Apple Partner Qualcomm Says Android Is Always First to New Features Hours Ahead of iPhone 8 Event

Hours ahead of Apple’s major iPhone event, in which the company is widely expected to launch the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X, its partner Qualcomm has stirred controversy by saying that Android smartphone makers are always first to bring new cutting technology feature to their products.

Qualcomm has shared more than 20 examples to make the case for how Android smartphone makers have been the first ones to introduce new features. Some of those examples include – fingerprint under display (Qualcomm Reference Design Handset), bezel-less design (first introduced in Xiaomi Mi Mix from last year), OLED Display (LG Flex 2) and Facial Recognition (Samsung Galaxy S8). Interestingly these all features are expected to be selling points of Apple’s supposedly upcoming iPhone models that the company would unveil later today. Other notable mentions are Gigabit LTE (Samsung Galaxy S8) and Bluetooth v5.0 (everything running the Snapdragon 835 SoC).

The telecom giant’s brutal blog post comes months after both of them have sued each other in global patent licensing dispute. Earlier this year, Apple sued the chipmaker for roughly $1 billion claiming that Qualcomm has been “charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with.” At the time, Qualcomm dismissed Apple’s accusation. But months later, it filed a lawsuit against Apple, asking the US trade regulators to ban iPhone imports, as they allegedly infringe on six patents. The patents, owned by Qualcomm, provide technology to improve battery life, Qualcomm said.

Meanwhile, on the blog post published on Monday, Francisco Cheng, director of technical marketing said it has “enabled some notable world firsts on Android, and some remain Android exclusives to this day. […] Inventions from Qualcomm lay the foundation for so many technologies and experiences we value in our smartphones today — on Android and other platforms.”

Apple would certainly not appreciate Qualcomm’s constant commentary on how rival products are better, especially on the day when it plans to launch its own flagship iPhone models.

 

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017), Galaxy A7 (2017) Start Receiving Android Nougat Update in India: Report

Samsung has reportedly started rolling out a software update for its Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017), and Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) users in India. The update is important because it brings along the Android Nougat version, introducing all its features, along with a few other features like Samsung Pass as well.

Sammobile reports that both the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) and Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) are receiving this update in India. It is rolling out gradually, so if it hasn’t landed on your phones yet, it should in the coming weeks. The update weighs in at about 1.4GB, and we recommend you back up your devices before installing the update. Also, ensure that you install the update on a strong Wi-Fi connection with sufficient battery charge on your smartphones.

The firmware version for the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) and Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) are A520FXXUBQI5 and A720FXXU2BQI2 respectively. The Android Nougat update brings along multi-window support, Always On Display, and other new features. There’s also the addition of Dual Messenger and Samsung Pass with this update, along with bug fixes and stability improvements as well.

Both the smartphones were launched in India in March this year, and were priced at Rs. 28,990 and Rs. 33,490 respectively. Last month, both the devices received a permanent price cut in India, and with the price revision, the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) is now available at an MOP of Rs. 22,900, while the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) is available at an MOP of Rs. 25,900.

The highlight of Galaxy A7 (2017) and the Galaxy A5 (2017) smartphones are their Galaxy S7-style design, cameras with low-light optimisation, a simplified camera UX, as well as their IP68-rating for dust and water resistance, which Samsung claims is a first for the price segment.

 

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Samsung Bixby Voice Support Announced for India, Understands Various Accents

Samsung said on Tuesday it will be bringing Bixby, its virtual assistant, to India later this month, as the company announced the availability of the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone. The arrival of Bixby in India further intensifies the battle for AI-powered digital assistants Google’s Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa, which is also set to be launched in the country later this year.

The South Korean electronics company, which assumes the tentpole position among smartphone makers by both volume and brand value, said it had put months of rigorous efforts at its Research and Development centres in Bengaluru to understand and adapt to Indian dialects and contexts. Samsung says it has thoroughly baked in support for various Indian accents, letting even those customers who have opted for English (US) language, make use of Bixby.

Bixby, which was launched across several US and European markets earlier this year, offers four essential features to customers – the ability to talk to Bixby, take pictures and let it make sense of it, use it to set reminders, and receive recommendations for products, foods, and things to read.

