Microsoft has launched a survey website that lets users share their opinions on politics, sports and culture. Called Microsoft Prediction Lab, the site additionally serves as a forerunner to a future version of Cortana, the Windows digital assistant, that could poll users via their cellphones.
Polling analysts are keeping an eye on Microsoft's plan to put a pollster in each Windows phone as the industry transitions away from conventional methods like landline phones. Response rates for questions polled through landline phones has fallen from 36 percent in 1997 to 9 percent in 2012.
"The field is in a state of flux--everyone in the profession recognizes that there are a lot of challenges to our traditional methods," said Scott Keeter, director of survey researchof the Pew Research Center, as quoted by theTimes. "I think this kind of experimentation is overdue."
Microsoft has been collecting data to predict the outcomes of sports matches including the World Cup and NFL games; eventually, the company wants to poll people on presidential elections and hot-button political issues such as how the U.S. should confront the Islamic state.
Besides predicting outcomes, Microsoft wants to document how opinions change over time by encouraging users to vote over and over.
"The polls track the sentiment of the people who are answering the poll at the time," Microsoft researcher David Rothschild said in a statement. "My forecast predicts what will happen on Election Day. Clearly, the sentiment of the people at the time of the polls is a critical component on any forecast of Election Day, but not the only one.
"Not only did we match the accuracy of major polling companies," Rothschild said while waiting for the results of the Scotland's recent vote for independence, "but we also provided a lot of insight that they weren't able to get, through the fact that we had people coming back again and again."
Over the past five years, WhatsApp has seen a massive rise in popularity, as the application received large scale success in a very short time, and today is literally a part of almost every handset ever.
WhatsApp has over six hundred million monthly active users, as per the August updates.
The phone has eradicated most of the IM services and now targets at the SMS and email, and has almost succeeded at demolishing their existence as well.
What lies in future for whatsapp is to look at the target segment of people who use apps for calling, or are looking for free calls. Along with that they are releasing various new features too.
New features that have recently come out include the fact that you can now mute a group conversation for a year, and you can also deactivate notifications coming from the group messages, so basically even silent notifications can be eliminated now.
Improved location sharing and chat archiving have also been introduced for the iOS. Whatsapp has now been working on the feature that most users are demanding since some time now.
The feature is the much wanted “Voice Calling”. It would be just an extension of the voice notes for them but could come as a boon to many people.
Another recent update is that they brought in the option to hide your last seen, where users will only see you when you are online or typing to them.
You can also save other users profile photos or group icons. Also, in a new feature you can now pay for other users whatsapp subscription.
The LTE version of Galaxy S4 Mini has received a new stockfirmware update based on Android 4.4.2 with build number I9195XXUCNH5, which is expected to add bug fixes, performance enhancements and deliver smooth experience.
Firmware details
Model: GT-I9195
Model name: Galaxy S4 Mini LTE
Country: Germany
Version: Android 4.4.2 KitKat
Changelist: 2659908
Build date: 30 August
Product code: DBT
PDA: I9195XXUCNH5
CSC: I9195OXACNH5
MODEM: I9195XXUCNH5
The new stock build is live for users in Germany via Samsung Kies and OTA. As always, the update will take time to reach all the regions. Those who cannot wait for the official roll-out, may directly head over to the installation guide to manually flash the I9195XXUCNH5 build using Odin.
IBTimes UK reminds its readers that it will not be held liable for any damage to the device. users are also advised to verify their devices meet following requirements.
Pre-requisites
Install USB Drivers for Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini to connect the Android device with the computer.
Enable USB Debugging Mode on phone to connect it with the computer and use Android SDK with it. [Navigate to Settings>> About phone. Tap on Build Number several times until a message appears saying 'You are now a Developer.' Now go to Settings>> Developer Options to enable USB Debugging Mode.]
As the tutorial is likely to wipe out all data of the phone, create a backup. If the device is having any custom recoveries such as CWM/TWRP then backup data using the same.
If the Android phone powers off due to lack of battery while the installation process, it could damage the device. Therefore, the S4 Mini should have charge above 80% battery charge.
The device should be factory unlocked and not locked to a particular carrier.
The phone will lose custom ROM with the installation of official firmware. Also, the custom recovery will be replaced by the stock version.
The device will no longer belong to a rooted version with the installation of official firmware.
I9195XXUCNH5 Android 4.4.2 stock firmware works only with Galaxy S4 Mini LTE GT-I9195. As flashing this on any other variant might brick the device, verify the model number of Galaxy S3 by navigating to Settings>> About device>> Model number.
