Google introduces Indoor Maps for malls in India

Google announced on Wednesday that indoor maps for a number of public spaces such as malls and along with locations like the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi and the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad. The museums were already being covered by Google's Art View project, as reported previously.

Google's indoor maps are already available in other parts of the world, in countries including the US, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

Google has recently been resurrecting their map offerings in India, after their Street View plans ran into roadblocks in June 2011, after security concerns were raised in Karnataka, just three weeks after they started.

Some of the major locations include Ambience Mall in Gurgaon and Select City Walk in Delhi. In a press release, Google stated that they have worked with 75 partners, across 22 cities to launch indoor maps in India and they will be adding more locations.

The maps cover the major metros and also big cities like Bhopal, Coimbatore, Dehradun, and Ludhiana. According to Google, detailed floor plans will automatically appear when you're using the Google Maps app on iOS and Android, and zoomed in on a building where indoor map data is available. Simply zoom out and the indoor Google Maps will fade away.

In some locations, users will have the option of using the indoor My Location feature to help you navigate your way inside. This means that when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the map will automatically update to display which floor you're on.  At these locations, you can also access indoor walking directions to help you get to where you need to go more quickly.

While Google has just started indoor maps, Nokia got a head start with their HERE maps. Nokia launched the service in June 2013, covering 150 malls, in 17 cities, as previously reported.

For a full list of locations, click here - the service is being rolled out in the following 22 locations for now: Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Moradabad, Mumbai, Noida, Pune, Raipur and Vadodara.

Beats Music review

There's no shortage of music subscription services that offer unlimited streaming for a monthly fee. The conceit of the latest offering, Beats Music, is that its playlists and other recommendations are curated by warm-blooded humans, not robots.
As CEO Ian Rogers proclaims, "Algorithms can do 'sounds like.' They can't do 'feels like.'"
Beats Music comes from Beats Electronics, the headphone-maker backed by hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre and former music executive Jimmy Iovine.
For $10 a month, you get unlimited streaming and song downloading for offline listening. Downloaded songs expire once you cancel the subscription. AT&T customers are also eligible for a $15-a-month family plan for as many as five family members. You can sign up for a 90-day free trial, but there's no free, ad-supported version like some of its rivals.
Beats Music has its roots in the MOG streaming service, which Beats Electronics bought in 2012. Beats Music has a more playful interface than MOG, which was mostly utilitarian. Beats also introduces a few ways to discover both new and old material.
Apps Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are available now. Computer users can listen through their Web browser. And like other streaming services, you can choose specific songs, albums or artists on your own. Beats Music has a catalog of more than 20 million songs, which is comparable to its rivals.
I began by going through a get-to-know-you sequence for new users, picking a few genres and artists I like. Somewhat flustered by the scarcity of choices, I picked "Sting," "Katy Perry" and "Harry Connick Jr." and the genre "Pop." I'm glad I was discerning about these choices (redoing them several times), because eventually I was presented with something I liked.
The Beats Music app tries to take the information you enter in order to present you with a variety of albums and playlists that are "Just For You."
Another section for recommendations, dubbed "The Sentence," prompts you to fill in blanks to establish what you'd like to hear, but you end up with silly sentences like "I'm in the shower & feel like ordering in with my family to Indie." It's reminiscent of Allrecipes' "Dinner Spinner" except I'm not sure what ingredients I'm adding in. I mostly skipped this game because I found the resulting choices to be far too random.
Another "Highlights" section made more sense, like a playlist of the "2014 Grammy Winners."
One recommendation I liked from the "Just For You" section was a playlist called "Young Lovers Heartbreak Mix." If you have a rainy day - or in drought-plagued Los Angeles, at least a few hours with nothing better to do - it's worth a listen.
The 25-song, 96-minute playlist starts off slowly with the piano ballad "Say Something" by A Great Big World. It builds gradually, ramping up with the rise-from-the-ashes fourth song "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato. It hits a crescendo between songs 13 and 14, when "Don't Speak," Gwen Stefani's 1996 hit with her band, No Doubt, crashes into Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" from last year. Somewhat appropriately, the playlist ends with Taylor Swift's power recovery song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."
The app says the playlist was created by "Beats Pop," but the curator was actually Arjan Timmermans, the popular blogger behind ArjanWrites.com. Hired as the head of pop and dance programming at Beats Music last year, Timmermans is one of nine real people who put some 5,000 playlists together for Beats Music. (Neither Dre nor Iovine are among them).
The playlist was designed for "a teenager who got their heart broken for the first time," Timmermans said in an interview. The songs - a mix of hits by current teen idols and breakup classics like "Don't Speak" - are meant to work together emotionally, he said, telling the listener, "It's OK to be sad, but I can move through this."
The playlist has a beginning, middle and an end and runs about as long as a movie. And I found that some songs' lyrics work together back-to-back, like the way Stefani's line "don't tell me cause it hurts" runs into Cyrus' "don't you ever say I just walked away, I will always want you."
That's a link I don't see a machine making these days. For people, it's probably a subconscious connection buried deep down there somewhere.
I am no teenager anymore, am happily married and am not the playlist's presumptive audience. But as a sampling of what Beats Music has to offer, it shows me this app has a soul.

