Monday, 30 June 2014
Xiaomi Expected to Launch First Smartphones Exclusively on Flipkart
Following the footsteps of Motorola, Chinese handset maker Xiaomi is also teaming up with e-commerce major Flipkart to launch its handsets in India.
Touted as the 'Apple' of China, Xiaomi had launched its official website in India earlier this month, announcing its entry into the fiercely competitive Indian smartphone market in the next few weeks.
According to sources, Xiaomi is expected to bring two smartphones in partnership with Flipkart in the next 2 to 3 months. They added the agreement between the parties is in the final stages and the launch on the online market place will happen next month.
While Flipkart declined to comment, a response could not be ascertained from Xiaomi. Many handset makers like Motorola and Alcatel are partnering with e-commerce firms to launch their devices exclusively.
While Motorola has launched its Moto G, Moto X and Moto E with Flipkart, Celkon had launched its Android KitKat-powered Campus A35K exclusively with Snapdeal.
Founded in 2010 by entrepreneur Lei Jun, the Beijing-headquartered firm has become one of China's biggest electronics companies that designs, develops and sells smartphones, mobile apps and other such consumer items.
Other Chinese firms selling its handsets in India include Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Gionee and Oppo, the latest entrant.
According to the company's website, it has already sold over 17 million handsets in China. Its portfolio includes devices like Mi 3, Redmi (Singapore dollar 169), Mi Wi-Fi and Mi Box, among others. It launched its products in Singapore in February this year.
Saturday, 28 June 2014
Microsoft Needs To Get Aggressive With Windows Phone Right Now
For the past few weeks, I have been experimenting with the Windows Phone 8.1 beta on a Nokia Nokia Lumia 1520. For those that are unfamiliar with it, the Lumia 1520 is Nokia’s current flagship “phablet” that’s packing a massive 6” FullHD, ClearBlack IPS LCD, a 20MP PureView camera, and a 2.2GHz quad-coreQualcomm QCOM +0.27% Snapdragon 800 SoC. Unlike previous-gen Windows Phones, which have generally lagged behind competing Android-based devices in terms of their hardware specifications, the Nokia Lumia 1520 can hang with the best of them. The Lumia 1520 is fast, offers great battery life, the screen and camera are excellent, and the device is generally a pleasure to use, once you get used to the Windows Phone interface, of course.
With the Windows Phone 8.1 beta installed on the Lumia 1520, however, it becomes a different—and much better—device. A number of the shortcomings of the stock Windows Phone 8 installation are addressed, which makes the phone more user-friendly. Some new features make it easier to personalize the device as well. There’s a new action center, which finally brings a proper notification shade to Windows Phone. There is also an updated keyboard, the Cortana digital assistant (similar to Siri), and new storage and data related “Sense” apps that make it easy to track things like data usage, free storage space, and Wi-Fi networks. I’m not sure if this is a feature exclusive to the Lumia 1520, but the ambient light sensor on the phone now does a much better job of detecting when the phone is being used outdoors, in direct sunlight. The contrast, color saturation, and brightness are altered on the fly when the phone is in direct sunlight, which makes the device’s screen infinitely more readable outdoors.
The point of all of these changes is to not only bring more features to the Windows Phone platform, and add some things that are already familiar to users of competing platforms like Android and iOS, e.g. the notification shade, a digital assistant, background images, the workflow keyboard, etc. In my opinion,Microsoft MSFT +1.23% is on the right track. Windows Phone 8.1 is significantly more user friendly and the platform is so fast and fluid I can’t go back to Android for my personal device. I still keep a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 around essentially for gaming, but the Nokia Lumia 1520 is now my daily driver. There are so many things I like better about Windows Phone at this point, it’s going to take an amazing device to get me to switch back to Android.
I had tried to make the switch a few times in the past, but couldn’t bring myself to do it permanently, because I felt using the Windows Phone platform meant making too many sacrifices versus Android or iOS. I no longer feel that is that case, with my particular use model. This won’t be true for everyone, but as someone who uses his smartphone mostly for e-mail, web browsing, managing a few servers and desktop PCs, and using social networks, Windows Phone 8.1 is great. There are still far fewer apps available for the platform versus Android and iOS, but at this point, the only things I really miss are a few games, hence the reason I also keep a Note 3 on hand.
