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Dual OS Geeksphone Revolution to launch on 20th February for 289 Euros

The Geeksphone Revolution was introduced as one of the first ever devices to come with two operating systems out of the box, Android and Firefox Boot2Gecko. The Spanish handset maker, known for making other Firefox phones, will be launching it on the 20th of February for a price of 289 Euros(around 24,500 INR). Powered by the Intel Z2560 processor with PowerSGX544 for graphics, the Geeksphone revolution will be able to switch between two operating systems with ease. Sporting a 4.7 inch 960×540 screen and a 8MP camera, the phone is aimed at the mid-range segment, with the choice of OS being the obvious advantage here. Here are its complete specifications –

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Nokia’s Android phone will reportedly be revealed at MWC 2014

Rumoured to be a successor to the Asha series of devices, Nokia is apparently preparing to launch its Android-based low cost devices at the Mobile World Congress event this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The phone had repeatedly leaked out, with images of hardware and images of software, which point to a phone with a Windows Phone-like UI and Android underneath, enabling it to run Android apps. The “forked” Android OS, developed by Nokia, will feature Microsoft’s services prominently, not Google services or Play, which means that there will still be a distinct lack of Google apps on the platform. Previously brushed off as a improbable launch, especially after the Microsoft acquisition, it seems like the Nokia X aka Normandy will possibly be making a N9-style debut at MWC this year.

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LG G Flex Unboxing in India

LG G Flex, the pioneering flexible phone with a curved screen, was officially launched in India yesterday. This is out and out a technological showcase product from LG, with innovations like a flexible display, body and battery brought to the table. It also features all the high end features that one would expect from a flagship device, but is also a phablet with a 6″ screen. Basically, this is the pinnacle of LG’s engineering prowess, which might actually end up setting the precedent for a whole lot of devices in the future. The Indian variant we have here, is priced at a sky high Rs.69,999/- which is unattainable for most. With that price tag, apart from the device itself, what does the G Flex pack in terms of box contents? We unbox the device to find out –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFASnC7qD6M

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Android leads with 51.8% US Smartphone market share, Motorola jumps to 3rd place

comScore published its quarterly report for the period of Q4 2013 today and the results show a slight dip in market share for Android. Compared to Q3 2013, Android showed a 0.3 percent dip to reach 51.5 percent market penetration. Trailing Android is Apple with 41.8 percent of the smartphone market being powered by iOS. This was a slight rise from the 40.60% market share it enjoyed in Q3 2013. The launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c are expected to have played a role in this rise. The remaining marketshare was split between with BlackBerry and Microsoft which are at third and fourth spots respectively with 3.4%, 3.1% penetration. Continue reading “Android leads with 51.8% US Smartphone market share, Motorola jumps to 3rd place”

Pebble’s app store lands on iOS with over 1000 apps, Android gets a developer beta

Pebble, the company responsible for the uber popular Smartwatch that goes by the same name, recently unveiled its new hardware, the Pebble Steel Smartwatch and along with it came the announcement of the first ever app store for Smartwatches. Yes, Pebble has its own app store now, consisting of a whole lot of Watchfaces and native apps that work standalone, like mini games or work with the phone over Bluetooth and can even access the internet now. One of the many changes that Pebble did with its ecosystem was opening a mature version of its SDK to many developers, making it easier to program for the Smartwatch. We think the app store is a natural progression of that announcement. The store resides inside Pebble’s own smartwatch app in iOS as well as Android, but the latter is only available for developers and is in beta, with consumer availability stated as coming soon.

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AOSP commit suggests Android to replace Dalvik with ART in upcoming release

When Android KitKat rolled out we got our first glimpse of what could be the new runtime heading to Android. Dubbed ART, it was introduced as a preview for enthusiast users and came with a fare share of warnings. Code changes spotted in a recent commit to the AOSP ie Android Open Source Project suggest that the switchover from Dalvik to ART may be coming sooner rather than later. Owing to the rapid adoption in the community, numerous bug reports, it is quite possible that the Android team has managed to get the runtime ready for primetime sooner than expected. Continue reading “AOSP commit suggests Android to replace Dalvik with ART in upcoming release”

Android runs on 79% of 2013 smartphones, Windows Phone posts fastest growth

It’s the numbers season, with various analysis groups releasing their take on the smartphone market for the whole year of 2013. We saw the IDC report recently that the Smartphone market has crossed the 1 billion threshold. In that lineup, we have Canalys reporting that Android dominated 2013 with almost 80% of that whole Smartphone market in 2013, and amongst them, Windows Phone posted the fastest growth, with a 69% rise YoY between the three major platforms. Both Android’s meteoric rise to the top and Windows Phone’s slow rise from the bottom are pretty much known quantities now, but some of the numbers are interesting. The second biggest platform, Apple’s iOS, has almost stagnated with only 7% growth by losing marketshare, whereas Android is steadily growing at 54%, a good 10% above the market growth percentage. This technically means that Android will reach its maximum in about 2 or 3 years if it and the market retains the growth pattern. Yes, it can happen only at the expense of gobbling up other platform’s shares but it begs this question. Will we we start to see saturation in the Smartphone market soon?

