eventually opened its doors to all YouTube creators and uploaders to opt into.

Music downloads on iTunes are not selling the way they used to, CDs have become almost non-existent in stores, and streaming music sales keep rising. Matt admits that based on how well the beta version is received by the early users, it’s definitely possible that we’ll see the model applied in one way or another to other categories within the streaming video site too. However, Google has a big task ahead to figure out how they want to proceed with the Music Key.

November 18, 2014
OnePlus Promises After-Sales Service to Indians on Units Purchased Globally

It’s just a few days left for the roll out of OnePlus in India. The Chinese company has won millions of hearts with this amazing device that gives a whole new meaning to all in one. Now, it has taken a while to come to India, but the fans of the device have purchased it from the outside market. For such ardent fans, the company has a gift to express its gratitude.

OnePlus has announced in a forum post that if users have bought their device from official channels, they’ll be eligible for warranty coverage in India. The company will cover the after-sales services of these devices’ owners. The catch is that the users will be able to get the warranty locally and so will have to wait till the company’s customer support is all setup in the country. The terms of service will also be based on local warranty terms.

The company is in its setting up mode and is hiring people. The China-based manufacturer is calling folks to check out their Careers page. This would also be a good opportunity for people to work with a fast growing company and with cutting edge technology. Most of the opportunities are in China, so it would also be a good chance for folks who want to experience new cultures.

It is always good to hear that a company cares about its after-sales service. It is a field in which Indian companies are still lagging behind, leaving the consumers to suffer. After-sales service is an important aspect of a device’s sale, and the companies which provide quality service will see a better future in the market. We hope that other Indian brands will take a clue from OnePlus and would work towards making their product better.

November 18, 2014
A Day After Discussing a Possible Comeback, Nokia Teases a Mysterious Black Box

While the world was grieving the demise of Nokia as a mobile phone brand, seems like it was business as usual at Nokia’s office. The company is trending now because of a tweet which shows a mystery device with just the tagline that says “18.11.14 We’re up To Something.”

Guess what? We’re up to something. http://t.co/AFq4dUFI9S #thinkingahead #Slush14 pic.twitter.com/sqERYpz0Vc

— Nokia (@nokia) November 17, 2014

We had heard yesterday that Nokia’s new chief was telling investors that the company might make a comeback to the consumer electronics market. He said the company can pursue brand licensing. He also said that this was a thought for a long term plan. But guess that wasn’t going to be so far of in the future after all.

Considering the device is going to be unveiled today, we will have all the juicy bits by the end of the day, but that hasn’t stopped social media speculators from doing their job. There are many thoughts about what the device could actually be. The most prominent opinion seems to be that it’s a set top box based on Android TV, like the recently launched Nexus Player.

Nokia has come a long way and has a solid reputation and goodwill in the market. Looks like Nokia is ready to utilize its most important resource, its faithful consumers. Nokia cannot get back into the handset business for quite a while so it’s important that it have a good device in its kitty to return back the consumer market with a warm welcome. We just have to wait till the end of the day to know what all the fuss is about.

November 18, 2014
Google Nexus 6 Pre-Orders to Start Today in India

Google’s flagship device Nexus 6 has been listed on Flipkart for a while now. However, the listing is going to drop the ‘Coming Soon’ tag as the new Nexus will be up for pre-orders in India today.

Presently, Flipkart’s Google Nexus 6 page mentions that there are ‘0 days to go for the Nexus 6’. Earlier, we surfaced the news that the 32 GB variant will be available at a price of Rs. 42,999. Google officially confirmed the pricing of the Nexus 6 in India by listing it on the Google Play store earlier this month.

According to the listing, Nexus 6 32GB version will retail for Rs. 44,000, while the 64 GB version is priced at Rs. 49,000. The phone is expected to release in two colour options in the country – midnight blue and cloud white. Last month, Google launched the new smartphone Nexus 6 in the country, along with Nexus 9 tablet, Nexus Player and Android 5.0.

The phone has the same metal structure of the Moto X and also presumably will have the same strength. The button locations are the same, and thanks to the minimal bezel design, the Nexus 6 looks a lot less big.