Samsung's Android 4.4 update reportedly puts an end to benchmark rigging

Last July, Samsung was caught in a bit of controversy when its flagship smartphone of the time, the Galaxy S4, was seen optimising its behaviour to score higher in commonly-used benchmarking apps.
According to the findings, the Samsung Galaxy S4 would expose higher-speed cores to certain applications like GLBenchmark 2.5.1, AnTuTu, Linpack, and Quadrant apps, while the power available to other apps would be capped at a lower speed, in an attempt to increase the battery life of the phone. This meant that the CPU power available to your typical apps was lesser than what you would expect based on the benchmarks score. Samsung allegedly did this 'optimisation' for GPU speeds as well.
However, it seems this practise has been put to an end with Samsung's Android 4.4 update for the Galaxy S4. According to a report by Ars Technica:

Moving to Android 4.4, that strange CPU activity stops happening. Every single benchmark we ran prompted variable-but-normal fluctuations in CPU speed based on actual activity. Speeds would ramp up for a couple of seconds while the app launched, but once it became idle, the speeds settled back down to where they would normally be.

Compare this to the behaviour in Android 4.3 "where all four cores go right to the maximum speed of 1.9GHz when a benchmark app is opened."
So has Samsung just hidden the new set of optimisations deeper in the code, or given up on the practice? Seems like it's the latter.
John Poole of Primate Labs, the developers of popular benchmarking app Geekbench told Ars, "I'm inclined to think that the change between 4.2.2 and 4.4.2 is due to Samsung tweaking the overall power and performance settings rather than a new harder-to-detect boost."
Similar optimisations were also noted in the Galaxy Note 3, so it would be interesting to see if a software update makes an impact on the phablet's performance in benchmarks as well.
To be fair to Samsung, it's not the only manufacturer that has been caught optimising its hardware for benchmarks. Anandtech noted last year that almost all manufacturers indulge in the practice. However, it seems that like almost everything else that it does, Samsung is (or at least was) better than others in this department as well.

Google Nexus 6 to be made by LG as 'lite' variant of G3 flagship: Report

If recent reports are to be believed, the Nexus 6 smartphone might be a marked departure from Google's usual Nexus line-up, as the Mountain View giant is said to be preparing the next smartphone on the lines of LG's yet-to-be-announced G3.
The latest information about the upcoming Nexus smartphone comes courtesy Gizmodo, who cites an insider that claims that Google's rumoured Nexus 6 smartphone is being manufactured by LG, which has been the OEM partner for Nexus smartphones for two consecutive years (Nexus 4 and Nexus 5) now.
Further, the insider notes that this year's Nexus smartphone will be a 'lightweight' version of LG's next flagship smartphone, believed to be dubbed G3. However, the insider does not reveal any details about the alleged Nexus 6.
According to the report, LG might debut the rumoured G3 in June. It's worth pointing out that, Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President at Google in charge of Android, Chrome and Google Apps recently indicated that Nexus fans would only see the alleged Nexus 6 in the second half of this year. Pichai was quoted saying, "I can assure you it will not be released in the first half of the year."
The Google Nexus 5, made by LG, is Google's most recent Nexus device, and was released in November 2013 with Android 4.4 KitKat OS.
Notably, the alleged LG G3 flagship has been making rounds on the Internet and has been rumoured to sport a 1440x2560 pixels QHD (Quad HD) display, however, there is no word on screen size yet.
Further, the alleged LG G3 is said to pack an octa-core chipset, believed to be codenamed LG Odin, which is being developed by the company itself. In addition, the rumoured LG G3 is expected to pack a 16-megapixel rear camera.
An earlier report suggested that Google has been working on a smartwatch of its own, expected to be revealed within the first half of this year. Popular phone tipster @evleaks had claimed that Google's rumoured smartwatch has been manufactured by LG and it would debut at Google's I/O event in June.

All New HTC One teased in new humorous ad focusing on metallic unibody

HTC has yet again teased the upcoming 'All New HTC One' in an advertisement boasting of its metal body.
The one-and-half-minute-long video, titled 'HTC Technical Translations #2: Metal Unibody', includes two characters, one an engineer and the other some sort of layman (possibly marketing). The first half of the video concentrates on the engineer describing material and techniques used to create the existing HTC One.
In the latter half of the teaser video, we see the engineer holding the 'All New HTC One' smartphone (which has been blurred), describing the metals used in the making of the handset. The scientist's voice, while listing the number of metals, is bleeped out with some twisted guitar leads and riffs generally used in a 'metal' genre song. However, he mentions that one would have to wait until 25 March 2014 "like everyone else," to get the glimpse of the next-gen handset.

The second teaser video is a follow-up to the first advertisement, 'HTC Technical Translations #1: BoomSound', which detailed the BoomSound feature in the company's next flagship smartphone in a humourous way.
Some previous leaks (most recent leak) suggest that the phone might feature a 5-inch full-HD display, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM, and Sense 6.0 UI on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. A 2.1-megapixel front camera is also speculated.
It is all but certain that the Taiwanese firm's much-anticipated successor to the HTC One, the device also referred to previously as HTC M8, HTC One 2, HTC One+, HTC Two, and HTC One 2014, will be released at the 25 March 2014 event.