If Windows Phone was able to win me over, it should be able to convert a large number of consumers as well. And it seems to me as if now—RIGHT NOW—is a perfect time for Microsoft to get far more aggressive with their Windows Phone push. I’m sure some of you will disagree, but I get the sense that many Android loyalists aren’t quite as enthusiastic about the platform and its flagship devices as they once were. The Samsung Galaxy S 5 and HTC HTC One M8, for example, didn’t seem to generate nearly as much excitement as previous-gen flagship devices did. Apple AAPL +1.18% is also a few months off from releasing the iPhone 6 (assuming that’s the device’s name) and the perception of the iPhone 5s has gone from cutting-end, to old hat. The buzz around Amazon’s just announced Fire Phone also seems to prove the smartphone market is itching for something different. All of these things point to an opportunity for Microsoft and it’s (select few) Windows Phone partners.
Microsoft has a golden opportunity that could generate significant momentum for Windows Phone as we move into Q4 and the holiday buying season. The company needs to get Windows Phone 8.1 onto as many current-gen devices as it can and significantly amp up its marketing efforts. Microsoft needs to get an array of Windows Phone-based devices onto every major carrier as well. And it also needs to do a better job of educating sales people on the benefits and features of Windows Phone. Building off of the Xbox One’s momentum could help lure in younger consumers, who may find Windows Phone’s Xbox integration and Smartglass features attractive. Associating Windows Phone with the recently released Surface Pro 3 and showing off the synergies possible with Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone would be advisable as well.
There is no magic bullet that’s going to propel Windows Phone into the stratosphere, but the market conditions are right for Microsoft to make and aggressive push to gain some more traction. The time to act is now.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Android To Abandon Headphone Jack? New Audio Output In Android 5.0
Earlier this month Apple sent shockwaves through the tech sector when it released a new specification allowing it to make Lightning headphones and skip the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack entirely. Well now Google can do the same.
USB Audio Headphones
Google brushed over the feature during its I/O 2014 keynote yesterday, but in a slide from its presentation (pictured below) it quietly announced Android L would bring support for ‘USB audio’. And just like Apple’s proposed use of the Lightning connector, audio over USB has potential upsides.
Most notable is the potential to increase performance. How this would work is USB (and Lightning) headphones would be able to bypass a handset’s (typically poor) digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) and allow higher quality powered DACs to be integrated directly into headphones.
Up until now DACs have previously been of interest primarily to audiophiles, but with significant power able to be sent over these standards the moves from Apple and Google could change that. Similarly the Lightning and USB ports could be used to power headphones with noise cancellation allowing for slimmer, lighter form factors.
There is also the potential for app integration effectively creating ‘smart headphones’. The fruits of this will be down to developers’ imagination, but examples could include triggering specific apps when headphones are connected and tying that app launch to different locations.
There are also health implications with headphones potentially able to fit sensors and monitor heart rate, perspiration and even electrical signals from the brain. Then again this functionality could be duplicated with existing wireless technology.
Money Driven?
By contrast, cynics would argue the move by both Apple and Google is motivated by the desire to trigger significant growth in the headphone sector. Apple has a clearer motivation for this with its purchase of Beats, but Google may be tempted to enter the sector itself.
Conversely while Apple could rake in millions from Lightning port licensing fees, Google’s use of microUSB (and soon the reversible micro USB 3.1 standard – below) would likely preclude that and is therefore more likely to be motivated by a desire to drive another area of ‘smart’ technology.
So is Google just copying Apple? Actually no. From a product roadmap perspective it would be virtually impossible for Google to react so quickly to Apple’s specification submission earlier this month. Furthermore the Nexus 5already supports USB audio.
Practicalities
But how practical is this? A common question when Apple’s Lightning headphone specification was announced was: how you do simultaneously listen to headphones and charge your device? Neither company has spoken up on the topic, but the key may lie in the past.
When headphone jacks on phones were still largely proprietary Sony addressed this by allowing headphones to plug into the back of the connector on its chargers. An elegant variant of this would seem likely.