Step-1: Extract the downloaded firmware zip using any extracting tool to get a .tar.md5 file with few other files, which are optional
Step-2: Extract the Odin zip to get Odin3 v.3.09.exe with few other files
Step-3: Switch off the S4 Mini
Step-4: Enter into Download Mode by pressing and holding Home, Power and Volume Down button together until the construction Android robot and a triangle appears. Press the Power button again to confirm to enter into Download Mode
Note: Ensure that you have installed the S4 Mni USB Drivers installed on the computer.
Step-5: Run Odinas Administrator on the computer
Step-6: Connect the Galaxy S4 to computer using USB cable while it is in Download mode. Wait for some time until Odin detects the device. When the phone is connected successfully, the ID: COM box in Odin will turn light blue with COM port number. This step might take some time
Step-7: In Odin, click AP button and select the firmware file with .tar.md5 extension
Step-8: Enable Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checkboxes in Odin. Ensure Re-Partition checkbox is not checked
Step-9: Verify everything and click the Start button in Odin. The installation process should begin now and take a few minutes to complete
Step-10: When the installation process is completed, the phone will restart automatically. Once the home screen appears on the phone, unplug the phone from the computer
The Galaxy S4 Mini should now be having the I9195XXUCNH5 Android 4.4.2 stock firmware installedin it. Check the new firmware version by navigating to Settings>> About phone.
The all-new iPhones and Apple Watch can be easily avoided but there’s no escaping iOS 8
The Apple Watch: only an unhealithily devoted Apple fanatic could bear to wear one.
The past few weeks haven’t been great for Apple. First they were implicated in the stolen celebrity nude photo disaster, which reminded everybody how easily clouds leak. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think the iPhone is generally marketed as a diabolical timewasting device with the potential to wreak a grotesque and devastating invasion of your personal privacy. They tend to focus more on all the cool colours it comes in.
Then they launched the horrible-looking Apple Watch, which does everything an iPhone can do, but more expensively and pointlessly, and on a slightly different part of your body. Only an unhealthily devoted Apple fanatic could bear to wear a Apple Watch, and even that poor notional idiot would have to keep putting their iPhone down in order to operate the damn thing. It’ll scarcely be used for telling the time, just as the iPhone is scarcely used for making calls. It’s not a watch. It’s a gaudy wristband aimed at raising awareness of Chinese factory conditions. Or a handy visual tag that helps con artists instantly identify gullible rich idiots in a crowd.
Apple also unveiled the all-new bigger iPhone 6, and the all-new even bigger-than-that iPhone 6 Plus, which is the size of the Isle of Man and aimed at people who literally have deep pockets. By releasing two differently sized rectangles, which in turn differ from its previous range of differently sized rectangles, Apple has selfishly exhausted the global supply of differently sized rectangles. From now on, all rectangles, no matter what context they appear in, will have to be the same size. Wars will be fought to decide which dimension becomes the standard. And when mankind finally settles on a compromise, Apple is going to start on ovals.
As part of the iPhone 6 publicity blitz, Tim Cook also announced every iTunes user in the world would be getting U2’s new album free of charge. It was downloaded automatically on to millions of users’ phones, like a sinister virus. Music is meant to be catchy – but not until you’ve heard it. The album, which I haven’t listened to yet, is terrible: even worse than their last one, which I didn’t listen to either. I don’t want to listen to any U2 albums in case I discover I like them, and have to violently reassess my own self-image. For the past five years, it’s been delightfully easy to ignore U2. Then Apple comes along and slings them under your nose like a bowl of bum soup you didn’t order. What do we have to do? Start lobbying Google for U2’s right to be forgotten?
Still: new watches, new rectangles, new music – these needn’t really affect you if you don’t want them to. But the other new development – the launch of iOS 8 – is impossible for iPhone users to ignore. It’s curious that we, the users, are supposed to look as if we are eagerly anticipating these operating system updates – a load of digital dogwork Apple nonchalantly drop into our laps on a regular basis.
Updates are awful. All you want to do is watch TV and rot in your own filth. Instead you spend the evening backing up your phone, downloading a gigantic file and sitting around while your phone undergoes an intense psychological makeover, at the end of which it may or may not function. Often, it takes an hour or more. Fiddly, time-consuming admin – it’s like having to change the water in a fish tank. I can’t be arsed: it’s why I don’t have an aquarium. I’d rather let the fish die.
But if I hold out, gradually nothing will work on my existing phone. They’ll freeze me out by degrees. Cut me out of the club. Plus I’ll miss out on great features such as slightly different icons and a terrifying new form of predictive text that precisely mimics the sensation of talking to an idiot who keeps finishing your sentences for you. (Either my thumbs have grown clumsier, or predictive text in general has grown a lot more aggressive recently. I can’t type anything without it continually popping up to blurt random words on my behalf – it’s like being in the Beastie Boys.)