Samsung said Bixby will be available to customers in India from September 30. Bixby, unlike Siri and Google’s Assistant, doesn’t work with a wide-range of smartphones. At present, only the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and the Galaxy Note 8 offer this functionality. Samsung-made Android smartphones, however, also support Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana, and Amazon Alexa, should users desire to utilise them.

The limited target audience for Bixby might emerge as a roadblock in its growth. Apple has shown some commitment to improve Siri’s reachability in India, adding diction support for a handful of local languages including Hindi. iOS 11, the latest mobile operating system from Apple that is expected to roll out later this month, will introduce that support.

In the meantime, Amazon is planning to bring Alexa with the Echo Dot smart-speaker in India later this year, people familiar with the matter said.

 

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Intel to Update 5G Testing Device to Meet Standards

Chipmaker Intel Corp said on Thursday that it was updating 5G equipment that will allow telecom companies like AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc to run trials based on standards to be released later this year.

A 5G network is expected to offer faster speeds, more capacity and shorter response times while supporting uses ranging from self-driving cars to remote surgeries. Telecom companies and their suppliers consider it to be a multibillion-dollar revenue opportunity.

Intel has five 5G trials with global service providers and 15 more in the pipeline, Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich said on a post-earnings conference call in July.

One such trial, with wireless carrier AT&T, involves a 5G broadband service that could be introduced as soon as late 2018.

Intel’s mobile trial equipment, which looks like a large box, handles the processing needs for a 5G connection. The updated version, slated for the fourth quarter, will support new 5G standards that the Third Generation Partnership Project, a telecom group known as 3GPP, is expected to release in late 2017.

As a result, the new platform will allow Intel’s partners to “really see what works and what doesn’t,” Rob Topol, general manager of 5G business and technology, said in an interview.

Intel participated in 3GPP’s working groups to develop the 5G standards, Topol said. 3GPP also developed current mobile phone standards for 4G LTE.

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Samsung Galaxy C8 Is the Latest Phone With Facial Recognition, Dual Cameras on the Back

Samsung Galaxy C8 has become the latest smartphone on the market with facial recognition technology to unlock the handset using the user’s face, something the South Korean giant is promoting heavily these days. Two Galaxy C8 variants have been launched – one with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, and another with 4GB of RAM and 64GB built-in storage. The Samsung Galaxy C8 price and availability details have not been officially announced yet. Apart from the facial recognition feature, the new Samsung phone also features dual cameras on the back, and comes with ‘Dual Photo’ mode that allows users to adjust the focus even after clicking the images. It also comes with an always-on display as well.

Samsung Galaxy C8 specifications
Moving on to the specifications, the dual-SIM Samsung Galaxy C8 sports a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) Super AMOLED display. The new Samsung smartphone is powered by an unspecified octa-core processor (with 4 cores clocked at 1.69GHz and the other 4 clocked at 2.39GHz). As mentioned earlier, the handset is being offered in two memory variants with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. The storage on both variants is further expandable, via microSD card (up to 256GB), in a hybrid dual-SIM configuration.

In terms of optics, the rear dual camera setup on the Galaxy C8 comes with a primary 13-megapixel sensor with an f/1.7 aperture and a secondary 5-megapixel sensor with an f/1.9 aperture. At front, the handset features a 16-megapixel sensor with an f/1.9 aperture to take selfies.

The Galaxy C8 houses a 3000mAh battery and comes with fingerprint scanner embedded in the Home button at front of the smartphone. The connectivity options offered by the smartphone include 4G connectivity, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3.5mm headphone jack, and micro-USB port. The Galaxy C8 is being offered by the company in Black, Gold, and Pink colours.

 

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Jio Users Will Get Up to 25GB Additional Data on Buying Intex 4G Smartphones

Jio users can receive up to 25GB of additional 4G data on purchase of Intex smartphones as part of a partnership between the two companies. As part of the offer, Reliance Jio consumers can get 5GB data on top per recharge of Rs. 309 or above, valid for maximum of five recharge cycles. This is the latest such partnership Jio has made with smartphone brands operating in the country. The telecom operator – which has 130 million consumers on its network – just had the first anniversary of its operations earlier this week, where Chairman Mukesh Ambani congratulated the employees for creating several records over the past year.

