Microsoft discovers long-lost phone division down back of sofa

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Nokia phones generated $2.6bn in revenue for Microsoft as the division arrested its decline. Redmond sold 9.3m Lumia devices in the quarter, the most ever.

In the quarter a year ago, Nokia (then the owner) shifted 8.8m Lumias. In June only 5.8m Lumias moved. The company had failed to refresh its product line as it, and other OEMs, waited for Windows Phone 8.1 to be ready.

The number is dwarfed by the volumes shipped by Apple. But it shows Microsoft is still a significant global player in phone hardware - whether it wants to be or not.

The Microsoft results – more details and good recap here – show healthy income from hardware. But CEO Satya "Cloud-o-bile" Nadella has been less than expansive about it in public statements. Ex-Nokia staff are on the sharp end of Microsoft's biggest-ever redundancies, with over 12,500 out of 18,000 losses. All of which suggests Microsoft's future might be more Cloud than o-bile.

Nevertheless, Redmond presses on. Microsoft gave official confirmation of what has been known for months - that it would drop the Nokia brand from its Lumia smartphones - it just didn't say when. And still hasn't (officially), but it did give a teaser of what they'll look like.

Deadly Racer Gameplay - Windows Phone / Lumia

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Xiaomi Smartphones a Security Threat, says Indian Air Force

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The Indian Air Force (IAF) has now started advising its personnel and their families against using Xiaomi smartphones, according to a report by the Sunday Standard.

According to the IAF's allegations, Xiaomi's smartphones and notebooks have been found to send users' private data to servers in Beijing. However, this claim is odd as Xiaomi does not have laptops in its range of products yet.

The IAF, according to the report, advised its personnel against using Xiaomi's products based oninformation obtained from the Indian Computer Response Team, which has also confirmed that the smartphones send back data to China.

This is not the first time the Chinese company has faced such allegations. In the past, there were claims that Xiaomi phones were pre-loaded with software to spy on its users. However, Xiaomi in turn, assured its users that the information was misleading. To counter these allegations, the company recently shifted out some smartphone data out of China.

According to Hugo Barra's blog post on Google+, data from non-Chinese users will be moved to Amazon servers in the United States, apart from data centres in Singapore.

The Sunday Standard report also mentions F-secure's findings that Xiaomi phones were forwarding information to Beijing. However, it does not take into account a more recent report by F-secure, which notes that these security flaws have been plugged.

Recently, Xiaomi said that its Mi Cloud service was enabled by default and then it made amends by releasing a software update that turned off the service by default, thus making it an opt-in feature that users will have to activate manually.

Win an iPhone - Free iPhones Worldwide Giveaway 2014 [OPEN]

Jailbreak Released For Apple iOS 8.1: Works On iPhone 6 And 6 Plus

As those familiar with the jailbreaking scene, iOS 8.1 signaled the possible release of a jailbreak for Apple’s new mobile operating system and iPhones. I previously reported on how to jailbreak previous model iPhone on iOS 7, and it was anyone’s guess as to how long it would take for the jailbreaking community to release another.

Many suspected months, however, within a matter of weeks after the iPhone 6 launch, Chinese jailbreaking team Pangu, that was also responsible for the last jailbreak has surprised the community yet again.

The new jailbreak, as per usual, will allow you to install Cydia on your device, which provides access to a host of tweaks and programs that you can often use to modify the otherwise restricted iOS experience. In fact, it can offer similar levels of customization enjoyed by Android users. Jailbreaking is completely legal and won’t break your device or void its warranty.

Best of all is that the current jailbreak not only works on the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but it’s untethered too, meaning you don’t have to re-jailbreak your device every time you reboot it.

There are a couple of catches. The first release of the jailbreak resulted in photos on some devices being lost. This appears to have been fixed in a subsequent update but at the moment, the jailbreak is only working with Chinese instructions and is intended for jailbreak app developers to get things ready.

It has also caught the people behind Cydia by surprise. As such, Cydia it’s not currently supported by iOS 8.1 once it’s been jailbroken. However, the Pangu team is expected to release a new updated version of the jailbreak, which will include an up-to-date and working Cydia store.

