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Truecaller, a really popular phone book/caller ID application, is hugely popular in India. Taking advantage of the user base here, the company has announced a partnership with Twitter for an unique integration into its app. Users can now tweet or follow their contacts, or any number associated with a Twitter account, right from inside the Truecaller app. This unique integration is even more special, as it starts its roll out for Android users, first in India. In a bid to increase engagement, Twitter seems to have handed over its private APIs for accessing stored mobile numbers to Truecaller, as a part of this partnership, so that they can use it for this integration, again, starting with India. This is a genius move for courting the vast number of Truecaller users to Twitter, which is already gaining huge popularity in the country with sports, politics and Bollywood topics being the rage. The update also brings a clean new design and is immediately available for Android, with the iOS version slated for a 2014 release, with no solid dates for other platforms.
Download Truecaller 4.0 for Android
On the new Twitter integration, the official Truecaller blog says -
Twitter Integration: Now you can tweet back ...
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After a long period of leaks and teasers, Oppo finally announced its latest flagship device, the Oppo N1 in September. The N1, initially believed to be camera-centric, ended up as a well rounded flagship device for the company. Innovations like the OTouch rear sensor and the unique rotating swivel unit for the camera made sure that the N1 is not just another Android phone, and has a number of firsts worth looking at. Yes, it is a potential trend setter, but it is also a trend follower. With a huge 5.9 inch screen, the N1 brings Oppo to proper phablet territory, addressing the growing trend of massively sized phones that bridge the gap between phones and the most popular form factor in tablets. Makes Oppo one of the first companies to go with this approach for a flagship device. The N1 is a phablet, which is currently considered a niche, but one that represents everything Oppo stands for. But the big question is, at a starting price of 599$, does it have the potential to rival the best Android hardware in the market? Lets find out in our in-depth review.
Unboxing
Like any other Oppo device, the N1 too comes in a ...
Spotify has made its music streaming app free on Android, iPhone and iPad, that doesn't require a premium subscription. Its new free offering lets you play any artist, album, or playlist in shuffle mode. Spotify is also expanding its reach to 20 new markets today, sadly India is not in the list. Free access to Spotify is only available to iOS and Android users right now in its 55 markets worldwide.
Here are the list of features that you get in free shuffle play mode
Listen to all the playlists you've created and playlists from the people you follow.
Shuffle play lets you listen to entire catalogue of your favorite artists
Discover new playlists
You can also play any song or album, on-demand for free on tablets. Spotifiy premium is still available, that offers ad-free high quality music, offline mode and Spotify Connect. Here is a table that lists the difference between free and premium offering from Spotify.
Spotify has also added Led Zeppelin to its catalogue. The first two albums (Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II) is now available, with additional albums added each day for the next four days. Complete Led Zeppelin collection would be available on Spotify by Sunday, December 15.
Spotify (Free) - iPhone ...
Android users have long lamented the absence of the ability to download zip files. In the new Gmail 4.7 update, Google has finally brought in the ability alongside additional features that should be appreciated by most users.
First up is the all new Vacation Responder. What this allows you to do is to set start and end dates along with a subject and text following which you can use the toggle to send your vacation response only to contacts. The vacation responder can also be completely disabled using a toggle.
The next major feature is essentially something that is built into Android 4.4 KitKat. The Gmail 4.7 application gets the ability to print email messages via cloud printing. You can select a single message or all messages in a thread.
The third and most important feature is the ability to download archive formats including zip, gzip, bzip2 and tar amongst others. This has been a long requested feature and it is good to see Google finally implement it. The update should roll out to your phone over the next few days.
[Via - Engadget]
Sony is yet to start rolling out the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) update for their devices, but an XDA user has posted Android 4.3 (v10.4.B.0.569) ROMs for the Xperia Z (C6603) and the Xperia ZL (C6503). The version is tagged as "Commercial&Journalists", so it is not clear if this would the final version, which is expected to roll out later this month.