Sony Xperia E1 and Xperia E1 Dual with Android 4.3 launched in India

Sony Xperia E1 and Xperia E1 Dual have been launched for the Indian market priced at Rs. 9,490 and Rs. 10, 490 respectively.
The company has announced that the Sony Xperia E1 Dual will be available starting March 10, while the Sony Xperia E1 will hit the stores by 25 March 2014.
The Sony Xperia E1 is the single SIM variant, while the Xperia E1 Dual is the dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) variant, and both models otherwise come with identical specifications.
The Sony Xperia E1 (and Xperia E1 Dual) features a 4-inch WVGA display with a resolution of 480x800 pixels and a 233ppi pixel density. The smartphone is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (MSM8210) processor, alongside 512MB of RAM. The Xperia E1 comes with 4GB of inbuilt storage, with expandable storage support up to 32GB via microSD card.
The Xperia E1 sports a 3-megapixel rear camera capable of 720p recording, and has no front-facing camera. The smartphone packs a 1700mAh battery that's rated to deliver up to 9 hours of talk time, and 551 hours of standby time. Notably, it features 3G connectivity support. The smartphone weighs in at 120 grams, and has dimensions 118x62.4x12 mm. Sony notes that the Xperia E1 will be available in Black, Purple and White.
The Japanese giant is touting the Xperia E1 as mid-range device and claims that the device can produce up to 100Db music through loudspeakers. Sony also is offering a promotional 30 day free pass for company's Entertainment Network music streaming service.
The Xperia E1 was announced in January this year, alongside the Xperia T2 Ultra phablet. Notably, Sony is yet to reveal any pricing and availability details of the Xperia T2 Ultra. The Xperia T2 Ultra was made available online in India in February via an online retailer, for Rs. 32,000.
Sony at MWC 2014 launched a new mid-range smartphone, the Xperia M2, alongside the company's flagship Xperia Z2 smartphone and the Xperia Z2 Tablet.

iOS 7.1 'should ship any day now': John Gruber

iOS 7.1, the much-awaited first major update to iOS 7, could ship any day now, according to noted Apple pundit John Gruber.
Apple is hosting the first-ever iTunes music festival in the US along the sidelines of the South by Southwest (SXSW), a popular conference that is held every year in Texas. Apple announced that the music festival will be streamed live via Apple's iTunes store as well as through a dedicated iTunes festival app.
The festival app, which hasn't been released yet, will require iOS 7.1 to run, says Gruber. With SXSW set to start on Friday, the app, and hence the update, should arrive soon. Gruber wrote on his website Daring Fireball:

Apple's first iTunes Festival in the U.S. starts a week from today at SXSW in Austin. Apple is going to stream the performances to iOS devices using an app, but I've heard from a little birdie that the app requires iOS 7.1 (which explains why the app isn't out yet). That means iOS 7.1 should ship any day now.

iOS 7.1 is expected to bring in support for CarPlay (LINK TO STORY), the newly unveiled feature that allows users to plug their phones into compatible vehicles in order to control entertainment, navigation, and call-handling features via voice commands and steering-mounted controls.
The update is also expected to bring updated icons, a new animation for "Slide to Unlock", improvements to various native apps including Calendar and Siri, and various other visual and functional enhancements.
Apple recently released the iOS 7.0.6 update to fix a critical bug in the SSL implementation of iOS 7.

Nokia X Android smartphone listed online at Rs. 8,500 with March 15 availability

Nokia's first Android smartphone, the Nokia X, is now listed at an online retailer in India, with a price of Rs. 8,500. The retailer claims the Nokia X smartphone will be available from 15 March 2014.
The Finnish manufacturer had soon after its MWC 2014 event, listed the Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL dual-SIM variants on its India site, without pricing or availability details. At the MWC 2014 launch, the company had said the Nokia X would go on sale 'immediately' in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, and the Middle East.
The Nokia X has been listed on the Mobile Store and was first spotted by Maktech blog. The Nokia X is available in its Black, Green, Cyan, Yellow, Red, and White colour variants. Of course since this is a third-party store, one cannot be certain if this will be the official launch price, whenever the phone is unveiled in India.The Nokia X is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), and is powered by Microsoft and Nokia services. The highlight of the Nokia X is the highly customised version of Android, with the Metro-inspired UI and access to Nokia's own app store. While there's no access to Google's Play Store, users can side-load Android apps from any third-party source. Nokia has used the AOSP version corresponding to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as the baseline for its operating system.
The Nokia X offers dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) support with dual standby. The first Android phone from Nokia features a 4-inch IPS LCD display with a 480x800 pixel resolution, translating to a pixel density of 233ppi.
The Nokia X is powered by 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, alongside 512MB of RAM. It sports a 3-megapixel rear camera. The Nokia X handset comes with 4GB of in-built storage, and can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.
The Nokia X supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, AGPS, EDGE, GPRS and 3G connectivity options. It is backed by a 1500mAh battery, which can deliver up to 13 hours of talktime and up to 672 hours of standby time on 2G network.

Nokia X Dual SIM

• Key Specs
• News

Display

4.00-inch

Processor

1GHz

Front Camera

No

Resolution

480x800 pixels

RAM

512MB

OS

Nokia X platform 1.0

Storage

4GB

Rear Camera

3-megapixel

Battery capacity

1500mAh

New phones galore: Samsung S5, HTC Desire, Sony Z2 and more

If you’re considering a new phone, you suddenly have a lot more choices.

Here’s a quick look at the batch of new phones announced today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, starting with the likely best-seller – Samsung’s Galaxy S5:

Samsung image

The latest version of Samsung’s flagship phone will go on sale in April at AT&T, T-Mobile and other carriers.
Highlights include a high-def, 5.1-inch display (up from the s4′s 5-inch display); improved battery, with up to 21 hours of talk time; and a 16 megapixel camera that can capture video at 4K resolution. It runs Android KitKat on a 2.5 gigahertz, quad-core processor. The S5 also works with the latest versions of LTE — with speeds up 150 megabits per second — and can “bond” LTE and available Wi-Fi service to boost download performance.
Samsung added a heart sensor to the device — which comes with Samsung’s digital health app — and a fingerprint sensor. Like the latest iPhone, it also comes in a gold tone:

Samsung image

If the S5 is too mainstream, consider the new ZTE phones based on the Firefox OS. The colorful ZTE Open C,  shown below in orange, will debut in the second quarter, starting in Venezuela and Uruguay. U.S. customers are being offered an updated version of the ZTE Open, which has been sold here via eBay since 2013.