At the moment, the only way to get the jailbreak working with Cydia is a rather complex and lengthy method, not best-suited to first timers at all. As a result, I’ll hold off doing my own guide as I did for previous versions for a short while until the new version is released – hopefully in the next day or two. By this time things should be much simpler to follow and the jailbreak itself will include Cydia and have been tested a little more rigorously to make sure everything works as it should. It’s not recommended to jailbreak just yet.

Awesome animation done on iPhones & iPads!

Apple could turn iPhones into remote controls for cars

In the future you may start your car, regulate the temperature or lock and open car doors with your iPhone

Only a day after the first customers began using Apple pay, Apple has been granted a patent which could turn future iPhones into remote controls for cars.

In September, the technology company launched Apple Pay which enables clients to pay for items just by holding the iPhone near contactless readers with your finger on the Touch ID. Clients started making payments on Oct. 20.

Turning the iPhone into a remote control for cars could be a future step for Apple, but it is known that being granted a patent does not necessarily mean that the concept will be applied in the real world. 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office, an Agency of the Department of Commerce, granted Apple the “accessory control with geo-fencing” patent on Tuesday.

The patent's abstract says that the vehicle accessory can transmit a signal to your mobile device, which will monitor the phone's location as well as the location of the vehicle.

“Upon determining that a location-based criterion has been satisfied, the mobile device can transmit a second signal to the vehicle accessory indicating that a function of the vehicle is to be controlled," the abstract says.

“Thus, for example, the mobile device can activate or de-activate vehicle features (e.g. door locking, vehicle defrosting etc.) in a manner that capitalizes on efficient signal transmission,” it continued.

iPhone 6 Review! an Android Fan's POV

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iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus may be tough to find through the holidays

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The result: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may continue to be a tough device to find through the holidays.

While Apple's suppliers have ramped up production of the new iPhones, Cook said the available supply of iPhones isn't even close to meeting customer demand. "We're not even on the same planet," he said on a conference call to discuss the company's fiscal fourth-quarter results.

The comments further illustrate the continued strength of the iPhone franchise, which got a boost after Apple adopted a larger screen size -- 4.7-inch for the iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch for the iPhone 6 Plus -- and introduced new features such as its Apple Pay mobile payment service. The demand has driven Apple to sell 39.3 million units in the fiscal fourth quarter, propelling the company's revenue and earnings past Wall Street expectations.

"We're selling everything we're making," he said.

Cook declined to provide any details on the mix between iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6 Plus, noting that it's unfair to look at the mix because everything is selling out. He noted that Apple saw an improvement in demand from every country, which he called unusual.

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Android Silver on hold due to resistance from handset makers

It seems Android Silver, Google's often talked about plan to develop premium, high-end Android device branding, has been put on indefinite hold. While Android Silver was never officially confirmed, Google has apparently run into a number of road blocks in the form of handset manufacturers who don't want to cooperate due to the required reduction of fragmentation

With a said goal of eventually replacing both the Nexus and Google Play Edition lines of hardware, Android Silver was to be a new take on offering users a stock version of Android, and reducing the growing fragmentation across the platform. As with the currentNexus line, Android Silver would require device OEMs to sacrifice any of their customizations to the operating system.

Understandably, manufacturers were displeased with the idea of further reducing the presence of their own branding, but more so with potentially having to share the Android Silver name with other rival manufacturers. The whole reason the Android platform is popular with device makers is because they can differentiate themselves from rivals, as well as optimize the software for their specific hardware.

While Android Silver may not be officially dead, it's clear that we won't be seeing its release anytime soon, especially with a new line of Nexus devices just announced. However, Android Silver could certainly be a solution to a number of the platform's problems. Not only would users get a more consistent experience, but app developers would have a much easier time getting their software to run on one version of Android, instead of the alarming number we have today. Let's all hope Google will continue to make efforts towards such a solution.

Microsoft optimizes Skype for iPhone 6

The new mobile version of Skype takes advantage of the larger screen sizes of Apple's latest iPhones.

iPhone 6 users will be able to see more of Skype courtesy of the latest update to the mobile app.