We don't have the official changelog yet, but users in XDA has reported that this brings the new camera UI present in the Xperia Z1. Sony confirmed that the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) would roll out for the first set of devices including the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z1, Xperia SP, Xperia T, Xperia TX and the Xperia V in December. Some of these devices would also get the Android 4.4 (KitKat) update sometime next year.
It might take a couple of weeks before we can see the official over-the-air (OTA) update. We will let you know once Sony starts rolling out Android 4.3. You can try flashing the firmware on your Xperia Z or ZL at your own risk by heading to the source links below.
Source: XDA 1,2 | Via
Gionee announced the Elife E7 at an event in Shanghai, China last month. Gionee has just sent us an invite for the launch event in India on December 24th. It packs a 5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS touch screen display based on One Glass Solution from JDI with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and a 2.33mm ultra-narrow frame, powered by a 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with Amigo 2.0 UI. It packs a 16-megapixel auto focus rear camera with 1/2.3″ 1.34 µm Largan M8 sensor, 5 element Sapphire Lens and a 8-megapixel auto focus front-facing camera.
Gionee Elife E7 specifications
5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS touch screen OGS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 processor with Adreno 330 GPU
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with Amigo 2.0 UI
16MP auto focus camera, LED flash, 1/2.3″ 1.34 µm sensor, Sapphire lens, 1080p video recording
8MP auto focus front-facing camera
Dimensions – 150.6 x 75.0 x 9.5mm-6.2mm; Weight: 150 grams
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
3 microphones for noise cancellation
2GB RAM with 16GB internal memory / 3 GB RAM with 32GB internal memory
3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, USB,OTG, NFC
2500 mAh built-in battery
The Gionee Elife E7 comes in Meteor Black, Ceramic ...
Xolo Play Tegra Note, the company's first Tegra 4-powered tablet is already available for pre-order on online retail stores in India. Xolo has just sent us an invite for the launch event of the tablet on December 16th. It was announced back in September as NVIDIA Tegra Note and packs a 7-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) IPS display with support for NVIDIA DirectStylus technology and also comes with a stylus pen. It is powered by a 1.8 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 CPU with 72 Core NVIDIA GeForce GPU and runs Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
Xolo Play Tegra Note specifications
7-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) multitouch IPS display at 216 PPI pixel density
1.8 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor with 72 Core NVIDIA GeForce GPU
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
9.6 mm thick and weighs 320 grams
5MP auto focus rear camera
0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
3.5mm audio jack, Front-facing stereo speakers
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, micro HDMI
1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable up to 64GB via micro SD
4100 mAh battery with up to 10 hours of HD video playback
The Xolo Play Tegra Note comes in Black color and is priced at Rs. 17,999. We will bring you theour first hands-on impressions of the tablet next week.
Nokia is all set to unveil the next chapter of its Lumia story in India. The Finnish smartphone manufacturer today sent out invites for a press conference to be held in Delhi on 16th December.
If it wasn't obvious already then the focus on BIG in the invitation makes it clear that the handsets to be launched will include the Lumia 1520 and 1320. The two phones are the first phablets to be launched by Nokia. Packing 6 inch displays, the differences lie in the resolution and internal capabilities.
The Lumia 1520 is the higher end of the two and brings a Snapdragon 800 processor and pairs with a gigantic 6 inch Full HD display. You also get a 20MP PureView camera module. Here's out Nokia Lumia 1520 photo gallery if you're interested in this Windows Phone 8 running phablet.
The other handset is the Lumia 1320 which is aimed at the mid range segment. The specifications of the budget phablet include a 6-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD LCD IPS Super sensitive display and Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and Windows Phone 8 OS with the latest Lumia Black update. There's a 5MP camera at the back. We'll have more on India ...
Zopo, popular Chinese smartphone manufacture has launched ZP600+ INFINITY, the company's latest smartphone that does not require you to wear 3D glasses to view 3D content as the phone packs a 4.3-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels) Glass-free 3D capacity touch screen ASV (Advance Super View) LCD display. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It packs a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with dual SIM support with dual standby and packs a 2640 mAh battery.
