Facebook released its financial results for Q4 2013 today and the numbers show a steady rise. The extremely popular social network posted revenues to the tune of $2.59 billion compared to $1.59 billion last year. This beat analyst predictions that were aiming at revenues of $2.33 billion. Continue reading “Facebook Q4 2013 results out, mobile advertising accounts for 53% revenues”
Author: Dhruv Bhutani
Your friendly neighborhood techie. Currently using a Pixel 2 XL.
Catch him on Twitter (@DhruvBhutani) / Facebook .
Google makes it official: sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91bn, retains patents
Hot on the heels of the news that Google might be planning to offload Motorola to Lenovo comes the official announcement. Google today revealed that Lenovo plans to acquire the Motorola Mobility smartphone business for $2.91 billion. Google had acquired Motorola for a whopping 12.5 billion dollars which makes the sale price seem suspiciously low. That said, Google will retain control of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio which seems to have been the intention all along. Lenovo will receive a license to get access to this patent portfolio. It remains unclear if this will be an exclusive license however, Lenovo will also receive over 2,000 patent assets as well as the brand and trademark portfolio for Motorola Mobility. Continue reading “Google makes it official: sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91bn, retains patents”
Apple releases iOS 7.0.5 to tackle network provisioning error
Apple is reportedly pushing a new update, iOS 7.0.5, that will fix persistent software issues with the iPhone 5s and 5c being sold in China. There have been reports of problems around network provisioning for units of the iPhone 5s and 5c being sold in China and the update is expected to be a fix for that. The popular phones launched on the biggest operator in China, China Mobile, to much success and the numbers reflected in Apple’s sales figures. Apple managed to push a record 51 million units of the iPhone in Q1 2014. Continue reading “Apple releases iOS 7.0.5 to tackle network provisioning error”
Apple reports $57.6 billion revenue, sells 51 million iPhones, 26 million iPads in Q1 2014
Apple has just released its earnings report for Q1 2014 and has reported revenue worth $57.6 billion. Of this, net profit was $13.1 bilion which corresponds to a 5.7 percent growth in revenue year on year. The company has reported iPhone sales to the tune of 51 million devices sold. This mix was biased towards the iPhone 5s as was revealed in the earnings call. The underlying intent was clear that the iPhone 5c wasn’t as big a success as Apple might have wished for. Continue reading “Apple reports $57.6 billion revenue, sells 51 million iPhones, 26 million iPads in Q1 2014”
Xolo Play Tegra Note Review
Seven inch tablets are a dime and a dozen however finding one that delivers compelling performance at a competitive price point is still rather elusive. Enter the Tegra Note 7. Powered by a blazing fast Tegra 4 chip and boasting of strong gaming credentials, the Tegra Note 7 promises the sky. But can it deliver? We find out in our review. Continue reading “Xolo Play Tegra Note Review”
BBM Voice to be available on Android, iOS starting February
BlackBerry’s popular instant messaging service, BBM, introduced voice calls support early last year to help it compete with more feature packed rivals. Alongside voice calls, it also brought in an interesting new Channels feature that lets users create groups to share content, location information. These features have so far been exclusive to BlackBerry devices.
We first spotted BBM Voice support for Android in the beta channels. Krishadeep Baruah, Senior Director of channel marketing in APAC for BlackBerry has now revealed that an update coming sometime next month will bring both the features to Android, iOS users. Revealed in an interview with the Times of India, Baruah also claims that video calling features too will be available across platforms later this year. BBM Voice will make it a compelling alternatives to the likes of Viber and Line given its sizeable userbase and popularity in India.
As the company’s market share drops, it aims to create new revenue streams through private BBM channels. The report goes on to state that Indian brands like Airtel, Cafe Coffee Day and Gaana.com have already launched their channels. Expect to see the application being updated sometime next month. Will BBM Voice, Channels support make you shift over from WhatsApp / Viber / WeChat or whatever other service you’re currently using? Sound off in the comments section!
[Via – Times of India]
Nokia’s Q4 2013 financial results disappoint, intense competition at the lower end to be blamed
The transition of Nokia’s Device and Services division over to Microsoft is about to be completed and the Finnish company has revealed its financial results for Q4 2013. While there has been an operating profit of Eur 408 million, this was mainly because of its NSN equipment business. Interestingly, the company declined to share numbers for sales of Windows Phone running devices however it did mention that there has been a decline over the previous quarter.
