Alibaba has made a strategic investment of $590 million in Chinese smartphone maker Meizu. Alibaba seeks to integrate its mobile operating system YunOS with Meizu’s phones and hardware, while distributing the phones through the company’s online shopping platforms.
“The investment in Meizu represents a significant expansion of the Alibaba Group ecosystem and an important step in our overall mobile strategy as we strive to bring users a wider array of mobile offerings and experiences,”
said Jian WANG, Chief Technology Officer of Alibaba Group.
Alibaba said that it will hold a minority stake in Meizu, but did not say how much of the company it will own. Alibaba Group and Meizu will collaborate at both strategic and business levels to achieve a deeper integration of Meizu’s hardware and Alibaba Group’s mobile operating system. Alibaba Group will provide Meizu with resources and support in the fields of e-commerce, mobile Internet, mobile operating system and data analysis with the aim of developing Meizu’s smartphone ecosystem. Alibaba Group’s online shopping marketplaces will also become distribution channels for Meizu’s smartphones and other devices.
“This strategic collaboration with Alibaba Group will enable Meizu to further develop our smartphone business and our smart devices ecosystem,”
said Meizu’s Chief Executive Officer, Yongxiang BAI.
Meizu is ...Alibaba has made a strategic investment of $590 million in Chinese smartphone maker Meizu. Alibaba seeks to integrate its mobile operating system YunOS with Meizu’s phones and hardware, while distributing the phones through the company’s online shopping platforms.
“The investment in Meizu represents a significant expansion of the Alibaba Group ecosystem and an important step in our overall mobile strategy as we strive to bring users a wider array of mobile offerings and experiences,”
said Jian WANG, Chief Technology Officer of Alibaba Group.
Alibaba said that it will hold a minority stake in Meizu, but did not say how much of the company it will own. Alibaba Group and Meizu will collaborate at both strategic and business levels to achieve a deeper integration of Meizu’s hardware and Alibaba Group’s mobile operating system. Alibaba Group will provide Meizu with resources and support in the fields of e-commerce, mobile Internet, mobile operating system and data analysis with the aim of developing Meizu’s smartphone ecosystem. Alibaba Group’s online shopping marketplaces will also become distribution channels for Meizu’s smartphones and other devices.
“This strategic collaboration with Alibaba Group will enable Meizu to further develop our smartphone business and our smart devices ecosystem,”
said Meizu’s Chief Executive Officer, Yongxiang BAI.
Meizu is ...
Few weeks after announcing that Sunil Sood will replace Marten Pieters as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone India today announced that Naveen Chopra who is currently the Director of Vodafone Business Services (VBS) will be the company's new Chief Operating Officer from 1st April 2015 replacing Sunil Sood.
Naveen Chopra assumed the role of is the Director – Vodafone Business Services at Vodafone India on Feb 2010 and is on the Executive Committee of Vodafone India Ltd and a member of the Vodafone Global Senior Leadership Team. He has been instrumental in creating Vodafone’s capability as a total communication solutions provider offering wireline and mobility solutions for enterprises and also as a successful wholesale telecom provider.
He joined Vodafone (then Hutch) in November 2004 as the Corporate Head of Marketing. As Chief Marketing Officer, he was responsible for consolidating marketing functions, launching new services, market expansion and overall revenue management. In December 2006, Naveen was designated CEO of Vodafone India’s premier circle, Vodafone Mumbai. In June 2008 he took up the additional charge of Vodafone Rajasthan as well. Prior to Vodafone, he has spent 16 years with Britannia Industries Ltd. where he last headed marketing for the company.
Naveen’s successor as Director of ...
Disney India’s Interactive business has launched ICC Pro Cricket 2015, the official video game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 for Android, iOS, PCs and DTH platforms. The game is packed with a super immersive gameplay, stunning graphics and multiple play modes making the gameplay experience as close to the real game on-ground as possible, for PC, mobile and DTH users, says the company. It will be available as cut down versions for smartphones and DTH platforms.
Features of ICC Pro Cricket 2015
First ever cricket game with real simulation and card management.
Modes: ICC Cricket World Cup Tournament, World Tour Mode (Dream team), Quick Play Mode
All 14 participating ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Countries with the original Player names.