Released Wednesday in Apple's App Store, Skype 5.6 for the iPhone offers an optimized and scaled interface for the larger-screened iPhones, Skype said in a blog post. Specifically, the new version displays more of your chats in chat mode and more of your messages in conversation mode.

Launched last month, the iPhone 6 offers a 4.7-inch screen, while the iPhone 6 Plus is equipped with a 5.5-inch display. The new version of Skype ensures that you see as much as possible on the screen whether you're using one of the new iPhone 6 handsets or an older and smaller model, such as the iPhone 4 or 5.

What other improvements will iPhone users find in the new version of Skype?

Presence indicators now appear in the "recent" list. Such indicators tell you whether a person is currently online. The number of contacts and timezones now show up in your contact profiles. You can mark individual conversations as read or unread. And turning on "do not disturb" mode automatically disables notification sounds.

This is the second update to Skype for the iPhone since Apple released iOS 8 last month. On September 22, Microsoft released Skype 5.5. for the iPhone, which tapped into the new extensions in iOS 8 to bring you interactive notifications. That means you can answer calls and respond to text messages directly from the lock screen and notification center on your iPhone.

Mate Windows Phone

Sony's first app for Windows Phone helps you switch to Android

You may remember Nokia’s, now Microsoft’s, '#Switch to Lumia' campaign that attempted to convince people to ditch their iPhone’s, Galaxy’s, or other competing devices, in favor of Windows Phone -- some may have called it a typical marketing effort, others may have noticed signs of desperation from the pre-acquisition Nokia. As part of the campaign, Nokia tried to make it as easy as possible for those who decided to switch to do so without much hassle using its Transfer my Data app.

Today, Sony released their own version called the ‘Xperia Transfer Mobile’ app on Windows Phone. The app works by easily facilitating the transfer of your contacts, messages, photos, music, notes, and calendar from your Windows Phone device to a Sony Xperia. But unlike Nokia’s equivalent, this app doesn’t work via Bluetooth, instead it requires both devices to be connected to each other via the Xperia Transfer USB cable that may or may not come with an Xperia smartphone.

The PlayStation maker has been rumored to be dabbling with a Windows Phone-powered Xperia smartphone in-house, but nothing has come to fruition yet. While the release of this app doesn’t confirm anything regarding Sony’s Windows Phone plans, it does leave a sour taste in the mouth. We’ve already seen how good a recycled Android flagship looks like running Windows Phone with the HTC One M8, now imagine what that would look like with the water-proof Xperia Z3!

If for some reason you find the need to switch to Xperia, you can head over to the VIA link below and download the Xperia Transfer Mobile app. You could also watch the video that Sony has released below that demonstrates the transfer process, or head over to the company’s dedicated website that covers the process in more detail.

Man tries to swap Detroit home for iPhone 6

Intex Cloud FX review questions the Firefox device’s “smartphone” credentials

Earlier this year, Mozilla revealed Intex and Spice as its hardware partners to launch Firefox OS smartphones in India. These smartphones essentially aimed at bringing basic Internet access to users at ultra-affordable price segment. In August Intex launched the Cloud FX, which was priced at a ridiculously low Rs 1,999. In terms of pricing, the Cloud FX is blurring the lines between smartphones and feature phones. But a review by folks at ArsTechnica, has questioned the Cloud FX’s smartphone credentials.

First off, let’s go through the specifications of the smartphone. The Intex Cloud FX sports a 3.5-inch HVGA display and is powered by a 1GHz processor paired with 128MB of RAM. The device also features a 2-megapixel rear camera, 256MB internal storage, microSD card slot, 1,250mAh battery, and connectivity options like dual-SIM card slots, EDGE, and Wi-Fi.

With such a specification list it would be illogical to expect benchmark busting performance from the smartphone. But what really fail the smartphone are the operating system and the user experience. The Firefox OS is quite similar to Google’s Chrome OS in the way it is browser-based and all apps are built using web technologies. You get a lock screen, a few home screens that also have all the apps listed and a notification center. But the one thing that separates a smartphone from a feature phone is strangely missing on the Cloud FX — multitasking.

