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Friday 28 February 2014
Clash of Clans Cheats Hack for Gems iPhone iPod [February 2014]
More Nokia X Android smartphones on the way despite Microsoft deal
Cellcom
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While most were surprised by Nokia's move to release an Android-based smartphone given the impending acquisition of its mobile phone business by Microsoft, the Finnish mobile giant insists it's business as usual.
Jussi Nevanlinna, Vice President for Mobile Phone marketing for Nokia, answered a series of questions, including one that directly addressed the 'strange' timing of the announcement.
"I can't speak on Microsoft's behalf; what I can say is our strategy with Mobile Phones has been, and remains, connecting the next billion," said Nevanlinna. "Microsoft is equally focussed on 'mobile first; cloud first'."
Nokia believes that the Android-based X platform is one approach to compete in the affordable smartphone market. Nokia not only plans to release more Nokia X smartphones, it is also aiming for lower price points. The company says there's no competition with Lumia phones, since the Nokia X series is targeted at consumers who can't afford Lumia devices.
"Lumia remains our primary smartphone platform and we continue to push the prices down, Nokia X addresses price points that are generally lower than those reached by Lumia, and we'll keep pushing the Nokia X prices down even further, " Nevanlinna added.
With Nokia X family, the company is targeting customers who are now aspiring to get a smartphone. Nokia has given expected launch dates of Nokia X phones in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, but until now there has been been no word on when the phones will reach the more 'developed' markets. Nevanlinnak spilled the beans during the interview, answering with a big 'No'.
"These are global products, which will be available pretty much everywhere except North America, Korea and Japan."
The company's logic here is that it wants to look towards the emerging markets, which are seeing this big shift from feature phones to affordable smartphones. So the markets like India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South America, Brazil, and Mexico, amongst others, are on Nokia's list.
Nokia X, which is based on Google's Android Open Source Project, has a few other 'enhancements' on top that, the company believes, make it perfect for emerging markets. For example, the Nokia In-App Payment, which offers in-app payments through operator billing is ideal for emerging markets where credit card penetration is still very low. Nokia says it has tied-up with a large number of telecom operators around the world, so the infrastructure is already in place.
What do you think of Nokia's decision to not release the Nokia X smartphone in US and other key markets? Do you think the move can backfire on the company? Let us know via the comments.
Thursday 27 February 2014
Windows Phone 8.1 Can Be Added To Existing Android Devices
Cellcom
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UPDATE: As readers have pointed out in the comments below, the announcement of Windows Phone 8.1 adding support for Snapdragon 200, 400 and 400 LTE Android handsets is only for OEMs. I mistakenly assumed that Microsoft would be releasing Windows Phone 8.1 to consumers to flash to their own devices. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Original story below:
Windows Phone, like iOS, is only available on select hardware. While Microsoft has licensed out Windows Phone to third-party OEMs, they have had to stick with restrictive hardware designs. With Windows 8.1, it’s getting a little less restrictive.
At Mobile World Congress, Microsoft announced that Windows 8.1 will support more hardware in the future. That means Android device manufacturers can load Windows Phone 8.1 onto their devices without having to change the hardware. Along with the announcement, Microsoft stated that it has added support for devices sporting Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 200, 400 and 400 LTE chipsets.
Unfortunately, it looks like Microsoft doesn’t want you to have your cake and eat it too. It confirmed that dual-booting won’t be allowed so OEMs won’t be able to offer devices with both Android and Windows Phone. It’s a little unfortunate, but also understandable from Microsoft’s perspective as they hope those who try it out will want to stick with it.
With this news, it’s pretty obvious that Microsoft will be aggressively targeting Android users this year. Not only is it opening the Windows Phone platform to existing Android device manufacturers, but it’s also trying to bring Android users to Windows Phone through its new Nokia X platform.
Nokia X is a new line of smartphones that run a forked version of Android that strips out all things Google and adds Microsoft and Nokia services. It’s basically a version of Android that looks an awful lot like a Windows Phone and it’s intended for emerging markets.
As Microsoft continues to do well with Windows Phone in emerging markets, Nokia X and Windows Phone 8.1 may just help it steal some thunder away from Android. It probably won’t be much, but it’s growth and that’s all that really matters to Microsoft at this point.
