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.
You saw the unboxing of the Motorola Razr Maxx back in July. Here is the complete review the Razr Maxx that was launched in India in June and it received the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OTA update last month. It comes with 3300 mAh battery and has 4.3-inch (540 x 960 pixels) Super AMOLED display, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 16 GB internal memory with expandable memory up to 32GB similar to the Motorola Razr that we reviewed earlier this year. Continue reading “Motorola Razr Maxx Review”
When Samsung announced the Galaxy S III in early May, they showed off two color variants: one was white, the other was blue. That threw a lot of people off since many were expecting to see the same old black/white options that all smartphones have had for the better part of half a decade. Several weeks later, when the American operator AT&T announced that they would start selling the Galaxy S III, they said they’d have the blue and white models in stock, but they also said they’d offer a red variant. Wonderful, but again, what about black? There are some folks out there who just want a plain black phone and refuse to use anything else. According to images found by Unwired View, the black Galaxy S III exists.
When will it actually hit store shelves? Both Android Police and SammyHub suggest that we’re going to have to wait until next month. Why such a long wait? That’s a good question. We don’t know why Samsung chose to go with blue and white instead of black and white, but if we had to guess we’d say it had something to do with them wanting to show something to the world that stands out. If you guys really want to see something that’ll turn heads then we recommend you go to a store and fondle a red Nokia PureView 808, but that’s a whole other topic of discussion.
Bloomberg is reporting that Research in Motion (RIM) is ready to license its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system to other smartphone manufacturers. The next generation OS is expected to be available on devices starting Q1 2013.
Continue reading “Research In Motion ready to license BlackBerry 10 reports Bloomberg”
Rumors have been going around for a while that Micromax is all set to launch its Galaxy Note phablet competitor. While we still don’t have an official reveal, Listings have gone up at popular online shopping portal HomeShop 18 where the A100 is said to be currently out of stock. From what we know, the smartphone will run on Android 4.0 ICS and is equipped with 512MB of RAM.
Continue reading “Micromax A100 Android smartphone with 5-inch screen listed online for Rs. 9,999”
Micromax A90 that was spotted last month would launch soon for Rs. 12,999 in India. It would come with 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, Dual SIM support, 8MP camera with LED flash, FM Radio and would run on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It would be called as Superfone Pixel. Continue reading “Micromax A90 with 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display launching soon for Rs. 12,999”
The Qualcomm Snapdragon Giveaway is back ! The response to the third giveaway was great . Thanks to you guys for sending in your entries. We should be announcing the winner shortly.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon Giveaway #4 is here. All you have to do is answer the question below and you can walk away with one Snapdragon device – the HTC One V
This is just the fourth contest in a series of several more contests and activities we will be bringing to you in the next few weeks in partnership with Qualcomm Snapdragon.Dive into the contest below and send in your entry.
Follows the steps below in order to take part in the giveaway.
