<p> <i> 21.38 pm </i> LG G Flex 2 curved smartphone launched at Rs 55,000

LG India is launching only the 32GB variant of the
smartphone, which will hit the market later this month.

NEW DELHI: South Korean manufacturer LG has unveiled its second-generation curved screen smartphone G Flex 2 in the Indian market. Priced at Rs 55,000, this smartphone will hit the shelves later this month. 

The new LG G Flex 2 has a 5.5-inch P-OLED screen with Full HD resolution and comes with Android 5.0-based Optimus UI. LG is launching only the 32GB variant of the smartphone in India; the model comes with Snapdragon 810 (four Cortex A53 cores @ 1.5GHz + four Cortex A57 cores @ 2GHz) and 3GB RAM. 

The rear camera of G Flex 2 has 13MP resolution with laser autofocus, optical image stabilization and dual-LED flash, while the front camera has 2.1MP resolution. The smartphone has a 3,000mAh battery with fast-charging technology, Dolby audio and 128GB microSD support.

The smartphone has a back panel coating that allows it to heal scratches on the rear casing.</p>

<p> <i> 21.37 pm </i> Micromax Canvas Juice 2 With Android 5.0 Lollipop Launched at Rs. 8,999

Micromax Canvas Juice 2, the successor to the popular Canvas Juice smartphone, has been launched at Rs. 8,999. The smartphone will be available in Silver via online and offline stores from Thursday.

The new Canvas Juice 2 retains the 3000mAh battery from its predecessor, which is also the highlight of the device. The battery is rated to deliver up to 9 hours of talk time and up to 435 hours or 18 days of standby time. 

The dual-SIM based Canvas Juice 2 features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display which is again an upgrade from the FWVGA resolution seen on the Canvas Juice. Another highlight of the smartphone is it runs Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The smartphone is powered by a quad-core processor (unspecified chipset) clocked at 1.3GHz coupled with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of inbuilt storage. To put that in perspective, the Canvas Juice was backed by a dual-core 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6572 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage. The Micromax Canvas Juice 2 features expandable storage via microSD card (up to 32GB). The smartphone also features Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

The Canvas Juice 2 sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by an LED flash and also includes a 2-megapixel front-facing fixed focus camera. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS, GPRS/EDGE, 3G, and Micro-USB. 

The Micromax Canvas Juice went on sale last year in March and was priced at Rs. 8,490.</p>

<i> <i> 21.35 pm </i> #RIP Internet Explorer: Microsoft makes way for new, renamed browser

The official announcement was made at a Microsoft Convergence conference in Atlanta, Georgia, where the head of marketing said that the new flagship browser for Windows, called Project Spartan, will not be associated with the Internet Explorer brand. While Internet Explorer will still exist on Windows 10 for compatibility purposes, it will take a back seat to the new browser.

The Verge reported Microsoft's marketing chief Chris Capossela saying, "We’re now researching what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be in Windows 10."

Does this also mean we have to bid goodbye to the memes and jokes about Internet Explorer's speed? Because those were kind of funny.</p>

<p> <i> 21.34 pm </i> Xiaomi Pips Apple, Samsung to Become India's Top 4G Smartphone Vendor: CMR

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi surpassed global smartphone giants Samsung and Apple in terms of market share to become India's top 4G handset seller in January this year, CyberMedia Research said on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the market research firm had said that the iPhone maker emerged as the largest 4G LTE device vendor in the country in October-December 2014.

As per the latest CyberMedia Research (CMR) data, Xiaomi leads the 4G LTE device market with 30.8 percent market share in January followed by Apple (23.8 percent),Samsung (12.1 percent), HTC (10 percent) and Micromax (8.3 percent).

In October-December 2014 quarter, over 1 million 4G devices, including smartphones, tablets and data cards were shipped to the Indian market.

Apple led with a 45 percent market share at the end of October-December quarter in 2014, followed by HTC at 19 percent and Samsung at 16 percent, it had said.

Overall in handsets in January 2015, including feature phones, smartphones, 3G and 4G mobile phones, Samsung led the pack with 17.3 percent market share followed by Lava (11.9 percent), Microsoft (10.3 percent), Micromax (9.7 percent) and Intex (8.5 percent), CMR said.

Samsung was also the top smartphone vendor in India with 28.8 percent market share in January followed by Micromax (12.1 percent), Intex (9.7 percent), Lava (9.4 percent) and Microsoft (4.5 percent), it added.

