GetGlue for iPhone has received a major update to version 3.0 that brings lots of new features such as GetGlue guide with personalized list of shows, movies, and sports, recommendations for shows that match your tastes, Sport schedules, stats, and live scores and more. The new version doesn’t let you Check-in to Music, Books, Games and Topic, which is a big drawback. Continue reading “GetGlue for iPad v3.0 update brings Personalized guide, Recommendations and more”
Instagram for iPhone and Android have been updated to version 3.0 that brings new features including, Photo Maps feature that lets you view your photos and others’ photos on a map, New design for user profiles, explore tab, hashtag and location pages, speed improvements and more new features. Continue reading “Instagram for iPhone and Android v3.0 update brings Photo Maps, New design and more”
Nokia has managed to keep a fairly tight lid on its upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices and leaks have been few if any at all. However as the September 5th date approaches, we’re getting a better look at some of the parts leaked via supply chain partner ALPS. We’ve already reported on the leaked Nokia Windows Phone front panel and now we have yet another front panel which has been leaked.
Continue reading “Upcoming Nokia Windows Phone 8 phone screen leaked”
Saholic.com, popular online retailer in India has launched Buy Online, Pickup In Store facility for its customers in Delhi NCR region. This would let the customers order a phone or any other products from Saholic website and select offline pick up from Shipping page, and pay for the product. You also have option to choose a nearby store and the In Store Payment option, other than online payment, that lets you pay the amount at the store when you pickup. This facility is popular in the U.S. from leading stores such as Macy’s,Walmart and BestBuy.
Xiaomi MI-2, successor of first MIUI Phone has been announced in China. It packs in high-end specs such as 4.3-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS display, 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with Adreno 320 Graphics, 2GB of RAM and 2000 mAh battery with optional battery pack of 3000 mAh. It runs on MIUI ROM based on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Continue reading “Xiaomi MI-2 with 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, Android 4.1 announced in China”
When the iPad was announced in January 2010 it forced the consumer electronics industry to scramble to create a competitive product. The first iPad “killers”, take the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the HTC Flyer for example, were basically Android smartphones with a larger screen. It wasn’t until early 2011, when Google launched Android 3.0 Honeycomb, that the search giant actually had a tablet operating system to offer their partners. Sadly, Honeycomb was garbage, and by then the thinner and lighter iPad 2 had already hit the market. Then something happened. A light bulb turned on. Companies began to realize that there’s no point in competing in the 10 inch tablet space with Apple, so why not invent a new 7 inch tablet market? And with that the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Barnes & Noble Nook, and several other tablets were born. The most recent of such tablets, the ASUS manufactured Google Nexus 7, has been widely praised as being the first actual iPad competitor worthy of your money. At $250 for the 16 GB version it’s also a steal.
So the obvious question is will Apple make a 7 inch tablet? Rumors about a smaller iPad have been circulating for about a year already, but now we’re starting to see more and more evidence that it’s actually coming. The image above, which comes from the French website NowhereElse, shows what’s allegedly the iPad mini’s flex cable. Supposedly Apple is going to announce a smaller iPad at their next event, which is unofficially due to take place on September 12th.
The key question here is price. Apple offers the third generation iPad for $499, and the second generation iPad for $399, so does that mean a smaller iPad would go for $299? That’s only $50 more than the 16 GB Nexus 7, and for that amount of cash you’ll get access to all the applications in Apple’s ecosystem, plus what we can only assume to be better build quality.
Hopefully we’ll be able to tell you more in about four weeks.
Dropbox for Android Beta (Preview version) has been updated to v2.1.8.8 that brings new features such as thumbnails for videos in Dropbox, better video playback in ICS and Jelly Bean. Option to open Dropbox files directly from other apps such as SMS, Memo etc. and more new features. Continue reading “Dropbox Beta for Android update brings Video thumbnails, Better video playback and more”
Nokia World, the company’s annual event where they show off at least one new major device, is going to take place in Helsinki, Finland this year on September 5th. This is something we’ve known for quite a while. Last night the Finnish handset maker began sending out invitations to another press event, one in New York City, which is also due to take place on September 5th. Besides being on the other side of the pond, this American event looks to be different than the European event because Microsoft will be there. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what all this means: Windows Phone 8 devices are going to get announced. Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO, recently confirmed this according to Reuters, who quotes him as saying Windows Phone 8 hardware will be released in the “relatively near term”. Speaking about Elop, which event do you think he’ll attend? The one in Finland or the one in America?
Looking back at Nokia World 2011, that took place on October 26th. It’s where Nokia showed off their first two Windows Phones, the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710. The former hit the European market in mid November, the latter shipped about a month later. Assuming Nokia keeps the same timetable of announcing something and then making sure it’s on store shelves roughly three weeks later, then by the end of next month we should be able to get our hands on Nokia’s first Windows Phone 8 device. Curiously, the third week of September is when HTC is allegedly going to show off their Windows Phone 8 handsets as well.