“The world’s largest end-to-end IP network of Jio and Intex’s pan-India mobile distribution network will together be a delight for consumers,” said Nidhi Markanday, Director and Business Head, Mobiles, Intex Technologies, in a statement. The offer is limited to a maximum of five recharges.

Late last month, Chinese manufacturer Oppo also partnered with Reliance Jio – which has the fastest 4G download speeds in the country – to offer data benefits to its smartphone customers. Those customers who purchase an Oppo smartphone and enrol themselves in Jio Prime membership will get additional data benefits.

As per the new offer, buyers of Oppo’s F3, F3 Plus, and F1 Plus smartphone models can get additional data up to 10GB on every recharge of Rs. 309 or above (making it up to 60GB of additional data). On the other hand, those customers who purchase Oppo F1s, A57, A37, and A33 models can get additional data up to 7GB on every recharge (making it up to 42GB of additional data). Notably, customers can avail these additional data benefits for a maximum of six Jio recharges.

The company is also launching its own 4G feature phone – named Jio Phone – that offers high-speed Internet access with recharge packs of Rs. 153 per month. The handset is “essentially free” though consumers need to pay Rs. 1,500 as security deposit; deliveries begin on September 21.

 

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

India Is a Very ‘Dynamic’ Gaming Market: Lenovo APAC President Ken Wong

Chinese technology giant Lenovo has said India is “dynamic” market as a sizeable population has very high-end requirements for gaming products.

“India’s population is so big you do not need many people to get into gaming to become a sizeable market. That is why we also picked India as a focus market in terms of gaming. There is a sizeable population that is really into gaming,” Ken Wong, President Asia Pacific & Senior Vice President at Lenovo Group told PTI in an interview during IFA 2017 event in Berlin.

That is why there was a recent launch of the Legion brand gaming PC in India, he said.

“We are receiving very good feedback on Legion. And I strongly believe that this market will continue to grow in India,” Wong added.

The dedicated gaming PCs Legion Y520 and Y720 were introduced in India in May this year.

The company’s new gaming headsets – augmented reality (AR) powered ‘Star Wars : Jedi Challenges’ and mixed/virtual reality (VR) creator ‘Lenovo Explorer’- pulled in a lot of gaming enthusiasts, specially Star Wars fans to the Lenovo booth at the Europe’s biggest consumer goods and electronics show IFA 2017.

Even as these new gaming devices will not be available in India, Wong sees it is a very dynamic market.

“When we talk about market, India is a very dynamic market. We see very high end and extreme requirements. There are also many main stream requirements, for example, gaming on the phone,” Wong said.

Elaborating on gaming products, Wong said a lot of things are happening in the east post of the Asia Pacific region and governments are also supporting this because of revenue potential.

“I do a lot of interaction with different governments, cities, countries, regions. A common thing that is coming out is that governments are actually putting a lot of resources in supporting the gaming industry. I was born in Hong Kong and live there, the government is putting a lot into gaming.

Singapore is doing the same as it is happening everywhere and I think India is also the same (kind),” he added.

Wong said the reason is not about gaming as such but it is about the economics about the gaming.

“Imagine the technology involved, the coding, which I think is a very strong part of India. Software development, coding is the number one pillar that I can think of as a strength of India. Events like Asian games are very important revenue streams,” he said.

Wong said Lenovo is putting in a lot of thinking into gaming devices and that is why it has upgraded the gaming PCs under Lenovo Legion brand.

“If you look at our endeavour, I think we are putting in $1.2-1.3 billion (roughly Rs. 7,657 – 8,295 crores) on an annual basis (into gaming products),” he said.

Gaming is not like a casual (activity) in Asia Pacific, but given the size of millennial, they not only want premium products but also want to enjoy life through technology.

“The market is actually moving toward more premium, we actually see more growth from the premium side of the market.”

“We have seen some very good results in the past 12 months. We are number one in Malaysia in terms of market share, we have been enjoying at least double digit premium to the market growth in terms of gaming in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore,” Wong said.

 

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Uber Launches Its Largest ‘Greenlight Centre’ in India, in Bengaluru

Ride-sharing company Uber on Friday announced the launch of its “biggest” ‘Greenlight Center’ in India in Bengaluru, aimed to serve as a one-stop solution for driver-partners’ needs.