Overall, feature phones accounted for 66.05 percent of the handsets shipped in January 2015, followed by smartphones at 33.95 percent, CMR said.</p>

<p> <i> 21.32 pm </i> Opera Coast 4.1 for iOS Adds Video Boost and More New Features

Opera Software on Tuesday brought its video boost feature and more to the updated Opera Coast 4.1 browser for iOS.

The updated Opera Coast browser is available on the App Store and is compatible with all devices (iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) running iOS 7.0 and higher.

The video boost feature on Opera Coast browser is claimed to compress the overall video size to reduce the time taken to buffer the video. It works only when Opera Turbo is enabled.

"Using the Rocket Optimizer engine, Opera's video boost is the first time that video optimization has been integrated into a Web browser, so your browser can now become your favourite video app. Opera Coast has always been about reflecting how people truly surf on their mobile devices, and part of that is kicking back with trending, inspiring or downright hysterical videos," explained company in its press briefing.

Other than video boost, company says that Opera Coast now has more features to speed up browsing experience. The browser has added a page-loading status with the progress bar, an easier way to return to search from the Discover news feed (by swiping down), and support for sharing pages directly to Pinterest, Evernote, Pocket and Kik. Opera also claims that users can now navigate back to the previous page of a secure website without refreshing the page.

Last month, Opera mobile browser added a feature - Opera Max App Pass - that let operators offer subscribers free access to selected apps.

The new Opera Max App Pass feature will soon also allow advertisers to offer phone users sponsored or paid passes for using mobile apps. The feature is being tested byTelenor in some Asian markets, said company.</p>

<p> <i> 21.31 pm </i> Microsoft launches cloud programme for Indian enterprises

 Microsoft has announced the launch of Cloud Accelerator Programme for Indian enterprises and government. The new Cloud Accelerator programme will serve as a catalyst to accelerate the adoption of Microsoft Azure and Office 365 cloud services amongst enterprises and government organisations.

Announcing this at 2015 Microsoft Azure Conference in Pune, Bhaskar Pramanik, chairman, Microsoft India, said, “This will help organisations to not only plan local cloud roadmaps, but also increase compliance with local regulations.”

As announced during Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's visit to India last year, three Microsoft Azure data centres will be going live by end of calendar year 2015. The largest will be in Pune, though Pramanik refused to identify the other two locations or investments being on the data centre, only pointing to the global capex spend of $4.5 billion on 19 data centres. The new Cloud Accelerator Programme is also part of Microsoft's vision of being a productivity and platforms company in a cloud-first and mobile-first world.

Pramanik added that of India's IT pie of around $50 billion, cloud today accounted for around $400 million but with very fast growth rates. He claimed that many companies, were moving significant workloads to the cloud, giving the example of Fortis Hospitals which is shutting down its data centres and moving all core systems including hospital information systems, accounts and billing to the Microsoft Azure public cloud.

“We are investing to provide cloud services from local datacentres to help government, BFSI, state-owned enterprises and other regulated industries to take full advantage of the cloud.  The Cloud Accelerator Programme is designed to help India move to the cloud, and in turn, help ‘Make in India’ a reality. This will open up new possibilities in e-governance, financial inclusion, healthcare, and education to positively impact the lives of a billion people,” he added.

And recognising that open software loads play a key part in the cloud, Mark Hill, Microsoft's Global Vice President of Open Source Marketing & Sales said that Balaji Kesavaraj has been appointed open source lead for Microsoft India as part of Hill's team. According to Hill, 22 percent of volume on Azure processing already comes from Linux and Microsoft expects this to increase significantly.

More than 15 Microsoft partners including HCL, Wipro and Tech Mahindra will be part of the roll out of the Cloud Accelerator Programme in India. More partners will come on board with new offerings over the coming months.

In addition, Microsoft has launched cloud training programmes - Azure Vidyapeeth and GuruVarta, for partners that will enable SMBs transition to the cloud. The programme will train partners to help 10,000 SMBs across 250 cities to move to the cloud.

The company also announced the launch of a ‘Cloud Decision Framework’ for public sector companies, government departments, banks, and financial services companies. The independent, open framework builds on international ISO standards and incorporates India-specific guidelines from IRDA, IDRBT and the IT Act.

“Cloud is real in India today. With the Cloud Accelerator Program, we and our partners will be able to move thousands of customers to the cloud over the next few months,” added Karan Bajwa, managing director, Microsoft India.