Motion captured animation to get the real cricketing experience.
Two Game play cameras.
Intuitive batting controls.
Innovative bowling controls with the most in depth bowling experience in a cricket game ever. Control the speed of the ball, the line and length and make sure you don’t cross the line.
Compete against people from around the world and get on top of the leader board.
Daily Objectives: Get new objectives to complete every day and earn points and coins which will help you strengthen your squad.
Train, upgrade, sell, buy. It’s all up to ...
Xiaomi launched the 16GB variant of the Mi 4 smartphone in India last month for Rs. 19,999, which goes on sale on Flipkart tomorrow in the first flash sale. As a surprise, the company just announced that it will be selling the 64GB variant of the smartphone in India starting from February 24th on Flipkart. It is priced at Rs. 23,999, which is Rs. 4000 costlier than the 16GB variant. It will be available only with 3G support and not with 4G LTE connectivity.
Xiaomi Mi 4 specifications
5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display with 441 PPI resolution with Corning Gorilla glass protection
2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with Adreno 330 GPU
3GB RAM, 16GB / 64GB internal memory
MIUI V6 on top of Android 4.4 (KitKat)
13MP rear camera with LED Flash, Sony IMX214 BSI sensor, 6-element lens, f/1.8 aperture, 4K video recording
8MP front-facing camera with Sony Exmor R sensor, 5-element lens , f/1.8 aperture
8.9mm thick and weighs 149 grams
Infrared LED
3G, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4/5 GHz), WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS
3080mAh battery
The Xiaomi Mi 4 64GB variant will also come in white color. Xiaomi will begin registrations for the sale soon. Are you getting the 16GB variant of the Mi 4 tomorrow or the 64GB variant ...
Skype has updated the iPhone app that brings back URI support so that you can start calls and chats straight from the mobile app or mobile website. If you tap a Skype name or phone number, the URI will open the Skype app to connect a call or send a message, making it faster to reach friends, family or businesses. It also adds new improvements to the dialer that searches for Skype contacts as a phone number is entered.
Now you can save phone numbers that have been entered into the dial pad and also phone numbers in your recent calls list. When you save the phone numbers, you can easily create new contacts so you don’t have to search for the number next time you call. The Skype 5.9 update for iPhone released last month brought improved UI, quick conversations and more new features.
New features in Skype 5.10
Quickly call people and groups straight from the new chat picker (tap the new chat icon and choose who to talk to)
Improved dialer that searches for Skype contacts as a phone number is entered
General improvements
Samsung's Unpacked event at MWC 2015 may be a few weeks away but that hasn't stopped the rumour mill with both of Samsung's proposed new handsets making an appearance on one of its support pages.
As spotted by Dutch blog Galaxy Club and reported by BGR, Samsung's official website in Finland posted two new page placeholders (as seen below) for the unannounced SM-G920X and SM-G925X. These are indeed the purported model numbers for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S Edge respectively.
The pages don't feature any more information other than the model numbers but based on current leaks, we expect both handsets to sport Quad HD displays - similar to the one on the Galaxy Note 4 - a 64-bit octa-core Exynos processor, 20 megapixel camera, up to 128GB internal storage and Android Lollipop OS with TouchWiz on top. Both handsets are also expected to be the launch devices for Samsung's new mobile payment system called... SamsungPay (original right?)
The Galaxy S6 is expected to keep the design of previous handsets except with a larger home button to accommodate a touch sensor that doesn't require swiping whilst the Galaxy S Edge is likely to appeal to the techie-user with dual curved edge displays on either ...
HTC has announced Desire 626 smartphone in Taiwan after it was leaked in press shots and got certified in TENNA recently. It has a 5-inch HD IPS display, is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core 64-bit Snapdragon 410 SoC and run on Android 4.4 Kitkat with HTC Sense 6 UI on top. It comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, BSI sensor 1080p video recording and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with a BSI sensor.
It has dual-front-facing speakers, but doesn't have BoomSound experience. It comes with single nano SIM support, but HTC is expected to launch a dual SIM variant in future.