Part of the problem is that smartphones are so horribly addictive, as moreish as smoking. The difference between smartphones and cigarettes is this: a cigarette robs 10 minutes from your lifespan, but at least has the decency to wait and withdraw all that time in bulk as you near the end of your life – whereas a smartphone steals your time in the present moment, by degrees. Five minutes here. Five minutes there. Then you look up and you’re 85 years old.
That little rectangular screen is so hypnotic, so omnipresent, I feel lost and sick the moment mine’s tied up doing something as uninterruptable as an update. While it sits there, blank, progress bar inching along at a snail’s pace, I glance at it nervously, like an owner watching his dog undergo an operation – not out of anything approaching sympathy, but the selfish concern that if it dies, I might not be able to check my email for five minutes. I suppose if I had an Apple Watch I could at least fiddle mindlessly with that instead while waiting for the phone to spring back into life. Come to think of it, that’s probably the Watch’s sole purpose. They should market it that way. Big winner.
Passport Smartphone Is Company's First Device Launch Since BlackBerry 10
SINGAPORE— BlackBerry Ltd. BB.T+0.84% plans to sell its new square-screen smartphone at a lower price than rival products, as the company attempts to regain some of the ground it has lost in the global market.
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen said in an interview Monday that its Passport smartphone, which will go on sale starting Wednesday, will cost $599 in the U.S. without subsidies. The phone will be priced differently in some other countries based on taxes and tariffs, he noted.
Mr. Chen said that compared with similar smartphones produced by competitors, the Passport should cost in the $700 range. "But I figure that to try to get the market interested, we're going to start a little lower than that."
Apple Inc. AAPL+0.13% 's new iPhone 6 starts at $649 without contract, while the iPhone 6 Plus costs $749 without a contract. Samsung's flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone went on sale in the U.S. earlier this year for about $650 depending on the carrier.
The release of the handset, which has a 4.5-inch square screen and BlackBerry's signature physical keyboard, will be the first global launch of a device since the company's BlackBerry 10 phones flopped in 2013. While the company has begun to focus more on its core enterprise business, it must also use innovative new consumer products to lure enterprise users, Mr. Chen said.
The Waterloo, Ontario, firm hasn't talked about the device's features ahead of its launch. But Mr. Chen, who was visiting Singapore Monday, said the phone's larger screen would appeal to users who need to be productive on their phones, such as those working in the medical field. The Passport's screen size and high resolution allows users to view 60 characters on each line, which is substantially more than typical, rectangular smartphones such as iPhones.
"You really are seeing a more entire picture than seeing a sliver" of a screen, he said.
Mr. Chen said that the battery will last 36 hours and a large antenna will benefit reception, while the keyboard can also be used for scrolling through content displayed on the screen.
BlackBerry will launch the phone simultaneously Wednesday in Toronto, London and Dubai. The Passport will also be available "immediately" in some stores, and in one to two weeks "a lot of places will have it," including markets in Asia, Mr. Chen said.
BlackBerry in November will also launch the latest version of its device-management software, and will likely release in December its Classic smartphone, Mr. Chen said, which is designed to appeal to fans of its keyboard and email services.
Mr. Chen, who took over at the once-dominant smartphone maker less than a year ago amid mounting losses and declining sales, has engineered a high-stakes makeover, with BlackBerry focusing on providing secure smartphone technology for the enterprise market.
"The reason why our focus is so enterprise is because what we know how to do is security and productivity" he said. "Security, cybersecurity, personal identity protection. This is going to be a big deal."
Mr. Chen also conceded that BlackBerry hasn't gained much ground in Asia, with theexception of Malaysia and Indonesia.
"I think there's a tremendous amount of opportunity in both Southeast and North Asia," he said, without giving specifics on how the company plans to tackle these markets.
"Next year the focus has got to be on growth" Mr. Chen said. "Growth comes from vertical products. Better phones, newer technology."
Analysts are skeptical, however, that BlackBerry's new phone will help the company turn around.
The Passport is a "good phone, but it will never really hit the mainstream as a premium offering," said Daniel Pang, a researcher with IDC Malaysia. "Most consumers are too invested in other platforms" such as Android or iOS, he said.
Mr. Pang said BlackBerry's market share in Southeast Asia is "next to nothing" except in Indonesia, where the company has made gains since it launched itslow-cost Z3 smartphone in May.