Microsoft is witnessing rapid growth in cloud adoption in India and across the world.  In the quarter ending December 2014, Microsoft’s commercial cloud revenue grew 114 percent globally.  This was driven by Office 365, Microsoft Azure and Dynamics CRM Online.</p>

<p> <i> 21.29 pm </i> Xiaomi products not exclusive to Flipkart anymore
NEW DELHI: Chinese producer Xiaomi has lastly opened its on-line portal Mi Store in India, which means that its products are not exclusive to the e-commerce poster boy Flipkart anymore.

Xiaomi is simply promoting equipment on the internet retailer as of now, not smartphones. Therefore, you’ll be able to solely buy earphones and instances & covers for Xiaomi smartphones from the e-retailer at current. However, the corporate has not dominated out promoting smartphones on the web site in coming months.

Nevertheless, Flipkart continues to be the exclusive gross sales companion for Xiaomi smartphones in India.

Xiaomi has bought over one million smartphones in India because it arrived within the nation final July. However, products like Yi motion digital camera and Mi Band health tracker are but to hit the market, together with new smartphones Mi Note and Mi Note Pro.

At a press meet final week, Xiaomi international vice chairman Hugo Barra and India head Manu Jain stated that the corporate will open one hundred Experience Zones in its service centres beginning subsequent month, the place the corporate’s products can be obtainable for a arms-on expertise, however not buy Times of India.</p>

<p> <i> 21.28 pm </i> Country has 95.5 crore mobile subscribers: Telecom minister

A whopping 95.5 crore mobile phone connections have been taken by India's 120 crore population, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said this was a reflection on how much the mobile phone network has expanded in the country.

"There were 30 core internet connections in the country till last year which was more than the United States and next to China.

In the use of smartphones, India is next only to the US," the minister said during question hour. He said the telecom ministry was implementing the Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) programme and its objectives included research and development of language technologies, software tools and applications for Indian languages, proliferation of language technology products and solutions.

Another objective of the programme was to develop standards for linguistic resources, tools and applications for inter-operability.

The minister said under the TDIL programme, CDs containing software tools and fonts for 22 constitutionally-recognised Indian languages have been made available in public domain through the <http://www.tdil-dc.in> portal.

This has empowered the citizens to use Information and Communication Technology in their own languages.

Further, various Indian language tools, technologies, linguistic resources and standards developed under the TDIL programme have been made available, like machine translation, optical character recognition, text to speech, sanskrit tools, monolingual search engines.

Prasad said a number of initiatives to develop tools like language CDs and keyboard drivers for android based mobile devices, technologies like machine translation, optical character recognition, cross lingual information, text to speech, automatic speech recogntion etc. and standards like unicode, web standards, speech standards, corpus standards and natural language processing standards have been taken.

"TDIL is an ongoing research and development programme which caters to emerging language technology needs of the masses and changing Information and Communication Technology environment," he said.</p>

<p> <i> 21.26 pm </i> Nokia 215 feature phone with web access launched at Rs 2,194

Nokia 215 will bring consumers the choice of accessing Facebook
 in nine local languages and also comes preloaded with Facebook and Messenger.

NEW DELHI: Microsoft launched its most affordable internet ready phone — Nokia 215 dual sim — in India on Wednesday priced at Rs 2,149, a company statement said here.

The device is the first in its category that will bring consumers the choice of accessing Facebook in nine local languages and also comes preloaded with Facebook and Messenger.

"India is a 'mobile-first' market, and feature phones are the first port of access to internet for a large number of mobile users," said Raghuvesh Sarup, director-marketing, Nokia India Sales, a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobiles Oy.

"Microsoft remains dedicated to driving innovation and introducing phones to first time mobile phone users with great technology packed inside," Sarup added.

Nokia 215 has Nokia Series 30+ operating system and VGA camera.</p>

<p> <i> 21.24 pm </i> Free Public Wi-Fi: Delhi Government Seeks Suggestions From Public

Looking to fulfil one of its major poll promises of providing free Wi-Fi in Delhi, the AAP government has come up with a set of 10 questions by way of which it is looking for suggestions from the public for implementing the project.

The Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body of AAP government chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Sunday drew up the bunch of 10 questionsseeking suggestions from the masses.

DDC is inviting suggestions, opinions and recommendations on each of the 10 questions at its email ddc.delhi@gov.in and WhatsApp helpline, +919643327265. The point-by-point response to the questions should be restricted to 200 words each, it said.

After the first round of deliberations with experts from the telecom industry, DDC formulated the 10 questions for a "wider consultation to inform its work".

Thus, DDC is asking respondents how they would define public Wi-Fi while inviting case studies of public Wi-Fi in other parts of the world.

