Samsung to roll out 60 stores across Europe, in collaboration with Carphone Warehouse

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Carphone Warehouse, one of the largest retailers with over 1700 stores in Europe, is entering into a crucial partnership with Samsung, in which it will operate 60 new Samsung exclusive stores across Europe, as a “preferred partner”. This is also an interesting development for Samsung, as this deal will massively improve the retail foot print in all the Android-loving parts of Europe. These new 60 stores will be Samsung exclusive experiences, with Carphone Warehouse contributing its part with retail experience and run Samsung’s stores with what it calls “Carphone Warehouse’s assisted sales tool and connectivity platform”, all with Samsung tablets.

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Sony updates firmware for Sony QX10 and QX100 lenses

Sony has rolled out a big software update for its interchangeable lenses – Sony QX10 and Sony QX100. Both the lenses were announced alongside the company’s current flagship – Sony Xperia Z1, at the IFA in Berlin. The latest software update has the version number 2.0 and brings along with it a couple of changes for the lenses.

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Google keeps Project Ara after selling off Motorola

Out of nowhere Google is sold off its Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for a deal worth close to 3 billion USD earlier today. The almost 3 billion USD sale doesn’t include the Advanced Technology and Projects group led by former DARPA director Regina Dugan. The Verge was able to confirm this and according to the sources, the team will be integrated with Google’s Android team which is headed by Sundar Pichai. Regina Dugan will reportedly report to Sundar Pichai, but is expected to maintain an individual role.

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Samsung Life Times – a new app under development for Samsung devices

Samsung is known to release new flagship devices along with a lot of software features and gimmicks. Samsung’s TouchWiz UI is one of the heaviest skins in terms of RAM consumption and it comes with a lot of default apps that you cannot uninstall. According to the rumor mill, Samsung’s TouchWiz reportedly getting a big overhaul alongside the launch of Samsung Galaxy S5. But just a couple of days back, Google and Samsung entered into an agreement for patents and Samsung may be toning down on the TouchWiz to make it more Google like.

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Oppo N1 officially arrives in India for a price of Rs. 39,999

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Oppo had earlier revealed that they are entering the Indian market today, and right now, they have done just that, at an event in New Delhi. This event also sees the launch of company flagship, the Oppo N1, for a price of Rs. 39,999, for the 16 GB version. The N1, initially rumoured to be a camera centric device, turned out to be a lot more, which we had documented in our review earlier. It has a 5.9 inch 1080p display, a 13 megapixel camera sitting on a rotating swivel, a rear touch sensor for one handed usage, a really cool bluetooth accessory and so on. The hardware alone does not tell the entire story because the N1 is perhaps the most open device on the market, with an unlocked bootloader and a custom recovery that can install ROMs like Cyanogen Mod without any modification. Now that it has landed in India, can the “13 MP selfie” phone make its mark in a highly competitive market?

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Tablets shipment cross 75million in Q4 2013, but growth slows down

In the latest report from IDC(International Data Corporation), tablet shipments have grown to 76.9 million in the last quarter of 2013. The 76.9 million number is a big increase of 62.4% over the previous quarter, but is a relatively small increase when compared to the sales during 2012 – an increase of 28.2% .

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Facebook Q4 2013 results out, mobile advertising accounts for 53% revenues

Facebook Home on HTC One X
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”

Google makes it official: sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91bn, retains patents

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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”

Lenovo to buy Motorola from Google for 3 billion USD

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Lenovo, the world’s no. 1 PC maker and one of the top 5 Smartphone vendors in the world, is reportedly buying out Motorola’s Mobility division from Google for close 3 billion USD, reports Reuters. With final talks between Lenovo and Google going on, Reuters adds that the Motorola mobility division is the one that makes the Moto X and the recently launched popular budget device, Moto G. Lenovo will also be getting its hands on certain patents as a part of the deal, reportedly. Google created a lot of flutter, not long ago, when it announced that it will acquire Motorola’s mobility division for a whopping 12.5 billion USD. It was assumed that the money was for all the patents, but Motorola(under Google’s leadership) announced the Moto X and the Moto G, with very few tweaks and modifications, which possibly signaled more Google intervention than ever, but it looks like that was not the case then, nor is it now.

Lenovo and Google have just made the acquisition official, read here for more details.

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Apple releases iOS 7.0.5 to tackle network provisioning error

iOS 7.0.5 China

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”

Samsung reportedly toning down TouchWiz tweaks and apps due to pressure from Google

Samsung, the world’s biggest Android manufacturer, is reportedly toning down its TouchWiz UI tweaks and own custom apps due to pressure from Google, reports re/code. Not long before, the Korean Chaebol unveiled a range of new Android devices at the Consumer Electronics Show, all featuring the company’s latest and heavily modified Touchwiz “Magazine” UX, that looked nothing like Android. And then we saw a couple more leaks of its adaptation for the mobile form factor, and even that was a drastic departure from the previous version of TouchWiz, let alone stock Android. This might have set Google off and reportedly, the two companies have come to a compromise(among many other things) in which Samsung will tone down its UI tweaks and replacement apps for Google’s services, going forward.

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The image above, taken from a Ars Technica opinion piece paints a clear picture of how Samsung had its own ecosystem around Android, replacing almost every little Google service possible. It is all set to change soon.

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LG G Pro 2 shows up in leaked images

LG G Pro 2 leak

Earlier this week LG confirmed that it would launch the LG G Pro 2, successor of the LG G Pro next month. Live images of the device has surfaced in Korea, which shows off G2-like  rear-mounted power button and volume keys, textured back panel, unlike G Pro’s shiny plastic panel with square pattern elements. It also has a sleek curved design, according to the leaked image. Continue reading “LG G Pro 2 shows up in leaked images”

Samsung Galaxy Gear gets another price cut to Rs. 14,999 in India

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Galaxy Gear is the first Smartwatch from Samsung, the world leader in consumer electronics. One would have expected it to sell like how the Note sold, even after reviews lambasted it for being too big and otherworldly, but that isn’t the same case for the Galaxy Gear. It has received price cuts after price cuts and we are now at a stage in which it sells at a price of Rs. 14,999 in retail, a huge 8,000 discount from the original launch price of Rs. 22,990. The price has fallen by almost 40%, which indicates the kind of demand that the product is getting in the market. Sure, the market is not really a “Smartwatch” market per se, but bundling it with the Note 3 was a clever strategy from Samsung, which unfortunately did not work in its favour.

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Lava Iris 404e with 4-inch display, Android 4.2 listed online for Rs. 4065

Lava Iris 404e

Lava Iris 404e, the latest smartphone from Lava in the Iris range has been listed on Flipkart. It has a 4-inch (480 x 800 pixels) display, powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS. It has 2G (EDGE) connectivity, Dual SIM support with dual standby, 2-megapixel rear with LED flash and VGA front-facing camera. Continue reading “Lava Iris 404e with 4-inch display, Android 4.2 listed online for Rs. 4065”

Tata Group reportedly planning to exit telecom business

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A year after taking over as chairman of the Tata group, Cyrus Mistry, has decided to exit the telecom business completely, according to a recent report from Economic Times. Tata Group, which includes Tata Communications and Tata Tele has initiated talks with Vodafone to sell the company, but the discussions are at an early stage. Continue reading “Tata Group reportedly planning to exit telecom business”