What does Windows Phone 8 actually bring to the table? We don’t really know too much about the new consumer facing features, what we do know however is that Windows Phone 8 adds support for dual core chips, NFC, 720p resolution screens, and native code.
Expect Microsoft to show off a whole lot more in New York.
Samsung is going to hold a press conference in Berlin on August 29th, less than two weeks from today. Earlier this month a Samsung spokesperson told Retuers that the company is going to be announcing the second generation Galaxy Note there. Here’s what we “know” about the device so far from the rumors that have been floating around the internets: Similar to how the first generation Galaxy Note was basically a giant Galaxy S II, the Galaxy Note II is going to be a blown up version of Galaxy S III. The same quad core Exynos processor will be in there, likely the same 8 megapixel camera, the same cellular radios, you get the idea. The only thing that will change is, of course, the screen. What you’re looking at above is a photo of from the French website NowhereElse, who says that’s the front panel of the Note II. The first Note had a 5.3 inch display, but this new Note is expected to pack a larger 5.5 inch display.
Will the Note II be popular? It’s too early to tell since we don’t have any concrete information, but our gut tells us it’s going to be even more successful than the first Note. When Samsung announced the original Note back in September 2011, we didn’t really understand it. We asked ourselves who in their right mind would buy such a large device? But here we are, 10 months after the Note hit the market, and Samsung has managed to sell 10 million of them. That’s a million a month, which may not sound like a significant number, but it’s not small either.
And anyway, isn’t Android all about choice? If you want a tiny device, get a Sony Xperia Tipo or a Samsung Galaxy Pocket. If you want the biggest thing that you can barely squeeze inside a pocket, the Note is perfect.
Samsung has announced they have shipped over 10 million units of the Galaxy Note globally since the launch in October last year. Samsung announced this in the Galaxy Note 10.1 launch in Korea, that would go on sale today in both Korea and the US. The Galaxy Note crossed 1 million mark last December, 5 million mark in March and 7 million in June, after 7 months since the launch. The new feat took about 9 months. Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Note shipments surpass 10 million units”
Samsung has started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 10.1 on their eStore. It would be called as Galaxy Note 8000 in India. The pre-order price is Rs. 2000 and you get a free Book cover worth Rs. 3249 along with the Galaxy Note 8000. Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 pre-booking starts in India”
LG Electronics has announced that they have sold more than 5 million LTE smartphones globally. The global shipments of Optimus LTE crossed the 1 million mark earlier this January. With the launch of new phones new smartphones such as Optimus Vu, Optimus Tag, and Optimus LTE 2 that sold more than half a million units in the first 7 days. LG crossed the 3 million mark in May and 4 million mark last month.LG has also announced that the Optimus Vu has sold more than 500,000 units since March. Continue reading “LG LTE smartphone sales surpass 5 million units globally”
Here’s a scenario I’m sure many of you have experienced: You have some friends over, there’s a party going on, someone wants to upload the photos they just took to Facebook, but they don’t want to use their cellular connection. Instead they ask you for the name of your WiFi network and the long and complicated password you can’t even remember to connect to it. What if there was a better way? Enter InstaWiFi, which I just heard about while listening to episode 72 of the “All About Android” podcast. Continue reading “InstaWiFi: The Android app that makes you wish all WiFi networks worked like this”
Nokia World, the company’s annual event where they usually announce at least one new major device, is due to kick off in exactly three weeks. This year it’s going to take place in the country where Nokia was founded, Finland. Rumor has it that at this shindig we’re going to see a few Windows Phone 8 devices. According to the image above, which was found on the Chinese website cnBeta, that’s the front plate of one of those said devices. Pay attention to the Windows button in the center, it has the new Windows branding that’s associated with Windows 8, meaning this leaked part might actually be legitimate. As for the dimensions of the screen opening, you’re looking at about 4.3 inches diagonal. While there are certainly smartphones out on the market that have a 4.3 inch 720p display, take the Sony Xperia S for example, we think that the rounded design of this part indicates that it’s meant for a mid range device.
Forgetting about hardware for a second, what’s going to make Windows Phone 8 special? Here’s what’s officially known: multicore support, 720p display support, and NFC support will be built-in to the new OS, along with an updated version of Internet Explorer. Developers will be given the ability to write native code for Windows Phone 8 devices, whereas previous versions of Windows Phone required Silverlight or XNA. There’s also a new tile size for the home screen, but other than that … nothing. Microsoft hasn’t shown off too many consumer features, probably because they want to save them for a huge press event. If that’s the case then timing will be everything since Samsung is expected to unveil the Note II in two weeks, and Apple is expected to show off the next iPhone in four weeks.
Will Nokia World, in three weeks, put the company back on the map? We’ll see.
The Xperia P marks the middle range from Sony’s NXT range of devices. It brings a good balance between power and style and is placed between the higher end Xperia S and the youth-centric U which we reviewed recently.