ZTE image

You’ll also have to travel overseas to buy one of Nokia’s nifty new Android-based, quasi-Windows phones announced in Barcelona. The Nokia X, X+ and XL run an open version of Android with a Windows-like tiled interface and come preloaded with Microsoft services, such as Skype, OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) and Outlook.com. They also come in a rainbow of colored plastic bodies, similar to Nokia’s higher-end, Lumia Windows phones.
The phones were presented at the conference by Nokia executive Stephen Elop, who could wear sneakers since he’s no longer a candidate for Microsoft chief executive:

Nokia image

The Nokia X, with a 4-inch touchscreen and a 3 megapixel camera, is listed at 89 Euros and available in just about every market other than North America. The X+ has more memory and storage and the XL has a 5-inch display, 5 megapixel camera and 2 megapixel front-facing camera. The X+ and XL will sell for 99 to 109 Euros when they go on sale overseas in the second quarter.
I wonder if the XL chassis will be repurposed as an entry level Windows phone to replace the popular but aging Lumia 520 and 521 models.

Nokia XL, Nokia image

Sony announced the Xperia Z2, an upgraded version of its waterproof Android phone with a 5.2-inch display. The Z2 has a 20.7 megapixel camera that can capture 4K video.
Drawing on its video expertise, Sony gave the Z2 apps, such as “timeshift video,” which lets users shoot 120 frames per second then slow playback speeds for slow motion effects. Inside the phone has 2.3 gigahertz quad-core processor.

Sony image of Xperia Z2

The company also announced a Z2 tablet, a fitness-tracking wristband and the mid-range Xperia M2 smartphone with an 8 megapixel camera, 4.8-inch display and 1.2 gigahertz quad-core processor.  The M2 goes on sale in March. Both of Sony’s new phones will come preloaded with Sony movies, including “Captain Phillips” on the Z2.

Sony image of the Xperia M2

HTC unveiled its follow up to the HTC One. Called the Desire 816, it has the One’s dual-front speakers and frame design but comes in a range of colors and has a bigger screen (5.5 inches) and better camera (13 megapixel). The Desire 816 will be available this spring.

HTC image

Samsung also announced a new version of its Gear smartwatch with a more powerful processor, integrated heart monitor, slimmer case and a camera that fits into the watch instead of on the band like the original Gear, which went on sale last fall.
The Gear 2 is a bit less tethered to the user’s phone. It includes a standalone music player and fitness apps that don’t require a phone nearby. It can also be used as a TV remote control with a new Samsung app.

Samsung image

Samsung also switched from Android to the Tizen operating system for its Gear 2, which goes on sale in April.
Samsung also announced the Gear Fit fitness wristband that syncs with smartphones and also goes on sale in April.

Samsung image

Here are the specs for Samsung’s S5:

Network	LTE Cat.4 (150/50Mbps)
Display	5.1” FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080)
AP	2.5GHz Quad core application processor
OS	Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat)
Camera	16MP (rear), 2.0MP (front)
Video	UHD@30fps, HDR, video stabilizationVideo Codec : H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8Video Format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM
Audio	Audio Codec : MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/ AAC+/ eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLACAudio Format: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
Camera Features	HDR (Rich tone), Selective Focus, Virtual Tour Shot, Shot&More
Additional Features	IP67 Dust and water Resistant
	Ultra Power Saving Mode
	Download Booster
	S Health 3.0
	Quick Connect
	Private Mode
	Kids Mode
Google Mobile Services	Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube
Connectivity	WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2×2) Bluetooth®: 4.0 BLE / ANT+ USB: USB 3.0 NFC IR Remote
Sensor	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture(IR), Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor
Memory	RAM: 2GB Internal Memory: 16/32GB  microSD slot upto 64GB
Dimension	142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm, 145g
Battery	2800mAh  Standby time: 390 hrs / Talk time: 21 hrs