It could be the failings of the operating system or the measly 128MB of RAM, but none of the apps run in the background. The latter is just about enough to run an app, but more often than not apps run out of memory and simply close. The OS doesn’t do anything to preserve the state of the app, so essentially when an app crashes, you lose everything that you were working on.

For example, the publication says if a website is loading and the browser crashes, you will have to start the browser again and reload the webpage all over again. This not only takes time, but also uses up the data, which is a precious commodity for first-time Internet users. A stopwatch actually stops working when you exit the app, and while in theory the email client can be scheduled to check emails every 5 minutes, there is never enough memory for the app to run in the background.

The folks at ArsTechnica also came across a strange problem with the Cloud FX. If the phone was to lose power before you have a chance to charge the battery, the clock and date get reset. Picture your old VCR showing ‘12:00’ when no time was set and you will get the picture. This is a major issue since all websites require the correct date and time to open. So basically until you set the time and date, you won’t be able to open the Firefox OS marketplace to download any apps, open any website or get any emails.

The overall performance is erratic at best. Sometimes apps or webpages load normally, while at other times they take minutes to load. “The performance of the Cloud FX really cannot be understated. Screen taps sometimes take seconds to register. Firefox OS has a recent apps screen, but there is never any free memory, so nothing other than the current app is ever open. During particularly slow freak-outs, the screen will just turn black. If the phone falls asleep, or the alarm pops up, or a phone call comes in, your app closes and you lose your progress. Even something as simple as opening a folder of apps has a load time measured in seconds.”

While Mozilla and its partners have managed to stick to the promised ultra-affordable price tag, the question is at what cost. With the so-called “smartphone” not able to do even the most basic of tasks, the device in essence has turned out to be a feature phone with a few features that do not work as promised.

ArsTechnica too concludes in a similar vein. “It’s hard to believe that this is a “best attempt” at a cheap smartphone. Computers have run on only a few KB of RAM before; don’t tell us 128MB isn’t enough for a decently performing machine,” they say. “The problem is that Firefox OS just isn’t the right choice of operating system for this device—it’s trying to do way too much with the limited hardware. It isn’t configurable enough. Early versions of Android and iOS certainly ran better on similarly specced devices in the past.”

How to run CLASH OF CLANS inside a PC or other Windows Devices [except for Windows Phones] - 2014

Android Circuit: Microsoft's $1 Billion Android Business, Nexus 9 To Launch October 15, New Motorola Outperforms iPhone 6

Taking a look back at the week in news across the Android world, this week’s Android Circuit highlights a number of stories including Verizon’s new Droid Turbo and Xperia Z3v handsets, reviewing the Moto X 2014 smartphone, Nokia brings HERE Maps to the Galaxy, what is Microsoft’s slice of the Android profits, and running Windows 95 on Android Wear.

Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android over the last seven days.

Perhaps This Is The Droid You Are Looking For?

Hot on the heels of the second generation Moto X and Moto G handsets, Motorola’s Droid Turbo looks set to be the phone to beat in 2014. The leaked manual shows a 2k (2,560 x 1,440) 5.2-inch pixel display, a Snapdragon 805 CPU, Krait 450 GPU, and 3 GB. It’s not without a few drawbacks, as Gordon Kelly discovers:

The most obvious (and superficial) point to make is it looks ugly. While there are some elements of the slick Moto X, the Turbo’s return to capacitive keys is a backwards step and the edges and rear look a little tacky. In addition the handset is only listed as having 32GB of onboard storage with no microSD expansion slot. For such a high end handset with a noticeably high resolution camera, this is a disappointment.

Also, that Droid name is typically limited to Verizon exclusive handsets, so getting a wider distribution could be tricky. Those caveats aside, this is one tricked out handset for the geekerati. When we know more here at Forbes Tech, we’ll let you know.

Is The Moto X Really ‘Smartphone Of The Year’?