The smartphone also comes with built-in 2D to 3D converter in the video player that lets you convert a 2D video into 3D easily. Even though this has a single rear camera, the camera app automatically adjusts the depth of focus to create 3D effect when capturing an image.
Zopo ZP600+ INFINITY specifications
4.3-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels) Glass-free 3D capacity touch screen display
1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor with 500 MHz Mali 400MP2 GPU
Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) with Dual Standby
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
5MP Auto Focus rear Camera with LED flash
2MP front-facing camera
11.2mm thick
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
1GB RAM, 4GB of internal memory, expandable memory up to 16GB with micro SD
3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth ...
We finally got our hands on the second generation iPad Mini which is also known as the iPad Mini with Retina Display and here is our unboxing which also features the first gen iPad mini and the all new iPad Air alongside for a quick comparison. Find the video below. The iPad mini 2 and the iPad Air went on sale in India on December 7. The iPad mini with Retina Display starts from Rs.28,900 for the base 16GB WiFi only version and the version we are unboxing is the 32GB WiFi+Cellular version which costs Rs.44900. The mini uses a nano SIM card just like the iPad Air and the iPhone 5s and 5c. For the first time there is a 128GB version too on sale costing a massive 49,900 for the WiFi only version and Rs.58,900 for the WiFi+ Cellular version.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDNrzUy9Vsw
The main story about this new iPad mini is the Retina Display with a screen resolution of 2048x1536 pixels with 326 ppi on a 7.9 inch display which is damn impressive. Also there are no compromises in terms of the internal specifications which is almost identical to the full size iPad Air featuring an Apple A7 64-bit chip and ...
Sony has announced that they have started rolling out a new WALKMAN update (version 8.0.A.0.4) for the Z series devices that brings new playlist features. Sony updated all the media apps on these devices back in August and introduced "smart playlist" feature in the WALMAN app recently. The new update also brings new TrackID features and new playlist and preview features in Music Unlimited regions.
New features in Sony WALKMAN app
“Newly added” playlist
“Most played” playlist
“Now playing” indicator for songs, albums and playlists
Save a friend’s shared playlist function (Only for Music Unlimited users)
TrackID history playlist that remembers your search history (Availability may vary by market)
30 second free preview of every track in Music Unlimited’s library
The new Sony WALMAN update is now rolling out for the Xperia Z1, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z, Xperia ZL and the Xperia Tablet Z.
Instagram, the popular photo sharing network known for its huge user base and getting acquired by Facebook, today released a new feature called Instagram Direct. The uber popular app has finally received private messaging with the ability to send photos, videos and even text to an instagram user or just your own list of people. This is a bid to take on popular messaging apps like Whatsapp and Snapchat which have offered users with sharing personal pictures, with the latter even offering timed photos. With reports of failed acquisition attempts of Snapchat by Facebook, we had initially thought if this involved the parent company, but doesn't look like it. True to their initial promise, Instagram is still independent, but has only gained a business model in ads. The update enabling Instagram Direct is immediately available for Android and iOS while the official blog reminds us that the Windows Phone client is still a beta.
Here's a nicely made video showcasing Instagram Direct -
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Download it here -
App Store | Google Play
About the new feature, Instagram Blog says -
There are, however, moments in our lives that we want to share, but that will be the most relevant only to a smaller group ...
Truecaller, a really popular phone book/caller ID application, is hugely popular in India. Taking advantage of the user base here, the company has announced a partnership with Twitter for an unique integration into its app. Users can now tweet or follow their contacts, or any number associated with a Twitter account, right from inside the Truecaller app. This unique integration is even more special, as it starts its roll out for Android users, first in India. In a bid to increase engagement, Twitter seems to have handed over its private APIs for accessing stored mobile numbers to Truecaller, as a part of this partnership, so that they can use it for this integration, again, starting with India. This is a genius move for courting the vast number of Truecaller users to Twitter, which is already gaining huge popularity in the country with sports, politics and Bollywood topics being the rage. The update also brings a clean new design and is immediately available for Android, with the iOS version slated for a 2014 release, with no solid dates for other platforms.