Wednesday 26 February 2014
Samsung Galaxy Note Pro review: Android's bid to replace Windows in the office
Cellcom
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When one considers the wealth of inexpensive Android tablets available, the idea of paying $750 for a 12-inch Android tablet seems inconceivable. But if now isn’t the time for consumers to start thinking of large Android tablets as legitimate Windows laptop replacements, that day isn’t far off.
That’s right: a Windows laptop replacement. That’s the only way to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro, a massive tablet that, like the Microsoft Surface, works best on a desk. Samsung’s 12.2-inch Galaxy Note Pro (7.95 mm thick, 1.65 pounds) is virtually identical to the Galaxy Tab Pro, save for the addition of an S-Pen stylus.
This is not a competitor to smaller tablets like the Nexus 7. Indeed, if last year’s Galaxy Note 3 smartphone doubles as a reporter’s notebook, then the new Galaxy Note Pro is something akin to an electronic legal pad. And with a surprisingly complete selection of productivity apps in both Google Play and Samsung’s own app store, this massive Android tablet can help you get real work done.
The Note Pro is available for either $750 for a 32GB model, or $850 for 64GB of onboard storage. So far, Samsung has yet to announce the price for a model with an integrated LTE WLAN chip. According to Samsung, the Wi-Fi version of the Note Pro houses a 1.9GHz quad-core ARM Cortex A15 chip, powering Android 4.4 (KitKat). Our performance tests produced a Sunspider score of 0.97 seconds (which hits the upper echelons of the tablet market), and a PeaceKeeper score of 815. For the sake of comparison, the iPad 3 managed 516 in PeaceKeeper, and the Dell XPS 10 hit 324 (higher scores are better).
The Samsung ‘Surface’
It’s not much of a stretch to consider the Note Pro as Samsung’s response to Microsoft’s Surface 2 Pro, which starts at $899 for 64GB of onboard storage. Both the Note Pro and the Surface Pro 2 ship with foldable keyboard covers; the Note Pro’s can be configured so that it wakes up and unlocks the tablet when flipped back. But while the Note Pro’s cover actually doubles as a stand, it’s not immediately obvious that it does so.
The Note Pro also lacks an integrated keyboard, such as the Surface’s Type and Touch Covers. In fact, to use it as a laptop replacement, you’ll need to buy a Bluetooth keyboard and possibly a mouse. That completely eliminates its use as a “lap top” computer.
Physically, the Note Pro looks like a Note 3, flipped on its edge. The tablet is designed to be held in landscape mode, with the physical home button mounted between the back and applications buttons. Near the top sits the 2-megapixel front-facing camera, with an 8-megapixel camera at the back. (Unfortunately, the cover lacks a rear camera cutout, so when thumbing the camera button, you’ll have to awkwardly hold up the cover.) Volume and power switches sit on the top, while an all-important microSD card slot sits on the side.
An underrated productivity tool
Like the Note 3, the Note Pro uses the new USB 3.0 connector, collecting juice through a high-output charging plug. Charging the Note Pro takes about three to four hours, but battery life is excellent: You’ll see two, possibly even three days or so of casual use from its integrated 9,500 mAh battery, and our looping video test ran down the battery in 8 hours, 37 minutes. That’s on par with the Dell XPS 10 tablet.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use the Note Pro on long flights. The tablet, its stand and a Bluetooth keyboard will take up too much room on a seat-back tray. But you can still use the tablet for mid-flight video playback in your hands. The 12.2-inch display boasts a 2560x1600 resolution and 247 ppi pixel density, and you can even hook up an external monitor care of an optional external HDMI dongle for $39.99.
One of the problems with Samsung’s latest devices, beginning with the Galaxy S4 smartphone, is their overwhelming number of largely extraneous features, such as the “smart pause” feature that supposedly pauses video playback when you look away. You’ll see a number of these still hidden deep within the Note Pro’s settings menus—but thankfully turned off.
The default home screen contains a giant reminder widget for S Note, so that you don’t forget the S Pen. Equally useless New York Times and Twitter widgets can be tossed out. And, fortunately, a collection of news and entertainment apps, such as WatchON and a version of Samsung’s Flipboard-like My Magazine app, are confined on the peripheral screens.
As with the Note phones, pulling out the S Pen triggers several options, including an Action Memo; the ability to save content into a Scrapbook; and my favorite, the Pen Window. The Pen Window lets you run a second app inside a window, providing Android with a desktop-like multitasking environment. You simply draw a box, and when it’s done, select the app you want to fill the space.