Speaking of the 2014 edition of the Moto X, Gordon Kelly has reviewed the handset and is more than pleasantly surprised with the integration of hardware and software:

The cat may already be out the bag here, but the combination of the Moto X’s top end hardware and stock Android makes from a fearsome combination. Navigating around the UI is faster and more fluid than any handset I’ve used so far (including the Nexus 5) and there is quite simply nothing game-wise within the Google Play store that can trouble it…

Of course the Snapdragon 805 is on the horizon, which will have a few spec warriors concerned about investing in the Moto X. I wouldn’t worry. The 805 offers incremental performance and battery improvements over the 801, but when your phone is already lightning fast and long-lasting it should already do everything you need.

Kelly’s full review is here.

Verizon Also Line Up A Sony Special

Sony continue to push the Xperia Z3 family of smartphones with the announcement of the Sony Xperia Z3v, a network tailored version of Sony’s latest waterproof smartphone for Verizon (reports Daniel Howley for Yahoo Tech). Just be careful what you get here – the Z3v is the body and chassis of the Xperia Z2, with the updated software package from the Z3.

I recently reviewed the SIM free version of the Xperia Z3, and found it to be one of the best Android phones of the current generation, and the Xperia Z2 review from earlier this year is probably going to be relevant as well.

Sony Xperia Z3 (image: Ewan Spence)

Let Nokia Show You The Way On Your Samsung Smartphone

Once upon a time, when your smartphone ran Symbian, there was an app that was useful, that had social functionality, and generally made everyone happy who used it. That app was Nokia Maps, one of the first comprehensive mobile geo-location apps on the planet. Even though the hardware side of Nokia now belongs to Microsoft, Nokia retained three business units, and one of them was mapping. Now called HERE, the division has released the new Nokia Maps app (HERE Maps) for Android. The first public beta is now available for Samsung Galaxy owners. I’ve taken a closer look at the app suite here.

Galaxy Revenue And Profits Are Dropping Rapidly

Samsung is not having the greatest of weeks. It’s Q3 2014 pre-earnings guidance came out this week, and show the profits and revenue have been dropping faster and harder both in quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons. Looking at 2013 and 2014, revenue is down 20.45% and profit is down 59.65%. Samsung is stuck in the innovators dilemma, but in the world of smartphones this can lead to a rapid loss of revenue. I talk about this cliff theory in my analysis of the numbers out of the South Korean company.

Samsung Needs To Be Better Than Apple

Forbes’ contributor Michael Humphrey addresses Samsung directly over the situation, with some timely advice. In short, it’s time for Samsung to disrupt itself and change course. Doing the same thing, releasing the same handset with some slightly bigger numbers, following the same marketing path, is not working. Could the low-end of the market be the answer?

I am not anti-Apple. I have insisted for years that my MacBook Air is the best mobile device I own. I just don’t need to be that person with an iPhone. In fact, I don’t need any premium phone.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha (image: Samsung PR)

Anything You Can Do, We Can Do Better

You might have noticed that Apple is holding a launch event on October 16 (more details here), but Android fans can rest easy. Reports are coming in that Google will get a first strike in against Apple on October 15th with the reveal of the HTC manufactured Nexus 9. It’s sure to draw comparisons to the expected iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display expected to be announced by Tim Cook the day after.

I’d also expect Android L to be declared as ‘ready’ if there is an event on the 15th. Plans could still change at this late stage, but new Nexus hardware and Android builds in the next week seems likely.

One. Billion. Dollars. And That’s Just For 2013!

Meanwhile, court papers have been unsealed in Microsoft’s patent royalty suit against Samsung. With an outstanding bill of over $1 Billion, some back-of-the-envelope calculations show that Samsung is paying around £3.41 per Android device to Microsoft (and the South Koreans get discount thanks to its use of Windows Phone in the ATIV handsets). Multiply that over the Android ecosystem that is licensing the patents from Redmond, and Microsoft is earning a fair few dollars out of Android.

And Finally…

Hats off (or should that be watches off) to Corbin Davenport for his sterling work porting Windows 95 to Android Wear. Now you too can have the classic operating system just a few finger touches away on your wrist. He’s went into detail on this stunningly geeky hacking project on his blog, and there’s a demo video to go with it. Unsurprisingly there are some issues with mouse driver support, which should bring back memories for some readers!