Nokia X Android platform the newest weapon in low-cost phone battle

Nokia, soon to be acquired by Microsoft Corp, is turning to software created by arch-rival Google for a new line of phones it hopes will make it a late contender in the dynamic low-cost smartphone market.
Its first models, Nokia X, X+ and XL, rely upon an open version of the Android mobile software system created by Google that has become the world's most popular software used in smartphones.
The release of the phones just days before Nokia sells its handset business to Microsoft in a $7.2 billion deal, is an attempt to stay relevant in emerging markets, where low-cost Android phones are being snapped up by hundreds of millions of buyers.
Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the market had "shifted dramatically", and the group needed to address a sub-$100 segment that is set to grow four times faster than more expensive phones.
He told a crowded press conference at the Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona that rather than being an 180-degree turn in its strategy of using Microsoft's Windows Phone for smartphones, it was a move that introduces the "next billion" users to Nokia's hardware and Microsoft's services.
"We see the X family being complementary to (Windows Phone) Lumia at lower price points," he said. "Even as you see Lumia push lower and lower, you will see us push lower with Nokia X below that."
But the strategy shift underlines the many missteps made by the Finnish company since Apple launched its ground-breaking iPhone in 2007.
Nokia was caught between a rock and a hard place - committed to using Microsoft's Windows Phone software but needing Android software to reach more cost-sensitive customers, CCS Insight's head of research Ben Wood said.
"That a company soon-to-be owned by Microsoft, the creator of the original operating system, is moving to Android is almost an "admission of failure", he said.
Global smartphone shipments grew 41 percent annually to reach nearly 1 billion units in 2013, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. Android phones from dozens of handset makers accounted for almost four out of every five smartphones sold, or 781.2 million units.
In the past year, Apple shipped 153.4 million smartphones worldwide for a 15 percent share of the market, making it the second largest smartphone platform after Android.
Microsoft was a distant third in market-share terms, shipping 35.7 million units worldwide with its Windows mobile software platform, but still struggling to gain traction in the low-tier and premium-tier smartphone categories, Strategy Analytics said.
Windows shut out
In February 2011, Elop famously compared Nokia's failing smartphone strategy - based on multiple software platforms of its own making - to a man on a burning platform.
He chose to jump into the arms of Microsoft, producing high-end Lumia-branded smartphones that have been well received by critics, but less popular with customers and app developers, the people who make the software that turns phones into multi-purpose tools.
Elop said on Monday he had not jumped the wrong way.
"There's quite a lot of vendors ... who made the Android decision but couldn't differentiate," he said. "We wanted to build with Microsoft a third ecosystem, and that's what we are doing while others fall by the wayside."
But the Microsoft technology does not work on the chip sets found in cheaper smartphones, the fast-growing market crowding out Nokia's Asha feature phones, which lack the full Internet capabilities of smartphones.
The company rejected Android three years ago, when it tied its fortunes to Microsoft's Windows Phone. But Monday's announcement shows it has quietly been working on an open Android device for months.
Product Marketing Vice President Jussi Nevanlinna told Reuters the number one requirement from customers was access to Android apps.
"Our fans oftentimes tell us 'We love your hardware, we love your products, but we also love our Android apps'," he said. "Can you make something happen so the Android apps magically run here?'"
IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Nokia had a made a "rational move" that allowed it to address a much bigger market, but it should have been made three years ago. "It would have given Nokia a complete different position from where it stands today, under Microsoft's control," he said.
CCS Insight's Wood also said Nokia needed to do something dramatic in low-cost smartphones: "Asha has failed to deliver the volumes they needed to be competitive in the low-cost smartphone space, while Android remains completely rampant."
The Nokia X family uses the open source version of Android, which runs most apps without the right to customise Google's basic software.
For Nokia, it was a question of making this humiliating reversal in its strategy or facing irrelevance in this category of phones, Wood said.
Nokia services
The open version of Android software means that the new Nokia phone does not have rely on Google's services and access to the Google Play app store. Instead, Nokia is bundling it with its own music and map offers, and Microsoft's email, cloud, messaging and search services.
Apps will be available in Nokia's own app store, as well as a host of other app stores, Elop said.
The look of the Nokia X devices is starkly different from the usual Android phone, with nods to Lumia and Asha interfaces.
Elop said rather than confusing customers, Nokia X - where X indicates a cross between Nokia hardware, Android apps and Microsoft services - will be a stepping stone to Lumia, and will share the same cloud services.
"Lumia continues to be our primary smartphone strategy," Elop said. "Lumia is where we will continue to introduce the greatest innovation.
Wood said Nokia and Microsoft had an advantage over other users of open Android, such as some Chinese manufacturers, in that they had a ready-made set of services that they could slot into the phone.
"It means Nokia is able to participate in that entry-level space, but our view is they will try to push Windows Phone down into that space as quickly as possible," he said.
Nonetheless, devices running an open Android operating system will not sit easily within Microsoft, whose fortune is founded on the core belief that software should be paid for.
The Nokia X, which has a four-inch screen, will be available immediately, Nokia said. The X+, with more memory and storage, and XR, which has a five-inch display, will be on sale early next quarter priced at 99 Euros and 109 Euros, respectively.
They will be on sale in all markets apart from Japan and Korea, where Nokia is not present, and North America.

Google Play Services 4.1 Rolling Out

Google has announced that it is rolling out the Google Play Services 4.1 update to all Android devices starting today, This update brings turn-based multiplayer support for Android game developers, battery life improvement for users who have location based reporting turned on, Google drive integration and improved Google+ sharing experience.
A major improvement to the Google Play Services is the turn-based multiplayer support using which developers can build asynchronous games to play with friends. Each time a users gets his turn, his turn data is uploaded via Google Play Services and shared with other users automatically.
The update also includes a developer preview of the new Google Drive API for Android using which app developers have the advantage to read and write to a user’s Google Drive account easily. The API also includes a file picker and a “Save” dialog.
You might have noticed that with location reporting turned on, your phone dies pretty sooner than it should. This has been fixed with this update that improves the battery life of devices with location reporting turned on.
A few changes have been made to Google mobile ads:

With Google Play services 4.1, the Google Mobile Ads SDK now fully supports DoubleClick for Publishers, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, and Search Ads for Mobile Apps. You can also use a new publisher-provided location API to provide Google with the location when requesting ads. Location-based ads can improve your app monetization.

The new update also brings better Google+ sharing experience with which you contacts will be suggested from your phone or from your Gmail account when you share something. It also auto-completes contacts when you start typing a name in the Google+ sharing dialog box.
There is no information about when the rollout might reach your device but it has already begun as reported on Android developers blog.

WhatsApp Receives Major Update

The world’s best and most-used instant messaging service has received a major update today. WhatsApp has been updated to Version 2.11.157 and brings loads of improvements along which let you pay for your friend to renew their WhatsApp subscription, brings some amazing widgets which includes a camera shortcut to let you capture pictures directly from your home screen and send it to a contact via WhatsApp instantly.