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Bing rewards goes live for iOS and Android, Windows Phone curiously left out

Bing Rewards is a program that Microsoft started, to encourage use of its search engine, so that it could dole out rewards for doing so. It was a desperate, yet successful attempt, as people started using it for gaining credits that could be redeemed at Amazon, Fandango or even get you an Xbox console, just through using the rarely used search engine. Till now, the rewards program was exclusively on the desktop, where one could sign in to Bing and use it to gain rewards, but finally, it is now coming down to mobile, through the Bing mobile apps for iOS and Android. Nope, Windows Phone support is apparently “coming soon”, and we might have reasons why. That aside, the Bing rewards feature will give you certains “tasks” to finish, like a game, and once you finish it, you’ll be rewarded with credits of varying amounts depending on the task.

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Dell’s Wyse Cloud Connect is a $130 Android dongle that turns any HDMI screen into a workstation

Dell was rumoured to be working on a really unique product, an Android dongle that could run the operating system, in a compact form factor comparable to a Chromecast. As wild as the idea seemed, it has now taken the form of a real product in the Dell Wyse Cloud Connect, an Android dongle, aimed at enterprise users who want to carry their work for access everywhere, in a compact form factor. The dongle runs Android 4.1 Jellybean and can be used on any HDMI supported screen, like a HDTV, a projector, MHL compatible touch monitors(for full Android touch functionality), or can be paired up with Bluetooth mice and keyboards for the usual interaction like a PC. Out of the box, the Wyse Cloud Connect will also run Citrix, VMWare or Microsoft remote desktop clients. Dell hopes this will entice enterprise users for the portability it offers.

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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.

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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Google Chrome Apps for iOS and Android are coming

Google Chrome apps for iOS and Android are coming, as the company has just quietly unveiled, in its Chromium blog, that it is finally ready to extend the reach of Chrome apps to mobile platforms. It was previously rumoured to happen, but Google remained quiet even after the news spread fast. But now that it’s official, it is seen as a landmark announcement, as this might be a strategic move for all things Google, going forward. With Chromebooks gaining ground in the notebook space, thanks to several OEMs backing it up with some really interesting products, Google is now taking the bustling platform to mobile. This is a move that the whole industry has been expecting, ever since Google replaced Andy Rubin with Sundar Pichai, the Chrome boss at the Mountain View company. Having developed a tool chain for packaging Chrome apps into native shells for both iOS and Android, this Google-blessed offering will be a dream come true for many developers.

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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 Normandy’s Android UI leaks, leaves us wanting the unattainable

The Nokia Android phone might be like the unobtanium from Pandora but we keep seeing more and more of it these days. Purported images of the Nokia Android Phone have leaked out in the form of UI screenshots, pasted on the infamous Normandy device. Looking very much like a recent Asha phone, the Nokia Normandy shows off ~~its calling UI~~ Viber, the lockscreen and the Skype app, which is very similar to the one on Android. The project is supposedly shelved, as this was rumoured to be a skunkworks thing inside Nokia headed by designer Peter Skillman, who now heads Here, the part that was not bought out by Microsoft during the acquisition. So yet again, we are left wanting for this unattainable device.

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ASUS’ dual OS Transformer Book Duet TD 300 with Android and Windows 8 is official

ASUS has officially unveiled its latest Dual OS convertible two-in-one, the Transformer Book Duet TD300. Simultaneously running Android 4.1 and Windows 8.1 on a single device, ASUS claims to offer two different experiences on a single machine, with laptop and tablet configurations thanks to the detachable keyboard dock. ASUS promises a 4 second time frame for switching between the two different operating systems at just a press of the button. It’s slightly disappointing that it runs on Android 4.1 Jellybean but the implementation will be interesting to see if it actually works in real life. The convertible is powered by the latest 4th generation Intel core i7 processor and comes with a 13.3 inch 1080p panel in the default configuration. The base configuration cuts the resolution down to 1366×768 and packs a Core i3 processor but comes with an affordable price tag of $599, which might be enticing for people looking to try this weird combo of a device.

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Micromax LapTab dual boot Android and Windows 8.1 device announced

Popular budget smartphone brand, Micromax, just announced its entry into a brand new product category. At the Consumer Electronics Show, The company has announced a dual boot tablet that will join its line of products which includes smartphones, tablets and HDTVs.

Called the LapTab, the Micromax product will be powered by an Intel Atom processor. The device will run both Windows 8.1 and Android Jelly Bean so that you can switch between the two depending on your usage requirement. The rest of the specifications are fairly mid range. The processor is clocked at 1.46Ghz and is paired with 2GB of RAM. You also get 32GB of built in storage. Continue reading “Micromax LapTab dual boot Android and Windows 8.1 device announced”