Of course what is unavoidable is fragmentation. Many users have a combination of iOS, Mac, Android and Windows devices and needing to have different headphones for each (especially if Microsoft joins the fray) will be infuriating and, potentially, expensive. It is also likely to lock users tighter into specific ecosystems as a consequence.
In my opinion it also feels totally unnecessary. The future for headphones and earphones is being wire-free and there are a number of open, smart wireless standards where it would make more sense to focus time and resources. Fragmenting the wired standard when it is only likely to last another 5-10 years in any case seems needlessly disruptive.
Don’t Panic
But if all this has you hot under the collar don’t panic. For those tied to their headphones I wouldn’t expect either company to ditch the trusty headphone jack from its devices any time soon.
For Google in particular it has to rely on handset manufacturers having the confidence to make the jump. And even then I would only envisage the headphone jack being dropped should customers have shown enough willing to switch and Lightning/USB headphone sales had gained enough traction.
Despite these caveats it is clear both companies are now actively looking for alternatives to the oldest universal technology standard still in use and given most users have no complaints with the 3.5mm jack they will face a battle to succeed.
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Next Android version to have better performance, revamped UI
NEW DELHI: Google has given a preview of Android L release, the next version of Android. The next build of Android brings 5,000 APIs for developers and allows them to make use of all new features that the platform brings starting today.
With Android L, Google has focussed on both design and performance.
On the performance side, Android will now support 64-bit processors and will now have better runtime, graphics and battery life.
Google has replaced Dalvik runtime of previous versions with ART (Android RunTime) on Android L release. ART was only optional in Kitkat, but has become mandatory with the new version. According to Google, ART shows a huge performance boost over Dalvik; therefore, all apps should run much faster on Android L version than earlier OS. It has been designed to support AOT (Ahead-of-Time), JIT (Just-In-Time) and interpreted compilers.
As ART is compatible with 64-bit processor, Android L release will offer increased memory space, cross-platform support and newer instruction sets. Additionally, it requires no modifications to Java.
Google will debut a new Android extension pack with this update, which includes features like geometry and computer shaders with Android L release, tessellation and ASTC texture compression. These will allow designers to create richer graphics for the platform.
Android L also comes with a new battery-saver mode, Google announced at its I/O 2014 conference. In order to ensure longer battery life on Android, Google has tried to optimize every subsystem in the software as part of Project Volta. This will help Android phones and tablets to run 90 minutes more by switching off services that are not crucial.
On the design side, the next version of Android will see a number of changes, revamping the user interface to a large extent, much like how Apple did with iOS 7 last year.
Matias Duarte, vice-president of design at Google, introduced a new design language called Material Design. This language emphasizes on a flatter UI look, rounder elements, softer edges and shadows. Transition effects in various apps will be smoother in the Android L version.
Material Design will give new animation capabilities, 3D views with real-time shadows etc to app interface designers. Nested scrolling, a new feature, will allow designers to ensure that certain parts of the UI can be scrolled differently.
Notifications have also been revamped with Android L, showing Google Now-like cards on the screen. Users can also access all notifications right from the lock screen as well.
Enhanced Notifications, another new feature, enables users to control notifications on the lock screen and also prioritize them when using the smartphone.
Google also said that it will ensure better security on Android platform, allowing users to remotely reset their devices in case they are stolen.
In line with rumours, Google announced that Android will dive into the enterprise sector with the next release. Focussing on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) culture in companies, the internet search titan said that it will release new APIs that will enable users to manage their personal and official data on the same device without any hassle. Android L's key security features are based on Samsung' Knox, which is now part of Google's operating system.
Google has, however, not yet revealed what the name of next Android update will be or when it will be released. Android versions are named after desserts, and several students from India have appealed to Android chief Sundar Pichai to name the next iteration as 'Ladoo' or 'Lassi'.
At the last two I/O conferences, Google had unveiled hardware products, namely Nexus 7 tablets and Google Glass, but there was no device this year.
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Second-generation Nokia Android phones show Microsoft's new priorities
Some didn't believe it would happen. Others didn't want to. But on June 24, Microsoft took the wraps off the second generation, Android-powered Nokia X2 phones.
