Upcoming Samsung Galaxy Mega Smartphone Series

Galaxy Mega smart devices

SamMobile have been told by some sources they trust to the end of the world is that not one, but two Galaxy Mega smart devices will be revealed before Summer’s end. The first of these devices comes in at a lovely 5.8-inches while the second – once again bridging the gap between smartphones and tablets – will be bringing on a monstrous 6.3-inches of display real estate.

• Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 GT-I9152
• 5.8-inch display (resolution unknown)
• Release: week of May 27, 2013
• Color: White

• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 GT-I9200
• 6.3-inch display (resolution unknown)
• Release: week of June 17, 2013
• Colors: Black, White

Previously, Samsung was said to be working on a smartphone called Fonblet 5.8 (with 5.8-inch screen) and Galaxy Note III (with 6.3-inch display). Speculations are that these devices were likely planned for the Galaxy Mega line-up.

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‘Vulnerable‘ Android apps leaking personal info, banking details: Study

Millions of people across the globe are using 'vulnerable' Android apps, which are leaking users' personal data, a new research has said.

The new study, which tested the 13,500 most popular free apps from the Google Play Store, found that 1074, almost eight per cent, used incorrect or inadequate coding.

Researchers at the Leibniz University of Hannover and the Philipps University of Marburg, both in Germany, tried to hack a sample of 100 of the vulnerable apps.

According to the Brisbane Times, they could easily exploit 41, of which there are at least 39.5 million users worldwide.

"We could gather bank account information, payment credentials for PayPal, American Express and others," the study said.

"Facebook, email and cloud storage credentials and messages were leaked, access to IP cameras was gained and control channels for apps and remote servers could be subverted," it added.

According to the report, the researchers used a Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone running on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to carry out the tests.

The researchers created a fake Wi-Fi hot spot and mounted an attack that spied on data sent and received by the apps.

They were able to capture log-in details for online banking, social media, email services and corporate networks, and even disable security software, the report said.

source:timesofindia

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Nokia unveils new lumia 510 entry-level smartphone

Nokia unveiled the Windows-powered Lumia 510 entry-level smartphone equipped with a four-inch display, 5-megapixel camera and Nokia maps. This latest addition to the Nokia Lumia range will be available in red, yellow, cyan, white and black.

Lumia 510 makes the unique benefits of Lumia and Windows Phone even more affordable. Nokia estimates the retail price to be around $199, excluding taxes and subsidies.

"With the Nokia Lumia 510 we continue to meet our commitment to bring Windows Phone to new, lower price points," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices.

Sales are planned to begin in November, starting with India and China, and followed closely by other Asia-Pacific countries and South America.

Windows Phone is different to other smartphone platforms thanks to Live Tiles, making it easy to see incoming messages and updates; People Hub, which brings together contacts and updates from across social networks into one location, and access to Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer 9 on the mobile.

The Camera Extras app provides exclusive digital lens functionality to go with the five megapixel camera and built-in autofocus. Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport also offer comprehensive smartphone location and navigation experience available.

source:economictimes

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Google to launch Android 4.2 on Oct 29

Internet search giant Google is reportedly planning to unveil a new tablet from Samsung, a new phone from LG, an updated operating system and an improved Nexus 7 during its upcoming event on October 29.

The firm is expected to unveil at least one new Google Nexus phone as well as an enhanced version of its existing Nexus 7 tablet that will add more memory and 3G capabilities.

Perhaps the most exciting product, however, is a 10-inch tablet developed with Samsung codenamed 'Manta', the Telegraph reports.

According to a report by The Next Web, sources said that running an updated version of Google's Android, the new tablet will offer a 2560x1600 pixel (16:10) resolution.

The device, expected to be called Nexus 10, will be among the first to offer Android 4.2, which will have incremental improvements over the current Android 4.1, the report said.

The event's tagline is 'The playground is open', leading many to suspect it will feature a range of devices.

The Next Web claimed that the firm will also launch LG Nexus 4 mobile handset, which will feature a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon processor, 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing snapper and a 2100mAh battery.

source:timesofindia

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Microsoft debuts Xbox music service to take on Apple and Amazon

Microsoft Corp on Monday announced that Xbox Music, a digital music service to vie with Apple Inc's iTunes and Amazon.com Inc's Cloud Player, will be available for its Xbox game consoles on Tuesday. 

The service will be expanded to Windows software-based computers and tablets, including the upcoming Surface tablet, from Oct. 26, when Microsoft launches Windows 8. It will be expanded to phones shortly after that. 

The world's largest software maker has been trying for years to make the household living room an entertainment hub with its Xbox. More than 67 million units have been sold since 2005. 

About 18 months ago, the company realized that Xbox users were spending half to 60 percent of their time on entertainment services rather than video gaming, Xbox Music general manager Jerry Johnson said. 

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Windows 8 Operating System DVD price $70(pre-orders start)

Microsoft opened its Windows 8 operating system for pre-orders on Friday, setting the price for the full version of the software at $70 for a DVD pack.