WhatsApp is a paid service after you have used it for a year and costs not more than 99 cents per phone number. It is an in-app payment, hence to get your subscription renewed, you need to pay via Google Wallet, PayPal or your credit card. However, most WhatsApp users who are teens don’t have access to the aforementioned services. Hence, there has been increased conversation about getting a hacked WhatsApp APK which will bypass the subscription process. Though this isn’t possible, WhatsApp is concerned about people who can not pay to use their service and has introduced the Pay for Friend feature. Using this feature, you can request your friend to renew your WhatsApp service. This would probably cut down the hacked APK demands and users need not change their phone number to renew their WhatsApp service.

Another great improvement is the Camera shortcut which can be placed as a widget on your home screen. This shortcut lets you capture a picture after which you get an option to send the picture to a WhatsApp – pretty useful if you wish to share something you see instantly with your WhatsApp contacts. Also, the notifications from the app seen in the notification bar are more detailed.
The update is not live on the Play Store, we can expect it to be live in the next few hours. However, you can download the APK from whatsapp.com/android/ to get hands on the new features right now.
What are your thoughts about the new update? Do let us know in the comments below.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Specs Leak, Includes 5.24″ Quad HD Screen

The best smartphone from the beast manufacturer of Android smartphones will be announced on February 24 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 at Barcelona but before Samsung throws light on what the Samsung Galaxy S5 would feature, Russian insider and blogger Eldar Murtazin has tweeted out the specs of the device. Though a rumor, these leaked specs are something we have been expecting from the past few months and of course, they do come from a trusted source.

The specs reveal that the Samsung Galaxy S5 would include a 5.24 inch screen with a whopping 2560 x 1440-pixel, Quad HD resolution which would make the Samsung Galaxy S5 world’s first Quad HD resolution device in the western hemisphere of the world.Vivo Xplay 3S is the first one but is available only in China. This will also make Samsung Galaxy S5 the world’s first smartphone to beat the 500 ppi barrier as the leaked specs show that it would have a screen with 560 pixels per inch pixel density.

This high pixel density will be powered with a 3200mAh battery which is strong enough to provide a good battery life compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4 which had a 2600mAh battery.
The device will be available in two variants as far as the storage capacity is concerned. Interestingly, there is no 16 GB variant this time but instead Samsung has planned to release 64 GB and 32 GB variants. There is no information about the expansion of this memory via a SD card slot.
Considering the system chip, there are two variants – Snapdragon and Exynos 6 chip. No information about which Snapdragon chip will be included is available as of now.
Camera as usual is a 16 MP shooter at the back and 3.2 MP in front. Rumors also suggest that a thinner Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch might be launched with the Galaxy S5.
We’ll get to know more as and when we approach Feb 24 to see what Samsung would announce at Samsung Unpacked event.

Samsung Releases List Of Devices to Get Android 4.4.2 KitKat Update

It has been long since Samsung users have been wondering if their device will get an OTA update that will upgrade the OS on their phone to Android 4.4.2 KitKat or not. The wait is over as Samsung today has released a list of devices that will be upgraded to Android 4.4.2 KitKat officially. For users of these devices who were depending upon CyanogenMod 11 or Omni ROM, this should be a sigh of relief as they would finally have a bug-free Android 4.4.2 firmware which is TouchWiz skinned.
The list of devices that will be updated to Android 4.4.2 KitKat is as follows:

1. Galaxy Note® 3
2. Galaxy Note® II
3. Galaxy S® 4
4. Galaxy S® 4 mini™
5. Galaxy S® 4 Active™
6. Galaxy S® 4 zoom™
7. Galaxy S® III
8. Galaxy S® III mini™
9. Galaxy Mega®
10. Galaxy Light
11. Galaxy Note® 8.0
12. Galaxy Tab® 3
13. Galaxy Note® 10.1
14. Galaxy Note® 10.1 2014 Edition

The updates should start rolling out as early as today. Since we already had an inside view of the leaked Android 4.4.2 firmware for the Galaxy S4, you can expect an OTA pretty soon. OTAs are however region and carrier dependent!
Find the press release below:
February 18, 2014
DALLAS, TX – Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) announced today that a number of Samsung Galaxy® devices will receive the Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) software update, enriching the Galaxy experience.
The upgrade provides a number of innovative, easy-to-use features that enhance the user experience, including a more intuitive user interface, enhanced messaging capabilities and updated applications:
Location Menu: An integrated location menu enables users to easily activate GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile networks, while simultaneously checking the battery usage of apps running location service capabilities.Enhanced Messaging: Enables users to choose between Messages or Hangouts as their preferred default messaging application, and select from a larger assortment of updated Emoji icons.Upgraded Google Mobile Service™ (GMS) apps: Users can automatically back up photos and video and can open, view, rename and share Google Docs and files

How to Download Windows 8.1 using Windows 8 key

With the release of Windows 8.1 , Microsoft has officially denied the availability of windows 8.1 as ISO files to the public . Currently windows 8.1 ISO images are only available to Technet , Dreamspark  and MSDN subscribers . So your only option to upgrade to windows 8.1 will be by using the windows app store .

If you are having multiple PC’s at your home or your workplace . then it will be a PITA to update all those PC’s by downloading a 3.5 GB update on each PC  .  Depending on your internet download speeds ,  it might even take a very long time to update all those PC’s to windows 8.1 . Instead you can follow the instructions below and download a windows 8.1 ISO file .

Thanks to Microsoft’s stupidity , Actually anybody can download the Microsoft windows 8.1 ISO files from Microsoft , but all you need to have is a retail windows 8 product key . If you use your genuine windows 8 product key then you can use a workaround to download windows 8.1 ISO files from Microsoft itself .

We are not sure for how long this workaround will work as Microsoft may anytime patch this loophole . So follow this guide and download the windows 8.1 ISO image as soon as possible .