The move shouldn't have been such a surprise, yet to many, it was.
Top Microsoft execs, including Devices business chief (and former Nokia CEO) Stephen Elop and operating system group head Terry Myerson both indicated earlier this year thatMicrosoft was planning to put its muscle behind the Nokia X phones. The official line has been that these phones provide Microsoft with a gateway for potentially getting new users interested in Windows Phone.
One key -- if not the key -- to these Nokia Android phones is the set of Microsoft services that are preloaded and/or available for the devices.
The core is the consumer services trinity: OneDrive, Outlook.com and Skype. These are the consumer cloud services that Microsoft is hoping it can parlay into business service demand somewhere down the line.
It's also interesting that Microsoft's OneNote note-taking app is available for the Nokia X2s, too.OneNote is one of the core investments for the company -- right alongside Outlook.com/Exchange, OneDrive/SharePoint and Skype/Lync.
Microsoft is making Windows available for zero dollars (a k a free) on phones and tablets with screen sizes of under nine inches. That means the company is counting less and less on the Windows operating system as a revenue source. Instead, services and applications are where Microsoft management are looking to earn money -- through ads, subscriptions, premium upgrades, etc. -- in the future.
Seen through that lens, the Nokia Android phones are vehicles for Microsoft's future revenue sources -- just as Windows Phones are -- now that the Windows Phone OS is free. That's why I bet there could be a generation three, four and more of Android-based phones in the pipeline from Microsoft.
For a company that's emphasizing "cloud first, mobile first," the claim that "More people are now connected to the Microsoft cloud through Nokia X" fits right in.
While on the topic of the Nokia X phones, I noticed a couple of surprising (at least to me) things about the second-generation phones unveiled today:
1. The default browser is Opera. While IE isn't available on Android, Microsoft's choice of Opera is not what I'd have predicted, given past wranglings between the two companies.
2. Those who bought the first-generation Nokia X, X+ and XL devices won't be getting the updated version of the "X platform," which includes a new homescreen pane and other performance and UI updates. Microsoft is attributing this to incompatible hardware. Officials say more updates will still come to the first-generation Nokia X phones to improve users' experience, however.
Tuesday, 24 June 2014
No-contract Windows Phone 8.1 Nokia Lumia 635 for AT&T and T-Mobile available for pre-order from Microsoft
Microsoft has begun taking pre-orders for the AT&T and T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 635. The budget smartphone is one of the first Windows Phone smartphones to ship with Windows Phone 8.1.
Nokia's entry-level Lumia 520/521 has been the most successful Windows Phone smartphone. The budget handset is offered pre-paid from carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T in the U.S. The handset can be purchased for well below $100 and offers users a Windows Phone smartphone that offers some impressive specs and features at a very affordable price and no contract.
The smartphone can also be upgraded to the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 OS; we created a guide in case you're looking to try out Windows Phone 8.1 on your current Windows Phone 8 smartphone.
If you were interested in what is sure to be another big hit for Nokia, the Microsoft Store is now taking pre-orders for the T-Mobile and AT&T Nokia Lumia 635. Microsoft hasn't revealed just when those pre-orders will ship, but considering Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to be released in the coming weeks, an official launch can't be far off.
The Nokia Lumia 635 features a 4.5-inch 480 x 854 Gorilla Glass 3 ClearBlack display with a pixel density of 218 pixels per inch (ppi). It's powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, Adreno 305 GPU (graphics processing unit), and 512 MB of RAM. It has 8 GB of internal storage.
The Nokia Lumia 635's camera capabilities include a 5-megapixel rear camera that can record 720p HD video. Its removable 1830 mAh battery will provide up to 14 hours of talk time and up to 648 hours of standby time. The dimensions of the 635 are 129.5 x 66.7 x 9.2 mm, 78.5 cc (5.10 x 2.63 x 0.36 in) and it weighs 134 g (4.73 oz).
The Nokia Lumia 635 also benefits from having a 4G LTE radio, which will allow users to access AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G networks.