Download Truecaller 4.0 for Android
On the new Twitter integration, the official Truecaller blog says -
Twitter Integration: Now you can tweet back ...
Google has finally implemented the option to show embedded images in all your email messages by default. This restriction was to prevent users from opening emails from unknown senders who might try to use images to compromise the security of computer or mobile device. Google has implemented new improvements in how Gmail handles images to load all the images from default.
Regarding the new implementation, Google says,
Instead of serving images directly from their original external host servers, Gmail will now serve all images through Google’s own secure proxy servers. Your messages are more safe and secure, your images are checked for known viruses or malware, and you’ll never have to press that pesky “display images below” link again.
You can obviously change to behavior from the settings and choose Ask before showing. This feature is already rolling out to Gmail users on desktop. We didn't get this feature in the Google Apps mail yet, which might roll out gradually. This feature would be rolling out on Gmail mobile apps for Android and iOS in early 2014.
Pebble, the popular E-ink Smartwatch just recently got updated to support all iOS notifications and the new 2.0 SDK. But as an early Christmas present, the company has released another Firmware update(v1.14) for the Smartwatch that enables several new must-have features like Multiple Alarms with Snooze, Do not Disturb mode and improved notification control. We have been using this smartwatch for a while, and we must say, these additions were much needed and we are happy to see a small(but growing) company like Pebble deliver. The company, largely known as a Kickstarter success story, is on a path of refining the software for the Smartwatch, and the recent updates show that they are serious. With SDK 2.0 release, Pebble promised more app integration from the like of Foursquare and Runkeeper. While we are still waiting on that, it's good to see more features added to it in the meantime.
You can update your Pebble by just connecting it to your phone and opening the app. The app will do the rest.
These are all the new features that have been added to the Pebble Smartwatch in FW 1.14 -
What’s New
Do Not Disturb. Block notifications for a set period of time (from Pebble: ...
Apple finally launched the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display in India last week. This week's askFA discussion is all about these new tablets from Apple. The iPad Air starts at Rs. 35,900 for the base 16GB WiFi version and goes up to Rs. 65,900 for the 128GB WiFi + 4G variant. The iPad mini with Retina display starts at Rs. 28,900 and goes up to Rs. 58,900. Both these have Retina displays at 2048×1536 pixel resolution, but the iPad Air comes with a large 9.7 inch display and the iPad mini with Retina display features a 7.9 inch screen. Other features are almost similar on both these devices including a new A7 64 bit processor. You can also check out the unboxing of the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display.
You can ask us anything about these two iPads, and we will try our best to answer all your questions. The discussion will begin at 4PM today, 13th December, 2013 and will last for one hour, till 5PM IST.
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HTC One Max, HTC's first and only phablet device so far is now available in Black Color. At launch, the HTC One Max was available only in Silver. The Taiwanese company have now launched a black version of the huge device and it is currently on sale in Hong Kong along side the HTC One Gold.
The specifications of HTC One Max are as follows -
5.9-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD display at 373 ppi
1.7 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor
Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Sense 5.5 UI
Single micro SIM
HTC Zoe, HTC BoomSound
UltraPixel rear camera with LED Flash, BSI Sensor,F2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens
Full HD (1080p) video recording with HDR Video
10.29 mm thick and weighs 217 grams
2.1 MP HD front-facing camera
Infrared remote control
3.5 mm headset jack
2 GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expansion card slot (microSD up to 64GB)
3G HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps, WiFi 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX codec, DNLA, MHL, GPS with GLONASS, NFC
3300 mAh battery
The HTC One Max is priced around Rs. 53,500 in India. However, you can get only the silver color version in India for now.