It is also asking what should be the ideal level of access of public Wi-Fi and whether it can be made available right up to citizens' doorsteps? And, if yes, what are the feasibility and technological challenges and whether the Wi-Fi should be made available at well-defined public spaces in every neighbourhood?

"It also asked what is the infrastructure and technology required to create the public Wi-Fi network?... What should be the essential services that a government should aim at providing through public Wi-Fi?"

"What is the capex and opex required to create and operate public Wi-Fi? What could be a model that makes public Wi-Fi viable, sustainable and scalable in terms of usage, technology and financials," the DDC said in a statement here.

"Can public Wi-Fi network be made financially self- sustainable if viewed from the welfare service perspective alone? Should there be multiple operators or an exclusive operator in a well-defined zone of the city?

"What could be the operating architecture that brings all the stakeholders together? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a private enterprise model vis-a-vis a PSU model?" a DDC official said.

According to Delhi government, universal access to the Internet is a transformative idea that can empower citizens and provide a level-playing field for all, irrespective of economic status, educational qualifications, gender, race or religion. It will transform Delhi, and create a model for the rest of India to emulate, DDC said.

It can be argued that the next greatest enabler of opportunities for the poorest of the poor would come from access to the information highway and Internet and this will democratise opportunities and empower the common man, it added.

DDC also listed the objectives, among which are access to all citizens to all government services via m-governance over Wi-Fi and ensuring that women in any public space in Delhi should be able to access the Internet and use it to reach police or family at all times.</p>

<p> <i> 20.31 pm </i> Zuck: Get your FULLY EXPOSED BUTTOCKS off my Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg apparently "goes to great lengths to protect the privacy of his personal life", but it hasn't stopped the Facebook chief from encouraging the free content ad network's users to share more stuff online.

Late on Sunday the company's boss confirmed that Facebook had slightly modified the wording of its guidelines for the site and app to supposedly make its community standards clearer.

Zuck took the opportunity to share Facebook's "philosophy" on giving "people the power to share and to make the world more open and connected" – the timing for which some might argue was a little poor, given the 30-year-old billionaire's current legal spat with a property developer.

He added: "We exist to give you a voice to share what matters to you – from photos of your family to opinions about the world. We believe the better you can share and connect, the more progress society will make."

It's important to note that Facebook's policies and standards haven't changed, however.

Like Google, Facebook doesn't want to be labelled as a publisher because it would then be required to properly police its site to weed out libellous content and copyrighted material.

Today's update, as Zuck characterised it, in fact simply reinforced to Facebook users (sorry, people) that they are expected, in most cases, to flag up abusive posts before the firm intervenes. The company said:

Today we are providing more detail and clarity on what is and is not allowed. For example, what exactly do we mean by nudity, or what do we mean by hate speech?
While our policies and standards themselves are not changing, we have heard from people that it would be helpful to provide more clarity and examples, so we are doing so with today’s update.

Yup, Facebook is still largely relying on the wisdom of the crowd to crack down on bullies and wrongdoers.

Facebook – keen to keep its ad customers happy – does actively remove "photographs of people displaying genitals or focusing in on fully exposed buttocks". The firm has also stated that its policy can sometimes be a bit "blunt" when it comes to stripping pics of nipples from the site, for example.

The same community standards, however, wave through the sale of firearms, tobacco, booze and adult content via Facebook.

Zuck, whose company released its latest Global Government Requests Report today, said:

We fight to protect our community from unnecessary or overreaching government intervention. Facebook is a new kind of service, so we often face regulations that have little precedent. We push back to make sure we only comply with government demands when they're lawful and necessary.
If we have to block something prohibited in one country, we generally try to leave it unblocked for the rest of the world so that limitations on sharing and voice are minimised.

Facebook said that requests for access to account data from governments were relatively flat at 35,051 during the second half of 2014, of which 9,707 pieces of content were restricted.

In the first six months of last year, the firm received 34,946 such requests around the globe and severed access to 8,774 posts. What these figures show is that the company has become even more compliant with government takedown requests.</p>

<p> <i> 20.29 pm </i> Mario goes mobile: Nintendo is making games for smartphones and tablets

In a surprise move, Nintendo plans to put games on mobile devices in a tie-up with Japanese mobile gaming giant DeNA.

The alliance, which involves the two companies holding stakes in each other, will focus on building apps for smart devices and setting up a worldwide membership service to launch this fall, the companies said Tuesday at a hastily arranged press conference in Tokyo.

Nintendo was keen to emphasize it is not abandoning consoles, with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata confirming that his company is working on a new dedicated console code-named NX, with details to come next year.