The 15,000-square feet facility is dedicated to driver-partners in Bengaluru for best-in-class customer service and support, the company said in a release.

It said from new driver sign ups to offering subsidised services for existing driver partners, the centre acts as a one-stop solution for all their needs. The centre was launched in the presence of Dr. B Basavaraju, Karnataka Principal Secretary of Transport.

“Through the Greenlight Centre, we are offering in-person assistance to more than 4,000 driver-partners a week,” Uber South India General Manager Christian Freese said.

“We’re continuing to invest in our in-person locations and have launched three other facilities at the Devanahalli, Yeshwantpur, and HBR,” he said.

The new facility is specially designed to meet the needs of drivers, with features like: space for a team of Uber Experts, who will help new drivers get signed up and address any questions current partners have along the way.

Also, UberBazaar offers driver partners several benefits on new vehicles, vehicle maintenance, health benefits, financial planning, and many more services and dedicated training area for driver partners to learn about the app, among others, the release said.

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Asus ZenFone 4 Series India Launch Set for September 14

Last month, Asus launched several new ZenFone 4 models, including two selfie-focused smartphones – the Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie and Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro smartphones. Now, the company has sent out media invites for an event on September 14 for the launch ‘of its latest smartphone series’. Furthermore, on its social pages, Asus has confirmed that the next ZenFone is coming next week, confirming the India launch for the ZenFone 4 series.

While there’s no clarity on which smartphones from the ZenFone 4 series will launch in India, Asus has so far, made many ZenFone 4 variants official – the ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4 Selfie, and ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro. The selfie-focused smartphones were launched first, followed by the ZenFone 4 and ZenFone 4 Pro soon after. Back in July, the Asus ZenFone 4 Max was also launched.

Asus has also simultaneously launched a #DitchTheSelfieStick campaign in India as well, hinting that probably the two selfie-focused variants may see the light of the day first. In any case, clarity on that will only be achieved at the event on September 14.

In Europe, the Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro has been priced by the company at EUR 399.99 (roughly Rs. 30,050), while the ZenFone 4 Selfie is priced at EUR 299.99 (roughly Rs. 22,550). These prices are not indicative of how much they will cost in the Indian market, as taxes and government regulation play an additional and definitive deciding role in the final pricing.

As the names suggest, both smartphones are focused on selfies and come with dual cameras at front. The Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro bears a front-facing dual camera setup with a 24-megapixel sensor and another 5-megapixel sensor. The ZenFone 4 Selfie on the other hand comes with a 20-megapixel sensor and another 8-megapixel sensor at the front of the handset. At rear end, both new Asus smartphones feature 16-megapixel primary cameras.

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)

Facebook May Open Office in Shanghai to Make Hardware

Although Facebook has been blocked in China for over a decade, the social media giant is on a hunt for an office space in Shanghai that it would use to make hardware.

Citing sources, The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the office could also help Facebook with its broader ambitions in China.

Facebook’s plans are tentative and would depend on approval from the Chinese government.

“We have long said that we are interested in China and are spending time understanding and learning more about the country in different ways,” a Facebook spokeswoman said.

Facebook’s new hardware initiatives would require plugging into China’s electronics supply chain, which helps build some of the world’s most popular gadgets like Apple’s iPhone.

The office would first be used by the employees of Facebook’s hardware effort called Building 8.

In 2015, Facebook obtained a license to open an office in Beijing but the permit lasted only three months and it could not establish a space in that time.

Oculus, the virtual reality company Facebook bought three years ago, already has an office in Shanghai.

At the moment, Facebook uses third parties and its own employees to sell ads in China.

Facebook employees run special security software on devices when they travel in China and do not have access to secretive or critical business information – all due to cyber-security concerns.

China is a large market for Facebook because it has the world’s largest population of online users.

Earlier this year, Facebook released a Chinese version of its Moments photo-managing app through a small local company.

Facebook has been selling advertisements to the Chinese companies hoping to reach the rest of the world. The Chinese ad sales, supported from its office in Hong Kong, are some of the largest in Asia, the report added.

 

 

Source : (gadgets.ndtv.com)