News | Fone Arena - Part 1751

Sony Mobile outlines upgrade policy, flagship Xperia smartphones to get Android updates for 2 years

sony_xperia_xz

Sony might not be the top sellers in the world, but the company pushes out major updates at least to its flagships, but for how long the Xperia devices are supported is somewhat vague. This is the case with most Android phone vendors, not just Sony. However, today Sony has outlined its Android system upgrade policy and said that it would support high-end premium device for 2-years since the day it launched. Continue reading “Sony Mobile outlines upgrade policy, flagship Xperia smartphones to get Android updates for 2 years”

Instagram now lets you post text-only ‘type-mode’ stories

Instagram text stories

After testing for a while, Instagram now gets text-only ‘type-mode’ stories feature. It is a new way of sharing stories with creative text styles and backgrounds without the need for photos or videos. Continue reading “Instagram now lets you post text-only ‘type-mode’ stories”

Alphabet revenue up 24% YoY in Q4 2017, Google ad, cloud business remain strong

Google’s parent company, Alphabet today announced financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. The company posted a record 24% increase in revenue with $32.323 billion compared to the $26.064 billion in Q4 2016. The company posted revenues of $110.9 billion in complete 2017. Continue reading “Alphabet revenue up 24% YoY in Q4 2017, Google ad, cloud business remain strong”

Apple overtakes Samsung to become top smartphone vendor in Q4 2017, Xiaomi beats OPPO: IDC

Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 403.5 million smartphones worldwide, down 6.3% year over year, and up 8.1% from the third quarter, in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17), as per the latest International Data Corporation (IDC). For the full year, 1.472 billion units were shipped, down less than 1% from 1.473 billion in 2016. Continue reading “Apple overtakes Samsung to become top smartphone vendor in Q4 2017, Xiaomi beats OPPO: IDC”

Apple reports record $20.1 billion profit on $88.3 billion revenue in FY Q1 2018, 77.3 million iPhones sold

Apple has reported all-time record quarterly revenue of $88.3 billion, up 13% over last year with a all-time record net profit of $20.1 billion in their earnings for the financial year Q4 2018 that ended December 30, 2017. Apple reported quarterly earnings per diluted share of $3.89, up 16% from a year ago, also an all-time record. During earnings call Tim Cook said that the growth was broad-based and a key driver was iPhone, which generated its highest revenue ever. Continue reading “Apple reports record $20.1 billion profit on $88.3 billion revenue in FY Q1 2018, 77.3 million iPhones sold”

Apple removes Telegram Messenger from App Store for ‘Inappropriate Content’ [Update: It’s back]

[Update: Telegram app is back on the app store along with the Telegram X]

Apple has removed the popular messaging application “Telegram’ from the App Store for ‘Inappropriate Content.’ Apple usually pulls the apps that violated Apple’s developer guidelines for iOS apps. The absence of Telegram was first noted by a Reddit user yesterday. Continue reading “Apple removes Telegram Messenger from App Store for ‘Inappropriate Content’ [Update: It’s back]”

InFocus A2 with 5-inch HD display, 4G VoLTE launched in India for Rs. 5199

InFocus has launched A2, the company’s latest budget smartphone with 4G VoLTE support. It packs a 5-inch HD 2.5D curved glass screen, is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat), has a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with face beauty, camera filters and pro mode. Continue reading “InFocus A2 with 5-inch HD display, 4G VoLTE launched in India for Rs. 5199”

ZAKK Twins Bluetooth Water resistant headphones launched for Rs. 2999

ZAKK today has launched the Twins wireless Bluetooth headphones in India. The headphones come with anti-drop ear hooks and water resistance. These come with true wireless Bluetooth technology along with a microphone for taking calls. Continue reading “ZAKK Twins Bluetooth Water resistant headphones launched for Rs. 2999”

Google Assistant Go for Android 8.1 phones with low RAM released

Android Go (Oreo Edition) is an Android operating system based on Oreo 8.1 designed for phones with low-RAM. The company started rolling Go edition apps one after the other. It recently rolled out the Gboard Go, YouTube Go, and Maps Go. Today is has released the Assistant Go app on the Google Play Store. Continue reading “Google Assistant Go for Android 8.1 phones with low RAM released”

Nokia 8 and Nokia 5 3GB RAM version get a price cut in India, now available for Rs. 28999 and Rs. 12499

HMD Global launched its flagship Nokia 8 smartphone in India back in September last year for Rs. 36,999. Now the phone has received a Rs. 8000 price cut and is available for Rs. 28,999. The Nokia 5 3GB RAM version that was launched for Rs. 13,499 has received a Rs. 1000 price cut and is available for Rs. 12,499, but some offline retailers are selling it for as low as Rs. 11,299. Continue reading “Nokia 8 and Nokia 5 3GB RAM version get a price cut in India, now available for Rs. 28999 and Rs. 12499”

Nintendo announces Mario Kart Tour game is coming to smartphones

After the successful Super Mario Run game that was released back in 2016, Nintendo has announced that it will release a new Mario Kart Tour game for smartphones. The company said that the game is already in development and said that it will be released sometime before 2019. Continue reading “Nintendo announces Mario Kart Tour game is coming to smartphones”

Union Budget 2018: Govt raises customs duty on mobile phones from 15% to 20%, OnePlus, LG and other companies react

Apple iPhone 8 Plus

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced the Union Budget 2018-19 in which he proposed to increase the customs duty on mobiles phones from 15% to 20%, 15% on some of their parts and accessories, and on certain parts of TVs to 15%. Continue reading “Union Budget 2018: Govt raises customs duty on mobile phones from 15% to 20%, OnePlus, LG and other companies react”

Microsoft revenue up 12% YoY in FYQ2 2018, cloud platform continues to grow

Microsoft today has reported a 12% YoY increase in revenues in FYQ2 2018 in the latest earnings report for the quarter that ended December 31, 2017. The company’s total estimated revenue is close to $28.9 billion and a net income of $7.5 billion with a solid 12% increase. Cloud platform still continues to grow and fuel the earnings. GAAP net loss was $6.3 billion and non-GAAP net income was $7.5 billion. Continue reading “Microsoft revenue up 12% YoY in FYQ2 2018, cloud platform continues to grow”

OPPO A71 (2018) with 5.2-inch display, Snapdragon 450, AI selfie tech announced

OPPO launched the A71 smartphone in India back in September last year, now the company has introduced the A71 (2018) in Pakistan and Taiwan. This has similar specifications as the predecessor, including a 5.2-inch HD display, Android 7.1 (Nougat) OS with ColorOS on top, 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and 5-megapixel front-facing camera, but this is powered by Snapdragon 450 SoC instead of MediaTek MT6750 SoC. It also has only 2GB of RAM compared to 3GB of RAM in the predecessor. Continue reading “OPPO A71 (2018) with 5.2-inch display, Snapdragon 450, AI selfie tech announced”

Apple confirms US govt inquiries over throttling aged iPhones

Apple

Apple today confirmed that it had received inquiries from U.S govt agencies over a software update that is slowed down aged iPhones’ performance and also clarified that it is responding to them. According to the sources, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are said to be investigating Apple to see whether it has violated any securities laws concerning its disclosures. Continue reading “Apple confirms US govt inquiries over throttling aged iPhones”