HTC Desire 626 specifications
5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display
1.2GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 GPU
1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 128GB
Android 4.4 with HTC Sense 6 UI
13MP rear camera with LED Flash, BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture, 28mm lens, 1080p video recording
5MP front-facing camera, BSI sensor, 34mm lens, 1080p video recording
Dimension: 146.9 x 70.9 x 8.19mm; Weight: 140 grams
Dual front-facing stereo speakers
4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX, GPS / GLONASS , NFC
2000mAh battery
The HTC Desire 626 comes in Elegant White and Blue Bay colors and is priced at NT$ 5990 (US$ 190/ Rs. 11,800 (approx). It goes on sale ...
Xiaomi launched the Mi 4 smartphone in China in July 2014 and the phone was launched in India last month for Rs. 19,999, which go on sale on Flipkart in the first flash sale today. The OnePlus One on the other hand was launched in India in December last year and is priced at Rs. 21,999. Let's compare the two phones and take a look at their hardware in this photo gallery.
The Xiaomi Mi4 has a 5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display with 441 PPI, based one-glass solution (OGS) made by Sharp / JDI. It is powered by a 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with Adreno 330 GPU and runs on MIUI on top of Android 4.4 (KitKat). The OnePlus One sports a 5.5-inch (1920 ×1080 pixels) Full HD LTPS display from JDI with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, is powered by a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AC) processor and also runs on Cyanogen OS 11S based on Android 4.4 (KitKat). The Indian version will get Android 5.0 (Lollipop) update in the form of own OnePlus ROM, while the global variant will get usual Android 5.0 update from Cyanogen Inc.
The Mi 4 has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera ...
LG Electronics (LG) and Google have partnered to introduce VR for G3 that works with Google Cardboard to offer virtual reality experience to the G3 users. VR for G3 takes advantage of the visual and sound capabilities of G3 to offer a lighter and more convenient solution, unlike the head-mounted VR devices that are designed with their own processors and displays, says LG. VR-compatible apps and games can be downloaded with Google Play store.
Unlike the Google Cardboard DIY blueprint, which is made using Cardboard, this features a unique design that leverages the G3’s signature rear key layout. It also takes full advantage of the G3's 1W speaker with Boost AMP to provide richer, clearer sound effects and can also be combined with a Bluetooth headsets such as LG Tone Infinim. The neodymium ring magnet on the side of the VR for G3 works with the magnetic gyroscope sensor in the G3 to select applications and scroll through menus without touching the display. You just have to insert the phone in the viewer and doesn't require any assembly.
LG will offer VR for G3 for free starting this month for customers who purchase new LG G3 smartphone in select markets. There will be a QR ...
Samsung Electronics and Microsoft have settled their contract dispute in U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration, said both the companies in a joint statement. Back in August last year Microsoft sued Samsung accusing it of breaching a collaboration agreement by initially refusing to make royalty payments after it announced its intention to acquire Nokia’s handset business in September 2013. It claimed that Samsung still owed $6.9 million in interest on more than $1 billion patent in royalties.
In November last year Samsung claimed that Microsoft has violated their deal after acquiring Nokia as it now makes the software company a direct hardware competitor. Samsung filed the request for arbitration with the Hong Kong office of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Soon after Samsung lost its bid to US Judge about putting the Microsoft smartphone patent royalties suit on hold. Finally the settlement on Monday ended the contract dispute and also Samsung's request for arbitration with the Hong Kong office of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. These companies did not reveal the terms of the settlement since its confidential.
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Skype for Android has been updated to version 5.2 that adds several new features including option to send photos to your Skype contacts even when they are offline. When they are back on Skype, photos you shared show up in the chat history, whether or not you’re online. Picture in picture view that was introduced back in 2013 in Skype 4.5 for Android is now available for phones too.
New features in Skype 5.2 for Android
Send photos to friends even if they're offline.
Picture in picture view is now supported on phones, too – letting you keep a video call going even when you navigate away to other applications
Chats load faster, especially when opened from a notification
Call quality improvements, especially in low-bandwidth scenarios
The latest update for Skype for Android is now rolling out through Google Play.