Android applications development is increasingly becoming challenging for most developers given the plethora of screen resolutions in the market unlike developing for iOS that has only two for iPhone and now two for iPad. A bit of background for the uninitiated: Android is an open-source platform that all the handset manufacturers can use to adapt and makes changes (to an extent) while customizing for their handsets. This has created a highly fragmented market as each of the manufacturers have varied screen sizes depending on the phones they manufacture with Android as the operating system.
There are two ways in Android app development that can help overcome the challenges developers face while developing their Android apps. Even if you are an entrepreneur who wants to take their idea into Android applications development, you must know about the challenges that the platform throws and what are the ways to overcome these. It is important to know as an entrepreneur as the method adopted by the developer will impact your product.
Before we go into how one can overcome the challenges, a bit about what the platform offers currently by means of screen resolutions. In Android applications development, there are four main categories of screen resolutions: Low Density, Medium Density, High Density and Extra High Density. Each of the categories has at least five different resolution-based phones available in the marketplace. This, as you can see, is highly challenging if you want your application to work across devices for maximum reach. We discuss below a couple of ways how you can overcome these challenges.
HTML5 Application
HTML5 is a web technology that has taken the app and web world by storm. HTML5 allows for creating a single application (web-based with certain native features) that can work across multiple devices with just writing one piece of code in Android app development that helps resize the application as per the user's handset. One can write a completely web-based application or a better option would be to write a web-based application in HTML5 and put an Android wrapper around it to give it a native feel and enabling the application to be downloaded from the Android app stores.
Multi-Screen Application
The other way that one can overcome challenges in Android applications development is to create a completely native application that supports multiple screens. Now, how many is multiple given the huge number of screen sizes already in the market? Google's Android developer support has a certain guideline that allows for developers to develop for four resolutions that are standardized as per Android and will work in most of the handsets. For the remaining, an extra bit of code adjusts the size of the image to the nearest handset screen resolution. Following is the guideline that developers can follow:
• xlargescreens are at least 960dp x 720dp
• largescreens are at least 640dp x 480dp
• normalscreens are at least 470dp x 320dp
• smallscreens are at least 426dp x 320dp
Follow these guidelines and Android app development will not be as challenging as it is made out to be. Be rest assured, there are enough developers in the market that are using these techniques coupled with some of their own findings based on their experience of developing for Android. Do your own research as well by Googling what other developers are doing.
Smartphones are taking the World by storm. In may 2012 a news item appeared which stated that in Europe, more than 50% of all new mobile phones sold were smartphones. In 2011 the worldwide sales figures of Android phones exceeded those of the iPhone, the phone that started the "smartphone revolution".
With the growing number of Android phones, the number of available apps (small programs designed to work on these devices) has also grown explosively. In addition to mobile phones, other devices such as tablet computers that run on the Android operating system are also gaining popularity. The consequence of all this is that there is a growing need for Android apps.
The Google Play Store (formerly Android Market) is growing at an enormous rate: there are now over 500,000 apps available. These are very diverse: utility apps such as text messengers, task managers and email clients but also a host of games. The most popular apps are being downloaded millions of times. Other interesting categories are apps that enhance businesses. Examples of these are apps that enable customers to purchase products right from their mobile phone or apps that provide the location of a company branch in the vicinity of the user.
The increasing popularity of mobile apps gives rise to many interesting business opportunities. This trend is unlikely to change any time soon and established business around the world are acknowledging this fact. Not only have many businesses produced mobile apps to grow their revenue or enhance their image. The rise of mobile apps appears to be changing the way businesses and consumers think about software. A telling example comes from Microsoft: the new Windows 8 operating system has a "mobile look and feel" and the software programs in the system are now referred to as "apps".
So, if you want to learn how to develop Android apps where should you start? It depends on your previous experience (if any) and the amount of time and money you are willing to spend.
The most obvious route is doing all the programming yourself. To do this you need knowledge of the Java programming language and the Android Software Development Kit. If you have never programmed before, you will have to learn a lot about subjects such as object oriented programming and working with the necessary developer tools. This is the long, hard road to becoming an app developer... however, if you succeed at making your first few apps, it can be extremely satisfying and you will have gained a lot of useful knowledge!
If you do not know how to program and don't want to learn how to write Android apps then, fortunately, there are other options. Several software products exist which make the app for you. Most of these are online applications that use "wizards" and templates. A limitation of this approach is that you will not have as much control over the result as you would when doing all the programming yourself. Some of these app makers are free, others offer a subscription service or a one time payment.
If app creation software doesn't suit your needs, a third way is to hire a freelancer or a company to do the developing. If you are an individual hobbyist or running a small business, this may seem intimidating and expensive. However, using a resource such as oDesk we now have access to many cheap freelancers living outside of North America and Europe. Many are very capable at their job, so developing your app this way does not have to cost much at all.