Samsung, however, now has a better option: Multi Window mode, which Samsung has made available on only the largest Galaxy Tab and Note tablets. To trigger Multi Window mode, you swipe in from the right-hand side, via a list of supported apps. (YouTube is supported, for example, but Angry Birds is not. And, inexplicably, Chrome is not supported by Pen Window mode, but it is under the Multi Window view.) Dragging one app to the main screen fills it. Dragging a second “snaps” the screen into two halves—and so on, up to a total of four screens. On a smaller tablet, this is a gimmick, but on a larger tablet like the Note Pro, it’s surprisingly useful.
A viable office suite
More impressive are the numerous productivity apps that are either available via the Note Pro itself or via Samsung’s own app store. Apps such as Cisco’s WebEx, a Samsung Remote PC app (an alternative to Microsoft’s own Android app, Microsoft Remote Desktop), and the Hancom Viewer are all included. On Google Play, Hancom’s Hanword, a word processor, cost over $17 at press time, but on the Note Pro, it’s free, as are similar apps to view and edit PowerPoint and Excel documents.
The Hancom apps ship in both “viewer” and editable versions, and the Note Pro tends to open files in the “viewer” version first without an option to choose the editing app, which is annoying. Google’s own Quickoffice is also installed. Aside from some possible font compatibility issues, the Hancom apps seemed to work surprisingly well.
Keep in mind one thing: With the Note Pro, these productivity apps are free. If you purchase a Surface Pro 2, you’ll also need to pay for a subscription to Office 365 or a standalone copy of Office 2013. That pushes the long-term cost up.
Samsung inexplicably omitted the VPN app that it included on the Note 3, meaning that you’ll need to search out an Android version, such as Cisco’s Easy Connect, on the Play Store. In all, though, I found Android versions of virtually every productivity app I wanted from either the Samsung or Google Play, giving me a PC-like experience on an Android tablet.
This is the bottom line. Windows PCs and Macs represent the power-user extremes of the computing experience, owning everything from Adobe Photoshop to the latest first-person shooters. But tablets are for centrist users: Android tablets and iPads dominate casual gaming, and more and more light-productivity apps are being written for those platforms.
The sum of its parts—a large screen, excellent fantastic battery life, multi-app windows, and equivalent PC software—not only make the Note Pro a viable choice for a tablet enthusiast, but a jumping-off point for an adventuresome road warrior to leave the Windows world entirely. If only Samsung could knock another $150 or so off the price.
Tuesday 25 February 2014
Android 4.4 KitKat Update Is Here: Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT-I9505) Receives New OS; Beware Of Changes To MicroSD Card
Cellcom
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The Android 4.4 KitKat update for the Samsung Galaxy S4 continues with the international LTE GT-I9505 model now receiving the new operating system.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset is updating just days after itsinternational 3G counterpart received Android 4.4. As of Monday, the update should be hitting Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 in Germany.
The Galaxy S4 I9505OXAFNB8 build software is also available over-the-air and through Samsung Kies, but does not include a change log at this point. Users can prompt the Android 4.4 update manually by accessing Settings > General > About device > Software update on their Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 handset.
Update features will likely not differ much from what has already been seen; a new phone dialer and Camera features, Hangouts and text integration, always on capability with Google now and a full emoji keyboard are all among the Android 4.4 enhancements.
In addition to the Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 (Exynos) model, the Sprint and U.S. Cellular Galaxy S4 models have also updated to Android 4.4.
Android 4.4 KitKat And The MicroSD Protocol
Reports indicate that the Android 4.4 update for Samsung devices brings with it changes to the Android API, which affect the functionality of micro SD cards. Samsung is currently cooperating with Google to implement these new specifications onto Samsung devices. The protocol will make it so apps cannot write or modify existing files to a microSD card. Since microSD cards are considered secondary storage, apps will not be able to use them for such primary functions. Google has detailed the new protocol in a newly published document.
[For secondary storage, if it exists]The WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission must only grant write access to the primary external storage on a device. Apps must not be allowed to write to secondary external storage devices, except in their package-specific directories as allowed by synthesized permissions. Restricting writes in this way ensures the system can clean up files when applications are uninstalled.
According to Android Police, under this protocol apps are allows to have a folder on a microSD card dedicated to their unhindered functions. “The WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission still grants unrestricted access to public folders on primary storage, but writing anything to secondary storage - outside of the designated folder - is totally off limits to all 3rd-party apps,” the tech website explains. Apps likely to be affected include alternative cameras, image editors, and GPS loggers.