Nokia has blamed intense competition at the lower end of the spectrum for the drop in sales of both smart devices and mobile phones. Increasingly, it looks like the decision to hand over device operations to Microsoft was a good one from a financial perspective. Continue reading “Nokia’s Q4 2013 financial results disappoint, intense competition at the lower end to be blamed”
Nokia Lumia 1320 Unboxing
The Nokia Lumia 1320 is part of the two new phablets announced by the Finnish company some time back. Announced alongside the 1520, the device follows the large screen trend and brings a massive 6 inch display to the table. Under the hood you find a 1.7 Ghz Dual Core Snapdragon 400 processor which is paired with 1GB of RAM. A 5MP camera is located at the back of the phone while a 0.3MP shooter can be seen up front. The 6 inch display has a resolution of 1280 x 720 and has a Gorilla Glass 3 coating on top. Owing to the large display, an additional column of tiles can be pinned on the screen. The phone ships with the Lumia Black update that brings several Nokia specific additions to the OS. Continue reading “Nokia Lumia 1320 Unboxing”
Sony launches WiFi only Xperia Z Ultra in Japan
The long rumored and anticipated WiFi only version of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is now official and the mini tablet will soon be available in Sony’s home turf of Japan. Priced at a smidgen under $500, you get a 6.4 inch Triluminos Display, Snapdragon 800 processor that make for a very handy device that is almost a tablet, just a bit more portable. The IP58 certification, slim shell further contribute to making it a rather interesting miniature tablet. In our Xperia Z Ultra review we found it to be just a bit too big to be used as a phone, with the radio components out of the picture, we should be able to look at the Z Ultra WiFi edition in a new light ie as a very portable tablet like crossover device. Continue reading “Sony launches WiFi only Xperia Z Ultra in Japan”
Apple iPhone 5s Review
Apple calls the iPhone 5s, the most forward thinking iPhone yet. A departure from when Apple didn’t care to enter the spec wars, it claims to be the best smartphone in the world. Historically speaking, the “S” editions of Apple’s smartphones have changed little on the outside and have opted for substantial changes under the hood. This remains the case here as well. The iPhone 5s brings 64bit support, Touch ID fingerprint sensor and a completely overhauled operating system as well. Does all of this align to make investing in the iPhone worth it? We find out in our review. Continue reading “Apple iPhone 5s Review”
Lava Iris Pro 30 Photo Gallery
Lava announced its new phone, the Iris Pro 30 at an event in Delhi yesterday. The company talked in length about its focus on hardware quality and materials used. In our hands on impressions, we found that despite looking very heavily inspired by the iPhone, the phone does have better build quality than most others in its category. Additionally, the screen is amongst the best we’ve seen in the category. For the complete low down, check out our Lava Iris Pro 30 hands on impressions, here we’ve got a full gallery of images that should help you get a closer look at the handset. Continue reading “Lava Iris Pro 30 Photo Gallery”
Lava Iris Pro 30 Hands On Impressions
Lava today introduced its brand new phone part of the Iris series of devices. Called the Iris Pro 30, the emphasis here is on design. The handset is made of magnesium alloy and is also one of the lightest phones in its category weighing a mere 114 grams. Follow through for our hands on impressions. Continue reading “Lava Iris Pro 30 Hands On Impressions”
Google Fitness API shows up in code leak
As sensor technology becomes ever more sophisticated, wearables and health related use cases are becoming ever more prevalent for smartphones. With Android 4.4 KitKat, Google introduced support for persistent pedometer data capture to the operating system thereby enabling application that can track the distance that you walk daily. However this isn’t sufficient for avid fitness buffs and it seems that Google might be working on a more robust offering. Continue reading “Google Fitness API shows up in code leak”
Huawei introduces its first 64bit octa-core SoC
Huawei CEO, Richard Yu, took to Chinese micro-blogging site, Weibo, to announce the company’s new offerings in the mobile processor segment. The new chipsets includes two octa core chips and a quad core SoC.
The quad core chipset is manufactured using a 28nm process and will include ARM A9 cores. We expect this chipset to be aimed towards the upper mid range handsets. Continue reading “Huawei introduces its first 64bit octa-core SoC”
Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5x Mi-504 Review
Spice has been at the forefront of India’s budget Android market almost since its inception. With some compelling releases over the past few years and months, it has been able to carve a niche for itself while facing stiff competition from Micromax, Karbonn and competition at large. Throwing its latest device into the budget Android device ring with the Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5x, the company aims to gain a foothold amongst the first time smartphone buyers. Will it succeed? We find out in our review. Continue reading “Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5x Mi-504 Review”