Monday, 23 June 2014
Gingrich: Keep bureaucrats' hands off our smartphones
Editor's note: Newt Gingrich is a co-host of CNN's "Crossfire,"which airs at 6:30 p.m. ET weekdays, and author of a new book,"Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America's Fate." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- Does a week go by without news of federal bureaucrats outrageously extending their tentacles of authority over more of society?
Earlier this month it was the Environmental Protection Agency, announcing its plan to introduce on its own the carbon dioxide limits that Congress specifically rejected. Then it was the Food and Drug Administration, insinuating itself into the centuries-old process of aging cheese. Last week it was the IRS trying to shed at last the inconvenience of congressional oversight.
Now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is claiming sweeping authority over our smartphones, asserting the right to approve any software that might be used in a car.
This would likely make the smartphone the first object ever to be regulated both as a medical device and as a piece of motor vehicle equipment. Yet surprising as it may seem to consumers, the matter is clear to NHTSA regulators, who "maintain that they already have the authority over navigation aids and merely want it clearly written into law," according to The New York Times.
NHTSA, the Times reports, believes that apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze pose threats to highway safety that entitle the agency to demand changes to their user interfaces -- matters which are far outside the auto regulator's zone of expertise.
Under the same principle, of course, NHTSA's control could soon creep beyond the navigation apps. Any software that might theoretically be used while driving could fall under the agency's regulatory powers: music applications, news alerts and e-mail notifications, even the phone function itself could be construed as threats to highway safety. What's next? Atlases? AAA maps? Printed directions? Coffee cups from the McDonald's drive-through?
NHTSA has already pushed car manufacturers to adopt "voluntary" regulatory standards for their in-car navigation systems, but technology companies have not been so willing to hand federal regulators the keys to one of their core products.
If they're smart, companies like Google and Apple will fight to keep it that way. For my book "Breakout," I interviewed Robert Norton, a former assistant general counsel for Chrysler who spent much of his career negotiating with NHTSA, including stints at each of the American Big Three auto companies.
"There's so much soft power that NHTSA has over the industry," Norton told me, "because you're always needing extensions and exemptions and 'CanNorton's experience explains why the automakers' support for the proposed rules doesn't mean much. (And besides, free navigation apps on smartphones pose a threat to the expensive systems they sell as upgrades in their cars.) Subjecting every Google Maps update and fast-food app to this kind of prison-guard behavior would be an enormous blow to a thriving area of innovation.
I have 60 more days to give you this report?' And generally you are expecting to get the 'Mother-may-I' permission on that."
When manufacturers ignore NHTSA's advice or skirt its "voluntary" guidelines, however, they're likely to find it a lot more difficult to do business. "If they get really irritated at you," Norton said, "they say, 'No, actually you can't. We want this now, and we're not going to look at this, and we're not going to consider that.' So you really are encouraged to play ball because you're counting on them for your existence."
The pace of innovation in smartphones is so fast, in fact, that it is solving many of the safety concerns NHTSA raises before the agency even gets around to regulating the technology -- and there is no chance the bureaucrats will ever keep up. Their "voluntary" guidelines require each interaction with the software to take two seconds or less. But on the latest Android phones, users can simply say, without taking their hands off the wheel, "OK Google, navigate to McDonald's on 108th Street in Omaha, Nebraska." This takes longer than two seconds but is far safer than anything NHTSA's rules imagine.
Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, who has led the way in defeating the FDA's attempt to regulate health-related apps, was quick to respond to NHTSA's similar encroachment with an amendment last week to prohibit the agency from "regulating, adopting guidelines with respect to, or prescribing the design of" mobile software. Such explicit denials of authority may be the only way to deal with a federal bureaucracy that thinks it should have a say about everything.
Contact your members of Congress today and tell them to keep bureaucrats' hands off our smartphones.
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Next-gen smartphones could have sensors built into display glass
Gorilla Glass could be getting a lot more useful. Corning International, which makes the material commonly used in mobile device screens, has teamed up with researchers at Polytechnique Montreal to create a new type of glass that incorporates transparent sensors. Soon, the glass in your smartphone screen could be used to take your temperature, among many other possibilities.
The team used lasers to carve photonic waveguides into regular Gorilla Glass, at varying levels within the thickness of the glass. Each one of these acts as a tunnel, which photons can travel through in the same way that electrical currents flow through copper wires.