The new apps for the partnership will include iconic Nintendo characters but will not involve porting games developed for the Nintendo Wii U or 3Ds systems. Only new games will be created, the companies said.

However, all Nintendo intellectual property like its games and characters could be used in new game development by the alliance, which has yet to announce a game lineup and availability. The global online membership service will be open to mobile devices, as well as Nintendo consoles and PC platforms.

Iwata said he hopes the service will reach hundreds of millions of users. In one slideshow illustration shown by the companies, the new membership service was shown surrounded by and linked to tablets, smartphones, PCs, the 3DS, the Wii U and the NX device.

The move represents a path forward for Nintendo, which has struggled to find a way to embrace the lucrative mobile gaming market while preserving its heritage and presence in video game consoles, which it has produced for decades.

"We do not share this pessimistic view of the future for dedicated video game systems," Iwata said in reference to negativity related to the future of consoles. "We are challenging ourselves to redefine what 'Nintendo platform' means."

After years of hearing Nintendo express hesitation about mobile games, industry observers reacted with shock to the news.

"This is basically a bombshell, especially given that Nintendo hasn't been really fond of the smartphone gaming market," said Serkan Toto, a video game consultant based in Tokyo. "Nintendo is planning to go beyond consoles, which they have never done. They never even did anything on the PC before. So they just shook up the entire game world."

DeNA, which has built a large e-commerce, online auction and mobile gaming empire in Japan, has seen its profitability take hits in recent years, just as Nintendo seemed lost amid the mobile game surge, Toto said. The alliance of the struggling partners will make Nintendo the biggest shareholder in DeNA after Tomoko Namba, who founded the company in 1999.

"Mobile gaming is a hit-driven business, and we believe our alliance with Nintendo will significantly increase the possibility of creating hit titles with Nintendo's beloved IP," DeNA spokesman Tomoyuki Akiyama said via email when asked about the company's profit slide.</p>

<p> <i> 20.27 pm </i> Xiaomi Mi Note Natural Bamboo Edition Launched

As announced, Xiaomi on Tuesday unveiled a special edition of the Mi Note with a bamboo material back panel, dubbed the Xiaomi Mi Note Natural Bamboo Edition.

Priced at CNY 2,299 (roughly Rs. 23,000), the Xiaomi Mi Note Natural Bamboo Editionwill be available in China from March 24. The registrations have begun from Tuesday.

The highlight of the special edition Mi Note is its bamboo back cover, which increases the handset thickness by 0.9mm, but still weighs 5 grams less than the originalXiaomi Mi Note. The back panel is claimed to have passed through 19 different processes to make sure it is smooth.

Apart from that, the specifications of the Xiaomi Mi Note Natural Bamboo Edition are the same as Mi Note. Initially launched in January, the Xiaomi Mi Note flagship smartphone was priced at CNY 2,299 (roughly Rs. 23,000) for the 16GB model, while the 64GB model was priced at CNY 2,799 (roughly Rs. 27,900).

In January, Xiaomi's Mi Note phablet went up for sale in China for the first time and the handset within three minutes of the sale going live was said to be out of stock.

For specifications, the dual-SIM and dual-standby Xiaomi Mi Note with Micro-SIM and Nano-SIM card support features a 5.7-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) Sharp JDI display offering a pixel density of 386ppi. It also packs Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. The handset sports a metal frame.

The Mi Note bears a 13-megapixel rear camera with a six-element lens, OIS, a Sony CMOS sensor, and two-tone flash from Philips. There is a 4-megapixel front-camera also onboard with large 2-micron pixels. The phablet is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz alongside 3GB of RAM and Adreno 330 GPU. The Xiaomi Mi Note also supports 4G LTE connectivity and is backed by a 3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0 technology.</p>

<p> <i> 20.25 pm </i> Would you buy $2500-a-year .sucks domain to protect your brand image?

New Delhi: One of the 500+ new, generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that have been approved, .sucks has generated quite a stir after .adult and .porn domains. Controversial by the name and the price, .sucks domain name is up for grabs for upto $2500 per year for trademark holders.

Early registration for .sucks begins later this month, however, brands that want to register their trademarked names before the general public will be required to pay a hefty price.

US Senator Jay Rockefeller told ICANN - the international organization that manages the internet's domain name system - that the .sucks domain has 'little or no public interest value' and called it 'little more than a predatory shakedown scheme' aimed at getting businesses to spend big money on defensive domain registrations, MarketingLand reported MarketingLand reported.