The smartphone features a 5.96-inch Quad-HD AMOLED display, 2.7 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 3 GB of RAM, 32/64 GB of internal storage and 3220 mAh battery with wireless charging support. Nexus 9, which is also listed as ‘Coming soon’ on the Play store, powers Android 5.0 Lollipop, 64-bit NVIDIA Tegra K1 Dual Denver processor clocked at 2.3 GHz.

November 18, 2014
T-Series’ First Smartphone Intends to Take on Redmi’s Market with a Lacklustre Device

Remember T-series? If you are from the 90s, the name brings in the memory of religious cassettes that parodied Bollywood numbers. Well, times have changed, and the company has become a major force in the Indian entertainment industry. The company has now introduced their first attempt in the smartphone industry with a device that doesn’t have much appeal on the spec sheet.

The phone is called SS909 has been created in association with Shachii Gizmo Ltd which is its mobile subsidiary. The processor on the device is a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor along with a 512 MB RAM, which is really limited in times when 1GB RAM is fast becoming the norm. The device has 4 GB internal memory; expandable up to 32 GB and runs on Android 4.4 Kitkat.

The display on the device is a 4.5 inch IPS display. The main camera is an 8 MP shooter whereas the front camera is 2 MP. The cameras are the only arena where the camera matches the Redmi on the spec list, but the quality of the images is still unknown. The SS909 gets its juice from a measly 1600 mAh battery.

The device is 3G capable and is available on Snapdeal for Rs. 5799 and comes with a free flip cover. The device is a decent budget purchase. Don’t expect exceptional gaming performance or high-quality video playback. This can be a device for someone looking for their first smartphone after a shift from feature devices. It can also be a pride purchase for someone wanting to buy locally made devices.

November 17, 2014
Microsoft is Offering Lumia Smartphones for a Free Two-Week Trial

Microsoft is giving its consumers a chance to try out Lumia smartphones for free on a trial basis. After ending the Nokia brand, the Redmond based giant is attempting to increase the popularity of its devices by giving customers a free two-week trial of its Lumia range.

To avail this trial, all you need to do is to fill in your name along with some other details on a web form and mention why you want to try out the device. The devices that are a part of this initiative include Lumia 630, Lumia 735, Lumia 930, Lumia 830, Lumia 1520 and Nokia X (a non-Lumia device and instead runs a forked version of Android.)

The ‘Terms and Conditions’ further states that the devices will be given out on a trial period of two weeks with an age requirement being 16 years or more. To sign up for this trial offer, head over to the Lumia conversations blog and fill in the details provided by the company.

Want to try your luck? You can sign up here.

November 17, 2014
Nokia Boss Talks Future Plans and a Possible Return to Consumer Electronics

With the legendary Nokia name getting scrapped off the mobile market listings, everyone is wondering what’s next for the company. Under the acquisition agreement, Nokia’s phone business is now owned by Microsoft. Nokia is now left with it Nokia Networks, Technology and the Here Maps business. But it seems like the company is contemplating a re-entry into the consumer electronics business.

The new boss who is entrusted with taking the business of the fallen giant spoke of the company’s future plans in London. CEO Rajeev Suri said that the company will make a re-entry into the consumer market. It was his answer to a query that inquired about rumors that the company was looking to make a comeback the handset market.

Mr. Suri spoke of some brand licensing opportunities for the company.

What was interesting was the comments of the CEO about brand licensing. Mr. Suri said “We see brand licensing as an opportunity … But I would say it is more of a long-term opportunity.” Using the tremendous goodwill it still has in the market, the company might try to use it to its advantage. You might see electronics branded with the Nokia name in your electronic showrooms in the future.

Presently Microsoft has licensed to use the Nokia brand on mobile phones Nokia Asha, Nokia X and Nokia feature phones for ten years and on Lumia for 18 months. The Lumia brand had the option to retain the Nokia brand till December 31, 2015. Microsoft clearly wasn’t in the mood to wait long and dropped the Nokia brand last week when it introduced the Microsoft Lumia 535.

For the folks who were mourning the demise of the Finnish giant, this comes like a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, it might be a bit of a wait before this news materializes but for the faithful fans of the brand, it means that it’s not goodbye just yet. We will be waiting for your comeback Nokia.