The researchers have already used the technology to create a temperature sensor, which consists of a curved and a straight waveguide. As the temperature of the glass increases, the glass expands and the length of the two waveguides changes. That change in length in turn affects the way in which light coming out of one waveguide interferes with light coming out of the other. By analyzing that interference, it's possible to accurately gauge the temperature of anything touching the glass.
Additionally, a system has been developed that could be used to verify the user identity of a smartphone – which would come in handy if the phone were being used to conduct a financial transaction, for instance.
In this case, waveguides have holes drilled in them at various locations, those locations being unique to each phone. When someone wanted to authenticate the phone, they could shine infrared light on its screen, and use an infrared detector to analyze the pattern of light escaping from the holes. That pattern would have to match one that was already on file for that phone.
The laser-writing setup used in the research (Photo: Jerome Lapointe)
This certainly isn't the first time that researchers have experimented with photonic waveguides, although it is the first time that they have been created in Gorilla Glass. Additionally, the laser method used this time around is reportedly much cheaper and simpler than the photolithography process that has previously been used, plus it allows the waveguides to be made at various depths throughout the glass instead of just at the surface. This means that multiple sensors could even be stacked one on top of the other, in the same part of the screen.
Along with mobile devices, the technology could also find its way into things like biomedical devices, or even windows or tabletops that would have touchscreen functionality.
Friday, 20 June 2014
Google will implement new ‘kill switch’ feature in next version of Android
Say what you want about the iPhone, one of the phone’s single greatest features is the ability to prevent the device from being factory reset and used by another party as their own (without permission, of course). But in a statement issued today by Google, the search giant will finally be implementing a similar feature for the next major Android release.
But Google isn’t the only one. Microsoft will also be joining Google in offering this “factory reset protection solution.” It’s unclear whether the new security feature will join existing ones found in the Android Device Manager, but we’re sure to learn more during Google I/O kicking off in a few more days.
This is all in an effort to curb smartphone thefts and couldn’t have come at a better time. A recent reports showed a 19% drop off in iPhone thefts from 2013 to 2014 thanks to Apple’s kill switch feature on their devices. Don’t forget, a new bill introduced in February is looking to require all phones sold in the US to include kill switch functionality. Senators believe that this is the only way to truly prevent smartphone thefts, making it common knowledge that would-be smartphone thieves are getting little more than a shiny new brick.
While we weren’t expecting to see “the next version of Android” debut until later this year (for Android Silver or another Nexus device), Android 4.4.4 made a surprise appearance today on Nexus/Google Play edition devices. It’s possible the kill switch could arrive in yet another version of KitKat, or in the next major Android release (Android 5.0 Lollipop or whatever you wanna call it). We’ll have to wait until we hear more from Google.
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Fire OS vs. Android: Can Amazon’s new Fire Phone justify its ostentatious price tag?
Everyone has been wondering what Amazon would do when it finally got into the smartphone game, and now we can stop wondering — it’s the Fire Phone. Unimaginitive name aside, this is Amazon’s attempt to expand its custom Android build (called Fire OS) from tablets to phones, which keeps Amazon’s content and shopping experience in your pocket all day. The smartphone’s specs are high-end, but it’s the experience that matters most. The $200 on-contract price tag is a premium price point for a smartphone – does Amazon’s first foray into Android phones justify that price?
If you’ve never spent time with a Kindle Fire tablet, you might not even realize that Fire OS is a version of Android. There are still hints of the little green robot peeking through Amazon’s tough gunmetal gray Fire OS theme. However, one aspect of Android you won’t find on the Fire Phone is the part everyone associates with Android — there are no Google apps or services. Amazon is forking Android for each of its devices, usually grabbing one of the newer versions of Google’s software from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) when the time comes to develop. The open source build of Android comes with none of Google’s framework built-in because those parts are proprietary. That’s fine, and maybe even preferable for Amazon’s purposes.
When you buy a Fire Phone, you get Amazon’s services in place of Google’s. That means no Chrome, Play Store, Google Play Music, Google Drive, or Gmail. Instead you get Silk Browser, Amazon Appstore, Cloud Player, Cloud Drive, and Amazon’s generic email client. Depending on how deeply embedded you are in Google’s ecosystem, that might not be the end of the world.