Many believe Google is pushing this new protocol so that consumers will favor Google-based storage options like the cloud, Google Drive and Google + over microSD cards. Notably, manufacturers have worked around Google’s stock protocols in the past, but Samsung has a new stake in abiding by Google’s rules now that the two companies are in a cross-patent deal with one another.
One of the stipulations of said deal is reportedly that Samsung has agreed to stop creating its own brand versions of Samsung apps. Many expect to see the implications of this agreement within the updated user interface of the recently released Samsung Galaxy S5. Keep in mind that the Galaxy S5 runs Android 4.4 natively, therefore includes this microSD protocol natively.
Monday 24 February 2014
Nokia succumbs to Android appeal in low-cost phone battle
Cellcom
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(Reuters) - Nokia, soon to be acquired by Microsoft Corp, is turning to software created by arch-rival Google for a new line of phones it hopes will make it a late contender in the dynamic low-cost smartphone market.
Its first models, Nokia X, X+ and XL, rely upon an open version of the Android mobilesoftware system created by Google that has become the world's most popular software used in smartphones.
The release of the phones just days before Nokia sells its handset business to Microsoft in a $7.2 billion deal, is an attempt to stay relevant in emerging markets, where low-cost Android phones are being snapped up by hundreds of millions of buyers.
Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the market had "shifted dramatically", and the group needed to address a sub-$100 segment that is set to grow four times faster than more expensive phones.
He told a crowded press conference at the Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona that rather than being an 180-degree turn in its strategy of using Microsoft's Windows Phone for smartphones, it was a move that introduces the "next billion" users to Nokia's hardware and Microsoft's services.
"We see the X family being complementary to (Windows Phone) Lumia at lower price points," he said. "Even as you see Lumia push lower and lower, you will see us push lower with Nokia X below that."
But the strategy shift underlines the many missteps made by the Finnish company since Apple launched its ground-breaking iPhone in 2007.
Nokia was caught between a rock and a hard place - committed to using Microsoft's Windows Phone software but needing Android software to reach more cost-sensitive customers, CCS Insight's head of research Ben Wood said.
"That a company soon-to-be owned by Microsoft, the creator of the original operating system, is moving to Android is almost an "admission of failure", he said.
Global smartphone shipments grew 41 percent annually to reach nearly 1 billion units in 2013, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. Android phones from dozens of handset makers accounted for almost four out of every five smartphones sold, or 781.2 million units.
In the past year, Apple shipped 153.4 million smartphones worldwide for a 15 percent share of the market, making it the second largest smartphone platform after Android.
Microsoft was a distant third in market-share terms, shipping 35.7 million units worldwide with its Windows mobile software platform, but still struggling to gain traction in the low-tier and premium-tier smartphone categories, Strategy Analytics said.
WINDOWS SHUT OUT
In February 2011, Elop famously compared Nokia's failing smartphone strategy - based on multiple software platforms of its own making - to a man on a burning platform.
He chose to jump into the arms of Microsoft, producing high-end Lumia-branded smartphones that have been well received by critics, but less popular with customers and app developers, the people who make the software that turns phones into multi-purpose tools.
Elop said on Monday he had not jumped the wrong way.
"There's quite a lot of vendors ... who made the Android decision but couldn't differentiate," he said. "We wanted to build with Microsoft a third ecosystem, and that's what we are doing while others fall by the wayside."
But the Microsoft technology does not work on the chip sets found in cheaper smartphones, the fast-growing market crowding out Nokia's Asha feature phones, which lack the full Internet capabilities of smartphones.
The company rejected Android three years ago, when it tied its fortunes to Microsoft's Windows Phone. But Monday's announcement shows it has quietly been working on an open Android device for months.
Product Marketing Vice President Jussi Nevanlinna told Reuters the number one requirement from customers was access to Android apps.
"Our fans oftentimes tell us 'We love your hardware, we love your products, but we also love our Android apps'," he said. "Can you make something happen so the Android apps magically run here?'"
IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Nokia had a made a "rational move" that allowed it to address a much bigger market, but it should have been made three years ago. "It would have given Nokia a complete different position from where it stands today, under Microsoft's control," he said.
CCS Insight's Wood also said Nokia needed to do something dramatic in low-cost smartphones: "Asha has failed to deliver the volumes they needed to be competitive in the low-cost smartphone space, while Android remains completely rampant."