November 17, 2014
Dual-SIM Galaxy A5 Shows Up on Samsung’s China Website

Galaxy A5 dual-SIM variant has now been listed on Samsung’s China website. The Korean manufacturer did not announce the variant during the unveiling of the single-SIM metal-clad Galaxy A5 last month, alongside the Galaxy A3. Apart from the dual Nano-SIM support, it packs the same internals and features as of the single-SIM Galaxy A5.

Samsung said that it will launch the Galaxy A5 beside the Galaxy A3 this month. Though, now it seems that the A5 will launch before the A3. The Korean manufacturer hasn’t yet listed the Galaxy A3 on the company website as yet, but we can expect a dual-SIM version down the line just like the Galaxy A5.

Earlier, there were reports that the rollout of the Galaxy A series has been delayed due to production woes for the full metal-clad bodies. Though, it will still be launched in ‘select markets’ including China this month. It is also believed that Samsung planned a Q3 launch for both. However, Samsung coping with the production of metal casing for its first-ever full metal-clad unibody designed smartphones, had to push the announcement to Q4. The report also mentioned that the metal casings did not meet the quality benchmark the Korean giant was looking for, with around 50 percent of the yield coming out right.

Surprisingly, there is no mention of the A7 anywhere that was announced alongside the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5.

It is said that the new Galaxy A series is directly targeted at Xiaomi, which has consumed Samsung’s market share considerably in the last two quarters. It’s only catering to the Asian continent with shipments being three times more since last year, only lagging behind Samsung and Apple.

November 17, 2014
iPhone 6 Records Three Times Higher Sales Than its Bigger Sibling

Even though Apple is always tight-lipped about its sales figures, a research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) tracked down the first 30 days of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus availability in the US and has come up with some interesting data.

According to the analyst Steven Milunovich of CIRP, the iPhone 6 accounted for 68 percent of all iPhone sales, while the iPhone 6 Plus took between 23 and 24 percent. This puts the sales ratio somewhere near 3:1 in the favour of iPhone 6. Unlike the Asian market where phablets are always best sellers, iPhone 6 are preferred by the US customers over iPhone 6 Plus.

Together, the new iPhones represented about 91 percent of the total iPhone sales over their first four weeks of availability. The remaining units are represented by the previous-generation iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Obviously, the data clearly shows that there’s a clear favourite, but it is also to be noted that the iPhone 6 Plus has faced stock issues since its launch. That’s one of the reasons many people haven’t really been able to buy one.

CIRP’s research also pointed out that maximum buyers went for 48 GB storage, which is almost double the average storage capacity from a year old model. The reason is that Apple, this year, dropped the 32 GB capacity and offers the iPhone 6 Plus in sizes of 16, 64, and 128 gigabytes.

It is said that as soon as the stock level of iPhone 6 Plus picks up and a normal delivery time is achieved, we can expect the device to gain some considerable ground.

November 17, 2014
A Smart Case That Takes You Back to the Era of Polaroids

Polaroids are one of the best things to happen to photography including cheap DSLRs. They were a revolution when they first rolled out. Polaroids deleted the waiting period, and their hand prints were easy to store and flaunt around. Well, with the advent of camera-induced smartphone age, Polaroids have become an affair of the past. But one company has introduced a unique mobile case that might just bring back the era of printed photos that can be viewed without a battery-powered device.

A French startup Pryntcases has introduced a phone case that converts your phone to a Polaroid camera. Presently, the device can only take one polaroid film at a time and takes a minute to print the image, but is still a great case to have. The appeal of physically holding a photograph can’t be matched with the tonnes of electronic images.

The case comes with an accompanying camera app, which has a cool feature. It takes video while you are taking a picture. Then, when you hold the developed picture in front of the case, it will start playing the video.

The developers of the case are working towards making the device faster so that it can deliver an image in half the present time. They will also work towards allowing the case to hold at least ten films at a time. They have expressed their views to set up a Kickstarter page to further develop the device and sell their product. The case is expected to cost $99 and this price makes it a must-have.

Polaroid images have a unique character that just make them visually appealing. It’s great to see that this medium is making a comeback in the digital age. We hope that an improved version arrives soon.

November 17, 2014