Since Amazon is using Android as the base of its platform, the apps in the Appstore are just Android apps with a few small tweaks for Amazon’s distribution system and DRM. However, just because developers can put their apps on Amazon doesn’t mean they will. That might be the biggest issue with the Fire Phone as a premium device — the Amazon Appstore can’t hold a candle to Google Play. The Appstore only has fifteen of the top twenty free Android apps and games, and just nine of twenty top paid apps and games.
Amazon is doing much better when it comes to other types of content. Fire OS has built-in support for Amazon’s video library, which you still can’t get on regular Android devices. There is also a vast selection of music with cloud storage. However, Google now has an excellent subscription music service in Play Music. If you want to read on a smartphone, which isn’t really ideal, the Kindle ecosystem built into the Fire Phone is far superior to Google Play Books.
Amazon spent a large part of its event talking about how its massive selection of products would tie into the Fire Phone via Amazon Firefly. This is a software feature that uses the camera to instantly ID products and link you to them on Amazon. It can also figure out music and video content for you. It’s undeniably neat, but you have to wonder how much use it will get. Similar apps and services already exist for Android, though in a more limited fashion. Will Firefly be a killer feature or just a gimmick? Time will tell.
There is no analog in Google’s Android for Amazon’s head-tracking “Dynamic Perspective” tech. The company is promising a more immersive shopping and gaming experience that lets you change the view perspective simply by moving your head. If it works, that’s a good thing. If not, you might wish Amazon had skipped the quartet of IR-sensitive cameras and kept the price lower. Mayday is also unique, and the ultimate mom-friendly feature. Tap this one button and you get instant live support for your Fire Phone.
Amazon is trying to get away from selling devices so cheaply that it eats all the profit, as it does with the Fire tablets. The Fire Phone is being sold in a very traditional way on AT&T with a two-year contract (it’s $650-750 without one). The retailer is probably making money on every device instead of just hoping it hooks more consumers of its content with a cheap device. The free year of Amazon Prime does sweeten the deal, but more capable devices like the Galaxy S5 and LG G3 are selling for the same up-front price. Amazon might be paddling upstream here.
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Android 4.4.2 KitKat Update Released for Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE Black Edition
The Black Edition of Galaxy S4 Mini LTE I9195 has been officially released today.
Check your device’s notification panel today to be the one of the first users that will install the latest KitKat 4.4.2 firmware build on their Black edition Galaxy S4 Mini LTE. If an update is available then you should simply tap the notification, read the changelog info and then confirm download and installation.
Note that the new Android 4.4.2 KitKat XXUCNE6 firmware OTA Update is rolled out in phases only for the Galaxy S4 Mini LTE Black Edition model. This device has been launched only in selected locations which might mean that all the regions should get it in under a week. The first country to get it is Belgium on Proximus. If your based in Belgium and you’re on Proximus then the update should be ready for installation today.
With Android 4.4.2 KitKat you will get better multitasking support, a smoother interface, white status icons, improved battery life, new icons for various apps, new Google-based apps, improved S features and functions and tons of other tweaks that should improve the overall performance of your device.
This new update has the build number set to XXUCNE6 Android 4.4.2 KitKat and it’s date Friday 23rd of May. It should be launched in phases for all Galaxy S4 mini LTE. If you want to manually update your phone with this new release, then you should simply download the firmware from SamMobile here and use Odin 3.09 to push it to your stock device.
If the Galaxy S4 mini LTE Black Edition with model number set to GT – I9195 doesn’t show the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update notification alert, then you can go to Settings> About Phone> Software Updates. Use the ‘check for updates’ button to see if there is any new firmware available for download.
If there is a new update available for installation then you should simply confirm the process and then the Galaxy S4 mini LTE Black Edition will automatically flash all the new files. Note that Samsung will only push updates for devices running stock Android firmware, so if you have a custom ROM then you will not get any KitKat 4.4.2 Update alert.
After you update your device tell us in comments which are your favorite new features.
If you want to manually install the release update, then you can follow our own ‘Galaxy
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