Instructions to download Windows 8.1 ISO files

Note : This method is a workaround to download windows 8.1 ISO files , but you will not be able to select from a 32 bit or 64 bit windows 8.1 ISO image . Depending on the version of the OS you are using , you will get the respective 32 bit or 64 bit windows 8.1 ISO images

• Step 1: Open this page in your browser :  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only
• Step 2: Scroll down and click on “ install windows 8 “ and a setup file will be downloaded .
• Step 3: Run the downloaded file and enter your windows 8 product key . Next the installer will show you the version of windows which will be download . Click next to download it .

• Step 4: When the download starts , cancel the download immediately by closing the installer window .
• Step 5: Visit this page again : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only and this time click on “ install windows 8.1 “ to download the windows 8.1 installer assistant .
• Step 6: Run the downloaded setup and it will display “ Download is interrupted “ . Close the installer and run it again . Now it will start downloading windows 8.1 .

• Step 7: When the download is complete , the installer will provide you with three options to install windows 8.1 . Select ” Install by creating media ” from the options and click on next .

• Step 8:  On the next window select to save windows 8.1 as a ISO file and you will have a windows 8.1 ISO image .

Burn the windows 8.1 ISO image to a DVD or save it on your PC for later use . You have actually fooled Microsoft . Well this seems justifiable since Microsoft should provide windows 8.1 ISO for everyone . Imagine somebody losing or damaging their windows 8.1 disks , how are they supposed to get a new windows 8,1 DVD instantly ?

BBM 2.0 for Android and iOS rolling out with BBM Voice, Channels and Dropbox integration

Back at the tail end of last year, BlackBerry teased some of the new features that it planned to bring to BBM in 2014, including BBM Voice and BBM Channels for both the Android and iOS versions of its messaging app. Now those features are officially rolling out to users, as BlackBerry today made a new version of BBM officially official.
BBM 2.0 for Android and iOS, as well as BBM 10.3 for BlackBerry 10, is being made available for download today with new features galore. Along with the aforementioned BBM Voice and Channels support, the apps include Dropbox integration, new emoticons, large BBM groups and more. The full list of features is as follows:

• BBM Voice: Make free calls to other BBM users around the globe using Wi-Fi or a data connection.
• BBM Channels: Groups related to a specific topic, such as a celebrity or business, that allow users to get together and chat about their shared interest. Businesses and brands can create their own channels and interact directly with their fans using Channels.
• Location Sharing: Share your location on a map with friends. Can be set to display for a limited period of time, after which location is made private again.
• Pictures, voice notes and attachments: Quickly share a photo, video, file, calendar event or contact to BBM buddy.
• Dropbox integration: Send and save files directly from your Dropbox account.
• New emoticons: Over 100 new emoticons, all of which can be viewed here.
• Larger BBM Groups: BBM Groups can now include up to 50 users at once.

BlackBerry also notes that consumers using BlackBerry OS5 or higher will also receive an update to BBM 10.3, but that their version won't include location sharing or Dropbox integration.

Overall this looks like a pretty beefy update to BBM that ought to please those Android and iOS folks that've latched onto the service since it debuted on their platforms last year. It's good to see BlackBerry continue to show love to its BBM for Android and iOS apps, and what's even better is that users only had to wait until mid-February for features like BBM Voice and BBM Channels to be added to those apps. Download links to all of the BBM apps can be found below.

Sprint Galaxy S 4 receiving Android 4.4.2 KitKat update today

The Samsung Galaxy S 4 KitKat update process begins! Sprint today announced a new update for its version of the Galaxy S 4 that bumps the device up to Android 4.4.2, making it the first U.S. carrier to upgrade its GS4 to KitKat. The update brings Sprint's Galaxy S 4 up to software version L720VPUFNAE and includes the following tweaks:
Enhancements/Fixes

• Android 4.4 (Kit Kat): The Samsung Galaxy S 4 device will be updated to support the Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) software.
• Prevention Information alert: Customers should no longer receive "Prevention Information - An application has been forced to stop for an unauthorized attempt to access system in your device. It may be safe to delete an application obtained from an unauthorized route. Check now?" alert messages on the device.
• Zact Mobile: Device now includes the Zact Mobile compatibility.

Owners of the Galaxy S 4 may have had to wait a tad longer to sink their teeth into KitKat than the folks that are rocking 2013's other major flagship Android phone, the HTC One, but thankfully the added wait wasn't that long. Here's to hoping that the Galaxy S 4 Android 4.4 update on other carriers isn't too far off.
Sprint says that the Android 4.4 update for its version of the Galaxy S 4 will begin rolling out in phases today, Feb. 13, and will continue to push until March 9. To check for the update manually, you can head into Menu > Settings > More > System Update > Update Samsung Software > Check now.

Google Search app for Android gains support for setting contact relationships

Heads up, Android users, because Google has rolled out a new voice search that ought to make keeping in contact with others just a tad easier.
Google today announced that its Google Search app for Android now allows users to add a relationship to their contacts. For example, a contact could be set as "Mom," and then the user could make his or her Android phone create a text message to that person simply by saying "Okay Google, send a text to my mom."
Some of the relationship options available include Mother, Father, Partner, Assistant, Child and Manager. There's also a Custom option for those contacts that are a little more difficult to categorize.
The ability to set a relationship for specific contacts may not be an earth-shattering new feature, but it is a nice touch that makes using your Android phone easier and more personal, and I think that that's something that we can all get behind. To start adding relationships to your own contacts, select the entry that you'd like edit, hit the "Add another field" button and scroll to the bottom of the list to find the "Relationship" option.