In a bid to reaffirm their focus on smartphone optics and to create 'synergies' between cameras and smartphones, Samsung has integrated its Digital Imaging Business Division with the Wireless Business Division. The Korean company aims to have the largest share of global mirrorless camera market by 2015.
“We will transplant the brand, sales networks, software competency and manufacturing competitiveness of the Wireless Business Division into the Camera Business Division, and integrate the technical know-how of the two business divisions into competency for differentiating our smartphones,” said Samsung in a statement to ET.
Samsung's NX range of cameras run on what is essentially a smartphone backend, meanwhile smartphone photography is a force to be reckoned with and the imaging business would help to increase competitiveness of Samsung's devices in this field. The move makes a lot of sense given that the importance of point and shoot cameras is diminishing rapidly. Samsung had earlier shuffled the Digital Imaging Business Division into the Imaging Business Team. Samsung enjoys a 35% market share in the mobile segment and has cornered 11.8% of the digital cameras market. x
[Via - ET]
UCWeb, a leading global mobile internet software and services company has updated UC Browser+ HD for iPad to version 2.3 that adds new features. The new version has a feature called Social Links that fetches what your friends want to Share with You on social networks, a Floating Video Player that allows you to play videos in full screen or in an adjustable window that can be placed anywhere for viewing while browsing. The VideoS feature lets you build your own online video library.
This update also brings new wallpapers. The app also offers seamless integration with Evernote, that lets you clip webpages for fast and easy saving to Evernote. The UCloud feature lets you favorite things including tabs, bookmarks and downloads synchronized across your devices.
New features in UC Browser for iPad v2.3
• Social Links: Display links shared by your friends on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and interact with them.
• Swappable Wallpapers: You can dress up the browser with changeable wallpapers from the wallpaper bar on home page.
• VideoS: Add videos to the Favorite list, and watch them in the Floating Video Player while browsing.
Download UC Browser+ (Free): iPad
DataWind, popular for its low-cost Aakash tablet and UbiSlate tablets has entered into smartphone market with its new PocketSurfer range - PocketSurfer 5X, PocketSurfer 5 and PocketSurfer 3G5. The PocketSurfer 5X has a 5-inch WQVGA display, powered by a single-core 1GHz Cortex A8 processor and runs on Linux OS. Both the PocketSurfer 5 and PocketSurfer 3G5 have a 5-inch (800 x 480 pixels) capacitive touch screen display. The PocketSurfer 5 is powered by a single-core 1 GHz Cortex A9 processor and runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The 3G5 is powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
All these smartphones have dual SIM support and micro SD card support. The PocketSurfer 5x and 5 have 2G (EDGE) support and the 3G5 comes with 3G support.
Speaking on the launch of the new PocketSurfer 5 series, Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of DATAWIND said:
On the 10th Anniversary of DataWind’sPocketSurfer - the fastest internet device operating through a GSM SIM beating all other internet devises at that time in speed, we’re very excited to introduce these amazing new devices at unbelievably low prices. Intended to again create benchmarks in the smart phone category, DataWind’s new products break the affordability barriers of smartphones and bandwidth ...
Are you a designer, product manager or app developer? Do you need to quickly create and share application demos? Then this new application might be right up your alley. Chennai based developer team NFN labs has launched its new iOS application that lets you create application demos with native transitions and lets you import designs, link screens. All this can be done without writing a single line of code.
Other features include the ability to import screens from your camera roll or Dropbox. You can create hotspots between different regions on the screen which act as shortcuts to jump from one screen to the other. Demonstrate comes preloaded with a demo ToDo application. Final app demos are played back in full screen mode.
There is innovative use of gestures and you can pinch the screen to exit the demo.Created demos can be shared via Dropbox, email or as a message. The free version of Demonstrate for iOS allows up to six screens and one project with all it’s features. The full-version of the app would be available for $4.99/INR 270 per month allowing unlimited projects and screens. Grab the application via the source link.
[iTunes]