Xolo has released Android 5.0 (Lollipop) update for its Xolo Q610s smartphone, few weeks after it rolled out the Lollipop update for its Xolo One Android smartphone. Xolo already promised to release Lollipop update for their smartphones running on HIVE UI based on KitKat.
Regarding this on their official forum Xolo recently said that MediaTek has ported Lollipop for the MT6582 chipset hence they were able to release the Lollipop update soon for these devices. Since the chipset maker is yet to port it for the MT6592-powered devices, they can't reveal any time frame for the roll out of the devices based on HIVE UI. The team is busy in porting HIVE specific features to Android L code base and is also ensuring that the material design and animation fluidity is perfect in all the applications, said the company.
The Android 5.0 Lollipop brings Material Design with bold, colorful, and responsive UI, better notifications, battery saver feature, better security including Android Smart Lock, New Quick Settings, Improved network handoffs, flexible sharing, faster, smoother and more powerful experience with ART, 15 new languages and more.
The update is available over-the-air (OTA), and you can also download the 557MB file from the official Xolo software ...
Reliance Communications has partnered with Facebook to offer free access to useful website to Reliance customers trough Internet.org app. This you access to more than three dozen services ranging from news, maternal health, travel, local jobs, sports, communication, and local government information for free without any data charges on both 2G and 3G.
Reliance customers in six Indian states (Tamil Nadu, Mahararashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Telangana) can access several websites including Facebook and Facebook Messenger for free. Most of the services will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati and Marathi. These sites are not bandwidth hungry and are light on network and are optimized for mobile. Here are the list of websites.
The goal is to extend the services to the rest of the country in a phased manner, and gradually add more services and websites, said the company. This service will go pan India in 90 days.
Reliance customers can access these services in the Internet.org Android app, at www.internet.org, from the start screen of the Opera Mini browser, and using the UC Browser for Internet.org Android app. The service is live now in these states. Users can also call 180030025353 (toll-free) to use the service.
At the ...
Live images of the Sony Xperia E4 (E2105, E2115), the company’s upcoming budget smartphone surfaced on a polish website last year along with a AnTuTu listing couple of months back. Now renders of the smartphone have been leaked by a Chinese website. These images show the smartphone enclosed in a case and another image in a flip cover, but these resemble the live image leaked earlier.
Earlier leak revealed a 5-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels) display, 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor and Android 4.4.4 KitKat. New leak on a Spanish website with the codename Xperia E1 II reveals detailed specifications of the smartphone, but the battery capacity is still a mystery.
Sony Xperia E4 and E4 Dual rumored specifications
5-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels) display
1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor with Mali 400 GPU
1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
Android 4.4 (KitKat)
5MP rear camera with LED flash
1.9MP front-facing camera
Dual SIM (E4 dual)
3.5 mm audio jack, FM Radio
3G, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS
Hope we can expect Sony to reveal the Xperia E4 at the MWC next month.
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Microsoft has sent out invites for their press event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. They will be present at the MWC event between the 2nd and 5th March 2015, but the press conference it scheduled for March 2. The invite just says Come along for the ride without giving us any hints about their plans.Microsoft hinted at the recent event that they will reveal more details about Windows 10 for phones soon.
Microsoft is not expected to release flagship devices at the event, but some mid-range and low-end smartphones that includes, Lumia 1330 / Lumia 1335, a smartphone with a 5-inch display and a 8.7 MP PureView camera, smartphone with a WVGA screen and more according to earlier rumors.
Microsoft's MWC event it slated for March 2nd at 8:30 AM CET (1 PM IST). We will be there at the event to bring your all the details about the new smartphone launches and details regarding Windows 10 for phones.
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Samsung unveiled the Galaxy J1 smartphone few weeks back. Today Amazon has announced that the Galaxy J1 smartphone will be available with them in India starting tomorrow, February 11th with exciting offers. As we already know, the Galaxy J1 packs a 4.3-inch WVGA display, is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.4 (Kitkat).
It has a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, comes with dual SIM support and 3G connectivity.