Brands would be interested in using this domain for defensive purposes, as a way to protect their trademarked names by registering domains before the general public can. However, Andy Beal, CEO of the branding and reputation management agency Reputation Refinery, said that a tweet, Yelp post or a review could do far more damage than a .sucks domain used against a company.

A company called Momentous won ICANN's auction last November through its subsidiary, Vox Populi, giving it the right to operate the .sucks domain. The early registration period, or sunrise, starts on March 30 and general availability begins on June 1.

Vox Populi is positioning the new gTLD as a platform for conversation. Its website declares that the domain "is designed to help consumers find their voices and allow companies to find the value in criticism."

The domain will be available to consumers for $10 per year through 'consumer advocate subsidy'. Those who want to run their own website using .sucks will pay $249 per year for the standard registration, while the premium registration will cost more.

Companies that are registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) will have to pay $2,500 per domain during the sunrise period, and the same amount every year they renew their domain(s).</p>

<p> <i> 20.23 pm </i> This Is One Smartwatch That I

 Would Definitely Want To See
Xiaomi is one company that currently seems to be on a roll. After the smartphones, the company has recently launched a tablet - Mi Pad - in India. And now the company is gearing to get into the hottest product category—the smartwatch! Yes, Xiaomi is all set to get into the smartwatch space.

The news has been broken by Chinese technology news website 36Krypton. As per the report, the Xiaomi smartwatch will have a large dial ( a round one) and could offer pulse wave velocity identification. It also adds that it will come with brushed metal design much like the one on the back of HTC One M9.

At this stage, there aren't many details available on the pricing of the smartwatch; however, we are expecting Xiaomi to continue with its tradition of pricing their devices aggressively. There is no word on the availability either, but we hope that India will feature way up on the company's future market's list.

It is noteworthy, that in some markets Xiaomi is offering its Mi Band that is yet to make its way to India. Reports also suggest that the company is working on the sequel of its Mi Band.</p>

<p> <i> 20.21 pm </i> Kaspersky Labs Launches Phound! Anti-Theft App for Android

Kaspersky Labs has launched a new anti-theft app called Phound!, which helps users find their lost mobile handsets and also take control of confidential data on the device remotedly.

The Phound! app, available only for Android, lets users remotely block or prevent unauthorised access to mobile data, using the My Kaspersky portal. Also, users can find the position of their lost handsets on the map using its GPS, GSM and Wi-Fi networks. Taking pictures from front-facing camera of the device to recognise the thief or the unauthorised user, as well as displaying a message on the mobile screen remotely, is also possible.

Another feature included in Phound! by Kaspersky Labs is the alarm feature. As the name suggests, the feature once activated makes a loud noise continuously until the user enters a secret code. As a last resort, users can remove their personal data like contacts, messages, photos, or even hard reset the device remotely if required.

"For many users, mobile devices serve as storage for their most valuable and important data - contacts of friends and colleagues, personal messages, private photos and many other things. This means that today's smartphones and tablets need the same security as a bank vault. However, unlike bank vaults, smartphones are small, portable and easily misplaced. That is why we created a solution for our users to prevent their mobile 'vault' from falling into the wrong hands," said Alexey Chikov, Senior Product Manager, Kaspersky Lab during the launch if the app.

The app is available to download from Google Play with support for eight languages. Sized at 17MB, the Phound! app requires Android 3.0 Honeycomb and later OS versions to run.</p>

<p> <i> 20.19 pm </i> Google Play launches a global age-based app rating system based on local standards

Google is announcing that it is adopting a global age-based system for rating apps in its Google Play store. The system is automated so that developers can answer questionnaires and get a recommended rating quickly that covers advice for parents about how old kids have to be to play the game or app.

The system also has safeguards to deal with incorrect ratings, and it will have oversight from Google Play and ratings agencies around the world. One of the smart things about it is that it can develop automated ratings for a game or app based on the local customs of various regions with ratings systems. It’s all about having developers better label their apps for the right audience, Google said.

The system is based on the fact that people in different countries have their own ideas about what content is appropriate for kids, teens and adults, said Eunice Kim, Product Manager for Google Play, in an interview with GamesBeat.

“We know that cultural standards are different the world over,” Kim said. “We wanted to be sensitive to those differences, especially when we have a billion users using the product every day. We wanted to make sure it wasn’t burdensome for the developer.”

Developers can answer questions about an app, such as whether it uses any images with nudity or common naughty words. Then Google Play generates an automated rating for the title based on ratings systems. In North America, the title is based on ratings from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, an industry supported group that is part of the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC). Other members include the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI), Australian Classification Board, Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) and Classificação Indicativa (ClassInd). Territories without ratings authorities will display a generic age-based rating.