Users can also wait for launch on October 26 to download the system onto their computers for $40, an offer price that will expire at the end of January.

Shoppers can reserve the software pack at Microsoft's own stores, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Staples and elsewhere. The price tag is significantly lower than the current price for a comparable version of Windows 7, which costs $200.

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Nokia mapping service available for over 4,000 cities in India

KOLKATA: Nokia today said that its mapping service is available for over 4,000 cities of different categories with over seven million points of interest across India. 

"In India, Nokia maps are available for over 4,000 cities of tier-I, tier-II and tier-III having over seven million points of interest across the country," the company said. 

"In fact, today Nokia is the leading mapping company in terms of quantity and quality and we have maps for close to 200 countries and more than 100 of these maps can be navigated," Nokia India Director (Smartphones) Vipul Mehrotra told reporters here. 

He said that the company's business in the area started with maps and navigation which was brought together with its services to create a new platform. 

"One that offers an unmatched bouquet of consumer experiences ranging from Nokia Maps to Nokia drive to Nokia traffic and transport," he said. 

In addition, the platform was also powering efforts of partners from web enterprises as well as the car and mobile industry to develop complementary location-based services and other offerings. 

"Four out of five cars today, if they have navigation system, are using Nokia capabilities," he claimed.

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Apple iPad mini won't have 3G

LONDON: The Apple 'iPad mini', which is likely to be released on October 17, would be a Wi-Fi only tablet, reports have claimed.
The new device is not thought to be capable of connecting to the internet via 3G or 4G.
According to the Guardian, industry sources revealed Apple would also release a new version of the existing iPad, which will be 4G-capable in the UK, through Everything Everywhere's 1800MHz network

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Google rolling out Jelly Bean Android 4.1.2 update for Nexus 7

Google is rolling out an update to Jelly Bean for the Nexus 7. The new update, Android 4.1.2, adds a landscape launcher for the Nexus 7 in addition to various minor bug fixes and revisions. Jean-Baptiste Queru, Technical Lead, Android Open Source Project, Google, late last night revealed via the Android Building group  that the update has also been released to the Android Open Source Project. Queru informed in his post that the 4.1.2 release is a minor update on top of Android 4.1.1, which was the final version of Jelly Bean. Reports in the media suggest that this is very likely a staggered update and won’t be available in all regions immediately.

The post and the changelog  for the release reveals that the build number for the 4.1.2 release is JZO54K, and the tag for the AOSP build is android-4.1.2_r1.

There is no information when Google will release this update for other devices running Jelly Bean, but a quick look through the changelog reveals that some device specific changes have been made for the Motorola Xoom (including the Wi-Fi version), the Google Nexus S, and both the Google Galaxy Nexus and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. It’s just a matter of time until Google rolls out the update for these devices as well. Users of Jelly Bean devices made by other manufacturers such as the Galaxy S III or Galaxy Note II would have to wait for the respective OEMs to roll out the update.

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Apple orders 10m iPad Mini units

Tech giant Apple has reportedly placed an order for 10 million units of the iPad Mini with component suppliers in Asia in the fourth quarter.

According to suppliers, that is roughly double the order that were placed for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets in the same quarter.

The figure indicates that Apple believes demand for the product will be strong, despite stiff competition in the market, the Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the Journal, earlier this month, Asian component suppliers have already started producing the smaller 7.85-inch tablet.

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Microsoft‘s Internet Explorer introduce do-not-track icons for users

As marketers, browser makers and government regulators spar over efforts to let consumers limit custom advertising online, a new study suggests that Americans are largely unaware of what that means and have a strong aversion to being tracked online.

The majority of Americans surveyed by researchers at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, which is part of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley, do not want information collected at all about which websites they visit, according to the study, which is to be released at the Amsterdam Privacy Conference on Monday.

Most of them said they did not find online advertisements useful. And nearly 90 percent said they had never heard of a proposal by the Federal Trade Commission, known as a "do not track" mechanism, that would let users opt out of having their personal data collected for the purposes of serving tailored advertisements.

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Samsung sees LG as third-biggest smartphone maker

Look who is betting on LG in the smartphone market! None other than the rival Samsung. Just that it is not Samsung Mobile, but Samsung's financial and investment arm Samsung Securities. According to a report fromSamsung Securities, LG Electronics will emerge as the third largest smartphone manufacturer in 2013. The report says that LG will be able to engineer a turnaround in the first quarter of next year and expects it to consolidate its position behind Samsung Mobile and Apple in the second half of the year. 

In the report, analyst Harrison Cho writes that LG is at the cusp of a turnaround and will gain market across the world by beating the likes of Nokia, HTC and Blackberry maker Research In Motion owing to better quality products, cost effectiveness and expanded sales reach. 