Personally, I started out trying to do all the programming myself. I couldn't find an online app maker that suited my needs and I did not want to spend a lot of money. However, although I had a little coding experience, I am not a software developer by profession. So when a relatively simple programming problem reared its head, I got stuck.
After some hesitation, I decided to let a freelancer solve the problem and this sped up the development of my app enormously! It did not cost me a lot of money (around $100) and I was able to get the app to the market much faster than if I had done everything myself. This allowed me to start testing the responses of customers sooner to see if it was a viable business idea.
This "hybrid" approach worked for me but you will have to find out for yourself what works best for you. Which method you choose doesn't matter as long as you reach your goal: making the idea you have right now for your app a reality. Something that people can use and enjoy, and perhaps will make you some money or help your existing business!
Apple didn't just assume that 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches would be the perfect screen sizes for its new pair of iPhones. According to Daring Fireball's John Gruber, Apple made a bunch of prototypes in different sizes before deciding how large the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus should be.
Gruber says he learned this information from people he spoke with at Apple's event on Sept. 9. Here's what he wrote:
Apple's industrial design team mocked up prototypes of every single size between 4.0 and 6.0 inches, in tenths-of-an-inch increments, and from those 20 sizes selected the two that best hit the sweet spots for "regular iPhones" and "ginormous iPhone." We might never see new iPhone sizes again — or at least not bigger ones.
If true, this wouldn't necessarily be surprising. Long before Apple unveiled the iPhone 6, reports suggested that Apple was experimenting with larger screens for its iPhone. This hints that Apple probably played with different screen sizes rather than one or two particular sizes. For example, last June Reuters said Apple was "looking at bigger screens,"including one variant that measured 5.7 inches.
Apple's 2014 smartphone lineup is already off to a record start, with 4 million preorders taken for both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in their first 24 hours of availability, leading up to this Friday's launch.
The company said on Monday that demand for its newest iPhones has already exceeded the initial preorder supply, and many orders placed are scheduled to ship in October. The comments may suggest that Apple's initial launch weekend sales figures will be held back by supply rather than demand.
"iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are better in every way, and we are thrilled customers love them as much as we do," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.""Pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus set a new record for Apple, and we can't wait to get our best iPhones yet into the hands of customers starting this Friday."
Last year, Apple sold 9 million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c units in their launch weekend. That easily exceeded the record 5 million iPhone 5 units the company sold on that device's launch weekend in 2012.
When the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus become available this Friday, additional units will be available at Apple Stores and other retail partners for walk-in customers. The handset arrives first in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.K.
Apple also announced on Monday that 20 additional countries will get the iPhone 6 starting the following Friday, Sept. 26. They include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
The company had already revealed last week that overnight preorders of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were at record levels. Last Friday, Apple characterized demand for its new, bigger phones as "incredible."
Demand was so strong that Apple and its carrier partners' websites experienced a number of problems accepting customer orders. Such issues have occurred every year since the first iPhone launched in 2007, with demand for Apple's latest models only growing each year.
As of Monday morning, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is advertised to ship within 7 to 10 business days, while the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus will ship in 3 to 4 weeks.
Betting on the success of its Zenfone series of smartphones, Taiwanese tech major Asus is targeting to be among the top five players in the smartphone space in India by the end of 2015.
“By the end of next year, our target is to be among the top 5. The response for the Zenfone series have been very good. We have sold over 1 lakh units so far,” Asus India Regional Head (South Asia and Country Manager) Peter Chang told PTI. The company has four smartphones under the Zenfone series. ”The current range is good enough to compete with other players. In the price range we cover, from Rs 5,999 to Rs 16,999, we have smartphones from 4-6 inches. So, we think we cover 60 per cent of the market, which is good enough as first step,” Chang said.
The company entered the smartphone market in July as it thought that just being in the computer market would have some constraints, he said. ”The thinking to enter the smartphone segment was there for a while. Since two-three years back, we started to see that if you only stay in computer market, you have some constraints, specially now when people are using different kinds of devices… We cannot stay only in laptop, we have to also enter the other devices,” Chang added.
Apart from smartphones, the company sells tablets and PCs under Fonepad series. The Indian smartphone market is witnessing strong competition between local and international players, all vying to grab a share of the multi-billion dollar market. According to IDC, smartphone sales in India grew almost 3-fold to over 44 million in 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, 17.59 million smartphones were shipped in India, compared to 6.14 million in the same period of 2013.
website that lets users share their opinions on politics, sports and culture. Called Microsoft Prediction Lab, the site additionally serves as a forerunner to a future