The system will be implemented for all apps in the coming weeks around the world. Google believes that the change will give developers an easy way to communicate ratings to users and receive better app discovery and engagement for their apps.

“Android is in the hands of a billion people in 190 countries, and we have paid out more than $7 billion to developers,” said Purnima Kochikar, director of business development for Google Play, in an interview. “What we are doing here is helping developers categorize their apps in a way that users understand.”

To sign up for a rating, developers can sign in to the Android Developer Console and complete the new rating questionnaire for each app. Apps without a completed rating questionnaire will be marked as “Unrated” and may be blocked in certain territories or for specific users. Starting in May, all new apps and updates to existing apps will require a completed questionnaire before they can be published on Google Play. The ratings have descriptions that help parents out, such as “has nudity.” Kochikar noted that the developer doesn’t rate the game; the agency produces the rating based on the questionnaire.

“This is an emerging area, and no one else does it this way,” said Kim. “In the past, it has taken thousands of dollars and weeks to rate video games. We believe the accuracy and the objectivity here is beyond what is available in the market now. This is a technical solution to a human problem (of having too many games to rate). The answers to the questionnaire map to different rating levels. They do not proactively review the ratings before they get published, but they have the right to review them after they are published. It is meant to be a streamlined process.”

Kim said the system was initiated in response to user interest. It wasn’t driven by complaints or laws in various countries.

“We previously had one size fits all,” Kochikar said. “Now it is based on local ratings.”

Patricia Vance, head of the ESRB, said in an interview that the process with Google took about a year to complete. She said that other carriers and platforms are in the midst of creating their own policies based on similar notions. The ESRB launched its own solution for digital game ratings a few years ago, and this Google Play system leverages that work. The IARC now has ratings that cover 1.5 billion people around the world, she said.

“It was built to be scalable and to handle the higher volumes of mobile apps,” Vance said. “We needed a scalable system that was also verifiable.”

In a related development, Kochikar said that several months ago, Google began reviewing apps before they were published on Google Play to better protect the community and improve the app catalog. Developers can check where their app is in the approval process. Google doesn’t approval apps with sexual content, copyright-infringing intellectual property, and real-money gambling.

This new process has a team of human experts who are responsible for identifying violations of the developer policies earlier in the app life cycle. This team uses automated tools and their own judgment to quickly decide whether apps can be published or not. Kochikar said that developers haven’t noticed any delays in the process, and now the team can approve apps in a matter of hours rather than days.

Google also provides reasons why apps are rejected or suspended. If there is a mistake, developers can challenge the rating. Or if a developer misrepresents a game, Google Play can override a rating so it is consistent with what the rating agencies would do. The rating agencies can also step in.

Previously, Google used a rating system that it had designed itself, but it was one system for the entire world.

“It’s top of mind for us to do a better job with families and parents,” Kim said.

Vance noted that other carriers and platforms are performing the same analysis now. Apple has not signed on yet, she said. Vance said she believes that titles based on Xbox Live, Nintendo eShop, and the PlayStation Network will use the same IARC system as Google for territory-based ratings around the world. So far, the Firefox Marketplace has also approved the IARC system.

Kochikar attributes the success of Android to a focus on better business management, smarter tools for developers, and a good user experience. Kochikar said carrier billing is available in 32 countries, with 11 new ones added in 2014. Gift cards are in 28 countries, with 21 added in 2014. And PayPal is available in 18 countries, all launched last year.

“We are in more places and more ways,” Kochikar said. “We’ve focused on flexible business models, including in-app purchases and subscriptions.”</p>

<p> <i> 20.17 pm </i> DataWind launches Rs 1,999 Android smartphone with free Internet

Aakash tablet maker DataWind today partnered with Reliance Communications to launch three Android smartphones priced in range of Rs 1,999 to Rs 5,499. DataWind’s new range of PocketSurfer smartphones offer free unlimited Internet browsing for one year on Reliance. Users can only browse for free.

“Majority of the population in India still do not use a smartphone and are not connected to the Internet. Affordable smartphones, alone, cannot help the masses to be connected. We need to provide something on the connectivity front as well to take mobile Internet to the masses,” said Suneet Singh Tuli, president and CEO, DataWind.

The free Internet access does not include audio/video streaming or local downloads. Users will have to buy separate data plans for extra usage. “Users can browse for free completely even if they do not have sufficient account balance. Reliance will charge us and not the customer for browsing. They can also access social media sites like Facebook for free,” said Tuli. The new smartphones from DataWind are GSM handsets with dual SIM card slots.