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Samsung Galaxy Tab: US court asks for reconsideration of sales ban

SAN FRANCISCO: A US appeals court ruled on Friday that a lower court should reconsider a sales ban against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 won by Apple in a patent dispute with the South Korean electronics maker.

The injunction was put in place ahead of a month-long trial that pitted iPhone maker Apple Inc against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in a closely watched legal battle that ended with a resounding victory for Apple last month on many of its patent violation claims.

However, the jury found that Samsung had not violated the patent that was the basis for the tablet injunction and Samsung argued the sales ban should be lifted. US District Judge Lucy Koh said she could not act because Samsung had already appealed.

In its ruling on Friday, the Federal US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington said Koh could now consider the issue.

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Amazon offering business loans to online sellers

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon.com Inc is launching a new business offering loans to some of its online sellers, a move that could boost the growth of its giant Internet marketplace, Chief Executive Scot Wingo of e-commerce advisory firm Channel Advisor said on Thursday.

The new program is called Amazon Lending and sellers on the company's marketplace have been sent emails offering loans from Amazon Capital Services Inc, according to Wingo, who posted a copy of one of the emails on Channel Advisor's website.

Amazon shares rose 2.4 per cent to $255.74 in early afternoon trading.

Amazon spokesmen did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.


source:economictimes

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AT&T to sell new Nokia Lumias, Samsung Galaxy Camera

AT&T will start selling Nokia's two latest Lumia smartphones in November, making it the first carrier to commit to the devices in the United States. AT&T said on Thursday that both models - the Lumia 920 and 820 - will run on its fastest network starting in November. It also said it would sell a Samsung Electronics camera with a wireless connection.

Nokia's introduction of the latest Lumia's last month was met with disappointment because of a lack of details including carrier partners, launch dates, prices for the smartphones powered by Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. Struggling Finnish handset maker Nokia announced earlier it would start selling the smartphones in Europe in November with specific price points. The launch of the Lumia is critical to survival of the Finnish company. Once the world's biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia fell behind rivals in smartphones and has racked up more than 3 billion euros in operating losses in the last 18 months.

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Google adds Street View to maps app for mobiles

Now, irritated Apple users need not worry about errors and omissions made in the Maps service, as Google has updated its web-based maps app, which  iPhone users can easily access through their mobile's web browser. 

Google made its Street View product available on mobile web browsers in a bid to lure users away from Apple's failed maps service on the new iPhone 5. 

"To make Google Maps even more comprehensive, accurate and useful, today we're making Street View available on mobile browsers," the Daily Mail quoted Amanda Leicht, Product Manager Google Maps, as saying. 

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Sony scraps sales of Xperia tablet

(Credit: CBS Interactive )

Sony has stopped selling its Xperia Tablet S after finding defects in the devices.

According to Reuters, sales were halted after gaps were discovered between the screen and case, making some of the tablets susceptible to water damage.

A Sony spokeswoman told Reuters that the hardware issues have been traced back to a "manufacturing flaw" at the Chinese plant where the tablet is made.

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Steve Jobs wanted to scrap Google Search from iPhones

Apple has been panned across the world for its new Maps application, which has been riddled with errors. Company CEO Tim Cook recently issued a public apology over the Maps fiasco and even went to recommend rivals map applications like Google and Nokia's to users of devices running on iOS 6. 

However, reportedly it was Steve Jobs' displeasure with Google over Android mobile OS which made Apple build its in-house Map app. Not just this, Jobs even wanted to scrap Google Search from all iOS devices. 

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Windows 8 needs improvement: Microsoft co-founder

Describing elements of  Windows 8 as 'puzzling',  Microsoft co-founder Paul Allenhas admitted that the upcoming operating system needs some improvement. 

Allen said some elements of the operating system 'can induce confusion', but added that he was 'excited and impressed' by the new programme overall. 

"Windows 8 does certainly require a brief adjustment period before users become familiar and comfortable with the new 'bimodal' operating system," the Telegraph quoted Allen, as saying. 

Allen said he had been using Windows 8 on both a desktop computer and on a tablet, but described the dual operating system as confusing and said it was difficult to know which mode to choose when opening an application or a file. 

"A few minor issues aside, I'm impressed with its clever integration of a bimodal interface to simultaneously support both desktop and tablet use in the same operating system," he added. (ANI)

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Windows 8 or Android: Big dilemma for app developers

For Microsoft, and Amazon.com, and the clutch of other companies that hope to carve out a big slice of a mobile computing business currently dominated by Apple, the future depends on people like Scott Porad.

As chief technology officer of Cheezburger Network, a popular publisher of humor websites, Porad has to make the tough calls on which mobile devices merit the development of special software, or apps, that will make the company's content shine.

Developing apps for the hot-selling iPhonemight be a no-brainer, but that's not the case when it comes to apps for Microsoft's new Windows 8 software, or for the various versions of Google's Android mobile operating system, or for Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices.

"We are a small company and we don't have unlimited resources," said Porad "We cannot afford to do it all, that's for sure."

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