Samsung Galaxy J1 specifications
4.3-inch (800 x 480 Pixels) display
1.2 GHz dual-core processor
512MB RAM, 4GB internal memory, expandable up to 64GB with microSD
Android 4.4 (KitKat) OS
5MP auto focus rear camera with LED Flash
2MP front-facing camera
Dual SIM
8.9mm thick and weighs 122 grams
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio with RDS
3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
1850mAh battery with ultra power saving mode
The Samsung Galaxy J1 comes in White, Black and Blue colors and is priced at Rs. 7,190. No details about the launch offers yet.
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Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) with LTE support has surfaced on the Best Buy website, few weeks after the press renders of the smartphone surfaced online. This coincides with earlier leak that revealed 4.5-inch qHD (960×540 pixels) display, 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (could be Snapdragon 400) and 1GB of RAM. This is the single SIM variant, but it is likely to come in dual SIM variant as well depending on the market. Check out the complete specifications of the smartphone below.
Motorola Moto G LTE (2nd Gen.) specifications
4.5-inch (960 x 540 pixels) display
1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
Android 5.0 (Lollipop)
5MP rear camera
VGA front-facing camera
Dual front-facing speakers
11.9 thick and weighs 142.8 grams
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
4G LTE/3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS
No details about the battery capacity yet. The Motorola Moto E LTE (2nd Gen) is also expected to come in white color in addition to black and optional back covers, similar to the first Moto E. The Best Buy listing is for locked Sprint variant that costs $99.99 (Rs. 6,200 approx.) without contract. Since most of the details are out the official announcement is expected soon.
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O2 has announced plans to create the world's first Virtual Reality sports experience in partnership with Oculus Rift in the UK. As part of the company's #WearTheRose campaign, the tour will visit cities and rugby clubs throughout the UK with fans able to experience Rugby like never before.
The network will use Oculus Rift technology to allow fans the opportunity to train with England's Elite Player Squad without having to step out on the pitch or have any training. Along with the tour around the country, the experience will also be available for fans to try out at the O2 Blueroom at Twickenham on Six Nations match days.
Gareth Griffiths, head of sports sponsorship at O2, said:
"We’re launching Wear the Rose at the start of an amazing year for O2 and England Rugby. We are calling upon the country to stand beside us, and get behind the England Rugby Team.
"To do that we need a symbol that represents the very heart of England, a symbol sewn onto the chest of every England Rugby shirt – the red rose. If you’re going to watch England play at Twickenham, down the pub with your mates, or even at home, show the power of your ...
Google Search's Knowledge Graph that powers the Google Now search cards that pop up when you search for certain things will now offer details about common health conditions when you search for them. One in 20 Google searches are for health-related information, says Google.
When you ask Google about common health conditions, you’ll start getting relevant medical facts such as typical symptoms and treatments, details on how common the condition is - whether it’s critical, if it’s contagious, what ages it affects, and more. It will also offer high-quality illustrations for some.
Regarding this on the official Blog, Google Said:
We worked with a team of medical doctors (led by our own Dr. Kapil Parakh, M.D., MPH, Ph.D.) to carefully compile, curate, and review this information. All of the gathered facts represent real-life clinical knowledge from these doctors and high-quality medical sources across the web, and the information has been checked by medical doctors at Google and the Mayo Clinic for accuracy.
That doesn't mean these search results are intended as medical advice. We know that cases can vary in severity from person to person, and that there are bound to be exceptions. What we present is intended for informational purposes only—and you should always consult a healthcare ...
Huawei's Shanghai Campus
As part of our tour of Huawei's China facilities, we were given an exclusive look at the company's Research & Development labs to understand the different steps taken to ensure a handset is fit for consumer use. In the first of a two-part series, we take a look at the ways that Huawei tests the Antenna, Network and Radiation levels of its handsets.
Building a smartphone requires months of Research & Development not only into the handset's physical features but also to ensure it confirms with international standards regarding antenna performance and radiation emission. The former is a key part of the experience as without a strong antenna, the handset will cease to function for its primary function as a phone whilst excessive amounts of radiation can have a detrimental effect on a user's health.
With millions of handsets sold each year, Huawei has a responsibility to ensuring that its smartphones are both fit for purpose and do not pose a health risk to those who buy them. Huawei has several ways in which it tests the antenna and radiation levels of its smartphones - let's take a closer look at three of these:
10m semi-anechoic chamber
In layman's terms, an anechoic ...