The Nokia X family uses the open source version of Android, which runs most apps without the right to customize Google's basic software.
For Nokia, it was a question of making this humiliating reversal in its strategy or facing irrelevance in this category of phones, Wood said.
NOKIA SERVICES
The open version of Android software means that the new Nokia phone does not have rely on Google's services and access to the Google Play app store. Instead, Nokia is bundling it with its own music and map offers, and Microsoft's email, cloud, messaging and search services.
Apps will be available in Nokia's own app store, as well as a host of other app stores, Elop said.
The look of the Nokia X devices is starkly different from the usual Android phone, with nods to Lumia and Asha interfaces.
Elop said rather than confusing customers, Nokia X - where X indicates a cross between Nokia hardware, Android apps and Microsoft services - will be a stepping stone to Lumia, and will share the same cloud services.
"Lumia continues to be our primary smartphone strategy," Elop said. "Lumia is where we will continue to introduce the greatest innovation.
Wood said Nokia and Microsoft had an advantage over other users of open Android, such as some Chinese manufacturers, in that they had a ready-made set of services that they could slot into the phone.
"It means Nokia is able to participate in that entry-level space, but our view is they will try to push Windows Phone down into that space as quickly as possible," he said.
Nonetheless, devices running an open Android operating system will not sit easily within Microsoft, whose fortune is founded on the core belief that software should be paid for.
The Nokia X, which has a four-inch screen, will be available immediately, Nokia said. The X+, with more memory and storage, and XR, which has a five-inch display, will be on sale early next quarter priced at 99 euros and 109 euros, respectively.
They will be on sale in all markets apart from Japan and Korea, where Nokia is not present, and North America.
Saturday 22 February 2014
WhatsApp now lets Android users hide their 'last seen at' timestamp. Here's how
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New Delhi: Popular mobile messaging application WhatsApp, that is now being acquired by Facebook, has included a much-requested feature - the ability to hide the 'last seen at' timestamp.
This feature was so longer available only on WhatsApp for iPhone and was a much desired by many on other platforms who do not want to display to other users information about when they last used the app.
Users can now choose if they want to display their last seen status to everyone, only to their contacts or to nobody.
The new update also includes the ability to limit visibility of profile photos and status.
The update that includes these features isn't, at the time of posting this, available on Google Play but WhatsApp is expected roll this out soon.
If you wish to get the new privacy features on WhatsApp, go to the WhatsApp official website and download the Android app from there. You might have to change your Android security setting before able to install this.
Once you have installed the app, open WhatsApp, tap on settings from the menu, then go to Account and there you will find a new option 'Privacy' added atop other existing options. The new features can be used from within the privacy settings.
This also means that if you have chosen to hide your 'last seen at' timestamp, you will also be unable see others'.
Friday 21 February 2014
Xiaomi's new smartphone Redmi: 10 things to love
Cellcom
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Update: The Redmi has sold out on its website (http://www.xiaomi.com/sg/). Hardware Zone reported that the Android smartphone was sold out within 8 minutes.
China smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has been selling smartphones since 2011, but it first gained worldwide attention when it sold 100,000 of its HongMi Android-powered phones online in 90 seconds in August last year. Two months later, it sold the first batch of 100,000 of its Android Mi-3 phones in China in under 86 seconds. Since then, the HongMi, which has been launched in Taiwan and Hong Kong, has been clocking incredible sales records. The phone will finally go on sale in Singapore on Friday.
At $169 (click here for price plans), Xiaomi is making the HongMi, which has been rebranded as the Redmi here, a very attractive device to get. What sets it apart is that the Redmi contains the hardware of what other smartphone makers consider to be mid- to high-end specifications, like using a quad-core processor and an 8MP camera. It also boasts dual-SIM features, which are not found in most smartphones in the market.
Hidden away under the plastic shell are also several unique features that make the Redmi stand out among the sea of Android devices that have flooded the market.
Here are 10 reasons we love the Redmi.
10. It is priced at $169
Running on a quad-core, 1.5 GHz processor with a 4.7-inch IPS display and 8MP rear camera, the Redmi is under-powered compared to devices like the 2.26 GHz quad-core LG G2. Then there is its use of the lesser-known MediaTek processor versus the more well-known and popular Qualcomm chip used by its competitors. But the LG G2 has a $898 price tag, while the Redmi is more than five times cheaper.
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