Sony updating Xperia T, TX, V and SP to Android 4.3

Much of Sony's focus lately has been on its Z-series devices, including the Xperia Z1S and Xperia Z1 Compact, but today the company is showing some love to its older hardware.
Sony is now pushing an update to Android 4.3 to the Xperia T, Xperia TX, Xperia V and Xperia SP. The upgrade bumps the four handsets up to the freshest version of Jelly Bean and also includes updates for several Sony applications, including Messaging, Small Apps, Track ID and Walkman. Here's the full list of changes that Sony has crammed in:

• Google’s Android 4.3; Jelly Bean as standard – bringing Project Butter performance & UI response optimisation and a smoother graphical experience
• We’re also uplifting Sony’s entire native app portfolio to the latest versions – bringing tweaked / improved / current experiences for (to name but a few):  Messaging, Smart Connect, Small apps, TrackID, Sony Select and
• Sony’s Media apps: WALKMAN, Album and Movies, with Sony Entertainment Network cloud service integration* – a more converged and full Sony entertainment experience – Sony Entertainment Network & PlayMemories integration with a more intuitive UI, offering seamless access to both local and cloud content
• The launch of our unique custom interface experience: “Xperia Themes”, with downloadable UI packs from Sony Select – more on this soon…
• The latest Android security enhancements, matched with Sony’s mobile enterprise solution: Xperia in Business
• Battery STAMINA Mode – updated version of Sony’s power management app, now withrefreshed interface and more smart options for prolonging battery life

Sony previously said that it was aiming to release these updates in late January or early February, and it looks like the company just barely met its goal. While these phones may not be getting bumped up to the freshest version of Android, at least not today, an update to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean is certainly better than no update at all.
As with most software updates, Sony notes that the actual availability of these Android 4.3 bumps will vary by market and carrier, so don't fret if you've got one of the aforementioned Xperia smartphones and haven't yet been bumped up to 4.3. Just be sure to remain calm, keep an eye on your notification panel and think of how tasty that Jelly Bean treat will be once it finally arrives. Mmm, Jelly Beans.

Those iPhone 6 leaks piqued my interest

Alright, so lately I've been on this anti-Apple kick (well, not really anti-Apple but anti-iOS 7, really) because I really, truthfully am rather disappointed in the direction Apple went in for the design of iOS 7. Without getting too cliche, to sum up my feelings about it, I feel like iOS 6 and before looked more advanced. iOS 7, on the other hand, was just too much for my taste with the flat and brightly colored desing, not to mention those gradients. The OS itself is still great has a lot of features that are to be admired, but the design is just not my style.
I think another reason I wasn't too keen on going with an iPhone 5s was because the hardware design is still rather similar to the iPhone 4 and 4s, which is something I had thought true of the 5. While the iPhone 5 got rid of the glass back, which I thought was rather impractical for a smartphone design, the overall shape and feel of the device largely remained the same. When you go back a little further and compare the iPhone 4 and 4S models to the iPhone 3GS models, there's a notable difference. I will say, though, that I've always thought the rounded back of the iPhone 3GS was a lot more comfortable compared to the completely flat back and angular sides of the iPhone 4 and 5 models. Perhaps that's why I'm so intrigued by the design of these leaked iPhone 6 images.
I can't lie, I kind of hope these are real, but I can't quite put my finger on why. When I initially saw them, the body design struck me as being beautiful. I'm a sucker for silver, though, and I suppose in a way it reminds me of my beloved HTC One - although I have the black model, the silver model was also remarkably pleasant to look at. These leaked images give off the same vibe; it's polished, and it's shiny. I think I also like that it takes on a bit of a retro iPhone look to it, with a bit of a modern twist. Comparably speaking, the design seen on these iPhone 6 leaks seem to trace back the iPhone's roots, back to the original. The original iPhone, if you remember, also had primarily aluminum backing, and although the device had a flat back, the sides were less boxy than the iPhone 4 and 5 models. As for the modern twist, you'll notice that the device is thin as can be, and the bezels on the either side of the rumored 5.25-inch display are tiiiiiiiny. 
But I do have my reserves. On the one hand, you have to realize that it's only February, and Apple usually release their new models once a year sometime in September - or June, at one point. It seems like it's a little early to start seeing iPhone leaks, but at the same time the phones only come out once a year. Where most companies release multiple phones a year, Apple is the only one that only ever releases just one phone (or in last year's case two) a year, so I guess something has to give the other 364 days a year. Another thing that made me question the credibility of this leak is that these leaked photos look eerily similar to recent iPod touch models, so I have to wonder if this is really supposed to be an iPhone 6 mockup or if it's just a misunderstood next gen iPod touch. At the same time, most companies are essentially taking a rolling pin to their phones as each passing generation seems to get larger and thinner, with surprisingly better specs. For that reason, I do have to wonder if this really could be the beginning of the next generation iPhone 6. 
That being said, this design isn't anything groundbreaking. It's not like the Oppo N1 with the swiveling camera, or a crazy never-before-seen screen size or something we haven't ever really seen before. That being said, it's still a simple and elegant design, something that Apple devices are somewhat famous for. Also, if the leak is true, this will be the first time in four years that the iPhone doesn't have that same, blocky design. It's an interesting find indeed, and only time will tell whether this is a trustworthy leak or not. I will say, though, that I wouldn't be upset if it turned out to be real. I happen to find this design very attractive, from what I can tell.
Readers, what are your thoughts on the leaked photos? Would you buy an iPhone 6 if it happened to have the leaked design, or do you prefer the iPhone to use a thicker, blocky form like it has with the iPhone 4 and 5 models? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!