The most affordable in the new range is called PocketSurfer 2G4. Priced at Rs 1,999, the 2G dual SIM smartphone sports a 3.5-inch capacitive display and runs on a 1GHz single core CPU with 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. Running Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, it offers a VGA rear camera, Bluetooth, FM Radio, WiFi and claims four hours of talk time battery life.

 The 3G enabled PocketSurfer 3G4 smartphone sports a 4-inch capacitive display with a resolution of 800 x 400 pixels and runs on a 1.2GHz dual core processor and Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system. On the memory front it has 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. It mounts a 5Mp rear camera with FLash and a VGA front camera. The dual SIM GSM handset supports 3G and 2G connectivity and comes with Bluetooth, FM Radio and WiFi and is priced at Rs 2,999. 

The 5-inch PocketSurfer 3G5 smartphone is priced at Rs 5,499. It runs on a 1.2GHz dual core CPU with 512MB RAM and 4G ROM which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. It runs on Android 4.4.2 OS and offers a 3MP rear camera with Flash and a VGA front camera. It is also a dual SIM smartphone with 3G support, Bluetooth, FM Radio and WiFi. 

DataWind CEO also announced the company’s plans to manufacture in India. “In support of the new government’s ‘Make in India’ vision, we commit that within 90 days around 90 per cent of our production will be shifted to India.We aim to create at least a thousand new jobs in the market within this year,” said Tuli. At present, DataWind’s manufacturing units are based out of China. The new PocketSurfer smartphones will be available on Naaptol’s TV, print and online shopping platforms starting March 17. It will also be available at Sangeetha Mobiles, Spice Hotspot retail and other retail partners.</p>

<p> <i> 20.12 pm </i> Xolo Q1001 with 5-inch display unveiled at Rs 6199, available for less

The Xolo Q1001 has made its debut in India in the usual fashion where the company has listed the handset on its website and directly put it up for grabs sans any official announcement. The new addition to the OEMs ever expanding lineup is an affordable one tagged at Rs 6199, but an online retailer is setting it for a bit cheaper.

The Xolo Q1001 is basically being touted with a large display and quad core performance. The handset is a lot similar to the A1010 which was launched back in February. Expect for the latter having a low-performance processor, the majority of feature are the same on both devices. The touchscreen here is a 5-inch FWVGA IPS panel.

And for imaging, the standard VGA front and 5MP rear cameras have been included with the handset. Coming to the innards, the Xolo device is powered by a 1.3GHz quad core Cortex A7 processor. The chipset is accompanied by 512MB RAM and 4GB storage which can be expanded via the included microSD card slot.

Android 4.4 KitKat runs the show here and the Q1001 smartphone has a 2000mAh battery which can deliver up to 12 hours of talk time or around 8 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi. The official product page also makes mention of dual SIM card slots and HSPA+ 21Mbps cellular support.

Xolo Q1001 specs at a glance:

– Android 4.4 KitKat
– 1.3GHz quad core processor
– 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM, 32GB expandable
– Dual SIMs w/ HSPA+ 21Mbps
– 5-inch FWVGA IPS LCD
– 5MP rear camera, VGA front imager
– 2000mAh battery

If you’re interested in purchasing the Xolo Q1001, the handset is currently selling with a price tag of Rs 5789 through Snapdeal.</p>

<p> <i> 20.10 pm </i>  Microsoft helps Lenovo clean up Superfish adware

Recently, news broke out that Lenovo had pre-installed Superfish, a malware afflicted software which made laptops vulnerable to hackers. Though the company said that they would stop pre-installing this software, they have also released a tool to help users remove the adware from their laptops.

Daily number of unique machines detecting CompromisedCert, our detection for Superfish pre-installed on Lenovo machines.

Now, according to Microsoft’s malware detection data, Superfish has been removed from 2,50,000 Windows PCs. Microsoft reveals that the number of infected PCs were around 60,000 on February 21, and have now reduced to around 3,000.

The company has reportedly helped clean up a quarter of a million Lenovo PCs from February 20 to March 4 using its Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) that includes a set of ‘fingerprints’ to detect and delete malware.

Along with Microsoft, Lenovo and McAfee had also released their tools to cleanse Superfish. Lenovo has also published its step-by-step guide for users to manually fix the adware.

The Superfish adware is capable of installing a fake root certificate into the Windows certificate store that appears to be genuine.  The browser will trust all the fake certificates generated by Superfish, paving way for hackers to easily crack into it.</p>